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V 


N    6  5 


THE 


Street  Railway 
Journal. 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  XXIV. 


♦ 


July  to  December,  1904. 


McQraw  Publishing  Co., 
114  Liberty  Street, 
New  York. 


A 


INDEX  TO  VOLUME  XXIV. 


A 

Aberdeen-Hoquiam   Railway,  Washington   *944 

Accident  Causes;  Fallen  Leaves   777 

 Locations  of  Turn-Outs   813 

 -Problem    1028 

Accident  Claim  Department;  Lectures  to  Mo-  ■ 

tormen    1054 

 Question  Box,  Utica   412 

Accident  Claims;  Fakir  detected  in  Brooklyn.  1058 

  in  Syracuse    114 

Accident  Report  Blanks,  Oregon  Water  Power 

&  Railway  Company   *784 

Accidents;   Columbus,   Newark  &  Zanesville 

Railway    955 

 Grand  Trunk  Railway  Tunnel   812 

 Melrose,  Mass  497,  772 

 New  York  Subway,  Flood  in   1077 

 Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company  1049 

 Pacific  Electric  Railway   *920 

 Rochester  &  Eastern  Railway   356 

 Street  and  Steam,  Comparison  of   867 

Accountants'   Association;    Convention  Pro- 
ceedings  698,  752 

 New  Secretary    1159 

 Officers  and  Executive  Committee   *515 

 Question  Box    200 

Accountants;      Qualifications      of  Railway 

[Brockway]    197 

Accounting;  Blanks,  Brooklyn  Elevated  New 

System    *322 

 Department  [Brockway]    25 

 Development  of  Street  Railway  during  the 

Past  Twenty  Years  [Duffy]   549 

 Repair  Shop,  Report  on   *700 

 Standard  Form  of,  American  Rulings  on 

Classification    756 

—      I.  T.  &  L.  R.  Association   370 

  Comments  on    360 

 ■          [Duffy]   c440 

  Municipal  Tramways  Association   802 

Advertising  Circulars;  Boston  &  Worcester 

and  P.  S.  C   *26 

 :New  Hampshire  Traction  Company   212 

 Street  Railway  [Gunn]   *236 

 Various   *662 

Advertising  Contracts  discussed  at  Ohio  As- 
sociation   1007 

Aesthetics  in  Street  Railway  Construction...  680 
Air  Compressors;  ana   ...yor,   Baltimore  & 

Ohio  Locomotive    *151 

 Motor-Driven,  at  St.  Louis  (Christensen)  *207 

 (See  also  Brakes,  Air.) 

Albany,  United  Traction  Company,  Organiza- 
tion Chart  of  Mechanical  Department 

[Benedict]    *454 

Albuquerque,  N.  M.,  Convertible  Cars   *402 

Alliance,  Ohio,  New  Cars   *35 

Alternating  Current.  (See  Single-Phase  and 

Polyphase.) 
Alternators.    (See  Generators.) 

Alton,  111.,  Consolidation   459 

American  Conduit  Company's  St.  Louis  Ex- 
hibit   *442 

American  Frog  &  Switch  Company's  St.  Louis 

Exhibit    *854 

American  Light  &  Traction  Company,  Three 

Years'  Report    496 

American   Railway,  Mechanical  &  Electrical 

Association;   Changes  416,495 

 Convention  Proceedings    688 

 ■      Programme    137 

 Officers  and  Executive  Committee   *516 

 Question  Box    264 

American    Railways    Company,    Annual  Re- 
port of    860 

American  Society  of  M.  E.,  Annual  Meet- 
ing  863,  1047,  1083 

American  Street  Railway  Association;  Con- 
vention, Proceedings   689,  740 

 History  of  [Littell,  Lowry,  Penington]. . .  *517 

 -Officers  and  Executive  Committee   *514 

 Reorganization    727 


(Abbreviations:    *  Illustrated,    c  Correspondence.) 

American  Street  Railway  Claim  Agents'  As- 
sociation  484,  698,  699,  859 

American  Street  Railway  Manufacturers'  As- 
sociation; Organization   171,  244,389 

 Constitution  of    771 

Andrews,  H.  E.,  Interview  with   *234 

Armature;   Banding  Lathe,  Hartford  Street 

Railway   *790 

 Coils,  Form  for  Winding  in  Columbus  Re- 
pair Shops    *61 

 Insulating  Compounds    936 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway,  Parlor  and 

Buffet  Car    *379 

Asia,  Electric  Tramways  in   355 

Association   of  Tramway   &    Light  Railway 

Officials,  Convention    1003 

Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  New  Cars   *107 

Auburn  &  Syracuse  Railway,  New  Cars   *340 

Augusta  &  Aiken  Railway,  New  Cars   *919 

Auto-Cars.    (See  Motor  Cars,  Independent.) 

Autographic  Test  Car  [Herrick]   *946 

Automobile  Busses.    (See  Motor  Cars,  Inde- 
pendent.) 

Automobiles,  Importance  of  Enforcing  Laws 

for    175 

Axles,  Practice  in  Germany   20 

 (See  also  Wheels.) 

B 

Bailey,  T.  P   *1161 

Ballarat,  Australia,  Electric  Traction   82 

Baltimore;  New  Cars   *1054 

 Steam  Turbines  in   1090 

 Wire  Glass  in  Conflagration   *1049 

Baltimore    &     Ohio     Railroad;  Locomotive 

Pick-Up  Device    *151 

Baltimore  &  Belair  Electric  Railway,  Opening 

of  First  Section    773 

Band  Re-Saw  (American)   *66o 

 (Fay  &  Egan)   *484 

Berlin  Zossen  Tests,  Speed  Curves   *79 

Block  Signal  Systems;  (Eureka)   *66tj 

 Harrington    4S3 

 New  York  City  Subway   *64S 

 Question  Box,   Utica  411,  437 

 Staff  [Emerson]    1112 

 with  Track  Circuit  Control  [Struble]   453 

 and  Turn-Outs    935 

Bloomington,  Pontiac  &  Joliet  Railway,  Sin- 

gie-Phase  System    495 

Blue  Printing,  Large  Drawings  at  Minneapo- 
lis   828 

Blue  Hill  Street  Railway  Company's  Guide- 

Book    231 

Bohemia,  Three-Wire  System  at   *1042 

Boilers,  Water-Tube  (Rust)   *108 

Boston;  Cost  of  Power   359 

— Early    Street    Railway    Experiments  in 

[Sergeant]    *534 

 East  Boston  Tunnel,  Opening  of   1152 

 Elevated  Division,  Automatic  Relay  Train 

Control    ( Sprague-General   Electric)....  *479 

  Five-Car  Trains  for   201 

  Side  Entrance  Cars  75,  *202 

  Steel-Tired  Wheels,  Life  of   404 

 Elevated  Railway  Company,  Annual  Re- 
port   1057 

 Manganese  Rails,   Life  of,  in   844 

 &  Northern  and  Old  Colony,  Passenger 

Departments  of    893 

  Transfer  Frauds  on   354 

 Parlor  Car  in   *442 

.  Providence  Line,  Plans   772 

 Suburban  Electric  Companies  Traffic   379 

 Touring  Cars  in   216 

 &    Worcester    Street    Railway,  Annual 

Report    1056 

  Employees'  Banquet    1048 

  New  Cars    *132 

  Stealing  from    774 

Brake  Handle  (Anti-Friction)   *671 

Brake-Shoe;   Adjustment   [Price]   268 


 (C.  U.  B.  Co.)   *661 

 Felt  (E.  C.  B.  Co.)   *661 

Brake  Rigging,   Brooklyn  Elevated  Railway 

Cars   *227 

Brakes,  Th.  Scholtes  Report  on,  I.  T.  &  L.  R. 

Association    332 

Brakes,  Air;  Advantages  of   117 

  and  Electric,  Discussion  at  Vienna...  833 

 Power  Consumption   462,  478 

  in  City  Service  [Boynton]   370 

 •      [Rae]    836 

  Test  of  [Taylor]    *1107 

 Storage,  Charging  Box  used  in  St.  Louis  *890 

  at  Montclair    *1038 

 (Westinghouse)   *918,  1058 

Brakes,    Electric;    and    Air,    Discussion  at 

Vienna    833 

Brakes,  Magnetic;  at  Portland,  Ore    *1142 

 (Westinghouse)    *918 

Braking;  High-Speed  Trains  [Parke]   491 

 Tests  of,  in  City  Service  [Taylor]   *1107 

  at  Wilmerding,  Proposed   1093 

Bridges;  with  Ballasted  Floors   1095 

 Como  Park,  St.  Paul    *42S 

 Indianapolis  Northern  Traction  Company  *1065 

 Plainfield,  111.,  Steel   *110O 

 Skew  Truss,  Michigan  Traction  Company  *1043 

 Temporary,    during    Construction,  Port- 
land, Ore   *426 

 Trestle,  Oregon  Power  &  Railway  Co   *733 

Bristol  Company,  St.  Louis  Exhibit   *794 

British  Westinghouse  Company,  Report  of..  1093 

Brockway,  W.  B.,  Retirement  of   1133 

Brooklyn  Bridge;  Inverted  Third-Rail  on   *14s 

Brooklyn;  Accident  Case,  Perjury  in   1058 

 Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad  Com- 
pany. Agreement  with  Employees   141 

  Power-Station  Equipment    70 

 Elevated      Railway;      Bonding  System 

[Parke]    *1103 

  Car  Equipment  Improvements  *222,  *252 

  Comments  on    220 

  New  Train    83 

  Records,  New  System  of   *322 

  Station  Improvements    1089 

 Improvements  in    861 

 Polytechnic  Institute  Changes   932 

 Rapid  Transit  Co.,  Annual  Report  of   303 

 Official  Timekeeper  of   920 

Brown    Hoisting    Machinery    Company,  St. 

Louis  Exhibit    *889 

Buenos-Aires,  Electric  Traction  in   -  420 

 Freight  Cars   *960 

 Test  of  Power  Consumption  in   937 

Buffalo,  Lockport  &  Rochester  Railway;  Work 

begun    143 

c 

Calculating  Machine   (Morschhauser)   *1053 

Camden  &  Suburban  Railway,  Chartered  Cars 

on    376 

Canada  Street  Railway  Association,  Organiza- 
tion of    115S 

Canal,  Miami  &  Erie,  Reorganization  of  

242,  304,  382,  725,  895 

Car-Borer,  Vertical  (Fay  &  Egan)   *212 

Car  Cleaning,  Metal  Brush  for  (Vickery)   *443 

Car  Construction;    Brooklyn   Elevated  Rail- 
way  *222,  *252 

  Comments  on    220 

 Framing,  All-Steel  (St.  Louis)   *852 

 Interurban  Cars  [Boynton]   *232 

 General  Design  and  Finish  of  Modern  In- 
terurban Cars  [Boynton]   *472 

 Increasing  Width  of   219 

 Insulation     and     Fireproofing  Material 

(K.  &  M.)   *266 

 Los  Angeles  Kinks   *24 

  Rebuilding  in    *136 

 Provisions  for  making  Repairs  Desirable.  1131 

 Twenty  Years   Development  in  [Brill]..  *502 

—  (See  also  Cars,  Non-combustible.) 


iv 


INDEX. 


Car  Equipment;  Daily  Inspection  of  [Aid- 
worth]    803 

  [Benedict]    *454 

  [Lindall]    *705 

  Comments  on    679 

  Utica,  Discussion  on    434 

 Records,  New  System  of  Brooklyn  Ele- 
vated  *322 

Car  Gates,  New  York  Subway  [Gibbs]   *646 

Car  Heaters,  (See  Heaters.)  

Car  Houses;  Authority  in    865 

 Dayton,    Covington    6t    Piqua  Traction 

Company    *392 

 Dubuque,    Iowa    *871 

 Fire  Test,  Cleveland   *366 

  Newark    1059 

 -Force,  Duties  of  [Carlisle]    1152 

 Montclair    *1036 

 Reinforced  Concrete  for    279 

 Storing  Cars  Out  of  Doors  discussed  at 

Utica  ■   433 

 Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company   287 

 Wire  Glass  for    *1049 

Car  Lighting    1029 

Car  Platforms;  Brooklyn  Elevated    *224 

 New  York  Subway    *646 

Car  Signs;   2,  118 

 in  Berlin  [Marburg]   cl34 

 Worcester    *340 

Car  Step  and  Wheel  Guard  (Nolan)   *377 

Car  Wiring,  and  Equipment    98 

 ■      Comments  on    87 

 for  Heaters  in  New  York    *915 

Car  Yards,  Light  in    361 

Cars,  Buffet;  St.  Louis   *685 

 St.  Louis  Exposition  (Cincinnati)   *443 

Cars,  Closed:  Auburn  &  Syracuse  Railway..  *340 

 Baltimore    *1054 

 Chicago  &  Milwaukee   *1019 

 East  St.  Louis   *1052 

 Erie,  Pa   *1010 

 Escanaba,  Mich   *441 

 Joliet    *1053 

 Louisville    *1014 

 Manhattan  Railway    *1015 

 Memphis,  Tenn   *916 

 -Mexico  City    *155 

 New  York  Subway   *634 

— New  York  Union  Railway   *8S9 

 Oklahoma  City    *761 

 Schenectady    *103 

 Springfield,  111  *667,  *1085 

 Vincennes    *795 

 Washington,  D.  C   *854 

Cars,  Combination;  Aliance,  Ohio   *35 

 Columbus,   Ohio   *37 

 Hummelstown,  Pa   *36 

 Montreal    *210 

 Portland,  Ore   *1139 

 Sheboygan,  Wis   *1010 

 Torreon,  Mexico    *380 

Cars,  Convertible;  Albuquerque,  N.  M   *402 

 Augusta,   Ga  , .  r„  r>.^— _*919_ 

- — Cleveland  -  rrrri-rrrr. '   *910 

 Fort  Worth,  Tex   *851 

 Graham,  Va   *335 

 (St.  Louis)   *886 

 Washington,  D.  C   *299 

Cars;  Design  of;  Advantages  of  Long  and 

Short  Cars  [Davis]    450 

  Long,  Increased  Travel  with   1062 

 Selection  of;  Question  Box,  Utica   410 

 Ventilation    1061 

Cars,    Double    Deck;    Durban,    Natal,  Af- 
rica   *1004 

 Glasgow    *835 

 Minneapolis    *838 

Cars,  Excursion;  Cleveland    *1046 

 Texarkana,  Roofless   *107 

Cars,  Express  and  Freight;  Buenos- Ayres. . .  *960 

 Louisville    *1014 

 Public  Service  Corporation   *269 

Cars,  Fireproof.  (See  Cars  Non-combustible.) 
Cars,  Non-combustible;  Chicago  Metropolitan 

Elevated   *956 

  Comments  on    935 

 London   966 

 New  York  Subway  B   *634 

 (St.  Louis)   852 

 (See  also  Fireproofing.) 

Cars,  Open;  New  Jersey  Public  Service  Cor- 
poration   *35 

 Torreon,  Mex   *888 

Cars,  Parlor;  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Rail- 
way   *379 


 Boston    *442 

 Reading,  Pa   *239 

 St.  Louis   *209,  *268 

Cars,    Semi-Convertible;   Atlantic    City   *107 

 Boston  &  Worcester   *132 


 Chicago 


*668 


 Cleveland    *762 

 Easton,  Pa   *849 

— -Evansville,   Ind   *212 

 Hackensack,  N.  J   *1086 

 Hagerstown,  Md   *796 

 Kennebunkport,  Me   *670 

 Montreal    *1016 

 Northern  Texas  Traction  Company   *960 

 Opening    967 

 Portland,  Ore   *78 

 Punxsutawney,    Pa   *378 

 Seattle,  Wash  '   *404 

 Shamokin    *1155 

— York,  Pa   *157 

Cars,  Side  Entrance;  Boston  Elevated  Divi- 
sion  75,  *202 

 Petaluma,    Cal  .". . .  *687 

Cars,  Sleeping.    (See  Sleeping  Cars.) 

Cars,  Steel.     (See  Cars  Non-combustible.).. 

Carver,  D.  F   1130 

Catenary  Construction.    (See  Overhead  Con- 
struction, High-Tension  Wires.) 

Cattle  Guards   (Merrill-Stevens)   *669 

Chain,  Silent  (Morse)   *1017 

Chapman,  G.  F.,  Interview  with   724 

Chautauqua,   Combination   Snow   Plow  and 

Express  Car    *1114 

Chicago,  Calumet  Railway,   New  Cars   *668 

---Elevated  Railways  Traffic  Report  85,892 

 Franchises   89,  115,  170,  217,  273,  277, 

307,  356,  385,  459,  723,  965,  1058,  1127,  1158 

 Freight  Tunnels   57,  1024,  1089 

— Metropolitan     Elevated     Railway,  Air 

Brakes  on    86 

  All  Steel  Cars  on   *956 

  Comments  on    935 

 &  Milwaukee  Railway,  New  Cars   *1019 

  Single-Phase  Equipment  for   1160 

 Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad,  Agree- 
ment   70 

  Annual  Report    807 

  Storage  Battery  Plant   *229 

 Proposed  Belt  Line    170 

— South  Side  Elevated,  Annual  Report   724 

  Extensions    274 

 Subway  Plans    932 

 Tunnel  Lowering    497 

 Union   Traction   Company,   Annual  Re- 
port   243 

  Nine  Month's  Report   113 

Chihuahua,    Mex.,    Electric    Traction  Proj- 
ect   273 

Cincinnati,  New  Freight  Station   456 

Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  Toledo  Traction  Com- 
pany, Watch  Inspection    1077 

Circuit   Breakers;  for   Cars,   Adjustment  of 

[Parham]   ....  Iluo 

 Oil  (Westinghouse)    *1086 

Cleveland;  Car  House  Fire  Test   *366 

 Converting  Open  to  Closed  Cars  in   *910 

 Cross-Town  Line  defeated   273 

 Electric  Club,  Meeting  of   1091 

 Electric  Railway  Company,  Large  Orders 

of    1092 

 Franchises   85,  965,  1057 

 Low  Fares   806,  809,  894 

 Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Association   329 

 Painesville   &  Ashtabula   Railway  Com- 
pany, Receiver  for   770,  806,  858,  1023 

  System    *90 

 Semi-convertible   Cars   *762 

 &     Southwestern     Traction  Company's 

Power  Station  Changes   272 

 Speaking  Tube  on  Cars  in   291 

 Touring  Car  Service  206,  233,  *1046 

 Unique  Line  Car  in   *959 

Climax  Stock   Guard   Company,   St.  Louis 

Exhibit   *887 

Coal   and    Ash    Handling   Machinery;  Du- 
buque Power  Station   *187 

 Kingsbridge  Power  Station,  Steel  Fram- 
ing for    *5 

 New  York  City  Subway   *608 

 Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company's  Plant  *974 

 Worcester,  Mass   *295 

Coal  Car  at  Huddersfield,  Eng   »834 

Cole,  William  H   55 

Colorado    &    Southern    Railway,  Electricity 

on    893 


Columbus,    Delaware    &    Marion  Railway 

Company,    Incorporation   857 

Columbus,  Ohio;  New  Cars   *37 

 Newark  &  Zanesville  Railway,  Accident.  955 

  Sleeping  Cars  on    302 

 Repair  Shop  Practice  in   *60 

— Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company  System  *970 
Commutator  Turning  in  Repair  Shops,  Co- 
lumbus,  Ohio   *61 

Concrete;  for  Car  Houses  279,  *287 

 Piles,   Dubuque   Steam   Turbine  Power 

Station   *190 

 in    Repair    Shop,    Philadelphia  Rapid 

Transit   Company   *319 

— for   Switchboaru   Cells  249,  c334 

 Ties  in  France   *1054 

Condensers;  Kingsbridge  Power  Station   *14 

— for  Steam  Turbines  [Rockwood]   1047 

Conduits,  Electric,  in  New  York  City,  Incep- 
tion of  [Starrett]   *537 

Connecticut  Taxes    773 

Controller;  Automatic,  (Williams)   275 

 Burn-Outs    424 

 K-26  used  with  Single- Phase  Motor   *285 

— Resistance  Points,  Use  of   1031 

— for  Three-Wire  System  (Krizik)   *1042 

 Two-Motor  Operation  of  a  Four-Motor 

Equipment  with  [Taylor]    *876 

 (See  also  Multiple-Unit  System.) 

Converters,  Rotary;  Dust  Guards  for   147 

Cooper,  H.  S   *55 

Cork,  Ire.,  Test  of  500-kw  Curtis  Turbine  at  989 
Cornell  University  Electric  Railway  Instruc- 
tion  134 

Corpses,    Charge    made    for,    discussed  at 

Ohio   Association   1009 

Coupling,  Electric;  for  Two  Motor  Cars  in 

Sydney    196 

— Insulated,  for  Water  Pipes  (Dresser)   916 

 Wire  (Dossert)    *444 

Cranes,  Traveling,  Motors  for  (Westing- 
house)    *1155 

Crossing;  Electric  &  Steam  Road,  Hearing, 

Frankfort,  Ind   723 

— Stopping  Point  for  Cars  (See  Near-Side 
Ordinance.) 

Cuba,  Electric  Railway  Contracts   83 

Cudworth,  Axtell  &  Company,  Organiza- 
tion of    245 

Curve  Rails,  Life  of  in  Boston   844 

D 

Daft    Electric    Company,    Early    Work  of 

[Daft]    *528 

Dayton,  Ohio;  Novel  Excursions   274 

 Covington  &  Piqua  Traction  Company..  *390 

 Indianapolis  Through  Service   894 

 &  Troy  Electric  Railway  Company,  Right 

of  Way  Improvements   235 

 &  Western  Traction  Company,  Limited 

Service  . . .       .    ~"    ".  .7.   889 

Delaware    Lackawana  &  Western  Railroad, 

Electricity  on   1058 

Denmark,   Polyphase  Railway,  Proposed   216 

Denver;   Coal  Handling  and  Watt  Meters 

in    720 

 Employees'  Rule  Book   138 

 Repair  Shop  Improvements    150 

 &  Southern  Railroad  Company,  Electri- 
cal Equipment  of   458 

Depreciation;     Accounting,     Discussion  at 

Vienna    830 

 Problem   of   [Knowlton]   clOl 

Derby,   England,  Electric  Railway   *834 

Des  Moines-St.  Joseph,  Two  Lines  proposed 

between    356 

Despatching    Cars,   by   Telephone,  Oregon 

Water  Power  &  Railway  Company    *780 

Detroit;  Grade  Crossing  in   142 

 New  Style  Auto-Coach  (American)   *298 

 Toledo  Through  Service   892 

Detroit,  Ypsilanti,  Ann  Arbor  &  Jackson 

Railway,  Improvements    1091 

Dill,  S.  J   934 

Dimmock,  W.  S   *<98 

Dogs,  Charge  made  for,  discussed  at  Ohio 

Association      1009 

Draw  Bar,  New  York  Subway  (Van  Dora)...  »642 

Drilling  Machine  (American)   *1H3 

Dubuque,    Iowa;    Car    House   and  Repair 

Shop    *871 

 Steam  Turbine  Power  Station   184 

Dunne,  E.  J   1130 

Durban,  Natal,  Africa,  Tramways  *1004 


INDEX. 


v 


E 

Easton,  Pa.,  New  Cars  for    *849 

East  St.  Louis;  Fire  in  Power  Station   170 

 New  Cars   *1052 

Economizers  (Sturtevant)    *208 

Edge  water,  N.  J.,  New  Cars   *1086 

Electric  Railway  Tests,  (See  St.  Louis  Ex- 
position.) 

Electric     Storage    Battery     Company's  St. 

Louis  Exhibit    *403 

Electrolysis  [Sever]    489 

Emergency  Car.    (See  Inspection  Car.) 

Employees;  Application  Blanks   1080 

 Associations,  Question  Box,  Utica   412 

  Seattle    *1082 

 Discipline  of;  Merit  System  in  Los  An- 
geles   142 

  Seattle  Electric  Company   *1082 

 Duties  and  Education  of  [Carlisle]. .  t. . .  788 

 Duties  of  Car  House  Force  [Carlisle]   1152 

 Instruction  of,  Motormen    936 

  Portland,  Ore   *1143 

 Organization  of  [Vreeland]    550 

 Pension  Systems  in  Germany  [Gorella]..  476 

 Reading  Rooms  at  Montclair   *1040 

 Rules  for    898 

  Book  in  Denver    138 

 ■      Report  of  Committee    747 

■  Seattle  Electric  Company    1080 

 -Wages;  Increase  in  New  Haven   245 

  New     York,     Interborough  Rapid 

Transit  Company    459 

 Watch  Inspection  Cincinnati,  Dayton  & 

Toledo  Company    1077 

Engine  Lathe,  Motor-Driven  (American)   *299 

Engines,  Gas;  Economy  of    895 

 in    Elmira    (P.   &   M.   Machinery  Com- 
pany   239 

 in  Works  of  Power  &  Mining  Machinery 

Company,    Cudahy,   Wis   *1011 

■  Ochelhauser    *32 

'  Warren  &  Jamestown  Street  Railway   958 

Engines,  Oil;  American  Diesel  [Meier]   *718 

 Comments  on    729 

Engine,  Steam;  (American)    *961 

 Design,  Twenty  Years'  Development  in 

[Sniffin]    565 

 Fuel,  Economy  of  [White]   *555 

 Tests  (Reeves)   673 

Engineering,  Training  of  Students  [Scott]..  c474 

 (See  also  Technical  Education.) 

Engineers;  Collegiate  Recognition  of   89,245 

 ■      [Gotshall]    cl34 

 Difficulties  of  the  Early  [Baker]   536 

Erie,  Pa.,  New  Cars    *1010 

Escanaba,  Mich.,  New  Cars    *441 

Europe;  Single-Phase  Work  in  [Mailloux]...  *948 
Evansville;  Electric  Railway,  Rolling  Stock 

and  Track  Equipment   205 

 Semi-Convertible  Cars    *212 

 Suburban  &  Newburg  Railway,  Electri- 
cal Equipment  of    839 

Everett-Moore  Syndicate  Deals    1049 

Excursion  Cars.    (See  Cars,  Excursion.) 
Excursions,   Fresh-Air,  on  New  York  City 

Railway    88 

Express  Business;  on  Street  Railways,  [Van 

Etten]    455 

 Method   of   handling   Interurban  [Dun- 
ford]    *446 

 on    New  York   City  Railway,  discussed 

at  Utica    435 

Express    Car   and    Snow    Plow  Combined, 

Chautauqua    *1114 

 (See  also  Cars,  Express  and  Freight,  and 

Limited  Cars.) 

F 

Fans,  Motor-Driven  (American  Blower)   *233 

Fare  Registers ;  ( Recording)    *1052 

 (Security)    1014 

Fares;    on    Interurban    Railways,  Question 

Box,  Utica    413 

-  Lexington  &  Boston  Railway  Company, 

Hearing    146 

Feeder  Conduit;  Burn-out  at  St.  Louis   *19 

—New  York  Subway  [Stillwell]    *624 

Feeders.    (See  Power  Distribution.) 

Fenders;  Maintenance  of    277 

 Problem  of    67 

 Rear  (Willard)    484 

Finance;  American  Railways  Company  An- 
nual  Report    SoO 


 Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company  An- 
nual Report   1057 

 Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway  An- 
nual Report    1056 

 Brooklyn   Rapid  Transit  Company,  An- 
nual Report    303 

 Chicago  Northwestern   Elevated  Annual 

Report    807 

 Chicago  Union  Traction  Company,  An- 
nual  Peport    243 

  Nine  Months'  Report    113 

 Iowa   Interuroan    Railways   Annual  Re- 
port   114 

 Massachusetts  Electric   Companies,  An- 
nual Report   *   1089 

 Masachusetts    Street    Railways'  Annual 

Reports    931 

 Montreal  Street  Railway  Company,  An- 
nual Report    931 

 New  York  City  Railway  Company,  An- 
nual  Report    383 

  Interborough    Rapid    Transit  Com- 
pany's Quarterly  Report   272,  963 

 Philadelphia    Rapid    Transit  Company, 

Annual  Report   677 

 Railways     Company     General,  Annual 

Report    496 

 St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  Ten  Months' 

Report    930 

Finzi  Single-Phase  Railway;  Test  in  Milan..  152 

Fire    Insurance,    Mutual    Company  formed 

in  Cleveland    329 

 (See  also  Car  Houses,  Fire  Test.)  

Fireproofing,  on  Brooklyn  Elevated  Railway 

Cars    *252 

 Material   (Keasby  &  Mattison)   *266 

Flooring    Machine,    Double    Cylinder  (Fay 

&  Egan)    *270 

Ford   Electric   &    Manufacturing  Company, 

Expansion    of   Work   676 

Forge  Shop  Ventilation   387 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  Improvements   862 

Fort  Worth,  Tex.,  New  Cars  for  *851,  *960 

Franchises;    Chicago.     (See    Chicago  Fran- 
chises.) 

 Toledo  Railwpys  &  Light  Company's  Ex- 
tension   871 

Franklin  Railway  Supply  Company,  Exhibit 

at  St.  Louis    *794 

Freight  Handling;  [Serrell]    451 

  [Van  Etten]    455 

— —      on  Interurban  Railways  [Spring]   582 

  Methods  of,  discussed  at  Ohio  Asso- 
ciation   1006 

 Locomotives.    (See    Locomotives,  Elec- 
tric, Freight.) 
 Receipts  and  Shipping  Bills,  on  Pennsyl- 
vania &  Mahoning  Valley  Railway   *338 

 Station,  Portland   *781 

Fuel  Supply,  Future  of    119 

Fuses  for  Lighting  Circuits  (Siemens)    851 

c 

Gas  Engines,  Large  Order  from  San  Fran- 
cisco  1075,  1127 

Gasoline  Motor  Cars.    (See  Motor  Cars.) 

Gears;  (Peerless)    *668 

 Solid  (Nuttall)   *661 

 ■      Providence,  R.  I   *912 

General    Electric   Company,    Electric  Loco- 
motive  Bulletin    1058 

Generators;  Alternators,  New  York  Subway 

LStillwell]   *620 

 Direct-Connected,  Development  [Bell]...  587 

 (Sturtevant)    *1153 

Germany;   Early  Electric  Railway  Work  of 

Werner  von  Siemens    *535 

 Electric    Railway    Practice    during  Past 

Year    825 

 Employees  Pension  Systems  in  [Gorella]  476 

 First  Public  Single-Phase  Railway    137 

 Notes  from    215 

 Steam  Locomotive  Tests  in    221 

Glasgow;     Corporation     Tramways  Annual 

Report   .  140 

 Double-Deck  Car  ". . .  *835 

Goldschmidt,  Thermit  Company's  St.  Louis 

Exhibit    *797 

 (See  also  Rail  Joints.) 

Gould  Storage  Battery  Company,  St.  Louis 

Exhibit    *795 

Grade  Crossings;  Detroit,  Mich   142 

Grades,  Steep,  at  Portland,  Ore   1136 

Graham,  Va.,  New  Cars   *335 


Grand    Rapias;    Railway    Company  Resort 

Book    109 

 Grand    Haven    &    Muskegon  Railway, 

Dining  Car  Service  on    206 

 ■      Employees'  School  of  Instruction   134 

Great  Britain;  Electric  Traction  on  British 

Railways  [Dawson]   485,  879 

 (See  also  London.) 

Great  Falls  &  Old  Dominion  Electric  Rail- 
way, Grading    496 

Green  Bay,  Wis.,  Electric  Railways  at   *1030 

Ground  Detector,  New  Three-Phase  (West- 

inghouse)    *441 

H 

Hadfield's    Steel    Foundry,    Sheffield.  Eng- 
land   216 

Hagerstown,  Md.,  New  Cars    *796 

Hanger  used  in  Lynchburg.  Va   *240 

Harrington,  Curtis  J   .  422 

Harrison  Safety  Boilers  at  St.  Louis   342 

Hartford;  Armature  Banding  Lathe   *790 

 New  Snow  Plow    *760 

Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway,  New 

Branch,  Opening  of    *320 

Headlight,  Arc,  and  Incadescent  (Smith)   *670 

Heaters,  Electric;  (Consolidated)   *663,  *914 

 (Prometheus)    *888 

Heaters,  Hot  Water;  (Franklin)    *662 

Heaters,  Stove;  (Detroit).....   *660 

Heating  Cars:  Hot  Water  vs.  Electric  [Gor- 

ham]    228 

 Large  Radiating  Surface  Necessary   813 

 Motorman's  Vestibule,  Heating  of   1095 

 Problem  of    1132 

Heavy  Electric   Railroading;   Electric  Trac- 
tion on  British  Railways  [Dawson]..  879 

 Motor  Cars.    (See  Motor  Cars.) 

 New   York  Central   Railroad   *858,  *900 

 Comments  on    897 

 Problems  of  [Boynton]   c881 

  [Luithlen]    293 

  [Lyford  &  Smith]    *992 

 ■      [Stillwell]   586,  799 

  [White]    799 

  Comments  on    775 

Hedley,  Frank    *726 

High-Speed  Tests;  of  Electric  Railway  Test 

Commission    *292 

  [Norris]   758 

Historical;   Boston,  Early  Electric  Railway 

in  [Sergeant]    *534 

 Early  Railway  Work  of  Siemens    *535 

 Electric  Railway  Work  in  America,  Prior 

to  1888    *559 

  [Sprague]   *566,  581 

■  Horse  Car  Days  [Wyman]    523 

 Judge  at  Louisville  [Thomas]    1035 

 Lynn  &  Boston  Railway,  First  Car  of   *526 

 Street  Railways  during  the  Last  Decade..  *590 

Hoist,  Electric;  used  in  Duluth  (Northern 

Engineering    Works)  "   *917 

.  (Niles)    *798 

 (Thomas)    341 

 St.  Louis  Exposition  (Yale  &  Towne)..  *79 

Holyoke;  Thermit  Rail  Welding  in   286 

Horse  Car  Days  [Wyman]    523 

Huddersfield,  Eng.,  Coal  Car  at    *834 

Hummelstown,  Pa.,  New  Cars    *36 


Illinois  Tunnel  Company's  Terminal  Site...  169 
Incadescent  Lamp  Socket  Ring  (Johns-Man- 

ville)    *887 

Indiana:  Association  Movement    1024 

  Organization  of    1092 

 Interurban    Railways;    Assessments  re- 
duced   273 

  Power  Distribution  on   *102 

 Northern  Traction  Company,  System   *3f>2 

—Right  of  Way  173,  245 

 Traction  Companies'  Earnings    217 

 Union   Traction  Company,  Standards  of 

Construction    *1061 

Indianapolis,  Long  Trolley  Trip  from ...  .1090.  *1119 
Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati  Traction  Company, 

Single-Phase  System   932 

Indianapolis  Traction  &  Terminal  Company's 

Terminal  Station    *S6S 

Inspection  Car;  Cleveland    959 

 Gasoline,  on  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua 

Railway    *120 

 (Railway  Appliance  Company)   *1018 


vi 


INDEX. 


Instruction  Car  on  New  York  Subway   *259 

Insulator  Pins,  (Creaghead)    *660 

 (Porter  &  Berg)    341 

Insulators  (Creaghead)   *850 

International  Electrical  Congress;  Proceed- 
ings   485 

  Comments  on    461 

■  -Programme    53,  84 

International  Railway  Congress;  Exhibition 

for    1022 

 Washington  Programme    244 

International  Tramways  &  Light  Railways 
Association  Convention;  Papers  at, 

198,  293,  332,  370,  399,  400,  476,  478 

 ■      Proceedings    829 

  Programme   15  ,  201,  356 

 Standard  Form  of  Report   370 

  Comments  on    360 

Interstate    Commerce    Commission,  Annual 

Report    141 

Interurban  Railways;  Buffet  Cars  on   388 

 as  City  Builders  [Spring]   908 

 and     City     Railways,  Interchangeable 

Ticket  System  (Ohmer)    *137 

 as  Coal  Roads    898 

 Development  of  [Everett]   548 

 Freight  Handling  on  [Spring]   582 

 Indiana-Ohio  Trolley  Trip  1090,  *1149 

 Relation  of  Newspapers  to   1096 

 Single  vs.  Double  Tracks    899 

•  Sprinkling  Roadway  on    249 

 Time  Tables  on,  Importance  of    308 

 Traffic  Solicitors  for    250 

Intramural     Railway,     Chicago  Columbian 

Exposition  [Arnold]    541 

 St.  Louis.    (See  St.  Louis  Exposition.) 

Iowa  Interurban   Railways,   Annual   Report  114 

Iowa  Street  Railways,  Laws  Governing  809,  862 

J 

Johns-Manville  Exhibit  at  St.  Louis  Expo- 
sition   *483 

Joliet,  111.,  New  Cars   *1052 

Joliet,  Plainfield  &  Aurora  Railroad,  System 

of    *1098 

Journal  Bearings  (More-Jones)    *796 

 (See  also  Lubrication.) 


Kalamazoo,  Mich.,  Traction  Company  Via- 
duct near  Galesburg   *1043 

Kansas  City;  Test  of  Magnetic  Adhesion  in  *378 
Kennebunkport,  Maine,  Atlantic  Shore  Rail- 
way Line,  Six  Months'  Report   1088 

 New  Cars    *670 

Knox,  George  W   *357 


Lackawanna  Tunnel  Railroad  Company,  In- 
corporation   -809 

Lagonda     Manufacturing     Company's  St. 

Louis  Exhibit    402 

Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company,  Life- 

Saving  Department    366 

 Traffic  Agreement  with  Steam  Lines. ..  .132,  206 

 Winter  Schedule    739 

Lamp  Guard  (Porter- Berg)   *209 

Lamps,  Proper  Form  of   1029 

Lathe;  (American)    *1113 

 Car-Wheel,     Steel-Tired  (Niles-Bement- 

Pond)    *205 

 Single-Axle  (Niles)    *270 

Leakage    from    High-Tension    Pole  Lines 

•    [Storer,  Rockwell,  Danforth]    449 

Legal;  Abusive  Language  of  Employee  to 

Passenger    159 

 Assaults  in  Street  Railway  Parks,  Lia- 
bility for    40 

 Duty  to  Look  for  Approaching  Cars   921 

 Freight  Loading  in  Streets   273 

 Interurban  Railways,  Definition  in  Iowa.  862 

 Right  of  Way  in  Indiana    173 

  Interurban  Roads  not  an  Additional 

Servitude    114 

■            New  York  State    933 

 Patent  Decision  Trolley  Wheel    166 

 Servants'    Capacity    to    Render  Master 

Liable    1116 

 Tax  Decision;  New  York  State   274 

 Transfer  Case  in  Brooklyn   53 

Legal  Notes  40,  159  ,  343  ,  921,  1116 

Lehigh  Valley  Traction  Company's  Reorgan- 
ization   302 


Levis  County  Railway  Company's  Power 
Trouble   

Lewis,  C.  C  

Lexington  &  Boston  Railway  Company, 
Hearing   

Life-Saving  Car,  Lake  Shore  Electric  Rail- 
way   

Light  Railways.  (See  Heavy  Electric  Rail- 
roading and  Interurban  Railways.) 

Lima,  Ohio,  Power  Station  [Rae]  

Limited  Cars  as  Chartered  Cars,  in  Camden. 

Liverpool,  Wheels  in  

Locomotives,  Electric;  Depreciation  and  Re- 
pairs compared  with  Steam  [Boynton]. 

 Freight  (Baldwin)   

 ■      North-Eastern  (B.  T.  H.)  

 G.  E.  Bulletin   

 Huber  Contact  [Mailloux]   

 "Judge,"  at  Louisville  [Thomas]  

 New  York  Central  Railroad  858 

  Comments  on  

  [Hanchett]   

 Paris,  55-Ton  used  on  Orleans  Railway.. 

 Pick-up  Device  on  B.  &  O.  Railroad  

Locomotives,  Steam;  Improvements  in  Ger- 
many   

London;  Brixton  Cable  Line,  Conversion  of 
to  Electricity   

 Letter  51,  213,  352,  492,  856 

 Lnderground  Railways,  Capitalization... 

  Car  Contract   

Long  Island  Railroad;  Electric  Equipment 
of  [Lyford  &  Smith]  

 Motor  Contract   

 Soldered  Rail  Bonds  on  

Long  Island;  South  Shore  Traction  Com- 
pany, Incorporation   

Long  Island  Traction  Company,  Hempstead 
&  Freeport  Line  to  open  

Los  Angeles;  Accident  in   

 Broad-Gaging  in   

 Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  Plans 

of   

 Merit  System  in   

 New  Parlor  Cars  

 Plans  of   

 Railway,  Car  Kinks   

 Railways  to  sprinkle  Streets  

 Reconstructed  Cars   

 Transfer  Decision   8! 

Louisville;  the  "Judge"  Electric  Locomo- 
tive at  [Thomas]  

 New  Cars   

Lubricators,  Automatic  (Standard)  

Lubrication;  in  Cold  Weather  

 Oil  for  Motors  [Pape]  

  in  Providence   


M 


McDonald,  John  B.,  New  Interests   1088 

McLanegan,  S.  B   1025 

McLimont,  A.  W   1025 

Magnet  Wire,  Deltabeston  (D.  &  W.)   *31 

Magnetic  Adhesion,  Test  of  in  Kansas  City.  *378 

Mail  Car,  St.  Louis    *671 

Management;  Inspection  of  Other  Systems.  865 

 Problems   of,    Discussion    on.  Question 

Box,  Utica    412 

Manchester  Corporation  Tramways,  Annual 

Report    140 

Mandalay  Electric  Company,  System   *682 

Manila,  Extensions  at    1023 

Maps;   Cleveland,   Painesville   &  Ashtabula 

Railway  System   91 

 Dayton,    Covington    &    Piqua  Traction 

Company    390 

 Green  Bay  Traction  Company   1030 

 Indiana  Interurban  Lines,  Power  Distri- 
bution on    102 

 Indiana    Northern    Traction  Company's 

System    362 

 Indianapolis    1064 

 Joliet,  Plainfield  &  Aurora  Railroad   1095? 

 Paris-Orleans  Railway  Electric  Extension  178 

 Portland,  Ore   1135 

 Port'and,  Ore..  Power  it  Railway  Com- 
pany   730 

 Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company's  Lines.  970 

 Sidney,  N.  S.  W   195 

 St.  Louis    503 

Massachusetts;  Electric  Companies,  Annual 

Report    1089 

 Franchises,  Demands  for  13,000- Volt  Line.  812 


171 
1093 


146 

366 


*938 
376 
375 

884 
*841 
*674 
1058 
*948 
1035 
,  *900 

897 
clOO 
*177 
*151 

221 

*181 
1021 

85 
966 

*992 
933 
*917 

965 

932 
•920 
274 

1092 
142 

1044 

1092 
*24 
115 

♦136 
!,  384 

1035 
1014 
•28 
776 
*877 
•912 


 Railroad  Commissioners;  Fare  Decision, 

169,  964 

  Organization  and  Methods  of   1075 

 Street  Railways,  Annual  Reports  of   931 

Master  Mechanics'  Association  Convention.  28 

 Relation  to  Manager  [Beggs]   688 

 (See  also  American  Railway,  Mechanical 

and  Electrical  Association.) 
Measuring  Instruments,  Electrical  (Westing- 
house)    *205 

Mechanical  Draft  Apparatus  (American)   *915 

Melrose,  Mass.,  Accident   497,  772 

Memphis,  Tenn.,  New  Cars  for   *916 

Metallic  Phosphorus  (New  Era)   887 

Mexico  City  New  Cars   *155 

Mileage,  Cars  and  Capitalization  of  Street 
and  Elevated  Railways  in  United  States 

and  Canada  in  1903    80 

Mileage  Coupons,  discussed  at  Ohio  Asso- 
ciation   1005 

 (See  also  Ohio  Interurban  Association.) 

Military  Value  of  Electric  Roads-.   58 

Milwaukee;  Private  Car    *268 

Minneapolis;  Blue  Printing  Room   828 

 Car  House  and  Shops   *287 

 Double-Deck  Cars    *838 

 Electrolysis,  Plans  to  prevent   420 

 Franchise  Suit    868 

 New  Loop  abandoned    307 

 Terminal  Facilities,  Minnesota  State  Fair 

Grounds    *427 

 Union  Depot  Loop    388 

Mono-Rail  Systems  [Behr]    719 

Monterey  Electric  Street  Railway,  Light  & 
Power   Company,    Ltd. ;  Incorporation 

of    246 

 System  of    *909 

Montgomery,   Ala.,   Van    Depoele   Road  at 

[Bentley]    585 

Montreal,  Can.,  New  Cars   *210,  *1016 

 Notes  from    475 

 Street  Railway  Company,  Annual  Report.  931 

 Mutual  Benefit  Association  Report   137 

Morse,  F.  E   144 

Motorman's  Compartment,  Chicago  &  Mil- 
waukee Cars    *1019 

Motor  Cars,  Independent;  [Dawson]    *814 

  Comments  on    811 

 Discussion  at  Vienna    832 

 Types;  Detroit  (American)    *298 

 ■      Gasoline-Electric   (G.   E.)   *789 

  North-Eastern      Railway  Company, 

England    *842 

  Steam  (Ganz)    *840 

Motor  Field  Coils,  Insulation  of  (D.  &  W.)..  *1084 
Motors,    Electric;    Alternating-Current,  De- 
velopment of  [Armstrong]    1111 

  [Steinmetz]    486 

  (See  also  Motors,  Electric,  Single- 
Phase.) 

 for  Cranes  (Westinghouse)    *1155 

— -Gear  Ratio.  Effect  of  Changing,  on  Out- 
put [Huffman]    *785 

 Gearless,  on  New  York  Central  Locomo- 
tive   *900 

 History  of  [Dodd]    *551 

  [Griffin]    *575 

  Westinghouse  [Lamme]    *542 

 Single-Phase,    Discussion    at  Electrical 

Congress    486 

Comments  on   425  ,  461 

  Discussion  at  Engineering  Congress. 799,  801 

  Comments  on    775 

  Discussion  at  Vienna    832 

  in  Europe  [Mailloux]    *91? 

  General  Electric  System   *280 

Comments  on   278,  309.  897.  1097 

  Status  of  [Armstrong]    1111 

  [McAllister]    881 

 ■           [Renshaw]    1045 

  Tests  of  Arnold  System    235 

 Westinghouse  System    *848 

[Lamme]    554 

  (See  also  Single-Phase  Systems.) 

 Westinghouse  No.  101    *105 

  No.  200   j   *30 

Multiple-Unit  System,  G.  E. ;  Automatic  Re- 
lay, on  Boston  Elevated    *479 

 Two-Wire  (Cutler-Hammer)    *1050 

Municipal  Tramways  Association  of  Great 
Britain ;  Annual  Convention  Pro- 
gramme   420 

  Proceedings    802 

Music,  Offer  of  Prize  for,  by  Detroit  United 

Railway    720 

Myers  Company,  L.  E.,  Changes  in   1156 


INDEX. 


vii 


Nantasket,  Third-Rail  System   463 

National   Civic  Federation,   Industrial  Eco- 
nomics Department,  Membership  of....  1092 
National  Electric  Company  Developments...  808 

Near  Side  Ordinance,  San  Francisco   963 

Nelson,  W.  A   934 

Newark;    Public   Service   Corporation,  Ex- 
press and  Freight  Car    *269 

 Montclair  Car  House  and  Repair  Shop.  *1036 

 New  Cars    *35 

■  Sprinkler  System  for  Car  Houses,  Test 

of   964,  1059 

Newburgh,  Strike  in   142 

New  England;  Early  Electric  Railroading  in 

[Foster]    *526 

 Street  Railway  Club,  Annual  Outing   54 

  Meeting  of   843,  *1045 

New    Haven    Consolidated    Railway;  Em- 
ployees' Wages  increased    245 

  Organization  of    1115 

New  Orleans;  Power  Station    *182 

 •      Contracts    989 

 Railways  Company,  Reorganization  of...  1158 

New  Publications.. 143,  305,  725,  863  ,  895,  934,  1025 

1058,  1129 

 Air  Brake  Tests,  Westinghouse   933 

JNew  York  Central  Railroad;  Central  New 

York  Plans  141,  234,  932 

 Electrical    Equipment    of,    in    the  New 

York  Zone  [Wilgus]    584 

 Electric  Locomotive   858,  *900 

  Comments  on    897 

[Hanchett]    clOO 

 New  Terminal  Station    1160 

New  York  City;  Bridges,  Traffic  Plans   420 

 Brooklyn  Bridge  (see  Brooklyn  Bridge.) 

 City  Railway  Company,  Annual  Report..  383 

 ■      Express   Business   of,    Discussed  at 

Utica    435 

  Employees'  Annual  Outing    84 

■   Officials'  Outing   169,  355 

  Power   Production   and  Distribution 

[Starrett]    445 

  Power  Station,  Kingsbridge    *4 

  Comments  on    3 

  Quarterly  Report   54,  965 

  Steel-Wheel  Practice  on   291 

 Conduit  System,  Inception  of  [Starrett].  *537 

 Congestion  Problems    909 

 Engineering  Building,  Selection  of  Archi- 
tects for    115 

 Foreign      Engineers,      Reception  Pro- 
gramme   302 

 Interborough    Company's    Elevated  Di- 
vision, Improvements    1023 

  Labor  Agreement    459 

  New  Cars    *1015 

  Store  Entrances    335 

 ■      Strike   171,  382 

  Report    419 

■  Interborough    Company's     Subway  Di- 
vision, Block  Signal  System   *648 

  Cars    *634 

  Electrical  Equipment  [Stillwell]   *619 

  Flood  in    1077 

  Inspection  of,  by  Pennsylvania  Offi- 
cials   773 

  by  Rapid  Transit  Commission   771 

  Instruction  Car    *259 

  Opening  of   808,  859 

  Power  Station  [Van  Vleck]   *601 

  Schedule    1023 

  Stations,  and  Engineering  Details   *464 

  Traffic   893 

  during  First  Twenty-nine  Days...  1004 

  Ventilation   892,  933 

 Interborough   Rapid  Transit  Company's 

Quarterly  Report   272.  9ftf 

 Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Association, 

Meeting  of    721 

 and  New  Jersev  Tunnel.    (See  Tunnels.) 

 Rapid  Transit  Commission  Meeting   112S 

 Tcaffic  Regulation  by  Police   410 

 Union  Railway.  New  Cars   *889 

 Williamsburg  Bridge,  Cars  on   804 

 Electrical   Equipment   of   *906 

New  York-Boston  Trolley,  Completion  of   1044 

New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad, 

Electrical  Equipment,  Derby  Branch..  82 

  Fall   River  Branch   54 

 Trolley  Interests  172,  354,  497.  1115,  1133 

New    York-Philadelphia,    Through  Elec'ric 

Service    286 


New  York  &  Portchester  Railroad,  Organi- 
zation of  Construction  Company   1058 

New  York  Railroad  &   Development  Com- 
pany,  Organization   of   1058 

New  York  State;  Street  Railway  Association, 

Next  Meeting  of    1023 

- — Utica  Convention,  President's  Address...  430 

  Proceedings    430 

■   Programme    375 

  Question  Box   '.  262,  405 

New  York,  Westchester  &  Boston  Railway 

Company's  Application   approved   964 

 Crossing  Application  granted   169 

Newspapers,    Relation    of    Management  to 

[Murray]   cl33,  1093 

Nicaraguan  Electric  Railway  Project   245 

Norfolk,  Va.,  Advertising  for  Traffic  in   *236 

North  Adams,  Mass.,  Hoosic  Valley  Railway 

Highway  Controversy    142 

Xorth-Eastern    Railway   Company,  England, 

Gasoline  Cars  on   *842 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  Company, 

Accident  on    1049 

Northwestern     Railway,     England,  Electric 

Freight  Locomotives  (B.  T.  H.)   *674 

o 

Oakland  &  Marysville   Railroad,  California, 

Incorporation    773 

Ohio   Interurban   Railway    Association;  An- 
nouncement   894 

 Executive  Committee  Meeting   244 

 Interchangeable   Coupon   Book,  Progress 

of   217,  3S4,  1005 

 Meeting    1005 

Ohio;   Earnings  per   Capita  of  Interurban 

Properties   1131,  1162 

 Interurban    Railways    develop  Through 

Traffic    263 

 Western  Ohio  Fair  Circuit   274 

Oil  Filter  (Famous)   *759 

Oil;  as  Lubricant,  discussed  at  Utica   433 

 ■       (See  also  Lubricant.) 

 and  Waste-Saving  Machine  (O.  &  W.  S. 

Company)    *798 

Oklahoma  City,  New  Cars   *761 

Organization    Chart;    Dayton,    Covington  & 

Piqua  Traction  Company   395 

 Mechanical  Department,  United  Traction 

Company,  Albany  [Benedict]    *454 

Ottawa,  Offer  to  City   965 

Overhead    Construction;    Bracket    vs.  Span 

Wire    899 

 High-Tension  Trolley  Wires   969 

 Indianapolis    Northern    Traction  Com- 
pany's Standards    *1064 

 Question  Box,  Utica   407 

Overhead  Line  Insulation,  Test  of  [Pedriali]  *400 


Pacific  Coast;  Development  of  Electric  Trac- 
tion on  [Wilcutt]  

 First  Electric  Railway  [Osgood]  

Pacific  Electric  Railway,  Los  Angeles.  (See 
Los  Angeles.) 

Painting;  Changing  Colors  

 Department    in    Portland    Repair  Shops 

[Weaver]   

Pantaleoni  Guido   

Paris;  Letter   52,  214,  353,  494,  858. 

 Metropolitan   Railway,   Recent  Develop- 
ments on   

Paris-Orleans  Railway,  Extension  of  Third- 
Rail  System  of  

Parks  and  Pleasure  Resorts;  Amusements  for, 
Circle  Swing  and  Air  Ship  [Traver]  

  Coasting  through  Switzerland  

 Chicago,  "White  City"  

 Norumbega  Park,  Auburndale,  Mass  

 Overlook;    Dayton,    Covington    &  Piqua 

Traction  Company   

 Plainfield,  111  

 Portland,  Ore  ". . 

 Question  Box,  Utica  

 Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  Railway  

 -Waste  Receptacle,  St.  Paul  

Passenger  Stations,  New  York  City  Subway.. 

 (See  also  Waiting  Stations.) 

Pennsylvania  &  Mahoning   Valley  Railway, 
Freight  Receipts  and  Shipping  Bills  on. 

Pctaluma,  Cal.,  New  Cars  

Peru,  New  Electric  System  for  


539 
c884 


387 

cl33 
460 
1022 

*1146 

*176 

*482 
•380 

*672 
♦64 

*394 
•1099 
*77S 
413 
•122 
•378 
•464 


•33S 
•687 
1025 


Petrol  Motor  Cars.  (See  Motor  Cars.) 

Philadelphia;  Manganese  Frogs,  Life  of   *914 

 Rapid  Transit  Company,  Annual  Report..  677 

  New  Repair  Shop   *310 

 Willow  Grove  Terminal  Improvements...  297 

Philippines  Electric  Railway  Project   275 

Photographs,  Usefulness  of  in  Street  Railways  913 

Photoscope,  St.  Louis  Exposition   *110 

Piping,    Scioto    Valley    Traction  Company, 

Power  Station    *974 

Pittsburg  &  Allegheny  Valley  Railway  Con- 
tract awarded    384 

Pittsburg,  McKeesport  &  Connellsville  Rail- 
way, Book  of  Suggestions  for  Car  Em- 
ployees   825 

Pittsburg,  McKeesport  &  Greensburg  Railway 

Company,  Annual  Report   170 

Planer,  Single  Furniture  (Clement)   *791 

Poles,  made  from  Old  Girder  Rails   475 

Polyphase  Distribution;  Indianapolis  North- 
ern Traction  Company    *1067 

 Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua   *127 

—  (See  also  Power  Distribution.) 
Population,  Net  Earnings  per  Capita  in  Ohio, 

1131,  1167 

 Statistics  of  Interurban  Traffic  [Beards- 
ley]    452 

Portland,  Me.,  Repair  Shop  *16,  85 

Portland,  Oregon;  Consolidation   418 

 Lewis  &  Clark  Exposition   *880 

—New  Cars    *78 

 System  of    *H34 

 Traffic  Handling  during  Bridge  Construc- 
tion in    *426 

 Water  Power  &  Railway  Company,  Sys- 
tems of   *730,  *88 

Power  Consumption;  of  Long  and  Short  Cars 

[Davis]    450 

 of  Air  Brakes.    (See  Brakes,  Air.) 

Power  Distribution;  High-Tension  Transmis- 
sion Lines    59 

 Indiana  Interurban  Railways   *102 

 Metropolitan  Street  Railway,  New  York 

[Starrett]    445 

 -New  York  City  Subway  [Stillwell]   *619 

 Systems  of  [Pforr]   333 

 (See  also  Polyphase  Distribution.) 

Power  &  Mining  Machinery  Company,  Power 

Plant  of    *1011 

Power  Stations;  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ash- 
tabula Railway    *93 

 Construction,  Question  Box,  Utica   405 

 Designing  at  Arm's  Length   c333 

 Dubuque,  Iowa,  Steam  Turbine  Plant....  *184 

 Evolution  of  Modern  [White]   *555 

 Lima,  Ohio  [Rae]   *938 

 New  York  City,  Kingsbridge   *4 

  Comments  on    3 

 New  York  City,  Subway  [Van  Vleck]....  *601 

 Records,  Boston  Elevated   359 

 Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company   *974 

 St.  Louis  Exposition,  Sale  of   495 

 and  Transmission  [Stillwell]   80f 

 Wire  Glass  for   *1049 

Power  Transmission.    (See  Power  Distribu- 
tion and  Transmission  Lines.) 
Providence;  Solid  Gears  and  Motor  Lubrica- 
tion in    *912 

Public  Service  Corporation.  (See  Newark, 
N.  J.) 

Pumping  Engine  Economy,  Tests  on   305 

Pumps,  St.  Louis  Exposition  (International)  *76 

Punch;  Conductor's  (Johnson)   *960 

 (Kraeuter)    *1052 

Punxsutawney,  Pa.,  Semi-Convertible  Cars..  *378 


Rail    Bonding;    Brooklyn    Elevated  System 

[Parke]   *1103 

 and  Thermit  Joint  [Cole]   330 

  [Brown]    c440 

Rail  Bonds;  Soldered   423 

  Green  Bay,  Wis   *1033 

  (Lord)    *917 

 -Testing,  Autographic  Test  Car  [Herrick],  *94fi 

Rail  Cutting,  Electric  Motors  for   471 

Kail-Joints,  Wear  and  Maintenance  of  [Cole].  330 

Rails;  Manganese,  Boston,  Life  of   844 

 ■      Philadelphia    *914 

 Practice  in  Germany   20 

Railways  Company  General,  Annual  Report..  496 
Raleigh-Durham  Passenger  &   Power  Com- 
pany, Project    1091 


viii 


TNDEX. 


Reading,  Pa.,  Parlor  Car   *239 

Registers.      (See  Fare  Registers.) 

Refuse,   Removal  of,  in  Worcester   861 

Repair  Shops;  Denver   150 

 Design  of  [Wright]   *703 

  Comments  on   679 

 Dubuque,  Iowa    *871 

 Green  Bay,  Wis   *1034 

 Minneapolis    *287 

 Montclair    *1037 

 Philadelphia    *310 

 Plainfield,  111   *1100 

 Portland,  Me  *16,  85 

 Portland,  Ore   *1141 

Repair-Shop  Practice;  Care  of  the  Junk   1096 

 Centralizing  Repairs   2,  813 

 Columbus,  Ohio   *60 

 Economy  in    87 

 Painting  Department,  Portland  [Weaver]  cl33 

 Question  Box,  Utica    413 

 Records  and  Accounts,  Report  on   *700 

 Records,  New  System  of  Brooklyn  Ele- 
vated   *322 

Report  Blanks  used  in  Repair  Shops;  Colum- 
bus, Ohio   *62 

 Report  of  Committee   *700 

Reserve  Equipment    146 

Richmond,  Va.,  Receivers  for  Properties. ..  .140,  168 

Rip-Saw,  Automatic  Band  (Fay  &  Egan)   *29 

Rip-Saw  Table  (American)   *914 

Rochester  &  Eastern  Railway,  Accident  on...  356 

 Contracts  of    1128 

 Speed  Competition  on   *376 

Rock  Island  Railroad,  Electric  Plans  of   243 

Russian  Westinghouse  Company's  St.  Louis 

Exhibit    404 


St.  Joseph,  Albany  &  Des  Moines  Railway 

Company,  Incorporation  of   274 

St.  Louis;  Buffet  Car   *685 

 Cable  Conduit  Burn-Out  

 Central  Sub-Station  [Hobein]  


*19 

*509 

 Electric  Railways  of   *502 

484 
•890 
*268 
*671 


 Employees'  Lunch  Room  

 Hose  Box  for  charging  Reservoirs  

 Private  Car  at  *209 

 Private  Mail  Car  

 Street  Railways  in  1884  and  1904  [McCul- 

loch]    580 

 Traffic  Records  157,  429,  770 

 Transit  Company  Reorganization  722,  809,893 

  Reports   112,  419,  720,  930 

 United  Railway  Earnings  for  November..  1088 

St.  Louis  Car  Co.,  Exhibit  at  St.  Louis  *336,  *342 

 in  Transportation  Parade   *300 

 London  Office    1092 

 Manufacturer  of  Automobiles    1128 

St.  Louis  Exposition;  Awards.. 807,  855,  895,  933,  965 

1129,  1139 

 Electric  Railway  Test  Commission  [Mar- 
shall]   265 

 Electric  Railway  Tests  *292,  365,  725,  *875 

  [Norris]    *758 

 Intramural  Railway    175 

 Sale  of  Power  Plant   495 

 Steel  Contest  at   357 

 Street  Railway  Exhibits  at  *21,  *76, 

*78,  *79,  110,  *237,  *336,  *342,  »402,  *403, 
*404,  *415,  *442,  *443,  *4S3,  763,  *794,  *795, 

*797,  *854,  *887,  *889,  *916,  *918,  *1014,  1129 

 Terminal  Loops    1 

St.  Paul,  New  Bridges  at  Como  Park   »428 

Sacramento,     Cal.,     Portable  Trolley-Pole 

Planer  used  in    *1115 

Sand  Blast,  Portable  Outfit  in  Brooklyn   *1103 

Sand  Box  (Emergency)   *156 

 -Pneumatic  (American)   *342 

  (Ohio  Brass)   *1051 

Sanding  Machine  (Fay  &  Egan)   *687 

San  Diego,  First  Electric  Cars  in   416 

San  Francisco;  Improvements    724 

 Large  Contract  for  Alternators  in  1075.  1127 

 Near-Side  Ordinance    963 

 Power  Contract  in    1127 

 Track  Washout  in   *760 

Saw  Bench,  Universal  (American)   *339 

Sawtelle,  E.  A   966 

Schedules;  Losing  Time  at  Car  Houses   1029 

Schenectady;  Bus  Service  in   422 

 New  Cars    *103 

 Railway,    Single-Phase    Motor   Tests  on 

(G.E.)    *280 


  Comments  on    278 

Scioto  Valley  Railway  Company.    (See  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio.) 

Scroll  Saw  (Fay  &  Egan)   *377 

Seattle  Railway;  Methods  of  handling  Large 

Crowds    *135 

— -Operating  Features  of    *1078 

 Semi-Convertible    Cars   *404 

Security  Register  Company's  St.  Louis  Ex- 
hibit   *797 

Shaft,  Armature  Straightening  Device   475 

Shamokin  &  Mt.  Carmel  Electric  Railway, 

New  Cars   *1155 

Sheboygan,    Wis.,     Combination  Passenger, 

Freight  and  Express  Car   1010 

Shiras,  Oliver    498 

Sidney,  N.  S.  W.,  Tramway  System   *194 

Single-Phase  Systems;   501 

 Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati  Plans   932 

 Alternating  Current  for  Interurban  Roads 

(Westinghouse)    *846 

 Bloomington,  Pontiac  &  Joliet  Railway...  495 

 vs.   Direct  Current  for  Heavy  Traction 

Service.    (See  Heavy  Electric  Railroad- 
ing.) 

 -Early  Westinghouse  Experiments  [Lamme]*542 

— Europe,  Work  in  [Mailloux]   *948 

 Finzi  System,  Test  of,  in  Milan   152 

 Germany,  First  in    137 

 near  Philadelphia    275 

 Recent  Contracts    171 

;  vs.  Three-Phase  Traction   c401 

 Warren  &  Jamestown  Railway   958 

 (See  also  Motors,  Single-Phase.) 

Sleeping  Cars;  on  Columbus,  Newark  6c  Zanes- 

ville  Railway    302 

 Situation    217 

Snow  Plow,  Hartford  Street  Railway   *760 

 and  Express  Car,  Chautauqua    *1114 

Snow  Removal    1063 

 Question  Box,  Utica    413 

 Track  Planer  (Wood)    *1154 

Special  Reports,  Value  of  [Knowlton]   296 

Special    Work,    Manganese    in  Philadelphia 

(Wharton)    *914 

Speed-Time  Curves;  Berlin  Zossen   *80 

— Long  Island  Railroad  [Lyford  and  Smith]  *992 

 N.  Y.  C.  R.  R.  Tests  *282,  *904 

Sprague,    Frank  J.,   Some   Personal  Experi- 
ences of    *566 

Springfield,  111.,  New  Cars  *667,  *1085 

Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  Electric  Railway 

System    *120 

Sprinkler  System,  Cleveland  Car  House   *366 

Stack,  Steel,  Dubuque  Power  Station   *189 

Star  Brass  Works,  Products  of    1160 

Statistics;  Collection  and  Use  of   251 

 Mileage  Cars  and   Capitalization  in  the 

United  States  between  1890  and  1902....  *599 

  in  1903    80 

 Ohio,  Earnings  per  Capita  on  Interurban 

Properties   1131,  1162 

 of  Population  in  Regard  to  Interurban 

Traffic  [Beardsley]    452 

Steam  Engines.    (See  Engines,  Steam.) 

Steam  Motor  Cars.    (See  Motor  Cars.) 

Steam  Separator,  Kingsbridge  Power  Station.  *14 

Steam  Turbines.    (See  Turbines,  Steam.) 

Steel  Cars.    (See  Cars,  Non-Combustible.) 

Stilwell-Bierce    &     Smith-Vaile  Company's 

New  Name    420 

Storage-Battery       Sub-Stations,  Chicago, 

Northwestern  Elevated    *229 

 for  Power  Stations  [Entz]   483 

Stranahan,  O.  A   113) 

Street  Indicator  (Butler)   773 

Street  Railway  Journal,  Twentieth  Anniver- 
sary   499 

Strike;  Newburgh,  N.  Y   142 

 New  York  Subway  171,  3«2 

Stubaithalbahn,   Single-Phase  Motors  [Mail- 
loux]   *918 

Sub-stations;  Montclair    *104l 

 New  York  Subway  [Stillwell]   *626 

 St.  Louis,  New  Central  [Hobein]   *509 

Summer  Traffic,  Light  Roads  for   147 

Surface    Contact    System,  Wolverhampton 

[Shawfield]    71 

Switch-boards;  Cab,  on  Reconstructed  Cars 

of  Brooklyn  Elevated  Railway.;........  *254 

 Concrete  Bus-Bar,  Compartments  for.. 249,  334 

 Development  of  Railway  [Harrington]....  *546 

 Kingsbridge  Power  Station    *12 

 New  York  Subway  [Stillwell]  -.  *622 

 St.  Louis  Exposition  (D.  &  W.)   »78 


Switches;  Derailing  at  Portland,  Ore   *H3E 

 Losing  Time  in   171 

Sydney,  Australia,  Railway  Guide  Book  and 

Passenger  Regulations    481 

Syracuse,  Niagara  Power  in   859 


T 

Tacoma,  Wash.,  Electric  Improvements   498 

Taunton,  Bristol  County  Street  Railway,  and 
Middleboro,  Wareham  &  Buzzards  Bay 

Companies,  Reorganization    272 

Technical  Education  for  Railway  Men  250,  279 

 [Norris]    397 

 [Scott]    c474 

Technical  Newspapers,  Value  of   865 

Telephone  Circuits,  Interference  in  Railway 

Circuits,  Discussion  at  Vienna   829 

Telephones,  Despatching  Cars  by   308 

Terminal     Loops,     Minnesota     State  Fair 

Grounds    *427 

 St.  Louis  Exposition    1 

Terminal  Station;  Indianapolis  Traction  & 

Terminal  Company    *868 

 Norumbega  Park    *68 

 Piqua,  Ohio    *391 

 Willow    Grove,    Philadelphia,  Improve- 
ments   297 

Terminals,      in      Electric  Transportation 

[Knowlton]    26 

Testing;  Abuse  of    1027 

 Bonds  and  Motors  [Herrick]   *946 

 Circuit  Breakers  [Parham]    *1150 

 Instrument   for    Motor   Fields  (Dubois- 

West)    *240 

Texarkana,  Tex.,  Roofless  Car   *107 

Third-Rail;  Construction,  New  York  Subway 

[Stillwell]    *632 

  Paris-Orleans  Railway,  Etension  of..  *176 

  Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company   *972 

 Current  required  for  Heating    366 

 Inverted,  Brooklyn  Bridge   *148 

 Shoe,  Brooklyn  Elevated  Railway  Cars...  *257 

 System,  Status  of   463 

  [Boynton]    c686 

■  Work  Car  used  on  Puget  Sound  Electric 

Railway    *885 

Three- Wire     System;     Bohemia,     1400- Volt 

D.  C   *1042 

 Discussed  at  Vienna    832 

Ticket-Dating  Machine  (Price)   *39 

Tickets,     Interurban      and     City  System 

(Ohmer)    *137 

Tie,  Ferro-Concrete    *1054 

Time-Limit  Relay,  Inverse  (Westinghouse)..  *156  . 
Time  Tables   on   Interurban   Railways,  Im- 
portance of    308 

Titusville,  Pa.,  Electric  Traction  Company's 

Extensions    304 

Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Traction 

Company;  Change  of  Management   112 

 Lease  of    246 

Toledo;  Franchise  Renewals   808,  930 

 Port  Clinton  &  Lakeside  Railway,  Open- 
ing of    242 

 Railway    &    Light    Company,  Franchise 

Extension    871 

 Transit  &  Light  Company,  Incorporation 

of    885 

Torreon,  Mexico,  New  Cars  *380,  *888 

Touring  Carat  Cleveland   *1046 

Townley,  Calvert    1091 

Track  Association,  the  Proposed   204 

Track  Construction;   on  Concrete,  Welling- 
ton, N.  Z   *990 

 Discussed  at  N.  E.  S.  R.  Club   843 

 Green  Bay,  Wis   *1032 

 Indianapolis  Northern  Traction  Company  *1061 

— .-Motors  on  [Connett]    953 

 Portland,  Ore  731.  1138 

 Question  Box,  Utica   405 

 Twenty  Years'  Development  [Reed]   *577 

Track  Drill  (Ludlow)    *36 

Track  Inspection,  discussed  at  N.  E.  S.  R. 

Club    845 

Track  Scraper  (Wood)   *1154 

Track    Switch,    Anti-Straddling   Device  for 

(N.  Y.  S.  &  Co.)   *673 

Trackless  Trolley;    Advantages  and  Disad- 
vantages   866 

  [Macfarren]    cl048 

 Charter  refused  in  Pennsylvania   168 

Traffic;  Advertising.    (See  Advertising.) 

 Congestion  Point  in  Car  Headway   463 


INDEX. 


ix 


 Development  of,  Question  Box,  Utica....  414 

 End-Seat  Question    88 

 Frequent  Stops  vs.  Fast  Schedule  [Gor- 

ham]    c297 

 and  Methods  of  Development,  Analysis 

of  [Brooks]    153 

 Regulation  by  Police  in  New  York   419 

 Solicitors  for  Interurban  Roads   250 

 Statistics,  Chicago  Elevated  Railroads...  892 

Trail  Cars,  Desirability  of,  in  City  Electric 

Railway  Service  [Pavie]   399 

 Use  of,  Discussion  at  Vienna   830 

Train  Resistance    937 

 [Davis]    *1000 

  Comments  on    918 

 [Lyford  &  Smith]    *992 

Train  Stop,  Automatic,  New  York  Subway..  *654 
Transfer  Tables,   Arrangement  of,   in  New 

Repair  Shop,  Philadelphia   *313 

Transfers;  Abuse  of   174,  913 

 Decision  in  Brooklyn  Case   53,  83 

  in  Los  Angeles   82,  384 

 Effect  of  on  Earnings    967 

 in  Europe,  Discussion  at  Vienna   830 

— —Frauds   on    Boston   &   Northern  Street 

Railway    354 

 Report  of  International  Committee  on...  198 

 Uses  and  Abuses  of  [Jewell]   702 

—Vienna    *298 

Transmission    Line   Construction,  Question 

Box,  Utica    408 

 Report  on  High-Voltage  Lines  [Storer, 

Rockwell  &  Danforth]    449 

Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Railroad,  News- 
paper Men's  Outing    79 

Trenton,  New  Hope  &  Lambertville  Railway, 

Work  on    861 

Trestles;   Construction,   Indianapolis  North- 
ern Traction  Company    *1067 

 Michigan  Traction  Company   1043 

Trolley  Base  (Dixon)   *34 

 (Harper-Phillips)    *29 

Trolley  Bow  for  Westinghouse  Single-Phase 

Road    *848 

Trolley  Catcher  (Earll)    *669 

 (International)    *1020 

 (Shanahan)    »29 

Trolley-Contact  Device  (Huber)  [Mailloux].  *948 
Trolley  Controller.    (See  Trolley  Catcher.) 

Trolley-Escape  Alarm  (Kremnitz)    *28 

Trolley-Pole  Planer  used  in  Sacramento   *1115 

Trolley  Retriever.    (See  Trolley  Catcher.) 

Trolley  Wheel,  Patent  Decision   166 

 (R.  F.  R.  Co.)    *671 

 Self-Lubricating  (Smith)   *1015 

Trolley  Wire;  Maintenance  [Pedriali]   *833 

  Discussion  on    400 

 Splice  (C.  U.  B.  Co.)   *661 

 Voltage  of   '.   500 

Trucks;  (American  Locomotive)    *792 

 with    Anti-Friction    Side-Bearings  [Lin- 

denthal]    396 

 Brill  27-E   *664 


 Brooklyn  Elevated  Railway  Cars   *226 

 Curtis,  on  Boston  Elevated   235 

 New~York  Subway  [Baldwin]   *643 

 Six-Wheeled  [Williams]    c334 

 St.  Louis  47-A   *107 

  No.  50    '78 

 Spring  for  (Union)    *667 

 "Standard"  Forged  Steel   *110 

Tunnels;  East  Boston,  Opening  of   1152 

 Long  Island  City  to  New  York   894 

 New  Jersey,  Rights  in  New  York  1128,  1159 

 New  York  City  Subway,  Steel  Construc- 
tion in    *471 

Turbines,  Steam;  Baltimore  (Westinghouse)  109J 

 [Bibbins  and  Rice]   ",07,  *7j8 

  Comments  on    729 

  Discussion  on    749 

 Condensers  for  [Rockwood]    1047 

 at  Dubuque    *184 

■  Fuel  Economy  of  [White]    *555 

 (Hamilton-Holzwarth)    *665 

 Record  Run   of  Westinghouse,  World's 

Fair    1129 

 Test  of  500-kw  Curtis,  at  Cork   989 

■  Zoelley    (Escher-Wyss)    *38 

Turn-Outs,  at  Foot  of  Hill,  Undesirable   813 

u 

Underwriters'  Rules,  Car  Wiring  and  Equip- 
ment  98 

 Comments  on    87 

Urbana,  Bellefontaine  &  Northern  Railway, 

Sink  Hole  filled    212 

Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway,  Method  of 

handling  Express  Matter  [Dunford]   *446 

V 

Valparaiso  Railways    948 

Valtelina  Railway,  Test  of  Finzi  System  on..  152 

 Three-Phase  Equipment  accepted   342 

Ventilation  of  Cars    1061 

Viaduct,  Grand  River,  Cleveland,  Painesville 

&  Ashtabula  Railway    *92 

Vienna;  Anniversary  of  First  Mountain  Rail- 
way   15 

 Convention  of  International  Association.  829 

 Fare  Receipts  used  in..   »298 

Vincennes,  New  Cars    *795 

w 

Waiting  Stations;  Joliet,  Plainfield  &  Aurora 

Railroad    *1100 

 West  Milton,  Ohio   »392 

Wakefield  &  District  Light  Railways  Com- 
pany, England    *98S 

Warner,  Charles  E   *172 

Warren  &  Jamestown  Street  Railway,  Elec- 
tric Traction,  from  Gas  Power  on   958 

Washington,  D.   C. ;  Exhibition  of  Railway 

Supplies  in    1022 


 New  Cars   *299,  *854 

Water  Gage  (Bonner)    *672 

Wattmeters,  on  Cars;  Discussion  at  Vienna..  831 

 in  Europe  [Klitzing]    332 

 New  Standard  for   Checking  (Westing- 
house)   *335 

Weed-Cutting  Brush  (Smith)   484 

Wellington,  N.  Z.,  Tramways   *99U 

Welsh,  John  Lowber    306 

West  Shore  Railroad,  Electrical  Equipment 

of.    (See  New  York  Central  Plans.) 
Westinghouse    Electric    &  Manufacturing 

Company,  Annual  Meeting  of  Agents...  1024 
Westinghouse   Company;   Bureau  of  Stand- 
ards   247 

 Pioneer     Electric     Railway     Work  of 

[Lamme]    *542 

Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Company,  Ex- 
hibit at  St.  Louis    *918 

Wheels;  Practice  in  Germany   *20 

  in  Norwich,  England  [Banister]   1003 

 Question  Box,  Utica   414 

 Records,  Buffalo  [Millar]   702 

  in  Liverpool    375 

 Steel-Tired,  Life  of  in  Boston   404 

  on   New   York   City   Railway  Com- 
pany's Lines    291 

  [Taylor]    686 

 Types,  and  Maintenance  of  [Millar]   *702 

  Comments  on    679 

 (See  also  Axles.) 

Wheeling,  Consolidation  in   382 

White,  E.  M.,  Appointment  as'  Secretary  of 

Accountants'  Association    1159 

Whiteside,  Walter  H   *55 

Widener-Elkins  Syndicate,  New  Purchase  in 

Ohio    1159 

Wilkesbarre  &  Hazleton  Railway  [Stillwell].  489 

Willets,  John  C   422 

Wilson,  A.  J  *144,  308 

Wire,  Fireproof  Insulated  (Teter-Heany)   *238 

Wire-Glass  for  Car  Houses  and  Power  Sta- 
tions   *1049 

Wiring;  Car.    (See  Car  Wiring.) 

 Sub-station    118 

Wolverhampton,  Surface-Contact  System  in 

[Shawfield]    71 

Wood,   Charles  N.,  Company,  Organization 

of    1059 

Wood-Working.  Tools  for  Repair  Shop   482 

Worcester,  Garbage  Collection  in   861 

 and  Providence  Railway,  Plans  of   1024 

 Storing  Coal  in    »295 

Y 

York,  Pa.,  New  Cars    *157 

Young.  John,  Removal  to  London   1021 


Zanzibar,  Interurban  Freight  Railway  for...  305 


X 


INDEX. 


AUTHORS'  INDEX  FOR  VOLUME  XXIV. 


Aldworth,  John. — Inspection  and  Mainten- 
ance of  Electrical  Equipment   803 

Armstrong,  A.  H. — The  Development  of  the 

Alternating-Current  Railway  Motor   1111 

Arnold,  Bion  J. — The  Columbian  Interna- 
tional Railway    541 

Baker,  W.  E.— The  Difficulties  which  con- 
fronted the  Early  Engineers   63G 

Banister,  A.  N. — Car  Wheels   1003 

Beardsley,  H.  M. — Statistics  of  Population 
as  related  to  Operation  of  Interurban 

Roads   452. 

Behr,  F.  B.— The  Mono-Rail    719 

Bell,  Louis. — The  Development  of  Direct- 
Connected  Generators    587 

Benedict,    H.    A. — Maintenance   of  Electric 

Cars  and  Their  Equipment   *454 

Bentley,  E.  M. — The  Van  Depoele  Road  at 

Montgomery    585 

BiDbins,  J.  R.— Steam  Turbine  Power  Plants. 
Notes  on  their  Equipment  and  Opera- 
tion   *708 

Boynton,    Edward    C. — Air    Brakes   in  City 

Service    370 

 Body    Framing    of    Modern  Interurban 

Cars   *232 

 Electric  Trains  on  Steam  Roads   c884 

 General     Design     and     Finish    of  the 

Modern  Interurban  Car    472 

 Insulation  of  a  Third  Rail   c686 

Brill,  John  A. — Twenty  Years  of  Car  Build- 
ing   *562 

Brockway,    W.    B. — Some    Qualifications  of 

the  Railway  Accountant    197 

 The   Accounting   Department    is   not  a 

Revenue  Producing  Department    25 

Brooks,  Henry  W.  Jr. — Analysis   of  'traffic 

and  Methods  of  Development    153 

Brown,    Harold    P. — Bonding    on  95-pound 

Rail    c440 

Carlisle,    E.    B.— The    Duties    of    the  Car 

Force   788,  1152 

Cole,  Wm.  H—  Rails  and  Joints    330 

Connett,  A.  N. — Notes  on  Track  Construc- 
tion  953 

Daft,   Leo.— Early    Work  of   Daft  Electric 

Company    *528 

Danforth,  R.  E. — Report  on  High  Voltage 

Transmission    449 

Davis,  W.  J.,  Jr. — Relative  Economy  in  the 

Operation  of  Short  and  Long  Cars   450 

 Train  Resistance    *1000 

Dawson,  Philip. — Electric  'traction  on  British 

Railways   485,  879 

 The  Use  of  Independent  Motor  Cars  on 

Railways    *814 

Dodd,  S.  T. — Development  of  Railway  Motor 

Design    *551 

Duffy,    C.    N. — The    Continental  Standard 

Form  of  Operating  Report    c440 

 The  Development  of  Street  Railway  Ac- 
counting during  the  Past  Twenty  Years  549 
Dunford,   George. — A  Method  of  Handling 

Interurban  Express  Matter    *446 

Emerson,   H.   D.— The   Staff   Block  Signal 

System    1112 

Entz,  J.  B.— Storage  Batteries    485 

Everett,  Henry  A. — The  Development  of  the 

Interurban  Electric  Railway   548 

Foster,  E.  C. — Early  Electric  Railroading  in 

New  England    *526 

Jorella,  H. — Pension  Systems  for  Workmen 
of  Germany,  with  Special  Reference  to 

Railway  Employees    476 

Gorm\rci>   R.    P. — Frequent   Stops   vs.  Fast 

chedule    c297 

 HotNWater  vs.  Electric  Heaters   228 

Gotshall,\W.   C. — Collegiate  Recognition  of 

the  Engineer    cl34 


Griffin,  Brig. -Gen.   Eugene. — The  Beginning 

of  the  Electric  Railway  Motor    575 

Gunn,  R.  T.— Street  Railway  Advertising...  *236 

Hanchett,  George  T. — The  New  York  Cen- 
tral Electric  Locomotive    clOO 

Harrington,  W.  E. — The  Development  of  the 

Railway  Switchboard    *546 

Herrick,  Albert  D. — The  Autographic  Test 

Car    *946 

Hobein,  Chas.  A. — The  New  Central  Sub- 
Station  of  the  bt.  Louis  Transit  Co   *509 

Huffman,  J.  C. — The  Effect  of  Changing  the 
Gear  Ratio  on  a  Series  Railway  Motor 
Equipment    *785 

Jewell,    Leon. — Transfers — Their    Uses  and 

Abuses    702 

Klitzing,  W. — Saving  of  Electrical  Energy  in 

Street  Railway  Service   332 

ivnowlton,    H.     S. —  terminals    in  Electric 

Transportation    26 

 The  Depreciation  Problem    clOl 

 The  Value  of  Special  Reports   296 

Lamme,    B.    G. — Pioneer    Electric  Railway 

Work  of  the  Westinghouse  Company..  *542 

Lindenthal,  Gustav. — Flange  Wear  and  Side- 
Bearing  Trucks    396 

Lindall,  John. — Maintenance  and  Inspection 

of  Electrical  Equipment    *705 

Littell,    Hardin    H. — The    Founding   of  the 

Street  Railway  Association    517 

Lowry,  Thomas. — The  Early  Meetings  of  the 

American  Street  Railway  Association..  518 

Luithlen,    H. — The   Application    of  Electric 

Traction  to  Light  Railways    293 

Lyford,  O.  S.  Jr.,  and  W.  N.  Smith.— Prob- 
lems of  Heavy  Jilectric  Traction   *992 

McAllister,     A.     S. — Single-Phase  Railway 

Motors   :   881 

McCulloch,  Robert.— St.  Louis  Street  Rail- 
ways in  1884  and  1904    580 

Macfarren,  S.  J.— Automobile  Busses   cl048 

Mailloux,  C.  O. — Single-Phase  Electric  Rail- 
way Work  in  Europe    *948 

Marburg,   L.   C. — Car  Signs  in  Berlin   cl34 

Marshall,  Cloyd. — The  Electric  Railway  Test 

Commission    265 

Meier,  E.  D. — The  American  Diesel  Engine  *718 

Millar,  J.— Wheel  Matters    *702 

Murray,  G.  M.— The  Advantage  of  Publicity  cl33 

Norris,  H.  H. — The  Relation  of  the  Techni- 
cal School  to  the  Business  and  Pro- 
fession of  Electric  Railways   397 

 The  Work  of  the  Electric  Railway  Test 

Commission    *758 

Osgood,   F.   H. — First   Electric   Railway  on 

Pacific  Coast    c884 

Pavie,  M.  G. — The  Desirability  of  Trail  Cars 

in  City  Electric  Railway  Service   399 

Pape,  W.  H. — Lubrication  of  Street  Railway 

Motors    *877 

Parham,  E.  C. — Checking  the  Adjustment  of 

Car  Circuit  Breakers   *1150 

Parke,  R.  A.— Braking  High-Speed  Trains..  491 

Parke,  F.  H. — The  Bonding  of  the  Brooklyn 

Elevated  Railway  System    *1103 

Pedriali,  M.  G. — Tests  of  Overhead  Line 
Insulation  and  Maintenance  of  the  Trol- 
ley Wire    *400 

Penington,  T.  C— Sketch  of  the  Work  of 
the  American  Street  Railway  Associa- 
tion   *518 

Pforr,   Ph. — System  of  Current  Distribution 

for  Urban  and  Interurban  Railways   333 

Price,  W.  G. — One  Cause  of  the  Burning-Out 

of  Motors    268 

Rae,  Frank  B. — An  Economical  Power  Plant 

at  Lima,  Ohio   *938 

 Energy   Required   in   Watt-Hours  when 

Braking  with  Air    836 


Reed,  W.  Boardman. — The  Development  of 
Street  Railway  Track  Construction  dur- 
ing the  Past  twenty  Years   *577 

Kice,  Richard  H.— Steam  Turbines    *707 

Rockwell,   H.    O. — Report   on  High-Voltage 

Transmission  Lines    449 

Rockwood,  George  1. — Condensers  for  Steam 

Turbines    1047 

Scott,  E.   Kilburn. — Single-Phase  vs.  Three- 

Phase  Traction    c401 

 Training   of   Non-commissioned  Officers 

of  Engineering    c474 

Sergeant,    Chas.    S. — Early    Experiments  in 

Boston   *534 

Serrell,  L.  W. — The  Question  of  Freight   451 

Sever,  G.  F. — Electrolysis    489 

Shawfield,  C.  E.  C. — Commercial  Practici- 
bility  of  Electric  Traction  by  Surface 
Contacts    71 

Smith,  W.  N.  and  O.  S.  Lyford.— Problems 

of  Heavy  Electric  Traction    *992 

Sniffin,  E.  H.— Twenty  Years  Development 

in  Steam  Engine  Practice   565 

Sprague,  Frank  J. — Some  Personal  Experi- 
ences   *566 

 Very  Early  Work  in   the  Development 

of  Electric  Railways    581 

Spring,   Edw.    C. — The   Freight  Proposition 

as  Viewed  from  a  Practical  Standpoint  582 

 Traction  Lines  as  City  Builders   908 

Starrett,  M.  G. — Power  Production  and  Dis- 
tribution on  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  System    445 

 The  Inception  of  the  Conduit  System  in 

New  York  City    *537 

Steinmetz,      C.      P. — Alternating  Current 

Motors    486 

Stillwell,  L.  B. — Electrical  Power,  Generat- 
ing Stations  and  Transmission    800 

 The  Electric  Generating  Equipment  and 

Power  Distribution  System  of  the  New 
York  Rapid  Transit  Subway   *619 

 Electric     Traction     under  Steam-Road 

Conditions   586 

 Wilkesbarre  &  Hazleton  Railway   489 

Storer,    S.    B. — Report    on    High  Voltage 

Transmission  Lines    449 

Struble,  J.  B. — Block  Signaling  of  Electric 

Railways  with  Track  Circuit  Control..  453 

Taylor,  Edward — The  Efficiency  of  Power 
Braking  in  Street  Railway  Service, 
with  Tests  of  Power  Consumption  of 
the  Air  Brakes    *1107 

■  Operation   of  a   Four-Motor  Equipment 

with  a  Two-Motor  Controller   *876 

Taylor,  Knox. — Steel-Tired  Wheels  and  Elec- 
tric Railroads    686 

Thomas,  Geo.  E. — The  "Judge"  at  Louis- 
ville   1035 

Van  Etten,  C.  R. — Freight  and  Express  Busi- 
ness on  Street  Railways   455 

Van  Vleck,  John. — The  Steam  Generating 
and  Engine  Equipment  of  the  New 
\  ork   Subway   Power  Plant   *601 

Vreeland,  H.  H. — The  New  Craftsman   550 

Weaver,  John  C. — The  Painting  Department 

in  the  Portland  Shops   cl33 

White,  J.  G.— The  Evolution  of  the  Modern 

Power  Station    5o5 

 The  Substitution  of  Electricity  for  Steam 

as  a  Motive  Jrower   799 

Wilcutt,    George   B. — The   Development  of 

Electric  Traction  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  539 

Wilgus,  Wm.  J. — Electrification  of  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Rail- 
road in  the  New  York  Zone   584 

Williams,  R.  P.— Six-Wheeled  Trucks   c334 

Wright,  W.  D— The  Ideal  Shop   703 

Wyman,  C.  Densmore. — In  Horse  Car  Days  525 


Street  Railway  Journal 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  JULY  2,  1904  No.  1 


Vol.  XXIV. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Useful  Criticisms 

Every  street  railway  manager  knows  by  experience  what 
criticism  is,  and  too  frequently  it  comes  in  the  shape  of  un- 
reasonable "kicks"  from  passengers  and  others.  The  wise  man- 
ager, however,  is  constantly  on  the  alert  for  suggestions  and 
criticisms  from  those  not  in  any  way  connected  with  or  in- 
formed as  to  the  street  railway  business,  because  such  outside 
criticism  comes  purely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  passenger 
rather  than  from  the  standpoint  of  a  street  railway  man. 
Being  more  or  less  identified  with  the  business  the  latter  does 
not  look  at  things  through  the  same  glasses  as  the  average  pas- 
senger. In  fact,  it  is  often  difficult  for  the  management  to 
determine  just  how  certain  things  appear  to  passengers  until 
they  can  obtain  some  such  criticism  from  those  not  connected 
with  the  business.    This  applies  to  thousands  of  details.  Both 


the  management  and  employees  a>^e  likely  to  get  lax  as  regards 
the  calling  of  streets,  for  example.  The  conductor,  in  passing 
over  a  route  many  times  a  day,  becomes  so  accustomed  to  it 
that  it  is  almost  impossible  for  him  to  realize  that  all  of  his 
passengers  are  not  equally  familiar  with  it.  The  fact  that  nine- 
tenths  of  his  passengers  may  be  nearly  as  well  acquainted  with 
the  route  as  the  conductor  himself  further  tends  to  laxity  as 
regards  the  calling  of  streets.  This  is  only  one  example  out  of 
hundreds  that  might  be  mentioned,  and  it  is  the  wise  manager 
who  is  constantly  sounding  public  sentiment  as  regards  the 
operation  of  the  road.  While  nine-tenths  of  the  suggestions 
received  from  passengers  may  not  be  practicable,  the  remaining 
tenth  may  call  attention  to  some  possible  improvement  in  ser- 
vice that  had  not  received  attention,  simply  because  it  was  so 
commonplace.  A  case  of  this  kind  recently  came  to  our  notice 
where  the  management  had  been  living  with  and  studying  a 
certain  problem  for  some  time,  but  the  casual  suggestion  of  an 
outsider  threw  a  light  on  the  situation,  from  the  average  stand- 
point, that  the  close  study  of  those  connected  with  the  under- 
taking had  not  revealed. 

Terminal  Loops 

Recent  issues  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal  have  given 
considerable  space  to  terminal  loops  for  handling  large  crowds, 
including  the  World's  Fair  terminals  of  the  St.  Louis  street 
railway  companies  and  the  Coney  Island  terminals  of  the 
Brooklyn  lines.  Wherever  large  crowds  are  to  be  be  handled 
from  one  terminal  loop  at  a  pleasure  resort,  there  is  sure  to 
come  up  the  problem  of  preventing  accidents  to  crowds  of  pas- 
sengers who  may  be  attempting  to  board  incoming  cars  before 
they  are  stopped.  The  only  way  is  to  limit  the  crowd  admitted 
to  the  cars.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  large  crowds  are  abso- 
lutely without  sense  or  reason  in  many  of  their  actions,  and 
wherever  there  is  a  large  crowd  waiting  for  a  car  there  is 
pretty  sure  to  be  an  unreasoning  rush  to  board  it  as  soon  as  it 
nears  a  terminal,  no  matter  how  many  cars  there  may  be  close 
at  hand.  The  avoidance  of  such  a  panic-stricken  and  mob-like 
crush  is  sufficient  inducement  to  many  people  to  stay  away  from 
pleasure  resorts  where  such  a  crush  is  likely  to  occur.  At  the 
World's  Fair  terminals  in  St.  Louis  only  one  terminal  has  been 
fenced  about  and  equipped  with  turnstiles  to  limit  the  entrance 
of  passengers  and  avoid  too  great  a  crowd  near  the  terminal 
loop.  As  mentioned  before,  the  management  left  the  matter  of 
final  equipment  of  terminals  somewhat  open,  awaiting  develop- 
ments and  getting  experience  with  the  crowds,  which  gradually 
increase  as  the  season  advances.  Arrangements  are  such  that 
all  loops  can  be  enclosed  if  necessary,  although,  in  one  case, 
there  is  a  loop  where  the  enclosure  of  the  loop  might  very  likely 
be  inadequate,  because  of  the  fact  that  the  cars  enter  it  directly 
from  a  much-frequented  street.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  by  the 
time  that  the  World's  Fair  crowds  become  great  enough  to 
necessitate  unusual  precautions  at  the  terminals,  the  company, 
with  the  experience  it  is  now  gaining  with  like  crowds,  will 
have  perfected  the  best  possible  system  for  each  of  the  numer- 
ous terminals.    As  far  as  the  street  railway  companies  arc 


2 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


concerned,  the  World's  Fair  crowds  are  being  handled  with 
clock-work  regularity  that  is  gratifying  to  all  concerned,  and 
is  receiving  commendation  from  all  sides. 

Car  Signs 

There  was  a  time,  about  ten  years  ago,  when  there  was  a 
great  awakening  among  electric  railway  managers  as  to  the 
importance  of  destination  signs  on  electric  cars,  and  especially 
as  to  the  desirability  of  illumined  signs  at  night.  The  result  is 
that  very  few  street  railways  are  now  operated  without  having 
cars  equipped  with  illuminated  signs,  which  are  an  immense 
improvement  over  the  colored  lights  or  the  simple  painted  signs 
of  horse-car  days.  Nevertheless,  it  has  been  our  observation, 
in  visiting  many  different  cities,  that  there  is  still  room  for  de- 
cided improvement  as  regards  destination  signs.  In  some  cases 
signs  are  fairly  effective  at  night,  but  are  extremely  difficult  to 
read  in  day  time,  and  in  other  cases  the  reverse  is  true. 
Frequently  an  illuminated  sign,  which  is  very  easily  read  by 
day  and  night  when  new,  gets  so  filled  with  dust  and  dirt  and  in 
such  a  dilapidated  condition  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  read 
it  by  day.  An  illuminated  sign  having  a  glass  front,  if  not 
kept  in  good  condition,  sometimes  becomes  difficult  to  read, 
simply  because  the  sheets  of  steel,  celluloid,  or  what  not,  that 
contain  the  lettering  may  have  slipped  back  from  the  glass 
front,  with  the  result  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  annoying 
reflection  which  makes  it  difficult  to  read  the  sign.  To  this 
difficulty  is  added  that  of  dirt  working  in  between  the  glass 
front  and  the  lettering.  This  is  simply  a  question  of  sign  main- 
tenance, and  if  there  was  as  much  attention  given  to  the  signs 
as  to  the  rest  of  the  car,  there  would  be  no  trouble.  Another 
mistake  sometimes  made  in  car  signs  is  the  selection  of  thick, 
heavy  letters,  which  cannot  be  read  at  a  distance,  because,  to 
the  observer,  one  part  of  the  letter  appears  to  run  into  another 
part.  This  is  a  mistake  which  is  also  frequently  made  in  electric 
signs  of  all  kinds.  In  designing  sign  lettering  for  an  illuminated 
sign,  very  clean-cut  letters,  with  plenty  of  space  around  each 
part  of  the  letter,  can  be  most  easily  read  at  a  distance,  be- 
cause there  is  no  chance  for  letters  to  appear  blurred  and  run 
together.  Where  very  heavy  faced  letters  are  used,  with  little 
space  between  letters,  no  amount  of  light  can  make  an  illumi- 
nated sign  easy  to  read  at  a  distance.  In  fact,  the  more  such  a 
sign  is  lighted,  the  worse  the  blurring  effect  becomes.  Taken 
altogether,  the  selection  of  a  destination  sign  to  go  on  the  cars  of 
a  system  should  receive  no  little  study  before  a  sign  is  selected, 
and  there  is  nothing  like  the  actual  trial  of  a  sign  on  the  street 
by  night  and  day  to  determine  just  what  gives  the  best  results. 
There  are  a  number  of  schemes  for  illuminated  signs  in  use, 
all  of  which  are  good  if  the  character  of  the  lettering  is  right, 
but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that,  to  make  an  illuminated  sign 
which  can  be  read  at  night  at  a  distance  sufficient  to  avoid  the 
unnecessary  stoppage  of  street  railway  cars  by  prospective  pas- 
sengers, is  not  so  easy  that  it  can  be  neglected.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  there  is  sure  to  be  much  loss  of  time  if  cars  with 
different  destinations  are  operated  over  the  same  street  without 
very  clear  destination  signs,  because  passengers,  if  they  can- 
not read  the  signs,  will  stop  every  car  that  comes  along  until 
they  get  the  right  car.  One  "horrible  example"  of  this  is  to  be 
found  to-day  on  a  line  of  very  heavy  traffic  in  a  large  city. 
Cars  over  this  line  are  operated  at  high  speed  to  different  ter- 
minals, and  are  equipped  with  illuminated  signs,  but  the  illumi- 
nated signs  do  not  indicate  the  route  of  the  car.  It  is  only 
shown  by  small  letters  on  a  dash-board  sign,  which  can  be  read 
but  a  short  distance.  Even  the  dash-board  signs  are  all  alike  in 
general  appearance,  so  that  the  passengers  cannot  tell  until  he 


can  actually  read  the  small  lettering  on  the  dash-board  sign 
whether  the  car  approaching  him  is  the  one  he  wishes 
or  not. 

The  Street  Railway  Repair-Shop  Problem 

One  of  the  most  important  problems  confronting  the  street 
railway  manager  at  the  present  time  is  the  provision  of  ade- 
quate and  efficient  repair-shop  facilities  for  the  proper  repair 
of  their  cars  and  electrical  equipment.  Too  little  attention  has 
been  given  to  this  important  subject  by  most  of  the  roads  in 
this  country,  due  no  doubt  to  the  rapid  and  remarkable  devel- 
opment of  the  street  railway  situation  from  horse-car  condi- 
tions to  that  of  electric  traction,  but  with  the  heavy  traffic 
conditions  that  are  developing  upon  the  street  and  interurban 
railway  systems  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  it  is  found  that 
the  repair  shop  demands  far  greater  consideration  than  has 
usually  been  given  it,  for  proper  operation  and  maintenance 
of  schedules. 

Even  upon  systems  where  the  repair  shop  has  been  more  or 
less  carefully  developed,  the  strenuous  conditions  imposed  by 
the  past  severe  winter  have  developed  the  fact  that  at  almost  no 
place  has  ample  provision  been  made  for  properly  taking 
care  of  the  running  repairs  under  such  emergency  conditions. 
During  the  past  winter,  most  of  our  roads  were  seriously  ham- 
pered by  lack  of  equipment,  which  was  laid  up  in  the  shops 
awaiting  repair  work  which  could  not  be  given  them.  It  is, 
indeed,  appalling  to  learn  of  the  extent  to  which  this  condition 
of  affairs  interfered  with  the  successful  operation  last  winter  of 
street  railway  lines,  in  the  Northern  States,  at  least.  This  is 
a  state  of  affairs  that  requires  the  careful  consideration  of 
managers,  inasmuch  as  efficient  operating  conditions  depend 
upon  the  keeping  of  cars  in  condition  for  service,  and  anything 
which  facilitates  repair  work  and  thus  promotes  the  betterment 
of  condition  of  the  rolling  stock,  is  necessarily  of  great  advan- 
tage to  the  company. 

While  it  is  evident  that  the  older  practice  of  placing  repair 
shops  in  any  old  building  almost  which  will  serve  the  purpose, 
and  even  in  dimly-lighted  basements  or  other  undesirable  and 
unhandy  locations,  has  been  practically  done  away  with,  still 
it  is  the  opinion  that  a  sufficiently  definite  tendency  toward  the 
installation  ot  new  and  complete  shop  equipments  and  pro- 
visions for  careful  and  efficient  work  at  shop  plants,  are  not  to 
be  found  among  the  majority  of  our  electric  railway  com- 
panies. For  this  reason,  the  description  of  the  new  repair  shop 
installation  at  Portland,  Me.,  which  appears  elsewhere  in  this 
issue,  will  be  found  of  unusual  interest.  The  history  of  the 
Portland  Railroad  Company  is  similar  to  that  of  most  other 
street  railway  systems  which  have  developed  gradually  from 
horse-car  conditions  to  those  of  heavy  electric  traction,  but 
the  reluctance  to  attack  this  problem  that  has  been  evinced 
elsewhere  is  not  to  be  found  here.  This  company  early  ob- 
served the  possibilities  of  a  complete  and  efficient  repair  shop, 
and  the  new  shop  system  which  it  is  now  installing  gives 
evidence  of  a  remarkable  appreciation  of  these  possibilities 
and  a  desire  to  attain  the  fullest  benefits  to  be  derived. 

The  careful  attention  that  has  been  devoted  to  the  arranging 
of  the  different  departments  for  making  easy  the  handling  of 
material  from  the  repair  departments  to  the  erecting  shop, 
and  also  of  the  general  arrangement  of  the  paint  shop,  is  re- 
markable and  admirable,  many  of  the  ideas  involved  being  char- 
acteristic of  the  best  manufacturing  shop  conditions.  Appar- 
ently as  much  study  has  been  devoted  to  the  shortening  of  all 
distances  of  handling  repair  parts  as  to  that  of  proportioning 
the  different  areas  of  the  different  departments,  and  the  latter 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


3 


feature  of  this  shop  installation  apparently  cannot  be  excelled. 
In  this  connection  a  wise  provision  is  to  be  noted  in  the  devo- 
tion of  a  very  large  relative  space  to  the  blacksmith  shop ;  with 
the  greatly  increased  size  of  equipments  and  necessity  of 
greater  truck  repairs,  this  growing  importance  of  the  black- 
smith shop  has  been  inevitable. 

Another  important  feature  of  this  shop  installation  is  the 
brass  foundry.  In  probably  no  line  of  work  is  there  a  greater 
use  of  small  brass  castings  and  parts  than  in  electric  railway 
repair  work.  On  account  of  the  number  and  variety  of  special 
fittings  that  are  required,  it  is  frequently  very  difficult  to  obtain 
castings  from  local  brass  foundries  with  sufficient  despatch, 
and  in  this  feature  alone  the  saving  due  to  the  possibility  of 
such  emergency  work  here  will  frequently  be  found  to  pay  for 
the  entire  installation.  The  use  of  the  brass  foundry  also  per- 
mits a  great  many  standard  repair  parts  to  be  cast  for  machin- 
ing and  placing  in  the  stock  room,  ready  for  use  whenever  re- 
quired; this  will  also  be  found  a  very  valuable  and  economical 
procedure,  as  it  will  enable  the  provision  in  advance  of  many 
parts  that  might  otherwise  give  trouble  in  purchasing  under 
emergency  conditions.  It  is  not  inferred  by  this  that  it  will  be 
found  advisable  to  go  into  a  general  manufacturing  business  for 
the  protection  of  all  brass  parts  that  are  used  in  the  repair  work, 
but  rather  that  the  possibility  of  casting  such  parts  as  are  not 
easily  obtained  upon  the  open  market  is  one  of  great  value  to 
a  company.  Of  course,  for  the  general  run  of  supplies,  includ- 
ing a  large  range  of  standard  brass  castings  and  other  parts, 
it  will  be  found  much  cheaper  to  purchase  the  same  upon  the 
open  market  from  the  well-known  manufacturers,  but  the  real 
value  of  the  brass  foundry  will  be  in  the  manufacture  of  such 
parts  as  are  not  available  in  the  open  market  and  special  parts 
required  in  emergencies. 

The  Kingsbridge  Power  Plant 

The  engineering  features  of  the  new  Kingsbridge  power 
plant  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company  are  of  particular 
interest  to  all  students  of  the  recent  large  power  plant  devel- 
opment in  this  country  and  abroad.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that 
while  power  station  design  in  this  country  has  followed  pretty 
closely  certain  general  lines,  so  far  as  engine  and  boiler  prac- 
tice is  concerned,  there  have  been  radical  variations  in  details 
of  auxiliary  equipments.  In  this  particular  the  Kingsbridge 
station  is  most  interesting  and  establishes  a  precedent  which 
can  be  studied  to  advantage. 

This  station  was  designed  some  six  years  ago  and  con- 
struction upon  it  was  begun,  but  the  financial  vicissitudes  of 
the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  Company,  by  which  this  plant  was 
to  be  installed,  caused  a  suspension  of  operations  until  recently, 
and  it  is  only  now  being  completed  by  the  successor,  the  New 
York  City -Railway  Company.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  how- 
ever, that  the  original  design  of  details  and  arrangement,  that 
was  prepared  six  or  eight  years  ago,  before  the  majority  of  the 
other  large  plants  in  this  country  were  even  planned,  has  been 
used  in  its  construction  with  almost  no  changes — during  the 
interval  of  suspension  of  work,  moreover,  while  some  of  the 
other  plants  in  New  York  City  were  being  completed  and  placed 
in  operation,  the  results  of  the  various  innovations  that  had 
been  introduced  in  arrangement  and  design  of  auxiliaries  were 
not  sufficiently  satisfactory  to  justify  any  material  changes  in 
the  originally-designed  Kingsbridge  plans.  This  is  a  feature  in- 
deed remarkable,  when  the  number  of  large  plants  that  have 
been  built  in  the  past  few  years  are  considered,  as  well  as  the 
many  radical  departures  from  usual  designs,  and  reflects  un- 
usual credit  upon  the  original  design. 


The  location  of  the  Kingsbridge  plant  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
happiest  results  of  the  far-sightedness  of  the  original  Third 
Avenue  Company's  engineers.  It  was  their  opinion  that  the 
inevitable  growth  of  the  city  would  be  in  that  direction,  and 
that  at  some  future  time  such  a  location  would  be  central. 
This  is  exactly  what  the  tendency  has  been,  and  furthermore 
the  developments  that  have  resulted  in  the  present  operating 
company  have  brought  the  center  of  power  distribution  very 
close  to  this  point;  this  is  due  to  the  large  amount  of  power 
delivered  to  the  lines  in  the  Borough  of  the  Bronx.  The 
location  had  the  unusual  advantages  of  proximity  to  the  Har- 
lem River  for  ease  in  receiving  coal  by  boat,  as  well  as  an 
abundant  supply  of  condensing  water,  combined  with  moderate 
real  estate  first  cost. 

The  Kingsbridge  plant  embraces  the  multiple-unit  idea  of 
power  plant  design,  which  is  so  noticeable  in  later  designs, 
and  which  has  been  universally  found  so  satisfactory;  yet  few 
plants  have  taken  advantage  of  this  principle  to  this  degree  of 
completeness.  The  entire  engine  and  boiler  equipment  is  di- 
vided into  four  separate  and  distinct  power  plants,  which  may 
be  independently  operated  as  though  separated  by  greater  dis- 
tance, and  yet  inter-connections  are  provided  with  great  care, 
so  that  the  various  parts  may  relay  each  other  as  found 
desirable.  The  longitudinal  and  transverse  aisles  thus  pro- 
vided, also,  are  of  great  convenience  to  the  operating  en- 
gineers, as  well  as  to  the  handling  of  parts  in  case  of 
repairs. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  the  auxiliary  steam 
equipment  is  the  use  of  steam-driven  auxiliaries  to  the  entire 
exclusion  of  the  electrically-driven  auxiliary  idea.  While  the 
electrically-driven  idea  has  many  advantages  in  direction  of 
economy,  there  are  unfortunate  features  of  lack  of  sufficient 
reliability,  as  the  opening  of  a  circuit-breaker,  or  other  inter- 
ruption, in  the  motor  circuit,  which  are  liable  to  place  all  ap- 
paratus dependent  upon  that  particular  auxiliary  out  of  com- 
mission. The  great  advantage  of  the  steam-driven  auxiliary, 
over  and  above  that  of  its  greater  reliability  of  operation,  lies  in 
the  possibility  of  using  all  the  exhaust  steam  from  such  steam- 
driven  auxiliaries  for  the  heating  of  feed  water ;  in  this  way  all 
such  exhaust  may  be  condensed  and  its  entire  heat  of  evapora- 
tion saved  by  turning  into  the  feed-water.  In  this  way,  it  does 
not  matter  as  to  how  uneconomical  the  steam  auxiliary  engines 
are,  as  all  their  exhaust  is  saved  at  any  rate.  It  is  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  thus  save  the  exhaust  from  all  the  ordinary  auxiliary  en- 
gines of  a  plant  as  the  amount  of  steam  required  for  this  pur- 
pose does  not  usually  exceed  10  per  cent  of  that  used  by  the 
engines,  and  the  feed-water  heaters  can  easily  take  care  of  that 
quantity  in  heating  boiler  feed-water. 

The  abandonment  of  the  individual  small  condensers  for 
each  engine  in  favor  of  the  large  central  condensing  plant  is 
another  feature  of  importance  to  be  noted  at  Kingsbridge.  It 
is  also  interesting  to  note  that  this  is  the  original  idea  which 
was  carried  out  in  the  early  design  of  the  plant ;  in  other  im- 
portant plants  which  have  differentiated  from  this  principle 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  return  to  it,  even  in  case  of  dis- 
carding large  equipments  of  the  individual  design.  The  exhaust 
connections  are  here  so  made  as  to  permit  all  engines  to  be 
handled  by  any  grouping  desired  of  the  four  large  barometric 
condensers.  The  novel  and  yet  very  successful  method  of 
starting  engines  under  vacuum  is  also  provided  lor,  and  is 
found  very  satisfactory.  The  connections  arc  such  as  to  per- 
mit starting  either  condensing  or  non-condensing,  as  desired. 
This  has  been  found  an  important  provision  for  the  ease  of 
handling  the  large  3000-kw  units. 


4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


KINGSBRIDGE  POWER  STATION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY 
RAILWAY  COMPANY 


The  art  of  building  and  housing  a  large  power  plant  has  de- 
veloped in  recent  years  with  rapid  strides,  and  to  gain  ex- 
perience through  knowledge  of  each  property  created  it  is 
necessary  to  view  it  from  the  standpoint  of  the  motives  under- 
lying its  design  and  the  conditions  which  have  shaped  its  type 
rather  than  the  detail  of  apparatus  and  appliances  which  it 
contains. 

In  1898,  when  the  Kingsbridge  plant  was  projected,  the  only 
other  large  power  station  was  that  of  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  at  Ninety-Sixth  Street,  then  building,  and 
its  quality,  therefore,  not  determined.  The  Third  Avenue  Rail- 
road Company  was  about  to  electrify  its  system,  and  after  due 


facturing  Company,  upon  the  consulting  engineer's  original 
requirement  specifications  and  in  accordance  with  the  detailed 
plans  and  specifications  which  accompanied  the  bid,  and  which 
were  not  changed  after  their  first  presentation.  The  West- 
inghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  then  sub-con- 
tracted the  power  plant,  exclusive  of  electric  apparatus,  to 
Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Company,  engineers. 

The  fact  has  been  commented  upon  that  Kingsbridge  is  the 
only  one  of  the  large  power  houses  the  contract  for  the  com- 
plete design  and  construction  of  which  has  been  let  to  a  large 
electric  manufacturing  company.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind, 
however,  that  at  the  time  this  work  was  projected,  in  1898,  the 
art  of  providing  electric  service  for  a  large  system  was  by  no 
means  as  far  advanced  as  it  is  to-day,  and  the  projectors  were 
probably  justified  in  the  feeling  that  as  the  success  of  the 


VIEW  OF  ENGINE  FOUNDATIONS,  LOOKING  NORTHWEST,  ON   JULY  1,  1901 


consideration  of  the  power  problem  concluded  to  take  bids  from 
the  principal  electric  companies  for  a  plant  complete  delivered 
in  operative  condition. 

Dr.  Louis  Duncan  was  appointed  consulting  engineer,  and 
issued  requirement  specifications,  upon  which  bids  were  asked 
from  the  several  electric  companies.  These  specifications 
covered  an  alternating-current  system  of  generation  and  dis- 
tribution, involving  a  large  central  power  house  and  a  number 
of  sub-stations,  some  months  being  allowed  bidders  for  a 
study  of  the  requirements  and  the  preparation  of  detailed  plans 
and  specifications.  The  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufac- 
turing Company  presented  a  tender  upon  the  complete  system, 
including  a  steam  plant,  designed  by  Westinghouse,  Church, 
Kerr  &  Company,  engineers,  who  also  designed  the  building 
which  contains  it. 

After  further  months  of  consideration  and  opportunity 
granted  for  revision  of  plans,  specifications  and  estimates,  the 
contract  was  awarded  to  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 


installation  depended  chiefly  upon  the  electrical  features  their 
interests  would  be  best  safeguarded  by  placing  the  responsi- 
bility for  the  operation  of  the  entire  system  upon  a  competent 
electric  company  rather  than  to  call  upon  engineers  or  engineer- 
ing contractors,  as  is  usual  in  other  lines  of  engineering  work, 
and  as  is  now  the  custom  in  electrical  installations. 

After  the  detailed  designs  and  specifications  were  worked 
out  and  the  sub-structure,  consisting  of  some  18,000  piles  and  a 
heavy  monolithic  slab  of  concrete,  was  completed,  financial 
conditions  brought  the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  into  the  control 
of  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  with  M.  G.  Star- 
rett  as  chief  engineer,  and  the  various  changes  consequent 
thereon  delayed  further  construction  for  more  than  a  year. 

The  plant,  as  originally  designed,  contains  sixteen  units  of 
3000  kw  each,  supplying  current  to  twenty-five  1000-kw  rotaries 
distributed  throughout  the  city  in  several  sub-stations,  and  in 
the  rearrangement  of  the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  requirements, 
with  due  relation  to  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 


1 


\ 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


5 


pany's  facilities  and  necessities,  it  was  concluded  to  first  install 
eight  units  and  thirteen  rotaries,  being  one-half  of  the  plant  ; 
to  change  the  generated  e.  m.  f.  to  6600  volts,  to  correspond 
with  the  Metropolitan  practice,  and  to  change  the  switchboard 
arrangements,  as  desired  by  Mr.  Starrett,  to  secure  practically 


STEEL  FRAMING  FOR  COAL  POCKET 


the  same  operative  method  as  is  used  at  Ninety-Sixth  Street, 
yet  availing  of  the  advance  in  the  art. 

The  work  then  proceeded  more  leisurely  than  would  have 
been  the  case  had  it  been  built  as  originally  intended  for  the 
Third  Avenue  Railroad  alone ;  this  being  permissible  because 
of  the  ability  of  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company  to 
supply  the  power  needed  for  a  few  years  from  its  own  then 
existing  stations  and  the  constant  growth  by  added  units  in 
its  Ninety-Sixth  Street  station. 

While  the  engineers  used  their  best  skill  to  make  the  Kings- 
bridge  plant  a  step  in  advance  of  best  practice,  this  was  done 


VIEW,  LOOKING  NORTHEAST,  NOV.  6,  1901 


with  due  reference  to  a  fair  degree  of  uniformity  with  the 
Ninety-Sixth  Street  plant,  with  the  result  that  these  stations 
possess  a  number  of  good  features  in  common.  The  main 
points  of  difference  lie  in  the  fact  that  Kingsbridge  was  given 
a  more  substantial  building,  especially  as  to  the  rigidity  of  the 
steel  structure.  The  combustion  is  handled  with  the  aid  of 
natural  draft,  supplemented  by  mechanical  draft,  the  completed 
plant  having  four  stacks,  whereas  Ninety-Sixth  Street  depends 
upon  natural  draft  from  one  large  stack.  Economizers  are 
used  at  Kingsbridge,  but  not  at  Ninety-Sixth  Street.  Kings- 


bridge  has  a  central  barometric  condensing  plant  to  which  the 
exhaust  of  all  engines  is  led,  whereas  Ninety-Sixth  Street  has 
independent  surface  condensers  for  each  engine.  At  Kings- 
bridge  especial  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  design  and  con- 
struction of  the  pipe  system  throughout,  with  a  view  to  giving 


BOILER  ROOM  BASEMENT,  AUG.  27,  1901 

it  much  higher  character  than  any  similar  work  previously 
designed  or  constructed,  and  which  has  been  faithfully  carried 
out  with  the  most  satisfactory  results. 

Kingsbridge  also  involves  a  feature  of  general  design  not 
quite  apparent  in  the  drawings  and  specifications  nor  other- 
wise apparent  until  the  entire  plant  shall  be  completed.  This 
feature  is  a  division  of  the  plant  into  quarters,  with  a  wide 
aisle  crosswise  of  the  house.  The  design  includes  sixteen 
units  in  two  rows  of  eight  each,  which  the  transverse  aisle 
again  divides  into  groups  of  four. 

The  boilers  through  the  two  decks  are  similarly  divided  by 


1 


VIEW,  LOOKING  SOUTHWEST,  NOV.  19,  1901 

the  longitudinal  firing  and  transverse  aisle  into  four  groups  of 
two  stories  each,  each  group  having  a  stack,  a  set  of  econo- 
mizers, an  auxiliary  mechanical  draft  and  suitable  piping  con- 
nections to  a  group  of  four  engines.  The  barometric  jet  con- 
densers stand  in  the  aisle  space  of  the  boiler  room  next  to  the 
engine  room  wall,  and  are  four  in  number,  each  serving  a 
quarter  of  the  plant. 

It  will  thus  be  apparent  that  there  are  four  plants  in  one,  or 
one  plant  with  four  independent  divisions,  each  operative  alone, 
yet  tied  together  to  operate  as  one.    Detail  examination  will 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  I. 


show  how  the  piping  is  connected  between  the  four  sections 
and  how  the  condensers  can  relay  each  other,  and,  in  fact,  how 
all  of  the  appropriate  and  reasonable  exchange  of  service  be- 
tween the  quarters  extends  from  the  smoke  flues  and  stacks 
through  to  piping,  condensers  and  switchboard.  The  merit  or 
desirability  of  this  grouping  can  only  be  proved  by  long  ex- 
perience, but  it  has  the  advantage  that  no  adverse  results  can 
follow  its  adoption,  it  being  rather  in  the  nature  of  a  permissive 
division  in  manipulation.  The  wide  transverse  aisle  follows, 
partly  from  the  character  of  the  condensing  plant  and  largely 
from  the  observed  tendency  for  auxiliary  and  other  apparatus 


Since  Kingsbridge,  no  large  New  York  plant  has  been  designed 
without  multiple  stacks. 

The  Kingsbridge  piping  is  well  worth  an  inspection  of  any 
one  desiring  to  look  into  this  extremely  difficult  and  by  no 
means  inexpensive  portion  of  such  a  property.  It  is  of  the  very 
highest  character,  and  in  both  design  and  construction  will 
stand  critical  comparison  with  any  of  the  prior  or  later  work, 
some  of  which  is  well  known  in  engineering  circles  to  have 
proved  vulnerably  inferior. 

Other  features  might  be  mentioned  but  the  above  will  suf- 
ficiently illustrate  that  this  plant  fairly  represents  certain  steps 


SIDE     walk  . 


STORE  - 
ROOM/ 


ECONOMIZERS  ABOver, 


ECONOMIZERS  ABOVE. 


B  O  I 

OR 


a 


LERS 

Oi  JP  3. 


FLU  E.  . 

ECONOMIZERS  ABOVE. 


ELEVATOR  . 


3 


flu  e.  . 

economizers  above 


BO 


L.E  R5. 

OIJP  1 


BOILER  HOUSE 


EN  CINE  ROOM. 


L 


L_P 


l-  r\uur  ^ 

|     '  MAIN^EIpCINES      [    |  ^ 


GROUP  2. 


MAIN     E^JGINEsTJ  | 


FFIC  E 

S. 

OFFICE  S 


A  Fl  E  A  . 


SIDE         \NfK  l-K 


91"      AVE.NU  El 

PLAN  OF  POWER  STATION 


to  group  toward  the  center  of  a  large  power  house  of  this 
type,  at  which  point  it  has  seemed  desirable  to  concentrate  such 
surplus  room  as  can  be  gained  within  the  property  limits. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  plant  was  designed  quite  early  in 
the  history  of  large  power  development  in  New  York  City.  It, 
nevertheless,  contains  quite  as  many  characteristic  features 
as  those  of  later  design,  and  it  remains  for  time  to  determine 
which  of  the  various  methods  adopted  in  the  different  plants 
will  prove  the  best  to  perpetuate.  Already  some  lessons  have 
been  learned ;  among  them  the  fact  that  this  plant,  in  even  its 
early  months  of  operation,  has  shown  its  capacity  to  give  a  very 
low  coal  rate,  even  lower  than  some  of  the  newer  designs.  The 
condensing  plant  of  at  least  one  power  house  since  designed  has 
been  removed  and  replaced  by  apparatus  of  type  similar  to  that 
used  at  Kingsbridge. 

Prior  to  Kingsbridge  the  practice  was  to  use  one  large  stack. 


in  advance,  many  of  which  have  become  characteristic  of 
power  plant  construction. 

In  the  foregoing  there  is  no  attempt  to  claim  strict  originality 
in  any  of  the  features  mentioned.  There  has  been  no  attempt 
to  introduce  new  arts,  but  the  combination  of  various  features, 
as  aggregated  in  the  Kingsbridge  design,  form  fair  material 
for  study  on  the  part  of  engineers  who  desire  to  look  carefully 
into  the  relative  features  of  plants  of  this  larger  class  upon 
which  the  responsibilities  for  operativeness  and  economy  are 
great. 

ARCHITECTURE 

The  necessity  of  creating  power  house  structures  in  large 
cities  has  given  architects  an  opportunity  to  interpret  what  such 
architecture  should  be.  We,  therefore,  have  in  the  various 
New  York  power  houses  different  styles  of  architecture,  which, 
in  the  main,  are  called  agreeable,  but  none  of  which,  on  close 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


1 


analysis,  would  probably  be  regarded  as  entirely  suitable  for  the 
purpose.  The  problem  is  a  difficult  one. 

The  lines  of  such  buildings  are  essentially  shaped  by  the 
plant  itself.  The  openings  are  fixed  by  closely 
limiting  conditions,  and  in  most  respects  the 
architectural  treatment  must  be  subservient 
to  the  engineering  requirements. 

Rigid  adherence  to  purpose  would  probably 
result  in  an  extremely  plain  exterior,  which, 
in  a  structure  so  large,  might  be  considered 
by  many  to  offend  the  eye,  especially  when 
the  unarchitectural  features,  such  as  smoke- 
stacks and  coal-handling  devices,  assume  an 
uncontrollable  prominence. 

The  architecture  of  a  given  house,  there- 
fore, results  from  the  point  of  view  assumed 
by  the  architect,  which  includes  his  individual 
taste.  There  seems  to  have  been,  by  common 
consent,  an  attempt  to  introduce  in  the  eleva- 
tions of  these  buildings  certain  proportions, 
treatment  of  openings,  ornamental  string 
courses,  cornices,  terra-cotta  work,  etc.,  to 
produce  a  pleasing  effect  without  inconsist- 
ence. Just  how  inconsistent  such  an  attempt 
may  be  is  open  to  opinion,  and  about  all  that 
can  be  said  of  the  architecture  of  these 
various  power  houses  is  that  they  are  as  they 
are,  and  time  will  decide  through  the  building 
of  future  plants,  with  these  as  examples,  what 
will  finally  come  to  be  considered  good  art  and 
appropriate  architecture  for  such  structures. 

When  the  Kingsbridge  power  house  was 
designed  no  other  large  example  existed  except  the  Metropoli- 
tan, at  the  foot  of  East  Ninety-Sixth  Street.   The  architectural 
department  of  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Company  de- 


It  is  difficult  to  judge  it  now,  because  it  is  single-ended  and 
exhibits  a  degree  of  blankness,  due  to  the  apparent  stopping 
off  at  a  point  beyond  the  middle,  thus  not  having  the  merit  of 


^l-  ■  if/pa**®* 


RAISING  THE  TRAVELING  CRANE  INTO  POSITION 

signed  the  elevations  of  the  Kingsbridge  building  for  a  certain 
effect,  which  has  been  well  carried  out  in  construction,  and 
were  the  whole  of  the  building  completed  it  would  truly  rep- 
resent the  motive. 


LAYING  THE  CONCRETE  FOUNDATIONS 

being  even  exactly  one-half  of  the  completed  design.  Never- 
theless, it  has  been  favorably  commented  upon,  and  is  believed 
to  be  good  of  its  kind  and  consistently  carried  out. 

Inasmuch  as  none  of  the  present 
power  house  designs  would  prob- 
ably stand  critical  analysis  as  to 
suitability  for  their  purpose,  and 
are  designed  largely  with  reference 
to  pleasing  effect  upon  the  eye,  or  at 
least  to  avoid  an  unpleasant  effect, 
the  only  way  to  judge  a  given  design 
is  to  compare  the  five  larger  power 
houses  now  erected  in  Manhattan 
and  draw  such  deductions  as  may  be 
warranted.  Several  close  compari- 
sons which  have  been  thus  drawn 
for  the  purpose  of  designing  new 
structures  indicate  that  the  Kings- 
bridge  architecture  compares  favor- 
ably with  others,  the  general  criti- 
cism having  been  that  all  of  the 
others,  except  Ninety-Sixth  Street, 
have  overdone  the  attempt  for  archi- 
tectural effect,  carrying  this  beyond 
appropriateness  to  purpose.  New 
structures  under  way  seem  to  go 
even  farther  in  the  direction  of  or- 
nateness,  and  as  a  reaction  from  this 
it  is  understood  that  the  power 
houses  for  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road terminal  service  are  to  be  given 
much  plainer  exteriors,  the  archi- 
tectural effects  to  be  produced  by  the 
proportions  of  mass  following  more  closely  than  previous  ex- 
amples the  suitability  to  purpose  and  reflection  of  interior, 
thereby  resulting  in  very  much  plainer  structures.  This  will 
later  give  further  opportunity  for  comparisons  to  be  drawn  with 


8 

the  previous  types,  and  only  time  will  determine,  through  these 
various  designs,  what  type  of  architecture  is  really  suitable  for 
massive  buildings  for  such  purpose  along  the  borders  of  the 
city. 

Believing,  therefore,  that  the  architectural  treatment  of  a 
large  power  station  should  be  characterized  by  a  dignity  and 
simplicity  of  design,  typifying  in  some  measure  the  majestic 
purpose  of  the  building,  and  expressive  of  a  structural  strength 


VIEW  OF  STATION,  LOOKING  NORTHEAST 


and  solidity  in  keeping  with  the  idea  of  power  generation,  it 
was  attempted  to  express  something  of  this  creed  in  the  design 
of  the  Kingsbridge  station. 

The  first  condition  of  simplicity,  even  more  than  a  due  regard 
for  structural  economy,  so  important  in  commercial  enter- 
prises, dictated  the  use  of  an  ordinary  grade  of  brick  for  ex- 
ternal treatment,  giving  an  obviously  solid  and  homogeneous 
construction,  free  from  the  suggestion  of  veneer  adhering  to  the 
use  of  face  brick.  The  details  of  the  cornices  and  mouldings 
throughout  are  of  the  simplest  character ;  the  inspiration  of  the 
design  being  drawn  from  the  early,  or  Roman,  period  of 
Romanesque  art,  but  freely  modified  to  conform  with  modern 
taste  and  practice.  Characteristic  of  this  style  are  the  arcades 
of  deeply  voussoired  semi-circular  arches  springing  from  a 
cornice  belt  (a  survival  of  Roman  entablature),  in  this  case 
serving  the  purpose  of  a  horizontal  band  coincident  with  the 
principal  girt  of  the  steel  frame. 

While  the  building  is  throughout  entirely  of  skeleton  steel 
construction,  no  adequate  exterior  expression  of  this  fact  is  pos- 
sible in  such  materials  as  brick  and  stone.  It  was,  therefore, 
determined  to  design  a  shell  which  should  be  obviously  con- 
structive in  itself  with  the  substantial  appearance  appropriate  to 
a  large  power  plant,  avoiding  the  tendency  to  architectural 
necromancy  so  commonly  exhibited  in  steel  frame  buildings. 
This  it  was  that  dictated  the  grouping  of  the  windows  in  large 
arched  openings,  separated  by  broad  wall  spaces,  visibly  able  to 
receive  and  transmit  the  thrusts  of  the  heavy  arches,  and  caused 
the  introduction  of  the  flanking  towers  at  the  abutments  of  the 
arcades,  which  will  form  the  four  sides  of  the  completed 
structure. 

The  foundations,  or  sub-structure,  of  such  building  are,  of 
necessity,  extremely  massive  and  important,  and  an  expression 
of  this  fact  was  sought  in  the  rugged  basement  of  rock-faced 
granite  masonry. 

POWER  UNITS 

These  consist  of  46-in.  and  86-in.  x  60-in.  Corliss  engines  with 
centrally  located  generators,  the  design  being  of  characteristic 
type  and  not  involving  any  special  features.  Extreme  care,  how- 
ever, was  given  to  the  workmanship  and  detail  of  these  engines 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  1. 

by  the  Westinghouse  Machine  Company,  with  a  view  to  in- 
stalling units  which  could  quickly  and  assuredly  be  brought 
into  practical  operation  with  less  change  and  refitting  than 
has  been  customary  in  large  engine  plants.  This  was  success- 
fully accomplished,  and  it  is  probable  that  no  large  engines 
have  even  been  installed  upon  which  so  little  was  required  to 
be  done  after  erection  as  in  this  plant.  Perhaps,  the  most 
noteworthy  feature  connected  with  the  engines  is  the  pro- 
vision for  handling  them  in  starting,  synchronizing  and  stop- 
ping. While  this  plant  was  under  construction,  Westinghouse, 
Church,  Kerr  &  Company  gave  special  and  continuous  attention 
to  determining  how  large  engines  were  best  handled  in  prac- 
tice in  the  service  of  large  stations.  To  this  end  their  engi- 
neers, from  time  to  time,  studied  the  operations  in  such  large 
plants  as  were  available,  and  much  information  was  accumu- 
lated as  to  the  best  ways  and  means  of  quickly  and  safely  hand- 
ling these  units  into  and  out  of  service.  There  has  been  a 
tradition  in  engineering  that  large  engines  should  be  started 
non-condensing  and  the  condensers  then  cut  in.  Practical  ob- 
servation of  operating  plants,  however,  has  shown  that  some 
engineers  consider  that  their  best  results  are  obtained  by  start- 
ing under  vacuum,  and  that,  while  the  practice  in  various 
stations  differs  more  or  less,  according  to  facilities  offered,  the 
use  of  many  large  engine  units  has  clearly  demonstrated  that 
certain  processes  are  safer  and  better  suited  to  operative  control 
than  others.  To  accomplish  all  that  is  possible  under  the 
present  state  of  the  art,  these  units  at  Kingsbridge  were,  there- 
fore, arranged  for  convenient  starting,  either  with  vacuum  or 
without,  at  the  will  of  the  engineer  by  the  following  arrange- 
ment : 

The  exhaust  from  each  group  of  four  engines  connects 
through  a  vacuum  trunk  to  a  condenser,  each  engine  exhaust 
pipe  being  provided  with  an  electrically-operated  gate  valve 


POWER  STATION,  FROM  RIVER  SIDE,  SHOWING  STEEL 
FRAMING  OF  COAL  CONVEYOR 

and  an  auxiliary  free  exhaust  pipe  between  this  valve  and  the 
engine  connecting  to  a  main  free  exhaust  and  to  the  atmos- 
phere. Each  auxiliary  exhaust  contains  an  automatic  relief 
valve  arranged  for  hydraulic  control  if  required.  Electric  wires 
from  the  gate  valve  and  hydraulic  piping  from  the  relief  valve 
are  carried  to  controls  upon  the  engine  platform  convenient 
to  the  throttle  valve,  and  these,  with  a  synchronizing  lam^, 
pressure  and  vacuum  gages,  also  near  the  throttle,  provide  the 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


9 


engineer  with  the  best  means  to  easily  start,  synchronize,  put 
into  service  or  stop  one  of  the  main  units  with  or  without  the 
use  of  vacuum. 

The  generators  are  of  the  well-known  Westinghouse  re- 
volving field  type,  substantially  constructed  and  operating  at 
6600  volts,  three-phase,  25  cycles  per  second.  This  is  one  of  the 
first  installations  where  the  Westinghouse  laminated  steel  con- 
struction was  adopted  for  revolving  fields  of  alternating-cur- 
rent generators.  In  this  construction  the  entire  magnetic 
circuit  of  the  field  is  of  sheet  steel,  built  up  in  overlapping 
layers  to  form  a  circuit  of  low  magnetic  resistance  and  like- 
wise a  fly-wheel  rim  of  exceptional  strength.  The  wisdom  of 
this  selection  has  been  demonstrated  bv  the  extent  to  which  this 


rounding  surface  condensers  and  the  possible  saving  of  feed 
water.  The  art  of  applying  condensers  for  large  service  is  one  of 
the  most  difficult  about  which  to  make  decisions  in  large  power 
plants.  On  the  one  hand,  there  is  the  possibility  of  saving  feed 
water  through  surface  condensers  to  the  extent  of  $50,000  to 
$100,000  per  annum,  with  which  goes  the  necessity  for  mainte- 
nance of  condensers  of  this  type,  together  with  special  pro- 
visions for  keeping  oil  out  of  the  condensed  water.  Had  all 
those  interested  in  the  construction  of  this  power  house  been 
willing  to  undertake  all  that  goes  with  this  construction  and 
operation,  the  engineers  would  have  been  willing  to  provide  the 
ways  and  means.  Had  this  been  done  it  would  have  been  along 
lines  involving  much  more  thorough  application  of  methods  for 


VIEW  IN  ENGINE  ROOM,  SHOWING  TRAVELING  CRANE  AND  RGOE  GIRDERS 


type  of  construction  has  since  been  adopted.  A  much  mooted 
point  in  alternating-current  station  design  is  that  of  the  best 
method  of  securing  the  easy  and  rapid  synchronizing  of  gen- 
erators and  the  maintenance  of  a  proper  division  of  work 
among  several  of  them  during  wide  changes  of  load  on  the 
stations.  This  problem  was  formerly,  and  still  is  to  a  con- 
siderable extent,  regarded  as  one  of  engine  design,  but  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  incorpor- 
ated into  the  design  of  the  Kingsbridge  generators  a  feature  of 
electrical  design  which  renders  the  synchronizing  problem  far 
simpler.  The  ease  with  which  single  machines  are  added  to 
the  service  at  Kingsbridge  leaves  little  to  be  desired  in  this 
direction.  Inasmuch  as  this  description  applies  to  the  power 
house  only,  the  design  of  the  sub-station  apparatus,  which  in- 
volves many  interesting  and  valuable  features,  will  be  left  for 
a  future  article. 

CONDENSERS 

In  this  plant  it  was  concluded  to  install  barometric  jet  con- 
densers after  due  consideration  of  all  of  the  problems  sur- 


effecting  the  total  results  economically  than  have  heretofore 
been  used.  The  original  design  contemplated  this  service  with 
its  consequent  saving,  but  was  finally  abandoned  in  favor  of  jet 
condensers,  but  without  adverse  decision  upon  the  other  and 
more  economical  method. 

The  use  of  individual  low-lift  jet  condensers  was  never  even 
considered  in  this  plant,  the  engineering  limitations  of  this 
type,  both  as  to  operativeness  and  efficiency,  excluding  them 
absolutely. 

This  might  scarcely  be  of  interest  except  for  the  fact  that 
in  some  large  subsequent  installations  such  condensers  have 
been  used,  but  with  such  unfortunate  results  that  they  have 
been  supplanted  by  the  barometric  type.  A  lesson  in  this  worth 
learning  is  the  necessity  for  the  comprehension  of  engineers 
regarding  the  degree  to  which  requirements,  especially  of  large 
installations,  outgrow  conventional  practice. 

The  final  decision  to  install  a  plant  of  centrally  located 
barometric  condensers,  four  in  number,  handling  sixteen 
3000-kw  units,  was  reached  after  a  careful  consideration  of 


10 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


such  similar  work  as  had  been  done  elsewhere  in  this  country 
and  abroad,  none  of  which,  however,  were  on  so  large  a  scale 
as  the  Kingsbridge  plant.  Aside  from  any  detailed  considera- 
tion of  designs,  efficiency  and  engineering  arrangement,  a  factor 
in  this  decision  was  parallel  with  the  reason  why  a  large  central 
power  house  should  be  built  as  distinct  from  a  number  of 
small  plants.  The  common  custom  of  locating  a  condenser  for 
each  engine  runs  into  a  multiplicity  of  valves  and  connections 
and  many  operative  functions,  including  distribution  of  con- 
denser water  supply  over  a  considerable  area.  A  point  of  view 
may  be  obtained  by  assuming  that  near  a  large  power  station 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  vacuum  factory,  where  vacuum  is 
produced  economically  on  a  large  scale,  and  a  proposition  is 


The  tail  pipes  are  28  ins.  in  diameter,  and  the  water  supply 
30  ins.,  entering  the  condenser  head  as  usual  through  suitable 
air  coolers,  from  which  coolers  cold  dry  air  is  exhausted  by 
close-clearance,  compound  steam-driven  fly-wheel  vacuum 
pumps.  Each  of  these  condensers  is  capable  of  handling  the 
exhaust  steam  for  about  25,000  hp,  thus  allowing  one  condenser 
as  spare  or  relay,  the  connections  being  so  made  that  the  ex- 
haust can  enter  the  several  condensers  individually  or  multiple 
into  them  as  a  connected  group.  Any  one,  therefore,  may  be 
cut  into  and  out  of  service,  thus  providing  the  requisite  elas- 
ticity of  operation. 

It  would  be  quite  impossible  to  dwell  upon  the  advantages  or 
disadvantages  of  this  type  of  condensing  plant  in  a  description 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  ENGINE  ROOM,  LOOKING  DOWN  CENTER  AISLE 


made  to  a  power  plant  for  vacuum  service  just  as  any  large 
central  station  supplies  public  service.  It  would  then  be  fair 
to  ask  why  it  would  not  be  feasible  to  purchase  this  commodity 
instead  of  operating  numerous  small  plants  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. The  individual  units  of  the  power  plant  would  thus,  in  a 
way,  become  customers  of  a  vacuum  factory.  It,  therefore, 
may  be  good  engineering  to  consider  the  creation  of  a  special 
vacuum  plant  serving  the  numerous  units  within  easy  trans- 
mission distance,  and,  therefore,  it  may  be  worth  while  in 
designing  an  important  property  to  consider  the  supply  of 
vacuum  as  a  separate  department  of  engineering  and  service, 
rather  than  as  a  detailed  adjunct  of  each  unit. 

A  study  of  this  problem  led  to  the  adoption  of  four  very  large 
barometric  condensers,  connected  to  the  engines  by  54-in.  ex- 
haust pipes,  each  main  receiving  the  exhaust  from  four  units. 


of  this  nature.  It  has  been  constructed  and  is  in  successful 
operation.  It  is  the  only  very  large  plant  of  this  type  in  ser- 
vice, and  time  will  determine  its  relative  advantage.  Thus  far 
its  performance  has  been  eminently  satisfactory,  and  it  has 
merits  which  would  give  it  preference  over  individual  con- 
densers for  each  engine.  The  same  general  plan  can  be  adapted 
to  central  surface  condensers,  with  their  feed-water  saving 
possibilities,  which  now  promise  to  appear  more  prominently  in 
station  design,  due  to  the  use  of  steam  turbines,  thereby  re- 
lieving the  surface  condenser  situation  of  the  former  difficulties 
of  oil-contaminated  exhaust. 

STEAM  GENERATION 
The  design  and  construction  of  the  steam  generating  plant 
do  not  appear  to  materially  differ  from  many  others  of  like 
kind.    It  consists  of  suitable  coal-handling  machinery  of  the 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


belt-conveyor  type,  supplying  generous  and  well  constructed 
coal  bunkers  fitted  with  fire  protection.  The  ash  handling 
through  hopper  bottoms  and  chutes  into  cars  introduces  no 
special  features  beyond  careful  detail  design.  Water-tube 
boilers  are  used,  in  which  the  heating  surface  is  not  made 
excessive  with  reference  to  grate  surface;  recognizing  that  the 
boiler  is  essentially  the  size  of  its  fire,  mechanical  stokers  of  ap- 
proved type  and  usual  construction  are  utilized  with  the  largest 
grate  surface  admissible. 

All  apparatus  is  adapted  for  the  use  of  hard  or  soft  coal,  as 
required.  The  products  or  combustion  pass  through  generous 
economizers,  with  ample  draft  space,  to  stacks  200  ft.  high, 
sufficient  for  normal  draft  under  most  conditions  of  service. 


the  dry-air  pumps  are  steam-driven,  close  clearance,  fly-wheel 
type.  The  stokers  are  driven  by  small,  simple  engines,  while 
the  mechanical  draft  fans  are  operated  by  plain  slide-valve 
engine  of  heavy  construction,  operating  at  slow  speeds  and  of  a 
comparatively  uneconomical  type. 

The  exciters  are  driven  by  compound  steam  engines.  The 
exhaust  from  all  of  these  auxiliaries  is  led  to  feed-water 
heaters,  in  which  it  is  completely  condensed.  The  feed  water, 
after  leaving  the  pre-heaters  in  the  main  exhaust  near  the  con- 
denser, is  raised  to  210  degs.  in  the  feed-water  heaters,  fed  with 
the  auxiliary  exhaust,  whence  it  passes  to  the  economizers  for 
an  extra  100  degs.  or  more,  absorbed  from  waste  gases  before 
it  enters  the  boilers.   The  electrically-driven  auxiliaries  are  the 


SECOND  FLOOR  OF  BOILER  ROOM 


This  draft  is  supplemented  by  mechanical  draft  between  the 
economizers  and  stacks,  with  suitable  arrangements  for  by- 
passing, so  that  on  short  notice  the  draft  may  be  made  equiva- 
lent to  stacks  400  ft.  or  more  in  height.  These  appliances,  care- 
fully arranged  with  reference  to  each  other  as  to  proportion 
and  detail,  and  with  an  ample  system  for  feed  water,  blow  off, 
etc.,  together  produce  a  steam  generating  plant  of  high  charac- 
ter, and  probably  as  efficient  as  the  present  state  of  the  various 
arts  involved  will  admit.  Throughout  its  design  sufficiency  and 
due  provision  for  convenience  in  operation  are  noticeable. 
AUXILIARIES 

The  auxiliaries  of  the  station  are  in  the  main  steam  driven. 
The  boiler  feed  pumps  are  of  the  compound,  duplex  type,  the 
centrifugal  pumps  for  elevating  the  condensed  water  for  the 
barometric  condensers  are  driven  by  compound  steam  engines, 


air  compressors  which  operate  the  pneumatically-operated 
switches ;  the  30-in.  gate  valves  in  the  exhaust  branches  from 
the  main  engines  to  the  main  exhaust  pipes,  the  coal  and  ash 
conveyors,  the  freight  elevators  and  the  traveling  crane. 

It  will  be  noted  that  steam-driven  auxiliaries  predominate  in 
this  station,  and  while,  consistently,  some  might  be  equally  well 
handled  electrically,  the  feed-water  requirements,  prior  to  pass- 
ing into  the  economizers,  are  such  as  to  readily  absorb  all  of 
the  heat  yielded  by  the  auxiliary  exhausts,  thus  preserving  the 
efficiency  of  the  total  heat  cycle. 

PIPING 

In  this  plant  special  care  has  been  given  to  the  design  and 
construction  of  the  piping  system,  and  which  could  be  at  best 
but  poorly  described.  It  needs  to  be  seen  and  judged  compara- 
tively with  the  piping  of  other  large  plants  to  establish  its 


12 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  I. 


merits.  The  high-pressure  piping  is  of  the  welded  flange  type, 
all  valves  and  fittings  being  extra  heavy.    The  large  exhaust 


FRONT  OF  BOARDS  MOUNTING  INSTRUMENTS  FOR  ELECTRIC  CONTROL  AND 

MEASUREMENT 


cold,  with  initial  tension  for  the  relief  of  strain  under  heat  ex- 
pansion and  various  other  improved  means  of  securing  the  best 
results,  are  carried  out  with  great  full- 
ness, yet  along  rimple  lines  in  this  work. 

ELECTRICAL  SWITCHING  EQUIPMENT 
One  of  the  most  important  develop- 
ments in  the  design  of  electrical  installa- 
tions of  large  power  stations  operating 
at  high  voltage  has  been  in  the  methods 
of  isolating  the  electrical  circuits.  In 
the  design  of  the  switching  equipment 
for  this  station  the  same  care  was  exer- 
cised in  the  provision  of  masonry  con- 
struction and  soapstone  barriers  as  was 
followed  at  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power 
station,  but  the  isolation  is  more  com- 
plete, without  sacrificing  anything  in 
accessibility.  Each  main  busbar  is 
completely  enclosed  in  a  separate  mas- 
onry compartment,  and  each  pole  of 
each  individual  circuit  breaker  is  sep- 
arated from  its  neighbor  by  a  marble 
barrier.  A  characteristic  feature  of  the 
plant  in  this  particular  is  the  grouping 
of  the  feeder  circuit  breakers  into  mas- 
onry cubicles,  each  cubicle  forming  a 
distinct  unit,  having  in  the  interior  of 
.he  cubicle  a  group  bus  connected  to  the 
main    bus    through    a    group  circuit 


VIEW  IN  ENGINE  ROOM,  SHOWING  SWITCHBOARD  GALLERY 

pipes  running  to  central  condensers,  are  of  boiler  plate,  caulked  breaker.  The  feeders  are  brought  up  to  their  respective  circuit 
tight,  and  auxiliary  free  exhausts  are  of  cast-iron.  The  breakers  in  small  groups,  so  that  trouble  cannot  spread  to  a 
methods  adopted  for  expansion  and  joining  of  certain  sections,     serious  extent,  as  has  occurred  a  number  of  times  in  other 


WJ 


[SUPPLEMENT  TO  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL] 


[JULY  2,  1904] 


BACK  OF  BOARDS  MOUNTING  INSTRUMENTS  FOR    ELECTRICAL  CONTROL  AND  MEASUREMENT 


14 


STI 


A.ILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


nts.  The  Metropolitan  power  stations  differ  fi  ither 
ge  stations  in  the  general  scheme  of  the  electrical  circuits.  A 
gle  sectional  bus  is  used,  to  which  the  generators  and  feeders 


VACUUM  CONNECTION  TO  CONDENSER 

e  connected,  instead  of  the  usual  double  bus  construction, 
e  theory  being  that  for  the  particular  service  of  the  Metro- 


erators.  At  Kingsbridge  each  feeder  group  is  dependent  on 
one  group  of  generators,  being  connected  through  the  group 
switch  to  one  section  of  the  main  or  generator  bus.  Emergency 
conditions  are  provided  for  by  serving  each  sub-station  with  a 
number  of  feeders,  each  of  which  is  brought  to  a  different 
cubicle  in  the  power  station.  In  case  one  section  of  the  power 
station  is  shut  down,  each  sub-station  will,  therefore,  be  served 
from  the  other  sections.  The  main  or  generator  bus  of  the 
ultimate  installation  is  divided  into  four  sections  correspond- 
ing with  the  four  divisions  of  the  plant  previously  mentioned. 
These  sections  are  coupled  together  by  bus  junction  circuit 
breakers. 

The  switching  equipment  is  arranged  on  three  galleries  along 
one  side  of  the  engine  room.  The  generator  circuit  breakers 
are  placed  on  the  lower  gallery,  the  bus  structure  on  the  second 
gallery,  and  the  feeder  cubicles  on  the  third  gallery,  thus 
making  the  arrangement  progressive  from  generators  to  feeders 
without  crossing  of  circuits. 

Air-type  circuit  breakers  are  used  for  all  high-tension  cir- 
cuits, operated  from  an  electro-pneumatic  controller  system. 
The  operating  platform,  containing  the  controlling  desks  and 
instruments  for  the  various  alternating  circuits,  are  on  the 
second  gallery  in  a  location  which  is  central  with  reference  to 
the  ultimate  equipment  of  power  units,  and  from  which  there 
is  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  engine  room.  Below  this  plat- 
form, on  the  second  gallery,  is  the  exciter  switchboard,  con- 
taining panels  for  the  control  of  the  exciters  and  panels  for 
the  direct-current  feeder  circuits  for  lights  and  power  house 
auxiliaries ;  also  the  field  rheostat  switchboard  and  the  field 
resistances.  All  switching  apparatus  and  all  instruments  are 
of  standard  Westinghouse  make. 


54-IN.  AND  42-IN.  RIVETED  VACUUM  LINES 


STEAM  SEPARATOR 


olitan  system  the  flexibility  of  the  double  bus  construction  is 
ot  essential.  At  Ninety-Sixth  Street  the  bus  is  divided  into 
eeder  sections  and  generator  sections,  so  connected  that  a 
eeder  section  may  be  served  by  more  than  one  group  of  gen- 


MISCELLANEOUS 
Among  the  minor  things,  attention  might  be  called  to  various 
features  of  passing  interest  to  any  one  inspecting  the  plant, 
which  are  of  little  importance  in  a  printed  description.  Among 


r 


July  2,  1904.] 

these  might  be  mentioned  the  design  of  the  traveling  crane 
which  spans  the  distance  of  130  ft.  between  track  centers,  the 
convenient  arrangement  of  stairways  and  galleries  around  the 
main  units,  the  adequate  provision  by  way  of  air  cleaning  and 
water  cooling,  the  oiling  and  oil  filter  and  cooling  systems,  pro- 
vided to  handle  four  kinds  of  oil,  the  amount  of  available  work- 
ing space  in  engine  room,  basement  and  around  the  various 
auxiliaries,  notwithstanding  this  plant  is  so  compact  as  to 
utilize  only  1.1  sq.  ft.  per  horse-power.  Comparison  with  other 
plants  will  show  this  to  be  much  more  compact  than  those  of 
later  design,  with  possibly  one  exception,  in  which  the  ma- 
chinery is  obviously  crowded  and  working  space  inconveniently 
contracted.  This  ample  working  room  at  Kingsbridge,  with  the 
smaller  floor  space  per  horse-power,  is  due  to  the  available  free 
space  being  so  distributed  that  it  is  all  useful,  whereas,  some  of 
the  later  designs  provide  more  space  than  required  for  practical 
operation,  thus  running  up  the  floor  area  per  horse-power  with- 
out compensating  advantage. 

Suitable  office  lockers,  rooms,  shower  baths,  and  all  neces- 
sary facilities  for  the  accommodation  of  employees  are  amply 
provided. 

OPERATION ' 

The  portion  of  the  plant  now  completed,  containing  eight 
units,  is  in  full  operation,  and  if,  as  reported,  it  has  succeeded 
in  thus  operating  with  fewer  difficulties  in  its  earlier  history 
than  others,  it  is  because  of  the  attention  paid  to  the  details  of 
design  and  construction.  It  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say  that  it 
has  had  no  troubles  whatever,  each  feature  alone  and  in  con- 
junction with  others  having  worked  exactly  as  predetermined 
with  no  necessity  for  changes.  The  same  condition  practically 
existed  throughout  the  construction,  there  being  no  interfer- 
ences, and,  consequently,  no  changes  required.  The  plant  is 
marked  throughout  by  sufficiency  of  materials  and  methods, 
and  is  believed  will  show  an  operative  efficiency  of  the  highest 
grade.  This  is  already  indicated  by  its  early  months  of  opera- 
tion, in  which  the  coal  rate  per  kilowatt  substantially  equals 
the  best  records.  It  is  yet  too  early  to  draw  final  conclusions 
upon  the  relative  operation  and  economy,  but  time  will  develop 
records  of  whatever  superiority,  if  any,  follows  from  the  care 
which  has  been  exercised  in  refinement  of  construction  of  the 
main  engines,  the  careful  proportioning  of  all  of  the  factors 
which  enter  into  a  steam  generating  plant,  and  the  engineering 
economies  which  are  introduced  in  the  various  auxiliaries  and 
in  the  general  integrity  of  the  construction  as  a  whole,  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  the  economy  by  preventing  minor  wastes, 
minimizing  repairs  and  avoiding  the  sacrifice  of  economy  which 
results  from  frequently  having  to  meet  emergency  conditions 
because  of  disarrangements  and  break-downs. 

This  power  plant  exemplifies  a  well-carried  out  and  con- 
sistent design  of  a  certain  date.  It  would  be  too  much  to  hope 
that  it  would  excel  plants  now  projected,  which  will  have  the 
advantage  of  steam  turbines  and  various  new  appliances  which 
are  now  at  the  command  of  engineers.  It,  however,  is  prepared 
to  take  its  place  and  make  its  record  among  the  four  or  five 
large  stations  of  somewhat  similar  type  now  built,  or  under 
way,  in  or  near  the  city  of  New  York,  and  as  such  it  is  open 
to  full  inspection  to  those  who,  through  their  engineering  in- 
terests, are  entitled  to  inspect  its  construction  and  operation. 



ANNIVERSARY  OF  FIRST  MOUNTAIN  RAILWAY 

The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  opening  of  the  first  mountain 
railway  has  recently  been  celebrated  in  Vienna  and  in  the 
neighboring  mountain  resort,  Semmering.  The  line  over  the 
Semmering,  3300  ft.  high,  was  projected  and  carried  out  just 
a  half  century  ago  by  Karl  Ghega,  an  Austrian  engineer,  in 
the  face  of  technical  criticism  and  public  opposition.  Ghega, 
however,  accomplished  the  work  and  a  monument  has  been 
erected  to  his  honor  at  the  top  station. 


15 

PROGRAMME  OF  THE  VIENNA  MEETING  OF  THE  INTER- 
NATIONAL STREET  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION 

The  programme  of  the  Vienna  convention  of  the  Interna- 
tional Street  Railway  Association  has  just  been  announced. 
The  date  of  the  meeting  has  been  changed  from  Sept.  12-15  t0 
Sept.  5-8,  in  order  to  permit  the  attendance  at  the  St.  Louis 
Exposition  of  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  association  who 
expect  to  visit  the  exposition  after  the  Vienna  convention. 
The  programme  at  Vienna,  as  announced  by  the  secretary,  is 
as  follows : 

On  Sunday,  Sept.  4,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a  reception 
will  be  given  to  the  delegates  in  the  festival  hall  in  the  city  park. 
Attendants  are  requested  to  register,  so  far  as  possible,  at  that 
time. 

On  the  morning  of  Monday,  Sept.  5,  there  will  be  a  session 
from  10  to  1,  to  be  held  in  the  hall  of  the  Austrian  Society  ot 
Engineers  and  Architects,  at  which  all  the  business  sessions  of 
the  association  will  be  held.  Addresses  of  welcome  will  be  deliv- 
ered by  the  Austrian  Minister  of  Railroads,  and  by  the  Mayor  of 
the  city  of  Vienna.  In  the  afternoon  a  visit  will  be  made  by  car- 
riages to  the  City  Hall,  to  the  Imperial  Theater  and  to  the  works 
of  the  Siemens-Schuckert  Company.  In  the  evening,  at  6  o'clock, 
the  delegates  will  attend  a  performance  at  the  Imperial  Opera 
House  of  "Die  Opernprobe,"  at  which  the  celebrated  ballet  "Rund 
urn  Wien"  will  be  rendered. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  Sept.  6,  a  business  session  of  the  associa- 
tion will  be  held  from  9  until  I.  In  the  afternoon  a  trip  will  be 
made  to  the  car  houses  and  repair  shops  of  the  municipal  tram- 
ways, after  which  the  delegates  will  be  driven  to  the  imperial  park 
at  Schonbrunn.  In  the  evening  a  banquet,  tendered  to  the  asso- 
ciation by  the  Austrian  Minister  of  Railroads,  will  be  held  at 
Hietzing.  The  return  to  Vienna  will  be  made  by  special  trains  on 
the  Metropolitan  Railway. 

On  Wednesday,  Sept.  7,  a  business  session  will  be  held  from  9 
until  1.  In  the  afternoon  there  will  be  an  excursion  on  the  Danube 
River,  during  which  the  principal  electric  power  stations  will  be 
visited.  The  afternoon  trip  will  terminate  with  an  excursion  to 
Kahlenberg  by  the  cable  inclined  railway.  In  the  evening  there 
will  be  a  reception  at  Kahlenberg,  tendered  by  the  Austrian  Tram- 
way &  Light  Railway  Association.  The  return  to  Vienna  will  be 
made  at  10  oclock  by  special  train. 

On  Thursday,  Sept.  8,  a  session  will  be  held  as  usual  from  9 
until  1.  In  the  afternoon,  if  time  permits,  a  visit  will  be  made  to 
the  Electrochemical  Institute.  In  the  evening,  at  6  o'clock,  the 
delegates  will  attend  the  official  banquet  tendered  to  the  associa- 
tion by  the  municipality,  which  will  be  held  in  the  City  Hall. 

During  the  business  sessions  of  the  association,  trips  have  been 
arranged  by  the  local  committee  for  the  ladies  in  attendance,  at 
which  various  interesting  points  in  the  city  will  be  visited.  There 
will  be  a  subscription  of  20  kroner  ($4)  for  the  gentlemen  and  10 
kroner  ($2)  for  the  ladies  in  attendance,  to  cover  part  of  the  cost 
of  the  entertainments. 

Two  series  of  excursions  are  planned  for  the  days  following  the 
convention,  viz.,  Sept.  9-11,  for  those  who  wish  to  participate. 
One  of  these,  extending  over  two  days,  will  be  to  Schneeberg  and 
to  Semmering  and  then  to  Trieste;  the  other  will  be  to  Linz  and 
the  Postlinberg,  then  to  Innsbruck  and  the  valley  of  the  Stubai, 
where  a  single-phase  electric  railway  is  in  operation. 

In  view  of  the  large  number  of  members  of  the  association  who 
will  probably  attend,  and  to  facilitate  the  work  of  the  local  com- 
mittee, the  executive  committee  requests  that  all  members  who 
expect  to  attend  the  convention  at  Vienna  will  send  a  notice  to  this 
effect  to  Mr.  Ziffer,  of  the  executive  committee,  stating,  at  the 
same  time  the  number  of  ladies,  if  any,  who  will  be  in  their  party, 
also  whether  they  expect  to  go  to  the  opera  on  the  evening  of 
Sept.  S,  also  whether  they  wish  to  join  any  of  the  excursions  after 
the  close  of  the  convention. 

The  executive  committee  also  announces  that  owing  to  the  va- 
cancy in  the  executive  committee  occasioned  by  the  death  of  the 
late  Mr.  Roehl,  nominations  for  another  member  of  the  executive 
committee  will  be  in  order  at  the  Vienna  meeting.  Messrs.  Koeh- 
ler,  of  Berlin,  and  Ziffer,  of  Vienna,  both  of  whom  arc  at  present 
members  of  the  executive  committee,  have  been  designated  by  the 
executive  committee  as  vice-presidents  of  the  association,  and  their 
nominations  will  be  submitted  to  the  association  for  ratification  at 
the  Vienna  meeting. 



H.  Parry,  general  agent  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad 
at  Buffalo,  is  quoted  as  saying  that  the  company  is  planning  to 
equip  its  Auburn  and  Falls  line  with  electric  power. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


i6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  r. 


AN  IMPORTANT  NEW  STREET  RAILWAY  REPAIR  SHOP  AT 
PORTLAND,  ME. 


The  Portland  Railway  Company,  Portland,  Maine,  has  for 
some  time  thoroughly  realized  the  growing  importance  of  the 
repair  shop  problem,  resulting  from  the  more  difficult  condi- 
tions of  heavy  traffic  that  have  developed  and  that  naturally 
resulting  from  the  use  of  the  heavier  and  more  powerful  equip- 
ments than  was  formerly  the  practice.  The  proper  care  of  its 
cars  and  electrical  equipment  has  been  found,  as  is  the  very 
general  experience  of  other  street  railway  companies,  to  greatly 
overtax  present  facilities.  As  a  result  of  the  important  relation 
which  the  repair  work  bears  to  the  operating  efficiency  of  the 
road  as  a  whole,  the  officials  of  this  company  have  been  de- 
voting careful  study  to  the  shop  question,  and  have  recently 
completed  plans  for  a  new  shop  installation,  which  will  not 
only  provide  for  the  magnitude  of  the  present  conditions  of  car 
repairs,  but  will  also  take  care  of  a  considerable  margin  of 
growth.    On  account  of  the  important  features  that  have  been 


that  this  company  operates  94  miles  of  line,  and  now  has  221 
cars,  the  maintenance  of  which  has  become  a  question  of  con- 
siderable magnitude.  The  shop  building  occupies  a  tract  171 
ft.  x  204  ft.,  located  near  the  Union  Railroad  Station,  in  Port- 
land, and  so  connected  with  the  car  tracks  that  the  cars  of  all 
lines  of  the  city  have  easy  access  to  it.  The  various  depart- 
ments are  located  adjacent  to  each  other,  without  intervening 
spaces,  the  side  lighting  thus  forfeited  being  substituted  by  a 
very  thorough  system  of  skylighting,  so  that  the  shop  will  have 
sufficient  light  to  be  very  convenient  to  work  in.  The  general 
arrangement  of  the  various  departments  may  be  seen  from  the 
accompanying  plan  drawing  of  the  shop  building  as  a  whole, 
while  the  other  features  of  the  building  construction,  as  well  as 
also  the  exterior  architecture,  may  be  seen  from  the  additional 
sectional  drawings  and  exterior  elevations. 

The  paint  shop,  the  equipping  or  erecting  shop,  the  wood- 
working shop,  the  blacksmith  shop  and  brass  foundry  are  all 
one-story  buildings,  and  are  provided  with  profuse  skylighting. 
The  stock  room  and  machine  shop  sections  upon  the  two  street 

§         L       A  h 


Section  A-A 

FRONT  ELEVATION  AND  SECTION  OF  THE  NEW  PORTLAND  REPAIR  SHOP 


.  4 

—7 — .■'  "/  :*>A!-  Street  Level 

Street  Ry.  Journal' 


incorporated,  the  general  plans  of  this,  its  new  St.  Johns  Street 
shop,  will  be  found  of  unusual  interest. 

This  new  shop  installation,  as  being  built,  will  embrace  one 
of  the  best  arranged  layouts  and  most  complete  systems  of 
handling  the  peculiar  repair  conditions  met  in  street  railway 
repair  work  that  have  up  to  this  time  been  developed  for  a  road 
of  this  size.  The  officials  are  to  be  congratulated  for  the  ex- 
cellent and  broad-minded  character  of  this  design,  particularly 
as  there  has  been  so  little  work  of  similar  nature  upon  as  ex- 
tensive a  scale  as  this,  and  the  design  work  necessarily  required 
to  be  very  largely  original  owing  to  the  lack  of  precedent  to  go 
by.  The  principal  idea  borne  out  in  this  design  has  been  that  of 
simplicity  and  convenience  of  arrangement  of  the  different  de- 
partments, and  the  repair  work  in  the  shop  plant  will  be  greatly 
simplified  by  the  freedom  of  access  between  the  different  de- 
partments and  the  short  distances  for  handling  the  material  : 
this  last  feature  alone  is  sufficient  to  very  strongly  commend 
this  design  to  those  who  are  considering  similar  problems. 

An  idea  of  the  size  of  the  problem  which  was  coped  with  in 
the  design  of  this  shop  installation  may  be  had  from  the  fact 


corners  of  the  building  are  of  two-story  construction,  the  floor 
above  the  stock  room  being  arranged  for  offices,  while  that 
above  the  machine  shop  will  take  care  of  the  upholstering  work 
and  also  the  armature  and  field  winding  and  other  electrical 
repairs.  As  may  be  seen  from  the  plans,  the  various  depart- 
ments are  separated  by  extra  heavy  16-in.  fire-walls,  and  all 
doors  are  of  the  self-closing,  tin-covered,  rolling  type,  for 
isolation  of  any  department  in  case  of  fire.  In  all  cases  the 
division  walls  extend  for  some  distance  above  the  roofs,  24  ins. 
being  the  minimum  projection,  while  in  the  case  of  the  paint 
store  room,  the  most  dangerous  fire  hazard  of  the  entire  shop, 
the  side  walls  are  carried  some  4  ft.  above  the  surrounding  roof. 
Thus,  in  case  of  fire  in  that  room,  the  side  walls,  projecting  up 
as  they  do  above  the  roof,  would  act  as  a  chimney  and  carry 
the  flames  up  to  a  point  where  they  might  be  easily  taken  care 
of,  and  not  come  in  contact  with  the  rest  of  the  building;  this 
is  a  very  valuable  and  effective  arrangement  for  the  paint 
stores,  and  should  be  made  use  of  in  other  shops  where  large 
paint  stocks  are  carried. 

Another  important  fireproofing  feature  of  the  building  con- 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


17 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


struction  lies  in  the  use  of  granolithic  floors  throughout  upon 
the  ground-level  floors ;  the  upper  floors  in  the  two-story 
sections  are  of  strong,  slow-burning  wood  construction,  and  are 
faced  with  %-in.  matched  birch.  The  roof  construction  in  all 
parts  of  the  building  is  of  steel  frame  work,  covered  with  3-in. 
roof  planking,  over  which  is  laid  tar  and  gravel,  according  to 
the  usual  method  of  gravel  roof  construction.  The  mansard 
roofs  of  the  two-story  sections  are  both  covered  with  slate. 
Other  interesting  features  of  the  shop  building  may  be  ob- 
served from  the  accompanying  plans. 

The  general  procedure  in  the  handling  of  car  repairs  will  be 
that  of  bringing  cars  first  to  the  equipping  or  erecting  shop,  for 
dismantling,  where  they  will  be  taken  down  and  all  parts 
stripped  ready  for  the  work  of  repairs.  This  department  has 
two  pit  tracks  leading  in  from  the  street  throughout  the  length 
of  the  room,  and  a  third,  which  extends  through  the  L-shape 
section  of  this  room,  for  access  to  the  woodworking  shop.  The 
car  body  parts,  including  window  sash,  doors,  etc.,  may  be  de- 


of  this  character,  including  the  usual  number  of  forges,  a  power 
hammer  and  a  babbitting  equipment  for  taking  care  of  motor 
and  axle  bearings.  The  woodworking  department  will  be 
equipped  with  the  usual  woodworking  tools,  including  planers, 
matchers,  saw  benches,  band-saws,  etc. 

An  important  feature  of  this  shop,  and  one  which  cannot  be 
recommended  too  highly,  is  that  of  the  use  of  the  brass  foundry. 
So  many  small  brass  parts  are  used  in  electric  railway  repair 
work,  and  many  of  them  special,  that  shops  are  often  greatly 
inconvenienced  in  obtaining  same.  Here,  by  the  use  of  the 
brass  foundry,  all  such  standard  parts  may  be  made  easily  and 
rapidly  and  kept  in  stock  in  advance,  while  special  pieces  may 
be  cast  upon  short  notice  for  emergency  repairs — this  feature 
alone  is  often  of  sufficient  value  to  warrant  its  installation. 

After  the  work  of  repairs,  cars  will  be  transferred  to  the 
paint  shop,  adjacent  to  the  erecting  shop,  entering  preferably 
upon  the  first  track,  when  washing  is  necessary,  this  track 
being  drained  to  sewer  connections  so  as  to  permit  the  use  of 


Exterior  ElevatiomSide  C 


Machine  Shop  &  Electrical  Repairs 

m 


S.  aeksra 


n 


Front  BtB 

SIDE  AND  END  ELEVATIONS  OF  THE  NEW  PORTLAND  REPAIR    SHOP  BUILDING 


Skylight  oyer 
^  Fireproof  Paint 
.  Storeroom 


n 


Street  Ry.  Journal 


livered  to  the  wood  shop  on  the  one  side  for  repairs,  or  to  the 
paint  shop  on  the  other  for  washing  and  painting  or  varnishing. 
The  electrical  equipment  is  easily  distributed  from  here  to  the 
machine  shop  and  electrical  repair  departments  (by  elevator), 
while  truck  repairs  will  be  handled  directly  upon  the  pit  tracks, 
or  trucks  may  be  rolled  directly  into  the  smith  shop  for  heavy 
repairs.  It  will  be  at  once  seen  that  the  close  proximity  of  this 
department  to  the  woodworking  and  blacksmith  shop,  as  well 
as  to  the  stock  room,  will  greatly  facilitate  rapid  repair  work. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  an  extra  large  space  is  devoted  to  the 
blacksmith  work,  which  is  probably  due  to  the  growing  im- 
portance of  this  department  on  account  of  the  large  sizes  of 
trucks  and  motor  equipments  that  are  now  coming  into  use,  and 
also  the  increased  maintenance  of  brake  riggings.  This  is 
probably  the  first  instance  where  a  blacksmith  shop  is  provided 
with  a  greater  space  than  that  of  the  machine  shop,  but  it  will 
surely  be  found  advantageous  and  very  desirable.  The  black- 
smith shop  also  has  a  pit  track  connected  with  one  of  the  erect- 
ing shop  tracks,  so  that  the  trucks  may  be  rolled  through  into 
the  smith  shop  for  convenience  in  making  heavy  repairs.  The 
equipment  of  the  blacksmith  shop  will  be  that  found  in  shops 


the  hose  in  washing.  This  shop  is  provided  with  four  tracks, 
the  track  adjacent  to  the  washing  track  being  provided  with  a 
pit  for  access  in  painting  trucks  and  work  beneath  the  car.  The 
two  farther  tracks  are  surfaced  level,  without  pits,  and  will  be 
used  for  general  car-paint  work.  At  the  rear  of  the  paint  shop 
will  be  noticed  an  interesting  arrangement  of  the  auxiliary 
rooms,  including  the  master  car  painter's  office,  a  separate  room 
for  the  painting  of  car  signs,  sashes  and  doors,  as  well  as  the 
paint  stock  room.  This  room  also  contains  a  washing  tray  for 
the  washing  of  window  sash  and  doors,  and  in  one  corner  is 
provided  the  workmen's  lockers.  This  room  is  provided  with 
ample  skylighting,  and  will  be  found  one  of  the  most  valuable 
departments  of  the  entire  shop.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  set  off  from 
the  remainder  of  the  shop  by  16-in.  fire-walls,  a  very  heavy 
paint  stock  may  be  carried  and  handled  without  serious  fire 
hazard  to  the  rest  of  the  shop. 

The  design  of  this  shop  installation  is  throughout  one  of  the 
most  complete  and  best  arranged  of  its  kind  known,  and  the 
result  reflects  great  credit  upon  the  officials  who  have  devoted 
careful  attention  to  the  work.  Acknowledgment  is  due  to  E. 
A.  Newman,  general  manager  of  the  company. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


19 


BURN-OUT  OF  CABLE  CONDUIT  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


In  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  June  11,  an  account  was 
given  of  the  burning  out  of  the  cables  in  a  large  cable  conduit 
which  conducted  all  the  power  from  the  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company's  central  station  to  overhead  lines.   As  sufficient  time 


in  the  general  wreck  of  the  cables  and  conduit,  which  has  been 
noted.    The  destruction  of  cables  was  so  general  that  along 


CABLE  SHEATH  MELTED  WITHOUT  DESTROYING  INSULATION 

the  main  line  of  conduit,  which  consists  of  forty  ducts  of 
cement-lined  iron  pipe  laid  in  concrete,  it  was  impossible  to 
pull  the  cables  out  from  the  manholes,  and  the  company  had 


TEMPORARY  OVERHEAD   CABLES  LEAVING  POWER  STATION 

has  elapsed  since  the  accident  so  that  the  conduit  has  been 
partially  dug  up,  it  is  possible  to  reproduce  here  some  photo- 
graphs of  the  burned-out  cables  and  conduit,  and  also  some 
additional  notes  regarding  the  accident. 

As  explained  in  the  previous  issues  the  trouble  probably 
arose  from  the  short  circuiting  of  one  or  two  cables  in  the  con- 
duit. As  many  of  the  cables  were  solidly  fastened  together  at 
the  terminal  boxes  where  they  were  connected  to  the  overhead 
feeders,  and  as  circuit  breakers  between  adjacent  trolley  sec- 
tions were  plugged  up,  it  was  not  possible  either  automatically 
or  by  hand  to  cut  out  a  short-circuited  cable.  The  consequence 
was  that  the  entire  capacity  of  the  power  house  fed  the  short- 


CONDUIT  DUCTS  AFTER  THE  BURNOUT 

to  dig  up  this  conduit  with  pick  and  shovel.  The  appearance 
of  conduit  ducts,  and  cables  when  removed  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  engraving. 

On  many  of  the  cables  there  are  spots  where  the  lead  cover- 


PIPE  BENDS  NEAR  BOTTOM  OF  HOLE 

circuited  cable,  and  caused  the  continuance  of  a  very  destruc- 
tive arc,  while  at  the  same  time  the  cables  became  so  over- 
loaded that  the  insulation  was  burned  through  in  many  other 
places  along  the  conduit  line,  with  the  result  that  the  short 
circuit  became  general.  The  first  signs  of  trouble  appeared 
about  10  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  June  3,  when  several  cables 
became  short  circuited  and  were  cut  out.  At  6  o'clock  the 
same  evening  another  short  circuit  occurred,  which  resulted 


CONDUIT  BEING  DUG  UP 

ing  has  been  melted  off,  and  yet  there  are  no  signs  that  the 
insulation  has  given  away  or  that  there  has  been  any  arcing 
from  the  conductors  to  the  lead  sheath.  The  defects  in 
many  of  the  cables,  whether  caused  by  arcing  or  simply  by 
melting  of  the  sheath,  occur  at  regular  intervals.  This  is 
thought  to  be  due  to  the  fact  that  steel  bands  were  placed 
around  the  conduit  ducts  at  the  joints,  and  the  duct  joints  were 
not  staggered  but  were  all  placed  at  one  point.    The  result 


20 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  t. 


was  that  these  bands  caused  a  concentration  of  the  flow  of  cur- 
rent at  that  point  as  they  acted  like  bonds,  and  this  melted  the 
cable  sheath,  in  some  cases  without  fully  breaking  down  the  in- 
sulation of  the  cable.  Where  once  a  thorough  arc  was  started 
between  the  cable  and  its  lead  sheath  the  destruction  of  cable 
and  conduit  was  complete,  the  whole  being  melted  together 
into  a  mass  of  copper,  lead  and  iron.  Some  of  the  worst  de- 
struction took  place  in  the  iron  pipe  bends  at  the  bottom  of  the 


■  :  

AT  SPRING  AND  VISTA  STREETS—  1  EMPORAlvY  LINES  AND 
THREE  CONNECTIONS  TO  UNINJURED  UNDER- 
GROUND CABLES 

poles,  through  which  the  cable  was  lead  from  the  conduit  to 
the  pole.  Just  how  complete  the  wreck  of  the  conduit  may  be  is 
not  known  at  present  writing,  but  the  present  appearances  are 
that  about  one  block  of  40  ducts  conduit  will  have  to  be  dug  up 
bodily.  This  is  the  conduit  nearest  the  power  house,  which 
takes  the  entire  output  of  the  power  house.  The  accompanying 
engravings  also  show  some  of  the  temporary  rush  work  which 
the  company  did  in  stringing  overhead  cables  as  a  substitute 
for  the  underground  cables. 

♦  ♦♦  

NOTES  ON  GERMAN  AXLE,  WHEEL  AND  RAIL  PRACTICE 

BY  A  GERMAN  ENGINEER 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Rheinisch- Westfalische  Stras- 
senbach-Betriebsleiter-Vereinigung  (Street  Railway  Man- 
agers' Association),  held  in  Essen,  the  members  witnessed  at 
the  Krupp  Works  a  series  of  remarkable  tests  of  Martin 
crucible  steel  and  nickel  steel  street  railway  car  axles.  An 
equal  number  of  finished  axles,  made  of  the  two  materials 
named,  all  110  mm  (4.33  ins.)  in  diameter,  were  subjected  to 
several  cold  bending  tests  under  a  pressure  of  5000  tons.  In 
the  first  trial  one  axle  of  each  material  was  bent  around  a  core 
of  120  mm  (4.72  ins.)  radius.  The  nickel  steel  axle  assumed 
the  shape  of  the  letter  U,  but  failed  to  show  the  slightest  evi- 
dence of  rupture,  whereas,  the  Martin  steel  axle  showed  a  break 
about  an  inch  deep  on  its  outer  surface.  Another  set  of  axles 
was  taken  for  the  second  trial,  but  before  bending  each  axle  was 
notched  in  the  center  with  a  heavy  chisel.  The  nickel-steel 
axle  again  took  the  shape  of  a  U  without  any  apparent  increase 
in  the  depth  of  the  notch,  but  the  other  axle  broke  in  two 
before  one-fourth  of  the  bending  process  had  been  completed, 
despite  the  fact  that  it  was  made  of  the  best  Martin  steel.  It 
is  well  known  that  most  axle  breakages  occur  at  a  sharp  edge, 
as  at  the  corner  of  the  gear  seat,  and  accidents  of  this  kind,  it  is 
thought,  will  be  avoided  by  the  use  of  nickel-steel  axles. 


Although  these  axles  cost  40  per  cent  more  than  those  of  ordi- 
nary steel,  they  are  largely  used  in  Germany. 

Nickel  steel  is  also  being  used  for  street  railway  wheel  tires. 
Both  chilled  iron  and  steel-tired  wheels  are  used  in  Germany. 
Nickel  steel-tired  wheels,  with  a  tensile  strength  of  90  kg  per 
square  millimeter  (132,300  lbs.  per  square  inch),  will  run 
120,000  km  to  150,000  km  (72,000  miles  to  90,000  miles),  and 
do  not  need  to  be  machined  until  they  have  run  50,000  km  to 
6c,ooo  km  (30,000  miles  to  36,000  miles).  A  particularly  good 
feature  claimed  for  nickel  steel  is  that  flat  wheels  are  very 
rare.  Assuming,  under  average  German  conditions,  that  a 
motor  car  runs  40,000  km  to  60,000  km  per  year,  the  wheel 
would  have  a  life  of  from  two  to  three  years.  All  railways, 
however,  cannot  use  such  hard  wheels,  as,  unless  the  rails  are 
also  of  certain  degree  of  hardness,  they  wear  out  rapidly. 
The  experience  in  Germany  on  this  point  is  as  follows : 

For  many  years  the  authorities  have  required  the  exclusive 
use  on  street  railways  of  grooved  rails.  In  the  early  days 
such  rails  could  be  purchased  only  when  made  of  Thomas  (or 
basic  Bessemer)  steel,  which  at  that  time  when  used  in  rails 
was  soft  and  nut  very  homogeneous.  In  those  days  the  im- 
portance of  high  carbon  rails  was  not  appreciated,  since  the 
tendency  was  to  follow  horse  car  practice  rather  than  that  of 
the  steam  railroads.  After  the  severe  conditions  of  electric 
railway  service  had  brought  about  the  use  of  harder  metal  in 
the  wheels,  it  was  found  that  these  wheels,  in  running  over  the 
softer  rails,  relied  out  the  rail  heads.  To  overcome  this  a 
successful  attempt  was  made  to  combine  the  Bessemer  and 
Thomas  processes,  and  the  weight  per  linear  yard  of  the  rail 
was  increased.  Very  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  tensile 
strength  of  the  rails,  as  a  break  in  rails,  when  laid  in  paved 
streets,  is  not  considered  a  serious  matter. 

Owing  probably  to  this  use  of  soft  rails,  German  railways 
bave  been  large  sufferers  through  the  wear  of  rails  in  waves  or 
ridges,  which  was  noticed  and  created  considerable  comment 
in  America  before  high  carbon  rails  became  so  common  in  that 
country.  This  kind  of  wear  shows  itself  in  the  development, 
in  the  head  of  the  rail,  of  a  series  of  ruts  and  ridges,  the  ridges 
or  crests  being  equidistant  and  about  5  cm  (1.96  ins.)  apart. 
In  wet  weather  these  ridges  can  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye, 
and  on  polished  rails  when  looked  at  in  the  direction  opposite 
to  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  difference  in  elevation  between  the 
heights  and  depressions  is  barely  5  mm  (.196  ins.),  but  more 
than  enough  to  change  quiet,  easy  running  into  heavy  pound- 
ing. At  first  these  ridges  are  formed  for  only  a  trifling  dis- 
tance, but  once  begun  the  waves  are  propagated  very  rapidly 
and  always  in  the  direction  in  which  the  cars  run.  A  number 
of  explanations  have  been  offered  for  this  formation,  but  the 
most  plausible  is  that  the  wheel  rolls  the  rail  material  before 
it  until  the  latter  has  reached  a  certain  height.  The  wheels 
then  rise  over  the  obstruction,  and  the  process  begins  again. 
Grinding  the  rail  heads  down  with  emery  has  been  tried  with 
good  results,  but  in  some  cases  the  old  trouble  soon  started 
anew. 

The  investigations  which  were  made  regarding  this  subject 
brought  to  light  the  fact  that  the  life  of  rails  for  electric  railway 
service  had  been  greatly  over-estimated.  The  early  figures 
were  based  on  the  life  of  rails  in  steam  road  service,  and  it 
was  thought  that  if  rails  could  be  used  for  five  years  on  high- 
speed steam  railroad  tracks  under  wheel  pressures  of  7  tons, 
and  for  fifteen  years  on  branch  lines  under  pressures  of  2.5 
tons,  and  with  speeds  not  exceeding  25  km  (15  miles)  an  hour, 
equally  heavy  rail  in  street  railway  service  should  last  twenty 
years.  It  should  be  remembered  that  even  at  the  beginning  of 
the  electrical  period  the  usual  street  railway  rail  in  Germany 
weighed  33  kg  per  meter  (66  lbs.  per  yard),  and  within  a  few 
years  their  weight  was  increased  to  42  kg  per  meter  (84  lbs. 
per  yard). 

In  making  this  assumption  the  following  important  factors 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


21 


were  entirely  overlooked :  On  steam  railroads  the  rails  rest  on 
cross-ties,  and  usually  are  laid  on  a  high-class,  well  drained 
roadbed,  whereas  German  street  railways  never  use  cross-ties, 
and  the  track  is  often  laid  on  poorly  drained  ground.  Again, 
steam  railroad  tracks  are  always  so  exposed  that  they  can 
easily  be  inspected  and  repairs  can  be  made,  while  such  work  is 
very  difficult  on  street  railways,  especially  in  asphalt-paved 
streets  and  when  the  rails  are  laid  in  concrete.  Again,  on 
street  railways,  owing  to  frequent  braking,  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  wheel  sliding.  Another  factor  tending  to  shorten  rail 
life  in  Germany  is  the  excessive  number  of  curves  which  some- 
times equal  25  per  cent  of  the  entire  line.  The  result  is  that 
under  present  conditions  ten  to  twelve  years  comprises  the 
useful  life  of  modern  heavy  rails,  and  under  very  heavy  traffic 
the  track  must  be  replaced  every  three  years.  Another  point 
to  be  considered  is  that  the  rails  cannot  always  be  taken  up 
just  when  they  are  worn  out  without  involving  a  great  deal  of 
pavement  expense,  so  that  the  railway  company  often  prefers 
to  take  up  the  rails  when  the  municipality  repaves  the  street. 
In  such  cases  the  rails  may  have  to  be  removed  when  they  still 
have  several  years  of  useful  life,  although  to  the  railway  com- 
pany they  will  have  only  the  value  of  scrap  iron  unless  they  can 
be  used  in  places  where  traffic  is  very  light.  Those  who  have 
followed  carefully  the  financial  reports  of  the  German  roads 
will  have  noted  the  growing  tendency  to  pay  larger  sums  to  the 
sinking  funds  rather  than  increasing  dividends.  It  is  true  that 
stockholders  generally  do  not  favor  this  policy,  but  it  certainly 
tends  to  give  electric  railway  investments  greater  stability. 

Recently  a  steady  increase  in  the  popularity  of  open-hearth 
(or  Siemens-Martin)  steel  for  rails  is  becoming  noticeable. 
This  is  probably  due  to  the  poor  quality  of  the  early  Thomas 
steel,  as  shown  by  its  rapid  wear,  and  in  some  cases  even  by 
flaking  off  of  layers  from  the  rail  heads.  This  disadvantage  of 
Thomas  steel  has  now  been  eradicated,  and  assuming  like  care 
in  manufacturing  both  varieties  are  considered  equally  good  for 
rail  construction.  Although  the  chemical  composition  may  be 
different  it  is  possible  to  get  the  same  hardness  (which  de- 
termines the  amount  of  wear  and  tear)  with  the  basic  as  well 
as  with  the  acid  process  in  steel  manufacture. 

In  rail  specifications  on  the  method  of  making  the  steel  the 
German  roads  have  found  it  necessary  to  specify  the  tensile 
strength  which  serves  as  a  measure  for  the  hardness,  since  there 
is  no  suitable  method  of  determining  the  hardness  itself.  Ten- 
sile strength  is  a  measure  of  the  hardness,  however,  only  for  the 
same  kind  of  steel.  Thus,  if  we  do  not  take  into  consideration 
any  of  the  other  elements,  the  phosphorus  content  in  Bes- 
semer steel  yields  at  a  lower  content  of  carbon  the  same  hard- 
ness which  is  obtained  in  the  basic  Bessemer  steel  (which  is 
poor  in  phosphorus)  with  a  higher  content  of  carbon.  It  is 
the  content  of  carbon  which  mainly  affects  the  tensile  strength. 
It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to  treat  each  kind  of  steel  separately 
in  the  specifications. 

As  the  result  of  this  demand  for  harder  rails  recent  railway 
specifications  call  for  a  considerably  lower  drop  test,  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  the  required  hardness  of  the 
rails  if  the  former  tensile  strength  is  maintained,  and  because 
in  tramway  service  tensile  strength  is  really  of  less  importance 
than  hardness. 

For  testing  the  homogeneous  condition  of  the  rails,  the 
etching  test  has  recently  been  largely  used.  As  a  substitute  for 
breaking  tests  certain  companies  are  now  beginning  to  prescribe 
rolling  pressure  tests. 



The  Indianapolis  &  Northwestern  Traction  Company  re- 
cently made  a  departure  in  interurban  railroading  by  running 
Sunday  excursions.  It  has  arranged  that  until  Sept.  1  the 
fare  to  Lafayette  and  return  shall  be  $1.  This  rate  will  also 
apply  to  all  other  towns  where  the  rate  of  fare  one  way  exceeds 
one  dollar.  Occasional  midweek  excursions  will  also  be  run 
during  the  summer. 


STREET  RAILWAY  EXHIBITS  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


In  continuation  of  the  series  of  views  of  prominent  street 
railway  exhibits  at  St.  Louis,  commenced  in  the  issue  of  June 
11,  a  number  of  additional  illustrations  are  presented  in  this 
number. 

THE  C.  W.  HUNT  COMPANY 
The  electric  storage  battery  locomotive  built  by  the  C.  W. 
Hunt  Company  will  be  found  operating  on  an  industrial  railway 
of  that  company's  construction  in  the  court  of  the  Electricity 
Building.  This  electric  locomotive  has  a  75-volt  storage  bat- 
tery, mounted  midway  between  trucks  and  covered  with  canvas 
lids,  one  for  each  half  of  the  battery.  On  each  end  of  the  loco- 
motive there  is  a  small  electric  motor  and  a  large  gear  case  for 
the  reduction  gears,  by  which  motion  is  transmitted  to  a  sprocket 


NARROW-GAGE  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE  AND  FLAT  CARS  EX- 
HIBITED BY  THE  C.  VY.  HUNT  COMPANY 


wheel  driving  a  silent  chain,  which  chain  drives  a  sprocket 
wheel  located  midway  between  the  axles  of  the  truck.  From 
this  middle  axle  the  power  is  transmitted  through  other  similar 
chains  to  the  car  axles.  The  motors,  controllers  and  gears  of 
each  end  of  the  locomotive  are  in  duplicate,  and  all  controlling 
handles  are  connected  together  with  rods,  so  that  the  locomo- 
tives can  be  operated  from  either  end.  Cars,  trucks  and  rails 
for  narrow-gage  industrial  railways  are  also  shown. 

THE  WESTERN  WHEELED  SCRAPER  COMPANY 
A  short  description  of  the  exhibit  of  the  Western  Wheeled 
Scraper  Company  in  the  Transportation  Building  was  pub- 
lished in  the  issue  of  this  paper  for  June  11,  but  all  of  the 
apparatus  shown  by  this  company  was  not  described.  This 
company  builds  light  dump  cars  for  railway  use,  and,  perhaps, 
the  most  interesting  type  of  cars,  from  a  street  railway  stand- 
point, shown  in  the  exhibit  is  the  bottom-dump  car.  This  car, 
as  it  name  implies,  is  arranged  to  dump  its  load  through  the 
bottom  of  the  car,  and  this  makes  it  extremely  useful  for 
ballasting  traction  lines. 

THE  DUFF  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY 
The  Barrett  lifting  jacks  of  the  Duff  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, of  Allegenhy,  Pa.,  are  shown  in  the  exhibit  of  the  agents, 
Fairbanks,  Morse  &  Company,  in  Transportation  Building. 
There  is  also  an  exhibit  in  Machinery  Building  and  in  the 
Western  Gas  Association's  exhibit  in  Liberal  Arts  Building. 
A  large  number  of  styles  are  shown.  The  new  30-ton  geared 
ratchet  lever  jack  is  shown  for  the  first  time.  The  exhibit  in- 
cludes the  Barrett  armature  lift,  track  jacks,  car  jacks,  car- 
house  jacks,  journal  jacks  and  bridge  jacks. 

ATLAS  RAILWAY  SUPPLY  COMPANY 
A  short  description  of  this  company  was  published  in  the 
issue  of  June  11,  but  by  means  of  the  accompanying  illustra- 


22 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


tion  presented  herewith  a  better  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  ex- 
hibit can  be  obtained.  The  space  of  this  company  is  located 
in  the  Transportation  Building,  and,  as  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tion, a  principal  feature  of  it  is  the  well-known  rail-joints 
which  bear  the  name  of  the  company.    In  addition,  however, 


EXHIBIT  OF  THE  ATLAS  RAILWAY  SUPPLY  COMPANY 

the  company  is  also  making  a  feature  of  its  primer  and  sur- 
facer  for  painting  cars.  To  demonstrate,  the  value  of  this 
material  a  board  has  been  taken  from  an  old  car  body  and  a 
portion  of  it  has  been  repainted  by  the  Atlas  primer  and  sur- 
faces The  rest  of  the  board  is  left  in  its 
original  condition,  showing  that  even  upon  this 
old  wood  the  material  of  the  Atlas  Company 
can  be  employed  to  give  a  very  satisfactory 
finish. 

THE   RICHARDSON   SCALE   COMPANY  AND 
ROBINS   CONVEYING  BELT  COMPANY. 

The  Richardson  Scale  Company,  of  New 
York,  and  the  Robins  Conveying  Belt  Com- 
pany, of  the  same  city,  exhibit  in  conjunction 
an  automatic  coal  scale  and  belt  conveyers. 
The  coal  is  delivered  by  the  Robins  belt  con- 
veyor to  the  weighing  hopper  of  the  scale. 
The  material  is  admitted  into  the  weighing 
bopper  by  a  double  swinging  gate.  This  gate  is 
wide  open  at  first,  so  that  the  coal  runs  through 
at  maximum  flow ;  when  nearly  the  full  weight 
of  the  charge  is  run  through,  a  cut-oft"  is  oper- 
ated automatically  by  the  increasing  weight  of 
the  weighing  hopper.  This  reduces  the  stream 
of  coal  very  much,  so  that  the  balancing  point 
of  the  weighing  hopper  is  approached  slowly, 
and  there  is  no  over-running  in  weight.  When 
the  right  weight  has  been  reached  in  the 
weighing  hopper,  the  second  cut-off  is  closed. 
A  lever,  actuated  by  the  cut-off,  operates  a  lever 
attached  to  the  hopper  which  opens  the  bottom  of  the  hopper 
to  dump  it  as  soon  as  the  correct  weight  is  reached.  After 
the  charge  is  dumped  the  hopper  is  automatically  closed  and 
locked.  The  closing  of  the  bottom  of  the  hopper  operates  a 
lever  connected  with  the  cut-off  gates,  causing  them  to  reopen, 


and  so  letting  a  new  charge  run  into  the  weighing  hopper,  thus 
completing  the  cycle  of  operations,  which  cycle  is  repeated  as 
long  as  the  scale  and  conveyor  are  in  operation.  The  action 
is  entirely  automatic,  except  that  where  bituminous  coal  is  used 
a  little  power  is  needed  to  drive  the  feeding  apparatus  to  en- 
sure a  flow  of  coal  from  the  storage  hopper  into  the  weighing 
hopper.  The  weighing  hopper  is  fitted  with  a  self-registering 
device  which  records  and  totalizes  the  weighing. 

The  Robi  ns  conveyer  illustrates  the  method  of  conveying  and 
storing  coal  in  large  power  plants  by  the  use  of  the  Robins 
conveying  belt.  There  are  three  16-in.  belt  conveyers  equipped 
with  the  company's  patent  automatic  distributing  tripper.  The 
belts  of  this  conveyer  are  perfectly  smooth,  and  are  kept  hollow 
on  top  for  coal  conveying  purposes  by  pulleys,  which  keep  the 
edges  turned  up. 

BALDWIN  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 

Baldwin-Westinghouse  electric  locomotives  are  exhibited  in 
the  Electricity  Building.  There  are  three  electric  locomotives 
and  also  faur  electric  motor  trucks.  One  of  the  electric  motor 
trucks  is  the  heavy  type,  built  for  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  of  New  York.  This  truck  weighs  12,500 
lbs.  without  motors,  and  is  designed  to  carry  a  load  of  25,000 
lbs.  This  represents  the  extreme  in  heavy  electric  motor  truck 
construction  exhibited,  and  in  view  of  the  great  interest  in  the 
New  York  Subway  and  its  rolling  stock,  this  truck  will  attract 
general  attention.  A  truck  suited  to  average  interurban  work 
is  shown,  which  weighs  11,000  lbs.  without  motors,  and  is  of 
the  type  built  for  the  Central  Illinois  Traction  Company.  This 
truck  is  designed  to  carry  a  weight  of  26,500  lbs.  A  still 
lighter  truck  exhibited  is  one  of  a  type  supplied  to  the  Twin 
City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  of  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  fo." 
city  and  interurban  service.  This  truck  weighs  6300  lbs.,  and 
is  designed  to  carry  a  weight  of  18,000  lbs.  A  street  railway 
truck  weighing  5300  lbs.,  and  designed  to  carry  a  weight  of 
14,000  lbs.,  completes  the  truck  exhibit.  This  latter  is  not  of 
the  so-called  M.  C.  B.  type,  but  has  swing  bolster  and  equalizer 
springs  placed  just  outside  the  journal  boxes.  The  electric 
locomotives  comprise  two  mine  locomotives  and  one  for  surface 


PART  OF  THE 
A 


BALDWIN  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS'  EXHIBIT,  SHOWING  MINING 
ND  DIAMOND  BOW  LOCOMOTIVES  AND  TRUCKS 


haulage.  The  space  occupied  is  in  Block  3,  Aisles  A,  B  and  S, 
and  adjoins  that  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  In  addition,  the  company  has  an  exhibit  in  the 
Palace  of  Transportation  in  which  thirteen  late  types  of  steam 
locomotives  are  shown. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


23 


THE  EGRY  AUTOMATIC  REGISTER  COMPANY 
The  Egry  Automatic  Register  Company,  which,  in  addition 
to  the  manufacture  of  registers  for  mercantile  houses,  also 
makes  a  register  for  receiving  triplicate  train  orders  on  inter- 
urban  roads,  has  an  exhibit  in  the  Varied  Industries  Building. 
By  the  use  of  this  register  the  trainmen  of  an  interurban  car 


THE  DISPLAY  QUARTERS  OF  THE  EGRY  AUTOMATIC  REGISTER 
COMPANY 


can  write  the  orders  they  receive  from  the  despatcher  in  tripli- 
cate, without  any  bother  with  carbon  sheets.  Two  of  these 
orders,  by  the  turning  of  a  crank,  are  released  for  the  use  of  the 
motorman  and  conductor,  and  a  third  is  run  into  a  locked  re- 
ceptacle. The  only  work  necessary  to  operate  the  register  after 
the  writing  of  an  order  is  to  turn  a  crank  which  reels  out  the 
motorman's  and  conductor's  orders,  leaving  the  third  copy  in 
the  register,  as  explained.  This  system  is  used  on  the  inter- 
urban railway  lines  of  Des  Moines  and  elsewhere. 

BUCKEYE  ENGINE  COMPANY 
A  Buckeye  engine,  massive  in  its  construction  and  beautifully 
smooth  in  its  operation,  forms  one  of  the  units  of  the  Intra- 
mural Railway  power  plant  in  the  Machinery  Building.  This 
engine  drives  a  900-kw  direct-current  generator.  The  engine  is 
one  of  the  company's  standard  construction.  The  cylinder 
dimensions  are  26^2-in.  and  50-in.  x  48-in.  stroke.  The  speed  is 
100  r.  p.  m.  Both  high  and  low-pressure  cylinders  have  tail 
guides  to  take  the  weight  of  the  piston  head  from  the  cylinder 
walls.  The  valves  are  the  regular  Buckeye  piston  valves,  which 
give  a  very  sharp,  quick  cut-off.  The  massiveness  of  this 
engine  can  be  understood  when  the  following  weights  of  some 
of  the  parts  are  given:  Low-pressure  cylinder,  38,800  lbs.; 
low-pressure  guide  block,  13,000  lbs.;  high-pressure  guide 
block,  1 1,000  lbs. ;  bed-plate  (each  ),  22,500  lbs. ;  two  cranks  and 
shaft,  56,775  lbs.;  fly-wheel,  39,000  lbs.  The  governor  is  the 
regular  Buckeye  shaft  governor,  which  varies  the  cut-off  by 
revolving  the  eccentric  on  the  shaft.  A  small  model  with  valve 
gear  exposed  shows  the  action  of  the  Buckeye  piston  valves  and 
shaft  governor. 

THE  SIMPLEX  RAILWAY  APPLIANCE  COMPANY 
The  Simplex  Railway  Appliance  Company,  of  Chicago,  has 


an  exhibit  in  the  Transportation  Building  devoted  to  bolsters, 
springs  and  truck  parts.    The  chief  items  of  interest  to  electric 


ANOTHER  VIEW  OF  THE  EXHIBIT  OF  THE  BALDWIN 
LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS 


railway  men  will  be  found  in  the  parts  of  the  exhibit  showing 
bolster  construction. 

WALTER  A.  ZELNICKER  SUPPLY  COMPANY 
The  Walter  A.  Zelnicker  Supply  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  has 
in  the  Transportation  Building  an  exhibit  of  two  devices  of 
interest  to  electric  railway  master  mechanics.    One  of  these 


HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  WALTER  H.  ZELNH  KER 
SUPPLY  COMPANY 


is  what  is  called  a  "car  mover,"  this  being  a  device  which  is  a 
good  substitute  for  a  crowbar  in  moving  dead  cars.  Although 
it  has  heretofore  been  used  mainly  by  manufacturing  companies 
in  shifting  steam  railroad  cars  short  distances  on  factory 
sidings,  it  should  be  used  to  very  good  advantage  in  many  elec- 
tric railway  car  shops  where  it  is  desired  to  move  motor  trucks 
short  distances  without  making  electric  connection,  or  where, 
for  various  reasons,  the  electric  motor  on  the  car  cannot  be  used 
to  move  it.    In  moving  trucks  from  undar  car  bodies  such  car 


24 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


movers  ought  to  be  time  savers.  Another  device  exhibited  by 
this  company  is  a  hydraulic  wheel  press  of  a  rated  capacity  of 
60  tons.  This  is  a  light  press  weighing  only  1250  lbs.,  all  sur- 
plus metal  having  been  eliminated.  The  hydraulic  pump  is 
operated  by  hand.  The  press  is  mounted  on  truck  wheels  so 
that  it  can  be  moved  anywhere  in  the  shop  and  taken  to  the 
work  if  necessary.  This  company  also  makes 
rail  benders  and  track  tools. 

ALLI S-CH ALMERS  COMPANY 
The  largest  unit  in  the  Machinery  Building  is 
the  3500-kw  Bullock  three-phase  generator,  di- 
rect connected  to  an  Allis-Chalmers  combined 
vertical  and  horizontal  compound  condensing 
engine.  This  engine  is  of  the  same  type  as  in- 
stalled in  the  Manhattan  Railway  power  station 
in  New  York,  with  the  exception  that  one  pair 
of  cylinders  has  been  omitted.  This  engine  has 
a  horizontal  high-pressure  and  vertical  low- 
pressure  cylinder.  The  high-pressure  cylinder 
is  44  ins.,  and  the  low-pressure  cylinder  94  ins. 
The  stroke  is  60  ins.,  and  75  r.  p.  m.  The  elec- 
tric part  of  this  company's  exhibit  was  described  under 
the  head  of  "Bullock  Electric  Manufacturing  Company."    It  is 


is  swung  up  and  held  in  a  vertical  position  against  the  vesti- 
bule by  another  spring  catch.  The  rail  and  catches  are  all 
neatly  nickel-plated,  to  correspond  with  the  finish  of  the  stand- 
ard hand  rails  on  the  cars. 

On  some  of  the  company's  older  type  of  open-seat  cars 
wooden  guard  rails  the  length  of  the  car  are  used,  and  Fig.  2 


Street  Ry.Jnum.il 


350O-KW  ALLIS-CHALMERS  ENGINE  AND  BULLOCK  GENERATOR 

unnecessary  to  say  that  this  large  unit  attracts  attention  pro- 
portionate to  its  size,  and  there  is  a  fitness  in  the  fact  that  the 
largest  Corliss  engine  builder  should  be  represented  by  the 
largest  Corliss  engine  at  the  Exposition.  Machinery  Hall,  un- 
like the  other  buildings  at  the  fair,  is  not  closed  in  the  evening. 
It  is  open  until  11  p.  m.,  and  visitors  in  the  evening  will,  con- 
sequently, find  the  Allis-Chalmers  exhibit  at  work,  producing 
current  for  lighting  the  grounds. 

 +++  


LOS  ANGELES  RAILWAY  CAR  KINKS 


The  accompanying  diagrams  illustrate  some  interesting 
features  of  the  cars  of  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company,  as 
worked  out  by  the  company's  master  car  builder,  E.  L. 
Stephens.  The  general  design  of  the  standard  car  operated  by 
this  company  was  illustrated  and  described  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  of  April  9,  1904. 

Fig.  1  shows  a  guard  rail  that  has  been  adopted  for  the  four 
entrances  of  the  standard  California-type  car.  It  is  used  to 
close  the  passages  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  car.  It  consists 
of  a  24-in.  iron  pipe,  3  ft.  long,  threaded  into  a  brass  swivel 
that  is  fastened  to  the  inside  of  the  vestibule  frame,  about  3  ft. 
above  the  car  floor.  The  free  end  of  the  pipe  is  given  a  double 
bend,  and  is  drawn  down  to  a  thickness  of  Y%  in.,  as  shown. 
It  fits  into  a  7-16-in.  socket,  and  is  held  by  a  spring  catch  that 
is  easily  released  by  the  finger.   When  the  rail  is  not  in  use  it 


FIG.  1.— GUARD  RATE 


shows  the  spring  catch  and  end  socket  employed  for  this  rail. 
The  views  are  self-explanatory. 

Fig.  3  illustrates  the  design  of  a  sand-box  that  has  been  in- 
stalled on  the  cars  operated  on  heavy  grades.   The  box  is  built 


Rn'l  to  lie  mjji 
of  Oregon  Tine 


Top  View 


Side  View  Front  View  Back  View 

VIEWS  OF  CATCH 

Street  Ry. Journal 


FIG. 


-GUARD-RAIL  BRACKETS 


of  No.  16  galvanized  iron,  and  is  mounted  on  the  end  sill  of  the 
truck  and  on  the  fender  top.  The  sand  is  discharged  through 
a  brass  Y,  which  has  a  partition,  so  as  to  equalize  the  flow  of 
the  two  branches.   The  sand  pipes  proper  are  made  out  of  gas 


Str.  .-1  Ry.Journal 


FIG.  3. — SAND  BOX 


piping,  and  one  is  carried  to  each  front  wheel  of  the  truck.  The 
opening  to  the  pipes  in  the  bottom  of  the  box  is  covered 
normally  by  means  of  a  triangular-shaped  piece,  shown  in  detail 
in  the  drawing,  which  is  keyed  to  the  vertical  spring  shaft. 
Rigidity  is  given  to  the  top  of  the  box  by  a  J4~in.  x  2-in.  angle- 
iron.    This  truck  has  been  very  satisfactory,  and  as  it  is 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


25 


mounted  on  the  truck  the  sand  is  always  well  distributed  on 
curves. 

One  or  two  of  the  lines  in  Los  Angeles  have  grades  of  5  per 
cent  to  11  per  cent,  and  the  cars  used  are  equipped  with  the 
magnetic  traction  brake.  As  the  air  brakes  had  to  be  taken 
off  the  car  the  ordinary  hand-brake  gear  was  also  necessarily 


FIG.  4— HAND-BRAKE 

abandoned,  and  in  its  place  Mr.  Stephens  designed  the  form  of 
hand  brake  shown  in  Fig.  4.  This  brake  is  very  simple,  and 
has,  as  a  special  feature,  the  mounting  of  the  end  of  the 
equalizer  bar  on  a  bracket,  which  gives  it  opportunity  to  slip 
back  and  forth  in  a  slot  as  the  position  of  the  truck  is  changed. 


"THE  ACCOUNTING  DEPARTMENT  IS  NOT  A  REVENUE- 
PRODUCING  DEPARTMENT" 

BY  W.  B.  BROCKWAY 

At  the  beginning  of  the  steam  railroad,  it  is  easy  to  believe, 
judging  by  the  experience  of  the  electric  railways  in  their 
infancy,  that  in  the  small  way  in  which  tney  had  their  rise, 
various  duties,  which  are  now  carried  on  by  different  depart- 
ments, could  be,  and  were,  performed  by  one  person,  the 
general  manager  being,  no  doubt,  held  responsible  for  the  active 
and  detail  work  of  the  office  as  well  as  the  operation  of  the 
road.  In  time,  the  freight  and  passenger  departments  were 
added,  or  rather  their  work  was  taken  from  the  active  duties 
of  the  manager,  and  the  accounting  department  also  received 
an  official  head  and  became  a  definite  department.  These  re- 
sults are  most  natural,  because  there  is  a  limit  to  the  amount 
of  detail  work  a  man  can  do,  and  as  the  size  of  the  roads  in- 
creased it  had  to  follow  that  the  work  should  be  specialized. 
It  is  very  common  to-day  for  the  executive  officer  to  understand 
the  detail  of  all  departments,  but  he  certainly  cannot  have  the 
time  or  the  strength  to  be  in  immediate  contact  with  all  the 
details.  His  duties  are  large,  and  he  deals  with  principles  and 
results. 

As  the  steam  roads  grew,  the  natural  result  was  competition, 
which  meant  that  greater  efforts  had  to  be  put  forth  to  obtain 
what  was  considered  by  each  road  to  be  its  full  share,  or  more, 
of  the  business  tributary  to  it. 

In  the  course  of  events,  with  competition  becoming  stronger 
yearly,  there  came  the  time  of  reconstruction.  Many  of  the 
roads  were  not  provided  for  this  additional  strain.  Whether 
their  unprepared  condition  was  caused  by  lax  accounting 
methods  or  by  high  operating  cost  would  make  a  very  interest- 
ing study.  Be  the  cause  what  it  may,  the  roads  had  to  meet  the 
problem,  in  part,  by  rigid  economy.  The  line  of  reasoning 
followed  at  that  time  gave  the  basis  that  whatever  department 
produced  revenue  should  not  be  restricted  in  its  efforts,  for 
upon  those  efforts  everything  was  supposed  to  depend.  How- 
ever, as  the  accounting  department  not  only  did  not  produce 
revenue,  but  seemed  to  be  expense  only,  it  at  that  time  and 
since  has  felt  the  first  effects  of  reducing  expenses.   It  is  curious 


that  office  clerical  work  has  always  been  considered  almost  as  a 
luxury. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  the  period  of  economy  was  over, 
and  all  this  time  the  accounting  department  was  running  short 
handed,  or  with  a  force  of  cheaper  priced  (which  is  usually 
another  term  for  poorer  quality)  clerks.  This  meant  little  at 
the  time  except  that  it  was  so  much  money  saved,  but  what  it 
meant  later  is  another  story,  for  the  reduced  information  from 
the  accounting  department  helped  toward  a  misconception  of 
actual  conditions,  so  that  the  results  caused  partially  by  a 
"cheap"  accounting  department  and  its  consequent  weak  sys- 
tem, are  found  everywhere  in  the  later  history  of  American 
railroading,  and  in  the  Federal  courts. 

The  above  is  a  preliminary  sketch  of  causes  and  effects  to 
show  how  an  idea,  once  taking  root,  may  spread  to  conditions 
not  originally  contemplated. 

Many  features  of  electric  transportation,  in  operation  and 
finance,  have  been  adopted  from  the  steam  railroad  practices 
passing  current  at  the  time.  This  applies  principally  to  the 
methods  of  organization,  the  financial  plans,  and  the  operation 
of  interurban  properties.  This  is  natural,  as  steam  railroads 
had  had  nearly  sixty  years  of  experience  when  electricity  com- 
menced to  revolutionize  urban  travel.  Conditions  not  being 
similar  in  all  details,  changes  have  been  made  to  conform  to 
the  new  environment. 

It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  at  the  same  time  some  of  the 
axioms  of  the  old  should  be  brought  over  to  the  new  system. 
But  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  trite  saying,  "The  accounting 
department  is  not  a  revenue  producing  department,"  should 
have  been  adopted  with  the  old  meaning,  and  not  adapted  to 
the  new  conditions,  for  as  it  reads,  it  contains,  by  the  inter- 
pretation of  custom,  a  sort  of  criticism  which  should  not  exist. 
For  instance,  the  claim  that  "bookkeeping"  is  necessary  but 
should  be  made  as  cheap  as  possible,  carries  a  meaning  to  the 
word  "accounting"  quite  at  variance  to  its  true  meaning  as 
distinguishable  from  the  word  "bookkeeping."  The  statement, 
as  it  stands,  is  true.  It  is  not  a  revenue-producing  department, 
but  it  occupies  a  position  unique  in  its  importance,  because  the 
whole  organization  other  than  the  accounting  department  may 
be  considered  as  the  manufacture  and  sales  departments,  and 
they  cannot  know  the  producing  costs  or  the  actual  profit  with- 
out careful  accounting.  Estimations  are  not  to  be  thought  of  as 
finalities. 

It  follows,  then,  that  accounting  is  of  prime  importance,  and 
should  be  thorough  and  accurate,  that  the  results  of  carefully 
executed  plans  of  the  operating  departments,  for  the  increase 
of  revenue  and  decrease  of  cost,  may  be  given  promptly  and 
be  dependable. 

Statements  of  the  accounting  department  are  the  basis  for 
changes  in  operating  plans,  and  frequently  affect  market  values 
of  the  securities  of  the  company ;  presidents,  managers  and  in- 
vestors are  placing  their  reputations  and  profits  in  the  balance 
with  operating  results.  It  is  important,  therefore,  that  the 
department  which  brings  out  the  statements  should  be  as  care- 
fully organized  as  any  other  part  of  the  whole,  and  not  be 
in  the  hands  of  an  auditor  who  is  "small,"  "narrow"  and 
"cheap,"  and  with  all  that  cheap  usually  means — with  clerks 
under  him  costing  less  and  worth  less.  It  is  economy  in  initial 
outlay,  but  it  is  not  warranted  in  the  results. 

It  is  proper  to  include  the  work  of  the  treasury  department 
as  a  part  of  the  subject  under  discussion,  because,  at  the  present 
time,  few  companies  are  large  enough  to  separate  the  two ; 
therefore,  the  matter  assumes  new  importance,  or  rather,  its 
importance  is  accentuated.  It  is  folly  not  to  surround  the 
handling  of  money  with  all  possible  system  and  safeguards. 
This  is  held  to  be  true  the  world  over,  yet  the  most  essential 
part  of  any  system  is  the  human  part,  and  too  great  care  cannot 
be  devoted  to  it. 

While  conceding  that  the  department  is  not  revenue  produc- 


26 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


ing,  the  writer  wants  to  point  out  wherein  that  does  not  destroy 
its  importance,  and  to  show  its  functions  in  their  true  light. 
Experience  has  brought  out  certain  headings,  under  which  are 
gathered  the  different  items  comprising  income  and  disburse- 
ments of  the  company.  The  dollars  and  cents  shown  under 
these  heads  mean  to  the  management  that  certain  things  have 
been  done.  Shrewd  experience  transforms  these  figures  into 
the  things  done,  and  from  this  experience  plans  are  made  for 
the  immediate  present  and  the  future.  If,  in  the  accounting 
department,  inexperience,  being  cheaper,  is  substituted  for 
experience,  which  is  more  expensive,  the  result  to  the  operating 
and  financial  statement,  which  is  of  so  much  importance,  is  not 
difficult  to  imagine.  Indeed,  receiverships  have  resulted  from 
misstated  and  misunderstood  statements. 

In  view  of  the  analysis  that  is  possible  when  statements  are 
intelligently  prepared,  there  is  much  evidence  that  electric,  if 
not  steam,  railway  interests  are  recognizing  the  truth  of  the 
substitute  axiom,  "The  accounting  department  is  a  revenue 
saving  department,"  which  is  more  fair  to  the  department  and 
not  easily  misunderstood. 

The  next  important  step  which  the  modern  organization  must 
take  sooner  or  later,  and  it  has  already  begun,  is  to  so  separate 
the  accounting  department  from  the  rest  of  the  organization, 
by  having  its  head  report  direct  to  the  president,  that  it  will 
be  relieved  of  the  restraint  that  has  often  neutralized  its 
efficiency  when  controlled  by  a  "record-making"  administration. 
Accounting  is  so  vital  that  nothing  should  be  allowed  to  divert 
its  accuracy. 

One  thing  may  be  thoroughly  relied  upon,  accurate  account- 
ing, as  the  work  of  an  experienced  railway  accountant,  wilL 
always  provide  the  opportunity  for  intelligent  operation  and 
for  financial  security,  so  far  as  it  depends  upon  the  story  of 
conditions. 

♦  ♦♦ 

TERMINALS  IN  ELECTRIC  TRANSPORTATION 


BY  H.  S.  KNOWLTON. 

(  >ne  of  the  most  important  problems  now  under  considera- 
tion in  the  transportation  world  is  the  question  of  securing 
adequate  terminal  facilities  in  large  centers  of  population. 
With  the  steam  roads  the  problem  is  being  worked  out  to-day 
on  a  larger  scale  than  ever  before.  The  projects  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Railroad  in  New 'York  and  Washington;  those  of  the 
New  York  Central  for  its  metropolitan  suburban  service ;  the 
new  Lake  Shore  and  Rock  Island  station  in  Chicago;  the  im- 
provements at  Seattle  and  Omaha ;  the  Union  Station  at  St. 
Louis,  and,  going  a  little  farther  back,  the  North  and  South 
terminals  in  Boston,  together  show  that  many  millions  of 
dollars  have  been  invested  in  terminal  construction  during  the 
past  decade.  Electric  railways  have,  until  recently,  not  felt  the 
need  of  terminal  stations  in  the  handling  of  their  traffic,  except 
in  the  largest  cities.  Their  evolution  from  horse-car  lines 
insured  a  long  period  of  immunity  from  embarrassment  in 
disposing  of  passengers  at  the  ends  of  routes,  and  the  freight 
business — small  to-day — amounted  to  practically  nothing.  As 
city  systems  increased  in  size,  however,  some  form  of  terminal 
became  necessary  in  congested  districts,  and  this  need  found 
expression  in  the  building  of  such  structures  as  the  Union 
Loop  in  Chicago,  the  improvement  of  the  trackage  at  the  New 
York  end  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge,  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Park  Street  loop  station  in  the  Tremont  Street  subway  at 
Boston.  Probably  the  most  famous  electric  railway  terminal 
thus  far  in  operation  is  the  Charlestown  station  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway  Company,  at  Sullivan  Square,  placed  in 
service  in  1901.  Even  this  superb  building  is  a  way  station, 
strictly  speaking,  with  a  transfer  business  between  elevated  and. 
surface  lines  that  far  exceeds  any  purely  terminal  traffic  which 
it  handles. 


Important  as  these  terminals  are  as  distributing  and  transfer 
points,  they  suffer  in  the  matter  of  approaches  to  an  extent 
seldom  encountered  in  steam  railway  practice.  It  is  a  great 
advantage  for  the  steam  road  to  be  able  to  carry  its  passengers 
over  a  private  right  of  way  to  the  terminal  station  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  at  speeds  of  at  least  10  m.  p.  h.  to  20  m.  p.  h. — 
something  which  the  electric  line  cannot  do,  because  of  its 
street  occupation.  Often  a  quarter  of  the  running  time  be- 
tween two  cities  connected  by  an  electric  interurban  railway  is 
eaten  up  in  city  running.  The  remedy  is  seldom  the  purchase 
of  private  rights  of  way  in  the  cities,  for  this  is  pretty  sure 
to  be  an  absolutely  prohibitive  expense  to  an  electric  road.  It 
lies  rather  in  high  speed  outside  the  towns  and  in  entering  them 
by  less  congested  routes. 

As  electric  raihvays  have  expanded,  from  purely  local  to 
suburban,  and,  finally,  high  speed  interurban  lines,  there  has 
grown  up  the  need  of  establishing  stations  for  passengers  at 
various  points  along  the  routes.  Unfortunately,  but  little  atten- 
tion has  thus  far  been  paid  to  city  accommodations,  with  a  few 
exceptions  in  the  Middle  West.  While  it  is  evident  that  any- 
thing like  the  elaborate  stations  of  steam  roads  is  utterly  beyond 
the  requirements  of  electric  systems,  the  need  will  be  admitted 
of  some  sort  of  terminal  station  on  lines  which  do  an  exten- 
sive interurban  business.  An  operating  system  must  have 
offices  somewhere,  which  should  contain  posted  information  as 
to  time-tables,  fares,  transfers,  etc.,  and  especially  a  place  of 
shelter  for  passengers  who  are  obliged  to  wait  for  the  cars. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  this  terminal  be  located  upon  the  most 
crowded  thoroughfare ;  in  fact,  the  placing  of  such  a  station  a 
little  to  one  side  of  the  heart  of  the  business  district  means 
much  in  convenience  to  both  the  railway  and  its  passengers. 

The  track  layout  is  entirely  dependent  upon  the  area  at  hand 
and  the  volume  of  traffic  to  be  handled  in  rush-hours.  Short 
headways  demand  loops  if  the  most  efficient  service  is  to  be 
secured,  while  stub  tracks  answer  the  purpose  if  the  traffic  is 
light  and  space  limited.  The  loop  is  the  more  flexible,  per- 
mitting the  use  of  "single-ended"  cars,  which  always  face  the 
same  way,  and  in  enabling  more  business  to  be  handled  in  a 
given  time.  In  Denver,  even  a  cemetery  line  terminates  in  a 
loop,  which  greatly  facilitates  the  operation  of  cars  upon  their 
arrival  at  the  grounds.  The  question  of  convenient  transfer 
to  city  lines  is  likewise  important. 

The  electric  railway  terminal  is  soon  to  receive  the  con- 
sideration which  it  deserves  from  the  traffic  standpoint,  and 
the  next  few  years  will  doubtless  record  the  construction  of 
many  such  aids  to  transportation. 

 ♦♦<  

AN  INTERESTING  FORM  OF  STREET  RAILWAY  ADVERTISING 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  practice  of  advertising  is  prevalent 
in  street  railway  operation,  but  the  belief  that  it  is  a  profitable 
plan  is  gaining  ground  and  its  importance  is  coming  to  be  felt. 
Even  where  there  is  no  competition,  additional  travel  may  be 
induced  by  careful  and  judicious  advertising  of  a  line  and  its 
advantages,  and  upon  any  road  the  attractive  features  of  the 
suburban  or  park  runs  should  be  kept  before  the  public.  Espe- 
cially is  the  latter  true  of  interurban  lines. 

On  the  opposite  page  are  shown  two  interesting  advertising 
placards  that  have  been  issued  this  spring — one  by  the  Boston 
&  Worcester  Street  Railway  Company  and  the  other  by  the 
Public  Service  Corporation,  of  New  Jersey — to  illustrate  the 
character  of  the  country  passed  through  and  also  show  the 
various  towns  reached  by  the  system,  directly  and  by  connec- 
tions. The  cards  are  designed  to  resemble  bird's-eye  views, 
and  in  both  cases,  the  original  is  beautifully  colored;  the 
various  cities  and  towns  are  shown  in  red,  the  farming  lands 
and  country  in  green,  and  the  numerous  lakes  and  rivers  are 
in  light  blue.  In  the  Boston  &  Worcester  map  typical  views 
of  the  exterior  and  interior  of  one  of  the  standard  high-speed 


28 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


closed  cars  of  the  system  are  shown  in  the  small  views  in  the 
corner,  while  the  Public  Service  map  bears  the  imprint  of  the 
company. 

Both  circulars  are  issued  in  folder  form  for  general  distri- 
bution, and  in  the  case  of  the  Boston  &  Worcester,  also  in 
placard  form,  upon  heavy  cardboard  for  hanging  up  in  local 
stores,  barber  shops,  etc.  The  inside  of  the  Public  Service 
folder  contains  information  of  the  routes.  In  both  folders  the 
original  size  is  8  x  30^2  inches. 



AUTOMATIC  LUBRICATOR  FOR  MOTORS  AND  AXLES 


The  important  problem  of  efficient  and  economical  lubrica- 
tion of  railway  apparatus  has  been  given  careful  study  by  the 
Standard  Automatic  Lubricator  Company,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  the  result  being  the  production  of  an  automatic  lubricator 
for  motors  and  axles  which  enjoys  considerable  popularity  on 
a  number  of  electric  rail- 
ways. In  the  accompany- 
ing cut  this  lubricator  is 
shown  in  position  on  a 
grease  box  of  an  arma- 
ture cap.  The  application 
to  the  motor  is  very  quick- 
ly and  '  easily  made  by 
means  of  an  expanding 
washer,  the  proper  size  of 
washer  being  supplied 
when  the  number  and 
make  of  motor  is  known. 

'I"he  feeding  is  caused 
wholly  by  the  action  of 
the  motor,  no  oil  being 
fed  when  the  motor  is  not 
running.  The  ball  is  held 
to  an  upset  valve  by  a 

rigid  spring  with  an  adjustable  tension.  When  properly  set 
the  vibration  of  the  motor  causes  the  ball  to  leave  its  seat  suf- 
ficiently to  allow  minute  quantities  of  oil  to  exude.  The  flow 
is  slow  and  continuous,  and  can  easily  be  regulated  by  the  ten- 
sion taker  when  necessary.  It  is  stated  that  this  lubricator 
has  effected  immense  savings  in  lubricant  and  in  the  life  of 
bearings  and  axles,  and  that  it  will  prevent  armatures  from 
going  down  for  the  want  of  proper  lubrication.  No  attention 
is  required  other  than  the  refilling,  which  is  not  oftener  than 
twice  a  month  on  a  car  averaging  200  miles  a  day. 

 ♦♦♦  


AUTOMATIC  LUBRICATOR 


THE  ANNUAL  CONVENTIONS  OF  THE  RAILWAY 
MECHANICAL  ASSOCIATIONS 


The  two  important  and  well-known  railway  mechanical  as- 
sociations, the  Master  Car  Builders'  and  the  American  Rail- 
way Master  Mechanics'  Association,  have  recently  closed  their 
annual  conventions,  in  which  important  work  was  accom- 
plished in  the  reports  of  committees  of  investigation,  adoption 
of  standards,  and  individual  expressions  of  opinion  by  the 
members.  The  combined  conventions  were  again  held  at  Sara- 
toga Springs,  N.  Y.,  with  headquarters  at  the  Grand  Union 
Hotel,  as  has  been  the  case  for  the  past  six  or  seven  years.  The 
meetings  of  the  Master  Car  Builders'  Association  were  held 
from  June  22  to  24,  inclusive,  while  those  of  the  Master  Me- 
chanics' Association  took  place  from  June  27  to  29,  inclusive. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  work  of  these  associations  re- 
lates specifically  to  steam  railroad  operating  conditions,  several 
important  topics  were  taken  up  which  will  be  of  special  interest 
to  street  railway  operating  officials.  The  report  of  a  special 
committee  of  the  M.  C.  B.  Association  upon  "Standard  Loca- 
tion of  Third-Rail  for  Electrical  Operation"  is  of  importance 
in  providing  for  a  location  of  the  third-rail  which  may  be  re- 


garded as  a  summation  of  the  best  practice  of  to-day ;  recom- 
mendations were  made  for  what  may  be  considered  a  standard 
in  future  work.  This  report  was  based  upon  the  investigations 
of  the  engineers  of  the  New  York  Central  and  Pennsylvania 
steam  railroads,  which  are  preparing  to  install  electric  traction 
upon  the  New  York  City  terminals. 

A  feature  of  the  opening  of  the  conventions  was  an  address 
to  the  members  by  H.  H.  Vreeland,  president  of  the  New  York 
City  Railway  Company.  His  remarks,  which  were  presented 
in  abstract  in  last  week's  issue,  were  very  timely,  and  were 
very  favorably  received  by  the  steam  railroad  officials,  in  view 
of  the  early  application  of  electric  traction  to  so  many  of  the 
branch  lines  and  to  some  terminals  of  important  steam 
railroads.  Mr.  Vreeland  referred  to  his  extensive  and  valu- 
able experiences  in  the  development  of  the  electric  traction 
problem  in  New  York  City,  and  his  remarks  were  of  particular 
interest,  as  he,  being  a  former  steam  railroad  man,  viewed  the 
problem  from  the  practical  operating  standpoint,  which  is  there 
found  so  essential  for  a  successful  development  of  such 
problems. 

Important  tests  upon  brake  shoes  and  couplers  were  reported 
upon,  and  the  important  subject  of  draft  rigging  came  up  for 
further  investigation  and  study.  Many  standards  in  car  build- 
ing were  considered ;  an  important  paper  along  this  line  was 
presented  by  William  Forsyth  upon  "The  Use  of  Steel  in  Pas- 
senger Car  Construction." 




AUTOMATIC  TROLLEY-ESCAPE  ALARM 

The  accompanying  diagram  shows  the  operating  details  of  an 
automatic  trolley-escape  apparatus,  manufactured  by  Henry 
Kremnitz,  of  Leeds,  England.  This  arrangement  is  extremely 
simple  and  can  be  fitted  by  a  mechanic  to  any  standard.  An 


*>   In  connection  with; 
Outside  Spring 

Standard. 


f    J  Boll 


Street  Ry.Jonrn.il 

DETAILS  OF  AUTOMATIC  TROLLEY  ESCAPE  ALARM 

electric  bell  is  installed  at  each  end  of  the  car.  Wiring  from 
these  bells  passes  through  the  head  of  the  standard,  and  as  soon 
as  the  wheel  leaves  the  wire  a  contact  is  made  which  rings  the 
bells,  thus  giving  the  alarm  to  both  motorman  and  conductor. 

Although  trolley  catchers  and  retrievers  are  used  very  ex- 
tensively to  avoid  accidents  of  this  nature,  Mr.  Kremnitz  be- 
lieves that  such  devices  are  not  absolutely  reliable,  especially  on 
rough  roads,  where  the  trolley  wire  is  not  always  at  the  same 
height  above  the  roadbed ;  again,  if  the  car  should  be  going 
down  a  grade  the  motorman  would  have  no  means  of  knowing 
immediately  that  the  wheel  had  left  the  wire  unless  the  car  is 
fitted  with  an  automatic  alarm,  such  as  the  type  described. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


-) 


NEW  FORM  OF  TROLLEY  BASE 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  new  form  of  trolley 
base  for  double  and  single-deck  cars,  which  is  being  manu- 
factured and  sold  by  Harper,  Phillips  &  Company,  Ltd.,  of  the 
Albion  Foundry,  Eastgate,  Grimsby,  England.  This  device  is 
of  cast-steel  throughout,  and  all  the  parts  are  interchangeable. 
The  total  height,  when  compressed,  is  5^  ins-,  though  this  firm 
also  manufactures  another  design  of  trolley  base  which  has  a 
total  height  of  only  4  ins.  from  the  underside  of  the  base  plate. 


TROLLEY  BASE  FOR  SINGLE  AND  DOUBLE-DECK  CARS 

By  an  ingenious  arrangement  of  the  support  centers  an  equal 
pressure  on  the  trolley  wire  at  all  working  angles  is  secured, 
and  it  is  claimed  that  with  the  springs  acting  directly  under  the 
trolley  pole  it  is  much  more  sensitive  than  is  the  case  where  the 
pressure  is  conveyed  through  bearings.  Ball  bearings  are  used 
at  both  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  vertical  sleeve,  and  a  ready 
adjustment  of  the  tension  can  be  made.  Only  one  lubricator 
is  necessary  to  oil  all  of  the  bearings,  and  the  design  in  general 
allows  of  a  most  perfect  insulation. 



AUTOMATIC  BAND  RIP-SAW 


The  automatic  band  rip-saw  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  has  been  designed  by  the  J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan  Com- 
pany, of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  who  particularly  recommend  it  to 
car  builders,  mill  own- 
ers and  other  wood- 
work e  r  s  who  have 
stock  that  requires 
heavy  framing.  It  is 
safe  to  operate,  a  very 
small  kerf  is  removed, 
wide  or  thick  ma- 
te r  i  a  1  easily  ripped, 
and  but  little  power 
is  required  to  accom- 
plish the  work,  the 
table  is  always  at 
standard  height,  and 
its  rolls  are  close  to- 
gether, allowing  short 
pieces  to  be  easily  fed. 
The  adjustment  of 
fences  and  rolls  can 
be  made  quickly.  The 
machine  is  admirably 
adapted    to  reducing 

large  timbers  to  smaller  dimensions,  ripping  wide  lumber  into 
strips  of  varying  widths,  resawing  from  the  side  of  a  timber 
and  other  light  work. 

The  straining  device,  which  controls  the  upper  wheel  and  the 
path  of  the  saw  blade  on  the  face  of  the  wheels,  is  very  sensi- 


AUTOMATIC   BAND  RIP-SAW 


tive.  No'matter  what  the  vibrations  are  the  strain  takes  up  the 
slack  in  the  blade  instantly,  thus  adding  wonderfully  to  the 
perfect  working  of  the  machine,  and  lengthening  the  life  of 
the  saw  blades. 

The  lower  wheel  is  solid,  lessening  the  circulation  of  dust  and 
giving  itself  increased  momentum  so  that  its  speed  governs  the 
upper  wheel  and  prevents  it  from  overruning  the  lower.  The 
machine  has  three  feeds,  and  powerfully-driven  feed  rolls  in 
and  above  the  table,  and  by  a  single  movement  of  a  lever  con- 
venient to  operator  the  machine  can  be  instantly  changed  to  a 
hand-fed  rip-saw,  or  instantly  stop  the  feed. 


AUTOMATIC  TROLLEY  CATCHER  AND  RETRIEVER 

The  high  value  of  trolley  catchers  and  retrievers  in  eliminat- 
ing some  of  the  causes  of  expensive  accidents,  injury  to  over- 
head equipment  and  the  numerous  annoying  stops  due  to  the 
pole  leaving  the  wire,  has  long  been  recognized  by  practical 
railway  men,  the  only  problem  being  the  selection  of  the  best 
type  of  such  apparatus.  An  efficient  catcher  and  retriever  must 
be  of  simple,  compact  and  rugged  construction,  light  in  weight 
and  easily  detachable  for  transferring  from  one  end  of  the  car 
to  the  other,  and  must  be  absolutely  reliable  under  the  most 
severe  operating  conditions. 

In  compliance  with  these  conditions  an  automatic  trolley 
catcher  ancLretriever  has  been  perfected  by  Thomas  B.  Shana- 
han,  president  of  the  Shanahan  Trolley  Specialty  Company,  of 
Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  and  for  the  past  ten  years  master  mechanic 
of  the  electrical  depart- 
ment of  the  Fonda,  Johns- 
town &  Gloversville  Rail- 
road, Gloversville,  N.  Y. 
In  this  position  the  neces- 
sity for  some  mechanism 
that  would  control  the 
trolley  pole  became  very 
apparent  to  Mr.  Shana- 
han, and  after  much  ex- 
perimenting he  invented 
the  mechanism  show  n 
herewith.  The  device  is 
entirely  automatic  in  ac- 
tion. The  instant  the 
trolley  leaves  the  wire 
it  is  pulled  down  from  2 
ft.  to  6  ft.,  as  may  be  de- 
sired, and  held  there  until  released.  It  is  stated  that  it  in- 
variably performs  its  work  regardless  of  speed  or  weather  con- 
ditions. The  trolley  is  easily  replaced  on  the  wire  by  pulling  out 
sufficient  rope  and  resetting  the  machine.  The  motive  power 
of  the  retriever  is  a  large  spring,  which  can  be  adjusted  for 
any  desired  tension. 

Only  one  catcher  and  retriever  is  needed  for  a  car.  Two 
bases  are  furnished  with  each  retriever.  These  are  attached  to 
the  car  ends,  and  by  using  a  small  locking  lever  the  retriever 
can  be  taken  from  one  end  of  the  car  to  the  other  without  the 
use  of  tools. 


AUTOMATIC   TROLLEY  CATCHER 
AND  RETRIEVER 


Agreements  have  been  entered  into  by  the  St.  Louis,  St. 
Charles  &  Western  Railroad,  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  American 
Car  Telephone  Company,  of  Grand  Rapids,  whereby  the  line 
of  the  former  company  is  to  be  equipped  with  a  telephone  sys- 
tem so  constructed  that  passengers  aboard  any  car  may,  while 
traveling,  be  in  direct  communication  with  persons  in  St. 
Louis.  The  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles  &  Western  Railroad  is  the 
first  line  to  be  so  equipped.  In  each  car  will  be  installed  a  tele- 
phone connected  by  means  of  a  patent  trolley  wheel,  with  a 
telephone  wire  above  the  car  leading  to  the  St.  Louis  Exchange. 


3° 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


THE  WEST1NGH0USE  NO.  200  RAILWAY  MOTOR 


The  Westinghouse  Xo.  200  railway  motor  has  been  designed 
to  meet  the  demand  for  a  motor  of  thoroughly  sound  con- 
struction and  medium  power,  for  service  on  cars  of  moderate 
speed  and  seating  capacity.  It  embodies  all  the  advantages  of 
the  most  modern  practice,  and  is  the  outcome  of  long  experience 
in  electric  traction.  The  salient  points  of  the  No.  200  motor  are 
outlined  in  the  following  description  : 

The  magnetic  yoke  of  the  field  magnets  is  formed  by  a  cast- 
steel  casing,  which  further  serves  to  protect  the  vital  parts  from 


MOTOR,  VIEWED  FROM  AXLE  END 


mechanical  injury.  The  four  pole-pieces,  built  up  of  steel 
laminations,  are  each  fastened  to  the  yoke  by  two  bolts,  and  rest 
on  machined  surfaces  inside  the  case,  ensuring  an  efficient  mag- 
netic circuit.  The  nuts  for  the  pole-piece  bolts  are  sunk  in  re- 
cesses in  the  casing. 

The  field  coils  are  of  high  conductivity  copper,  wound  on 


1  1  1  1  I  I  II  1  M  II  II  1  1  1 

WESTINGHOUSE 

No. 

200  TRAMWAY 

MOTOR. 

\ppro> 

.  Performance 

Ctirvcs. 

1 

s 

t 

20 

iOO 

it 

9o 

ft 

1 — 

lb 

to 

/<• 

7° 

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/I 

60 

y 

/O 

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/ 

no 

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to 

O  10  SO         JO  fO  SO  CO  70  OO  3o 


SOME   CHARACTERISTIC    PERFORMANCE  CURVES 

moulds,  and  thoroughly  insulated  with  fullerboard  and  mica, 
taped  and  varnished.  The  external  connections  are  made  by 
long  flexible  conductors  passing  through  the  case  in  insulated 
bushes,  which  prevent  chafing  of  the  insulation.  A  terminal 
sweated  on  with  a  special  clip  contact  provides  for  connection 


to  the  cable  leads.  This  method  dispenses  entirely  with  the 
making  of  connections  inside  the  motor  casing. 

The  armature  is  of  the  drum-wound  type  with  slotted  core. 
The  core  and  windings  are  so  spaced  as  to  afford  ample  ventila- 
tion when  the  armature  is  revolving.  A  constant  circulation  of 
air  is  kept  up,  and  the  temperature  of  the  whole  material  of  the 
motor  is  thereby  equalized.  The  armature  coils  are  of  copper 
strap,  formed  to  exact  shape  and  size  on  the  metal  moulds,  and 
then  insulated  and  grouped  in  sets  of  three.  Each  set  is  en- 
cased in  a  stout  insulating  cell  of  fullerboard  and  mica,  and  the 
whole  is  then  taped  and  varnished.  The  complete  coils  are  so 
shaped  as  to  slip  easily  into  the  slots,  without  using  undue  force. 
Thus  the  insulation  remains  uninjured  during  winding.  Three 
steel  wire  bands  serve  to  retain  the  coils  in  their  places  in  the 
slots.  These  band  wires  are  wound  in  grooves  in  the  core,  of 
such  depth  that  the  wires  do  not  project  above  the  surface. 
The  maximum  clearance  is  thus  available  to  allow  for  eccen- 
tricity of  the  armature  in  the  field  caused  by  wear  of  the  bear- 
ings. Moreover,  should  undue  wear  allow  the  core  to  touch  the 
pole  faces  in  revolving,  the  band  wires,  being  sunk  in  grooves, 
are  protected,  and  will  not  break  and  allow  the  armature  coils 
to  be  thrown  out.  The  ends  of  the  coils,  clear  of  the  field  poles, 
are  further  secured  by  two  bands  of  steel  wire,  which  prevent 
coil  spreading  in  case  an  excessive  speed  should  be  attained. 
The  complete  armature  weighs  396  lbs. 

The  brush  holders  are  securely  bolted  to  the  upper  half  of 
the  field  casing,  and  thoroughly  insulated  from  it.  They  can 
be  readily  withdrawn  at  any  time  after  the  removal  of  one  nut. 
The  commutator  is  built  of  111  segments  of  hard-drawn  copper, 
insulated  from  each  other  by  mica  sheets.  The  large  diameter 
gives  ample  cooling  surface,  while  the  generous  depth  of  the 
segments  permits  of  a  wide  margin  for  wear.  Further,  the 
great  number  of  segments  lowers  the  potential  drop  between 
adjacent  bars,  thus  favoring  sparkless  commutation. 


RAILWAY  MOTOR,  OPEN 


A  large  rectangular  opening  in  the  upper  half  of  the  motor 
casing  provides  access  to  the  commutator  and  brushes.  This 
aperture  is  closed  with  an  iron  lid  secured  by  two  bolts ;  a  close 
fit  being  ensured  by  a  thick  felt  insertion.  Just  beneath  the 
commutator  a  hand-hole  is  also  provided,  which  allows  access 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


3' 


to  the  lower  casing,  and  permits  the  removal  of  anything  which 
may  have  dropped  into  the  case.  Inspection  of  the  armature 
clearance  is  allowed  for  by  the.  provision  of  two  small  holes, 
one  at  each  end  of  the  field  yoke.  The  casing  being  in  halves, 
hinged  together  along  the  side  remote  from  the  car  axle,  the 
armature  or  any  part  can  be  examined  by  dropping  the  lower 
half  of  the  casing,  thus  completely  opening  up  the  motor. 

The  armature  bearings  are  placed  directly  in  the  motor 
casing,  and  a  long  bearing  surface  is  secured  without  unduly 
increasing  the  width  of  the  motor  by  a  special  design  of  wiper 
ring,  which  projects  well  inside  the  case.  The  method  of 
lubrication  adopted  allows  the  use  of  either  oil  or  grease,  or 
both,  at  will.  The  large  size  of  the  wiper  rings  entirely  pre- 
vents the  grease  finding  its  way  along  the  shaft  onto  the  arma- 
ture and  commutator. 

The  gear  case  is  divided  horizontally  and  bolted  securely  to 
the  motor  case,  so  that  the  lower  half  can  be  removed  without 
disturbing  the  upper  half.  The  gears  are  of  cast-steel,  and 
can  be  lubricated  through  a  small  opening  in  the  upper  half 
covered  by  a  spring  lid.  The  pinion  is  of  forged  steel,  taper 
bored  to  fit  the  armature  shaft,  to  which  it  is  also  keyed.  The 
pinion  and  gear  have  a  5-in.  face,  and  the  standard  gear  ratio, 
used  with  the  No.  200  motor,  consist  of  a  fourteen-tooth  pinion 
and  a  sixty-eight-tooth  gear. 

The  total  weight  of  the  motor,  complete  with  gear  and  gear 
case,  is  2080  lbs.  Its  principal  dimensions  are:  Commutator, 
length,  2^4  ins.;  diameter,  8V2  ins.;  armature  diameter,  13  ins.; 
bearings,  pinion  end,  8  ins.  x  3  ins. ;  commutator  end,  6  ins.  x 
3  ins. ;  axle  bearings,  adapted  to  any  axle,  from  3^-in.  to 
4l/2-in.  diameter. 

Fig.  3  shows  approximate  performance  curves  for  the  No. 
200  motor  at  500  volts.  Should  a  motor  of  power  slightly  dif- 
ferent to  that  indicated  be  required,  the  capacity  can  be  varied 
to  meet  the  requirements. 

♦  ♦♦  - 

DELTABESTON  MAGNET  WIRE 


As  so  many  serious  accidents  in  electrical  work  are  due  to 
defective  insulation,  any  notable  improvement  in  insulating 
material  is  worthy  of  careful  attention.  While  asbestos  is  one 
of  the  most  reliable  insulators  known,  its  extended  use  is  im- 
practicable, because  it  is  too  bulky.  Insulation  manufacturers 
have  endeavored,  therefore,  to  find  a  product  that  would  possess 
the  good  qualities  of  asbestos  and  yet  require  little  space. 
Among  others,  the  D.  &  W.  Fuse  Company,  of  Providence, 


degs.  C,  cotton-covered  wire  will  in  time  char  to  gn  extent  that 
will  break  down  its  insulation.  It  was  further  ascertained  that 
at  199  degs.  C.  cotton-covered  wire  began  to  smoke  in  20  sec- 
onds. At  239  degs.  C.  it  was  distinctly  discolored  in  50  seconds, 
and  complete  carbonization  had  taken  place  at  245  degs.  C.  in 
2  minutes  and  15  seconds.  These  temperatures  are,  of  course, 
excessive,  yet  they  show  how  little  time  is  requird  to  ruin  the 
field  or  armature  windings  on  a  railway  motor,  when  sub- 
jected, as  they  are,  to  frequent  overloads.    Deltabeston  wire, 


COIL   OF    DELTABESTON  WIRE 

tested  under  the  same  conditions  and  current,  is  said  to  be  abso- 
lutely unaffected.  An  interesting  comparative  test  of  the  prop- 
erties of  the  two  wires  is  shown  by  coupling  two  pieces  together 
and  subjecting  them  to  the  same  current,  resulting  in  the  com- 
plete destruction  of  the  cotton  insulation  without  affecting  the 
Deltabeston  wire  in  the  slightest.  Further,  the  latter  wire 
has  been  run  at  a  dull  red  heat  representing  a  temperature  of 
about  600  degs  C.  without  its  insulation  being  destroyed.  From 
this  it  will  be  seen  that  this  abnormal  temperature  rise  will  not 
affect  its  insulation  disastrously,  and  since  the  temperature  rise 
in  any  motor  or  dynamo  is  limited  by  the  sparking  limit  of  the 
commutator,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  under  no  operating 
conditions  can  the  temperature  be  brought  to  a  point  sufficiently 
high  to  cause  the  break-down  of  this  remarkable  insulation. 

This  wire  has  been  given  the  most  exhaustive  tests,  and  it 
is  used  in  a  large  number  of  railway  motors  with  very  satis- 
factory results.  At  the  present  time  it  is  made  in  any  size  from 
No.  4  to  No.  18  B.  &  S.  gage. 

The  manufacturer  would  caution  those  who  attempt  to  wind 
coils  with  this  wire  that  ordinary  methods  of  clamping  in  order 
to  secure  tension  do  not  give  very  satisfactory  results,  although 
they  can  be  employed.  The  device  and  methods  shown  in  the 
accompanying  diagram  are  recommended  instead.    The  princi- 


Wire  to  Coi/ 


wt 


W/re  ^rom  reef 
/eac/s  on  fon/gh  G/c/e 


'Sec  Hon  o  fDrag  Whee/ 


STECIAL  APPARATUS  FOR  WINDING  COILS  OF  INSULATED  WIRE 


1\.  L,  conducted  numerous  experiments  and  finally  succeeded  in 
producing  its  "Deltabeston"  magnet  wire. 

This  wire  is  insulated  with  practically  pure  asbestos,  treated 
in  such  a  manner  that  its  insulating"  properties  are  exceptionally 
good,  and,  at  the  same  time,  its  remarkable  resistance  to  heat 
saves  it  from  any  injury  due  to  temperatures  likely  to  occur  in 
commercial  service.  The  thickness  of  this  insulation  is  said  to 
compare  very  favorably  with  that  of  double-cotton  insulation. 
The  following  comparison  of  the  heat-resisting  properties  of 
cotton-covered  and  Deltabeston  wire  will  be  of  interest. 

Investigation  showed  that  at  a  temperature  of  about  147 


pie  involved  is  that  of  coiling  the  wire  three  or  more  times 
about  the  periphery  of  a  geared  wheel,  the  surface  of  which 
is  higher  on  one  side  than  on  the  other,  taking  special  pains  to 
feed  the  wire  from  the  reel  on  the  high  side  and  draw  it  off 
the  wheel  from  the  low  side,  then  letting  it  pass  to  the  former 
on  which  it  is  being  wound.  A  special  brake  attachment  is 
also  provided,  by  which  the  tension  can  be  adjusted  through  a 
wide  range  without  injuring  01  marring  the  insulation.  For 
trial  purposes  it  is,  of  course,  unnecessary  to  procure  this 
device,  but  those  who  purpose  using  this  wire  to  some  extent 
will  find  it  very  satisfactory. 


32 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


THE  OECHELHAUSER  GAS  ENGINE 


The  large  gas  engines  at  present  in  use  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes.  First,  those  in  which  the  working  cylinder  itself 
serves  as  a  charging  pump,  i.  e.,  the  so-called  four-cycle  engines, 
and,  second,  those  which  are  provided  with  separate  pumps  for 
charging  the  working  cylinders,  i.  e.,  the  so-called  two-cycle 
engines.  Engines  of  the  latter  class  again  may  be  sub-divided 
into  two  groups:  (a),  those  in  which  the  charge  is  admitted  to 
the  working  cylinder  by  means  of  valves,  and  (b)  those  in 
which  the  admission  of  the  charge  is  controlled  by  a  second 
piston.  The  engine  of  the  last  group,  which  has  found  the 
most  general  use  in  Germany,  is  that  built  under  the  von 
Oechelhauser  patents,  and  which  is  generally  known  outside  of 
Germany  as  the  Borsig  gas  engine.  Many  of  these  engines 
have  already  been  in  use  for  a  number  of  years,  and  have  been 
found  suitable  for  all  purposes,  whether  as  blowing  engines, 
rolling  mill  engines,  or  for  electrical  generation. 

By  the  employment  of  a  pair  of  pistons,  working  in  opposite 
directions  as  in  the  Oechelhauser  motor,  it  is  claimed  important 
advantages  are  attained.  Chief  among  these  is  the  perfect 
balancing  of  all  reciprocating  parts,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  foundations  and  foundation  bolts  and  plates  of  the  engine 
can  be  kept  comparatively  light,  such  as  is  not  the  case  with 
a  gas  engine  having  only  a  single  system  of  reciprocating  parts, 


the  latter  has  sunk  to  that  of  the  atmosphere,  the  piston  K2 
opens  the  ports  67,  through  which  pure  air  enters  the  cylinder 
and  sweeps  out  the  waste  gases.  Hereupon  the  piston  K2  opens 
the  ports  Cg,  allowing  gas  to  enter  the  cylinder  and  mix  with 
the  air  likewise  streaming  in,  whereby  the  explosive  mixture 
required  for  a  new  working  stroke  is  formed.  This  mixture  is 
compressed  during  the  return  strokes  of  the  tv/o  pistons,  and  on 
the  cranks  reaching  their  inner  dead  points  it  is  fired  by  means 
of  several  electric  igniters.  Thus  a  working  stroke  is  ob- 
tained at  every  revolution  of  the  crank  shaft. 

The  so-called  charging  spaces,  Rl  and  Rg,  for  air  and  gas, 
respectively,  are  refilled  during  the  compression  and  working 
strokes  by  me^is  of  a  charging  pump,  L,  located  behind  the 
cylinder,  so  that  on  change  of  direction  of  the  stroke  there  is 
always  a  fresh  charge  under  a  low  pressure  (about  0.3  to  0.4 
atmospheres,  or  4  lbs.  to  6  lbs.)  ready  to  enter  the  cylinder. 

In  order  to  prevent  gas  from  entering  the  exhaust  ports,  the 
motor  is  so  constructed  that  while  air  can  enter  the  charging 
space  for  gas,  no  gas  can  enter  the  charging  space  for  air. 
The  front  piston  acts  directly  upon  the  middle  crank-pin  of  the 
three-throw  crank  shaft,  while  the  rear  piston  acts  upon  the  two 
outside  crank  pins  by  means  of  a  cross-head  and  connectiong 
rods. 

It  may  be  here  remarked  that  in  ..he  Oechelhauser  motor 
there  are  no  valves  located  in  the  firing  chamber,  so  that 


FIG.  1. — VIEW  OF  EXTERIOR  OF  OECHELHAUSER  GAS  ENGINE 


where  there  is  always  danger  of  the  engine,  especially  if  of 
large  dimensions,  working  loose  and  jumping. 

A  further  result  of  the  good  balancing  secured  in  an  engine 
provided  with  pistons  working  in  opposite  directions,  is  a 
favorable  tangential  pressure  diagram,  whereby  the  moment 
for  the  fly-wheel  required  is  comparatively  small,  and  can  be 
reduced  to  a  minimum  by  constructing  the  motor  as  a  twin 
tandem  engine.  Owing  to  the  doubled  stroke  of  the  pistons,  the 
diameters  of  the  cylinders  are  also  very  small.  For  instance, 
the  largest  single-acting  four-cycle  gas  engine  as  usually  con- 
structed, having  a  cylinder  diameter  of  1300  mm  (51  ins.)  and 
a  piston  stroke  of  1200  mm  (47  ins.),  will  develop  700  hp  at  a 
speed  of  90  r.  p.  m.,  while  an  Oechelhauser  motor  of  the  same 
size  would  develop  four  times  this  power,  viz.,  2800  hp,  i.  e., 
double  the  power  of  a  double-acting  4-cycle  engine  of  the  same 
size. 

The  cylinders  are  very  easily  accessible.  After  the  with- 
drawal of  the  rear  piston  the  cylinder  can  be  entered  at  once 
and  cleaned,  should  this  prove  necessary  on  any  occasion. 

The  method  of  working  of  the  engine  is  as  follows :  As  is 
shown  in  Fig.  2,  two  pistons,  K1  and  K2,  work  in  opposite 
directions  in  a  long  cylinder  open  at  both  ends,  and  provided 
with  ports  Ca,  CI  and  Cg-  During  their  travel  in  the  outward 
direction  the  pistons  uncover  the  ports  consecutively,  whereby 
the  different  phases  of  the  cycle  are  effected.  The  piston  K1 
first  opens  the  longer  ports  Ca,  and  allows  the  still  compressed 
products  of  combustion  to  escape.   As  soon  as  the  pressure  of 


choking  is  not  to  be  feared,  and  safe  working  is  ensured  even 
in  cases  where,  through  the  entry  of  dust  and  dirt,  motors  of 
other  types  would  be  likely  to  get  out  of  order.  The  three- 
throw  crank  offers  no  difficulties,  and  is  at  least  as  safe  as  any 
other  multiple  crank  shaft.  Several  of  these  shafts  have  been 
examined  and  calculated  by  Professor  Meyer,  of  the  Royal 
Technical  Institution,  at  Charlottenburg,  Berlin,  and  his  calcu- 
lations show  that  they  are  fully  equal  to  all  requirements. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  show  the  engine  originally 
built  for  the  World's  Fair  at  St.  Louis  by  A.  Borsig,  of  Tegel, 
Germany,  who,  however,  for  certain  reasons,  has  felt  com- 
pelled to  withdraw  the  machine  from  exhibition.  For  constant 
service  the  horse-power  of  this  engine  is  1500  average  and 
1800  maximum,  at  90  r.  p.  m. ;  during  limited  runs  the  horse- 
power developed  may  be  as  high  as  2200.  The  cylinder  is  1100- 
mm  (43  ins.)  diameter  and  of  1350-mm  (53  ins.)  stroke.  The 
length  of  the  engine  over  all  is  21.7  m  (71  ft.)  net,  and  the 
width  over  all,  without  the  dynamo,  8.5  m  (28  ft.).  The  weight 
of  the  engine,  including  fly-wheel,  amounts  to  325,000  kg 
(147,730  lbs.).  The  degree  of  irregularity  of  the  fly-wheel 
is  1/90.  The  number  of  revolutions  of  the  engine  per  minute 
can  be  increased  or  decreased  by  5  per  cent,  with  the  aid  of  <. 
spring  balance. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  illustrations,  the  engine  is  very  rigid 
in  all  its  parts.  The  position  of  the  cylinder  is  centered  into 
and  secured  to  the  main  frame,  which  is  built  of  heavy  parts, 
thus  a  good  alignment  is  effected.    At  the  other  side  the. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


33 


cylinder  rests  freely  on  the  base  plates,  just  as  is  ordinarily  the 
case  with  steam  engines;  in  this  manner  the  engine  is  rendered 
more  easy  to  inspect,  and  the  engineer  can  get  access  to  all 
parts.  Stair-cases  and  galleries  are  arranged  wherever  de- 
sirable. 

All  the  wearing  surfaces  are  very  ample  in  size,  and  for  the 
sake  of  safety,  all  the  cross-head  guides  and  main  bearings  are 
provided  with  water-cooling 
devices.  The  pins  of  the  crank 
shaft  are  bored  longitudinally 
and  tubes  led  in  for  power 
lubrication,  besides  which  the 
usual  centrifugal  lubricators 
are  employed.  All  the  other 
parts  are,  as  far  as  possible, 
lubricated  from  central  places. 
The  main  bearings  are  oiled 
on  the  circulation  system. 
Drip  cups,  oil  catchers  and 
splash  guards  are  provided 
wherever  necessary. 

The  charging    pumps  are 
arranged  under  the  engine  house  floor,  one  behind  the  other, 
on  one  side  of  the  fly-wheel.   In  designing  these  pumps  special 
care  has  been  taken  to  reduce  the  driving  power  required  to  a 
minimum,  by  employing  valves  of  ample  area,  so  as  to  affect 


the  admission  of  the  gas,  the  quantity  of  air  flowing  in  through 
the  air  openings  is  in  proportion  to  the  volume  of  gas,  so  that 
the  explosive  mixture  formed  is  such  as  can  always  be  easily 
ignited.  For  this  reason  a  return  valve  is  also  provided  in  the 
air  pipe,  so  that  the  pressure  of  the  air  may  be  somewhat  varied 
also  the  same  as  with  the  gas  supply. 

Tn  the  case  of  an  engine  running  with  a  light  load,  the  mix- 


FIG.  2.— SEMI-SECTIONAL  PLAN  VIEW,  SHOWING  PISTONS  WORKING  IN  OPPOSITE  DIRECTIONS 

ture  at  the  igniting  device  might  be  too  poor,  since,  owing  to 
the  arrangement  of  the  inlet  slots  in  the  circumference  of  the 
cylinder,  the  gas  might  be  too  much  distributed  within  the 
cylinder.    For  this  reason  an  annular  sliding  valve,  controlled 
by  the  governor,  is  provided  above  the  inlet 
slots.    This  slide  moves  very  easily  and  cannot 
get  rusted   down,  as   during  working  of  the 
charging  pump,  a  small  quantity  of  oil  is  con- 
tinually being  carried  over,  and  settles  on  the 
wearing  surface  of  the  slide,  thus  keeping  the 
latter  well  lubricated.    This  annular  slide  is  so 
adjusted  as  gradually  to  close  the  slots  opposite 
to  the  igniting  device,  as  the  load  on  the  engine 
decreases,  so  that  only  a  few  small  openings 
are  left  for  the  admission  of  gas  when  the  en- 
gine is  running  without  load.  The  gas  in  the 
latter  case  thus  enters  the  cylinder  very  slowly,  and  mixes  only 
with  the  nearest  particles  of  air,  without  becoming  distributed 
over  the  large  cylinder  space.  The  pistons  drive  this  explosive 
mixture  to  the  igniting  device,  whereby  safe  and  regular  com- 


FIG.  3.— INDICATOR  DIAGRAM  FROM  BORSIG  GAS  ENGINE 


the  efficiency  in  the  least  possible  manner.  The  method  of 
arranging  the  charging  pumps  immediately  below  the  cylinders 
has  been  adopted,  owing  to  its  having  been  found  that  the 
charges  can  be  admitted  to  the  cylinders  much  more  smoothly 


FIG.  4.— PLAN  OF  OECHELHAUSER  GAS  ENGINE 


and  reliably,  if  both  the  air  and  the  gas  are  stored  up  in  the 
immediate  proximity  of  the  cylinders. 

The  motor  is  governed  by  the  quantity  of  gas  admitted,  being 
regulated  by  the  pressure  in  the  so-called  charging  space  in 
front  of  the  cylinder.  This  is  effected  with  the  aid  of  a  re- 
turn valve,  controlled  by  the  governor,  the  excess  of  the  gas 
drawn  in  by  the  pump  being  returned  to  the  suction  pipe  before 
the  beginning  of  the  compression  in  the  pump,  whereby  no 
useful  work  is  wasted.    It  is  only  necessary  to  see  that  during 


bustion  is  ensured.  To  prevent  in-rush  of  air,  after  the  gas 
slots  have  been  closed,  whereby  the  explosive  mixture  would  be 
impaired,  the  air  inlets,  which  are  of  ample  size,  are  provided 
with  an  annular  slide,  which  is  so  adjusted  by  band  that  at  the 
moment  when  the  gas  slots  are  closed  by  the  piston  the  air 
inlet  is  completed  also.  As  regards  the  regulation  of  the  motor 
it  should  be  noted,  as  above  mentioned,  that  all  the  valves  are 
placed  outside  the  engine  proper,  so  that  they  do  not  come  into 
contact  with  the  fire. 


34 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


-DETAILS  OF  GOVERN- 
ING APPARATUS 


The  motor  is  started  in  the  usual  manner,  with  the  aid  of 
compressed  air.  The  gear  of  the  starting  valve  is  so  con- 
nected with  that  of  the  igniter  that  the  starting  valve  can  only 
be  opened  when  ignition  takes  place  at  the  dead  point,  so  that 
premature  ignition  and  consequent  recoil  of  the  motor  on  start- 
ing is  avoided.    This  device  will  be  described  below. 

In  October,  1903,  Professor  Meyer,  at  the  request  of  the 
manufacturer,  A.  Borsig, 
of  Tegel,  conducted  some 
careful  tests  with  a500-hp, 
single-cylinder  gas-blow- 
ing engine  for  blast  fur- 
naces. The  motor  was 
worked  with  coke-oven 
gases,  containing  on  the 
average  3300  calories  per 
cubic  meter.  Originally 
the  motor  was  destined  to 
be  driven  with  blast  fur- 
nace gas,  and  in  view  of 
the  richer  coke-oven  gas 
being  used,  had  to  be  re- 
constructed as  far  as  pos- 
sible. Thus,  a  special  gas 
pump  was  added,  and  the 
original   charging  pump, 

designed  to  pump  gas  on  one  side  and  air  on  the  other,  was 
modified  for  the  air  supply  exclusively. 

These  alterations,  however,  rendered  the  quantity  delivered 
excessive,  so  that  a  not  inconsiderable  amount  of  air  had  to  be 
blown  off  through  a  valve.  Thus  more  power  was  spent  in 
driving  the  pumps  than  would  otherwise  have  been  necessarv. 
In  spite  of  this  fact,  however,  the  results  in  respect  to  the 
amount  of  gas  consumed  were  most  favorable.  The  average 
consumption  of  heat  per  hour  1  hp  developed  in  the  working- 
cylinder  amounted  for  both  trials  to  1660  cal  ories,  that  is  to  say, 
38  per  cent  of  the  heat  was  utilized.  The  pump  work  amounted 
to  10.3  per  cent  of  the  indicated  work.  It  is  probable  that  in  the 
case  of  a  pump  properly  constructed  from  the  first,  the  power 
consumed  would  still  more  favorably  compare  with  that  de- 
veloped, and  would  be  reduced  to  about  8  per  cent.  The  con- 
sumption of  cooling  water  was  equally  favorable,  only  amount- 
ing to  27  liters  (7  gals.)  per  electrical  horse-power. 

1  he  engine  comprises  several  interesting  constructional  de- 
tails, which  it  may  he  worth  while  to  describe  here.  In  the  first 
place  there  is  the  automatic  suction  and  discharge  valve,  which 
is  employed  for  the  charging  pumps.  This  valve  consists  essen- 
tially of  a  very  thin  sheet-iron  disc,  a!  out  one-half  t  mm 
thick,  weighing  about  40  grammes,  and  so  cut  as  to  form  two 
spiral  arms,  secured  at  the  center  of  the  disc  by  means  of  two 
screws,  a  little  clearance  being  left  in  order  that  the  arms 
may  be  at  liberty  to  move  without  jamming.  Above  the  disc, 
a  valve  catcher  is  provided,  in  which  several  small  helical 
springs  are  fastened.  These  springs  serve  for  loading  the  valve 
and  press  the  disc  firmly  on  its  seat.  The  point  of  support  of  the 
spiral  arms  is  located  in  the  middle  of  the  valve  lift,  so  that  the 
disc  is  bent  upwards.  The  purpose  of  this  arrangement  is  to 
render  the  stress  on  the  arms  as  favorable  as  possible,  the  strain 
of  the  material  varying  between  half  the  negative  maximum, 
stress  and  half  the  positive  maximum  stress.  Owing  to  the 
exceedingly  small  mass  of  the  valves  its  resistance  is  insig- 
nificant. A  further  notable  feature  lies  in  the  return  valves 
and  their  gear.  These  valves  are  exactly  the  same  as  the  inlet 
valves  in  the  steam  engines  built  by  the  manufacturer  already 
mentioned.  This  new  valve  gear  (Neuhaus-Hochwald  system) 
has  been  fitted  with  success  on  many  steam  engines,  and  has 
been  found  to  work  silently  and  safely.  The  action  of  the  gov- 
ernor upon  this  valve  gear  is  as  follows: 

The  lever,  0.  secured  to  the  shaft,      is  actuated  by  the  gov- 


ernor. The  small  eccentric,  p,  keyed  upon  the  same  shaft,  will 
thus  be  turned,  and  the  roller,  /,  carried  by  the  eccentric  rod,  q, 
caused  to  take  up  a  new  position,  whereby  the  catch  on  /{  is 
sooner  or  later  pushed  off  the  valve  lever  e.  The  eccentric  rod, 
q,  between  its  fulcrum  and  the  roller,  is  engaged  by  a  rod,  r,  on 
the  rocking  lever,  </,  and  is  thus  obliged  to  partake  of  the  motion 
of  the  latter.  By  reason  of  this  peculiar  connection  of  the 
governor  gear  with  the  active  gear  rod,  the  catch  bears  with  a 
wide  surface  against  the  passive  tail  even  for  high  degrees  of 
expansion,  and  when  the  engine  is  running  without  load,  and, 
furthermore,  for  all  degrees  of  expansion,  is  rapidly  pushed  off 
the  tail  at  the  last  moment  when  admission  has  been  com- 
pleted. Thus,  premature  knocking  off  of  the  catch  and  conse- 
quent irregular  running  of  the  engine  are  completely  avoided. 

A  further  detail  may  be  pointed  out,  which  hitherto  has 
never,  or  scarcely  ever,  been  employed  in  gas  engines,  but 
which  is,  nevertheless,  desirable.  As  is  well  known,  on  starting 
a  gas  engine  the  ignition  must  take  place  much  later  than  in  the 
normal  running  of  the  engine,  say  at  the  dead  point,  whereas, 
nomally,  the  sparks  must  pass  some  30  degs.  to  40  degs.  before 
the  dead  point.  There  is  thus  the  danger  that  on  starting  the 
engine  the  igniting  device  is  not  properly  adjusted  so  that 
premature  ignition  may  occur,  whereby  the  engine  is  turned  in 
the  opposite  direction.  This  sudden  change  of  direction  in  the 
revolution  of  the  fly-wheel  may,  however,  cause  very  dangerous 
strains  on  the  rods,  especially  in  large  power  gas  engines.  This 
is  rendered  quite  impossible  by  the  special  construction  by 
which  one  device  is  made  to  lock  the  other  one,  and  vice  versa: 
Thus  the  starting  device  cannot  be  engaged  unless  a  specially 
marked  disc  is  so  adjusted  that  ignition  takes  place  in  the 
dead  point  position.  Only  when  the  disc  is  in  this  position  can 
the  starting  lever  be  moved  round. 


♦  ♦♦ 


TROLLEY  BASE  FOR  DOUBLE  DECK  CARS 


The  general  introduction  of  covers  over  top-seat  cars  in 
England  has  given  rise  to  many  problems  in  connection  with 
electric  equipment  which  did  not  exist  before,  and  none  more 
important  than  the  manufacture  of  a  satisfa:tory  trolley  stand- 


TROLLEY  STANDARD  FOR  CANOPY  TOP  CARS 

ard  for  installation  on  cars  equipped  with  canopy  tops. 
At  first  the  usual  trolley  standard  was  used,  the  vertical  por- 
tion being  extended  somewhat  so  as  to  pierce  the  cover,  but 
now  standards  are  being  put  on  the  market  which  are  attached 
directly  to  the  top  of  the  canopy.  The  one  illustrated  here- 
with is  made  by  S.  Dixon  &  Son,  Ltd.,  of  Leeds.  It  has  been 
installed  with  very  marked  success  in  that  city,  and  other  cities 
are  rapidly  becoming  interested  in  it. 

The  construction  of  this  trolley  standard  gives  the  greatest 
amount  of  strength  and  rigidity  between  the  ball  races,  within 
what  are  stated  to  be  the  smallest  overall  dimensions  of  any 
other  standard  used.  Double  ball  bearings  are  provided  to  en- 
sure ease  in  following  the  curves  of  the  trolley  wire.  The  trol- 
ley pole  can  be  swung  completely  round  either  way.  All  parts 
are  made  to  gage  and  standardized,  and  are,  therefore,  inter- 
changeable. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


35 


OPEN  CARS  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE  CORPORATION 
OF  NEW  JERSEY 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  one  of  the  forty  open 
cars  which  the  John  Stephenson  Company  has  built  recently 
for  the  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey.    This  car 


The  bottom  framing  is  very  substantially  constructed.  Long- 
leaf  yellow  pine  side  sills,  6  ins.  x  8  ins.,  are  plated  with  steel 
7  ins.  x  %  in.  The  intermediate  sills  are  composed  of  5-in. 
I-beams.  Heavy  upper  and  lower  trusses  and  double-trussed 
needle  beams  are  included,  and  the  body  bolsters  are  of  the 
open  steel  type.    The  platform  timbers  are  reinforced  with 


OPEN  CAR  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE  CORPORATION  OF  NEW  JERSEY 


is  very  strong  and  substantial,  the  4j4-in.  x  7^-in.  side  sills 
being  plated  with  10-in.  x  V^-\\\.  steel  plates,  the  standard  size 
used  by  the  company  on  all  of  its  double-truck  open  cars. 

Among  the  features  of  this  type  is  the  placing  of  all  seats  in- 
side the  bulkhead,  and  the  addition  of  a  vestibule  at  each  end, 
thereby  protecting  the  motorman,  conductor  and  apparatus  in 
rainy  weather. 

The  length  over  all  is  39  ft.  3^4  his.,  the  length  of  the  plat- 
forms 3  ft.  6  ins.,  and  the  total  weight  of  car  without  trucks 
is  17,000  lbs.  Each  car  is  equipped  with  four  Westinghouse 
No.  68-E  motors  and  Christensen  air  brakes. 

— 

INTERURBAN  CARS  FOR  THE  STARK  ELECTRIC  RAILROAD 

OF  OHIO 


The  Stark  Electric  Railroad  Company,  of  Alliance,  Ohio, 
which  operates  a  high-speed  road  between  Canton,  Alliance  and 
Sebring,  has  recently  added  to  its  rolling  sto:k  four  fine  com- 
bination passenger  and  smoker  interurban  cars,  built  by  the 
G_  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Company,  of  Cleveland.  The  road  extends 
through  a  populous  country  for  the  distance  of  35  miles,  and 
does  considerable  freight  business.  A  popular  amusement  park 
near  Alliance,  which  is  owned  by  the  company,  attracts  large 


INTERIOR  OF  CAR  FOR  STARK  ELECTRIC  RAILROAD 


HIGH-SPEED  COMBINATION  INTERURBAN  CARS  USED  BY  THE   STARK  ELECTRIC  RAILROAD  COMPANY 


numbers  during  the  season  from  towns  along  the  line.  An 
extension  of  the  road  has  lately  been  completed,  and  it  is  ex- 
pected with  the  new  cars  that  the  traffic  will  be  largely  in- 
creased. The  car  company  has  furnished  many  of  the  large 
interurban  cars  for  lines  in  this  State,  and  Ibis  lot  is  an  excel- 
lent example  of  its  work. 


angle-iron,  and  lirill  angle-iron  bumpers  strengthen  and  pro- 
tect the  ends.  The  thickness  of  corner  posts  is  4  ins.,  and  of 
side  posts  2  ins. 

The  interiors  are  finished  in  cherry,  handsomely  inlaid,  and 
the  ceilings  are  semi-empire  to  correspond  with  the  arched 
twin  windows.    The  ceilings  are  painted  light  green  with  gold 


36 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  I. 


striping.  A  toilet  room  of  standard  steam-car  character  is 
placed  against  the  partition  in  the  passenger  compartment.  A 
single  sliding  door,  with  glass  in  the  upper  part,  separates  this 
compartment  from  the  smoker.  The  partition  opposite  the 
toilet  room  has  glass  in  the  upper  portion.  The  window  sashes 
of  the  body  and  vestibules  are  arranged  to  drop  into  wall 
pockets.  Semi-accelerator  doors  are  provided  in  the  ends,  on 
account  of  the  vestibule  entrances  being  at  one  side  only.  This 
arrangement  facilitates  ingress  and  egress,  and  allows  seats 
for  three  passengers  to  be  placed  against  the  ends.  With  the 
exception  of  these  end  seats  the  seats  are  35  ins.  long,  have 
high  corrugated  backs  of  the  walk-over  type,  and  are  provided 
with  arm-rests.  The  seating  capacity  of  each  car  is  fifty-six. 
The  trim  throughout  is  solid  bronze  of  very  substantial  char- 
acter, and  includes  continuous  parcel  racks. 

The  weight  of  the  car  and  trucks,  without  motors,  is  47,000 
lbs.  The  general  dimensions  of  the  cars  are  as  follows : 
Length  over  end  panels,  40  ft.,  and  over  crown  pieces  50  ft. ; 
from  end  panels  over  crown  pieces,  5  ft. ;  width  over  rails, 
8  ft.  8  ins.  The  height  from  rail  to  tread  of  lower  steps  is 
18  ins. ;  from  rail  to  underside  of  sills,  38  ins.,  and  from  under- 
side of  sills  over  trolley  board,  9  ft.  4  ins.;  centers  of  posts, 
2  ft.  9  ins. 

 ^#-*»  


EQUIPMENT  FOR  NEW  PENNSYLVANIA  RAILWAY  BETWEEN 
HUMMELSTOWN  AND  DERRY  CHURCH 


portation  of  milk,  that  the  road  has  been  built.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  large  and  increasing  population,  and  the  district  prom- 
ises much  for  present  and  future  development. 

The  cars  are  the  well-known  semi-convertible  type  of  the 
builder,  with  roof  pockets  for  the  large  double-sash  windows. 
The  cars  are  31  ft.  8  ins.  over  the  end  panels,  and  41  ft.  1  in. 
over  vestibules,  with  4-ft.  8^-in.  platforms;  width  over  sills,  8 
ft.  2l/2  ins.,  and  over  posts  at  belt,  8  ft.  6  ins. ;  sweep  of  posts, 
3%  ins.,  and  side  posts,  3^  ins.  thick. ;  size  of  side  sills, 
4^4  ins.  x  7%  ins.,  and  end  sills,  5J4  ins.  x  6%  ins.  The  interior 
of  the  passenger  compartment  is  finished  in  cherry,  with  a  par- 
tition between  the  compartments  of  the  same  wood.  Seats 
which  fold  against  the  walls  are  provided  in  the  baggage  com- 
partment for  the  use  of  smokers.  This  compartment  has  a 
40-in.  sliding  door  on  either  side.  The  baggage  compartment  is 
9  ft.  2  ins.  long,  and  the  entrance  to  the  platform  is  by  a  single 
sliding  door.  The  cars  are  equipped  with  several  of  the 
builder's  specialties,  including  sand-boxes,  angle-iron  bumpers, 
platform  gongs,  conductors'  bells,  radial  draw-bars  and  ratchet 
brake  handles.  The  trucks  are  Brill  27-G,  with  4-ft:  wheel  base, 
33-in.  wheels  and  4-in.  axles.  The  track  gage  is  5  ft.  2^/2  ins. 
 ♦-♦-»-  

TRACK-DRILLING  MACHINE  USED  BY  THE  CLEVELAND 
ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


The  handsome  combination  passenger  and  baggage  car 
shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is  one  of  a  number  re- 


The  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Cleveland,  is 
removing  the  old  cable  slots  on  the  Payne  Avenue  and  Su- 
perior Street  lines,  which  were  electrified  some  years  ago.  The 


PASSENGER  AND  BAGGAGE  CAR  FOR  PENNSYLVANIA 
INTERURBAN  RAILWAY 

cently  completed  by  the  J.  G.  Brill.  Company  for  the  new  road 
between  Hummelstown  and  Derry  Church,  Pa.,  built  and  oper- 
ated by  M.  F.  Ffershey,  the  well-known  chocolate  manufac- 
turer.   The  road  is  about  12  miles  long-,  and  traverses  a  rich 


INTERIOR  OF  HUMMELSTOWN  CAR 

dairy  farming  district,  from  which  the  large  supply  of  milk 
required  in  chocolate  manufacture  is  obtained.  The  numerous 
employees  of  the  factory  live  in  the  district  through  which  the 
line  passes,  and  it  is  chiefly  on  their  account  and  for  the  trans- 


TRACK-D RILLING  MACHINE  AT  WORK 

old  rails  are  to  be  retained,  but  they  are  being  straightened  up 
and  the  joints  electrically  welded.  This  work  must  be  done 
very  rapidly,  as  it  is  being  carried  out  on  the  main  lines  which 
handle  the  traffic  to  the  baseball  grounds  and  parks.  To  facili- 
tate the  work  of  drilling  for  tie  rods,  it  was  decided  to  install 
an  electric  track-drilling  machine  of  the  type  manufactured  by 
the  Ludlow  Supply  Company,  of  Cleveland.  A  view  of  the 
drill  performing  this  work  is  illustrated  herewith.  The  ma- 
chine drills  holes  on  both  sides,  and  it  has  averaged  a  i-inch  hole 
every  two  minutes,  including  the  moving  of  the  machine  from 
hole  to  hole.  It  has  taken  the  place  of  twelve  men  with  hand 
ratchets,  and  is  saving  the  company  over  $15  per  day.  But  one 
man  is  required  to  operate  the  machine.  It  is  provided  with 
a  roller  at  one  side  so  that  it  can  be  wheeled  off  from  the  track 
by  two  men. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


37 


COMBINATION  INTERURBAN  CARS  FOR  THE  COLUMBUS, 
NEWARK  &  ZANESVILLE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


Several  combination  interurban  cars  of  the  type  illustrated 
in  the  accompanying  cuts  have  just  been  shipped  to  the  Colum- 
bus, Newark  &  Zanesville  Electric  Railway  Company  by  the 
Jewett  Car  Company,  of  Newark, 
Ohio.  This  railway  runs  from  New- 
ark to  Zanesville,  and  is  an  extension 
of  the  Columbus,  Buckeye  Lake  & 
Newark  Traction  Company,  now 
operating  between  Columbus  and 
Newark.  The  Columbus,  Newark  & 
Zanesville  Electric  Railway  also  em- 
braces the  Newark  City  lines,  in- 
cluding a  iine  to  Granville,  Ohio, 
and  with  the  Columbus,  Buckeye 
Lake  &  Newark  Traction  Company 
has  a  total  length  of  84  miles.  These 
lines  are  controlled  by  the  Tucker- 
Anthony  Company,  of  Boston,  and  J.  R.  Harrigan,  of  Newark 
(Ohio),  is  the  general  manager. 

These  cars  are  of  the  latest  design  and  construction,  and  are 
equipped  with  all  modern  conveniences.    As  will  be  seen  from 


struction.  The  body  framing  throughout  is  made  of  white  oak, 
and  the  construction  is  of  the  steam-coach  type.  The  vestibules 
are  of  the  Jewett  wide-vestibule  type,  with  double  folding  doors 
at  each  side.  As  shown  in  the  floor  plan  the  car^  are  divided 
into  three  compartments,  main  compartment,  smoking  compart- 
ment and  baggage  room.   The  main  and  smoking  compartments 


INTERIOR  OF  CAR  FOR  THE  COLUMBUS,  NEWARK  & 
ZANESVILLE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

the  floor  plan  the  cars  are  unusually  long,  the  total  length  over 
buffers  being  60  ft.  8  ins.  The  other  principal  dimensions  are: 
Width  over  posts,  8  ft.  4  ins. ;  width  over  all,  8  ft.  8  ins. ;  total 
height  from  rail  to  top  of  roof,  12  ft.  9  ins.;  distance  centers  of 
trucks,  40  ft.  yjA  ins.    The  bottom  framing  consists  of  six 


COMBINATION  INTERURBAN   CAR  FOR  OHIO   HIGH-SPEED  RAILWAY 


are  finished  in  mahogany,  and  the  baggage  room  is  white  ash, 
natural  finish.  The  finish  in  the  main  and  smoking  compart- 
ments is  inlaid  with  neat  marqueterie.  The  ceiling  is  of  the 
semi-Empire  type,  and  is  painted  green  with  gold  decorations. 
The  seats  in  main  compartment  are  of  the  walkover  type,  with 
high,  roll-top  backs,  and  are  finished  with  green  plush.  The 
seats  in  the  smoking  compartment  are  longitudinal,  and  are 
finished  with  rattan.  They  were  manufactured  by  Hale  & 
Kilburn.  Polished  plate-glass  is  used  throughout  the  car,  ex- 
cept the  gothics  and  deck  lights,  which  are  of  white  Florentine 
ornamental  glass.  All  trimmings  are  of  solid  bronze ;  curtains 
are  of  pantasote,  of  the  Keeler  type. 

The  cars  are  lighted  by  forty  incandescent  lamps,  which  are 
so  placed  that  they  form  arches  of  five  across  the  ceiling.  This 
gives  a  beautiful  effect  and  also  distributes  the  light  equally 
through  the  car.    The  lamps  are  of  the  frosted  type. 

The  cars  are  mounted  on  Peckham  M.  C.  B.  No.  36-A  double 
trucks,  5j4~in.  axles,  4%-in.  x  8-in.  journals,  with  locomotive- 
type  steel-tired  wheels.  The  motor  equipment  consists  of  four 
G.  E.  No.  73,  75-hp  motors,  geared  for  60  m.  p.  h.,  operated  by 
the  General  Electric  multiple-unit  control  system. 

The  cars  are  heated  by  Peter  Smith's  hot-water  heaters,  and 
are  equipped  with  Christensen  air  brakes,  as  well  as  hand 
brakes,  Van  Dorn  draw-bars,  Crane  type  of  pilots,  Wagenhals 
arc  headlights,  Knutson  trolley  retrievers,  toilet  room,  water 
cooler  and  De  France  air  blast  sanders. 




REGISTERS  FORWARD 


A  street  railway  company  should  make  it  a  rule  that  when- 
ever it  is  possible  to  do  so  the  register  should  be  in  the  forward 


PLAN  OF  COLUMBUS,  NEWARK  &  ZANESVILLE  CAR 


Street  By.  Journal 


yellow  pine  sills  of  compound  construction,  composed  of  one 
piece  5  ins.  x  8  ins.,  and  one  piece  2  ins.  x  6  ins.,  with  a  7-in.  x 
^2-in.  steel  plate  sandwiched  between.  The  end  sills,  cross  tim- 
bers, buffers,  etc.,  are  made  of  white  oak,  and  strengthened  by 
steel  plates  and  angles  wherever  necessary.  The  under-truss 
is  made  of  1%-in.  round  iron,  with  a  i^-in.  turnbuckle  in  the 
center  and  M.  C.  B.  anchors  over  the  bolsters.  The  bolsters 
are  made  of  steel  plates  and  cast  fillers,  M.  C.  B.  style  of  con- 


end  of  the  car.  Where  a  car  runs  on  a  straight  track,  of  course, 
the  position  of  the  register  alternates.  But  where  there  is  a 
loop  at  each  terminal,  and  the  register  is  on  one  end  of  the  car 
all  day  long,  orders  should  be  issued  to  the  starters  that  cars 
should  be  run  out  in  the  morning  with  reference  to  getting 
register  in  this  position.  By  this  means  an  inspector  boarding 
a  car  always  has  the  register  in  front  of  him,  and  it  also  helps 
the  conductor. 


38 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


THE  ZOELLY  STEAM  TURBINE 


The  Zoelly  steam  turbine,  which  is  manufactured  in  Switzer- 
land, by  Escher,  Wyss  &  Company,  of  Zurich,  and  which  will 
soon  be  put  on  the  German  market  by  the  Siemens-Schuckert 
interests,  is  of  the  multiple-impulse  type,  that  is,  the  expan- 
sion takes  place  in  the  passages  in  the  stationary  part  of  the 
apparatus.  The  principal  feature  of  the  machine  is,  that 
although  of  the  multi-stage  type,  no  great  attempt  has  been 
made  to  keep  down  the  speed,  so  that  the  turbine  has  high 
peripheral  velocities  and  a  comparatively  low  number  of  stages. 

As  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration,  the  turbine  is 
divided  into  a  high  and  a  low-pressure  part,  each  of  which  has  a 
separate  housing,  though  both  are  mounted  on  the  same  base 
plate.    The  shaft  is  carried  in  three  bearings,  which  are  also 


enough  to  resist  the  one-sided  pressure.  Cast-steel  is  used, 
and  the  guide  blades  are  arranged  in  groups  in  the  rim,  as 
shown  in  the  illustrations.  Between  the  groups  are  thick  pro- 
jecting pieces,  to  which  a  wrought-iron  ring  or  tire  is  attached. 
The  diaphragms  are  placed  close  together,  the  rims  touching, 
and  in  this  way  the  pressure  is  transmitted  to  the  end  wall  of 
the  housing.  The  hubs  of  the  bucket  wheels  fit  with  slight  play 
in  holes  in  the  bosses  of  the  diaphragms,  the  construction  being 
evident  from  the  cuts.  The  blades  have  small  ears  which  slip 
into  slots  in  both  the  rim  of  the  diaphragm  and  the  outside 
tire.  When  they  have  been  slipped  into  place  they  are  held 
there  by  two  rings  screwed  on  the  low-pressure  face,  as  illus- 


LONGITUDINAL  ELEVATION  OF  HIGH  AND  LOW-PRESSURE 
HOUSINGS 

independent  of  the  housings,  so  that  no  heat  can  be  transmitted 
to  them  by  the  latter.  The  shafts  of  the  smaller  turbines  are 
made  in  one  piece,  while  those  of  the  larger  machines  are  in 
two  parts,  and  have  four  bearings. 

The  discs  of  the  rotors  are  of  Siemens-Martin  steel,  and  are 
keyed  to  the  shaft.  The  buckets  are  of  nickel  steel,  and  are 
dove-tailed,  with  their  distance  pieces,  into  a  T-slot,  machined 
out  of  the  circumference  of  the  disc.  They  are  then  held  in 
place  by  a  retaining  ring,  as  shown.    The  cross  section  of  the 


Ro+or  Guide.  Wheel. 

ARRANGEMENT  OF  GUIDE  BLADES  AND  OTHER  DETAILS 

trated.  These  diaphragms  are  made  in  halves,  with  tight- 
fitting  surfaces,  and  the  upper  halves  are  screwed  to  the  top 
part  of  the  housing  so  as  to  be  lifted  with  it.  The  shaft  passes 
into  and  from  the  housing  in  stuffing  boxes  with  metal 
packing. 

The  governor  is  a  slight  modification  of  the  well-known 
Escher- Wyss  regulator  used  in  many  water  turbine  installa- 
tions. It  consists  of  a  ball  governor  which  operates  a  pilot 
valve  controlling  the  motion  of  a  plunger  directly  over  the 


50O-HP  ZOELLY  TURBO-GENERATOR  SET 


bucket  blades  decreases  from  their  inner  to  their  outer  ends  to 
reduce  the  centrifugal  force,  and  thus  permits  a  high  peripheral 
speed. 

Between  each  rotor  there  is  a  guide  wheel  or  diaphragm  in 
which  the  guide  blades  are  held.  Since  the  expansion  of  the 
steam  takes  place  in  these  diaphragms  between  the  blades,  and 
there  is  a  corresponding  excess  of  pressure  on  one  side  of  them, 
each  must  be  steam  tight  in  the  housing  as  well  as  strong 


main  steam  valve  and  mounted  on  the  same  rod.  The  pilot 
valve  and  the  chamber  of  the  plunger  are  connected  by  two 
small  pipes,  and  the  various  operations  are  produced  by  the 
discharge  of  water  under  pressure  through  one  or  the  other  of 
the  pipes.  The  pressure  water,  or  oil,  in  the  case  of  the  steam 
turbine,  is  furnished  by  a  rotary  pump  driven  from  the  main 
shaft  by  worm  gearing.  Regulation  by  throttling  the  steam  was 
chosen  as  being  the  simplest  method  for  the  purpose.    In  ad- 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


39 


dition  it  has  the  great  advantage  of  not  influencing  the  steam 
consumption  unfavorably  at  different  loads. 

If  it  becomes  necessary  to  furnish  more  than  the  rated  power 
of  the  turbine,  the  governor  operates  a  valve  which  admits  a 
part  of  the  steam  at  the  throttle  pressure  directly  into  the  sec- 
ond and  third  stages.  There  is  also  a  safety  governor,  which 
shuts  off  the  steam  in  case  the  number  of  revolutions  rises 
above  the  normal  to  a  predetermined  limit,  such  as  10  per  cent. 

In  impulse  wheels  the  play  of  the  rotating  parts  in  the  casing 
can  be  made  as  great  as  seems  desirable,  and  for  the  same 
reason  the  axial  play  between  the  rotors  and  diaphragms  may  be 
made  very  large  without  affecting  the  working  of  the  turbine. 
Hence,  there  need  be  no  fear  that  in  consequence  of  tempera- 
ture changes  or  wear  the  running  and  stationary  parts  may  rub 
against  each  other.  It  should  be  stated  that  a  corrugated  bear- 
ing like  a  thrust  bearing  is  employed  to  keep  this  free  play 
unchanged. 

A  500-hp,  3000-r.  p.  m.,  ten-stage  turbine  of  this  type  was 
tested  at  the  Escher-Wyss  works  last  winter,  and  with  dry, 
saturated  steam,  at  149  pounds  pressure  and  27.7  ins.  of  vacuum 
gave  a  kilowatt-hour  at  from  21.45  ms-  to  22-2  ms-  °f  steam  at 
approximately  full  load,  25.6  lbs.  of  steam  at  half  load,  and 
33  lbs.  at  quarter  load. 

 ♦♦♦  

TICKET-SELLING  AT  THE  OLIVE  STREET  WORLD'S  FAIR 
TERMINAL  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


Plans  have  already  been  published  in  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  of  the  Olive  Street  terminal  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company,  near  the  main  entrance  of  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  grounds. 
This  is  the  loop  handling  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  World's  Fair  visitors,  as  it  is  the 
World's  Fair  terminal  for  the  most  direct 
line  to  the  city.  The  terminal  is  enclosed 
with  a  high  board  fence,  and  the  entrance 
to  it  can  only  be  obtained  after  the  passenger 
has  purchased  a  ticket  at  one  of  the  ticket 
windows.  The  terminal  is  provided  with  ten 
turnstiles,  through  which  passengers  are  ad- 
mitted to  board  the  cars.  Distributed  among 
these  ten  turnstiles  are  eleven  ticket-selling 
booths.  The  loop  has  never  yet  been  worked 
anywhere  near  its  capacity.  At  the  present 
time  the  company  has  five  ticket  sellers,  af- 
ternoons and  evenings,  with  hours  as  fol- 
lows: No.  1,  on  2  o'clock,  off  10:30  p.  m. ; 
No.  2,  on  2  :30,  off  1 1  ;  No.  3,  on  3  :30,  off  12 ; 
No.  4,  on  4:15,  off  12:15;  No.  5,  on  5:15. 
off  11.  Four  turnstile  men  take  care  of  the 
ordinary  business,  but  this  is  sometimes  in- 
creased if  there  is  extra  heavy  travel.  The 
ticket  sellers  sell  approximately  20,000  tickets  per  day,  some  of 
the  men  handling  as  high  as  8000  tickets  during  one  watch. 

On  the  opening  day  of  the  Exposition  52,000  adult  pas- 
sengers were  handled  through  this  loop.   The  ticket  sellers  also 


tickets  are  shown  the  holder  is  admitted  to  the  loop.  They  are 
not  taken  up  by  the  turnstile  keeper,  but  are  taken  up  by  the 
conductor  and  rung  up  as  any  other  ticket.  ThL  company  has 
two  registers,  one  for  cash  fare  and  the  other  labeled,  "All 
Other  Fares,"  tickets  being  rung  up  on  the  latter.  The  con- 
ductor can  handle  this  load  to  much  better  advantage  when  the 
passengers  are  all  provided  with  tickets,  as  it  eliminates  change 
making,  and,  furthermore,  there  is  the  advantage  to  the  com- 
pany that  there  is  no  loss  through  the  missing  of  fares,  because 
only  ticket  holders  are  admitted  to  the  loop,  and  tickets  are  good 
only  on  the  date  of  sale.  The  color  of  the  ticket  is  changed 
every  day,  and  the  date  is  stamped  plainly  upon  the  face  of 
the  ticket.  The  tickets  are  dated  automatically,  as  they  are 
pulled  off  the  reel,  by  the  ticket  seller.  The  dating  machine  is 
the  invention  of  J.  Boyle  Price,  purchasing  agent  of  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company,  and  Charles  K.  Schweizer,  of  St. 
Louis.  The  realization  of  the  necessity  for  a  machine  of  this 
kind  was  forced  upon  Mr.  Price  by  a  consideration  of  the  loss 
which  would  occur  if  the  company  had  to  provide  for  each  day 
enough  tickets  printed  for  a  certain  date  to  meet  all  possible 
demands.  If  enough  tickets  were  printed  with  the  date  upon 
them  for  each  day,  an  immensely  greater  stock  would  have  to 
be  carried  than  would  be  needed,  and  a  large  stock  would  be 
thrown  away  nearly  every  day.  The  dating  machine,  with  a 
roll  of  tickets  in  the  machine,  is  shown  in  the  accompanying- 
engraving.  The  dating  is  done  by  the  cylindrical  rubber  stamp 
which  stamps  the  date  on  each  ticket  as  it  is  rolled  under  the 
cylinder  of  the  machine.  The  inking  of  the  stamp  cylinder  is 
done  by  two  ink  rollers.  The  dating  is  done  as  fast  as  the 
ticket  seller  can  pull  the  ticket  out  of  the  machine.    Some  ticket 


TICKET  DATING  MACHINE  USED  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


sellers  sell  direct  from  the  machine,  and  others  prefer  to  pull 
out  tickets  considerably  in  advance  of  the  sales. 

With  the  present  force  at  this  loop,  the  company,  it  is  be- 
lieved, can  handle,  without  difficulty,  40,000  per  day.    The  o1> 


A  SET  OF  DATED  TICKETS  AS  ISSUED  FROM  THE  MACHINE 


sell  children's  half-fare  tickets,  which  are  the  same  as  those 
sold  by  the  conductors.  The  tickets  for  adults  sold  here  are 
special  World's  Fair  terminal  tickets,  and  are  furnished  in  rolls 
of  2000,  numbered  serially.  These  tickets,  half-fare  tickets 
and  passes  are  honored  by  the  turnstile  keepers,  and  when  these 


ject  of  an  enclosed  terminal  loop  and  a  ticket  system  of  this 
kind  is,  of  course,  two-fold.  It  can  be  made  to  prevent  acci- 
dents due  to  the  attempt  of  a  great  crowd  to  board  a  car  while 
it  is  rounding  the  loop,  to  prevent  loss  of  fares  to  the  company 
and  to  aid  the  conductors  in  handling  large  crowds. 


4Q 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


LEGAL  DEPARTMENT* 


DANGEROUS  PREMISES— VISITORS  SUBJECTED  TO  ASSAULT 


The  Appellate  Court  of  Indiana  recently  made  a  decision 
which  is  of  special  interest  and  importance  at  the  present  sea- 
son of  the  year.  It  is  the  custom  of  street  railway  companies 
to  maintain,  or  to  have  an  interest  in  the  maintenance  of 
public  parks  or  places  of  resort  convenient  to  their  lines,  with  a 
view  of  promoting  and  increasing  passenger  traffic  during 
the  summer.  The  case  referred  to  was  Indianapolis  St.  Ry. 
Co.  vs.  Dawson  (68  N.  E.,  909),  and  it  was  held  that  where  a 
street  railway  owning  a  park  reached  by  its  lines,  and  main- 
taining attractions  for  the  public  there,  has  knowledge  that 
there  is  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  certain  persons  to  assault 
any  colored  person  visiting  the  park,  and  knows  of  acts  of 
violence  committed  pursuant  to  such  design,  and  it,  neverthe- 
less, transports  colored  persons  there  without  warning  them 
of  the  danger,  and  they  are  assaulted  pursuant  to  such  con- 
spiracy, the  company's  employees  making  no  attempt  to  inter- 
fere, the  railroad  company  is  liable  for  such  injuries.  This 
decision  may  be  supported  on  several  grounds.  In  the  first 
place  there  is  the  consideration  of  the  general  liability  of  com- 
mon carriers.  It  has  been  held,  for  instance,  that  a  common 
carrier  is  bound  to  warn  both  passengers  and  employees  against 
danger  to  be  incurred  from  striking  employees  and  their  ad- 
herents ;  it  being,  however,  conceded  that  if  a  person  becomes 
a  passenger  or  enters  into  employment  upon  a  railroad  car  with 
full  knowledge  of  the  risk  to  be  run,  the  company  is  not  under 
obligation  of  advising  him  thereof.  (Hewings  vs.  Mendenhall 
[Minn.],  93  N.  W.,  127;  Holshauser  vs.  D.  G.  &  E.  Co.  [Col.], 
72  Pac,  289).  It  is  the  general  duty  of  common  carriers  to  pro- 
tect passengers  from  assaults  either  by  other  passengers  or 
employees.  One  of  the  most  recent  common  carrier  cases  is 
Penny  vs.  A.  C.  L.  R.  R.  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  North  Caro- 
lina (45  S.  E.,  563). 

Even  if  it  be  argued  that  the  strict  relation  of  common  car- 
rier and  passenger  does  not  exist  after  the  passenger  has  left 
the  car  and  entered  the  park  or  other  place  of  entertainment, 
another  principle  arises  that  one  who  induces  another  to  go 
upon  dangerous  premises  without  warning  of  the  danger  or 
taking  precautions  to  avert  the  same,  is  liable  for  the  injuries 
which  the  guest  may  sustain.  This  rule  ij  administered  in  cases 
where  a  person  visits  a  shop  or  other  place  of  business  upon  ex- 
press invitation,  or  implied  general  invitation  to  the  public,  and 
falls  into  an  unguarded  and  unlighted  hatchway  without  con- 
tributory negligence,  the  proprietor  of  the  establishment  being 
held  responsible.  The  doctrine  is  applied  generally  to  places 
of  public  resort  or  entertainment.  In  Thornton  vs.  Maine 
State  Agricultural  Society,  for  example,  in  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  Maine  (Dec,  1892,  53  Atl.,  979),  which  was 
rather  an  extreme  case,  it  appeared  that  the  defendant  society 
was  giving  a  fair,  and  that  it  had  let  space  upon  its  grounds  for 
a  shooting  gallery.  It  was  satisfactorily  shown  that  a  bullet 
fired  by  a  patron  of  the  shooting  gallery,  while  at  target  prac- 
tice, missed  the  target,  passed  through  the  fence  enclosing  the 
exhibition  grounds,  and  struck  and  killed  the  plaintiff's  intes- 
tate, who  was  standing  upon  a  railroad  platform  outside.  It 
was  shown  that,  although  the  platform  was  neither  owned  not 
controlled  by  the  defendant,  it  was  one  of  the  usual  approaches 
to  the  defendant's  grounds,  and,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Court, 
"there  was  sufficient  evidence  to  justify  the  jury  in  finding  that 
the  deceased,  at  the  time  when  and  place  where  he  was  killed, 
was  within  the  scope  of  the  defendant's  invitation  to  the  public 
to  attend  the  fair,  and  therefore,  the  defendant  owed  him  the 
duty  of  using  reasonable  care  for  his  safety." 

The  Appellate  Court  of  Indiana  cites  several  cases  in  support 
of  this  present  decision.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the 
opinion : 

No  case  has  been  cited  or  found  where  the  premises  upon 
which  the  injury  complained  of  occurred,  and  to  which  the  com- 
plainant came  by  invitation,  were  made  unsafe  through  a  conspiracy 

*  Conducted  by  Wilbur  Larremore.  of  the  New  York  Bar,  32  Nassau  Street, 
New  York,  to  whom  all  correspondence  concerning  this  department  should  be 
addressed. 


of  the  nature  set  up  herein.  Danger  usually  has  been  attributed  to 
some  defect  in  the  premises  themselves.  But  as  a  matter  of  princi- 
ple it  is  quite  as  reprehensible  to  invite  one  knowing  that  an  enemy 
is  awaiting  him  with  intent  to  assault  and  beat  him  as  it  would  be 
to  invite  him  without  having  made  the  floor  or  the  stairway  secure. 
One  attending  an  agricultural  fair  in  response  to  a  general  invita- 
tion extended  to  the  public  has  been  awarded  damages  against  the 
association  where  his  horse  was  killed  by  target  shooting  upon  a 
part  of  the  ground  allowed  for  such  purpose  (Conradt  vs.  Clauve, 
93  Ind.,  476,  47  Am.  Rep.,  388).  Judgments  have  also  been  sus- 
tained :  When  spectators  rushed  upon  a  race  track,  causing  a  col- 
lision between  horses  being  driven  thereon  (North  Manchester, 
&c,  vs.  Wilcox,  4  Ind.  App.,  141,  30  N.  E.,  202).  When  an  opening 
was  left  in  a  fence  surrounding  a  race  track,  through  which  one  of 
the  horses  running  went  among  the  spectators  (Windeler  vs.  Rush 
Co.  Association,  27  Ind.  App.,  92,  59  N.  E.,  209,  60  N.  E.,  954). 
Where  horses  were  started  on  a  race  track  in  opposite  directions 
at  the  same  time,  causing  collision  (Fairmount  vs.  Downey,  146 
Ind.,  503,  45  N.  E.,  696).  Where  a  horse  with  a  vicious  habit  of 
track  bolting  was  permitted  to  run  in  a  race,  such  horse  bolting  the 
track,  causing  injury  (Lane  vs.  Minn.  St.  Ag.  Society,  Minn.,  64 
N.  W.,  382,  29  L.  R.  A.,  708).  Recognizing  the  rule  of  reasonable 
care  to  make  the  premises  safe,  a  recovery  was  denied  in  the  absence 
of  any  evidence  of  the  immediate  cause  of  a  horse  running  through 
the  crowds  (Hart  vs.  Washington  Park  Club,  157  HI-.  9.  41  N.  E., 
620,  29  L.  R.  A.,  492,  48  Am.  St.  Rep.,  298).  Where  a  street  car 
company  maintained  a  park  as  a  place  of  attraction  for  passengers 
over  its  line,  and  the  falling  of  a  pole  used  by  one  making  a  balloon 
ascension  under  a  contract  injured  a  bystander,  recovery  was  al- 
lowed, the  rule  being  announced  that  the  company  must  use  proper 
care  to  protect  its  patrons  from  danger  while  on  its  grounds  (Rich- 
mond Railway  vs.  Moore's  Adm'r,  Va.,  27  S.  E.,  70,  L.  R.  A.,  258). 
Where  a  street  car  company  maintained  a  large  stage  for  exhi- 
bitions, in  a  pleasure  resort  owned  by  it,  and  made  a  written  con- 
tract with  a  manager,  by  which  the  latter  furnished  various  enter- 
tainments, among  which  was  target  shooting,  one  injured  by  a  split 
bullet  was  allowed  to  recover,  it  being  held  that  he  might  safely 
rely  on  those  who  provided  the  exhibition  and  invited  his  attend- 
ance to  take  due  care  to  make  the  place  safe  from  such  injury  as 
he  received;  the  question  of  due  care  being  one  for  the  jury 
(Thompson  vs.  Lowell,  170  Mass.,  577,  49  N.  E.,  913.  40  L.  R.  A., 
345,  64  Am.  St.  Rep.,  323;  Curtis  vs.  Kiley,  153  Mass.,  123,  26 
N.  E.,  421). 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  doctrine  of  these  cases  is  good  law, 
and  they  may  well  admonish  street  railway  companies  con- 
ducting places  of  resort  or  entertainment  of  the  duty  of  warn- 
ing guests  and  protecting-  them  from  danger. 


LIABILITY  FOR  NEGLIGENCE. 
ALABAMA.— Street  Car    Passenger— Assault   and    Battery  by 
Conductor— Company's  Liability— Action  for  Damages— Evi- 
dence— Instructions. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  company  for  an  as- 
sault and  battery  committed  by  a  conductor,  evidence  of  profane 
language  used  by  the  conductor  in  an  altercation  with  one  of 
plaintiff's  companions,  passengers  on  the  same  car,  whereby  the 
trouble  was  started,  was  material,  as  a  part  of  the  res  gestae. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  company  for  an  as- 
sault and  battery  by  a  conductor,  it  was  competent  to  show  the 
ages  and  relative  sizes  of  the  plaintiff  and  the  conductor. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  an  assault 
and  battery  committed  by  a  conductor,  a  witness  called  by  plain- 
tiff in  rebuttal  was  asked  as  to  whether  he  had  said  that  the  con- 
ductor was  such  a  d— n  fool  that  he  could  not  run  a  train,  and  the 
question  was  objected  to  as  not  being  in  rebuttal.  Held,  that 
it  was  within  the  discretion  of  the  court  to  allow  it. 

4.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  an  assault 
and  battery  committed  by  a  conductor,  a  witness  for  plaintiff 
in  rebuttal  testified  that  he  was  present;  and,  in  relation  to  an 
attempt  by  defendant  to  show  that  plaintiff  had  said  the  conductor 
was  such  a  d— n  fool  that  he  did  not  know  how  to  run  a  train, 
he  was  asked  whether,  if  plaintiff  made  the  remark,  he  could  have 
heard  it,  or  was  close  enough  to  have  heard  it.  Held,  that,  as 
against  a  general  objection,  it  was  competent  for  the  witness  to 
answer  the  question. 

5.  Abusive  language  or  opprobrious  epithets  alone  are  insuffi- 
cient to  justify  the  commission  of  an  assault  by  a  conductor  on  a 
passenger. 

6.  Where  a  conductor  strikes  a  passenger,  the  company  is  lia- 
ble, unless  it  is  done  in  self-defense,  or  to  save  himself  from  bodily 
harm. 

7.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  an  assault 
and  battery  committed  by  a  conductor,  a  charge  that  if  the  jury 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


41 


"believe  from  the  evidence  that  the  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  dam- 
ages, but  believe  that  nominal  damages  would  be  all  the  plaintiff 
should  have,  because  of  mitigating  circumstances,"  they  were 
authorized  to  award  him  only  such  damages,  was  properly  re- 
fused, as  assuming  that  there  were  mitigating  circumstances. 

8.  Where  the  tendencies  of  the  evidence  to  show  a  disputed 
fact  were  strong,  as  compared  with  evidence  to  the  contrary,  it 
is  for  the  jury  to  determine;  and  hence  charges  seeming  to  assume 
such  fact,  and  instructing  the  jury  accordingly,  were  properly 
refused. 

9.  The  fact  that  a  conductor  who  assaulted  a  passenger  hon- 
estly and  mistakenly  supposed  that  he  was  justified  would  not  ex- 
empt the  company  from  liability  where  such  was  not  the  case. 

10.  The  fact  that  plaintiff  said  to  defendant's  conductor,  when 
he  threatened  to  put  plaintiff's  companion  off  the  car,  that,  if  he 
did  so,  he  would  have  to  put  plaintiff  off  also,  did  not  justify  miti- 
gation of  the  damages  for  assault  and  battery  committed  on  plain- 
tiff by  the  conductor. — (Birmingham  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company  vs.  Mullen,  35  Southern  Rep.,  702.) 

CALIFORNIA. — Carriers — Street  Cars — Injury  to  Passengers — 
Negligence  of  Driver — Question  for  Jury — Evidence — Dam- 
ages— Instructions — Requests — Modification — Misconduct  of 
Jury — Objections  at  Trial — Review. 

1.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street  car 
by  the  car  being  thrown  over  an  embankment  by  the  horses  sud- 
denly swerving  to  one  side  on  being  frightened,  evidence  held 
to  justify  the  submission  of  the  question  of  the  driver's  negligence 
to  the  jury. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street 
car,  the  court  charged  that  plaintiff  could  recover  for  such  in- 
juries as  she  received  in  that  accident,  and  the  cause  was  sub- 
mitted on  the  theory  that  plaintiff  must  prove  her  injury  in  the 
accident  alleged,  it  was  not  error  to  refuse  to  charge  that,  after 
plaintiff  had  proved  that  there  was  an  accident  to  the  car  on 
which  she  was  a  passenger,  she  was  bound  to  prove  by  a  prepond- 
erance of  the  evidence  that  she  was  injured  in  that  accident. 

3.  Where  a  complaint  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger 
charged  that  by  reason  of  her  injuries,  plaintiff  became  sick,  sore, 
lame  and  disordered,  and  that  her  spine,  brain  and  nervous  sys- 
tem were  seriously  injured,  and  evidence  that  plaintiff's  musical 
abilities  had  been  impaired  was  admitted  without  objection,  an 
instruction,  authorizing  the  jury,  in  considering  plaintiff's  dam- 
ages, to  consider  the  impairment  of  her  accomplishments,  if  any, 
and  her  ability  to  play  musical  instruments  and  sing,  by  reason 
of  the  accident,  was  not  error. 

4.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street 
car,  defendant  requested  an  instruction  that  a  street  car  has  the 
right  of  way  over  that  portion  of  the  street  on  which  it  alone  can 
travel,  and  if,  therefore,  a  private  vehicle,  in  traveling  on  the 
public  highway,  meets  with  the  street  car,  the  vehicle  must  yield 
the  right  of  way  to  the  car,  a  modification  of  the  instruction 
so  as  to  read,  "If,  therefore,  a  private  vehicle  traveling  on  the 
public  highway  meets  with  a  street  car,  and  there  is  no  special 
reason  to  the  contrary,  the  private  vehicle  must  yield  the  right  of 
way  to  the  street  car,"  was  not  prejudicial. 

5.  Where  no  objection  or  exception  to  the  conduct  of  a  juror 
was  taken  at  the  trial,  such  misconduct  cannot  be  considered  on 
appeal. — (Doolin  et  ux.  vs.  Omnibus  Cable  Company,  S.  F.  2770; 
73  Pacific  Rep.,  1060.) 

DELAWARE.— Street  Railway— Collision  with  Team— Negli- 
gence— Pleading. 
1.  The  declaration  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  com- 
pany, alleging  that  defendant  so  negligently  operated  its  car  that 
it  ran  into  plaintiff's  wagon  on  the  street,  sufficiently  pleads  the 
negligence. — (Donohoe  vs.  Wilmington  City  Railway  Company, 
55  Atlantic  Rep.,  10.11.) 

GEORGIA. — Street  Railways — Collision  with  Traveler — Instruc- 
tions. 

1.  The  evidence  as  to  negligence  was  conflicting,  but  where 
there  was  testimony  from  which  the  jury  could  have  found  that 
both  parties  were  in  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care,  and  that  the 
injury  was  the  result  of  a  casualty,  it  was  error  not  to  charge 
that  the  defendant  could  relieve  itself  of  the  statutory  presumption 
by  showing  that  neither  party  was  to  blame,  and  that  the  damage 
was  the  result  of  a  pure  accident. — (Atlanta  Railway  &  Power 
Company,  vs.  Gaston,  45  S.  E.  Rep.,  508.) 

ILLINOIS.— Street  Railways— Personal  I  njuries — Operation  of 
Car — Measure  of  Care — Instructions. 
1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  injuries  to  a 
child  on  the  track,  an  instruction  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  com- 
pany's servants,  in  operating  its  cars,  to  take  reasonable  measures 
to  avoid  injuries  to  persons  on  the  street,  is  not  objectionable 
as  calculated  to  give  the  jury  to  understand  that  the  rights  of  the 
injured  person  in  the  street  were  superior  to  those  of  the  street 


car  company,  or  as  requiring  the  gripman  to  look  in  any  particu- 
lar direction. — (North  Chicago  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  John- 
son, 68  N.  E.  Rep.,  463.) 

ILLINOIS. — Street  Railways — Injury  in  a  Collision — Evidence — 
Instructions. 

1.  A  street  railway  company  is  not  guilty  of  actionable  negli- 
gence because  of  the  failure  of  the  motorman  in  charge  of  a  car 
to  stop  or  slacken  its  speed  on  seeing  a  horse  and  wagon  near  the 
track,  but  sufficiently  distant  to  permit  the  car  to  pass  in  safety, 
and  is  therefore  not  liable  for  the  injury  occasioned  by  the  horse 
being  suddenly  driven  on  the  track  so  near  the  car  that  it  cannot 
be  stopped  before  striking  the  horse  and  wagon. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
sustained  in  a  collision,  the  witnesses  of  defendant  testified  that 
a  horse  and  wagon  were  near  the  curb  and  sufficiently  distant 
to  enable  the  car  to  pass  in  safety;  that  the  horse  was  facing  the 
same  way  the  car  was  going;  that,  when  the  car  was  about  40  ft. 
from  the  wagon,  plaintiff  suddenly  drove  the  horse  toward  the 
track;  that  the  motorman  rang  the  bell,  and  that  he  commenced 
to  apply  the  brake  on  seeing  the  horse  going  toward  the  track, 
but  was  unable  to  stop  the  car  before  striking  the  wagon  and  in- 
juring plaintiff.  Held,  sufficient  to  require  an  instruction  that, 
if  plaintiff  unexpectedly  drove  his  wagon  on  the  track  and  de- 
fendant's servants  did  all  they  could  in  the  exercise  of  ordinary 
care  to  stop  the  car,  there  could  be  no  recovery. 

3.  Where  a  party's  evidence  on  an  issue  presented  by  him  is 
sufficient  to  require  the  submission  thereof  to  the  jury,  the  court 
is  not  warranted  in  refusing  to  submit  it  because  the  evidence  is 
conflicting. — (Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  vs.  Browdy,  69 
Northeastern  Rep.,  570.) 

ILLINOIS. — Highways — Law  of  the  Road — Bicycles — Collisions 
— Passing  Vehicles — Duties  of  Parties — Injuries — Proximate 
Cause — Contributory  Negligence — Instructions. 

1.  In  an  action  for  injuries,  where  the  damage  sought  to  be 
recovered  are  speculative  and  not  susceptible  of  direct  proof, 
and  the  judgment  appealed  from  is  for  $1,000  or  more,  an  appeal 
lies  from  the  judgment  of  the  Appellate  Court  to  the  Supreme 
Court  without  a  certificate  of  importance. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  plaintiff  while  riding  a  bicycle 
along  a  city  street,  evidence  reviewed,  and  held,  that  plaintiff's 
failure  to  turn  out  a  sufficient  distance  from  a  street  car  to  per- 
mit her  to  pass  the  conductor  in  safety  was  the  proximate  cause 
of  the  injury,  and  that  she  was.  therefore,  not  entitled  to  recover. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries,  an  instruction  that  by 
ordinary  care  is  meant  such  a  degree  of  care  under 
the  circumstances  and  in  the  situation  in  which  the  plain- 
tiff was  placed,  so  far  as  they  may  be  shown  by  the  evi- 
dence, as  an  ordinarily  prudent  and  cautious  man  would  exercise 
under  like  circumstances  and  in  the  same  situation  for  his  own 
safety  to  avoid  apparent  danger,  was  objectionable  as  authoriz- 
ing the  jury  to  infer  therefrom  that,  if  plaintiff  was  in  the  exercise 
of  due  care  at  the  instant  the  accident  occurred,  she  might  recover, 
though  she  was  guilty  of  negligence  in  having  placed  herself 
in  the  position  she  was  at  the  time  of  the  collision. 

4.  A  bicycle  is  a  vehicle  subject  to  the  rules  of  law  governing 
other  vehicles,  and  its  rider  is  required  to  use  the  same  degree 
of  care  to  avoid  injury  as  the  driver  of  a  team. 

5.  When  a  bicycle  rider  attempted  to  pass  the  conductor  of 
a  standing  street  car,  who  had  alighted  to  assist  a  passenger  to 
the  ground,  such  bicycle  rider  was  bound  at  her  peril  to  turn  out 
a  sufficient  distance  to  avoid  a  collision  with  the  conductor. — 
(North  Chicago  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Cossar,  68  N.  E. 
Rep.,  88.) 

MAINE. — Injury  to  Employee — Negligence — Defective  Appli- 
ances. 

1.  During  a  crowded  condition  of  a  trolley  car,  by  custom  and 
under  verbal  instructions  to  the  conductor,  passengers  were  re- 
ceived and  permitted  to  ride  on  the  platform  and  running  boards. 

In  collecting  the  fares  the  conductor  was  obliged  to  pass  along 
the  running  board  and  step  around  the  passengers,  relying  on  the 
handle  bars  for  support. 

While  thus  engaged  in  taking  fares,  the  plaintiff,  a  conductor 
in  the  employ  of  the  defendant  corporation  operating  the  road, 
was  struck  by  an  inclining  trolley  supporting  pole,  which,  at  the 
height  of  plaintiff's  head,  was  19  ins.  from  a  point  vertically  above 
the  outer  edge  of  the  running  board  on  the  easterly  side  of  the 
track. 

The  accident  pole  was  22  ins.  nearer  the  rail  than  the  average 
distance  of  the  381  poles  on  the  entire  line,  and  inclined  toward 
the  track  6%  ins.  in  a  height  of  6  ft. 

The  plaintiff  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  road  for  four  years 
on  its  cars,  and  had  been  previously  engaged  in  setting  trolley 
poles.    Bui  he  had  not  noticed  the  proximity  or  inclination  of  the 


42 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


accident  pole.  Held,  that  the  defendant  company  was  negligent 
in  making  an  improper  location  of  the  pole. 

2.  Held,  also,  that  there  was  no  such  want  of  preponderance 
of  evidence  as  would  justify  setting  aside  the  verdict  in  plaintiff's 
favor,  rendered  by  a  jury  who  heard  the  testimony  and  viewed 
the  place  of  the  accident,  either  on  the  ground  of  contributory 
negligence  or  assumption  of  risk. — (Withee  vs.  Somerset  Traction 
Company,  56  Atlantic  Rep.,  204.) 

MASSACHUSETTS — Street  Railways — Injuries — Person  on 
Track — Contributory  Negligence — Burden  of  Proof. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  sustained 
by  one  not  a  passenger,  plaintiff  cannot  recover  without  evidence 
that  he  was  in  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care,  even  though  defend- 
ant's servants  were  guilty  of  gross  negligence. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  received 
by  one  on  its  tracks,  if  from  the  evidence  the  inference  of  ordi- 
nary care  on  plaintiff's  part  can  be  only  conjectural,  there  is  no 
question  for  the  jury. 

3.  Where  one  who  was  working  in  a  ditch  in  a  street  beside 
a  street  railway  track  was  killed  by  being  run  over  by  a  car  while 
standing  on  the  track  beside  the  ditch,  he  having  stepped  onto  the 
track  within  8  ft.  or  10  ft.  of  the  car,  and  in  an  action  for  the 
death  there  was  evidence  that  he  had  been  looking  toward  the 
approaching  car  just  before  going  on  the  track,  a  verdict  for  de- 
fendant was  properly  directed  because  of  insufficient  evidence  that 
decreased  exercised  care. — (Gleason  vs.  Worcester  Consolidated 
Street  Railway  Company,  68  N.  E.  Rep.,  225.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railway— Killing  Child  on  Track— Contrib- 
utory Negligence  of  Parent — Contributory  Negligence  of  Child. 

1.  The  parent  of  a  child  killed  by  a  street  car  was  not  guilty  of 
contributory  negligence  in  letting  the  child  go  on  the  street  unat- 
tended, he  having  been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  school  unattended 
for  a  year,  and  being  at  the  time  on  his  return  from  school. 

2.  Whether  a  child  seven  years  and  eight  months  old,  who, 
running  after  boys  who  had  his  cap,  followed  toward  a  street  car 
track,  without  looking  for  a  car,  and  was  struck  by  a  car,  was 
guilty  of  contributory  negligence  is  a  question  for  the  jury. —  (Sul- 
livan vs.  Union  Railway  Company,  of  New  Yory  City,  81  N.  Y. 
Suppl.,  449.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways — Attempt  to  Board  Car— Injuries 
— Weight  of  Evidence. 

In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries  re- 
ceived in  boarding  a  car,  where  the  evidence  of  all  the  witnesses  ex- 
cept that  of  the  plaintiff  was  that  he  was  injured  in  attempting  to 
get  on  the  car  while  moving  around  a  curve,  a  verdict  for  plaintiff 
was  set  aside,  as  against  the  weight  of  the  evidence. —  (Wolf  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  257.) 
NEW  YORK. — Carriers — Injury  to  Passengers — Variance — Mo- 
tion to  Conform  Pleadings  to  Proof. 

Where  a  passenger  alleges  that  he  started  to  alight  from  a  street 
car  after  it  had  stopped,  and  was  thrown  by  a  sudden  starting  of 
the  car,  and  the  testimony  of  one  of  his  witnesses  is  that  the  car 
had  not  quite  stopped,  but  was  slowly  moving,  when  its  sudden 
lunge  forward  threw  the  passenger,  a  motion  to  conform  the 
pleadings  to  the  proof  was  improperly  overruled,  as  the  variance 
affects  only  the  passenger's  contributory  negligence,  and  not  his 
cause  of  action. —  (Scarry  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 81  N.  Y.  Suppl,  284.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Persons  on  Track — Contribu- 
tory Negligence — Complaint — Specific  Injuries — Evidence — 
Instructions — Negligence — Due  Care. 

1.  Where  one  crossing  a  street  in  the  night  time  was  run  over 
by  a  street  car,  which  was  lighted  and  had  been  in  sight  from 
the  time  he  started  to  cross  the  street,  he  was  guilty  of  contributory 
negligence. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  in- 
juries, the  complaint  alleged  that  the  car  ran  over  plaintiff,  cutting 
off  an  arm  and  mutilating  a  foot,  and  "otherwise  dangerously  and 
permanently  injuring  him,"  evidence  as  to  injury  to  plaintiff's 
nerves  was  admissible. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
from  being  run  over  by  a  street  car,  it  was  error  to  refuse  to  charge 
that  if  the  motorman,  while  operating  his  car  with  ordinary  care, 
stopped  his  car  as  soon  as  he  discovered  that  plaintiff  was  about  to 
step  in  front  of  the  car.  plaintiff  could  not  recover. —  (Kappus  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  442.) 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railway — Injuries  to  Passenger — Measure 

of  Damages — Instruction — Reversible  Error. 
Where,  in  an  action  for  negligent  injuries,  there  was  no  evidence 
as  to  plaintiff's  earnings  from  his  business  as  a  commission  mer- 
chant and  importer,  and  no  proof  of  facts  on  which  to  base  a  find- 
ing that  his  inability  to  attend  to  his  business  had  caused  him  any 
loss,  it  was  reversible  error  to  instruct  the  jury  that,  in  awarding 
plaintiff's  damages,  they  were  to  take  into  consideration  how  long 


he  was  incapacitated  from  attending  to  his  business,  or  any  other 
business  a  man  of  intelligence  and  experience  could  probably  de- 
vote himself  to,  and  what  were  the  probable  physical  earnings  of  a 
man  in  his  business. —  (Metz  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  725.) 

NEW  YORK. — Injury  to  Passenger — Contributory  Negligence- 
Imputed  Negligence — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  Where  a  street  car  conductor,  without  any  warning,  starts 
the  car  while  a  young  girl  is  trying  to  board  it,  he  is  guilty  of 
negligence. 

2.  Where  a  young  girl  is  boarding  a  street  car,  and  has  hold  of 
the  hand  rail  when  it  starts,  it  is  not  contributory  negligence  for 
her  to  hold  onto  the  rail,  even  though  it  causes  her  to  be  dragged 
half  a  block. 

3.  A  young  girl  was  boarding  a  street  car  when  it  started,  and 
she  was  dragged  by  holding  on  to  the  hand  rail.  Her  escort,  run- 
ning after  the  car,  caught  up  with  it  and  drew  her  from  the  steps. 
Held,  that,  though  he  may  not  have  exercised  the  best  judgment 
in  the  emergency,  his  negligence,  if  any,  was  not  to  be  imputed  to 
the  passenger. 

4.  The  question  whether  a  person  attempting  to  assist  a  passen- 
ger injured  while  boarding  a  street  car  was  guilty  of  negligence 
was  a  question  for  the  jury,  and  not  for  the  court. —  (Schoenfeld 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  644.) 
NEW  YORK. — Sufficiency — Inferences — Crossing  Street  Railway 

Tracks — Due  Care — Street  Railways — Rules  of  Company — 
Violation. 

1.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  facts  proven  permit  an  inference 
of  a  certain  other  fact  sought  to  be  established,  but  the  inference 
must  be  the  only  one  which  can  fairly  and  reasonably  be  drawn 
from  the  facts. 

2.  It  cannot  be  inferred  from  the  mere  fact  that  one  could  have 
looked  for  cars  before  crossing  street  railway  tracks  that  he  did 
look. 

3.  The  inference  of  freedom  from  contributory  negligence  can- 
not be  drawn  from  the  presumption  that  one  will  exercise  care  and 
prudence  in  regard  to  his  own  life  and  safety. 

4.  The  rules  of  a  street  railway  company  required  its  cars  to 
stop  before  crossing  the  tracks  of  another  company,  and  there  was 
evidence  that  the  car  which  killed  deceased  violated  the  rule.  It 
did  not  appear  that  deceased  knew  of  the  rule,  or  that  he  knew 
there  were  cross-tracks  at  the  particular  point,  so  that  it  was  in 
force  there.  Held,  not  sufficient  to  establish  freedom  from  con- 
tributory negligence  on  deceased's  part. —  (O'Reilly  vs.  Brooklyn 
Heights  Railway  Company,  81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  572.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Pedestrians — Stand- 
ing Car — Negligence — Evidence — Res  Ipsa  Loquitur — Instruc- 
tions— Curing  Error. 

1.  Plaintiff  alighted  from  a  street  car  at  night  on  a  ferry  land- 
ing, and  started  to  pass  around  a  standing  car,  which  was  un- 
lighted  and  unguarded  by  a  motorman.  Plaintiff  saw  the  car,  but 
failing  to  see  the  fender  attached  to  the  same,  by  reason  of  the 
darkness,  fell  over  the  same,  and  was  injured.  There  was  no 
evidence  to  show  how  long  the  car  had  been  so  standing.  Held, 
that  the  evidence  was  not  sufficient  to  show  negligence  on  the 
part  of  defendant. 

2.  Where  plaintiff  was  injured  by  falling  over  a  fender  attached 
to  a  standing  car  at  night,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  car  was 
unlighted  or  unguarded  by  a  motorman,  such  fact  did  not  consti- 
tute prima  facie  evidence  of  defendant's  negligence,  under  the 
doctrine  of  res  ipsa  loquitur,  so  as  to  render  it  incumbent  on  de- 
fendant to  show  absence  of  negligence  in  permitting  the  car  to 
remain  in  such  condition. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by  plaintiff's  falling  over  a 
fender  of  an  unlighted  street  car  at  night,  a  requested  instruction 
that  defendant  was  entitled  to  have  its  cars  stand  on  the  tracks  for 
a  reasonable  length  of  time,  without  being  charged  with  a  breach  of 
duty  or  an  obstruction  of  the  highway,  was  improperly  refused. 

4.  Error  in  refusing  such  instruction  was  not  cured  by  an  in- 
struction that  defendant  had  such  right  if  its  cars  were  lighted,  and 
not  otherwise. —  (Adams  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 81  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  553.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Striking  Person  Near  Track — 
Contributory  Negligence — Negligence. 

1.  One  cannot  be  held  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  as  mat- 
ter of  law  because  she  stood  with  her  back  so  near  a  street  car 
track  that  she  was  struck  by  a  projecting  rail  on  the  side  of  a  street 
car,  for  which  she  was  waiting,  she  having  known  that  previously 
the  cars  stopped  just  before  reaching  that  point,  and  went  no 
fruther,  and  not  knowing  of  the  change  made  a  month  or  six  weeks 
before. 

2.  Whether  the  rail  on  the  side  of  a  street  car,  by  which  plain- 
tiff, standing  back  of  the  track,  was  struck,  projected  further  than 
the  front  of  the  car,  which  passed  without  striking  her,  so  that  the 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


43 


motorman  was  negligent  in  not  warning  her,  or  she  got  nearer  to 
the  track  after  the  front  of  the  car  passed  her,  is  a  question  for  the 
jury;  a  conductor  having  testified  that  the  rail  did  not  project 
farther  than  the  dashboard,  and  other  witnesses  having  testified 
that  plaintiff  did  not  change  her  position. —  (Loder  vs.  Metropoli- 
tan Street  Railway  Company,  82  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  957.) 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Personal  Injuries — Instructions. 

In  an  action  against  a  railway  company,  in  which  there  was  evi- 
dence that  plaintiff  was  injured  by  being  thrown  from  a  car  by  the 
conductor,  and  no  evidence  that  the  conductor  was  at  any  time  not 
engaged  in  the  runnning  and  management  of  the  car,  the  giving  of 
a  charge  that  if  the  conductor  threw  plaintiff  from  the  car,  but  the 
act  was  done  willfully  and  maliciously,  and  not  in  the  management 
and  running  of  the  car,  defendant  would  not  be  liable,  was  preju- 
dicial error. —  (Schwartzman  vs.  Brooklyn  Height  Railway  Com- 
pany, 82  N.  Y.  Suppl.) 

NEW  YORK. — Collision  Between  Fire  Department  Truck  and 
Street  Car — Death  of  Fireman — Negligence — Proximate  Cause 
— Instruction — Imputing  Negligence. 

1.  Greater  New  York  Charter,  Laws  1897,  p.  260,  chap.  378, 
Sec.  748,  giving  vehicles  of  the  fire  department  in  answering  a  fire 
alarm  the  right  of  way  over  other  vehicles,  is  material  on  the  ques- 
tion of  negligence  and  contributory  negligence  in  a  collision  be- 
tween a  hook  and  ladder  truck  and  a  street  car,  wherein  a  fireman 
riding  on  the  truck  is  killed. 

2.  A  requested  instruction  in  an  action  for  death  of  a  fireman 
occasioned  by  collision  of  the  fire  truck  on  which  he  was  riding  and 
a  street  car,  that,  if  the  proximate  cause  of  the  collision  was 
the  negligence  of  the  driver  of  the  truck,  and  the  collision  would 
not  have  occurred  had  he  exercised  reasonable  care,  plaintiff  could 
not  recover,  is  bad — any  contributory  negligence  of  the  driver  not 
being  imputable  to  deceased — because  there  may  be  more  than  one 
proximate  cause  of  an  accident. 

3.  Contributory  negligence  of  the  driver  of  a  fire  truck  which 
collided  with  a  street  car  is  not  imputable  to  a  fireman  on  the  truck, 
killed  by  collision,  he  neither  having  control  over  the  driver  nor 
being  under  his  authority. —  (Geary  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  82  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  1016.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Collision  with  Pedestrian — Con- 
tributory Negligence. 
Evidence  in  an  action  for  injury  to  a  pedestrian  struck  by  a 
street  car,  as  she  stepped  on  the  track  from  behind  a  car  on  the 
other  track,  held,  insufficient  to  show  freedom  from  contributory 
negligence. —  (Casper  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  82 
N.  Y.  Suppl.,  1036.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Collision  with  Team — Intersec- 
tion of  Streets. 

The  rule  that  at  an  intersection  of  streets  the  rights  of  a  street 
car  and  of  a  crossing  vehicle  are  equal  has  no  application,  where 
the  vehicle  is  proceeding  along  the  same  street  as  the  car,  and  there 
is  a  mere  attempt  to  cross  to  the  other  side,  at  the  intersection,  in- 
stead of  at  some  other  point ;  in  such  case  the  care  required  of  the 
driver  of  the  team  is  as  though  there  were  no  intersection. — 
(Schmedding  vs.  New  York  &  Queens  County  Railway  Com- 
pany, 82  N.  Y.  Suppl,  1034.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries — Crossing  Tracks — 
Evidence — Question  for  Jury — Failure  to  Look — New  Trial — 
Newly  Discovered  Evidence — Diligence — Materiality  of  Evi- 
dence— Wrongful  Death — Damages — Excessiveness. 

1.  In  an  action  for  injuries  caused  by  collision  with  a  street 
car,  held,  that  whether  deceased  was  guilty  of  contributory  negli- 
gence in  attempting  to  cross  the  track,  under  the  circumstances, 
was  for  the  jury. 

2.  In  an  action  for  death  of  the  driver  of  a  vehicle  while  cross- 
ing a  street  car  track,  plaintiff's  failure  to  prove  that  the  driver 
looked  in  the  direction  of  the  car  by  which  he  was  struck  before 
he  attempted  to  cross  the  track  was  immaterial,  where  the  car 
was  approaching  at  such  a  distance  as  to  warrant  the  assumption 
of  safety. 

3.  Where  defendant  knew  the  name  and  address  of  a  witness 
long  before  the  trial,  but  answered,  and  elected  to  go  to  trial  with- 
out her  evidence,  and  her  affidavit  in  support  of  a  new  trial  for  her 
alleged  newly  discovered  evidence  did  not  assert  that  she  would 
testify  on  a  new  trial,  and  defendant  did  not  assert  that  it  in- 
tended to  call  her  as  a  witness  on  such  new  trial,  the  application 
was  properly  denied. 

4.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  killing 
deceased  as  he  was  driving  across  the  tracks  in  company  with  a 
woman,  all  of  the  evidence  showed  that  deceased,  and  not  the 
woman,  was  driving,  and  that  the  horse  was  driven  at  a  steady  gait, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  accident  occurred  be- 
cause of  incompetent  driving,  an  affidavit  of  the  woman,  in  support 
of  a  motion  for  a  new  trial  for  newly  discovered  evidence,  that  she 


was  driving,  and  that  deceased  knew  she  could  not  drive,  and  that 
they  were  laughing  and  talking,  neither  of  them  thinking  about  the 
street  car  tracks,  and  that,  just  before  the  car  struck  the  wagon, 
deceased  seized  the  reins,  but  too  late,  was  not  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  justify  a  new  trial. 

5.  Deceased,  who  had  a  life  position  as  battalion  chief  in  a  fire 
department,  at  a  salary  of  $3,300  a  year,  was  killed  in  a  collision 
with  a  street  car  at  a  crossing.  He  was  thirty-eight  years  of  age, 
and  his  income  was  the  sole  support  of  his  wife  and  two  children, 
aged  eight  and  twelve  years,  respectively.  Held,  that  a  verdict  in 
favor  of  plaintiff  for  $25,000  is  not  excessive. —  (Lane  vs.  Brooklyn 
Heights  Railway  Company,  82  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  1057.) 
NEW  YORK— Witness— Impeachment. 

Where,  in  an  action  by  a  passenger  against  a  street  railway  com- 
pany for  personal  injuries,  defendant  calls  the  conductor  of  the 
car  on  which  plaintiff  was  riding,  and  he  corroborates  the  testi- 
mony of  the  plaintiff,  defendant  cannot  thereafter  prove  the  hos- 
tility of  the  conductor  to  the  defendant,  and  his  prior  incon- 
sistent statements,  for  the  purpose  of  impeaching  him. —  (Conklan 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  45.) 
NEW  YORK. — Municipal  Courts — Jurisdiction — Actions  for  In- 
juries— Assault  by  Conductor. 

In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  passenger, 
plaintiff's  evidence  was  that  he  asked  the  conductor  to  pull  the  bell, 
and  the  conductor  ordered  him  to  get  off,  and  shoved  him  off,  and 
then  reached  and  got  hold  of  his  hand,  disengaged  it,  and  he  fell 
into  the  street.  Held,  that  while  the  conductor's  actions  consti- 
tuted an  assault,  of  which  the  court  had  no  jurisdiction,  they  were 
also  in  violation  of  the  duty  owed  by  defendant  to  its  passengers, 
rendering  it  liable,  and  the  Municipal  Court  had  jurisdiction  of  the 
action. —  (Fallon  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y. 
Suppl.,  171.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Ejecting  Prospective  Passenger 
— Reasonable  Time  for  Payment  of  Fare — Complaint — Allega- 
tions— Instructions — Effect  of  Injury — Expert  Testimony. 

1.  On  the  issue  whether  plaintiff,  boarding  a  street  car  as  a 
passenger,  was  ejected  before  sufficient  time  was  allowed  him  to 
pay  his  fare,  evidence  examined,  and  held  insufficient  to  show,  as 
a  matter  of  law,  that  plaintiff  was  given  a  sufficient  time. 

2.  Where  the  complaint  in  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by 
a  passenger  ejected  from  a  street  car  alleged  that  plaintiff  was  un- 
lawfully ejected  by  violence,  but  did  not  aver  that  unnecessary 
violence  was  used,  an  instruction  that  the  company  had  no  right  to 
use  unnecessary  violence  in  removing  him  was  erroneous,  as  allow- 
ing a  verdict  for  plaintiff  on  the  ground  that  he  was  lawfully 
ejected,  but  that  unnecessary  force  was  used. 

3.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  expert  testimony  that  the 
injuries  sustained  might  be  the  cause  of  headaches  suffered  subse- 
quent to  the  accident  was  speculative,  and  not  proper  in  estimating 
the  damages. —  (Huba  vs.  Schenectady  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y. 
Suppl.,  157.) 

NEW  YORK. — Damages — Injury  to  Personal  Property — Measure. 

In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  van,  the  amount  paid  to  have  it 
repaired  was  not  the  measure  of  damages,  in  the  absence  of  proof 
tha'.  the  repairs  were  necessary  and  reasonably  worth  the  amount 
paiJ. —  (Rock  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y. 
Suppl.,  114.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Personal  Injuries — Negligence — 
Evidence — Sufficiency — Instructions — Contributory  Negligence 
— Infants  Sui  Juris — Excessive  Damages — Injuries  to  Child — 
Requested  Instructions — Necessity. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  six- 
year-old  child  crossing  the  track,  the  evidence  examined,  and  held 
to  justify  the  finding  of  negligence  in  the  defendant. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  six-year- 
old  child  crossing  the  track  it  was  proper  to  refuse  to  charge  that, 
if  the  mother  of  plaintiff  did  not  exercise  ordinary  care  in  permitting 
her  to  go  on  the  street  unattended,  or  was  guilty  of  any  negli- 
gence which  contributed  to  the  accident,  the  verdict  should  be  for 
defendant,  where  the  question  whether  plaintiff  was  sui  juris  or 
non  sui  juris  was  an  open  one  under  the  evidence,  and  where  the 
court  had  already  charged  that,  if  plaintiff  was  non  sui  juris,  and 
her  parents  were  guilty  of  negligence,  their  negligence  was  im- 
putable to  her. 

3.  An  infant  sui  juris  is  chargeable  with  contributory  negli- 
gence, but  in  determining  whether  he  is  guilty  of  contributory  neg- 
ligence his  acts  are  to  be  considered  with  reference  to  his  age  and 
the  degree  of  care  that  may  reasonably  be  expected  to  be  exercised 
by  one  of  his  years. 

4.  An  infant  of  sufficient  age  and  intelligence  to  render  it  pru- 
dent for  his  parent  to  permit  him  to  go  on  the  public  streets  unac- 
companied is  sui  juris,  and  it  is  only  his  own  contributory  negli- 
gence which  will  flefeat  a  recovery  for  injuries  negligently  inflicted 
c in  him  by  another. 


44 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


5.  Injuries  to  a  six-year-old  girl  necessitated  the  amputation  of 
the  left  arm  below  the  elbow.  The  scar  had  a  tendency  to  make  the 
nerves  sensitive  at  that  point,  and  there  was  a  tender  spot  on  the 
stump,  and  she  experienced  a  feeling  as  if  pins  and  needles  were 
going  through  the  left  hand,  which  had  been  removed.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  left  shoulder  and  side  was  markedly  less  than 
that  of  the  right,  leaving  the  left  shoulder  much  lower.  There 
was  also  evidence  that  the  plaintiff's  nerves  had  been  disturbed 
down  to  the  time  of  the  trial,  and  that  two  or  three  years  pre- 
ceding the  trial  she  had  rested  well,  but  before  that  her  sleep  was 
disturbed;  that  she  had  suffered  pain  from  the  time  of  the  accident 
until  she  testified  in  the  case,  but  not  all  the  time.  Held,  that  a 
verdict  for  $12,000  was  not  excessive. 

6.  Defendant  should  have  requested  an  instruction  telling  the 
jury  not  to  consider  certain  evidence  offered  on  the  issue  of  dam- 
ages ;  merely  excepting  to  the  court's  allowing  them  to  consider 
it  was  not  sufficient. —  (Lafferty  vs.  Third  Avenue  Railway  Com- 
pany, 83  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  405.) 

NEW  ¥ORK. — Carriers — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Passenger — 
Negligence — Evidence — Sufficiency — Weight  of  Evidence. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a 
passenger,  evidence  of  plaintiff  that  the  car  came  to  a  stop  and  she 
proceeded  to  alight,  but  before  she  could  step  firmly  on  the  ground 
the  car  gave  a  jerk  and  she  was  thrown,  was  sufficient  to  make  a 
case  for  the  jury. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  passen- 
ger sustained  in  alighting  from  the  car,  evidence  considered,  and 
held  that  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  based  on  her  testimony  alone  was 
against  the  clear  weight  of  the  evidence. —  (Koues  vs.  Metropolitan 
Street  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  380.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways— Collision  with  Team— Negli- 
gence— Credibility  of  Witness — Evidence  of  Speed — Compe- 
tency of  Witness. 

1.  The  motorman  of  an  electric  car  which  runs  into  a  wagon 
in  a  fog  may  be  negligent  in  running  at  a  high  speed,  though  he 
discovers  the  peril  as  soon  as  possible,  and  does  everything  in  his 
power  to  avert  collision,  as  the  peril,  though  not  sooner  discovered, 
might  be  averted  but  for  the  speed. 

2.  The  credibility  of  the  motorman  of  a  car  which  runs  into 
a  wagon,  and  who  testifies  that  he  discovered  the  peril  as  soon  as 
possible  and  did  everything  in  his  power  to  avert  collision,  is  for 
the  jury. 

3.  A  passenger  on  an  electric  car,  a  civil  engineer  of  eleven 
years'  experience,  once  connected  with  the  railroad  business,  and 
accustomed  to  time  the  speed  of  cars  by  the  watch,  is  competent  to 
testify  to  the  speed  of  the  car. —  (Fisher  vs.  Union  Railway  Com- 
pany of  New  York  City..  83  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  694.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroad — Driving  on  Track — Contributory 
Negligence — Evidence — Inferences. 

1.  Though  it  is  not  negligence,  as  matter  of  law,  for  one  driving 
at  night  on  the  track  of  a  street  car  company  to  fail  to  look  behind 
him  to  see  whether  a  car  is  approaching,  he  must  be  on  the  alert  in 
some  manner,  and  by  the  exercise  of  some  of  his  senses,  as  by 
listening,  to  discover  if  such  is  the  case. 

2.  Mere  proof  that  the  hearing  of  one  driving  on  a  street  car 
track  was  good,  and  that  he  did  not  hear  a  car  approaching  from 
behind,  does  not  warrant  the  inference  that  he  was  listening  for 
it. —  (Belford  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y. 
Suppl.,  836.) 

NEW  YORK. — Conduct  of  Counsel — Arguing  Admissibility  of 
Incompetent  Evidence. 
Though  plaintiff's  counsel,  in  arguing  a  question  as  to  the  admis- 
sibility of  a  certain  letter,  which  was  actually  incompetent,  and 
was,  in  fact,  excluded,  stated  in  the  presence  of  the  jury  the  sub- 
stance of  the  letter,  the  judgment  in  plaintiff's  favor  would  not  be 
reversed  ;  the  trial  court  having  directed  the  jury  to  disregard  coun- 
sel's statement,  and  the  verdict  not  being  excessive,  and  there  not 
being  so  great  a  weight  of  evidence  in  favor  of  defendant  as  to 
create  a  doubt  as  to  the  justice  of  the  verdict. —  (Connolly  vs. 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y.  Suppl.,  833.) 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Employee  of  Con- 
tractor— Degree   of   Care — Negligence — Evidence — Sufficiency 
— Instructions. 

1.  An  electric  railway  company  owes  to  the  employee  of  a 
contractor  employed  by  it  to  paint  the  supporting  poles  belonging 
to  its  trolley  system  the  exercise  of  reasonable  care  to  protect  him 
against  injury. 

2.  In  an  action  against  an  electric  railway  company  by  an  em- 
ployee of  a  contractor  engaged  to  paint  the  supporting  poles  of  its 
trolley  system  to  recover  for  injuries  sustained  by  reason  of  his 
arm  coming  in  contact  with  a  feed  wire  on  the  system,  evidence 
examined,  and  held  sufficient  to  support  a  finding  that  the  wire  was 
defectively  insulated  at  the  time  it  was  placed  on  the  pole  as  a  part 
of  the  original  construction. 


3.  The  refusal  of  the  court  to  give  an  instruction  requested  by 
defendant  that,  if  the  jury  were  in  doubt,  if  the  evidence  was 
equal  on  both  sides,  the  verdict  should  be  for  defendant,  was 
properly  refused,  the  mere  existence  of  a  doubt  not  requiring  a 
verdict  for  defendant. —  (Kennealy  vs.  Westchester  Electric  Rail- 
way Co.,  83  N.  Y.,  Suppl.  823.) 

NEW  YORK.— Carriers— Glass  Doors  in  Station — Injury  to  Pas- 
senger— Negligence — Question  for  Jury. 
1.  Plaintiff,  in  passing  out  of  the  station  of  defendant's  elevated 
railroad  to  take  his  car,  was  obliged  to  pass  through  a  doorway  in 
which  defendant  maintained  two  swinging  doors.  A  passenger 
preceded  him,  and  permitted  one  of  the  doors  to  fly  back  in  his 
face.  To  avoid  injury,  he  threw  up  his  arm,  which  passed  through 
the  glass  panel  on  the  door,  cutting  him  seriously.  The  glass  was 
double-thick  window  glass,  and  had  been  used  by  defendant  in 
similar  doors  for  a  series  of  years  without  any  one  being  hurt  be- 
fore. Held,  insufficient  proof  of  negligence  to  go  to  the  jury. — 
Farmer  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway  Company,  83  N.  Y.  Suppl, 
815.) 

NORTH  CAROLINA.— Malicious  Prosecution— False  Imprison- 
ment— Warrant — Probable  Cause — Malice — Exemplary  Dam- 
ages— Actual  Damages — Agency — Authority — Admission  of 
Evidence — Waiver  of  Exceptions. 

1.  In  an  action  for  false  arrest  and  malicious  prosecution  of 
plaintiff  for  an  attempt  to  defraud  a  street  railway  company  of  a 
fare,  evidence  as  to  admissions  by  other  parties  arrested  at  the 
same  time  that  they  had  paid  no  fare,  and  were  drunk  at  the  time, 
was  properly  excluded,  plaintiff  not  having  been  charged  with  con- 
spiracy, nor  arrested  and  tried  for  drunkenness. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  false  arrest 
and  malicious  prosecution,  it  was  shown  that  defendant's  con- 
ductor pointed  out  plaintiff  on  the  car,  and  directed  the  officer  to 
arrest  him  for  refusing  to  pay  his  fare,  and  that  the  conductor  had 
been  advised  by  some  one  in  the  front  of  the  car,  where  defendant's 
manager  was  standing,  there  was  evidence  tending  to  show  that  de- 
fendant caused  the  arrest. 

3.  Where  an  arrest  is  illegal,  proof  that  defendant  acted  without 
malice  is  no  defense  to  an  action  for  false  imprisonment  and  mali- 
cious prosecution. 

4.  Where,  in  an  action  for  false  arrest  and  malicious  prosecution, 
the  regularity  of  the  warrant  was  not  questioned,  it  was  not  neces- 
sary to  offer  the  warrant  in  evidence. 

5.  In  an  action  for  false  arrest  and  malicious  prosecution  it  is 
not  necessary  to  show  who  actually  swore  out  the  warrant  for 
plaintiff's  arrest,  provided  it  is  shown  that  the  warrant  was  sworn 
out  at  the  instigation  or  procurement  of  defendant. 

6.  In  an  action  for  malicious  prosecution,  circumstantial  evi- 
dence is  competent  to  prove  that  defendant  instigated  the  prosecu- 
tion. 

7.  Where  a  conductor  of  a  street  car,  after  an  altercation  with 
a  passenger,  in  which  he  had  repeatedly  demanded  a  fare,  refused 
to  accept  the  fare  when  finally  tendered,  and  ordered  the  passenger 
arrested  for  refusing  to  pay,  the  conductor's  conduct  tends  to 
show  malice. 

8.  Malice  may  be  inferred  from  the  want  of  probable  cause  for 
the  prosecution. 

9.  Where  an  instruction  given  at  a  party's  request  contains  every 
element  of  an  instruction  objected  to,  the  party  cannot  be  heard 
to  except. 

10.  In  an  action  for  malicious  prosecution  plaintiff  may  recover 
exemplary  damages. 

11.  Plaintiff  in  an  action  for  false  arrest  is  entitled  to  recover 
all  actual  damages  suffered,  but  cannot  recover  punitive  damages, 
unless  the  arrest  is  accompanied  with  gross  negligence,  malice,  in- 
sult, oppression,  or  other  circumstances  of  legal  aggravation. — 
(Kelly  vs.  Durham  Traction  Company,  43  S.  E.  Rep.,  923.) 
NORTH  CAROLINA.— Street  Railways— Negligence— Operating 

Cars  Without  Fender— Violation  of  Statute— Suspension  of 
Statute — Validity  of  Suspension. 

1.  Whether  a  street  railway  company  was  negligent  in  operat- 
ing a  car  without  a  fender,  as  required  by  law,  was  a  question  for 
the  jury. 

2.  Acts  1 901,  p.  968,  c.  743,  Sec.  2,  requires  all  street  railway 
companies  to  use  fenders  in  front  of  passenger  cars,  but  provides 
that  the  corporation  commission  may  "make  exemptions"  from 
the  provision  of  the  statute.  The  commission  exempted  all  street 
railway  companies  from  the  provisions  of  the  statute  until  other- 
wise ordered.  Held,  that  the  order  amounted,  not  to  an  exemp- 
tion, but  to  a  suspenson  of  the  statute,  and  hence  was  invalid,  and 
the  statute  remained  in  force.— (Henderson  vs.  Durham  Traction 
Company,  44  S.  E.  Rep.,  598.) 

OHIO.— Carriers— Injury  to   Passenger— Alighting   from  Street 
Car. 

1.    If  a  street  car  comes  to  a  full  stop  for  any  purpose,  and  a 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


45 


passenger  is  in  the  act  of  alighting,  it  is  negligence  for  the  con- 
ductor to  start  the  car  before  such  passenger  has  had  a  reason- 
able opportunity  to  get  off  safely. 

2.  But  if  the  car  does  not  stop,  merely  slacking  speed  sufficiently 
to  permit  a  passenger  to  get  on,  the  conductor,  in  the  absence  of 
notice  of  passenger's  intention  to  alight,  is  not  bound  to  know  that 
any  passenger  will  attempt  to  get  off,  or  is  in  the  act  of  getting 
off,  while  the  car  is  in  motion. 

3.  Where  there  is  a  conflict  of  evidence  as  to  whether  the  car 
stopped,  or  whether  it  only  slowed  up  enough  to  allow  a  man  to  get 
on,  and  also  as  to  whether  the  conductor  had  notice  of  the  plain- 
tiff's intention  to  alight,  it  is  error  to  charge  the  jury  as  follows: 
"If  you  find  from  the  evidence  in  this  case  that  the  car  stopped  or 
slacked  up,  for  the  purpose,  sufficiently  to  let  a  man  onto  the  same, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  plaintiff  attempted  to  alight,  then  we  say 
to  you  that  it  became  and  was  the  duty  of  the  conductor  of  the 
car  before  causing  or  permitting  said  car  to  go  ahead,  to  use  the 
highest  degree  of  care,  consistent  with  the  proper  running  of  said 
car,  to  see  and  ascertain  what,  if  any,  other  person  or  persons 
might  be  getting  on  or  off  the  car  at  the  time  other  than  said 
man." — (Ashtabula  Rapid  Transit  Company  vs.  Holmes.,  6s  N.  E. 
Rep.,  877.) 

oHIO. — Carriers — Negligence  of  Servant — Evdence  of  Relation- 
ship— Liability  of  Master. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  brought  by  L.  against  a  street  railway 
company  to  recover  damages  for  personal  injuries  sustained  by 
her  in  consequence  of  the  alleged  negligent  conduct  of  a  servant 
of  the  defendant  company,  such  company  by  its  answer  denies  that 
the  person  whose  act  caused  the  injury  complained  of  was  at  the 
time  of  such  injury  the  servant  of  said  company  engaged  in  the 
prosecution  of  its  business,  and  there  is  evidence  tending  to  sup- 
port such  denial,  held  that,  whether  the  person  whose  immediate 
negligence  or  misconduct  caused  the  particular  injury  complained 
of  was,  at  the  time,  the  servant  of  and  was  then  acting  for  the  de- 
fendant company  sought  to  be  charged,  is  a  question  of  fact  to  be 
submitted  to  the  jury  under  proper  instructions  from  the  court. 

2.  The  test  of  a  master's  liability  is  not  whether  a  given  act  was 
done  during  the  existence  of  the  servant's  employment,  but  whether 
such  act  was  done  by  the  servant  while  engaged  in  the  service  of 
and  while  acting  for  the  master  in  the  prosecution  of  the  master's 
business. 

3.  A  master  is  not  liable  for  the  negligent  act  of  a  servant  or 
employee  if,  at  the  time  of  the  doing  of  such  act,  the  servant  or 
employee  is  not  then  engaged  in  the  service  or  duties  of  his  em- 
ployment, although  the  act  be  one  which,  if  done  by  such  servant 
or  employee  while  on  duty  at  a  time  when  actually  engaged  in  his 
master's  service,  would  be  clearly  within  the  course  and  scope  of 
the  usual  and  ordinary  duties  of  such  servant  or  employee. — (Lima 
Railway  Company  vs.  Little,  65  N.  E.  Rep.,  861.) 

OHIO. — Electric  Railroad  Classed  as  Street  Railroad — Passenger 
Standing  on  Platform — Implied  Agreement  of  Passenger — 
Rules  of  Carrier — Law  of  Negligence. 

1.  An  interurban  electric  railroad  is  classed  as  a  street  railroad 
by  the  statutes  of  this  state. 

2.  While  such  interurban  railroad  companies  are  subject  to  the 
same  regulations  and  have  all  the  powers  of  street  railroad  com- 
panies, so  far  as  applicable,  the  law  of  negligence  governing  the 
standing  on  a  platform  of  a  moving  street  car  in  a  municipality  is 
rot  applicable  to  the  case  of  standing  on  such  platform  of  a  mov- 
ing interurban  car  in  the  open  country. 

3.  The  law  of  negligence  governing  the  standing  on  a  platform 
of  a  moving  interurban  car  outside  of  a  municipality  is  the  same  as 
in  the  case  of  steam  cars ;  and  where  a  rule  of  the  company  pro- 
hibits passengers  from  standing  on  the  platform,  and  notice  thereof 
is  properly  posted,  or  where  the  passengers,  upon  request,  refuse 
to  enter  the  car,  there  being  in  either  case  vacant  seats,  they  re- 
main on  the  platform  at  their  peril. 

4.  In  a  contract  for  safe  carriage,  there  is  an  implied  agree- 
ment that  the  passenger  will  obey  the  reasonable  rules  of  the  car- 
rier ;  and  where  the  passenger  purposely  violates  such  rule,  and 
is  thereby  injured,  he  cannot  recover  damages  from  the  carrier  in 
an  action  on  the  contract. —  (Cincinnati,  L.  &  A.  Electric  Street 
Railway  Company  vs.  Lohe,  67  N.  E.  Rep..  161.) 
OREGON.— Street    Railway— Injury    to    Passenger— Riding  on 

Footboard  of  Car— Contact  with  Bridge— Negligence— Con- 
tributory Negligence — Questions  for  Jury — Instructions. 

1.  One  is  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  in  riding  on  the 
footboard  of  an  open  car  where  all  the  seats  are  occupied. 

2.  A  street  railway  company  constructed  its  tracks  so  near  the 
superstructure  of  a  bridge  as  to  leave  only  18  ins.  between  the 
framework  thereof  and  the  outer  edge  of  the  foot-board  of  its 
open  cars.  A  passenger  riding  on  the  footboard — the  seats  inside 
the  car  all  being  occupied — was  injured  by  coming  in  contact  with 
a  strut  of  the  bridge.    There  was  evidence  that  the  car  was  going 


at  an  unlawful  rate,  and  that  no  warning  was  given.  Held,  that 
the  company's  negligence  was  a  question  for  the  jury. 

3.  The  fact  that  the  street  railway  had  been  operated  for  over 
ten  years,  and  that  no  accident  had  occurred  from  a  like  cause, 
did  not  show  an  absence  of  negligence,  as  matter  of  law. 

4.  One  injured  while  riding  on  the  footboard  of  an  open  car 
by  coming  in  contact  with  the  strut  of  a  bridge  over  which  the 
car  was  passing  was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence,  though 
he  leaned  back  in  returning  his  money  to  his  pocket,  or  in  looking 
to  see  what  a  friend,  also  on  the  footboard,  was  doing. 

5.  It  is  not  negligence  per  se  for  a  street  railway  company  to 
permit  passengers  to  ride  on  the  footboard  of  an  open  car  where 
all  the  seats  are  occupied. 

6.  Refusal  to  charge  that  it  was  not  negligence  for  a  street  rail- 
way company  to  permit  a  passenger  to  ride  on  the  footboard  of  a 
crowded  car  was  error,  though  the  court  charged  that  if  the  pas- 
senger voluntarily  took  his  place  there,  and,  by  reasonable  care, 
could  have  ridden  safely,  but  did  not  use  such  care,  the  company 
was  not  liable,  especially  where  the  court  also  charged  that,  if  the 
accident  to  the  passenger  was  the  direct  result  of  the  overcrowded 
conditon  of  the  car,  the  company  would  be  liable,  provided  the 
passenger  was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. —  (Anderson 
vs.  City  &  Suburban  Railway  Company,  71  Pacific  Rep.,  659.) 
OREGON. — Street    Railway — Negligence — Question    for    Jury — ■ 

Contributory  Negligence. 

1.  One  who  fails  to  look  and  listen  for  a  car  before  crossing 
a  public  street  in-  daylight  at  a  place  where  his  view  is  unobstructed 
is  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

2.  Under  such  circumstances,  there  can  be  no  recovery  for  in- 
juries, notwithstanding  the  defendant  may  have  been  negligent  in 
running  the  car  at  a  dangerous  rate  of  speed. 

3.  Where  one  approaching  a  street  railway  track  stops  near  the 
track,  the  motorman  in  charge  of  an  approaching  car  has  a  right  to 
assume  that  he  intends  to  wait  until  the  car  passes,  and  is  not 
guilty  of  negligence  in  releasing  his  brakes  at  the  time. —  (Wolf 
vs.  City  &  Suburban  Railway  Company,  72  Pacific  Rep.,  329.) 
PENNSYLVANIA.— Appeal— Review— Conflicting  Evidence- 
Negligence — Infant — Question  for  Jury — Action  by  Mother. 

1.  A  verdict  on  conflicting  evidence  will  not  be  set  aside  because 
the  appellate  court  would,  on  the  same  evidence,  have  reached  a 
different  conclusion. 

2.  The  question  whether  a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age  had 
sufficient  capacity  to  be  sensible  of  danger  and  to  avoid  it  is  not  a 
question  of  law,  but  one  of  fact  for  the  jury. 

3.  Act  June  26,  1895  (P.  L.  316),  giving  a  wife,  under  certain 
circumstances,  equal  authority  with  the  father,  and  equal  right  to 
the  custody  and  services  of  a  minor  child,  gives  no  right  of  action 
for  an  injury  to  such  minor  child  caused  by  the  negligence  of 
another,  and  not  resulting  in  death. 

4.  Where  a  father  sues  in  his  own  right  for  an  injury  to  his 
minor  son,  and  as  next  friend,  to  recover  for  injuries  not  resulting 
in  death,  and  pending  suit  the  father  dies,  and  the  mother  is  sub- 
stituted, a  judgment  for  her  in  her  own  right  cannot  be  sustained. 
—  (Kellv  vs.  Pittsburg  &  B.  Traction  Company,  54  Atlantic  Rep., 
482.) 

PENNSYLVANIA. — Carriers — Overcrowded     Cars — Injury  to 
Passenger — Riding  on  Platform. 

1.  A  carrier  must  exercise  additional  care  and  precaution 
where  it  allows  its  cars  to  be  overcrowded. 

2.  Where  a  passenger  is  allowed  to  enter  a  street  car  where 
there  is  no  vacant  place  except  on  the  platform,  and  pays  his  fare, 
it  is  an  assurance  that  the  carrier  will  guard  him  against  accident 
while  standing  on  the  platform,  so  far  as  circumstances  permit. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries  to 
passengers,  it  appeared  that  the  plaintiff,  the  car  being  crowded, 
went  on  the  front  platform  at  the  conductor's  request ;  that  the 
car  was  run  very  rapidly  over  the  tracks  of  a  steam  railroad,  and 
down  a  grade ;  that  the  conductor,  who  had  preceded  the  car  at 
the  crossing,  jumped  on  the  front  steps,  and  so  pushed  the  other 
passengers  on  the  platform  that  plaintiff  lost  his  hold,  and  fell 
under  the  wheels.  Held,  that  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  would  be  sus- 
tained.—  (McCaw  vs.  Union  Traction  Company,  54  Atlantic  Rep., 
893-) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Street    Railroads— Injury    to    Boy— Negli- 
gence of  Motorman. 

1.  Evidence  in  action  against  a  street  car  company,  causing 
death  of  boy  riding  on  the  side  steps  of  a  freight  car  on  a  track- 
parallel  to  the  street  car,  considered,  and  held  to  show  the  motor- 
man  not  guilty  of  negligence. 

2.  Where  a  motorman  is  confronted  with  a  sudden  danger,  he  is 
not  liable  for  failure  to  follow  what  might  appear  on  reflection  to 
be  the  wiser  course. —  (Ackerman  vs.  Union  Traction  Company, 
55  Atlantic  Rep.,  16.) 


46 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


PENNSYLVANIA.— Street  Railroads  —  Collision  —  Evidence- 
Negligence. 

1.  Evidence  in  action  against  a  street  railway  to  recover  dam- 
ages for  a  collision  at  a  street  crossing  with  plaintiff's  horse  and 
wagon  examined,  and  held  to  justify  the  court  in  directing  a 
verdict  for  defendant. 

2.  The  failure  to  look  for  an  approaching  street  car  is  negli- 
gence per  se,  and  the  duty  is  not  performed  by  looking  when  first 
entering  on  a  street,  but  continues  until  the  track  is  reached. — 
( Moser  vs.  Union  Traction  Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  15.) 
PENNSYLVANIA. — Carriers — Injury  to  Passenger — Contribu- 
tory Negligence. 

1.  The  burden  is  on  a  person  injured  by  stepping  on  or  off  a 
moving  street  car  and  receiving  an  injury  thereby  to  show  why  the 
case  should  go  to  the  jury. 

2.  Where  plaintiff  signals  an  electric  car  to  stop  at  a  crossing, 
and  the  signal  is  heeded,  and  the  car  is  slackening  its  speed,  and  he 
attempts  to  get  on  while  it  is  running  three  miles  an  hour,  and  is 
injured  thereby,  he  cannot  recover. —  (Hunterson  vs.  Union  Trac- 
tion Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  543.) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Witness  —  Cross-Examination  —  Extent- 
Discretion  of  Court — Personal  Injuries — Damages, 
r.    The  cross-examination  of  a  witness  is  largely  in  the  discre- 
tion of  a  trial  court,  and  will  not  be  reviewed  unless  that  discretion 
has  been  abused. 

2.  The  cross-examination  of  a  witness  should  be  limited  to  mat- 
ters in  regard  to  which  he  has  testified  in  chief. 

3.  Where  a  witness  has  testified  as  to  part  of  a  conversation,  he 
may  be  cross-examined  as  to  the  rest  of  it. 

4.  In  an  action  by  a  woman  against  a  street  railway  company 
for  personal  injuries,  a  physician,  who  examined  plaintiff  at  her 
request,  testified  for  defendant  that,  knowing  that  it  was  for  the 
purposes  of  the  trial,  he  concealed  from  plaintiff  the  fact  that  he 
was  the  physician  of  the  company,  and  that  thereafter,  at  his  re- 
quest, plaintiff  called  on  him,  and  he  told  her  he  thought  he  could 
get  something  for  her  injuries  from  the  company.  Held,  that  it 
was  proper  to  ask  him  on  cross-examination  if  in  such  conversa- 
tion he  did  not  deny  to  plaintiff  that  he  was  the  surgeon  of  the 
company. 

5.  Where,  in  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  plaintiff  testified 
that  she  was  working  for  wages,  and  the  amount  thereof,  and  that 
she  was  obliged  to  lay  off  for  a  certain  number  of  weeks,  an  in- 
struction that  she  could  recover  for  such  wages  was  proper. — 
(Glenn  vs.  Philadelphia  &  W.  C.  Traction  Company,  55  Atlantic 
Rep.,  860.) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Appeal— Time    of    Taking— Filing  Excep- 
tions— Street  Railways — Laches. 

1.  Where  a  case  was  heard  on  bill,  answer,  and  proofs,  and  an 
opinion  filed  on  Jan.  6,  and  no  exceptions  were  filed,  and  after  ten 
days,  and  before  actual  entry  of  a  decree  appellants  moved  for 
leave  to  file  exceptions  nunc  pro  tunc,  and  the  exceptions  were 
then  filed,  and  the  opinion  of  the  court  dismissing  them  was  filed 
May  12,  1902,  the  time  of  the  appeal  ran  from  such  latter  date. 

2.  A  judge  sitting  as  a  chancellor  has  a  discretion  to  allow  ex- 
ceptions to  be  filed  nunc  pro  tunc  after  the  expiration  of  ten  days 
from  the  decree  nisi. 

3.  Where  a  street  railway  company  lays  a  single  track  on  a 
turnpike  road  so  as  to  indicate  plainly  an  intent  to  build  a  double 
track,  and  the  road  is  operated  for  two  years,  and  the  company 
then  proceeds  to  lay  its  second  track;  abutting  owners,  after  a 
third  of  the  track  has  been  constructed,  are  estopped  by  laches  from 
seeking  to  restrain  the  further  construction  of  the  road. 

4.  Act  May  14,  1880,  Sec.  (P.  L.  217).  giving  a  street  railway 
company  the  right  to  condemn  a  turnpike  road  on  making  compen- 
sation to  the  owner  thereof,  provides  for  compensation  to  the 
owner  of  the  turnpike,  but  grants  no  right  of  the  abutting  property 
owners. —  (Hinnershitz  et  al.  vs.  United  Traction  Company  et  al, 
55  Atlantic  Rep.,  841.) 

PENNSYLVANIA. — Carriers — Injury    to    Passenger — Contribu- 
tory Negligence. 

1.  Where  evidence  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on 
an  open  electric  street  car  showed  that  he  left  his  seat,  and  stepped 
onto  the  running  board  of  the  car,  holding  on  with  his  left  hand,  a 
bag  of  tools  in  the  other  hand,  and  was  thrown  off  when  the  car 
stopped  with  a  sudden  jerk,  his  contributory  negligence  barred 
recovery  for  the  injuries  received. 

2.  A  passenger  on  an  electric  street  car.  leaving  his  seat,  and 
stepping  onto  the  running  board  of  the  car  while  in  motion,  as- 
sumes the  risk  of  his  position. — Bainbridge  vs.  Union  Traction 
Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  836.) 

PENNSYLVANIA. — Street    Railroad — Injury    to    Passenger — 
Contributory  Negligence. 
t .    Where  a  passenger  on  an  open  electric  car  signals  the  con- 
ductor to  stop  at  a  crossing  before  and  after  it  had  reached  it,  and 


the  conductor  does  not  heed  the  signal,  and  the  passenger  stands 
at  the  edge  of  the  car  with  his  face  to  the  rear  and  an  arm  around 
a  stanchion,  and  again  signals  the  conductor  when  the  car  is  in  the 
middle  of  the  block,  and  the  car  is  then  suddenly  stopped  with  a 
jar,  and  the  passenger  is  thrown  out,  he  is  guilty  of  contributory 
negligence  barring  recovery  for  the  injuries  received. —  (Jennings 
vs.  Union  Traction  Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  765.) 
RHODE  ISLAND.— New  Trial— Withdrawal  of  Petition— Effect 

— Amendments — Misfortune,  Accident,  or  Mistake — Notice  at 

time  of  Filing  Petition. 

1.  After  verdict  for  plaintiff  in  the  common  pleas  division  de- 
fendant filed  its  petition  for  a  new  trial  under  Gen.  Laws,  p.  862, 
c.  251,  having  taken  all  requisite  preliminary  steps.  On  the  same 
day  plaintiff,  without  taking  any  previous  steps  in  that  direction, 
also  filed  a  petition  for  a  new  trial;  and  the  papers  were  certified 
to  the  appellate  division,  where  plaintiff  filed  a  motion  to  amend 
his  petition  in  conformity  therewith.  Thereupon  defendant  filed  a 
withdrawal  of  its  petition.  Held,  that,  as  the  withdrawal  of  de- 
fendant's petition  did  not  withdraw  the  other  papers  in  the  cause 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  defendant  might  abandon  its 
petition,  as  no  injury  to  plaintiff  would  be  caused  thereby. 

2.  Plaintiff  was  entitled  to  a  hearing  on  his  petition  on  reim- 
bursing defendant  for  the  amount  expended  by  it  for  the  transcript 
of  testimony  and  rulings  filed  in  the  case. 

3.  Plaintiff's  proposed  amendment  to  his  petition  for  a  new  trial 
related  to  certain  matters  occurring  in  open  court,  and  there  was 
no  claim  made  that  they  were  omitted  from  the  petition  by  reason 
of  any  accident  or  mistake.  Held,  that  the  amendment  should  be 
refused  in  accordance  with  the  general  rule  that  a  petition  for  a 
new  trial  cannot  be  amended  by  adding  new  and  additional  assign- 
ments of  error,  of  which  the  party  had  notice  at  the  time  of  filing 
the  petition. —  (Gladding  vs.  Union  Railway  Company,  54  Atlantic 
Rep.,  1060.) 

RHODE  ISLAND.— Carriers— Approaching  Places  of  Danger- 
Care  Required. 

1.  In  approaching  any  place  of  danger — as  in  attempting  to 
run  its  cars  through  a  mob — it  is  the  duty  of  a  common  carrier 
to  use  the  utmost  care  to  protect  its  passengers  from  injury. — 
(Bostworth  vs.  Union  Railway  Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  490.) 
RHODE  ISLAND.— Carriers  — Injuries  to  Passengers— Ab- 
sence of  Negligence — Evidence — Sufficiency. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  pas- 
senger caused  by  the  breaking  of  an  appliance  underneath  the  car, 
where  defendant's  evidence  showed,  not  only  that  it  purchased  the 
appliance  from  a  reputable  dealer,  but  also  that  it  had  made  daily 
inspection  of  the  same  by  an  expert  employed  for  that  purpose, 
and  plaintiff  offered  no  evidence  in  rebuttal,  relying  wholly  on  the 
doctrine  of  res  ipsa  loquitur,  a  verdict  for  defendant  was  sup- 
ported.— (Murray  vs.  Pawtuxet  Valley  Street  Railway  Company, 
55  Atlantic  Rep.  491.) 

RHODE  ISLAND.— Street  Railroads— Injury  to  Pedestrians- 
Previous  Acts  of  Negligence — Admissibility  of  Evidence — 
Harmless  Error. 

1.  Evidence  in  an  action  by  a  pedestrian  against  a  street  rail- 
way for  injuries  that  defendant  had  failed  to  ring  the  bell  on  the 
car  in  question  at  the  intersection  of  the  other  streets  prior  to 
the  time  of  the  accident  is  improper. 

2.  Where  appellant's  liability  is  established  so  conclusively  as 
to  make  a  new  trial  unavailing,  the  admission  of  improper  evi- 
dence is  not  ground  for  reversal. — (Dyer  vs.  Union  Railway  Com- 
pany, 55  Atlantic  Rep.,  688.) 

TENNESSEE. — Street  Railways — Injuries  to  Passenger — Neg- 
ligence— Contributory  Negligence — Duty  to  Aged  Passen- 
gers— Instructions — Waiver  of  Error — Punitive  Damages — 
Sufficiency  of  evidence. 

1.  Plaintiff's  contention,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway 
for  injuries,  was  that  she  was  negligently  carried  beyond  her  des- 
tination on  the  trip  out  from  the  city  to  her  home,  and  to  the  ter- 
minus of  the  road;  that  on  the  trip  back  she  was  wantonly  carried 
beyond  her  stopping  place  again;  that  the  conductor  treated  her 
rudely  on  the  trip  out  and  back;  and  that  she  was  injured  in  at- 
tempting to  get  off  at  a  place  beyond  her  destination,  where  the 
car  stopped  on  the  return  trip.  Held,  that  evidence  of  what  was 
said  and  done  by  the  conductor  and  plaintiff  was  not  only  compe- 
tent, but  constituted  the  gist  of  the  action. 

2.  Though  the  charge  of  the  court,  in  an  action  against  a  street 
railway  for  injuries,  to  the  effect  that  defendant  would  not  be 
liable  if  plaintiff's  negligence  was  the  sole  cause  of  the  injury, 
was  erroneous,  defendant  is  not  in  a  position  to  complain  where 
it  did  not  ask  for  any  other  or  additional  charge. 

3.  Where  the  record  on  appeal  is  an  action  against  a  street  rail- 
way for  injuries  shows  that  defendant  insisted  that  the  facts  ad- 
duced at  the  trial  presented  a  case  of  sole  negligence  on  the  part  of 
defendant,  or  sole  negligence  on  the  part  of  plaintiff,  depending 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


47 


on  whether  plaintiff's  or  defendant's  theory  of  the  facts  be  adopted, 
and  that  no  charge  of  contributory  negligence  was  requested, 
defendant  cannot  complain  of  the  court's  failure  to  charge  that 
it  would  not  be  liable,  though  negligent,  if  plaintiff's  negligence 
contributed  to  her  injury. 

4.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  conductor  in  charge  of  a  street  car  to  see 
that  no  one  is  in  the  act  of  alighting  when  he  starts  his  car  after 
having  stopped  to  discharge  or  take  on  passengers  at  a  regular 
stopping  place. 

5.  It  is  the  duty  of  those  in  charge  of  a  street  car  to  give 
greater  care  and  consideration  to  aged  and  infirm  passengers, 
whose  age  or  infirmities  are  apparent,  than  to  other  passengers, 
and,  if  necessary,  to  assist  such  passengers  to  alight  from  the  car 
when  they  arrive  at  their  destination. 

6.  Defendant  in  a  civil  action  cannot  complain  of  the  trial 
court's  action  in  stating  plaintiff's  theory  in  the  charge,  when  a 
correct  statement  of  defendant's  theory  was  also  given. 

7.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  against  a  street  railway  for  in- 
juries, evidence,  held,  to  justify  punitive  damages. — (Memphis 
Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Shaw,  75  S.  W.  Rep.,  713.) 
TENNESSEE. — Street  Railway — Injury  to  Persons  on  Street — 

Failure  to  Look  and  Listen. 
I.  It  is  not  negligence  as  a  matter  of  law  for  a  person  driving 
on  a  street  in  a  vehicle  in  the  daytime,  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances, to  fail  to  look  and  listen  for  the  approach  of  street  cars. — 
(Memphis  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Riddick  et  al.,  75  S.  W. 
Rep.,  924.) 

TEXAS. — Harmless  Error. 

1.  Where  the  undisputed  facts  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a 
passenger  on  a  street  car  showed  that  he  was  entitled  to  recover 
in  any  event,  judgment  in  his  favor  was  not  reversible  for  error 
in  the  submission  of  the  cause. — (Houston  Electric  Street  Rail- 
way Company  vs.  Elvis,  72  S.  W.  Rep.,  216.) 

TEXAS. — Street  Railways — Collision  With  Vehicles — Excessive 
Speed — Ordinance  —  Contributory  Negligence  —  Petition  — 
Evidence. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company,  the  petition 
alleged  that  defendant  negligently  ran  its  car  at  a  speed  of  18 
to  20  miles  an  hour,  and  in  excess  of  the  speed  permitted  by  an 
ordinance,  which  was  duly  set  out;  that  it  negligently  omitted  to 
stop  its  car  or  give  warning,  and  "by  reason  of  said  negligence  of 
the  defendant"  plaintiff  was  injured,  etc.  Held,  that  recovery 
could  be  based  either  on  the  company's  negligence  in  failing  to 
stop  the  car  or  in  running  it  at  an  excessive  rate  of  speed. 

2.  The  ordinance  was  competent  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
speed  was  excessive. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
sustained  in  a  collision,  the  evidence  showed  that  plaintiff's  vehi- 
cle was  badly  smashed  and  broken,  and  that  plaintiff's  bill  for 
fixing  it  was  $26.  Plaintiff  was  not  cross-examined  as  to  such 
damage,  nor  was  any  evidence  in  rebuttal  offered  by  defendant. 
Held,  that  an  instruction  was  authorized,  permitting  the  jury  to 
consider,  in  estimating  damages,  the  amount,  if  any,  expended 
by  plaintiff  in  repairing  the  carriage. 

4.  Plaintiff  injured,  while  attempting  to  drive  across  a  street 
railway  track,  through  a  collision  with  a  car,  held,  under  the  evi- 
dence, not  to  have  been  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  as  a 
matter  of  law. — (San  Antonio  Traction  Company  vs.  Upson,  71 
S.  W.  Rep.,565.) 

TEXAS. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Pedestrians — Children — 
Negligence — Instructions — Variance — Findings. 

1.  While  defendant's  street  railway  car  was  running  slowly, 
plaintiff,  a  child  four  years  of  age,  walking  from  the  direction  the 
car  was  coming,  went  obliquely  on  the  track  about  12  ft.  ahead  of 
the  car.  Persons  shouted  to  the  motorman,  and  he  either  looked 
towards  them  or  was  talking  to  another  employee,  and  the  child 
was  struck  and  injured.  Held,  that  the  motorman  was  guilty  of 
negligence. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  child  by  collision  with 
a  street  car,  it  was  alleged  that  the  motorman  did  not  look  in  the 
direction  the  car  was  going,  but  looked  in  an  opposite  direction, 
and  that  he  "well  knew  that  plaintiff  was  on  the  track  in  front 
of  the  car,  and  well  knew  plaintiff's  dangerous  and  hazardous 
position,"  such  allegations  justified  an  instruction,  that  if  the 
motorman  failed  to  use  ordinary  care  to  discover  plaintiff  on  the 
track,  or  was  guilty  of  negligence  in  failing  to  stop  the  car  in 
time  to  avoid  injury  to  plaintiff  after  having  discovered  her  on 
the  track,  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  recover. 

3.  Where  it  was  alleged  that  an  injury  to  plaintiff  by  being- 
struck  by  a  street  car  occurred  at  the  crossing  of  a  particular 
street,  and  the  evidence  showed  that  the  child  was  injured  at  a 
point  perhaps  40  ft.  from  such  street,  the  variance  was  immaterial; 
110  objection  having  been  interposed  to  the  evidence  and  defend- 
ant having  made  no  claim  of  surprise. 


4.  Where  a  witness  testified  that  a  street  car  was  going  very 
slow,  about  as  fast  as  a  man  could  walk,  when  it  struck  plaintiff, 
and  another  testified  that  it  was  not  going  fast,  but  was  running  at 
an  ordinary  speed,  and  a  third  testified  that  the  car  was  going  very 
slow,  the  evidence  justified  a  finding  that  the  car  was  moving 
slowly  at  the  time  plaintiff  was  struck. — (San  Antonio  Traction 
Company  vs.  Court,  71  S.  W.  Rep.,  777.) 

TEXAS. — Street    Railways — Duty    of    Motormen — Failure  to 
Listen  for  Bell — Failure  to  Stop  Car — Pleadings — Evidence. 

1.  Failure  of  the  motorman  on  a  street  car  to  exercise  reason- 
able care  in  listening  for  signals  to  stop  the  car  given  by  a  passen- 
ger who  desired  to  alight,  in  consequence  of  which  he  did  not 
stop  the  car,  and  the  passenger  was  injured  in  attempting  to  alight 
from  it  while  in  motion,  was  actionable  negligence. 

2.  Where  plaintiff  alleged  that  while  riding  on  defendant's 
street  car  he  rang  the  bell,  giving  thereby  the  usual  signal  to  stop, 
and  that,  though  he  did  this  repeatedly,  the  motorman  negligently 
failed  and  refused  to  stop,  whereupon  plaintiff  attempted  to 
alight  while  the  car  was  in  motion,  and  was  injured,  the  pleading 
was  sufficient  to  raise  the  issue  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  the 
motorman  in  failing  to  use  ordinary  care  to  hear  the  bell  if  it  was 
rung. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  sustained 
by  plaintiff  in  attempting  to  alight  from  a  car  while  it  was  in  mo- 
tion, in  consequence  of  the  motorman's  failure  to  stop  the  car 
when  signaled  to  do  so,  plaintiff  offered  evidence  that  before  ar- 
riving at  the  point  where  he  wished  to  alight  he  had  a  misunder- 
standing with  the  motorman,  who  also  acted  as  conductor,  as  10 
the  payment  of  plaintiff's  fare,  and  that  the  motorman  appeared 
angry.  Plaintiff  testified  that  when  he  got  off,  the  car  had  passed 
the  point  at  which  he  wished  to  alight;  that  he  got  off  because 
he  thought  the  motorman  would  carry  him  still  further.  Held, 
that  the  evidence  was  relevant  as  tending  to  show  ground  for 
plaintiff's  belief  that  the  motorman  would  carry  him  further  unless 
he  got  off  at  the  time  he  did. — (Fuller  et  al.  vs.  Denison  &  South- 
ern Railway  Company,  74  S.  W.  Rep.,  940.) 

TEXAS. — Street    Railways — Negligence  —  Contributory  Negli- 
gence— Evidence — Sufficiency — Appeal — Prejudicial  Error. 

1.  Plaintiff's  wife  was  struck  by  one  of  defendant's  cars  while 
driving  across  its  tracks.  The  car  was  running  on  a  down  grade, 
and  was  some  250  ft.  distant  when  plaintiff's  wife  started  to  cross 
the  track.  The  motorman  allowed  the  car  to  run  of  its  own  mo- 
mentum, and  did  not  have  it  under  control,  although  he  knew 
the  street  was  crowded,  and  saw  plaintiff's  wife;  and  he  made  no 
effort  to  stop  the  car  until  it  struck  her  carriage,  which  was 
hindered  from  crossing  by  a  team  passing  immediately  in  front 
of  it.  Held,  that  the  facts  showed  negligence  on  the  part  of  de- 
fendant. 

2.  The  facts  failed  to  show  negligence  on  the  part  of  plaintiff's 
wife  proximately  contributory  to  her  injury. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
from  a  collision,  error,  if  it  was  such,  in  admitting  in  evidence 
a  city  ordinance  requiring  motormen  to  keep  vigilent  watch  for 
vehicles  and  persons  on  foot,  and  in  giving  a  charge  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  ordinance,  when  such  ordinance  was  not  pleaded, 
was  not  prejudicial  where  undisputed  evidence  showed  that  the 
motorman  exercised  the  diligence  required  by  the  ordinance, 
and  still  failed  to  prevent  the  injury. — (Dallas  Consolidated  Elec- 
tric Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Illo,  73  S.  W.  Rep.,  1076.) 
TEXAS. — Street  Cars — Collision  with  Train — Contributory  Neg- 
ligence— Instructions. 

1.  Defendant,  having  specially  pleaded  the  contributory  neg- 
ligence of  plaintiff,  whose  hack  was  struck  by  its  car,  to  be  in  not 
passing  clear  over  the  track,  or  far  enough  beyond  it  for  the  car 
to  clear  it,  is  not  entitled  to  submission  of  the  issue  of  contribu- 
tory negligence  on  evidence  that  he  drove  clear  over  the  track, 
stopped,  and,  as  the  car  was  about  to  pass,  backed  into  it. 

2.  In  the  absence  of  a  proper  requested  charge  defendant  can- 
not complain  of  the  general  charge  that  verdict  should  not  be 
against  it  if  it  had  exercised  ordinary  care  to  avoid  the  accident. 

3.  A  requested  charge,  in  an  action  for  injury  to  a  hack  by  a 
street  car,  that,  if  the  hack  was  standing  near  the  car  track,  and 
as  the  car  approached  the  hack  backed  into  it,  plaintiff  could  not 
recover,  is  improper,  as  the  hack  may  have  stood  so  near  the  track 
that  it  would  have  been  struck  had  it  not  been  backed;  or  it  might 
have  been  backed,  and  yet  defendant  have  been  negligent  in  not 
stopping  the  car  before  it  injured  the  hack. — (El  Paso  Electric- 
Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Ballinger  &  Longwell,  72  S.  W. 
Rep.,  612.) 

TEX AS.-irActions — Parties — Misjoinder — Exceptions — Time  for 
Filing — Prejudicial  Error. 
1.  An  action  against  a  street  railway  for  personal  injuries  sus- 
tained  by  plaintiff  on  account  of  the  negligence  of  the  company's 
employees,  cannot  be  joined  with  an  action  against  the  company 


48 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


and  its  president  to  recover  for  a  libel  published  concerning  the 
plaintiff. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  to  recover  for  injuries 
sustained  on  account  of  the  negligence  of  its  employees,  the  com- 
pany's president  is  improperly  joined  as  a  defendant. 

3.  A  misjoinder,  either  of  actions  or  of  parties,  must  be  taken 
advantage  of  by  a  plea  in  abatement,  or,  where  the  misjoinder 
appears  from  the  face  of  the  petition  by  a  special  exception  in  the 
nature  of  such  plea. 

4.  Pleas  in  abatement  or  exceptions  to  the  petition,  in  the 
nature  of  such  pleas,  must,  to  be  considered,  be  filed  prior  to 
an  answer  to  the  merits,  whether  such  answer  raises  issue  of  law 
or  of  fact. 

5.  While  it  may  not  be  reversible  error  to  sustain  a  special 
exception  to  a  misjoinder  of  actions  or  parties,  though  not  filed 
in  due  order  of  pleading,  in  the  absence  of  any  showing  that 
plaintiff  was  prejudiced  thereby,  where  one  of  the  causes  of  action 
was  barred  by  limitations  when  the  exception  was  filed  and  acted 
on,  a  judgment  sustaining  such  exception  will  be  reversed. — 
(Brooks  vs.  Galveston  City  Railway  Company  et  al.,  74  S.  W. 
Rep.,  330.) 

TEXAS.- — Municipal  Corporations — Defective  Streets — Liability 
of  Street  Railroad — Concurrent  Negligence  of  Railroad — 
Effect — Instructions — Waiver. 

1.  Plaintiff  alleged  that  the  defendant  negligently  permitted 
its  street  car  'track  to  project  above  the  surface  of  the  adjacent 
street,  and  permitted  the  street  near  its  track  to  become  scooped 
out  and  worn  into  holes,  and  that  while  endeavoring  to  cross 
the  track  the  wheels  of  his  wagon  struck  the  projecting  rails, 
dropped  into  said  holes,  and  slid  on  and  against  the  rails,  jolting 
him  from  his  seat.  It  appeared  that  the  accident  occurred  where 
defendant's  track  crossed  those  of  a  railroad;  that  the  tracks  of 
both  companies  were  in  bad  condition;  that  the  wagon  wheel 
slid  along  defendant's  track  until  it  struck  the  railroad  track, 
whereon  plaintiff  fell  off.  Held,  that  defendant  was  not  relieved 
from  liability  by  reason  of  the  concurrent  negligence  of  the  rail- 
road. 

2.  Though  the  petition  did  not  aver  that  the  culminating  force 
causing  plaintiff's  fall  was  the  impact  of  the  wheel  with  the  rail- 
road track,  the  mere  appearance  of  such  fact  on  the  trial  did  not 
justify  a  charge  relieving  defendant  from  liability  because  of  the 
concurring  negligence  of  the  railroad. 

3.  Error  in  so  charging  was  not  relieved  by  a  charge  that 
if  defendant  was  guilty  of  negligence  in  failing  to  fill  the  holes, 
and  the  wheel  droppd  into  one,  and  struck  or  slid  against  the 
rail,  and  plaintiff  was  injured  by  reason  thereof,  he  should  re- 
cover. 

4.  Plaintiff  waived  the  bar  of  "privilege"  to  a  communication 
testified  to  by  defendant's  counsel  by  failing  to  object  to  the  testi- 
mony of  another  witness  relative  thereto,  and  by  himself  testify- 
ing with  respect  to  the  same. — (Shelton  vs.  Northern  Texas  Trac- 
tion Company,  75  S.  W.  Rep.,  338.) 

VIRGINIA. — Trial — Instructions — Carriers — Injury  to  Passen- 
ger— Burden  of  Proof — Harmless  Error. 

1.  Where  there  is  any  evidence  tending  to  support  an  instruc- 
tion, even  though  it  be  so  slight  as  to  be  insufficient  to  support 
a  verdict,  it  is  error  to  refuse  the  instruction. 

2.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  for  injuries  received  in  alight- 
ing from  a  street  car,  where  the  contributory  negligence  of  plain- 
tiff was  established,  the  burden  is  on  her  of  proving  that  defend- 
ant could,  by  reasonable  care,  have  avoided  the  accident  after 
the  peril  of  the  passenger  was  discovered. 

3.  An  instruction  without  any  evidence  to  sustain  it  is  erro- 
neous. 

4.  A  verdict  rendered  on  erroneous  instructions  will  be  sus- 
tained only  when  it  clearly  appears  that  no  injury  could  have 
resulted  from  the  error. — (Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Com- 
pany vs.  Allen,  43  S.  E.  Rep.,  356.) 

VIRGINIA. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Trespasser — Evidence. 

1.  Evidence  is  inadmissible,  in  an  action  against  an  electric 
railroad  for  injuries  to  a  person  on  the  track,  to  show  the  dis- 
tance in  which  a  car  could  be  stopped,  which  is  entirely  different 
from  that  by  which  the  injury  was  caused,  and  differently 
equipped. 

2.  No  duty  is  owing  by  a  railroad  company  to  a  trespasser  on 
its  track,  except,  after  it  knows  of  his  danger  and  peril,  to  exer- 
cise reasonable  care  to  avoid  injuring  him. — (Richmond  Passen- 
ger &  Power  Company  vs.  Racks'  Adm'r..  44  S.  E.  Rep..  709.) 
VIRGINIA. — Trial — Reception  of  Evidence — Street  Railways — 

Negligence — Conflicting  Evidence. 
1.    The  order  in  which  the  evidence  is  introduced  is  a  matter 
largely  in  the  discretion  of  the  trial  court,  and  its  judgment  will 
not  be  reversed  because  evidence  proper  in  chief  was  introduced 
in  rebuttal. 


2.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  street  car  company,  when  its  cars  are 
standing  at  a  stopping  place  for  the  reception  of  passengers,  to 
use  the  highest  degree  of  care  to  see  that  all  passengers  lawfully 
entering  its  cars  get  to  a  place  of  safety  thereon  before  starting 
its  cars. 

3.  Where  the  jury  is  properly  instructed,  its  verdict  upon  con- 
flicting evidence  will  not  be  disturbed. — (Norfolk  &  A.  Terminal 
Company  vs.  Morris,  Adm'x.,  44  S.  E.  Rep.,  719.) 
VIRGINIA. — Carriers — Injuries    to    Passengers — Contradictory 

Evidence — Verdict — Vacation — New  Trial — Appeal — Review 
of  Evidence. 

1.  Under  the  express  provisions  of  Acts  1891-92,  p.  962,  where 
there  have  been  two  trials  of  an  action  at  law,  and  the  verdict 
on  the  first  is  set  aside  by  the  trial  court,  and  a  new  trial  granted, 
and  proper  exceptions  taken,  and  on  the  second  trial  a  jury  is 
waived,  and  no  testimony  introduced,  whereupon  a  judgment  is 
rendered,  and  the  evidence  certified,  the  appellate  court  will  ex- 
amine the  evidence  on  the  first  trial,  and,  if  the  court  erred  in  set- 
ting aside  the  verdict,  the  subsequent  proceedings  will  be  annulled, 
and  a  judgment  rendered  thereon. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  received  while  boarding  a  street  car, 
held  that,  plaintiff's  evidence  being  contradictory,  a  verdict  in  her 
favor  was  properly  set  aside  as  unsupported  by  the  evidence. — 
(Northington  vs.  Norfolk  Railway  &  Light  Company,  46  S.  E. 
Rep.,  476.) 

VIRGINIA. — Street  Railways — Passengers — Point  of  Stopping — 
Contributory  Negligence — Instructions. 

1.  It  is  the  duty  of  the  street  railway  to  use  extraordinary  care 
and  caution  t-  see  that  passengers  are  not  injured  in  getting  on  or 
off  its  cars  when  stopped  at  a  regular  point  for  stopping. 

2.  If  plaintiff  undertook  to  get  off  a  street  car  while  in  motion, 
she  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence;  but  if  she  retained  her 
seat  until  the  car  stopped,  and  reached  the  platform  before  it 
started,  and  was  thrown,  while  alighting,  by  the  sudden  starting 
of  the  car,  she  was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

3.  It  is  not  error  to  refuse  instructions  when  the  propositions 
of  law,  although  correctly  stated  therein,  are  sufficiently  covered 
by  other  instructions  which  are  granted. — (Richmond  Traction 
Company  vs.  Williams,  46  S.  E.  Rep.,  292.) 

WASHINGTON.— Street  Railroads — Personal  Injuries — Condi- 
tion of  Tracks — Instructions — Conflict — Harmless  Error — 
Damages — Mental  Suffering  for  Disfigurement. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad,  an  instruction  that 
a  person  injured  on  account  of  the  negligent  failure  of  defendant 
to  comply  with  an  ordinance  in  respect  to  the  condition  of  the 
track  could  recover  "unless  you  should  further  find  from  the 
evidence  that  some  sufficiently  efficacious  method  be  applied  to 
keep  the  streets  in  safe  condition  for  public  travel,"  was  not 
objectionable  as  meaningless,  as  it  would  be  understood  to  mean 
that  defendant  would  not  be  liable  if  any  efficacious  method, 
other  than  the  one  prescribed  by  the  ordinance,  had  been  adopted. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway,  an  instruction  that 
if  the  rails  projected  above  the  surface  of  the  street  sufficiently 
to  obstruct  public  travel,  and  there  were  no  planks  laid  along  the 
rails  as  required  by  ordinance,  plaintiff  should  recover,  was  not 
objectionable  as  subjecting  defendant  to  an  absolute  liability  in 
case  of  a  failure  to  use  planks,  especially  in  view  of  a  further 
instruction  that,  if  defendant  by  some  other  method  protected  the 
rails,  the  ordinance  should  not  be  considered. 

3.  Detached  portions  of  an  instruction  cannot  be  considered 
on  appeal,  but  all  the  instructions  must  be  construed  together. 

4.  An  instruction  that  it  was  defendant's  duty  to  construct  its 
tracks  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  "safe"  for  travel  was  not  prejudicial, 
as  requiring  absolute  safety,  where  a  subsequent  instruction  re- 
quired them  to  be  only  "reasonably  safe." 

5.  The  instructions  were  not  conflicting,  as  the  latter,  instead 
of  contradicting  the  former,  made  definite  and  certain  that  which 
was  before  indefinite. 

6.  An  appellate  court  will  not  be  justified  in  reversing  a  judg- 
ment where  an  error  has  been  committed  if  it  further  appears  that 
such  error  was  immaterial. 

7.  Compensation  may  be  had  for  mental  suffering  and  distress 
of  mind  because  of  disfigurement. — (Gray  et  ux.  vs.  Washington 
Water  Power  Company,  71  Pacific  Rep.,  206.) 
WASHINGTON.— Carriers  —  Injuries  —  Defective  Platform  — 

Contributory  Negligence — Trial  —  Permitting  Witness  to 
Change  Testimony — Rebuttal — Cross-Examination. 
1.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  plaintiff's  ankle,  she  tes- 
tified on  cross-examination  that  she  had  not  had  previous  trouble 
with  her  ankles,  and  thereafter  a  witness  for  plaintiff  on  cross- 
examination  testified  that  plaintiff  told  him  that  she  suffered  an 
injury  to  her  ankle  in  getting  off  a  railroad  car  when  she  was  a 
little  girl,  it  was  not  error  for  the  court  to  permit  plaintiff  to  be 
recalled,  and  to  testify  that  her  right  ankle  had  been  injured  as 
stated,  but  that  it  was  for  injury  to  her  left  for  which  she  sued. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


49 


2.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries,  a  witness  on  direct  examin- 
ation merely  testified  to  the  condition  of  a  platform  at  the  time 
of  the  accident,  and  the  actual  occurrence  there,  evidence  elicited 
from  him  that  plaintiff  had  told  him  that  she  had  suffered  an 
injury  to  her  ankle  when  she  was  a  child  was  not  proper  cross- 
examination. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  by  stepping  on  a 
rotten  plank  in  a  platform,  a  witness  for  defendant  testified  that 
the  platform  was  made  safe  the  day  prior  to  the  accident.  Plain- 
tiff, in  rebuttal,  called  a  witness  who  testified  that  no  repairs  were 
made  to  the  platform  until  several  days  after  the  accident,  and  on 
cross-examination  stated  that  he  did  not  know  that  plaintiff  had 
injured  her  foot  prior  to  the  injury  complained  of,  and  that  he 
had  never  stated  that  he  had  so  injured  it.  Defendant  thereafter 
called  a  witness  and  asked  him  whether  or  not  plaintiff's  witness 
had  not  told  him  that  plaintiff  had  injured  her  ankle  when  a  girl, 
and  that  it  was  always  weak.  Held,  that  such  question  was  prop- 
erly excluded  as  not  proper  rebuttal  or  impeachment,  since  plain- 
tiff could  not  be  prejudiced  by  a  statement  made  to  her  witness 
not  in  her  presence. 

4.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  by  stepping  on  a 
defective  plank  in  a  platform,  in  the  absence  of  a  plea  of  con- 
tributory negligence,  evidence  tending  to  show  that  plaintiff 
stepped  on  the  platform  on  a  weak  limb,  and  was  careless  in  so 
doing,  was  inadmissible. — (Bailey  vs.  Seattle  &  R.  Railway  Com- 
pany, 73  Pacific  Rep.,  679.) 

WISCONSIN. — Carriers  —  Injury  to  Passenger — Proximate 
Cause — Instructions — Right  to  Alleged  Error — Credibility  of 
Plaintiff — Argument  of  Counsel — Failure  to  Except — Exces- 
sive Verdict. 

1.  An  instruction  in  a  personal  injury  action  defining  "proxi- 
mate cause"  as  the  "direct  and  natural"  and  the  "direct  and  pro- 
ducing cause,  without  the  existence  of  which  such  injury  would  not 
have  occurred,"  is  defective,  as  it  is  sufficient  to  constitute  proxi- 
mate cause  if  the  effect  follows  naturally  and  probably,  though 
not  directly  and  immediately. 

2.  An  instruction  submitting  the  question  of  proximate  cause 
to  the  jury  is  defective  which  tells  them  that,  to  find  proximate 
cause,  they  must  find  that  the  injury  resulting  therefrom  was 
such  as  a  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  prudence  "would" 
have  reasonably  foreseen  as  a  probably  result,  etc.;  the  idea  of 
necessary  foresight  being  too  extreme  a  standard. 

3.  An  instruction  which  employs  the  expressions  "the  injury" 
and  "such  injury"  in  such  manner  as  to  convey  the  impression 
that,  to  constitute  proximate  cause,  an  ordinarily  intelligent  and 
prudent  man  ought  to  have  foreseen  not  alone  some  injury,  but 
the  very  injury  which  in  fact  resulted,  is  defective. 

4.  The  defendant  in  a  personal  injury  action  cannot  com- 
plain of  instructions  which  lay  down  too  strict  a  rule  for  the 
determination  of  proximate  cause. 

5.  A  defendant  cannot  complain  of  an  instruction  referring  the 
jury  to  other  instructions  for  a  definition  of  "proximate  cause," 
where  he  has  saved  no  exception  to  that  portion  of  the  instruc- 
tion. 

6.  In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company,  where  the  de- 
fense was  contributory  negligence  in  attempting  to  board  the  car 
before  it  had  stopped,  the  defendant  cannot  complain  of  instruc- 
tions on  the  subject  of  contributory  negligence  where  the  jury 
lias  found  that  the  car  had  stopped  before  the  plaintiff  attempted 
to  board  it. 

7.  A  defendant  cannot  complain  of  an  instruction  on  contribu- 
tory negligence  which  refers  the  jury  to  other  instructions  for 
definition  of  "negligence,"  where  he  has  failed  to  request  the  court 
to  further  define  the  word  as  used  in  that  instruction. 

8.  Informing  the  jury  that  certain  instructions  are  given  at  the 
request  of  a  particular  party  is  not  reversible  error,  though  the 
practice  is  bad. 

9.  Defendant's  instructions  that  the  jury,  in  determining  the 
credibility  of  the  plaintiff,  may  consider  the  motive  he  had  to 
testify  in  his  own  favor,  is  properly  modified  by  striking  out  the 
added  clause,  "And  you  should  especially  remember  how  far  he 
is  contradicted  by  disinterested  witnesses  upon  the  most  material 
matters." 

10.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  against  a  street  car  company 
the  defendant  cannot  complain  of  the  remarks  of  plaintiff's  coun- 
sel as  to  his  own  experience  and  observation  with  reference  to 
the  frequency  of  and  peril  from  prematurely  starting  cars,  where 
no  objection  was  made  or  opportunity  given  to  counsel  to  with- 
draw the  remarks,  or  to  the  court  to  rule  thereon,  nor  any  excep- 
tions reserved. 

11.  Remarks  of  plaintiff's  counsel  on  the  question  of  damages, 
which,  on  objection,  are  promptly  withdrawn,  the  jury  being  in- 
structed to  disregard  them,  and  the  verdict  being  reduced  to  an  ' 
amount  not  excessive,  will  not  constitute  ground  for  a  new  trial. 


12.  Plaintiff  was  shown  to  be  a  skilled  tinsmith,  forty-five 
years  of  age.  His  injuries  confined  him  some  seven  weeks  and 
rendered  him  unable  to  fully  perform  the  labors  of  his  trade 
thenceforward.  They  consisted  of  bruises,  dislocation  of  his 
shoulder,  fraction  in  the  shoulder  joint,  by  which  his  arm  was  per- 
manently disabled.  Held,  that  a  verdict  of  $2,000  was  not  exces- 
sive.— (Meyer  vs.  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
93  N.  W.  Rep.,  7.) 

WISCONSIN. — Carriers— Street  Railway— Injury  in  Fall  from 
Car — Riding  on  Platform — Negligence — Contributory  Neg- 
ligence— Special  Verdict — Confusing  Charge. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  to  recover  for  an  injury 
sustained  by  plaintiff  in  falling  from  a  car  as  it  was  going  round 
a  curve,  the  evidence  examined,  and  held  to  sustain  a  finding  that 
the  accident  was  caused  by  defendant's  negligence. 

2.  Evidence  axamined,  and  held  to  sustain  a  finding  that  plain- 
tiff was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

3.  The  special  verdict  prescribed  by  Rev.  St.  1898,  Section 
-858,  was  not  designed  to  elicit  from  the  jury  a  mere  abstract  of 
the  evidence. 

4.  There  was  no  error  in  refusing  to  submit  requested  ques- 
tions to  the  jury  which  were  covered  fully  or  in  substance  in 
charging  the  jury  under  other  questions  submitted. 

5.  A  passenger  on  a  street  car,  required  to  ride  on  the  plat- 
form because  of  its  crowded  condition,  cannot  be  said  as  a  matter 
of  law  not  to  have  assumed  any  increased  risk. 

6.  A  charge  that,  in  order  to  determine  that  defendant's  neg- 
ligence was  the  proximate  cause  of  plaintiff's  injury,  the  jury 
must  "find  from  the  testimony  that  the  circumstances  and  con- 
ditions were  such  that  the  defendant  ought  to  have  known  that 
its  conduct  might  produce  the  injury  which  the  plaintiff  sustained, 
or  to  any  body  else  standing  in  the  same  relation  he  did,"  was 
vague,  uncertain  and  calculated  to  confuse  the  jury. — (Zimmer  vs. 
Fox  River  Valley  Electric  Railway  Company,  95  N.  W.  Rep., 
957-) 

WISCONSIN. — Street  Railroads — Crossings — Injuries  to  Fire- 
man Driver  of  Hose  Cart — Negligence — Contributory  Neg- 
ligence— Question  for  Jury — Evidence — Witnesses — Cross- 
Examination — Instructions — Damages — Excessiveness. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart 
in  collision  with  a  street  car  at  a  crossing,  it  was  proved  that 
the  car  was  traveling  at  a  speed  of  from  20  to  25  miles  an  hour; 
that  nothing  was  done  to  check  the  speed  until  the  car  was  within 
some  20  ft.  of  collision,  while  plaintiff's  team  was  in  plain  sight 
when  the  car  was  100  ft.  from  the  crossing,  and  the  motorman 
neglected  to  keep  any  lookout  ahead  during  a  run  of  some  80 
ft.  of  the  approach  to  the  crossing — a  finding  that  the  motorman 
was  guilty  of  negligence  was  justified. 

2.  Whether  plaintiff,  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart,  injured  in  a  col- 
lision with  a  street  car  at  a  crossing  while  driving  to  a  fire,  was 
guilty  of  contributory  negligence  in  attempting  to  cross  ahead 
of  the  car,  was  for  the  jury. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart  in  col- 
lision with  a  street  car  at  a  crossing,  an  instruction  to  find  that 
the  driver  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  if  he  did  not  have 
his  horses  under  control  at  the  time  he  attempted  to  cross  the 
tracks,  without  reference  to  any  other  circumstances,  was  prop- 
erly refused. 

4.  Where  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart  was  justified  in  assuming 
that  a  street  car  would  stop  or  slacken  its  speed  to  permit  him  to 
cross  the  tracks  in  accordance  with  the  uniform  custom,  an  in- 
struction, in  an  action  for  injuries  to  him  in  a  collision  with  a  car, 
that  a  person  approaching  a  street  railway  track,  and  having  a 
reasonable  opportunity  to  judge  of  the  speed  of  an  approaching 
car,  is  bound  to  know  such  speed,  and  cannot  assume  that  it  is 
running  at  a  speed  consistent  with  ordinary  care,  and  proceed 
on  that  assumption,  was  properly  refused  as  inapplicable  to  the 
facts. 

5.  The  instruction  was  also  erroneous  as  requiring  a  person 
having  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  judge  of  the  speed  of  a  car 
to  "know  its  correct  speed,"  he  being  only  required  to  reach 
the  conclusion  of  an  ordinary  prudent  and  intelligent  man  under 
the  circumstances. 

6.  An  instruction  that  a  person  approaching  a  street  car  track 
is  bound  to  look  and  listen,  and  continue  to  look  and  listen  up 
to  the  last  moment,  when  his  acts  would  have  been  of  any  virtue 
in  preventing  a  collision  with  a  car,  was  inapplicable  to  the  driver 
of  a  hose  cart  approaching  a  street  railway  crossing. 

7.  An  instruction  that  ordinary  care  is  such  care  as  a  man 
of  ordinary  care  and  prudence  would  have  exercised  under  cir- 
cumstances like  those  disclosed  by  the  testimony  in  the  case, 
was  not  erroneous  because  it  did  not  require  that  the  care  should 
be  such  as  "the  great  mass  or  majority  of  mankind  would  have 
exercised  under  similar  circumstances." 


5o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i. 


8.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to'  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart 
in  collision  with  a  street  car,  it  was  undisputed  that  it  was  the 
uniform  custom  of  street  cars  to  stop  or  slacken  speed  and 
give  fire  apparatus  right  of  way,  it  was  not  error  to  charge  that, 
inasmuch  as  such  custom  had  been  established  by  undisputed 
evidence,  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  assume  that  defendants  would 
comply  therewith. 

9.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart  in 
collision  with  a  street  car,  evidence  that  witness,  who  was  sitting 
on  a  sidewalk,  had  frequently  heard  the  gong  of  a  fire  patrol 
wagon,  which  was  similar  to  the  gong  on  plaintiff's  wagon,  a 
distance  of  two  blocks,  was  not  objectionable  on  the  ground  that 
the  conditions  surrounding  the  witness  and  those  surrounding 
the  motorman  were  not  identical. 

10.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  by  collision  with  a  street 
car,  the  speed  of  the  car  was  given  by  various  witnesses  at  vary- 
ing rates  up  to  25  miles  an  hour,  and  the  motorman  had  tes- 
tified that  he  had  his  power  lever  thrown  the  second  highest 
notch,  but  that  the  speed  of  the  car  was  only  7  or  8  miles  an  hour, 
it  was  not  error  for  the  court  on  cross-examination  to  permit 
him  to  be  asked  whether  or  not  the  car  in  question  was  not  a 
specially  rapid  one,  to  which  he  answered  that,  while  it  was  nut 
the  most  rapid,  there  were  only  two  others  which  excelled  it. 

11.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  the  driver  of  a  hose  cart  in  a 
collision  with  a  street  car,  evidence  held  to  justify  a  finding  of  loss 
of  future  earning  capacity. 

12.  Plaintiff,  a  fireman,  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  who  had  at- 
tained the  rank  of  captain,  with  a  salary  of  $100  per  month,  was 
injured  in  a  collision  with  a  street  car.  His  knee  joint  was  per- 
manently loosened  and  enfeebled  and  his  chest  was  crushed,  cer- 
tain of  the  ribs  being  broken  in  front  and  rear  and  penetrating 
both  the  outer  membrane  and  the  pericardium,  leaving  adhe- 
sions which  would  permanently  and  seriously  impair  any  violent 
exertions.  His  expense  for  medical  treatment  had  been  about 
$500,  and  he  still  continues  to  suffer  two  years  after  the  injury.  He 
retained  his  place  in  the  fire  department,  but  was  unable  to  per- 
form certain  of  the  work  necessary,  by  reason  of  his  injuries. 
Held,  that  a  verdict  of  $4,000  was  not  excessive. — (Hanlon  vs. 
Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company,  95  N.  W.  Rep  . 
100.) 

WISCONSIN.— Guardian  Ad  Litem— Liability  for  Costs- 
Statutes — Constitutional  Law — Imprisonment  for  Debt — 
Equal  Protection  of  Laws — Legislative  Classification — Judg- 
ment Against  Infants — Enforcement. 

1.  Rev.  St.  1898,  section  2931,  provides  that,  when  costs  are  ad- 
judged against  an  infant  plaintiff,  the  guaidian  by  whom  he  ap- 
peared in  the  action  shall  be  responsible  therefor,  and  payment 
may  be  enforced  by  attachment.  Held,  that  the  attachment  there 
referred  to  was  not  a  capias  ad  satisfaciendum,  but  was  a  mere 
order  to  show  cause  why  the  guardian  should  not  be  punished  for 
contempt  for  failure  to  pay  such  costs,  and  hence  the  section  was 
not  in  violation  of  Cnst.  art.  r,  section  16,  prohibiting  imprison- 
ment for  a  debt  arising  out  of  or  founded  on  contract,  express  or 
implied. 

2.  Rev.  St.  1898,  section  2932,  provides  that  judgment  for  costs 
against  executors,  administrators  and  trustees  shall  be  collected 
only  out  of  the  estate  in  their  hands.  Section  2931  declares  that 
guardians  ad  litem  for  infant  plaintiffs  shall  be  responsible  for 
costs.  Held,  that  there  was  a  substantial  difference  between 
guardians  ad  litem  and  administrators  and  trustees  justifying  a 
legislative  classification,  so  that  section  2931  was  not  objection- 
able as  denying  to  guardians  ad  litem  the  equal  protection  of  the 
laws. 

3.  Rev.  St.  1898,  section  2920,  provides  that  costs  shall  be  al- 
lowed to  the  defendant  unless  the  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  costs; 
and  section  2931  declares  that  when  cost.s  are  adjudged  against  an 
infant  plaintiff  the  guardian  ad  litem  shall  be  responsible  therefor. 
Held,  that  in  an  action  by  an  infant  in  case  he  fails  to  recover  the 
judgment  for  costs  judgment  should  be  rendered  in  favor  of  the 
defendant  against  the  infant,  which  may  be  enforced  against  the 
guardian  without  the  judgment  expressly  passing  on  the  question 
of  the  guardian's  liability. — (Burbach  vs.  Milwaukee  Electric  Rail- 
way &  Light  Company,  96,  N.  W.  Rep.,  ?2Q.) 

WISCONSIN. — Carriers — Injuries   to   Passengers — Street  Rail- 
ways— Derailment — Question  for  Jury — Evidence — Judgments 
— Vacation  at  Same  Term — Jurisdiction, 
r.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street  car,  evi- 
dence that  the  accident  occurred  at  a  curve  in  the  track;  that 
crushed  rock  had  been  permitted  to  remain  on  the  rails;  and  that 
the  motorman  operated  the  car  which  was  derailed  at  a  speed  of 
from  12  to  20  miles  an  hour,  regardless  of  such  conditions — was 
sufficient  to  justify  a  jury  in  finding  that  the  derailment  of  the  car 
was  due  to  the  motorman's  negligence  in  running  the  same  at  too 
high  a  rate  of  sped,  and  to  the  negligence  of  the  company  in 


permitting  crushed  rock  to  remain  on  the  rails  as  alleged  in  the 
complaint. 

2.  The  right  of  a  trial  court  to  set  aside  a  judgment  during  the 
term  of  its  own  motion  is  not  limited  to  judgments  inadvertently 
entered,  but  extends  to  a  final  judgment  which  was  the  result  of 
a  series  of  erroneous  rulings  entered  after  deliberation. — (Smith 
vs.  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company,  96. N.  W. 
Rep.,  823.) 

WISCONSIN.— Street  Railroads— Use  of  Streets— Operation  of 
Freight  Cars — Want  of  Authority — Nuisance — Injuries  to 
Pedestrians — Complaint — Averment  of  Negligence — Neces- 
sity. 

1.  Where  a  street  railway  company  operated  freight  cars  over 
its  tracks  without  authority  and  in  violation  of  law,  the  operation 
of  such  cars  constituted  a  nuisance,  for  which  a  pedestrian  injured 
thereby  was  entitled  to  recover  without  regard  to  the  care  exer- 
cised in  operating  such  trains,  and  hence  a  complaint  alleging  such 
operation  a  special  injury  was  not  demurrable  for  failure  to  allege 
negligence  in  the  operation  of  such  cars. — (Daly  vs.  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company,  96  N.  W.  Rep.,  832.) 
WISCONSIN.— Street  Railroads— Killing  Pedestrian  at  Street 
Crossing — Negligence  of  Motorman — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  A  motorman  in  charge  of  an  electric  street  car  is  chargeable 
with  the  duty  of  using  ordinary  care  by  keeping  a  lookout  ahead 
so  as  to  avoid  colliding  with  persons  on  the  track. 

2.  It  is  the  duty  of  a  motorman  in  charge  of  an  electric  street 
car  as  he  approaches  a  street  crossing  to  observe  children  near 
the  track  in  such  an  attitude  as  to  suggest  the  probability  of  their 
placing  themselves  in  the  way  of  the  car,  and  to  use  all  reasonable 
care  to  avoid  injuring  them. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  the  killing 
of  a  child  at  a  crossing  on  a  street  where  the  company  operated 
two  tracks,  the  south  track  being  for  east-bound  cars  and  the 
north  one  for  the  west-bound  cars,  by  reason  of  the  child  crossing 
the  south  track  immediately  after  a  car  thereon  had  passed,  and 
entering  on  the  north  track,  where  it  was  struck  by  a  west-bound 
car,  evidence  examined,  and  held,  that  the  question  whether  de- 
fendant was  guilty  of  actionable  negligence  was  for  the  jury. — 
(Fo-restal  vs.  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
97  N.  W.  Rep.,  182.) 

CHARTERS,  FRANCHISES  AND  ORDINANCES. 
NEW  YORK. — Eminent  Domain — Elevated  Roads — Action  for 
Damages —  Evidence — Admission  of  Incompetent  Testimony, 
t.  In  an  action  to  recover  damages  caused  by  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  an  elevated  road,  evidence  of  sales  and  rentals 
of  specific  pieces  of  property,  other  than  the  property  in  suit,  is 
inadmissible. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  to  recover  damages  for  the  construction 
of  an  elevated  road,  on  cross-examination  inquiry  is  made  as  to 
the  effect  on  other  property,  plaintiff  may  on  redirect  examination 
make  full  inquiry  with  reference  thereto,  but  he  cannot  give  evi- 
dence as  to  additional  property  not  embraced  in  such  examina- 
tion. 

3.  Error  in  admitting  incompetent  evidence  is  not  cured  by  a 
statement  by  the  trial  judge  in  his  decision  and  in  the  judgment 
entered  thereon  that  in  deciding  the  case  he  disregarded  such  error. 
—  (Robinson  et  al.  vs.  New  York  Elevated  Railroad  Company  et  al., 
67  N.  E.  Rep.,  431.) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Traction  Company— Lease  of  Street  Rail- 
way— Rights  Acquired — In j  unction — Laches. 

r,  A  traction  company  which  leases  the  road  of  a  street  rail- 
way company  which  has  the  consent  of  the  city  to  use  its  streets 
succeeds  to  the  right  to  such  use. 

2.  A  street  railway  company  obtained  the  right  to  use  the 
streets  of  a  borough  under  an  agreement  to  use  guard  wires  over 
the  trolley  wire.  This  condition  was  not  enforced  for  a  long  time, 
when  the  borough  filed  a  bill  to  restrain  the  operation  of  cars  in  the 
streets.  Held,  that  a  bill  filed  after  some  years,  and  without  previ- 
ous formal  demand  to  enjoin  the  use  of  said  streets  because  the 
guard  wires  had  not  been  put  up,  would  be  dismissed  if  within  a 
reasonable  time  the  railway  company  put  up  the  wires. —  (Consho- 
hocken  Borough  vs.  Conshohocken  Railway  Company  et  al.,  55 
Atlantic  Rep.,  855.) 

TENNESSEE. — Carriers  of  Passengers — Street  Railways- — Ejec- 
tion of  Passengers — Refusal  of  Transfer  Ticket. 
1.  Where  the  conductor  on  a  street  railway  car  gave  plaintiff 
a  transfer,  which  was  refused  by  the  conductor  of  the  car  to  which 
plaintiff  properly  changed,  on  the  ground  that  the  transfer  was 
defective,  and  plaintiff,  being  without  money,  was  forcibly  ex- 
pelled from  the  car,  he  can  recover  therefore  against  the  railway. 
Negligence  in  the  issuing  of  the  transfer  was  that  of  the  company, 
and  plaintiff  was  not  bound  to  examine  it. — (Memphis  Street 
Railway  Company  vs.  Graves,  75  S.  W.  Rep.,  729.) 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


5i 


LONDON  LETTER 


(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent.) 
Within  the  past  tew  weeks  the  Board  of  Trade  has  given  its 
official  sanction  to  the  Uxbridge  and  Hammersmith  extension  of 
the  London  United  Electric  Tramways  Company.  The  service  is 
now  inaugurated  between  the  town  of  Uxbridge  and  Shepherd's 
Bush  and  Hammersmith  at  intervals  of  five  minutes,  the  fare  for 
the  thirteen  miles  being  5d.  Mr.  Clifton  Robinson  is  to  be  con- 
gratulated upon  the  successful  completion  of  this,  the  latest  ex- 
tension to  the  already  extensive  system  of  tramways  in  the  west  of 
London.  This  company  is  now  working  36  route  miles  of  tram- 
ways while  38  additional  miles  have  been  authorized,  and  5  further 
miles  passed  by  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  the 
present  session. 

The  Royal  Commission  on  London  Traffic  has  now  concluded 
its  labors  so  far  as  the  taking  of  evidence  is  concerned,  and  the 
last  day  proved  to  be  one  of  considerable  interest.  Mr.  Edgar  Speyer, 
whose  banking  firm  has  been  largely  identified  with  the  financing  of 
the  tube  railway  and  the  Metropolitan  District  Railway  Company,  in 
which  Mr.  Yerkes  is  interested,  was  a  witness  on  that  day.  Mr. 
Speyer  took  the  opportunity  of  vigorously  repudiating  some  un- 
worthy allegations  concerning  the  finances  of  the  lines  in  which 
he  is  interested  by  the  London  County  Council,  and  stated  that 
the  newly  electrified  district  railway  would  be  ready  for  service 
about  the  beginning  of  1905.  He  computed  that  the  underground 
company  will  be  able  to  carry  on  the  tube  lines  327,000,000  pas- 
sengers, and  on  the  district  railway  40,000,000  more  passengers  per 
year  than  at  present.  Mr.  J.  Clifton  Robinson  also  gave  evidence 
and  stated  that  he  favored  the  appointment  of  an  impartial  tri- 
bunal to  deal  with  all  questions  relating  to  transportation  in  Lon- 
don. Such  a  tribunal  would  be  able  to  overcome  many  of  the 
difficulties  such  as  existed  to-day,  particularly  in  tramway  ter- 
mini, which  naturally  caused  blocks  to  the  traffic.  He  also  put 
himself  on  record  as  being  favorable  to  the  installation  of  tram- 
ways in  the  city  which  he  claimed  would  help  largely  to  relieve 
the  extremely  congested  condition  of  the  streets,  the  natural  re- 
sult of  an  efficient  service  of  tram  cars  being  materially  to  reduce 
the  number  of  cabs  and  omnibuses  which,  with  their  horses  take 
up  a  large  part  of  the  street  accommodation.  Mr.  Robinson 
stated,  however,  that  there  were  places  in  the  city  of  London 
where  even  he  would  not  venture  to  install  a  tramway,  such  as 
Cheapside  or  in  the  space  in  front  of  the  Mansion  House.  Two 
schemes  suggested  themselves  to  his  mind,  one  being  a  line  from 
Shepherds  Rush  to  St.  Paul's,  from  which  point  he  would  suggest 
that  an  underground  conduit  be  built  for  tramways  under  Cheap- 
side,  which  would  emerge  again  in  Moorgate  Street.  The  other 
scheme  would  be  the  formation  of  a  tramway  line  from  Ham- 
mersmith through  Piccadilly  to  the  Strand,  which,  with  the  great 
•mprovements  in  street-widening  being  made  by  the  London 
County  Council  is  becoming  much  more  suitable  for  the  installa- 
tion of  a  tramway  service.  The  Royal  Commission  will  now  pro- 
ceed with  the  preparation  of  its  report  which  will  undoubtedly  take 
a  number  of  months  in  preparation. 

Messrs.  J.  G.  White  &  Company  are  certainly  to  be  congratu- 
lated upon  the  marvellous  speed  with  which  they  have  completed 
the  electrifying  of  the  cable  tramways  from  Kennington  to  Streat- 
ham  commonly  called  the  Brixton  Hill  tramways.  We  have  re- 
ferred to  this  installation  before,  stating  how  originally  it  was  in- 
tended to  have  the  electric  cars  use  the  cable  up  Brixton  Hill, 
but  how,  after  experimentation,  it  was  decided  that  such  a  scheme 
was  not  practicable,  and  that,  therefore,  the  whole  system  of  cable 
tramways  would  have  to  be  changed  to  electric  tramways.  Messrs. 
White  &  Company  prepared  themselves  for  the  work,  and  not  a 
stone  was  lifted  until  everything  was  absolutely  ready  to  be  put 
in  place.  The  work  was  commenced  on  April  5,  and  by  May  20 
electric  cars  were  running  on  the  double  track  between  Kennington 
Station  and  Brixton  Station,  while  the  Board  of  Trade  inspectors 
had  passed  the  section  as  far  as  Brixton  Hill.  The  work  has  now 
been  completed,  and  it  is  confidently  thought  it  will  stand  as  a 
record  for  fast  work,  not  only  in  Great  Britain,  but  also  in  Amer- 
ica. Between  1500  and  1600  men  have  been  constantly  employed 
from  the  commencement,  and  nearly  all  of  the  work  has  been  done 
in  the  daytime. 

Aston  is  now  in  a  position  to  commence  its  service  of  electric 
tramways  trials  having  recently  been  made,  among  the  first  to  ride 
from  Aston  Cross  to  the  Birmingham  boundary  being  the  Mayor 
of  Aston.  The  cars  adopted  by  Aston  are  somewhat  smaller  than 
those  of  the  Birmingham  Corporation,  and  will  accommodate  48 
passengers.  They  are  double-decked  on  single  trucks  with  a  6-ft. 
wheel  base.  Arrangements  for  running  regularly  will  not  be  set- 
tled until  the  question  of  running  the  cars  on  the  Birmingham 
lines  has  been  decided  upon.    Good  progress  is  also  being  made 


with  the  other  lines,  and  it  is  hoped  that  in  a  few  months  the 
whole  system  will  be  completed. 

The  Corporation  of  Birmingham  has  now  had  presented  to 
it  a  full  report  of  the  tramways  committee,  regarding  the 
tramway  situation  on  what  is  necessary  to  be  dune  so  as  to  equip 
the  City  of  Birmingham  with  a  perfect  system  of  electric  tram- 
ways, and  the  cost  of  same.  As  is  well  known,  Birmingham,  up  to 
the  present,  has  not  had  any  tramways  of  its  own,  the  various 
systems  concentrating  in  the  center  of  Birmingham  being  owned 
by  different  companies  and  operated  by  steam  to  a  large  extent. 
Since  the  Corporation  decided  to  take  over  its  own  tramways 
it  has  laid  out  a  most  comprehensive  scheme  which  will  pre- 
vent, to  a  large  extent,  the  "dead-end"  termini  which  at  present 
exists  in  the  city,  and  will  do  away  with  the  old  square  loop. 
This  will  be  accomplished  by  arranging  for  through  routes  more 
than  at  present,  and  for  certain  of  the  lines  forming  a  wide  return 
loop  through  several  streets  on  single  lines  so  that  termini  will  be 
avoided.  As  at  present  outlined  the  total  cost  involved  in  the 
construction  of  about  39  miles  of  new  line  will  be  about  £295,000, 
though  at  present  it  is  not  intended  to  expend  this,  amount  at  once. 
Parliamentary  powers,  however,  will  be  sought  for  this  service, 
which,  knowing  the  extreme  urgency  of  a  good  system  in  Birming- 
ham, cannot  be  considered  as  excessive  in  any  way. 

ft  is  also  proposed  to  make  a  provisional  agreement  with  the 
City  of  Birmingham  Tramways  Company  for  the  immediate  elec- 
trification of  the  Small  Heath  route,  and  for  the  future  working 
of  the  line  which  is  now  owned  by  the  British  Electric  Traction 
Company.  Certain  concessions  have  been  made  on  each  side,  and 
running  powers  granted  the  entire  route  both  to  Corporation  cars 
and  City  of  Birmingham  cars,  and  the  Corporation  three-fourths, 
the  Corporation  of  Birmingham  taking  three-fourths  of  the  re- 
ceipts and  the  company  one-fourth.  The  Corporation,  however, 
has  decided  not  to  change  crews  at  the  boundary  line  as  is  done 
in  Liverpool,  the  company  not  liking  that  arrangement  and  the 
Corporation  seeing  no  real  objection  to  the  company's  officials 
running  its  own  cars  all  the  way  into  the  city  rather  than  to 
change  crews  at  the  boundary. 

A  system  of  celluloid  tramway  checks  has  been  introduced  on 
the  Leeds  tramways  with  the  object  of  baulking  the  dilatory  errand 
boy.  It  is  realized  that  the  boy  who  is  given  money  for  the  tram- 
way car  often  spends  it  on  sweets,  and  walks.  The  tradesman 
is  not  supplied  with  the  tokens  at  a  reduced  rate,  but,  says  the 
"Daily  Dispatch,"  he  is  in  the  position  of  knowing  that  his  errand 
boy  will  ride  the  journey  and  thus  save  time. 

It  looks  as  if  we  might,  in  the  near  future  have  another  surface 
contact  system  in  England,  this  time  the  Dolter  system.  The  Tor- 
quay tramway  bill  has  now  passed  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  a 
a  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Lords,  presided  over  by  Lord 
Hawkesbury.  having  confirmed  the  decision  of  a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Commons  that  the  preamble  proved.  The  promoters 
are  the  Dolter  Electric  Traction  Company,  which  proposes  to 
construct  a  length  of  9  route  miles  of  tramways  in  the  borough 
of  Torquay.  The  cost  of  the  scheme,  including  equipment,  is 
estimated  at  £136,000,  and  has  the  support  of  the  corporation  of 
Torquay. 

Opinion  has  been  greatly  divided  in  Dartford  as  to  the  advisa- 
bility of  the  Council  undertaking  the  construction  and  direct  work- 
ing of  the  proposed  tramways,  which  will  connect  with  the  Bex- 
ley  Heath  system.  A  solution  of  the  difficulty  has  been  arrived 
at  by  arrangements  with  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  Ltd.,  to  con- 
struct the  lines  at  a  cost  of  £83,000.  The  contractors  have  offered 
to  work  the  tramways  for  five  years  on  a  lease,  under  which  they 
will  pay  the  Council  the  amount  of  interest  and  sinking  fund  on 
capital,  and  also  to  pay  in  addition  20  per  cent  of  any  profits.  The 
Council  will  have  the  option,  at  the  end  of  five  years,  either  of 
taking  over  the  tramways  themselves,  or  of  calling  upon  the  con- 
tractors to  enter  into  a  further  lease  of  five  years  on  similar  con- 
ditions, and  also  a  third  lease  of  five  years  if  the  Council  choose. 
The  contractors  will  take  the  town's  current  at  the  price  of  2d  per 
unit  for  the  first  100,000  per  annum,  at  ij^d.  per  unit  for  100,000 
to  150,000  units,  and  at  I'  jd.  per  unit  for  over  150,000.  The  com- 
pany will  pay  all  expenses  of  working,  including  rates,  taxes.,  etc., 
and  will  maintain  the  track  and  cars  at  its  own  expense,  and 
deliver  up  the  whole  undertaking  to  the  Council  at  the  expiration 
of  the  lease  in  good  working  order  and  condition. 

The  Council  has  agreed  to  these  terms,  and  has  also  decided 
to  apply  to  Parliament  for  power  to  continue  the  system  to  Swans- 
combe,  so  as  to  form  a  junction  with  the  Gravesend  tramways. 
This  will  mean  a  continuous  line  from  Gravesend  to  London,  and 
if  the  link  is  made  between  Gravesend  and  the  Chatham  systems, 
there  are  prospects  of  the  day  when  those  who  choose  will  be 
able  to  travel  all  the  way  from  Maidstone  to  London  by  tramcar. 

Preliminary  arrangements  for  the  third  Electric  Tramway  and 
Railway  Exhibition,  to  be  held  in  the  Royal  Agricidttir.nl  Hall. 


52 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.   No.  i. 


Islington,  London,  N.,  from  July  3  to  14,  1905,  are  now  practically 
completed.  Although  the  hrst  announcement  ot  the  aate  was  not 
made  until  a  few  weeks  ago,  numerous  applications  have  been  re- 
ceived, and  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  space  in  the  main  hall 
has  already  been  allotted.  Several  important  firms  have  applied 
for  double  the  amount  of  space  that  they  occupied  in  the  last  ex- 
hibition; and  although  there  will  be  some  change  in  the  plan  of 
the  floor,  it  will  be  very  similar  to  that  in  1902.  Several  technical 
associations  will,  it  is  expected,  hold  meetings  at  the  hall  during 
the  Exhibition,  which  will  also  be  visited  by  official  deputations 
from  local  authorities  and  companies,  working  electric  tramways 
and  railways  throughout  the  country. 

The  Sunderland  District  Electric  Tramways,  Limited,  will  soon 
have  in  operation  a  line  of  tramways  which  will  form  a  connecting 
link  between  a  string  of  populous  centers  and  join  up  the  town- 
ships of  Hetton-le-Hole,  Houghton-le-Spring,  the  Herringtons, 
Silkesworth  and  Ryhope,  with  branches  from  Houghton-le-Spring 
to  Fence  Houses  station  on  the  North-Eastern  Railway,  and 
from  New  Herrington  to  Penshaw  station  on  the  same  line.  The 
new  line,  a  third  of  which  has  already  been  completed,  will  serve 
a  most  important  and  populous  coal  mining  district,  the  popula- 
tion along  the  route  numbering  125,000,  while  within  a  12-mile 
radius  there  is  a  populace  of  at  least  ten  times  that  number.  In- 
volving an  outlay  of  £227,000,  the  new  line  will  join  Sunderland 
Corporation  system  at  Grangetown,  and  as  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  district  is  not  directly  accommodated  by  any  railway,  the 
Sunderland  and  District  Electric  Tramways  will  supply  a  very 
welcome  means  of  up-to-date  locomotion,  as  well  as  lead  to  the 
further  development  of  an  already  prosperous  district.  The  com- 
pany's contracts  provide  for  the  construction  of  permanent  way, 
the  erection  and  equipment  of  a  generating  station,  the  electric 
overhead  accessories  of  the  line,  and  the  supply  of  thirty  double- 
deck  cars.  The  electrical  machinery  and  rolling  stock,  for  which 
Messrs.  Bruce,  Peebles,  and  Company,  of  Edinburgh,  are  the 
contractors,  are  also  well  advanced. 

An  important  electric  tramway  scheme  has  just  been  sanctioned 
in  the  county  of  Middlesex  by  the  Light  Railway  Commissioners. 
The  tramways,  which  will  run  to  a  total  length  of  21  miles,  include, 
among  others:  (1.)  A  line  of  about  3  miles,  commencing  in 
Green  Lanes,  and  passing  as  far  as  Green  Dragon  Lane.  (  2.  )  A 
line  of  about  1%  miles,  from  Turnpike  Lane  along  High  Street, 
Hornsey  as  far  as  the  foot  of  Muswell  Hill.  (3.)  A  line  about 
half  a  mile  long  beginning  in  Palace  Gates  Road,  and  ending  in 
Lordship  Lane.  (4.)  A  line  4  miles  long,  commencing  at  the 
county  boundary  in  Finchley  Road,  passing  along  Regent's  Park 
Road,  and  Ballard's  Lane,  and  ending  in  the  Great  North  Road. 
(5.)  A  tramway  of  7  furlongs  commencing  in  the  Edgware  Road, 
and  terminating  in  the  Finchley  Road.  (6.)  A  line  2*/>  miles 
long  commencing  in  the  Harrow  Road,  and  ending  at  Horn 
Lane.  (7.)  A  tramway  iT/2  miles  long,  beginning  at  Green 
Lanes,  and  going  to  Edmonton  and  Enfield.  (8.)  A  tramway 
2lA  miles  long,  from  the  Harrow  Road,  and  terminating  in  the 
Edgware  Road,  at  its  intersection  with  Cricklewood  Lane.  Two 
of  the  schemes  are  interesting  as  giving  access  to  the  Alexandria 
Palace.  A.  C.  S. 


PARIS  LETTER 


(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent.) 

In  1899  the  Minister  of  Public  Works  granted  concessions  to  sev- 
eral companies  to  build  what  were  called  "penetration"  lines  of 
tramway  into  the  city,  from  outside  districts.  As  we  have  several 
times  pointed  out,  few  of  these  enterprises  have  been  commercial 
successes,  notably  the  Est  Parisien,  the  Ouest  Parisien  and  finally 
the  line  Vanves-Champ-de-Mars,  operating  in  the  southwest  dis- 
trict of  the  suburbs,  which  was  obliged  to  consent  to  a  seizure  of  its 
cars  and  machinery  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  its  creditors.  In  this 
case,  however,  and  at  the  last  moment,  the  State  intervened  and 
declared  that  the  seizure  was  illegal  in  view  of  the  public  character 
of  the  enterprise,  and  also  that  the  tramway  lines  were  no  more 
liable  to  foreclosure  by  creditors  than  are  the  public  roads  over 
which  they  pass.  The  case  will,  of  course,  be  brought  before  the 
highest  tribunals  and  presents  a  lively  interest  to  the  companies 
holding  the  concessions  granted  in  1899. 

The  Paris  Metropolitan  Company,  after  having  started  the  first 
few  months  of  the  present  year  with  a  large  increase  in  traffic  re- 
ceipts, is  not  continuing  the  increase,  and  the  receipts  are,  if  any- 
thing, a  little  lower  than  those  of  the  same  months  of  1903.  The 
opening  of  the  No.  3  line,  towards  the  close  of  the  summer,  will  of 
course  have  an  immediate  effect  on  the  existing  lines  with  which  it 
forms  a  connection. 

Some  further  details  are  at  hand  regarding  the  new  power  sta- 
tion at  St.  Ouen  destined  to  supply  power  for  the  Metropolitan 


lines  (although  owned  by  a  private  company).  The  boilers  will  be 
of  the  Babcock  &  Wilcox  marine  type,  numbering  in  all  twenty, 
with  a  heating  surface  of  420  sq.  m.  each.  Mechanical  stokers, 
superheaters  and  economizers  will  be  installed.  The  station  has 
been  designed  to  supply  current  for  the  apparatus  discharging  coal 
from  barges  in  the  Seine  close  at  hand,  and  transporting  it  to  the 
doors  of  the  furnaces. 

There  is  to  be  held  at  Grenoble  between  Aug.  4  and  11  this  year, 
an  exposition  of  safety  devices  for  the  protection  of  overhead  and 
other  lines.  Grenoble  is  the  center  of  the  favored  district  using 
mountain  torrents  and  streams  for  the  generation  of  energy,  and 
the  exposition  is  under  the  auspices  of  the  "Houille  Blanche"  com- 
mittee, which  held  the  interestingcongress  in  this  city  some  two  years 
ago.  The  exhibition  will  include  all  manner  of  safety  devices  for 
transmission  and  trolley  lines,  underground  feeders,  etc.,  with 
especial  regard  to  atmospheric  discharge  and  short  circuits.  The 
exposition  is  open  to  foreign  as  well  as  French  exhibitors. 

Apropos  of  this,  some  interesting  experiments  have  recently  been 
made  at  Evian-les-Bains  on  a  series  of  protective  apparatus  in- 
vented by  M.  Giraud  for  overhead  transmissions  and  trolley  lines. 
At  Evian-les-Bains  there  is  installed  in  the  private  park  of  the 
Evian  Water  Establishments  a  transmission  of  3000  volts,  and  a 
trolley  line  with  two  conductors,  with  a  difference  of  potential  of 
200  volts,  and  presenting  some  sharp  curves.  The  apparatus  in 
question  is  in  principle  a  device  for  short-circuiting  the  line  at  the 
moment  of  rupture  of  the  trolley  wire  or  other  conductor.  It  is 
based  on  the  action  of  the  difference  of  mechanical  tension  caused 
at  the  insulator  or  trolley  ear  on  the  breaking  of  the  conductor. 
The  ear  or  insulator  is  mounted  on  a  pivoted  lever,  the  extension 
of  which  is  arranged  to  make  contact  with  the  second  conductor 
or  the  ground,  as  the  case  may  be,  whenever,  after  rupture,  the  pull 
exercised  by  the  suspended  end  of  the  line  causes  the  lever 
to  rotate  on  its  axis,  and  the  opposite  extension  to  make  contact 
with  the  short-circuiting  device  which  is,  of  course,  mounted  on 
the  pole  supporting  the  conductor. 

The  accumulator  cars  running  for  the  past  five  years  between 
Milan  and  Monza  (Italy)  have  discontinued  operations.  The 
abandoment  of  this  scheme  was  hastened  by  the  installation  of  a 
trolley  line  between  these  two  towns  by  the  Milan-Edison  Company. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  German  town  of  Dresden  (Saxony), 
after  having  been  rather  favorably  impressed  with  the  Dolter  sur- 
face contact  system  of  traction,  has  now  installed  accumulator  cars 
m  the  town  and  district.  The  motor-car  consists  of  two  parts  with 
a  flexible  coupling.  The  four  motors  are  each  of  27-hp,  gear  ratio 
2.21,  and  the  two  motors  of  each  part  of  the  car  are  connected  in 
series.  The  length  of  car  is  j8  m  90,  and  weight  is  44  tons.  The 
average  speed  is  stated  to  be  45  km  per  hour.  The  car  holds  ninety- 
eight  passengers.  The  battery  contains  184  elements  of  a  capacity 
of  430  ampere-hours,  and  the  cells  are  beneath  the  car  seats. 

An  important  scheme  has  been  promoted  in  Denmark  for  a  100- 
km  line  between  Frederikssund  and  Nestved,  crossing  the  Isle  of 
Seeland.  The  service  will  be  started  in  1905.  The  cost  of  con- 
struction is  estimated  to  be  3242  Cr.  per  km. 

A  few  interesting  figures  can  be  quoted  from  German  government 
publications  regarding  the  standing  of  tramways  in  the  kingdom 
of  Prussia  in  1903. 

In  April,  1903,  there  were  148  enterprises,  with  a  total  length  of 
2480  km.  Berlin  itself  accounts  for  304  km,  but  the  average  length 
of  line  is  16.7  km  ;  of  the  148  enterprises  above  mentioned,  some 
26  (279  km)  are  purely  industrial  or  agricultural  roads.  Of  the 
total  length  of  2480  km  operated,  there  were  2215  km  electric  (102 
companies)  and  111  km  (17  lines)  steam  operated.  Horse  trac- 
tion is  still  represented  by  twenty-three  lines  with  a  length  of  100 
km;  49  km  (two  lines)  are  operated  jointly  by  horses  and  electric 
power.  The  capital  investment  for  these  tramways  is  calculated  to 
he  573,152,000  marks  (or  231,250  marks  per  km  narrow-gage  track 
and  342,200  marks  per  km  for  standard  gage  track).  Of  the  124 
companies  in  service  which  have  published  results  of  their  opera- 
tions, thirty-two  have  paid  no  dividends.  Others  have  paid  various 
dividends,  5  per  cent  on  the  capital  in  twenty-three  instances,  and 
5  to  10  per  cent  for  eighteen  cases.  In  the  case  of  three  companies, 
the  dividends  exceeded  10  per  cent. 

The  above  results  are  purely  those  affecting  tramways.  Inter- 
urban  railways,  or  railways  of  local  interest,  numbered,  in  1903, 
some  226  (7330  km),  of  which  one  (Pomerania)  figures  for  1317 
km  and  another  (Brandebourg)  for  700  km.  Steam  traction  is 
generally  employed,  accounting  for  6950  km  out  of  the  above  total, 
and  including  208  different  lines.  There  were  fifteen  electric  lines, 
with  a  length  of  341  km,  while  three  included  a  mixed  system  of 
traction,  with  a  kilometrage  of  35.  The  capital  expenditure  repre- 
sented 383,040,700  marks,  or  an  average  of  52,270  marks  per  kilo- 
meter. Of  the  160  companies  giving  regular  service,  fifty  paid  no 
dividend  in  1903,  100  distributed  1  to  5  per  cent,  seven  paid  5  to 
10  per  cent,  and  three  paid  over  10  per  cent. 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


53 


In  view  of  the  high  cost  of  fuel  (0.61  Frs.  per  train-kilometer) 
the  St.Gothard  Company  has  been  studying  the  question  of  elec- 
tric traction,  with  hope  of  reducing  the  expense  per  train-kilometer 
to  0.44  Frs.,  implying  an  economy  of  over  16  per  cent.  The  figure 
of  0.44  Frs.,  includes  interest  and  reserve  fund  as  well  as  main- 
tenance expenses  of  an  electric  installation.  Mr.  Huber,  of  the 
Oerlikon  Works,  estimates  that  the  requisite  capital  would  be  about 
five  millions  of  francs  for  the  establishment  of  electric  traction  be- 
tween Erstfeld  and  Bellinzona.  It  will  be  remembered  that  experi- 
ments with  an  Oerlikon  locomotive  have  already  been  made  on 
the  trial  length  of  700  m.,  with  a  single-phase  current  of  12,000 
volts,  transformed  on  the  locomotives. 

The  Metropolitan  Railway  Company,  of  Paris,  states  that  it 
has  on  order  167  motor  cars  destined  for  the  two  lines  in  service, 
and  also  ninety  for  the  No.  3  line  soon  to  be  opened.  For  the 
No.  3  line  fifty-six  trailers  are  also  on  order. 

An  important  order  has  been  placed  in  France  for  nearly  300 
motor  and  trail  cars  destined  for  the  Underground  Electric  Rail- 
ways of  London.    Four  different  companies  are  handling  this  order, 
three  of  which  are  on  the  outskirts  of  Paris.  M.  V. 
 ♦♦♦ 

AN  OLD  PAPER  IN  A  NEW  FORM 

Commencing  with  the  issue  of  June  17,  the  Railroad  Gazette, 
which  for  a  long  time  has  been  published  with  a  large  page,  reduced 
the  size  of  its  page  to  10  ins.  x  13  ins.,  or  practically  the  same  size 
as  most  of  the  other  technical  papers.  The  change  gives  the  paper  a 
greatly  improved  appearance  and  will  undoubtedly  be  welcomed  by 
its  many  readers.  The  Railroad  Gazette  is  one  of  the  most  highly 
esteemed  of  the  exchanges  which  reach  this  office,  and  any  change  of 
this  kind  which  makes  the  paper  more  easily  read  and  afterwards 
more  convenient  to  bind  and  place  on  the  shelves,  is  one  which  will 
be  generally  welcomed. 



DECISION  IN  BROOKLYN  TRANSFER  CASE 


The  Appellate  Division  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Second  Depart- 
ment, in  Brooklyn,  has  decided  that  the  railroad  law  makes  it 
obligatory  for  street  railway  corporations  to  give  continuous 
passages  over  their  lines  and  their  leased  lines  for  a  single  fare, 
or,  in  other  words,  to  issue  transfers  between  their  own  lines  and 
their  leased  lines.  The  opinion,  written  by  Justice  Wood- 
ward, was  handed  down  in  an  affirming  decision  of  the 
First  District  Municipal  Court  in  inflicting  a  fine  of  $50 
on  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company  for  refusing 
to  give  a  transfer  from  a  Vanderbilt  Avenue  to  a  Crosstown 
car  on  Dec.  8,  1903.  The  contention  of  the  company  was  that  the 
Vanderbilt  Avenue  line,  which  is  a  part  of  the  old  Nassau  system, 
was  being  operated  under  an  entirely  different  lease  from  that  under 
which  the  Crosstown  line,  part  of  the  Brooklyn  City  Railroad  sys- 
tem, was,  and  that  therefore  the  law  did  not  compel  a  continuous 
passage  over  the  two  lines  for  a  single  fare. 

Justice  Woodward,  in  his  opinion,  quotes  the  law  of  1890  regard- 
ing leasing  and  leased  lines  as  follows : 

Every  such  corporation  entering  into  such  contract  shall  carry  or  permit 
any  other  party  thereto  to  carry  between  any  two  points  on  the  railroads  or 
portions  thereof  embraced  in  such  contract  any  passenger  desiring  to  make 
one  continuous  trip  between  such  points  for  one  single  fare,  not  higher  than 
the  fare  lawfully  chargeable  by  either  of  such  corporations  for  an  adult 
passenger;  and  every  such  corporation  shall,  upon  demand  and  without  extra 
charge,  give  to  each  passenger  paying  one  single  fare  a  transfer  entitling  such 
passenger  to  one  continuous  trip  to  any  point  or  portion  of  any  railroad  em- 
braced in  such  contract,  to  the  end  that  public  convenience  may  be  pro- 
moted by  the  operation  of  the  railroads  embraced  in  such  contract,  substan- 
tially as  a  single  railroad,  with  a  single  rate  of  fare.  For  every  refusal  to 
comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  section  the  corporation  so  refusing  shall 
forfeit  $50  to  the  aggrieved  party. 

Speaking  of  the  consolidation  of  the  systems,  the  opinion  says : 

As  the  privilege  was  granted  only  in  connection  with  the  obligation  to 
furnish  transfers  over  all  of  the  lines  embraced  in  the  contract,  as  the 
Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Company  was  under  contract,  and  in  effect  a  part  of 
the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company's  system,  at  the  time  that  the  Nas- 
sau Electric  Railroad  Company  entered  into  its  contract  with  the  Brooklyn 
Heights  Company,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why  the  latter  should  be  re- 
lieved from  responsibility  in  the  present  case.  As  the  operating  company  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  company  has  received  the  benefits  of  the  privilege  con- 
ferred by  the  statute;  no  good  reason  is  suggested  why  it  should  not  have 
discharged  the  obligation  imposed  by  the  statute  as  a  condition  of  that  privi- 
lege. *  *  *  *  It  was  the  burden  which  was  intended  to  go  with  the  privi- 
lege, and  this  purpose  ought  not  to  be  defeated  because  the  plaintiff's  initial 
trip  was  upon  the  Nassau  Electric  line,  to  be  completed  upon  the  Brooklyn 
City  line,  instead  of  upon  (lie  Brooklyn  Heights  line,  to  be  completed  upon 
one  or  the  other  of  the  lesser  roads. 

This  would  permit  the  defendant  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the  statute  with- 
out the  reciprocal  advantage  to  the  public  which  was  contemplated  by  the 
transfer  provisions  of  the  law. 


JOINT  PASSENGER  ARRANGEMENTS  OF  NORTHWESTERN 
ELEVATED  AND  ST.  PAUL 


Pj-esident  Clarence  Buckingham,  of  the  Northwestern  Elevated, 
of  Chicago,  is  quoted  as  stating  that  negotiations  are  proceeding 
with  excellent  prospects  of  success  between  his  company  and  Chi- 
cago, Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  for  joint  passenger  arrangements  over 
the  Elevated  and  St.  Paul's  Evanston  division.  Ordinance  to  permit 
the  use  of  electricity  on  the  St.  Paul  tracks  and  a  connection  with 
the  Northwestern  Elevated  has  been  introduced  in  the  City  Council. 

 ♦♦♦  

INTERNATIONAL  ELECTRICAL  CONGRESS  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


Indications  point  to  a  large  attendance  at  the  Electrical  Con- 
gress, to  be  held  in  St.  Louis,  Sept.  12-17.  The  following  bodies 
have  already  promised  to  hold  simultaneous  conventions  and  joint 
sessions :  The  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  the 
American  Electrochemical  Society,  the  American  Physical  Society, 
the  International  Association  of  Municipal  Electricians,  the  Amer- 
ican Electrotherapeutic  Association.  The  following  bodies  have 
promised  to  send  delegates  to  the  Congress:  The  National  Elec- 
tric Light  Association,  the  Association  of  Edison  Illuminating 
Company,  the  Societe  Internationale  des  Electriciens  and  the 
Schweizerischer  Elektrotechnischer  Verein.  It  is  also  expected 
that  the  Institution  of  Electrical  Engineers  of  Great  Britain,  and 
the  Electrotechnischer  Verein,  of  Berlin,  will  send  delegates. 

The  delegates  accredited  to  the  Congress  from  various  co- 
operating bodies  are  not  expected  to  be  called  upon  to  vote  upon 
any  questions  of  national  importance.  All  matters  concerning 
units,  standards,  etc.,  will  lie  within  the  province  of  the  chamber 
of  government  delegates.  All  delegates  of  the  co-operating  bodies 
are  invited  to  read  papers  before  any  section  of  the  Congress  they 
select.  Such  papers  will  be  printed  in  the  Congress  transactions 
as  being  offered  by  the  delegate  on  behalf  of  the  co-operating  body. 
The  paper  and  discussion  thereon  will  subsequently  be  offered  by 
the  Congress  to  the  co-operating  body  for  incorporation  in  its  own 
transactions,  if  desired. 

The  delegates  of  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engi- 
neers and  their  papers  to  the  Congress  are  as  follows :  Ralph  D. 
Mershon,  Section  D.,  "The  Maximum  Distance  to  which  Power 
can  be  Economically  Transmitted."  Prof.  M.  I.  Pupin,  Section  A, 
"Electrical  Impulses  and  Multiple  Oscillators."  Prof.  C.  P.  Stein- 
metz,  Section  D.,  "The  Theory  of  the  Single-Phase  Motor." 

The  delegates  of  the  National  Electric  Light  Association  and 
their  papers  to  the  Congress  are  as  follows :  George  Eastman, 
Section  E.,  "Protection  and  Control  of  Large  High-Tension  Dis- 
tributing Systems."  G.  Ross  Green,  Section  E.,  "American  Meter 
Practice."  Dr.  F.  A.  C.  Perrine,  Section  D.,  "American  Practice 
in  High  Tension  Line  Construction  and  Operation." 

The  delegates  of  the  Association  of  Edison  Illuminating  Com- 
panies and  their  papers  to  the  Congress  are  as  follows :  W.  C.  L. 
Eglin,  Section  E.,  "Rotary  Converters  and  Motor  Generators  in 
Connection  with  the  Transformation  of  High-Tension  Alternat- 
ing-Current to  Low-Tension  Direct  Current.  L.  A.  Ferguson, 
Section  E.,  "Underground  Electrical  Construction."  Gerhard 
Goettling,  Section  E.,  "Storage  Batteries  as  an  Adjunct  to  Station 
Equipment." 

The  following  is  the  programme  of  papers  promised  for  Section 
F.,  which  is  that  on  Electric  Transportation: 

Chairman,  Dr.  Louis  Duncan;  secretary,  A.  H.  Armstrong. 

Ernst  Danielson,  "Theory  of  Compensated  Repulsion  Motor" ;  Philip  Dawson, 
"Electrification  of  British  Railways";  Herr.  F.  J.  Eichberg,  "Single- Phase 
Electric  Railways";  Prof.  Dr.  F.  Niethammer,  "Alternating  vs.  Direct-Cur- 
rent Traction";  Prof.  Dr.  Rasch,  "The  Booster  in  Railway  Service  and  its 
Most  Suitable  Control";  A.  H.  Armstrong,  "The  Electrification  of  Steam 
Lines";  B.  J.  Arnold,  "Electric  Railways";  Louis  Duncan,  "General  Review 
of  Railway  Work";  J.  E.  Entz,  "The  Storage  Battery  in  Electric  Railway 
Service";  C.  O.  Mailloux,  to  be  announced;  E.  H.  McHenry,  "Some  Quali- 
fications of  Electric  Railway  Equipment  for  Trunk  Lines";  R.  A.  Parke, 
"Braking  High-Speed  Trains";  W.  B.  Potter,  "Electric  Railways";  F.  J. 
Sprague,  "The  History  and  Development  of  the  Electric  Railway";  L.  B. 
Stillwell,  "Notes  on  the  Electrical  Equipment  of  the  Wilkesbarre  &  Hazle- 
ton  Railway  Company";  H.  G.  Scott,  "Central  Station  Economics  and  Oper- 
ation"; W.  J.  Wilgus,  "Equipping  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  Ter- 
minal." 

Up  to  June  23,  1776  adhesions  to  the  Congress  had  been  re- 
ceived, and  over  150  papers  promised.  Twelve  of  these  papers 
have  already  been  delivered.  Arrangements  are  now  being  com- 
pleted fur  printing  papers  in  advance  of  the  Congress  so  that  all 
thai  are  received  in  sufficient  time  will  be  ready  for  circulation 
among  the  Congress  members  at  St.  Louis.  Efforts  are  being 
made  to  secure  as  many  of  the  promised  papers  as  possible  in 
advance. 


54 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  I. 


THE  PROPOSED  LINE  FROM  NEWARK,  N.  J.,  TO  LAKE 
HOPATCONG 


Plans  arc  now  being  drawn  up  for  the  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  the  proposed  high-speed  electric  railway  to  run  over 
private  right  of  way  from  Newark,  N.  J.,  to  Lake  Hopatcong,  with 
a  branch  to  Boonton.  The  length  of  the  system  will  be  about  45 
miles.  There  will  be  30  miles  of  double  track.  The  Northern 
Counties  Electric  Railway  Company  will  operate  the  line.  Mr. 
Cornelius  C.  Vermuele,  of  New  York  City,  is  the  consulting 
engineer,  and  Mr.  E.  W.  Hammer  has.  been  retained  as  electri- 
cal expert.  A  power  plant  will  be  built  at  tide  water  in  close 
proximity  to  Newark.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  will  be  4000  hp. 
Contracts  for  material,  equipment,  etc.,  are  not  expected  to  be  let 
before  December. 

■  ♦♦♦  

MORE  EQUIPMENT  FOR  SAO  PAULO 

The  Sao  Paulo  (Brazil)  Tramway,  Light  &  Power  Company, 
Ltd.,  of  which  William  Mackenzie,  of  Toronto,  Can.,  is  presi- 
dent; F.  S.  Pearson,  29  Broadway,  New  York,  consulting  engi- 
neer and  W.  P.  Plummer,  same  address,  purchasing  agent,  has 
just  placed  an  interesting  contract  for  additional  equipment  to  be 
installed  in  the  company's  hydraulic  plant  on  the  Rio  Tiete,  lo- 
cated about  20  miles  from  Sao  Pa,ulo. 

The  General  Electric  Company  secured  the  contract  for  the 
generator  end,  which  calls  for  a  2500-kw  machine.  The  water-tur- 
bine will  be  supplied  by  Escher-Wyss.  The  machinery  now  or- 
dered, together  with  the  existing  plant,  will  be  capable  of  develop- 
ing upwards  of  10,000  hp. 

The  company  proposes  to  order  further  equipment  in  the  near 
future.  James  Mitchell,  formerly  head  of  the  now  dissolved 
electrical  engineering  and  contracting  firm  of  James  Mitchell 
&  Company,  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  is  now  general  manager  of  the 
Sao  Paulo  Company,  with  headquarters  at  Sao  Paulo. 

 ♦♦♦  

CANADIANS  IN  BRAZILIAN  TRACTION  PROJECT 

Sir  William  Van  Home,  Hon.  Geo.  A.  Cox,  William  Mac- 
kenzie, E.  R.  Wood,  Frederic  Nicholls,  of  Montreal,  Can.,  are 
primarily  interested  in  a  project  to  convert  into  electric  traction 
100  miks  cif  mule-roads  operating  in  and  around  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Brazil. 

The  Rio  de  Janeiro  Tramway  Light  &  Power  Company  is 
being  formed  in  Montreal  in  order  to  carry  out  the  scheme.  It 
is  proposed  to  acquire  the  lines  of  the  Compania  Carris  Urbanis, 
the  Compania  Ferrocarril  Cariaco,  the  Compania  Ferrocarril  Villa 
Isabel  and  the  Compania  de  Sao  Christovoa,  etc.  The  initial 
capital  of  the  company  will  be  $25,000,000.  Power  will  be  derived 
from  an  hydraulic  plant  located  75  miles  from  Rio.  F.  S.  Pearson 
is  the  consulting  engineer. 


ANNUAL  OUTING  OF  NEW  ENGLAND  STREET  RAILWAY  CLUB 

It  is  a  delightful  custom  of  the  New  England  Street  Railway  Club 
to  arrange  for  the  June  meeting  of  the  association  and  excursion 
and  outing  trip  which  shall  involve  a  complete  departure  from  the 
usual  business  procedure  and  bring  the  members  into  a  participation 
of  friendly  and  pleasant  recreation.  It  is  a  wise  provision  of  the 
club,  and  serves  to  renew  and  extend  the  acquaintances  of  the  mem- 
bers, as  well  as  effect  a  beneficial  diversion  from  the  routine  of 
their  daily  work.  This  year  the  annual  outing  consisted  of  an  ex- 
cursion to  Salem  Willows,  the  beautiful  watering  place  of  historic 
Salem,  Mass.  A  more  delightful  spot  could  not  have  been  se- 
lected, as  measured  by  the  pleasure  derived  by  the  members. 

The  outing  was  held  Tuesday,  June  21,  the  members  leaving 
Boston  by  special  train  for  Lynn,  where  special  electric  cars  of 
the  Boston  &  Northern  Street  Railway  Company  were  in  readiness 
to  carry  them  to  Salem  and  thence  to  "The  Willows."  Through 
the  courtesy  of  the  officials  of  the  Boston  &  Northern  the  mem- 
bers were  carried  as  guests  of  the  road,  and  were  permitted  to 
examine  the  character  of  their  lines  and  equipment.  Upon  arrival 
at  the  Willows  a  baseball  game  furnished  much  amusement,  a 
strenuous  battle  being  waged  between  the  participants.  The  Rail- 
way Men  vs.  The  Supply  Men.  Another  feature  of  the  day  was 
a  steamer  trip  to  Baker's  Island,  an  important  island  some  S 
miles  off  Marblehead,  which  afforded  a  pleasant  run  upon  the 
water. 

The  ^substantial  provision  for  the  outing  consisted  of  a  "shore 
dinner"  at  Chase's,  which  was  greatly  enjoyed.  It  is  the  opinion 
of  the  members  that  Chase's  fish  dinners,  which  have  been  popular 
in  New  England  since  1874,  are  unexcelled,  especially  upon  an  out- 
ing day.    The  dinner  was  followed  by  an  interesting  and  humor- 


ous address  from  the  Mayor  of  Salem,  after  which  a  brief  business 
session  of  the  club  was  held,  before  adjournment.  The  party 
returned  by  special  cars  over  the  same  route  by  which  they  came, 
all  agreeably  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  annual  outing. 


MISSOULA  LIGHT  COMPANY  TO  BUILD  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


The  Missoula  Light  &  Water  Company,  of  Missoula,  Mont., 
is  considering  the  matter  of  installing  an  electric  street  railway 
in  the  city,  and  also  an  interurban  extension  of  the  same.  Manu- 
facturers should  communicate  with  S.  R.  Inch,  manager  of  the 
light  department  of  the  company. 

 ♦♦♦  

ELECTRICITY   ON   THE   NEW  HAVEN  BETWEEN  FALL 
RIVER  AND  NEWPORT 


The  Newport  "Herald"  seems  to  know  all  about  the  electrical  equip- 
ment of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  between 
Newport  and  Fall  River.  In  a  statement  in  terms  not  at  all  un- 
certain, it  says  plans  are  completed  for  the  change  of  motive  power 
and  that  work  has  begun  upon  the  equipment  necessary  for  the 
change.  The  company  has  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Fall 
River,  close  to  the  Ferry  Street  station,  where  the  power  house  is  to 
be  erected.  The  company,  so  the  "Herald"  says,  will  continue  to 
run  special  trains  of  steam  cars  between  Newport  and  Fall  River,  as 
well  as  Boston,  but  the  regular  service  will  consist  of  trolley  passen- 
ger and  freight  cars  of  the  largest  and  most  modern  pattern.  The 
service  will  give  Newport  additional  trains  and  a  cheaper  fare  to 
Fall  River  and  Providence,  direct  to  the  latter  city  by  trolley,  chang- 
ing at  Fall  River,  while  to  other  points  the  steam  cars  will  connect 
at  Fall  River.  Later  another  branch  of  trolley  cars,  operated 
from  Fall  River,  will  be  inaugurated. 

 ♦♦♦  

REPORT  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  RAILWAY  COMPANY 
FOR  THE  QUARTER  ENDING  MARCH  31 

The  reports  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company  and  the 
Third  Avenue  Railroad  Company  for  the  quarter  ending  March  31, 
1904,  filed  with  the  Railroad  Commissioners  at  Albany  show  as 
follows : 


NEW  YORK  CITY 

RAILWAY  COMPANY 

1904 

1903 

Gross  earnings   

  $3,262,844 

$3,573,469 

1,835.804 

Net  earnings   

  $1,210,378 

$1,737,665 

Other  income  

  I90,6lS 

I5L335 

Total  earnings   

  $1,400,993 

$1,889,000 

THIRD  AVENUE 

RAILWAY  COMPANY. 

Gross  earnings  

  $475,992 

$5H,530 

Operating  expenses   

  224,933 

346,990 

Net  earnings   

  $251,059 

$164,540 

Other  income  

  200,188 

128,755 

Total  income   

  $451,247 

$293,295 

Concerning  the  decrease  shown  in  the  net  earnings  of  the  Metro- 
politan system  for  the  winter  quarter,  comprising  the  months  of 
January,  February  and  March,  as  given  above,  President  Vreeland 
makes  the  following  statement :  "For  the  two  preceding  quarters, 
which  constitute  the  first  half  of  the  fiscal  year,  the  gross  income 
of  the  system  showed  an  increase  over  the  previous  year  of  $263,827, 
resulting  in  a  surplus  of  $59,085  over  all  fixed  charges,  including 
the  7  per  cent  dividend  guaranteed  on  Metropolitan  stock,  but  in 
the  winter  quarter  the  unusual  amount  of  snow  and  the  unfavorable 
weather  conditions  generally  (nothing  approaching  which  has  been 
experienced  in  the  previous  history  of  the  company),  not  only 
considerably  reduced  the  gross  earnings,  but  very  materially 
increased  the  operating  expenses.  Furthermore,  about  60  per 
cent  more  accident  cases  (principally  for  accidents  which  occurred 
more  than  three  years  ago)  were  disposed  of  than  during  the  cor- 
responding quarter  of  the  previous  year.  As  a  result  of  these 
causes,  the  operating  expenses  for  the  quarter  were  forced  up  about 
20  per  cent  above  the  normal  rate. 

"At  the  present  time  our  operating  expenses  are  down  to  the 
normal  basis  and  the  gross  earnings  of  the  system  show  a  sub- 
stantial increase  over  the  corresponding  period  of  last  year.  Not- 
withstanding the  bad  winter  months  and  the  fact  that  the  elevated 
roads,  with  their  improved  electric  service,  have  absorbed  most  of  the 
new  passenger  business  developed  during  the  year,  the  receipts  of 
our  system  of  surface  lines  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  will 
be  only  a  few  thousand  dollars  less  than  last  year." 


July  2,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


55 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  JOHN  B.  WHITE,  of  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  and 
brother  of  Mr.  J.  G.  White,  was  married  June  9  at  Stoke  Poges 
Church,  Buckinghamshire,  England,  to  Miss  Stevens. 

MR.  G.  W.  CHANCE,  of  G.  W.  Chance  &  Company,  Philadel- 
phia, will  visit  the  principal  European  cities  during  July  and  August 
for  a  combined  business  and  pleasure  trip.  He  sails  from  New 
York  July  2,  on  the  Koenigin  Luise. 

MR.  GEO.  F.  GREENWOOD,  chief  engineer  and  general 
manager  of  the  Havana  Electric  Railway  Company,  is  now  on 
a  visit  to  the  States.  He  is  making  his  headquarters  at  the  Ne,^ 
York  offices  of  the  Company  at  No.  52  Broadway. 

MR.  W.  B.  GRAY,  resident  secretary  in  Demerara,  of  the 
Demereara  Electric  Company,  Ltd.,  which  concern  operate  some 
10  miles  of  electric  traction  system  in  Georgetown,  Demerara, 
British  West  Indies,  is  now  on  a  visit  to  the  States.  He  may  be 
found  at  the  New  York  offices  of  the  Elmer  P.  Morris  Company. 

MR.  WILLIAM  H.  COLE,  of  New  York,  has  just  been  ap- 
pointed chief  engineer  for  the  Goldschmidt  Thermit  Company, 
of  43  Exchange  Place,  New  York  City,  and  will  have  charge  of 
the  introduction  and  installation  in  this  country  of  the  Gold- 
schmidt joint  which  has  been  used  so  extensively  abroad.  Mr. 
Cole  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  electrical  business  in  this 
country,  having  been  engineer  for  the  Union  Passenger  Railway 
Company,  of  Richmond,  at  the  time  of  the  installation  of  the 
Sprague  electric  railway  system  in  that  city  in  1888,  and  repre- 
sented the  owners  through  that  historical  work.  During  the  past 
ten  years  he  has  spent  most  of  his  time  abroad  engaged  in  electric 
railway  engineering.  Among  the  electric  railways  in  whose 
equipment  he  has  taken  an  active  part  during  this  time  are  those 
in  Buenos  Ayres,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  City  of  Mexico  and  Singa- 
pore. Lt  was  while  in  Singapore  that  Mr.  Cole's  attention  was 
particularly  attracted  to  the  Thermit  joint,  as  that  process  was 
used  in  that  city,  and  under  his  direction  about  5000  Thermit 
joints  were  cast  and  are  now  in  successful  use  in  Singapore. 

MR.  WALTER  H.  WHITESIDE,  who.  until  within  the  past  few 
days,  has  been  the  manager  of  the  detail  and  supply  department  of 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Pittsburg, 
and  general  manager  of  the  Sawyer-Man  Electric  Company,  of  New 
York,  has  just  been  appointed  general  manager  of  the  sales  depart- 
ment of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company.  Mr.  Whiteside's  first  busi- 
ness connection  dates  back  to  1881,  when  he  entered  the  employ- 
ment of  the  Hercules  Powder  Company,  the  high-explosive  or 
dynamite  branch  of  the  Dupont  Powder  Company,  of  Wilmington, 
Del.  Four  years  later  he  became  associated  with  the  Cleveland 
Electrical  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  re- 
mained with  that  concern  nearly 
twelve  years,  serving  during  the 
first  two  years  in  various  capa- 
cities, and  for  the  remainder  of  the 
time  being  the  manager  of  that 
company's  Chicago  office.  In  1896 
Mr.  Whiteside  was  appointed 
manager  of  engine  sales  for  the 
Gates  Iron  Works,  of  Chicago. 
In  1898,  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company 
m^de  him  the  manager  of  its 
Washington  office.  In  that  posi- 
tion he  became  associated  not 
only  with  the  largest  electrical 
projects  undertaken  in  the  district 
which  his  office  covered,  but  in 

WALTER  H.   WHITESIDE         °ther    plaCeS  *is 

engineering  work  in  connection 

with  the  installation  of  electrical  power  in  the  dry  docks  of  the 
navy  department,  especially  the  docks  at  Portsmouth,  League 
Island  and  Boston,  having  been  widely  recognized.  To  him  was 
largely  due  the  credit  for  effecting  the  change  in  voltage  stand- 
ardization from  80  to  125  volts  in  the  electric  lighting  and  power 
installations  on  board  the  vessels  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

But  Mr.  Whiteside's  best  work  in  (he  commercial  sense  was  in 
connection  with  that  immensely  successful  branch  of  the  Westing- 
house Electric  organization  known  as  the  detail  and  supply  de- 
partment. Into  this  department  he  injected  a  new  life  and  vigor  of 
administration  that  brought  an  admirable  reaping  of  profitable  re- 
sults and  won  him  recognition  for  marked  executive  ability. 
About  a  year  ago  Mr.  Westinghouse  appointed  him  general  man- 
ager of  the  Sawyer-Man  Electric  Company,  of  New  York,  thereby 
practically  doubling  his  duties,  for  he  continued  the  management 
of  the  detail  and  supply  department  of  the  parent  company  at 
Pittsburg.    Mr.  Whiteside's  new  position  will  be  that  of  general 


manager  of  sales  for  all  departments  of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Com- 
pany, including,  of  course,  the  Bullock  Electric  Manufacturing 
Company,  which  has  become  the  electrical  department  of  the  Allis- 
Chalmers  Company.  His  experience  thoroughly  qualifies  him  for 
this  important  duty,  which  he  takes  up  with  the  good  wishes  of  his 
very  wide  circle  of  business  acquaintance.  Mr.  Whiteside  enters 
upon  his  new  duties  about  the  middle  of  July. 

MR.  HENRY  DEANE,  engineer  in  chief  of  the  New  South 
Wales  Government  Railways  &  Tramways  Department,  which 
operates  the  extensive  American  equipped  electric  traction  system 
in,  Sydney  and  suburbs,  is  now  in  the  States  seeking  pointers  on 
street  railway  construction  and  operation.  At  present  he  is  in  St. 
Louis.  He  is  expected  to  be  on  this  side  for  about  three  weeks, 
and  may  be  addressed,  care  of  R.  W.  Cameron  &  Company,  23 
South  William  Street,  New  York. 

MR.  G.  C.  KUHLMAN,  general  manager  of  the  G.  C.  Kuhl- 
man  Car  Company,  of  Collinwood,  Ohio,  has  resigned  from  that 
position,  and  is  planning  to  take  an  extended  vacation.  Mr.  Kuhl- 
man  is  one  of  the  best-known  car  builders  in  the  country,  and  has 
been  prominently  identified  with  this  industry  for  a  long  time. 
His  plans  for  the  immediate  future  include  a  pleasure  trip  with 
his  family,  probably  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  Mr.  Kuhlman  lias  not 
taken  a  vacation  for  a  long  time,  as  he  has  given  his  concentrated 
attention  to  his  car-building  works,  and  this  rest  will  be  an  agree- 
able one  to  him. 

MR.  RALPH  H.  BEACH,  who,  for  the  last  seventeen  years,  has 
been  prominently  connected  with  the  General  Electric  Company, 
has  resigned  his  position  in  order  to  devote  his  attention  to  the 
Tula  Iron  Works  Company  of  Tula,  Mexico,  in  which  he  has  the 
controlling  interest.  He  will  make  his  permanent  home  in  the 
southern  republic,  for  which  country  he  and  his  family  left  last 
week.  Prior  to  sailing  he  was  presented  by  his  comperes  in  the 
General  Electric  Company  with  a  massive  punch  bowl.  Mr.  J.  J. 
Malony,  of  the  General  Electric  Company's  railway  department, 
made  the  presentation  on  behalf  of  the  General  Electric  staff. 

MR.  H.  S.  COOPER,  who  is  well  known  in  the  street  railway 
field,  has  accepted  the  position  of  general  manager  of  the  Galveston 
City  Railway,  of  Galveston,  Texas.    Mr.  Cooper  was  born  in  Isle 

of  Wight,  England,  in  1856. 
His  first  commercial  connec- 
tion was  with  a  mercantile 
house  in  Philadelphia.  In  1876 
he  became  a  manufacturer  of 
agricultural  machinery  in  the 
S  o  u  t  h.  T  h  i  s  connection 
brought  him  in  touch  with 
electrical  enterprises,  then  just 
taking  shape,  and  was  the 
foundation  of  an  experience 
that  later  made  it  possible  for 
him  successfully  to  reorganize 
and  place  many  unstable  prop- 
erties on  a  revenue-paying 
basis.  His  record  of  achieve- 
ments in  this  line  secured  for 
him  in  1893  the  appointment 
to  the  position  of  general  man- 
ager of  the  Schenectady  prop- 
erties of  the  Electrical  Devel- 
opment Company.  These  prop- 
erties consisted  of  the  entire 
electric  and  gas-lighting  and  railway  service  of  the  city,  and  were 
in  desperate  shape,  for  the  business  depression  of  1893  had  necessi- 
tated the  placing  of  them  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  The  receiver 
was  changed  in  1894,  and  in  1895  the  properties  were  sold  under 
foreclosure,  and  then  reorganized.  Under  Mr.  Cooper's  manage- 
ment these  properties  were  placed  in  excellent  physical  condition 
and  brought  to  a  paying  basis.  Mr.  Cooper's  next  important  work 
was  with  the  Ithaca  Railway  Company,  of  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  This  prop- 
erty was  rehabilitated  under  his  management  and  placed  on  a  pay- 
ing basis.  Mr.  Cooper  has  recently  been  connected  with  the  De- 
elopment  Company,  of  New  York,  which  does  a  general  engineering 
business.  In  his  work  with  this  company  he  made  critical  reports 
on  all  kinds  of  electrical  propositions  for  clients,  and  so  added  to 
his  already  wide  experience.  At  Galveston  Mr.  Cooper  will  be  con- 
fronted by  some  difficult  problems.  One  of  these  will  be  the  re- 
arrangement of  the  lines  so  as  to  meet  the  raise  in  the  level  of  the 
city  from  two  to  twelve  feet.  The  owners  of  the  property,  how- 
ever, have  in  Mr.  Cooper  a  man  well  fitted  by  previous  experience 
for  handling  just  such  a  problem  as  is  presented.  In  fact,  they  have 
in  him  a  man  capable  of  carrying  successfully  to  completion  the 
most  complex  physical  financial  or  commercial  undertaking  that  it 
it  possible  for  the  city  to  present. 


H.  S.  COOPER 


56 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  t. 


TABLE  OF  OPERATING  STATISTICS 


Notice.— These  statistics  will  be  carefully  revised  from  month  to  month,  upon  information  received  from  the  companies  direct,  or  from  official  sources 
The  table  should  be  used  in  connection  with  our  Financial  Supplement  "American  Street  Railway  Investments,"  which  contains  the  annual  operating 
reports  to  the  ends  of  the  various  financial  years.    Similar  statistics  in  regard  to  roads  not  reporting  are  solicited  by  the  editors.  *  Including  taxes, 

t  Deficit.       a  Decrease  due  to  floods. 


Company 


AKRON,  O. 
Northern  Ohio 
Light  Co  


Tr.  & 


AURORA,  ILL. 
Aurora,  Elgin  & 
Chicago  Railway  Co, 


Elgin,  Aurora  & 

Southern  Traction 

Co  


BINGH  AMTON,  N.  Y. 
Binghamton  Ry.  Co.. 


BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 
International  Traction 

Co  


CHICAGO,  ILL. 
Chicago  &  Milwaukee 
Elec.  Ry.  Co  


Chicago  Union  Traction 

Co   


Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  R.  R.  Co  


Northwestern  Elevated 
K.  K.  Co  


South     Side  Elevated 
K.  R.  Co  


CINCINNATI,  O. 
Cincinnati,  .Newport  & 
Covington   Light  & 
Traction  Co  


DETROIT,  MICH. 
Detroit  United  Ry. 


DULUIH,  MINN. 
Dulutli  Street  Ry.  Co. 


FORT  WORTH,  TEX. 
Northern  Texas  Trac- 
tion Co    


FIND  LAY,  O. 
Toledo,  Bowling  Green 
&   Southern  Traction 

Co  


HANCOCK,  MICH. 
Houghton  County  St, 
Ry.  Co   


Period 


1  m.,  May  '04 

1   "  "  '03 

5   "  "  '04 

5   "  "  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 

I  "      "  '03 

II  "  "  '04 
11  "     "  '03 


1  m.,  Apr.  '04 

1    "  "  '03 

10  "  "  '04 

10  "  "  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 

I  "  "  '03 

II  "  "  '04 
11  "  "  '03 


1  m. 
1  " 
10  ' 
10  " 


Apr. 


1  m.,  May  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
"  '04 
5   "     "  '03 


1  m.,  Feb.  '04 


1  m.,  May  '04 
1  »  *'  '03 
5  "  "  '04 
5  "     "  '03 


I  m.,  May  '04 
'     »  '03 
"  '04 
5   "     "  '03 


1  m. 


1  m. 


1  m. 
1  " 


1  m. 
1  " 
5  " 


1  m. 
1  " 
12  " 
12  " 


Mav  '04 
"  'U3 
"  '04 

"  '03 


Apr.  '04 

"  '03 

"  '04 

"  '03 


May  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  *03 


May  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  '03 


May  '04 

"  '03 

i.  '04 

"  '03 


May  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  '03 


Apr.  '04 

,f  '03 

"  '04 

"  '03 


oW 


74.91 
74,258 
316,582 
311,011 


41,778 

383J22 


33,425 
33,295 
378,055 
353.274 


21,216 
20,311 
217  124 
203,027 


312; 

295,332 
3,383,814 
3,078,495 


34,476 
20,042 
122,412 
71,238 


1  WIS  (139 


177,276 
169,461 
896,944 
870,393 


107,309 
103  834 
548,814 
526,598 


120,180 
128,470 
676,637 
658,817 


99,460 
92,945 
393,461 
368,250 


391,473 
375,707 
1,673,971 
1,649,252 


52,259 
52,389 
239,368 
235,379 


50,737 
38,278 
211,722 
166,050 


a  23,i 
24,: 
a  100,782 
108,072 


16,919 
15,597 
188,189 
180,432 


22,011 
20,191 
229,589 
2011,095 


11,196 
10,066 
119,512 
115,578 


216,248 
167,669 
1,997,340 
1,662,231 


13,773 
7,157 
57,451 
32,104 


3,560,741 


a  x 


39,614 
40,231 
184,98' 
173,05' 


25,032 
213~932 


*60,633 
*54,723 
*237,525 
*220,200 


230,530 
221,302 
1,104,778 
994,691 


27,885 
28,594 
142,695 
144,019 


25,116 
22,982 
121,945 
93,137 


15,997 
15,229 
73,902 
69,126 


11,395 
9,375 
129,226 
119,041 


35.303 
34,02' 
131,595 
132  955 


16,745 
1 09"47H 


11,414 
13,101 
148,460 
147,180 


10,026 
10,244 
97,611 
87,449 


96,460 
127,663 
1,386,474 
1,416,264 


20,703 
12,886 
64  962 
39,134 


22,467 
22,427 
112,535 
109,765 


9,133 
9  216 
91,774 
91,162 


132,704 
127,168 
1,329,970 
1,280,026 


1,307  298  1,388,622  181,324 


38.826 
38  222 
155,936 
148,050 


160,937 
154,405 
569,193 
654,561 


24,375 
23,795 
96,673 
91,360 


25,620 
15,296 
89,777 
72,914 


7,100 
9,549 
26,880 
38,946 


5,524 
6,222 
58,963 
61,391 


6i; : 

o  <J  1 


J2  > 

*5 


12,836 
11,6C0 
19,061 
23,189 


2,280 
3,888 
56,692 
56,017 


t  36,244 
495 
56,498 
136.238 


21,135 
20,917 
84,418 
84,331 


87,395 
81,194 
443,369 
407,942 


16,513 
15,225 
82  302 
75  994 


12,194 
9,118 
50,519 
45,107 


3,466 
2.929 
36.332 
32,550 


17,691 
17.305 
71,518 
63,719 


73,542 
73,211 
125,824 
246,619 


7,861 
8  570 
14,311 
15,366 


13,426 
6,178 
39,258 
27,8u8 


2,077 
3,293 
22,630 
28,841 


Company 


Period 


HOUSTON,  TEX. 
Houston  Electric  Co. 


MILWAUKEE,  WIS. 
Milwaukee  El.  Ry. 
Lt.  Co  


MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN 
Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Co  


MONTRE  \L,  QUE. 
Montreal  St.  By.  Co  .. 


NEW  YORK,  N.  Y. 
New  York  City  Ry.  Co. 

(including  Metropolitan 
and  Third  Avenue 
systems,  but  not  Cen- 
tral Crosstown  R.  R. 
Co.).  


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
American  Railways.. 


ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 
Rochester  Ry.  Co  


ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 
St.  Louis  Transit  Co. 


SAVANNAH,  GA. 
Savannah  Electric  Co. 


SEATTLE,  WASH. 
Seattle  Electric  Co. 


SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 
Syracuse  Rapid 
Transit  Co  


TAMPA,  FLA. 
Tampa  Electric  Co... 


TERRE  HAUTE,  IND. 
Terre  Haute  Elec.  Co, 


TOLEDO,  O. 
Toledo  Rys.  &  Lt.  Co. 


1  m.,  Apr.  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
12  "  "  '04 
12  "     "  '03 


1  m..  May  '04 

1   "      "  '03 

5   "      "  '(14 

5   "  "  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 

1   "     "  '03 

5   "     "  '04 

5   "      "  '03 


1  m„ 
1  " 
8  " 
8  " 


May 


12  m.,Dec. 


1  m.,  May  '04 

I  "  "  '03 

II  "  "  '04 
11  "  •'  '03 


O.S 

oW 
H 


32,049 
32,539 
407,108 
385.356 


261,994 
246,285 
1,272,767 
1,186  992 


•S  i, 


22,078 
22,409 
272  461 
232,731 


128,331 
121,408 
672,950 
612.' 


363,645  170,772 

339.735|  159,328 

1  689,121  812,236 

1  570,909  753,627 


1  m. 
1  " 

5  " 
5  " 


1  m. 
I  " 


1  m. 
1  " 

12  " 
12  " 


1  m., 
1  " 
12  " 
12  " 


1  m. 
I  " 
10  " 
10  " 


May  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 

"  '03 


May 


Apr.  '04 

"  '03 

"  '04 

"  '03 


Apr. 


1  m.,  Apr.  '04 
1 03 

4   "     "  '04 

4   "     "  '03 


1  m. 
1  " 

12" 
12  " 


Apr.  '04 

'•  '03 

"  '04 

"  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
5  "  "  '04 
5  "     "  '03 


220,154 
172,986 
1,529,306 
1 ,362  563 


22,565,312 


123,669 
117,870 
1,276,466 
1, 126,065 


123,170 
102,342 
580,601 
499.382 


837,873 
641,580 
3,322,049 
2,821,874 


40,941 
38,867 
528,067 
498,245 


187,874 
160,832 
2.197,847 
1,963,629 


69,040 
62,612 
695,611 
621,049 


30,484 
23,480 
111,984 
94,123 


42,045 
33  32? 
507,456 
382,463 


142,581 
135,415 
677,222 
630,63c 


126,641 
112,140 
1,018,34" 
872,072 


109906112 


06,943 
50,76(1 
338,311 
257,841 


20,004 
28,068 
303,224 
289,579 


131,317 
1 18,502 
1,538,177 
1 ,407,436 


41,223 
35,646 
405,799 
345,622 


18,759 
12,076 
65,413 
49,596 


31,586 
24,200 
336,795 
272,744 


*78,864 
*70,726 
*380,023 
*329,399 


9,9?  1 
10,130 
134,647 
152,625 


133,662 
124,878 
599,817 
574,212 


192  873 
180,40? 
876,885 
817,282 


93,513 
60,846 
510,958 
490,491 


■3  6 

<L>  O 


7,941 
6.830 
89,120 
76,315 


74,465 
71,702 
368,269 
352,313 


90,279 
78,328 
448,049 
391,928 


22,641 
20,615 
149,075 
140,469 


11004710  8,191,106 


56,228 
51,582 
242,291 
241,541 


14,937 
10,799 
224,843 
208,666 


56,557 
42,330 
659,671 
556,193 


27,817 
26,966 
288,812 
275,428 


11,734 
11,404 
46,571 
44,52? 


10,459 
9,127 
170,661 
109.720 


63,717 
64,689 
297,199 
301,234 


2,030 
3,299 
45,527 
76,309 


59,197 
53,176 
231,548 
221,899 


102,594 
102,079 
428,836 
425,354 


70,871 
40,232 
361,882 
350,022 


3,413,604 


26  525 
25.534 

131,57? 

127,389 


10,306 
9,783 
121  883 
1 15,300 


24,949 
26/41 
276,231 
275,258 


20,348 
19,238 
202,975 
190,463 


2,093 
2,049 
8,352 
7,981 


9,178 
6,522 
98,622 
77,465 


41,862 
40.836 
208,706 
200,935 


,2 


24  f 


29,703 
26,048 
110,714 
114,152 


4,631 
1,015 
102,960 
93,366 


31,608 
15,490 
383,440 
280,936 


7,469 
7,729 
86,837 
84,965 


9,641 
9,355 
38,219 
36,546 


1,281 
2,606 
72,040 
32,255 


21,855 
23,835 
88,493 
100,299 


/ 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  JULY  9,  1904 


No.  2 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 

McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

(I  "r>  t< 

  \M  ^ 

Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 


Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:    Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 


Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York." — Lieber's  Code  used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

In  the  United  States,  Hawaii,  Puerto  Rico,  Philippines,  Cuba,  Canada 
and  Mexico. 

Street  Railway  Journal  (52  issues)   13.00  per  annum 

Combination    Rate,    with    Electric    Railway    Directory  and 
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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 

EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 

The  Chicago  Freight  Tunnels 

Those  who  attended  the  High  Tension  Transmission  Meet- 
ing of  the  A.  I.  E.  E.  at  Chicago  recently  were  treated  to  a 
visit  to  the  new  tunnels  which  have  been  built  at  a  depth  of 
about  40  ft.  below  the  business  streets  of  Chicago,  for  the  re- 
ception of  telephone  cables  and  for  making  possible  a  system 
of  freight  transportation  to  the  large  mercantile  houses  in  the 
business  district.  This  system  of  tunnels,  being  equipped  by 
the  Illinois  Tunnel  Company,  as  an  experiment  in  freight  trans- 
portation, will  be  watched  by  every  large  American  city,  as 
well  as  by  the  members  of  the  electric  railway  industry.  Un- 


derground freight  transportation  of  this  kind  offers  a  possible 
new  market  for  the  apparatus  and  the  brains  which  the  electric 
railway  business  has  to  offer.  The  electric  freight  railways  in 
this  tunnel  system  will  resemble  electric-mine  haulage  rather 
than  surface  haulage,  since  the  small  size  of  the  tunnels  limits 
the  cars  to  24-in.  gage.  As  an  application  of  electricity  to 
haulage  pure  and  simple,  without  considering  the  transporta- 
tion 'questions  involved,  this  freight  hauling  system  will  be 
{fivejjy  simple.  There  are  now,  however,  transportation  and 
traffic  questions  which  are  of  no  small  magnitude.  The  tunnels 
are  mostly  single  track,  and  turn-outs  will  necessarily  have  to 
be  provided  at  frequent  intervals  to  serve  the  various  mercan- 
tile houses  along  the  street.  The  operation  of  a  net-work  of 
single-track  tunnels  of  this  kind  with  a  large  number  of  small 
freight  trains  will  require  a  well-organized  system  to  say  the 
least,  and  involves  many  questions  never  before  solved.  The 
success  of  the  Chicago  venture  may  result  in  similar  efforts  in 
other  large  cities,  and  should  result  in  lessening  very  materially 
the  congestion  of  freight  traffic  on  the  street  surface. 

The  Fender  Problem 

The  general  tendency  toward  quickening  speeds  brings  the 
fender  problem  into  greater  and  greater  prominence.  So  long 
as  cars  ambled  gently  along  they  were  easily  stopped,  and 
serious  accidents  were  few.  As  we  have  many  times  pointed 
out,  the  speeds  at  present  in  vogue  put  an  entirely  different 
face  on  the  situation.  In  front  of  a  modern  car  there  is  a 
comparatively  long,  dangerous  space,  within  which  the  car 
cannot  be  stopped  with  any  brakes  yet  devised.  There  is,  there- 
fore, acute  need  of  every  safety  appliance  that  can  minimize 
the  danger  of  personal  injury.  For  a  good  many  years  there 
have  been  experiments  with  fenders,  and  through  many  failures 
there  has  come  out  of  it  all  something  material  in  the  way  of 
improvements.  It  is  not  putting  the  case  too  strong  to  say  that 
there  are  now  several  types  of  car  fender  capable  of  very 
greatly  reducing  the  danger  to  persons  unlucky  enough  to  be 
caught  upon  the  track.  Probably  no  fender  will  entirely  obviate 
injuries,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  fenders  which  greatly 
reduce  the  danger.  A  bad  fender,  which  either  rides  over  and 
crushes  the  victim,  or  of  itself  inflicts  serious  injuries,  is  little, 
if  at  all,  better  than  none.  To  be  effective  a  fender  must  be 
reasonably  yielding  to  lessen  the  danger  of  bruises,  and,  above 
all,  must  be  capable  of  being  brought  into  close  contact  with  the 
track.  In  principle  a  fender  striking  very  low  should  tip  a 
person  upon  itself,  but  the  instinctive  effort  to  get  away  from 
it  is  liable  to  cause  a  fall  in  the  other  direction,  with  serious 
results.  A  fender  should  be  able  to  scoop  up  anything  that  it  is 
likely  to  encounter  in  order  to  fulfill  its  proper  functions. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  the  best  fender  is  "a  good 
motorman"  or  "a  good  brake."  This,  to  a  certain  extent,  is 
true,  if  the  speaker  means  that  a  good  brake  or  motorman  can 
supplement  the  service  of  the  fender.  But  even  the  best  brake 
cannot  stop  the  car  instantaneously.  As  for  the  other  proposi- 
tion, there  is  little  danger  that  reliance  on  fenders  will  tend 
to  lack  of  proper  care  in  the  motormen.  Their  nerves  are  pretty 


58 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


severely  tried  in  running  through  crowded  streets  at  best,  and 
the  possession  of  a  really  effective  fender  ought  to  steady  them 
considerably  and  make  them  less  likely  to  lose  their  heads  in  an 
emergency. 

The  Military  Value  of  Electric  Roads 

The  naval  and  military  authorities  seem  just  now  particu- 
larly wideawake  to  the  importance  of  modern  methods  of  com- 
munication, as  evidenced  by  their  activity  in  wireless  telegraphy 
and  other  directions,  but  we  wonder  whether  they  fully  ap- 
preciate the  importance  of  the  electric  railway  networks  from 
a  military  standpoint.  These  networks  have  grown  up  so 
swiftly  and  quickly  that  even  those  whose  business  it  is  to 
keep  track  of  them  can  scarcely  realize  their  actual  magnitude. 
The  railways  of  the  country  are  more  familiar,  shown  on  every 
map,  and  with  full  time  tables  publicly  accessible.  The  elec- 
tric roads  are  seldom  shown  on  maps,  and  if  shown  at  all,  are 
not  kept  up  to  date.  Actually  they  form  a  system  of  coastwise 
transportation  of  great  value  in  the  mobilization  and  concen- 
tration of  troops,  for  tbey  run  not  only  along  immense 
stretches  of  coast,  but  connect  the  coast  at  numberless  points 
with  railway  centers.  We  do  not  know  in  how  far  the  general 
staff  has  taken  cognizance  of  the  facts,  but  it  ought  to  be  in 
possession  of  a  set  of  complete  maps  kept  rigorously  up  to 
date,  and  showing  not  only  every  available  electric  road,  but 
the  cbaracter  of  its  track,  the  amount  of  its  rolling  stock,  and 
even  the  capacity  of  its  feeding  system  for  handling  large 
groups  of  cars.  It  should  know  particularly  the  gage  and  form 
of  rail  bead,  and  to  what  extent  freight  and  passenger  cars  of 
neighboring  lines  can  be  used  over  the  track  of  each  company. 

In  time  of  peace  these  precautions  have  only  a  secondary 
interest  and  value,  but  in  time  of  war  they  are  immediately 
necessary  and  there  is  no  time  in  which  to  obtain  them.  In 
the  Spanish  war  the  transportation  was  a  national  disgrace. 
All  accusations  of  pull  and  graft  aside,  it  was  the  most  stupidly 
organized  and  incompetently  carried  out  attempt  at  mobiliza- 
tion that  modern  times  has  seen.  The  lack  of  full  and  exact 
knowledge  of  the  railway  facilities  was  at  the  bottom  of  the 
trouble.  Some  officer  should  have  been  able  to  drop  in  upon 
the  manager  of  each  railroad  used  with  accurate  previous 
knowledge  of  its  entire  capabilities  upon  which  to  base  his 
plans.  And  for  rapid  concentration  of  troops  this  information 
must  be  extended  to  cover  the  electric  roads  as  well  as  the 
steam  roads.  If  it  should  be  desirable  to  hurl  a  brigade  sud- 
denly upon  some  point  upon  the  coast,  some  one  should  know 
not  only  what  facilities  can  be  secured  to  the  nearest  railroad 
station,  but  whether  electric  roads  are  available  thence  to  the 
destination ;  how  many  cars  can  be  concentrated  at  the  given 
point  ready  for  use,  at  what  rate  they  can  be  dispatched  without 
crippling  the  motive  power,  and  at  what  speed  the  run  can  be 
made.  If  a  dozen  miles  is  to  be  covered  it  may  make  a  vital 
difference  in  the  result  if  electrics  can  be  used.  In  a  country 
well  covered  by  electric  roads  infantry  can  be  given  almost 
the  mobility  of  cavalry,  if  the  roads  can  be  utilized  at  short 
notice,  but  practical  usefulness  depends  upon  good  previous 
knowledge  of  their  exact  capabilities. 

For  this  reason  we  believe  that  the  general  staff  would  do 
exceedingly  well  to  take  up  the  practical  study  of  the  electric 
road  situation  and  acquaint  itself  minutely  with  its  condition. 
It  should  know  the  facts  at  first  hand  and  not  have  to  depend 
upon  hurried  examinations  at  the  last  moment.  The  informa- 
tion cannot  be  obtained  off-hand,  for  to  get  it  correctly  requires 
a  certain  amount  of  exact  military  knowledge.    For  example, 


if  the  X.,  Y.  &  Z.  line,  which  skirts  the  coast  for  twenty  miles, 
reports  certain  capacity  for  carrying  men  in  any  emergency, 
good  enough;  but  is  the  roadbed  solid  enough,  the  grades  mod- 
erate enough,  and  the  trestles  strong  enough  to  make  patrol 
with  an  armored  train  practicable?  Here  is  an  investigation 
which  well-trained  militia  officers  could  to  great  advantage 
make  in  their  own  territory,  acting  in  co-operation  with  the 
general  staff.  And  it  would  certainly  be  an  excellent  thing 
in  the  summer  tours  of  duty  of  the  various  militia  bodies  to 
make  practical  trial  of  the  facilities  for  mobilization  offered 
by  electric  roads.  They  furnish  good  and  cheap  transporta- 
tion, and  practical  knowledge  of  their  capabilities  could  very 
quickly  be  obtained  by  utilizing  them,  not  merely  as  a  matter 
of  convenience,  but  for  a  study  in  military  methods.  The  avail- 
able forces  in  this  country  are  pitifully  small  at  best — of  ad- 
mirable quality,  but  so  meagre  in  numbers  as  to  be  inadequate 
for  the  sudden  requirements  of  modern  war.  To  a  certain 
extent,  they  can  make  up  in  mobility  what  they  lack  in  num- 
bers and  all  means  to  this  end  ought  to  be  familiar.  We  are 
not  in  the  least  alarmists,  but  the  present  struggle  in  the  East 
gives  a  vivid  idea  of  the  consummate  value  of  preparedness 
when  the  bitter  necessity  for  war  actually  arises.  In  the  Span- 
ish war  we  were  caught  unready,  and  the  result,  had  a  first- 
class  power  been  involved,  is  not  pleasant  to  consider.  There- 
fore, let  the  lesson  be  thankfully  remembered. 

The  Penalties  of  Unsound  Finance 

The  financial  difficulties  in  which  more  than  one  electric  rail- 
way finds  itself  struggling  at  the  present  time  deserve  to  be 
carefully  studied  by  every  stockholder  and  executive  official 
who  is  doing  his  best  to  preserve  the  prosperity  of  his  own 
particular  road.  No  one  can  follow  the  history  of  electric 
railway  development  without  discovering  a  good  many  crippled 
or  ruined  properties  scattered  along  the  pathway  of  progress, 
and  also  finding  out  that  the  failure  in  almost  every  case  was 
due  to  a  neglect  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  sound  finance. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  a  large  portion  of  the  general  public 
has  often  failed  to  realize  that  the  conditions  which  make  for 
success  or  failure  in  ordinary  business  enterprises  apply  with 
exactly  the  same  force  to  the  business  of  transportation.  No 
amount  of  mathematical  juggling  can  overthrow  the  simple 
arithmetical  relation  which  makes  net  earnings  a  function  of 
gross  receipts  and  operating  expenses.  If  the  original  pro- 
moters of  a  line  or  system  build  it  upon  inflated  capital,  or 
operate  it  without  regard  to  sound  methods,  approved  by  ex- 
perience in  the  railway  world  at  large,  they  may  escape  the 
impending  disaster  by  selling  out  before  the  blow  falls,  but  the 
crash  is  sure  to  come  in  time  with  accumulated  intensity  upon 
the  late  owners,  and  upon  the  public  at  large. 

One  great  cause  responsible  for  the  condition  of  some  of  the 
non-dividend  paying  or  insolvent  roads  is  the  lack  of  expert 
knowledge  of  the  business  of  transportation.  This  lack  is 
divided  into  the  original  sin  of  building  roads  through  territory 
too  sparsely  settled,  or  too  well  supplied  with  other  facilities 
to  support  them,  and  the  similar  fault  of  throwing  money  away 
by  slipshod  operation.  With  very  few  exceptions  every  railway 
manager  knows  that  the  more  concessions  he  grants  to  the 
public  the  more  the  public  demands.  Consequently,  there  is 
much  opposition  on  the  part  of  communities  to  the  slightest 
reduction  in  service — increase  in  fares  being  almost  impos- 
sible, when  the  insufficient  revenue  of  a  poorly  operated  road, 
or  one  which  has  no  economic  justification  for  existing,  re- 
quires a  curtailment  in  the  facilities  provided.   The  moral  of  all 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


59 


this  is  that  expert  ability  is  none  too  expensive  in  the  early 
determination  of  the  economic  feasibility  of  a  proposed  road, 
and  that  it  is  better  to  begin  operation  with  hourly  service  and 
fares  high  enough  to  pay  the  cost  of  running  the  road  with  a 
reasonable  return  upon  the  invested  capital  than  to  start  in 
with  service  and  traffic  adjusted  with  reference  to  the  probable 
growth  of  traffic  created  by  the  new  line.  It  should  never  be 
forgotten  that  the  pressure  upon  fares  by  the  public  always 
tends  to  force  them  downward,  and  that  they  can  be  raised  only 
in  the  most  extreme  and  unusual  cases.  The  municipal 
authorities  having  local  jurisdiction  over  a  proposed  line  are 
likely  to  attack  almost  any  schedule  of  fares  which  may  be 
submitted  in  the  early  negotiations  by  the  promoters  of  the 
road,  so  that  a  margin  for  concessions  often  proves  to  be  a 
valuable  asset.  Firmness  in  establishing  just  rates  and  a  not- 
too-generous  schedule  at  the  beginning -of  a  road's  career  is 
usually  warranted  by  the  laws  of  sound  business.-  It  is  time 
enough  to  reduce  fares  when  the  road  has  been  operated  long 
enough  to  show  up  its  earning  capacity. 

Failure  to  take  sufficient  account  of  maintenance  and  de- 
preciation is  another  factor  in  the  loss  of  dividends  when  the 
day  of  reckoning  comes.  A  large  number  of  electric  railways 
in  this  country  have  now  been  operating  long  enough  to  feel  the 
full  force  of  the  cost  of  replacing  worn  out  and  antiquated 
equipment,  and  those  which  have  provided  for  this  contingency 
in  the  years  when  everything  was  new  and  the  road  almost 
ran  itself,  are  now  in  an  enviable  position.  It  has  taken  a  long 
time  for  the  non-technical  stockholders  of  electric  railways  to 
appreciate  that  economical  operation  absolutely  demands  skilled 
engineering,  and  that  money  paid  out  in  salaries  to  maintain  a 
properly  qualified  technical  staff  is  not  thrown  away.  Even 
to-day  there  is  a  gross  lack  of  realization  of  this  fact  in  many 
operating  companies. 

The  pioneer  electric  radway  builders  and  operators  had  no 
opportunity  to  draw  upon  the  experience  of  other  systems,  and 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  mistakes  were  made  in  the  early 
days  of  the  trolley  car.  With  the  wealth  of  costly  experience 
available  to-day  there  is  little  reason  to  stray  from  the  pathway 
of  sound  finance  in  carrying  out  electric  railway  undertakings. 

High  Tension  Transmission  Lines 

President  Bion  J.  Arnold,  of  the  American  Institute  of  Elec- 
trical Engineers,  created  considerable  interest  and  started  an 
animated  discussion  at  the  national  high-tension  transmission 
meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  at 
Chicago  June  21-22,  when  he  made  the  statement  that  the  Elec- 
tric Traction  Commission  for  the  electrification  of  the  New 
York  Central  Manhattan  Terminal,  after  collecting  evidence  of 
the  relative  reliability  and  cost  of  overhead  transmission  lines 
as  against  underground  transmission  lines  for  high  voltage, 
had  decided  unanimously  in  favor  of  overhead  transmission. 
According  to  President  Arnold's  statement,  the  evidence  as  to 
reliability  was  so  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  overhead  trans- 
mission that  the  commission  of  which  he  is  a  member  was  left 
no  alternative  but  to  select  that  in  preference  to  an  under- 
ground conduit  line  containing  high-tension  cable;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  fact  that  the  probable  cost  of  the  underground 
conduit  transmission  line  would  be  seven  or  eight  times  that 
of  the  overhead  line.  Many  of  the  engineers  present  at  the 
convention,  especially  those  identified  with  a  certain  large 
electric  lighting  company  operating  many  miles  of  underground 
and  overhead  transmission  lines,  were  much  inclined  to  ques- 
tion the  statement  that  overhead  lines  were  more  reliable.  The 


matter  is  one  of  considerable  interest  to  every  company  en- 
gaged in  large  electrical  undertakings,  where  power  must  be 
transmitted  at  high  voltages.  It  is  altogether  likely  that  the 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  reliability  of  overhead  as  against 
underground  transmission  lines,  which  was  expressed  in  Chi- 
cago, is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  those  favoring  the  under- 
ground transmission  lines  had  in  mind  an  entirely  different  set 
of  conditions  from  those  favoring  the  overhead  lines.  It 
seemed  to  be  agreed  that  for  running  through  the  streets  of  a 
large  city  there  would  be  no  question  but  that  underground 
lines  would  be  preferable  on  the  score  of  reliability,  even  if 
they  were  not  ^absolutely  required.  To  take  an  extreme  case 
in  the  other  direction,  none  would  probably  have  argued  in 
favor  of  the  underground  lines  for  transmitting  power  any 
distance  across  an  open  country.  The  greater  part  of  the  New 
York  Central  transmission  lines  will  be  on  a  private  right  of 
way,  where  they  will  be  comparatively  free  from  disturbances, 
and  therefore  they  will  resemble  cress-country  transmission 
lines  in  this  respect.  If  an  underground  conduit  line  was  built, 
it  would  have  to  be  blasted  out  of  solid  rock  much  of  the  dis- 
tance. Furthermore,  since  only  two  three-phase  lines  are  to 
be  run,  the  cost  per  duct  foot  on  a  two  or  three-duct  conduit 
would  be  excessively  high.  Mr.  Arnold  argued  strongly  in 
favor  of  the  overhead  line,  because  of  the  ease  with  which 
troubles  can  be  located  and  the  short  time  in  which  they  can 
be  repaired,  as  compared  to  underground  cables,  where  it  takes 
considerable  time  to  find  a  fault  and  much  more  time  to  remedy 
it.  The  general  plan  of  the  New  York  Central  transmission, 
as  outlined  by  Mr.  Arnold,  is  to  maintain  two  11,000-volt  three- 
phase  lines,  either  one  of  which  could,  in  cases  of  emergency, 
keep  the  road  in  operation  while  the  other  was  being  repaired. 

At  the  same  meeting  a  great  deal  of  discussion  was  given 
to  transmission  lines  using  steel  towers  for  supporting  the 
conductors  instead  of  wooden  poles,  and  using  very  long  spans 
of  several  hundred  feet  between  towers,  thus  cutting  down 
the  number  of  insulators,  and  the  number  of  chances  of  in- 
sulator break-downs.  While  some  engineers  question  the  ad- 
visability of  steel  tower  construction  for  transmission  lines  on 
the  ground  of  high  first  cost,  it  seemed  to  be  the  consensus  of 
opinion  of  a  number  of  the  best  specialists  in  high-tension 
transmission  that  steel  tower  construction  would  be  much  more 
substantial  than  the  present  wooden  pole  construction,  and  that 
it  would  greatly  reduce  the  number  of  some  of  the  most  com- 
mon troubles :  such  as  breaking  of  insulators,  burning  off  of 
poles  and  the  throwing  of  wire  and  sticks  across  the  transmis- 
sion conductors.  Although  the  steel  tower  construction  may 
offer  a  transmission  line  of  considerably  greater  reliability  than 
ordinary  wooden  pole  construction,  such  lines  are  not  likely  to 
be  extensively  used  in  electric  railway  work,  except  where 
power  is  derived  from  a  waterfall  at  some  distance  from  the 
line  of  the  road.  The  ordinary  interurban  electric  railway 
must  have  its  pole  line  along  the  track  for  the  trolley  and  the 
low-tension  feeders,  and  unless  the  work  is  of  sufficient  im- 
portance to  justify  an  independent  steel  tower  transmission 
line,  in  addition  to  the  pole  line  for  the  low-tension  conductors 
and  trolley,  there  is  not  likely  to  lie  much  variation  from  the 
standard  practice  of  placing  both  the  high  and  low-tension 
conductors  on  the  same  poles.  If  the  third  rail  is  to  be  used, 
the  case  is  somewhat  different,  and  steel  tower  construction 
may  find  some  use.  If,  however,  the  single-phase  alternating- 
current  motor  proves  a  success,  the  trolley  wire  will  be  re- 
tained indefinitely  for  longdistance  and  high  sncecl  work,  and 
with  i(  (he  recessity  for  z  pole  line. 


6o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


REPAIR  SHOP  PRACTICE  IN  COLUMBUS,  OHIO 

The  Columbus  Railway  &  Light  Company,  of  Columbus, 
Ohio,  has  a  very  complete  repair  shop,  which  takes  care  of 
practically  all  its  own  repair  work,  and  it  also  engages  in  the 
manufacture  of  material  and  repair  parts  much  more  exten- 
sively than  the  majority  of  companies.  The  shops  are  located 
in  a  group  of  three  buildings,  adjoining  the  Rose  Avenue  car 


hoists  on  circular  cranes  in  the  rear  of  the  shop  and  one  4-in. 
hoist  in  the  armature  room.  A  Christensen  direct-connected 
compressor,  supplying  150  ft.  of  air  per  minute,  discharges  into 
a  42-in.  x  10-ft.  reservoir,  which  supplies  the  hoists  and  is  used 
for  other  purposes.  The  car  hoists  have  stirrup-shaped  attach- 
ments, and  in  hoisting  a  car  a  timber  is  placed  under  each  end 
of  the  car  and  through  the  stirrups.  It  is  possible  to  hoist  a  car 
in  half  a  minute.    The  circular  cranes  are  used  in  handling 


FIG.  2.— AIR  HOISTS  AND  CIRCULAR  CRANES  FIG.  3.— BRASS  FOUNDRY 


houses.  An  exterior  view  of  the  shop  buildings  and  master 
mechanic's  office  is  shown  in  Fig.  i.  The  pits  and  truck  room 
are  located  in  the  front  wing,  which  measures  55  ft.  x  95  ft. 
The  machine  shop  occupies  the  ground  floor  of  a  three-story 
building,  formerly  an  old  horse-car  barn.  The  second  floor  of 
this  building"  contains  the  armature  and  field  coil  rooms  and  a 


motors,  armatures  and  trucks.  Together  they  cover  the  entire 
width  of  the  shop,  the  diameter  of  each  circle  being  24  ft. 
Each  crane  has  two  arms  extending  from  the  center  to  the  cir- 
cumference, these  arms  being  pivoted  at  the  center,  with 
travelers  at  the  outer  ends.  On  the  arms  are  also  travelers 
from  which  the  air  hoists  are  suspended.    The  outfits  were  built 


FIG.  1. — EXTERIOR  OF  REPAIR  SHOPS,  COLUMBUS  RAILWAY   &  LIGHT  COMPANY 


stock  room,  65  ft.  x  65  ft.,  while  the  third  floor  is  used  for 
storage.  The  carpenter  shop  is  in  a  wing,  48  ft.  x  100  ft.,  at 
the  rear  of  the  main  building.  The  paint  shop,  foundry  and 
blacksmith  shop  are  in  separate  buildings,  a  short  distance 
from  the  main  buildings. 

Air  hoists  are  used  extensively  in  the  truck  room.  For  hoist- 
ing cars  there  are  eight  9-in.  hoists,  each  capable  of  lifting  3 
tons,  covering  three  pit  tracks.    There  are  also  two  6-in.  air 


in  the  company's  own  shop,  and  cost  $240  each  complete,  in- 
cluding air  hoist  and, connections.  The  circles  were  made  from 
8-in.  I-beams,  which  were  bent  into  proper  shape  on  a  wheel 
press.  They  were  laid  out  with  a  templet,  and  steel-faced 
blocks  were  used  in  the  wheel  press.  The  I-beams  were  moved 
about  9  ins.  at  a  time,  and  they  went  over  the  circle  three  times 
to  insure  accuracy.  The  outfit  gives  two  cranes  without  any 
posts  in  the  center  of  the  room,  and  at  a  saving  in  cost  of  200 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


61 


per  cent  over  the  ordinary  type  of  crane.  The  cranes  were  of 
great  advantage  this  spring  when  the  company  changed  motors 
on  nearly  100  pairs  of  trucks  used  under  box  cars  and  placed 
them  on  trucks  used  under  summer  cars,  and  it  was  possible  to 
change  from  six  to  seven  cars  per  day  with  seven  men  in  the 
c'iop.  The  Columbus  svstem  is  broad  gage  (5  ft.  ins.),  and 
the  company  uses  maximum  traction  trucks  with  a  20-in.  pony 
wheel  on  the  box  cars  and  an  18-in. 
wheel  on  the  summer  cars.  The 
closed  cars  have  seventeen-tooth 
pinion  and  sixty-seven-tooth  gear, 
while  the  summer  cars  have  nine- 
teen-tooth  pinion  and  sixty-nine 
tooth  gear,  hence  separate  trucks 
were  required. 

For  car  lubrication  the  company 


tions  and  drawn  together  by  a  large  bolt  and  nut,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  5,  with  a  commutator  segment  inserted.  The  men  have 
slotted,  set  up  and  turned  commutators  ready  to  go  into  arma- 
tures in  i]/2  hours,  and  the  average  time  is  less  than  2  hours. 

For  winding  G.  E.  800-armature  coils  the  company  uses  a 
specially  designed  form,  which  consists  of  a  large  brass  hand 
wheel  provided  with  spools  having  ridges  suitably  arranged  for 


I'TG.  6.— FORM  FOR  WINDING 
G.  E.-80C  ARMATURE  COILS 


uses  Galena  car  oil.  On  motor  bearings  wick-feed  armature 
cups  are  employed,  of  the  type  recently  illustrated  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  as  having  been  originated  by  this  company. 
The  journal  boxes  are  packed  with  Perfection  packing  waste, 


FIG.  7.— INTERIOR  OF  STOCK  ROOM 


this  particular  coil  (see  Fig.  6).  Two  of  the  spools  have  re- 
lease plugs  which  slip  out  for  removing  the  coil.  All  armature 
and  field  coil  winding  is  done  by  one  girl  in  a  winding  room, 
which  is  located  on  the  second  floor.    Taping  is  done  by  hand, 


FIG.  4.— TURNING  COMMUTATORS 


FIG.    5.— CLAM  P   AND    COMMUTATOR    SEGMENTS,   ARBOR  FOR 
TROLLEY  WHEEL,  TOOL  FOR  TURNING  TROLLEY  WHEEL, 
EXPANDING  MANDREL  AND   COMMUTATOR  CORE 


the  same  as  a  freight  car.  The  cost  of  lubrication  on  this  sys- 
tem does  not  exceed  12  cents  per  1000  miles. 

The  G.  E.  67  motor  is  used  as  standard,  and  besides  doing  all 
its  own  armature  work,  the  company  builds  all  its  own  com- 
mutators. 

Hillings  &  Spencer  drop-forged  commutator  bars  are 
employed,  with  Chicago  Mica  Company's  mica  bars  as  seg- 
ments. These  bars  are  assembled  in  a  three-part  clamp,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  5,  and  faced  and  slotted  in  a  lathe,  as  shown  in 
Fig.  4.  The  commutator  is  held  in  place  while  being  turned 
and  banded  mi  the  outside  by  a  core,  which  is  cast  in  two  see- 


as  it  is  claimed  it  can  lie  dune  more  accurately  than  by  machine. 
Coils  are  first  taped  with  white  braid,  and  then  dipped  in  anna- 
lac,  and  the  portions  which  fit  into  the  armature  slots  are  taped 
with  Star  friction  tape.  The  coil  is  then  taped  the  second 
time  with  linen  tape,  and  thru  dipped  in  Massachusetts 
Chemical  Company's  armalac  insulating  varnish. 

A  small  but  well  equipped  brass  foundry  takes  care  of  a  re- 
markably large  amount  of  work.  One  man,  at  $2.50  per  day, 
does  all  (lie  work  in  this  department,  including  making  of 
cores  and  babbitting.  The  company  produces  practically  all 
the  brass  castings  required  in  the  operation  of  the  system,  in- 


62 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


eluding  rail-bonds,  line  ears,  trolley  wheels,  controller  parts, 
journal  bearings,  etc.  As  an  example  of  the  intricate  work 
produced  it  might  be  stated  that  the  company  recently  turned 
out  a  set  of  switchboard  equalizing  bars  with  sixteen  double 
connections.  The  furnaces  were  home-made,  and  consist  of 
two  old  boiler  shells,  which  were  lined  with  firebrick  and  pro- 
vided with  suitable  castings  at  top  and  bottom.    Natural  draft 


Truck  No. 


The  Columbus  Railway  Company. 

 Car  No  


Truck  in  Service  Car  [So  . 


Type. 

MOTOR  No.  r. 

MOTOR  No  1. 

Arm.  out. 

P.  Brasset. 

Out  In 

Out  In 

C.  Brasses, 

Out  In 

Out  Jn 

Axle  Brj-.se;, 

Out  In 

Out  ]n 

Truck  BrwsM, 

Out  In 

Out  In 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Wheal*. 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Off 

On 

Field  Coils— Top, 

Out  Ir, 

Out  In 

Field  Coils— Bottom, 

Out  In 

Out  In 

FIG.  8. — TRUCK-ROOM  REPORT  ON  CARS  TURNED  IN  TO  MASTER 
MECHANIC  WHEN  WORK  IS  COMPLETE 


position  of  83  1-3  per  cent  tin,  8  1-3  per  cent  copper,  and  8  1-3 
per  cent  antimony.  In  making  rail-bonds  the  company  uses 
scrap  wire  of  9-gage,  10-gage  or  11-gage.  Seven  strands  are 
usually  employed.  A  tin  clamp  holds  them  in  place  and  a  pure 
copper  lug  is  cast  on.  As  shown  in  view  of  the  foundry,  Fig.  3, 
the  rail-bond  molds  are  designed  to  produce  five  bonds  at  a 
time.    The  lugs  are  then  turned  and  expanded  on  a  lathe. 

C  E  FOR"!  2  1O.23-O2-2S0O. 

The  Columbus  Railway  Company. 
C-A-R  TROUBLE  lE^ZEZPOZR/T. 


Car  House, 


to  c.  E  HOTT 

Name  of  Conductor  

No.  of  Car,  

Give  detail  description  of  trouble  and  damage  resulting : 


Motor  mail,. 


June, 


.  li'liere  occurred,. 


Motor  Inspector. 
removed  l,om  service 


FIG.  10.— REPORT  OF  CAR  TROUBLES  MADE  BY  BARN  FOREMAN 
TO  MASTER  MECHANIC 


The  Columbus  Railway  &  Light  Company. 


MR  HOTT: 

The  following  repair: 


./90 


iioede'l  oil  Car  No. 


is  used  with  a  good  grade  of  coke  for  fuel.  But  one  furnace  is 
used  at  a  time,  giving  each  one  heat  per  day.  The  composition 
used  in  trolley  wheels  is  nine  parts  of  copper  and  one  of  tin. 


THE    COLUMBUS    RAILWAY  COMPANY. 

CAR  REPAGRS. 

Cm  No.               !                                                                                                  f  9 

Sns'i  

Class,  

Posts,  .  .,  

Floors  repaired.    .  .  . 

New  Vestibules  

Vestibules  repaired. 

Posts.  . 

1 

FIG.  11. — REQUISITION  ON  MASTER  MECHANIC  BY  CAR  HOUSE 

FOREMAN 


To- 


The  Columbus  Railway  £)  Light  Company. 

  Date  190 — 


CREDIT  for  material  returned  from- 


QUftNTITr 


ARTICLE. 


Roofs. 


Panels^  ..  . 
Dashes.  ..  „  ..  .. ..  .,  . 

Miscellaneous  Repairs. 


Total.   ...  [ 

FIG.  9.— CARPENTER  SHOP  REPORT  ON  CAR  REPAIRS 

It  is  claimed  that  in  preparing  the  metal  it  should  be  melted  and 
run  into  pigs  and  then  melted  the  second  time.  When  put 
into  the  lathe  it  should  cut  very  tough  and  free  from  grit,  and 
the  shavings  should  turn  a  red  color.  In  turning  wheels  a 
single  tool  is  used,  which  is  provided  with  ears,  which  trims 
the  sides  as  well  as  turning  the  center,  and  they  are  able  to 
finish  forty  wheels  an  hour  by  this  method.  The  tool  and 
arbor  used  are  shown  in  Fig.  5.  G.  E.  graphite  bushings  are 
used,  and  the  wheel  has  a  reservoir  which  is  filled  with  oil.  The 
4-in.  wheels  cost  42  cents,  and  they  have  averaged  6567  miles 
over  a  period  of  several  years.  The  company  makes  all  its 
own  babbitt  and  bearing  material.   The  babbitt  used  is  a  com- 


FIG.  12.— FORM  FOR  CREDITING  RETURNED  MATERIAL 

Bonds  are  produced  at  the  rate  of  120  per  day,  and  they  cost 
about  16  cents,  figuring  material,  labor  and  all  foundry  ex- 
penses. Trolley  ears,  14  ins.  long,  cost  \dy2  cents  each. 
Armature  bearings  have  a  composition  of  80  per  cent  copper, 
15  per  cent  lead  and  5  per  cent  pig  tin,  and  have  shown  a  life  of 
58,000  miles  and  over.  Controller  cylinder  segments  are  cast 
in  rings  and  turned  out,  using  an  expanding  mandrel  to  get 
inside.  The  company  has  a  complete  line  of  expanding  man- 
drels, which  were  made  in  the  shops.  The  company  is  also 
making  its  own  register  fittings,  and  hangs  the  register  pulleys 
from  the  hand-strap  pole,  using  eighteen  on  a  car.  For  the 
corner  pulley  a  4-in.  wheel  with  wide  groove  is  employed.  A 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


63 


5-16  round  leather  belt  is  used,  and  practically  all  trouble  from 
breaking  of  register  cord  has  been  eliminated.  In  fact,  there 
has  been  only  one  replacement  during  a  year  after  cars  were 
equipped.  Span-wire  insulators  are  made  from  steel  strips, 
cut  into  suitable  lengths,  using  porcelain  knobs  and  bolts. 

The  stock  room,  measuring  65  ft.  x  65  ft.,  is  located  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  main  building,  and  is  reached  by  dumb 
waiters  and  speaking  tubes  from  the  various  departments  be- 
low. The  master  mechanic  has  a  photograph  album,  containing 
photographs  of  every  piece  of  material  produced  in  the  shop 


S.  26—2-21  u:t  ?>u*> 


The  Columbus  Railway  Company. 
Rose  Ave.  Shops. 


ELECTRICAL  REPAIRS. 


190 


P- 

HOURS. 

J 

Repaired  by_ 


FIG.  13. — SPECIMEN  OF  DAILY  REPORT  FROM  ELECTRICAL 
DEPARTMENT 

and  carried  in  stock.  These  have  numbers  corresponding  to  the 
pattern  numbers,  and  the  work  of  ordering  material  is  greatly 
facilitated  by  this  method. 

The  use  of  pumice  stone  and  sand-paper  in  rubbing  down 
and  finishing  woodwork  and  car  bodies  has  been  entirely  dis- 
pensed with.  Instead,  the  company  uses  a  fine  silica  sand, 
which  is  rubbed  on  wet  with  a  sponge  or  cloth.    This  material 


The  Columbus  Railway  &  Light  Company. 


Rose  Aye.  Shops.   TIME  CHECK. 


.190- 


Name- 


No. 


Total  Boars 


FIG.  14. — DAILY  TIME  CHECK  MADE  OUT  BY  EVERY  SHOP  MAN 

cleans  mouldings  and  crevices  and  gets  into  corners  in  a  man- 
ner impossible  with  sand  paper.  The  sand  is  bought  by  the 
wagon  load,  and  costs  $4  per  ton,  as  compared  with  pumice  at 
7  cents  per  pound.  In  cleaning  dirty  woodwork  the  company 
first  uses  a  preparation  of  soft  soap,  made  by  dissolving  Star 
laundry  soap  in  hot  water,  which  is  then  rubbed  thoroughly 
with  the  silica  sand.  The  cleaning  is  done  thoroughly,  and  the 
woodwork  is  not  scratched  in  the  least.  The  saving  in  time  by 
this  method  is  enormous.  In  painting  cars  the  company  does 
not  use  any  rough  stuff,  and  prefers  the  less  glossy  finish.  All 
cars  are  touched  up  and  revarnished  once  a  year.    Rusty  steel 


THE  COLUMBUS  RAILWAY  &  LIGHT  CO. 

REQUISITION  FOR  MATERIAL. 


To  be  ordered  c 


FIG. 


15.  ORDER  ON  THE  MAIN 
OFFICE    FOR  MATERIAL 


dashes  are  burned  off,  treated  with  a  coat  of  boiled  linseed  oil, 
applied  hot,  and  brought  up  to  a  color  with  lead  surface.  The 
Columbus  cars  have  considerable  fancy  lettering  and  striping, 
but  it  is  figured  that  this  costs  practically  nothing,  because  it 
is  done  entirely  by  the  foreman,  who  is' not  expected  to  assist  in 
the  ordinary  work. 

This  spring  all  summer  cars  were  fitted  with  eaves  troughs. 

These  are  made  of  gal-   »»„»-™™  »„„,.,„„.„„  

vanized  iron,  worked  in  a 
molding,  and  there  is 
down-spout  of  24-in.  gas 
pipe  at  each  corner  post. 
The  scheme  cost  about  $9 
per  car,  but  it  is  figured 
that  it  will  save  the  car 
by  taking  the  water  off 
from  the  woodwork, 
joints  and  curtains  and 
prevents  it  from  blow- 
ing onto  the  seats,  and  it 
is  also  an  innovation  that 
is  greatly  appreciated  by 
the  conductors,  being  in 
line  with  the  company's 
well-known  policy  of 
taking  an  unusual  inter- 
est in  the  men.  It  will 
be  remembered,  as  here- 
inbefore outlined  in  the 
Street  Railway  Jour- 
nal, the  Columbus  company  gives  every  employee  an  annual 
dividend,  figured  on  the  basis  of  his  earnings. 

A  very  complete  system  of  records  is  kept.  The  company 
keeps  mileage  records  on  cars,  trucks,  car  bodies  and  motors ; 
also  on  wheels,  armatures,  commutators,  pinions,  brasses,  axles, 
gears,  trolley  wheels,  etc.,  and  monthly  and  annual  reports  are 
prepared  covering  all  these  details.  The  master  mechanic  re- 
ceives a  daily  report  from  car  house  as  to  car  mileage ;  the  cars 
average  about  150  miles  per  day.  From  the  shop  foreman  he 
receives  daily  reports  as  to  repair  work  done  and  replacements 
made,  the  reports  covering  both  the  time  of  the  men  employed 
on  the  work  and  the  car  on  which  the  work  was  performed. 

The  master  mechanic  maintains  in  his  office  a  card  rack, 
showing  the  numbers  of  the  cars  in  service  on  each  division. 
The  cards  show  the  type  of  car,  size,  motor,  truck  and  other 
details.  If  a  car  is  disabled  the  card  is  reversed  and  shows  up 
a  red  face  indicating  that  the  car  is  out  of  service. 

The  shops  of  the  company  are  in  charge  of  C.  E.  Hott,  master 
mechanic,  who  has  occupied  this  position  since  the  horse-car 
days.  He  is  responsible  for  nearly  all  the  innovations  in- 
troduced. 

 »>♦  

The  sink  hole  on  the  Urbana,  Bellefontaine  &  Northern  Rail- 
way near  Round  Prairie,  Ohio,  is  proving  a  most  expensive 
obstacle.  Reference  to  this  hole  was  made  some  months  ago, 
when  it  was  thought  it  was  being  filled  up.  At  present,  how- 
ever, the  situation  seems  to  be  worse  than  ever.  The  hole  is 
only  50  ft.  across,  but  the  many  thousands  of  feet  of  cinders, 
rock  and  gravel,  besides  large  quantities  of  timber,  which  the 
company  has  dumped  into  the  hole  have  disappeared  in  a  few 
hours.  Quite  recently  the  company  made  another  determined 
effort  to  complete  the  fill.  It  dumped  more  than  thirty  train 
loads  of  earth,  and  came  near  losing  some  of  its  cars,  which 
had  been  allowed  to  stand  on  the  track  over  the  hole  for  a  few 
minutes.  The  Cleveland  &  Southwestern  Traction  Company 
had  such  a  hole  on  its  line  two  years  ago,  but  after  persistent 
efforts  it  was  finally  filled  up.  C.  A.  Alderman,  chief  engineer 
of  the  Appleyard  system,  is  offering  a  prize  to  any  one  who 
will  tell  him  how  to  fill  the  hole. 


64 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


NEW  CAR  TERMINAL  AND  LARGE  NEW  THEATER  FOR 
NORUMBEGA  PARK,  AUBURNDALE,  MASS. 


Reference  has  previously  been  made  in  the  columns  of  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  to  the  attractive  features  of  this 
beautiful  park,  but  this  year  extensive  improvements  have  been 
made,  as  were  found  necessary  owing  to  its  increasing  popu- 
larity as  a  summer  resort  and  the  resulting  large  crowds  which 
frequented  the  place  last  summer.    Norumbega  Park  has  grown 


point  of  the  Charles  River;  at  this  spot  the  river  is  very  broad, 
resembling  a  lake.  The  park  has  an  area  of  about  12  acres, 
and  has  a  long  water  frontage  on  account  of  the  winding  path 
of  the  river.  The  park  land  is  undulating  in  character,  being 
heavily  wooded  and  in  many  places  still  remains  very  wild. 
The  park  management  operates  many  amusements  and  attrac- 
tions in  connection  with  the  park,  including  a  theater  and  also . 
a  zoological  garden.  Particular  attention  is  paid  to  the  latter 
feature ;  the  best  specimens  of  different  animals  are  kept  at 


The  Boat  House  for  Private  Canoes. 


Cafe  above  Car  Terminal  Depot. 


Storage  Station  for  Bicycles,  Automobiles,  Etc. 


Elk  House  in  the  Zoological  Garden.  An  Amusement  Feature— The  Donkey  Rides. 

TYPICAL  VIEWS  IN  NORUMBEGA  PARK,  AUBURNDALE,  MASS. 


to  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  resorts,  as  well  as  also  probably 
the  most  popular,  in  the  Xew  England  States,  being  situated 
as  it  is  on  the  Charles  River,  amidst  the  most  beautiful,  wild 
and  uncultivated  surroundings,  while  not  inconvenient  of  access 
from  Boston.  An  idea  of  its  present  popularity  may  be  gained 
from  the  fact  that  during  last  season  the  total  attendance  on 
Saturdays  often  reached  12,000  to  14,000,  while  upon  Labor 
Day  it  reached  the  figure  of  18,000. 

This  park  is  operated  by  the  Boston  Suburban  Electric  Com- 
panies, which  also  controls  the  Commonwealth  Street  Railway, 
the  Newton  Street  Railway  and  other  important  electric  rail- 
way lines  in  the  suburbs  of  Boston  in  the  vicinity  of  Newton- 
ville  and  Waltham. 

As  referred  to  in  the  former  article  descriptive  of  the  park 
(May  5,  1900,  page  462),  it  is  located  near  Auburndale,  about 
10  miles  from  Boston,  and  about  5  miles  above  the  tidewater 


the  zoo,  which  is  found  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  at- 
tractions of  the  park. 

This  park  has  taken  an  important  place  in  the  street  railway 
park  development  in  this  country,  inasmuch  as  while  operated 
primarily  to  create  traffic  for  the  various  car  lines  of  the  oper- 
ating company,  it  is  still  maintained  as  a  separate  organization, 
and  is  operated  with  a  material  profit.  It  is  prevalent  practice 
for  street  railways  operating  parks  to  maintain  the  park  and 
offer  attractions  as  an  inducement  for  people  to  travel  over 
their  lines  to  the  park,  but  this  park  is  notable  for  its  differen- 
tiation, as  an  admission  to  the  grounds  of  10  cents  is  charged, 
causing  the  park  to  operate  for  a  profit.  A  combination  rate 
is,  however,  made  to  passengers  traveling  to  the  park  over  the 
lines  of  the  operating  company,  by  which,  if  a  return  ticket  is 
purchased,  entrance  to  the  park  may  be  gained  for  the  addi- 
tional payment  of  5  cents  only. 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


65 


This  reduced  rate  of  fare  is  secured  for  the  passengers  upon 
the  payment  of  15  cents  to  the  car  conductor,  whereupon  ne 


[NTERIOB  VIEVi  OP   ["HEATER,  SHOWING  NEW  STAGE 


issues  a  coupon  ticket  of  the  form  shown  in  the  accompanying- 
engraving.  The  upper  half  of  this  ticket  is  printed  on  a  green 
background  and  the  lower  half  on  a  red  background;  the  upper 
half,  as  may  be  seen,  provides  an  admission  to  the  park,  while 
the  lower  half,  which  is  retained  by  the  purchaser  until  leaving 
the  park,  is  good  for  a  ride  upon  any  of  the  car  lines  of  the 
company  on  leaving  the  park.  It  will  be  noticed  that  upon  the 
park-admission  half  of  the  ticket  the  management  reserves 
the  right  to  revoke  the  right  granted  by  this  ticket  by  refunding 
the  purchase  price,  this  serving  as  a  precautionary  provision 
by  which  the  management  may  refuse  admission  to  intoxicated 
or  other  objectionable  parties.  A  feature  of  the  return-fare 
ticket  upon  the  car  lines  is  that  the  red  ticket  is  good  only  at  the 
park  turnstiles,  and  is  not  acceptable  if  presented  to  a  conduc- 
tor after  boarding  a  car;  this  ensures  the  use  of  this  ticket  in 
returning  from  the  park  only  by  entrance  to  the  cars  through 
the  turnstiles  at  the  depot.  These  tickets  are  made  valid  for  the 
entire  season,  those  shown  in  the  engraving  representing  the 
form  which  is  valid  for  the  season  of  1904. 

THE  PARK  THEATRE 

Probably  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  Norumbega 
Park  is  the  open-air  theater,  which  is  operated  throughout  the 
park  season  with  high-class  vaudeville  entertainments.  This 
is  a  feature  that  was  started  in  the  park  several  years  ago  and 
which  has  proved  one  of  the  most  important  and  successful 
of  the  attractions  that  have  been  installed  there.  No  charge  is 
made  to  visitors  to  the  park  for  general  admission  to  the 
theater,  but  the  rows  of  seats  toward  the  front  and  the  boxes 
are  reserved  at  moderate  prices;  the  front  seats  are  reserved  at 
25  cents  each,  while  the  scats  to  the  rear  are  held  at  less  prices, 
according  to  the  location.  Nearly  1500  seats  at  the  rear  and 
llie  space  behind  them  are  held  free  to  all  visitors  to  the  park, 

The  important  feature  of  the  improvements  at  the  park  llii-- 


66 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


;  Noruivibega  Park 

GOQC  SEASOS  OF  i9C4  ONLY  ' 
. SnP  Tlic  M.ma>f>  nvnt  resprras  tin 

to  mvokv'  tub  ii'visw  ,ri<niud  by 
thl>;  tl'.vkct  by  -  refui' <lSa;j  parcli-iw) 

f.r""^..  •  '    JfOEC  I?  -BIT ACHED.  \ 


4 


GOOD  SEASON  OF  j0O4  ONLY 
:,    ;        SPEiCrAL  TICKET 

^    0  eii  only  for  continuous  rido  on  any  car  of.tS* 

y  Newton  St.  Wy.  Co. 

o  Norimbega  Park 

'.CD    '  GODC  OKL?  AT  PAE2  TTOHSTILB 
[iijL  Tlis  Sicket  Will  tfot  to  Taien  cn  Car,  and 
will  not  ©ailtla  pwstagM  to  transfer  prM- 


7dm 

General  >Iawttger, 


SPECIAL     COUPON  TICKET 
USED  FOR  RETURN  CAR 
FARE  AND  ADMIS- 
SION TO  PARK 


year  lies  in  the  rebuilding 
of  this  theater.  The  thea- 
ter has  been  operated  here- 
tofore without  roof  cover- 
ing, the  entire  seating  ca- 
pacity, now  providing  for 
3000  people,  being  entirely 
unprotecte  d  from  the 
weather.  This  year  it 
was  thought  desirable  in 
enlarging  the  scope  of  the 
theater  to  provide  a  roof 
covering  which  should 
serve  as  a  protection  from 
the  sun  for  the  afternoon 
entertainments,  as  well  as 
also  provide  protection 
from  the  sudden  storms 
which  frequently  arise  in 
summer  time.  In  doing  this 
the  theater  has  been  en- 
tirely rebuilt  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  stage  por- 
tion, which  is  very  little 


This  is  probably  one  of  the  first  structures  of  its  kind  in  which 
a  steel  roof  construction  is  used,  and  in  this  case  the  details  of 
construction  are  remarkable  for  the  size. 

As  may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  plans,  the  theater  is 
laid  out  on  a  fan-shaped  section  of  ground,  the  stage  being  ar- 
ranged in  the  lowest  portion  and  the  seats  sloping  upwards  to 
the  rear,  radially  from  it  in  all  directions,  as  shown  in  the  longi- 
tudinal section.  This  construction  was  favored  by  the  natural 
ground  level  at  this  point,  little  surfacing  being  found  neces- 
sary. The  total  rise  from  the  lowest  level  of  the  auditorium  to 
the  ground  level  at  the  rear  of  the  seats  is  11  ft.  4  ins.,  thus 
giving  all  seats  the  preference  of  an  excellent  view.  There  are 
two  main  aisles  leading  from  rear  to  the  front,  while  additional 
aisles  extend  down  from  the  rear  to  cross  aisles,  as  shown. 
Further  general  features  of  the  theater  construction  are  shown 
in  the  accompanying  engravings. 

The  details  of  the  roof-truss  construction  are  shown  in  a 
drawing  of  truss  F.  This  truss  is  designed  for  a  span  of  93  ft. 
between  the  center  of  the  rear  column  support  and  the  cross- 
truss  between  the  stage  columns,  where  it  terminates.  There 
are  seven  of  these  long-span  trusses,  all  radiating  from  the 
framework  above  the  stage,  which  is  erected  upon  the  columns 
at  its  four  corners,  as  shown;  this  framework  is  provided  with 
trussing  projecting  out  over  the  auditorium  for  receiving  and 


NOTE: 

Root'  Truss  Location  indicated  by  dotted  Lines. 
Posts  at  Rear  of  Auditorium  to  be  equally 
spaced  apart 


Flower  trenches  and  pots 


Street  Ry.  Journal 


PLAN  OF  THE  NEW  THEATER  AT  NORUMBEGA  PARK,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  SEATING 


changed.  A  very  pretty  rustic  stage  effect  was  presented  by  the  stiffening  the  intermediate  trusses.  This  special  roof  con- 
former  stage,  and  this  has  been  left  unchanged,  while  the  steel  struction  above  the  stage,  as  well  as  also  the  details  of  the  stage 
roof  structure  and  the  seating  equipment  are  entirely  new,  the  setting  and  the  dressing  rooms,  are  shown  in 'the  accompanying 
latter  providing  a  capacity  500  greater  than  the  former  theater.  longitudinal  and  cross  sections  of  the  structure. 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


67 


Strcti  Iii/.JuUrnat 


Longitudinal  Section 


CROSS  AND  LONGITUDINAL  SECTIONS  OF  THE  NEW  THEATER  STRUCTURE 


"DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  FORM  OF  ROOF  TRUSS  USED  IN  THE 
NEW  THEATER,  TO  COVER  THE  93-FT.  SPAN 


Slreel  Ry. Journal 1 


The  proscenium  over  the  stage  is  beautified  by  an  attractive 
design  of  cornice  surmounting  the  large  columns  at  the  front 
corners;  these  columns  are  2  ft.  [  in.  in  diameter  and  29  ft. 
high,  being  built  up  on  a  composite  order.  The  entablature  is 
7  ft.  high  and  over  it  are  placed  figures  representing  music  and 
drama.  The  entablature  is  designed  with  a  very  elaborate 
cornice  frieze  and  architrave  and  is  crowned  with  an  acroterie 
consisting  of  a  cartouche  in  the  center  with  a  wreath  under  it 
and  figures  on  either  side.    The  stage  is  neatly  set  off  by  an 


arcade  consisting  of  triple  arches  and  columns  at  the  rear,  be- 
hind which  is  a  rustic  railing  with  flower  pots.  These  features, 
all  of  which  are  new,  will  add  greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of 
the  theater,  and  also  the  roof  covering  will  prove  very  effective 
in  providing  the  greater  need  of  protection  for  the  audience. 

The  work  upon  this  building  is  a  model  that  nray  well  be 
followed  by  those  considering  similar  installations,  and  reflects 
great  credit  upon  the  operating  company  as  well  as  also  the 
architect.   The  architect  of  the  new  theater  structure  is  Samuel 


68 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


J.  Brown,  164  Federal  Street,  Boston,  Mass.,  who  made  the 
designs  for  all  the  buildings  at  this  park.  For  the  design  of  the 
roof  structure  Mr.  Brown  called  in  the  assistance  of  J.  R.  Wor- 
cester, of  Boston,  as  consulting  engineer  on  the  steel  frame- 
work. 

THE  NEW  CAR  TERMINAL 
In  the  engraving  below  is  shown  the  plan  of  the  basement  of 


Ticket 

Office 

4- 

desiring  to  return  immediately  without  entering  the  park,  can 
pass  through  on  to  another  platform,  and  from  that  point  enter 
the  enclosure,  where  they  can  board  a  car  for  the  city  or  pass 
outside  the  grounds. 

Passengers  leaving  the  park  come  down  the  stairs,  C,  and 
pass  through  the  turnstiles  at  H  and  onto  the  platform.  This 
turnstile  prevents  people  from  passing  back  into  the  park  at 
that  point.  There  is  a  large  gate  at  I,  which  will  be  opened 
during  rush  hours,  an  officer  being  stationed  there  so  that  no 
one  can  enter  the  park  from  there.  Having  reached  this  point 
visitors  desiring  to  simply  go  out  onto  the  street  pass  out  the 
walk,  G,  which  is  sufficiently  wide  to  prevent  any  congestion 
and  enables  them  to  reach  the  street  without  crossing  any 
tracks.  Passengers  having  the  last  coupon  of  their  round-trip 
tickets  pass  directly  through  the  opening,  B,  depositing  their 


COMMONWEALTH   AVENUE      .  Street  Ry. Journal 

PLAN  OF  THE  NEW  CAR  TERMINAL  AND  DEPOT  AT  NORUMBEGA  PARK,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  ENTRANCE 

AND  DEPARTURE  PLATFORMS 


the  Casino  building,  at  the  entrance  to  the  park,  upon  Com- 
monwealth Avenue,  which  is  used  as  a  car  storage  house  and 
also  an  entrance  and  departure  depot  for  the  visitors.  This  has 
been  entirely  rearranged  and  rebuilt  for  the  operation  of  cars 
at  the  terminal,  upon  an  entirely  new  plan,  for  facility  of  hand- 
ling the  large  crowds.  In  previous  years  it  has  been  found  that 
the  task  of  collecting  fares  upon  the  cars  departing  from  the 
park,  with  such  heavy  crowds  as  have  been  carried,  has  been 
difficult,  and  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  secure  the  fares 
of  all  the  passengers.  The  new  plan  will  provide  a  means  of 
taking  the  fares  of  all  passengers  before  entrance  to  the  cars, 
in  order  that  the  former  errors  of  registration  by  conductors 
may  be  effectually  done  away  with. 

As  may  be  seen  from  the  plan  of  the  new  terminal  the  cars 
coming  from  the  city  loaded  with  passengers  for  the  park  pass 
along  Commonwealth  Avenue,  and  enter  the  grounds  at  the 
point  marked  X.  They  stop  directly  beside  the  platform, 
opposite  the  ticket  office,  where  everybody  is  required  to  leave 
the  car.  Those  holding  the  coupon  round-trip  ticket  which 
they  have  purchased  on  the  car,  enter  the  park,  depositing  the 
green  coupon  of  this  ticket  in  this  box  at  A.  Those  who  have 
not  purchased  a  round-trip  ticket  secure  a  regular  straight  ad- 
mission ticket  at  the  ticket  office  for  10  cents,  and  enter  also 
at  A.  As  soon  as  the  car  is  unloaded  it  passes  over  the  ditch, 
E,  which  is  provided  and  so  arranged  that  passengers  cannot 
get  across,  and  enters  the  departure  enclosure,  passing  along 
to  the  end  of  the  platform,  Y.  In  the  fence  marked  Z  is  an 
opening  whereby  passengers  getting  off  the  car  at  the  park  and 


THE  RECEIVING  PLATFORM  AND  TICKET  OFFICE  A,  AT 
ENTRANCE  TO  PARK 


ticket  in  the  chop-box  for  admission  into  the  enclosure  for 
departing  cars.  Those  who  have  not  secured  a  round-trip  ticket 
purchase  a  5-cent  ticket  at  the  ticket  office,  D,  and  pass  through 
the  opening,  B,  depositing  their  ticket  into  the  chop-box  to 
enter  upon  the  platform.   The  track  along  the  edge  of  the  plat- 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


69 


form  is  of  sufficient  length  to  enable  three  cars  to  be  placed  there 
at  one  time.  The  car  house  has  a  storage  capacity  for  fourteen 
cars,  and  the  four  tracks  just  outside  the  doors  have  a  capacity 


STAIRWAY  C,  LEADING  TO  EXIT  GATES  AND  DEPARTURE 
PLATFORM 


VIEW   O F  THE  DEPARTURE  PLATFORM  AND  CAR  HOUSE 
FOR  STORAGE  OF  CARS 


OPENING  TO  STREET    FROM   THE  CAR  TERMINAL,  SHOWING 
PIT  TO  PREVENT  ENTRANCES  AT  THAT  POINT 


of  six  cars  more.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  management  to 
anticipate  very  largely  the  number  of  people  who  will  probably 
leave  the  park  after  the  last  theater  performance,  and  endeavor 


EXIT  TO  DEPARTURE  PLATFORM  FOR  CARS  LEAVING  PARK. 
AND  PASSAGE  TO  STREET 


THE  CAR  HOUSE  AND  TERMINAL,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT 
OF  TRACKS 


to  have  this  yard  stored  full  of  cars  in  order  to  handle  the 
people  as  quickly  as  possible  when  they  leave  the  park. 

When  it  is  time  for  a  car  to  leave  it  runs  past  the  platform, 
over  the  switches  and  out  over  the  ditch,  P,  onto  the  avenue. 
After  passing  over  the  ditch,  1',  the  car  does  not  make  a  stop 
for  some  distance,  in  order  to  encourage  the  people  to  enter 
the  enclosure  and  take  the  car  there,  rather  than  delaying  it  on 
the  street.  In  order  to  still  further  encourage  this,  signs  are 
placed  on  the  avenue  at  point  ( j,  inviting  passengers  to  enter 
this  walk,  pass  around  onto  the  platform  and  purchase  a  5-cent 
ticket  for  entrance  to  the  enclosure  at  point  B.  Any  passenger 
leaving  the  park  and  desiring  to  transfer  from  any  of  the  car 
lines  to  some  other  line  farther  down  the  system,  secures  a 
transfer  at  the  ticket  office,  D,  when  purchasing  the  5-cent 
ticket.  Transfers  are  not  given  on  the  round-trip  tickets,  as 
they  are  sold  at  a  reduced  rate. 

In  reference  to  the  operation  of  this  new  system  the  general 
manager,  Mr.  Brush,  states:  "We  believed  that  by  this  method 
of  handling  the  people  we  could  better  accommodate  them  and 
prevent  a  large  percentage  of  loss,  due  to  conductors  not  being 
able  to  collect  all  fares  on  a  crowded  car  and  also  prevent  any- 


70 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


one  withholding  any  fares  from  us.  Our  experience  so  far  with 
this  scheme  has  seemed  to  more  than  justify  our  claim  for  it 
previous  to  its  inauguration. 

"Up  to  the  present  time  we  have  experienced  no  difficulty 
with  it,  and  from  all  we  can  learn  the  people  are  better  satisfied, 
for  the  reason  they  don't  have  to  pay  their  fare  on  the  car,  and 
it  also  gives  us  very  much  larger  platform  room  than  we  have 
had  in  the  past  years.  The  conductors  are  apparently  better 
pleased,  for  it  prevents  the  necessity  of  crawling  along  on  the 
running  boards,  which  is  troublesome  in  pleasant  weather  and 
highly  objectionable  in  stormy  weather." 

This  paper  is  greatly  indebted  to  Matthew  C.  Brush,  general 
manager  of  the  Boston  Suburban  Companies,  for  this  informa- 
tion, and  to  Samuel  J.  Brown,  the  architect,  for  the  drawings 
of  the  new  theater  construction. 

♦  — 

NEW  POWER  PLANT  EQUIPMENT  FOR  THE  CONEY  ISLAND 
&  BROOKLYN  RAILWAY 

To  provide  for  its  greatly  increased  city  and  seashore  traffic, 
the  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railway  Company  has  recently 
installed  a  large  additional  direct-connected  generating  unit 
in  its  large  power  plant  at  Smith  and  Ninth  Streets,  in  South 
Brooklyn.  This  unit  is  of  particular  interest,  as  it  involves 
the  use  of  the  new  type  of  horizontal  Corliss  engine,  recently 
brought  out  by  the  Westinghouse  Machine  Company.  This 
company  has  experienced  a  very  rapid  growth  of  traffic  during 
the  past  few  years,  operating  as  it  does  two  important  lines  to 
Coney  Island  and  another  important  line  through  the  center  of 
Brooklyn.  The  total  mileage  of  road  operated  by  this  company 
is,  it  will  be  noted,  about  50  miles,  while  the  service  given  re- 
quires over  600  cars. 

The  new  generating  unit  consists  of  a  horizontal  cross-com- 
pound engine,  of  the  new  Westinghouse-Corliss  type,  which  is 
direct-connected  to  an  800-kw  railway-type  Westinghouse  gen- 
erator, to  deliver  direct  current  at  600  volts.  The  engine  and 
generator  are  designed  to  operate  at  80  r.  p.  m.,  the  rated  ca- 
pacity of  the  engine  at  this  speed,  with  the  normal  steam 
pressure  of  150  lbs.  and  a  vacuum  of  26  ins.  in  the  exhaust  pipe, 
being  1250  indicated  hp,  while  an  overload  capacity  up  to  2100 
hp  is  provided  for. 

The  valve  gear  of  this  engine  is  of  the  Corliss  rocking  type, 
the  admission  and  exhaust  valves  in  each  cylinder  being  driven 
by  separate  eccentrics.  The  admission  valve  is  operated  by  a 
^4-in.  gear,  while  the  exhaust  valve  is  operated  by  a  toggle 
mechanism,  securing  quick  opening  and  closing.  The  governor 
is  of  the  housed  pendulum  type,  controlling  the  cut-off  on  the 
high-pressure  cylinder,  or  upon  both  cylinders,  if  desired. 

The  engine  is  controlled  by  a  Monarch  safety  engine  stop, 
with  speed-limit  attachment,  working  in  connection  with  the 
main  throttle  valve.  The  governor  is  designed  to  provide  such 
regulation  for  the  engine  that  between  friction  load  and  25 
per  cent  the  speed  will  not  vary  mo»e  than  2  per  cent  above  or 
below  normal.  When  operating  under  the  conditions  above 
named,  the  consumption  of  dry  steam  at  the  point  of  best  ef- 
ficiency is  designed  to  not  exceed  13J/2  lbs.  per  ihp  hour. 

GENERAL  DIMENSIONS  OF  ENGINE 
Diameter  of  low-pressure  cylinder,  52  ins. 
Diameter  of  high-pressure  cylinder,  26  ins. 
Stroke,  48  ins. 

Main  journals,  20  ins.  x  36  ins. 

Diameter  of  shaft  at  center,  24  ins. 

Crank  pins,  9  ins.  x  9  ins. 

Crosshead  pins,  7%  ins.  x  9  ins. 

Diameter  of  H.  P.  piston-rod,  5  ins. 

Diameter  of  L.  P.  piston-rod,  5  ins. 

Connecting  rod,  center  to  center,  11  ft. 

Total  length  of  engine,  approximately,  34  ft. 

Total  width  of  engine,  approximately,  27  ft.  4  ins. 

Diameter  of  fly-wheel,  18  ft. 

Weight  of  fly-wheel,  100.000  lbs.  (estimated). 

Weight  of  engine  without  fly-wheel,  230,000  lbs  (estimated). 

Total  weight   with  fly-wheel,  330,000  lbs. 


The  generator  is  designed  so  as  to  obviate  sparking  within 
the  limits  of  no  load  to  50  per  cent  overload,  without  changing 
position  of  the  brushes.  The  regulation  of  generator  is  taken 
care  of  by  the  compounding  so  that  the  voltage  will  vary  from 
550  to  600  volts  from  no  load  to  full  load,  respectively. 

The  field  frame  is  split  along  a  vertical  plane  so  that  the 
two  halves  may  be  separated  for  obtaining  access  to  the  arma- 
ture winding.  The  pole  pieces  are  of  laminated  steel,  cast  in- 
tegral with  the  field  frame.  The  armature  and  commutator 
are  built  together  upon  a  spider  pressed  upon  the  engine  shaft; 
the  armature  is  of  the  slotted  drum  type,  with  multiple  winding, 
and  is  provided  with  balancing  rings  in  order  to  equalize  the 
voltage  at  the  several  corresponding  points  of  the  armature 
and  prevent  sparking  should  the  armature  get  slightly  out  of 
true.  The  armature  core  is  of  laminated  sheet  steel,  dove- 
tailed into  the  spider  and  held  in  place  by  end  plates,  and  the 
armature  coils  are  of  bar  copper  machine-formed  and  held  in 
position  in  the  slots  by  hard  fiber  retaining  wedges.  Carbon 
brushes  are  used,  supported  by  a  cast-iron  ring  mounted  upon 
the  face  of  the  field  frame,  and  arranged  to  be  rotated  through 
a  small  arc  by  means  of  a  gear  and  hand  wheel. 

The  installation  of  this  generating  equipment  necessitated 
the  installation  of  additional  boilers.  Two  500-hp  Morin- 
Climax  vertical  boilers  have  accordingly ,  been  installed,  in 
addition  to  the  former  large  boiler  equipment.  A  feature  cf 
this  new  work  is  the  use  of  concrete  foundations  throughout ; 
the  engine  is  provided  with  a  massive  foundation  of  great  sta- 
bility. 


AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  NORTHWESTERN  ELEVATED  RAIL- 
ROAD AND  CHICAGO,  MILWAUKEE  &  ST.  PAUL 

The  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railway  Company  and 
the  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad  Company,  of .  Chicago, 
have  at  last  come  to  an  agreement  whereby  the  Northwestern 
Elevated  will  take  charge  of  the  Evanston  line  suburban  ser- 
vice of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  north  of  Wilson 
Avenue,  which  is  the  present  northern  terminus  of  the  North- 
western Elevated.  The  Evanston  line  of  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee &  St.  Paul  has  long  been  a  poorly  paying  line,  operated  for 
suburban  service  only,  as  it  extends  only  from  Chicago  to 
North  Evanston.  The  plan  is  for  the  Northwestern  Elevated 
to  operate  its  trains  over  the  C,  M.  &  St.  P.  right-of-way.  The 
Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad  Company,  of  course,  will  pay 
a  rental  to  the  steam  railroad  for  the  use  of  its  tracks  and 
right-of-way.  Power  will  be  furnished  by  the  Northwestern 
Elevated  Railroad  Company,  which  will  also  furnish  motive 
power  for  whatever  freight  traffic  is  taken  over  the  line.  The 
freight  traffic,  however,  is  very  limited.  This  arrangement 
will  permit  the  Northwestern  Elevated  to  operate  its  trains 
from  the  heart  of  Chicago  to  North  Evanston  without  change 
of  cars,  and  the  elevated  structure  at  Wilson  Avenue  will  be 
connected  with  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  tracks  by 
a  long  incline.  An  ordinance  permitting  the  use  of  electric 
motor  power  on  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  tracks  has 
been  drawn  up  for  passage  in  the  City  Council. 



CONVENTION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  STREET  RAIL- 
WAY ASSOCIATION 

William  W.  Cole,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Street  Rail- 
way Association  of  the  State  of  New  York,  has  announced  that 
the  date  of  the  next  convention  of  the  association  will  be  Sept. 
13  to  14.    The  convention  will  be  held  in  Utica. 

 ♦♦♦  

The  Oneonta,  Cooperstown  &  Richfield  Springs  Railway 
Company,  of  Cooperstown,  N.  Y.,  has  offered  a  prize  of  $100 
to  the  car  crew  making  the  best  record  for  the  ensuing  three 
months. 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


7r 


COMMERCIAL  PRACTICABILITY  OF  ELECTRIC  TRACTION  BY 
SURFACE  CONTACTS* 


BY  C.  E.  C.  SHAWFIELD,  A.  M.  I.  E.  E.,  M.  I.  Mech.  E., 
Borough  Electrical  and  Tramway  Engineer,  Wolverhampton. 


The  surface  contact  system  in  operation  at  Wolverhampton 
was  first  brought  before  the  notice  of  the  Wolverhampton 
Tramways  Committee  in  March,  1901,  and  after  lengthy  nego- 
tiations a  contract  was  entered  into  between  the  corporation 
and  the  Lorain  Steel  Company  by  which  the  latter  was  to  equip 
about  iit/2  miles  of  single  track  with  its  system,  and  allow  the 
corporation  to  operate  the  lines  so  equipped  for  a  period  of 
twelve  months.  It  was  a  condition  of  the  contract  that  if  the 
system  proved  itself  a  commercial  success  during  the  period 
of  experimental  operation,  the  corporation  was  to  take  over 
and  pay  for  the  same  at  an  agreed  upon  rate,  but  if  it  -failed  to 
prove  itself  safe  and  reliable  and  commercially  successful,  the 
Lorain  Steel  Company  was  to  remove  its  apparatus  and  bear 
the  whole  cost  of  the  experiment. 

The  twelve  months'  experimental  operation  terminated  on 
April  17,  1903,  and  although  there  was  a  great  deal  of  differ- 
ence of  opinion  in  the  Town  Council  as  to  the  advisability  of 
retaining  the  system,  it  was  eventually  decided  on  Sept.  11,  by 
a  large  majority,  that  the  system  should  be  accepted.  Shortly 
afterward  it  was  decided  to  proceed  with  the  reconstruction 
of  existing  routes  operated  by  horse  traction  and  the  construc- 
tion of  new  routes,  amounting  in  all  to  an  additional  7  miles  of 
single  track,  and  the  Council  decided  that  these  extensions 
should  also  be  equipped  with  the  Lorain  surface  contact  sys- 
tem. About  5  miles  of  these  extensions  have  already  been 
completed,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  remainder  will  be  finished 
very  shortly.  The  design  and  general  arrangement  of  the 
Lorain  surface  contact  system  has  already  been  fully  described 
and  illustrated  in  the  technical  press,  and  is  probably  well 
known  to  the  majority  of  the  members  of  this  association,  and 
therefore  the  author  does  not  propose  in  his  paper  to  give  any 
technical  description  of  it. 

In  comparing  the  respective  merits  of  the  overhead  system 
and  the  surface  contact  system,  the  author  proposes  to  do  so 
from  the  following  standpoints,  namely : 

1.  Safety  to  human  beings  and  animals. 

2.  Reliability  of  operation. 

3.  Cost  of  operation  and  maintenance. 
/<    Cost  of  installation. 

5.  Disfigurement  of  streets  and  obstruction  to  traffic. 

In  comparing  the  respective  advantages  from  the  point  of 
view  of  safety  of  the  overhead  system  and  the  surface  contact 
system,  it  is  evident  that  only  one  source  of  danger  need  be 
seriously  considered,  namely,  that  of  electric  shock,  as  prac- 
tically all  other  risks  are  common  to  all  systems  of  electric 
traction.  In  the  case  of  surface  contact  systems  it  is  evident 
that  the  only  portion  of  the  apparatus  exposed  to  the  public 
from  which  a  shock  could  under  any  possible  conditions  be 
obtained  is  the  metal  stud  in  the  center  of  the  track,  and  that 
this  can  only  become  or  remain  alive  (except  when  it  is  cov- 
ered by  a  car)  in  the  event  of  some  failure  of,  or  defect  in,  or 
damage  to  the  mechanism  which  operates  it.  The  actual  value 
of  this  risk  may  best  be  estimated  in  the  light  of  actual  experi- 
ence, and  the  author  has  therefore  analyzed  the  records  of  de- 
fective boxes  during  the  past  twelve  months,  and  has  extracted 
therefrom  the  particulars  given  in  Table  I. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  table  that  a  total  of  109 
boxes  were  found  more  or  less  alive  during  the  twelve  months 
in  question,  59  of  which  were  alive  at  an  e.  m.  f.  of  over  50 
and  under  500  volts.  The  author  has  divided  the  live  boxes 
into  two  sections,  namely,  those  under  and  those  over  50  volts, 
as  he  has  found  by  experiment  that  it  is  quite  impossible  for 

*Abstract  of  paper  read  at  the  Ninth  Annual  Convention  of  the  Incorpo- 
rated Municipal  Electrical  Association  at  Derby,  England. 


any  person  or  animal  to  feel  the  slightest  sensation  of  shock 
from  a  box  which  gives  a  reading  of  50  volts  or  under,  and  it 
is  only  in  rare  cases  that  anything  approaching  a  shock  can  be 
obtained  from  a  box  which  gives  a  reading  of  less  than  100 
volts.  - ■    •    !  '■ 

It  will  be  noticed  that  out  of  the  total  of  109  defective  boxes, 
in  nine  cases  the  trouble  was  due  to  moisture  in  the  granite 
basin ;  that  is,  to  the  accumulation  of  water  on  the  surface  of 
the  granite  basin  under  the  dope,  which  formed  a  leakage  path 
to  the  top  plate.  This  may  be  said  to  be  due  to  every  case  to 
carelessness  in  fixing  in  the  first  instance,  sufficient  care  not 


TABLE  1. — DEFECTIVE  BOXES  FOUND  DURING  TWELVE 
MONTHS  ENDING  MARCH  31,  1904 


Quarter  Ending 

Cups  Damaged 
by  Short  Circuits 

Mois'ure  in 
Granite  Basin 

Total 

Average  per  Mile  of 
Single  Track  per  Ann'm 

E.M.F.  above  Earth,  as  shown  by  Weston  Voltmeter 

Volts 
10  to  49 

Volts  50 
to  500 

T4 

23 

6 
1 1 

Volts  1(1 
to  49 

Volts  50 
to  500 

Vols  10 
to  500 

Volts  50 
to  500 

June  30,  1903  

Sent  30,  1903  

Dec.  31,  1903  

Mar.  31,  1904  

IO 

14 
12 
IO 

0 
O 
2 
2 

I 

2 

O 
2 

IO 
14 
14 
12 

15 
25 

6 
13 

1 

J 10 

1 

J 

46 

54 

4 

5 

50 

59 

having  been  taken  to  see  that  the  interior  of  the  granite  basin 
was  thoroughly  clean  and  well  brushed  over  with  a  coating 
of  hot  dope  before  the  remainder  of  the  dope  was  poured  in. 
The  remaining  100  defective  boxes  were  the  result  of  damage 
done  to  the  interior  of  the  cups  by  heavy  and  repeated  short 
circuits.  These  short  circuits  are  caused  by  pieces  of  scrap 
iron  which  are  picked  up  by  the  magnet  system  and  come  in 
contact  at  the  same  time  with  the  collecting  skate  and  with  a 
cross-rail  at  junctions  and  turn-outs.  The  effect  of  a  number 
of  short  circuits  on  any  one  cup  is  that  the  interior  of  the  top 
half  of  cup  becomes  burnt  and  charred,  and  thus  loses  its  in- 
sulating properties,  consequently  the  top  plate  or  stud  becomes 
alive  at  an  e.  m.  f.  which  may  be  anything  from  a  few  volts  up 
to  nearly  the  full  line  pressure.  In  this  connection  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  recent  experiments  made  by  the  author 
show  that  the  degree  of  damage  to  the  cup  in  the  event  of  a 
short-circuit  entirely  depends  upon  the  time  element  of  the 
circuit-breaker  controlling  the  main  feeder.  When  the  trac- 
tion switchboard  was  installed  at  the  power  station,  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  adoption  of  a  surface-contact  system  had  not 
been  considered  by  the  tramways  committee,  and  the  circuit 
breakers  for  the  tramway  feeders  were  specially  designed  to 
give  a  comparatively  slow  break,  with  the  object  of  preventing 
the  rise  of  pressure  which  is  frequently  caused  by  the  sudden 
rupture  of  an  inductive  circuit.  Experience  has  shown,  how- 
ever, that  this  is  the  very  worst  type  of  apparatus  that  could 
have  been  selected  for  use  with  the  surface-contact  system,  as 
it  allows  the  heavy  current  due  to  a  short  circuit  to  flow  for  a 
sufficient  length  of  time  to  give  rise  to  a  considerable  amount 
of  arcing  or  flashing  between  the  carbon  contacts  inside  the 
cup,  resulting  in  the  charring  of  the  latter  and  sometimes  in 
the  fusion  of  the  copper  ribbon.  The  author  is  now  replacing 
the  original  circuit  breakers  with  others  of  a  new  type,  which 
give  a  more  rapid  break  with  magnetic  blow-out,  and  as  a  re- 
sult of  experiment  he  has  found  that  with  the  circuit  breaker 
set  to  operate  at  600  amp.,  the  tramway  bus-bars  may  be  short- 
circuited  a  large  number  of  times  in  rapid  succession  through 
the  contact-making  mechanism  of  the  cup  without  the  latter 
receiving  any  appreciable  damage,  and  he  has  every  reason  to 
believe  that  this  alteration  in  the  type  of  circuit  breaker  will 
very  greatly  reduce  the  number  of  defective  boxes  in  the  fu- 
ture. 


72 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


It  will  be  observed  that  instances  of  defective  boxes  due  to 
short  circuits  are  more  frequent  in  the  summer  than  in  the 
winter  months,  the  reason  for  this  being  that  light  pieces  of 
iron  or  steel  are  more  easily  picked  up  by  the  magnet  when  the 
track  is  dry  and  dusty  than  when  it  is  covered  with  wet  and 
sticky  mud. 

The  presence  of  a  metallic  stud  in  the  street  surface  elec- 
trically charged  at  a  pressure  of  500  volts  above  earth  would 
at  first  sight  appear  to  constitute  a  grave  source  of  danger,  but 
the  author  would  point  out  that  in  speaking  of  a  stud  being 
alive  at  500  volts  it  does  not  necessarily  imply  that  the  stud  is 
capable  of  transmitting  a  dangerous  shock  to  any  animal  or 
person  stepping  thereon ;  as  an  actual  matter  of  fact  this  is  by 
no  means  the  case,  as  owing  to  the  comparatively  high  resist- 
ance of  the  conducting  path  formed  by  the  charring  of  the  in- 
terior of  the  cup,  the  quantity  of  current  that  can  pass  is  ex- 
ceedingly small,  and  in  many  cases  the  readings  obtained  from 
the  same  "live"  stud  by  different  voltmeters  will  vary  enor- 
mously, a  difference  of  one  or  two  hundred  volts  being  by  no 
means  uncommon,  this  variation  being  simply  due  to  the  dif- 
ference in  internal  resistance  of  the  respective  voltmeters. 

In  only  one  instance  has  the  shock  received  from  a  "live" 
stud  been  attended  with  serious  results,  and  this  occurred  on 
Feb.  17,  1904,  when  a  sheep  and  a  dog  were  electrocuted 
through  treading  on  a  faulty  box  on  the  Tettenhall  Road  route. 

This  accident  was  the  result  of  a  curious  combination  of 
conditions,  the  absence  of  any  one  of  which  would  probably 
have  prevented  its  occurrence.  In  the  first  place,  the  box  had 
been  improperly  fixed,  the  vulcabeston  cup  was  cracked,  and 
the  space  around  it  was  not  properly  sealed  with  dope.  A  car 
passing  over  the  box  picked  up  a  large  piece  of  scrap  iron, 
causing  a  heavy  short  circuit,  which  completed  the  fracture 
of  the  vulcabeston  cup  and  separated  the  top  half  from  the 
bottom.  Secondly,  owing  to  a  heavy  snowfall  the  track  in  the 
vicinity  had  been  salted,  and  at  that  particular  spot  was  more 
or  less  covered  with  a  fairly  strong  solution  of  brine.  Owing 
to  the  absence  of  the  proper  seal  of  dope,  this  brine  found  its 
way  into  the  interior  of  the  cup  establishing  a  low  resistance 
connection  between  the  "live"  lower  contact  and  the  top  plate 
and  causing  the  top  plate  to  become  "alive"  at  practically  full 
line  pressure.  Lastly,  the  animals  to  which  the  accident  hap- 
pened had  been  traveling  for  some  considerable  distance  along 
the  salted  track,  and  their  feet  were  saturated  with  brine  solu- 
tion, thus  greatly  reducing  the  resistance  of  their  bodies  to  the 
passage  of  an  electric  current.  Immediately  after  the  accident 
to  the  sheep  and  the  dog.  and  before  any  warning  could  be 
given,  a  horse  attached  to  a  butcher's  cart  stepped  on  the  same 
box  and  was  brought  down  by  the  shock.  It  got  up  again  im- 
mediately, however,  anil  when  examined  shortly  afterwards  by 
a  veterinary  surgeon  was  reported  as  being  none  the  worse  for 
its  adventure. 

As  a  result  of  actual  experiments  the  author  is  inclined  to 
believe  that  horses,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are  shod  with 
metal  shoes,  are  much  less  sensitive  to  a  shock  sustained  by 
stepping  on  a  charged  metallic  substance  than  to  a  shock  re- 
ceived from  a  live  conductor  falling  on  them  from  above.  Sev- 
eral instances  have  occurred  of  horses  stepping  on  boxes,  which 
when  tested  with  a  Weston  voltmeter,  gave  readings  of  500 
volts  and  over,  and  although  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  ani- 
mals were  brought  down,  in  no  case  was  there  any  resulting 
injury  from  the  shock.  The  author  has  on  more  than  one 
,  occasion  watched  a  pedestrian  step  on  a  box  which  he  has 
known  to  be  "alive"  at  a  pressure  of  500  volts,  as  recorded  by 
a  Weston  voltmeter,  but  in  all  cases  the  individual  was  ap- 
parently quite  unaware  of  the  fact.  The  comparative  harm- 
lessness  of  the  shock  received  from  studs  "alive"  at  the  appar- 
ently high  pressure  of  500  volts  is  of  course  due  to  the  com- 
paratively high  resistance  of  the  charred  surface  of  the  vul- 
cabeston cup,  and  to  the  fact  that  there  is  never  under  any 


condition  of  break-down  or  defect  any  metallic  connection  be- 
tween the  top  plate  and  the  main  supply. 

On  a  large  percentage  of  the  tramway  systems  of  this  coun- 
try center-pole  or  side-pole  bracket-arm  construction  is  largely 
used,  and  in  accordance  with  the  usual  practice  the  poles  are 
erected  in  concrete.  It  is  well  known  that  under  certain  con- 
tions  which  may  frequently  occur  in  practice,  these  poles  are 
virtually  insulated  from  the  general  mass  of  the  earth,  and  can 
therefore  become  charged  at  a  high  potential  relatively  to  the 
earth.  When  it  is  considered  that  in  a  very  large  number  of 
cases  single  insulation  only  is  used  between  the  trolley  wire  and 
the  bracket-arm,  it  is  evident  that  failure  of  the  straight-line 
insulator,  which  supports  the  trolley  wire — either  from  me- 
chanical stress  or  other  cause — may  result  in  a  pole  becoming 
"alive"  at  an  e.  m.  f.  of  anything  up  to  500  volts,  and  prove  a 
source  of  very  serious  danger  to  human  beings  and  animals  in 
the  vicinity.  It  is  evident,  moreover,  that  the  failure  of  an 
insulator  under  the  conditions  named  would  not  be  easily  de- 
tected under  ordinary  service  conditions,  and  there  would  be 
nothing  to  indicate  the  fact  that  anything  was  wrong  until  an 
accident  had  occurred. 

That  instances  of  falling  trolley  wires  and  "live"  tramway 
poles  do  occur  with  startling  frequency  in  many  districts  where 
tramways  are  operated  on  the  overhead  system  is  undoubtedly 
true,  and  tiiat  these  mishaps  are  not  more  frequently  attended 
by  injury  to  human  beings  or  animals  appears  to  the  author  to 
be  largely  due  to  the  beneficent  interposition  of  Providence. 
It  must  be  remembered,  moreover,  that  a  shock  received  from 
a  falling  trolley  wire  or  a  live  telephone  wire  is  of  necessity 
infinitely  more  dangerous  than  any  shock  which  can  be  re- 
ceived from  stepping  on  a  "live"  stud,  as  in  the  former  case 
the  shock  is  generally  transmitted  through  the  most  sensitive 
part  of  the  body,  and  there  is  much  greater  risk  of  the  "live" 
substance  coming  in  contact  with  bare  flesh.  In  proof  of  this 
contention  it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  the  files  of  the  daily 
press,  from  which  it  will  be  found  that  in  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
every  instance  where  a  shock  has  been  received  under  these 
conditions,  it  has  proved  fatal  in  the  case  of  animals,  and  has 
always  been  attended  with  serious  and  sometimes  fatal  results 
in  the  case  of  human  beings.  In  conclusion,  so  far  as  the  ques* 
tion  of  safety  is  concerned,  the  author  is  of  opinion  that  the 
balance  of  advantage  lies  with  a  well-designed  and  carefully 
installed  surface-contact  system. 

RELIABILITY  OF  OPERATION 
Owing  to  the  entire  absence  of  any  statistical  information 
regarding  the  number  of  journeys  lost  through  defects  in  or 
failures  of  the  overhead  electrical  equipment  on  tramways 
where  the  overhead  system  is  adopted,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
institute  anything  like  a  comparison  between  the  overhead  sys- 
tem and  the  surface-contact  system  so  far  as  reliability  of 
operation  is  concerned. 

From  the  very  commencement  of  the  operation  of  the  tram- 
way system  in  Wolverhampton,  the  author  has  kept  minute 
records  of  every  delay  that  occurred  on  any  route  and  the 
cause  thereof,  together  with  the  number  of  journeys  lost  by 
the  cars  affected  by  such  delay  or  stoppage. 

Thus,  if  an  accident  occurs  causing  a  delay  of  fifteen  minutes 
on  any  one  route  the  mileage  lost  is  reckoned  as  the  total  mile- 
age that  would  have  been  run  by  each  car  affected  by  the  delay 
during  the  period  that  the  stoppage  occurred.  Table  II  shows 
the  total  mileage  lost  due  to  faults  in  the  electrical  equipment 
of  the  Wolverhampton  tramways  during  the  twelve  months 
ending  March  31,  1904. 

Out  of  a  total  of  173  car  miles  lost  due  to  defects  in  the  Lo- 
rain surface  contact  equipment  during  the  period  covered  by 
the  above  table,  it  will  be  seen  that  only  27  are  debited  against 
the  track  equipment ;  these  were  due  to  the  following  causes : 
Three  car  miles  were  lost  owing  to  a  delay  arising  from  an 
improperly  soldered  joint  in  a  cable  terminal,  the  remaining 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


73 


24  miles  being  lost  owing  to  a  top  plate  situated  very  close  to 
a  cross-rail  being  permanently  earthed  thereto  by  a  piece  of 
iron  wedged  between  the  plate  and  the  rail,  it  being  about 


TABLE  II. — CAR-MILES  LOST  DUE  TO  DEFECTS  IN  ELECTRICAL 
EQUIPMENT  OF  TRACK  AND  CARS 


"bin  _ 
B  C  = 

Miles 

Miles 

Total  Car  Miles 
Lost  per  10,000 
Miles  Run 

Car  Miles  Lost  Due  to  Faults 
in  Lorain  System 

Quarter 
Ending 

Miles  of  S 
Track 
Operat 

Total  Car 
Run 

Total  Car 
Losi 

Lorain 
Car 
Equipm't 

Lorain 
Track 
Equipm't 

Total 

Total  per 

10,000 
Miles  Run 

1903 
June  30.... 
Sept.  30.... 
Dec.  31  .... 

1904 
March  31  .. 

11 
11 
11 

11 

139,563 
131,805 
122,576 

121,434 

177 
172 
147 

248 

12.7 
13.0 
12.0 

20.4 

43 

39 
38 

26 

27 

43 
39 
65 

26 

3.1 
2.9 
5.3 

2.1 

Totals  

515,378 

744 

14.4 

146 

27 

173 

3.3 

twenty  minutes  before  the  source  of  the  trouble  was  discov- 
ered. The  146  car  miles  lost  due  to  defects  in  the  car  equip- 
ment may  be  classified  as  given  in  Table  III. 


TABLE  III.— DETAILS  OF  MILES  LOST  DUE  TO  FAULTS  IN 
LORAIN  CAR  EQUIPMENT 


June 
Quarter 

September 
Qviarter 

December 
Quaiter 

March 
Quarter 

Total. 

22 
IO 

8 
3 

21 
7 

6 
5 

16 
20 

2 

20 

3 
3 

79 
40 

17 

IO 

43 

38 

38 

26 

146 

It  will  be  seen  that  during  the  period  in  question  the  total 
number  of  car  miles  lost  due  to  defects  in  the  electrical  equip- 
ment of  both  cars  and  trackaveraged3  1-3  carmiles  out  of  every 
10,000  car  miles  run,  and  having  regard  to  the  fact  that  during 
the  months  of  February  and  March  there  were  frequent  and 
heavy  snowfalls,  the  author  is  of  the  opinion  that  this  con- 
stitutes a  record  of  regularity  of  service  which  it  is  difficult  to 
surpass. 

In  considering  the  car  miles  lost  due  to  the  Lorain  car  equip- 
ment, it  must  be  remembered  that  the  defects  which  were  the 
cause  of  the  delays  have  a  parallel  in  the  case  of  the  overhead 
system  in  respect  of  broken  and  damaged  trolley  wheels  and 
trolley  poles  and  in  the  earthing  of  the  cables  inside  the  trolley 
standard. 

The  first  heavy  snowstorm  since  the  system  has  been  in 
operation  occurred  on  Feb.  17,  1904,  when  about  6  ins.  level 
fall  of  snow  occurred  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning.  The 
electrically-driven  snow  sweepers  were  at  once  put  into  service 
and  the  lines  were  kept  clear  without  difficulty,  and  no  delay 
of  any  kind  occurred.  It  is  noteworthy  that  although  the  snow- 
fall in  the  surrounding  districts,  operated  on  the  overhead  trol- 
ley system,  was  not  quite  so  severe  as  it  was  at  Wolverhamp- 
ton, yet  considerable  difficulty  was  experienced,  especially  in 
the  early  morning,  in  maintaining  a  regular  service. 

Owing  to  an  abnormal  rainfall  in  the  early  part  of  Septem- 
ber certain  routes  were  flooded,  and  at  one  point  the  track  was 
submerged  for  a  considerable  distance  to  a  depth  of  nearly  two 
feet.  No  trouble,  however,  was  experienced  as  regards  the 
running  of  the  cars,  and  no  defects  developed  in  the  car  equip- 
ments, in  spite  of  the  soaking  to  which  they  had  been  subjected. 

In  considering  the  respective  liabilities  to  break-down  of 
the  rival  systems,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  the  case 
of  the  surface-contact  system  as  installed  at  Wolverhampton, 
any  accident  or  break-down  can  only  affect  one,  or,  in  very  rare 
cases,  two  boxes,  and  the  momentum  of  the  car  is  sufficient  to 
enable  it  to  coast  over  the  short  length  of  track  thus  disabled. 
Further,  any  faulty  box  can  be  removed  and  replaced  by  a  new 
one  in  an  average  time  of  fifteen  minutes  without  any  inter- 


ruption of  service.  It  may  in  effect  be  said  that  the  surface- 
contact  system  is  equivalent  to  an  underground  trolley  wire 
divided  into  ten  feet  sections,  each  of  which  is  independent  of 
the  rest,  and  may  be  removed  and  replaced  without  interfer- 
ence with  the  efficient  operation  of  the  remainder.  It  is  in  this 
respect  that  the  surface-contact  system  has,  in  the  author's 
opinion,  a  distinct  advantage  over  the  overhead  system,  in- 
asmuch as  with  the  latter  an  accident  of  any  kind  to  the  over- 
head equipment  usually  means  the  putting  out  of  service  tem- 
porarily from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  half  a  mile  of  route,  and 
a  total  cessation  of  traffic  along  the  section  affected  for  a  more 
or  less  lengthy  period. 

Another  respect  in  which  the  surface-contact  system  pos- 
sesses a  marked  advantage  over  the  overhead  system  is  that 
the  conductors  are  free  to  devote  the  whole  of  their  time  to 
the  collection  of  fares  and  to  looking  after  the  convenience  and 
comfort  of  passengers.  In  nearly  all  of  the  tramway  systems 
at  present  in  operation  in  this  country,  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  conductor's  time  is  occupied  in  nursing  the  trolley 
pole  through  frogs  and  crossings  or  round  awkward  curves 
on  the  overhead  equipment,  but  in  spite  of  the  care  which  is 
taken  in  this  respect  interruptions  of  service  are  frequently 
caused  through  the  trolley  pole  jumping  and  displacing  a  por- 
tion of  the  overhead  equipment.  Similarly,  also,  no  reversal 
of  the  collecting  apparatus  is  required  when  changing  the  di- 
rection of  running  of  a  car,  whether  at  a  terminus  or  elsewhere 
on  the  line,  and  consequently  there  is  no  risk  of  an  accident 
occurring  through  forgetfulness  or  carelessness  on  the  part  of 
the  motorman  or  conductor. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  the  surface-contact 
system  as  installed  at  Wolverhampton  is  that  it  is  virtually 
"fool  proof,"  inasmuch  as  it  is  practically  beyond  the  power 
of  the  motorman  to  inflict  damage  thereon  by  careless  or  in- 
competent handling  of  his  car,  and  in  this  respect  it  possesses 
an  advantage  which  is  not  shared  by  any  other  system  of  elec- 
tric traction.  As  a  result  of  the  two  and  and  a  half  year's 
experience  the  author  has  had  of  the  operation  of  a  surface- 
contact  system,  he  believes  that  for  reliability  of  operation  it 
has  many  and  noteworthy  advantages  over  either  the  overhead 
trolley  system  or  the  conduit  system. 

COST  OF  OPERATION  AND  MAINTENANCE 

It  must  be  admitted  at  the  outset  that  from  the  point  of  view 
of  cheapness  of  operation  and  maintenance,  no  system  of  elec- 
trical traction  can  rival  the  overhead  trolley  system.  The  fol- 
lowing statement  shows  the  expenditure  on  the  maintenance 
of  the  Lorain  surface  contact  system  at  Wolverhampton  dur- 
ing the  twelve  months  ending  March  31,  1904. 


TABLE  IV.— REPAIRS  A  ND  MAINTENANCE  COSTS  OF  LORAIN  SYS- 
TEM FOR  TWELVE  MONTHS  ENDING  MARCH  31,  1904 


Total  Cost 

Cost  per 
Mile  of 
Single  T'ck 

Cost  per 
Car  Mile 

Track  Equipment 
Repairs  and  maintenance  of  cups  and  top  plates. 

£    s.  d. 

125    5  5 
5  19  2 
12    2  1 
94  15  (i 

£ 
11.3 

0.5 
1.1 
8.6 

d. 

.058 
.1102 
.005 
.044 

Car  Equipment 

Repairs  and  maintenance  of  magnet  systems  

Repairs  and  maintenance  of  switches  and  bat- 
teries, including  charging  _  

Repairs  and  maintenance  of  collecting  skates  

Inspection  and  adjustment  of  magnet  systems 
and  collecting  skates   _  

238   2  2 

11  13  2 

20    3  4 
115  11  8 

102  13  11 

21.6 
Cost  per  Car 
per  Annum 
3 

0.8 
4.7 

4.2 

.11 

.033 

.009 
.053 

.047 

12.9 

.144 

The  expenditure  under  the  heading  of  track  equipment  the 
author  considers  to  be  very  reasonable,  and  is  of  opinion  that 
it  will  bear  comparison  with  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  any 
similar  length  of  overhead  equipment  running  in  a  busy  manu- 
facturing town. 


74 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


The  whole  of  the  work  of  inspection  and  testing  of  the  elec- 
trical equipment  of  the  track,  the  removal  and  replacement 
of  faulty  boxes,  and  the  execution  of  all  repairs  of  every  kind 
required  in  connection  with  the  maintenance  of  the  electrical 
equipment  of  the  15  miles  of  single  track  is  performed  by  two 
men  who  are  paid  wages  of  32  shillings  and  28  shillings  per 
week,  respectively.  The  working  day  of  approximately  seven- 
teen hours  is  divided  into  two  shifts,  so  that  there  is  only  one 
man  on  duty  at  a  time.  Every  box  is  tested  once  a  week,  and 
the  boxes  in  the  vicinity  of  points  and  crossings  and  other 
special  track  work  where  there  is  a  liability  to  short  circuits  are 
tested  daily. 

During  the  period  covered  by  the  foregoing  statement  of 
costs,  the  average  time  required  to  test  about  11  miles  of  single 
track  was  ten  hours,  the  apparatus  used  for  testing  consisting 
of  a  portable  Weston  voltmeter  slung  round  the  neck  of  the 
operator,  the  flexible  leads  from  the  voltmeter  being  attached 
to  terminals  on  a  pair  of  walking  sticks,  one  of  which  was 
placed  on  the  box  to  be  tested  and  the  other  on  the  rail.  As 
this  method  of  testing  proved  to  be  a  slow  process,  the  opera- 
tor not  being  able  to  cover  more  than  about  one  mile  of  single 
track  per  hour,  the  author  has  devised  an  arrangement  by 
which  a  light  trolley  carrying  a  contact  skate  can  be  towed 
behind  any  car  in  service,  and  by  this  means  every  box  on 
about  15  miles  of  track  can  be  tested  in  two  and  a  half  hours. 
It  is  expected  that  this  will  result  in  a  considerable  reduction 
in  tbe  expenditure  on  inspection  and  testing  of  the  track. 

The  expenditure  on  the  inspection  and  maintenance  of  the 
car  equipment  has  been  rather  heavy,  the  items  relating  to  the 
magnet  systems  and  batteries  being,  in  the  author's  opinion, 
abnormal,  and  considerably  in  excess  of  what  may  be  expected 
in  the  future. 

It  is  impossible  to  obtain  reliable  figures  as  to  the  cost  of 
inspection  and  maintenance  of  the  trolley  wheels,  trolley  poles 
and  standards  in  the  case  of  the  overhead  system,  as  records 
apparently  are  not  kept  separately  of  the  expenditure  incurred 
in  these  respects,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  car  equipment  of 
the  overhead  system  can  be  more  cheaply  maintained  than  that 
of  a  surface  contact  system. 

One  of  the  most  serious  disadvantages  of  the  surface-contact 
system  is  the  increased  consumption  of  electrical  energy  in- 
volved. The  additional  quantity  required  varies  according  to 
the  type  of  surface  contact  system  adopted,  but  with  practically 
every  type  of  system  there  are  three  causes  which  must  involve 
additional  current  consumption,  and  these  are  as  follows: 

(1)  The  energy  required  to  operate  the  circuit-closing 
mechanism  of  the  track  equipment.  (2)  The  additional  energy 
necessary  for  the  propulsion  of  the  cars  owing  to  the  extra 
weight  of  the  special  apparatus  carried  on  the  car.  (3)  The 
surface  leakage  from  box  to  rail  over  the  paving  under  each  car 
on  the  track. 

Of  the  above-mentioned  sources  of  power  waste,  the  first 
two  only  need  be  seriously  considered,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
third  the  amount  of  energy  wasted  by  surface  leakage  is  so 
small  as  to  be  negligible. 

In  the  case  of  the  Lorain  system  as  installed  at  Wolver- 
hampton, the  current  required  for  the  operation  of  the  circuit 
closing  mechanism  in  the  track  equipment,  which  is  in  this 
case  the  energy  required  for  the  excitation  of  the  magnets, 
represents  a  power  consumption  of  670  watts  per  hour,  which 
is  equivalent  under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  service  to  11 
per  hour  per  car  mile.  The  additional  energy  required  to 
propel  the  cars  owing  to  the  extra  weight  carried  must,  of 
course,  vary  in  different  localities,  being  obviously  more  in  a 
hilly  district  than  in  a  flat.  It  would  also  be  affected  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  by  the  type  of  rolling  stock  in  use  and  the  distance 
apart  of  the  stopping  places.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  to  give 
a  general  estimate  as  to  the  additional  energy  consumed  under 
this  heading. 


In  Wolverhampton  the  routes  at  present  in  operation  include 
some  rather  severe  gradients,  and  owing  to  the  fact  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  road  surfaces  in  the  vicinity  of  the  routes  are 
macadamized,  the  track  is  always  very  muddy  and  greasy  in 
wet  weather,  and  correspondingly  dusty  in  dry  weather.  The 
tendency  is,  therefore,  for  the  current  consumption  per  car 
mile  to  be  rather  heavy,  the  average  during  the  past  twelve 
months  being  1.49  kw.  hour. 

The  average  total  weight  of  a  single  truck  double-deck  car, 
together  with  driver  and  conductor  and  an  average  number 
of  passengers,  but  exclusive  of  Lorain  equipment,  is  8^4  tons. 
To  this  must  be  added  the  weight  of  the  magnets,  collecting 
skate,  battery,  cables  and  connections  of  the  surface  contact 
apparatus,  amounting  in  all  to  one  ton. 

The  steepest  gradient  has  a  rise  of  1  in  17,  and  there  are  a 
number  of  sharp  curves  varying  from  40  ft.  0  in.  to  37  ft.  6  in. 
radius.  Under  these  conditions  the  author  has  calculated  that 
the  additional  current  consumption  due  to  the  weight  of  the 
Lorain  equipment  is  approximately  equal  to  .13  kw-hour  per 
car  mile.  The  total  additional  current  consumption  to  be 
debited  against  the  surface-contact  system  is  in  this  case  .24 
kw-hour  per  car  mile,  or  approximately  19  per  cent  in  excess 
of  what  would  have  been  required  by  the  overhead  system. 

COST  OF  INSTALLATION 
It  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  give  a  general  figure 
for  the  difference  in  first  cost  of  the  overhead  system  and  the 
surface-contact  system,  owing  to  the  fact  that  while  the  cost 
of  the  former  is  practically  the  same  for  either  double  or  single 
track,  the  cost  of  the  electrical  equipment  of  the  latter  is  ob- 
viously twice  as  much  for  double  track  as  for  single.  Conse- 
quently, the  amount  of  the  extra  cost  of  installing  a  surface- 
contact  system  necessarily  depends  upon  the  proportion  of 
double  to  single  track  on  the  routes  concerned.  Speaking  gen- 
erally, however,  it  may  be  taken  that  first-class  overhead  con- 
struction costs  from  £1,500  to  £2,000  per  mile  of  route,  whether 
double  or  single,  whereas  the  cost  of  the  surface-contact  sys- 
tem will  be  from  £2,000  to  £2,500  per  mile  of  single  track. 

DISFIGUREMENT  OF  STREETS  AND  OBSTRUCTION  TO  TRAFFIC 
It  seems  at  the  present  time  to  be  almost  an  article  of  faith 
among  those  in  charge  of  the  promotion  of  tramway  schemes 
that  the  adoption  of  electric  traction  must  of  necessity  involve 
the  disfigurement  of  the  streets,  either  by  the  erection  of  tram- 
way poles  and  overhead  wires  or  by  the  construction  of  an  open 
slot  between  the  center  of  each  track.  Where  center-pole  con- 
struction is  in  use,  there  is,  in  addition  to  the  unsightliness  in- 
volved, another  very  serious  objection,  namely,  the  obstruction 
to  traffic.  There  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  center  poles  into  a  street  of  average  width  very  largely 
reduces  the  accommodation  for  vehicular  traffic,  and  materially 
adds  to  the  congestion  of  the  already  overcrowded  streets  in 
many  of  our  large  towns.  Where  side-pole  construction  is 
adopted,  this  inconvenience  is  not  so  marked,  although  the 
presence  of  a  large  iron  pole,  with  massive  base,  every  forty 
yards  along  the  sidewalk,  is  not  by  any  means  conducive  to  the 
comfort  and  convenience  of  pedestrians. 

It  is  claimed  for  the  surface-contact  system  that  it  offers  less 
impediment  to  the  free  use  of  the  streets  and  sidewalks  than 
any  other  system  of  electric  traction  in  which  the  energy  for 
the  propulsion  of  the  cars  is  collected  from  an  external  source, 
and  the  experience  of  the  author  in  connection  with  the  Wol- 
verhampton tramway  leads  him  to  believe  that  this  claim  is 
justified. 

It  was  anticipated  when  the  system  was  first  installed  that 
trouble  would  be  experienced  through  the  metallic  studs  be- 
tween the  rails  projecting  above  the  normal  level  of  the  pav- 
ing, proving  a  source  of  danger  to  the  ordinary  street  traffic 
and  to  horses  in  particular,  and  that  considerable  expense 
would  be  occasioned  through  the  extra  wear  and  tear  of  the 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


75 


paving  surrounding  the  studs.  During  the  two  and  a  half 
years  that  the  system  has  been  in  operation  no  complaint  of 
any  kind  has  been  received  as  to  any  obstruction  or  incon- 
venience to  traffic  having  been  caused  by  the  iron  top  plates 
in  the  street  surface,  and  so  far  as  the  author  is  aware,  no  ac- 
cident of  any  kind  has  ever  been  attributed  to  them.  There  is, 
moreover,  no  indication  of  any  abnormal  wear  of  the  paving 
surrounding  the  studs,  neither  wood  nor  granite  paving  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  metal  top  plates  appearing  to  wear 
any  faster  than  at  other  parts  of  the  track. 

On  the  score  of  appearance  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the 
surface-contact  system  is  the  least  conspicuous  and  the  least 
objectionable  of  any  system  of  electrical  traction;  in  fact,  it 
is  the  author's  experience  that  unless  the  track  is  abnormally 
clean  and  free  from  dirt  it  is  very  difficult  to  distinguish  the 
studs  from  the  remainder  of  the  paving.  During  dusty  or 
muddy  weather  it  needs  a  close  examination  of  the  track  to 
detect  the  exact  whereabouts  of  the  metal  top  plates,  and  prob- 
ably owing  to  this  reason  a  very  large  proportion  of  visitors 
to  the  town  go  away  with  the  impression  that  the  electric  energy 
for  the  propulsion  of  the  cars  is  carried  in  storage  batteries  on 
the  cars  themselves. 

In  considering  the  results  achieved  at  Wolverhampton  in 
the  operation  of  tramways  by  a  surface-contact  system,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  many  respects  the  local  con- 
ditions at  Wolverhampton  are  probably  more  unfavorable  to 
the  successful  operation  of  a  surface-contact  system  than  in 
almost  any  other  town  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Owing  to  the 
larger  number  of  factories  in  the  town  engaged  in  the  produc- 
tion of  stamped  steel  and  iron  articles,  a  very  large  quantity  of 
scrap  iron  of  all  sorts  and  sizes  is  produced  and  has  to  be  carted 
away  from  the  various  works.  This  scrap  iron  is  usually  very 
carelessly  heaped  in  open  carts,  with  the  result  that  a  consid- 
erable percentage  of  each  load  is  scattered  in  the  street,  and  it 
unfortunately  happens  that  the  principal  repositories  for  scrap 
iron  are  situated  on  the  busiest  tramway  routes.  As  previously 
explained,  the  presence  of  this  scrap  iron  constitutes  the  most 
serious  difficulty  the  system  has  had  to  contend  with. 

The  heavy  rainfall  of  the  last  two  years,  in  conjunction  with 
the  very  general  use  of  macadam  in  the  majority  of  the  streets 
in  the  town,  has  resulted  in  a  clean  track  being  a  luxury  but 
rarely  attained,  the  track  being  usually  covered  with  a  sticky 
mud,  which  an  hour  or  two's  wind  and  sun  speedily  converted 
into  equally  objectionable  dust. 

It  should  be  pointed  out,  moreover,  that  in  Wolverhampton 
the  track  is  laid  to  a  3  ft.  6  in.  gage,  and  consequently  the  space 
available  between  the  rails,  and  between  the  side  frames  of 
the  trucks,  for  the  reception  of  the  surface-contact  apparatus 
is  comparatively  limited,  and  the  author  believes  that  with  the 
standard  4  ft.  8^4  in.  gage  many  of  the  troubles  experienced 
with  the  upkeep  of  the  magnet  and  collecting  skates  would 
largely,  if  not  entirely,  disappear,  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
track  equipment  at  points,  crossings  and  other  special  track 
work  would  be  considerably  simplified. 

The  conclusions  arrived  at  in  the  foregoing  paper  may  be 
briefly  summarized  as  follows : 

A  well-designed  and  carefully  installed  surface  contact  system  is 
superior  to  the  overhead  trolley  system  in  respect  of  the  questions 
of  safety,  reliability,  disfigurement  of  streets,  and  obstruction  to 
traffic. 

The  overhead  system  is  considerably  cheaper  both  as  regards  the 
capital  cost  of  installation  and  the  annual  cost  of  operation  and 
maintenance. 

For  tramway  systems  where  low  initial  cost  and  low  annual 
charges  are  the  first  consideration,  and  especially  for  light  railways 
in  thinly  populated  districts,  the  overhead  system  is  to  be  preferred. 

In  many  of  our  larger  towns,  and  especially  at  watering  places 
and  other  pleasure  resorts,  the  surface  contact  system  has  many 
claims  for  serious  consideration  in  preference  to  the  overhead  trol- 
ley system. 

The  author  has  made  no  attempt  to  treat  this  subject  at  all 


fully  in  the  limited  scope  available  in  a  paper  of  this  descrip- 
tion, his  object  being  merely  to  provide  a  basis  for  discussion 
of  a  subject  which  has  previously  been  brought  very  little  be- 
fore the  notice  of  tramway  engineers  as  a  body. 



A  NEW  TYPE  OF  CAR  FOR  THE  BOSTON  ELEVATED 
RAILWAY 

The  Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company  is  receiving  twenty- 
four  new  cars  for  use  upon  its  elevated  division,  which  are 
a  radical  departure  from  former  car  construction  for  such 
service,  and  which  will  be  of  especial  interest  to  the  operating 
officials  of  all  roads  operating  under  similar  heavy  traffic  con- 
ditions. These  cars  have  been  designed  to  incorporate  certain 
changes  which  it  is  expected  will  overcome  some  of  the  serious 
difficulties  that  have  been  experienced  with  the  present  type 
of  car.  The  cars  which  are  now  in  use  upon  that  road  are 
similar  to  the  so-called  "Manhattan  type"  of  elevated  car,  wi'-h 
open-end  platforms  enclosed  by  gates  of  the  "swing  back" 
type,  except  that  they  have  sliding  side  doors  upon  each  side, 
similar  to  the  arrangement  used  upon  the  Brooklyn  Bridge 
cars,  in  New  York  City.  As  is  the  experience  of  the  elevated 
railways  in  all  of  our  large  cities,  the  handling  of  the  crowds 
during  the  rush  hours,  through  the  congested  end  platforms 
and  narrow  doorways  is  most  difficult,  and  involves  serious  de- 
lays at  every  station  from  which  heavy  traffic  originates. 

The  novel  features  of  the  new  cars  are  that  they  have  teen 
constructed  without  open  end  platforms,  the  space  occupied 
by  the  usual  end  platforms  being  taken  into  the  car  and  en- 
closed, access  to  the  car  being  provided  by  sliding  doors  at 
the  ends  of  the  car  in  positions  corresponding  to  that  occupied 
by  the  former  swing  platform  gates.  These  sliding  side  doors 
at  the  ends  of  the  cars  are  operated  by  means  of  compressed 
air  cylinders,  which  are  to  be  controlled  by  the  guards  stand- 
ing across  the  two  platforms  in  end-door  openings,  in  a  man- 
ner similar  to  that  which  is  usual  upon  the  cars  with  the  open- 
end  platforms.  These  door-operating  air  cylinders  are  ar- 
ranged with  their  piston  rods  directly  connected  to  the  sliding 
doors,  and  are  operated  by  means  of  air  valves  which  admit 
compressed  air  to  either  end  of  the  cylinder  at  will.  The  doors 
will  be  normally  held  in  their  closed  position  by  means  of  a 
spring  latch,  which  may  be  released  for  opening  the  doors  by 
means  of  foot  levers  convenient  for  the  guards.  Another  de- 
cided novelty  in  the  construction  of  these  cars  is  in  the  pro- 
vision against  the  shock  of  the  quick  closing  of  the  side  doors. 
The  door  in  closing  comes  to  a  stop,  at  the  end  of  the  air-cyl- 
inder's piston  travel,  some  distance  from  the  door  frame;  this 
open  space,  which  is  provided  to  prevent  catching  the  clothes 
or  hands  of  passengers  in  closing,  is  to  be  filled  in  by  an  elastic 
striker  consisting  of  a  pneumatic  cushion,  which  will  permit 
of  the  easy  removal  of  any  clothing  that  may  happen  to  be 
caught  in  this  way,  and  would  not  cause  injury  to  a  passen- 
ger's arm  or  foot  if  caught  thus  in  closing. 

A  great  increase  of  speed  in  handling  passengers  will  result 
from  thus  avoiding  the  usual  end-door  between  the  end  plat- 
form and  the  body  of  the  car,  which  in  this  case  is  left  out  in 
much  the  same  manner  as  is  the  case  in  the  new  Illinois  Cen- 
tral side-door  suburban  cars,  which  were  described  in  the 
April  30,  1904,  issue  (page  661).  This  valuable  provision  causes 
the  entrance  and  egress  capacity  at  each  end  of  the  car  to  be 
dependent  only  upon  the  width  of  the  sliding  side  doors,  as  the 
platform  is  thus  contained  in  the  body  of  the  car.  The  side 
doors  are  made  very  wide,  so  that  passengers  may  enter  two 
abreast,  and  when  inside  they  are  not  confronted  by  another 
narrow  entrance  door.  This  method  of  enclosing  the  entire  floor 
of  the  car  will  effect  an  important  protection  for  the  guards  as 
well  as  passengers  in  winter  weather.  Further  details  of  these 
improvements  will  be  presented  in  a  later  article  illustrating 
and  describing  these  interesting  new  cars  more  fully. 


76 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  STEAM  PUMP  COMPANY'S  APPA- 
RATUS AT  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR 

Although  the  International  Steam  Pump  Company  has  no 
individual  exhibit  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  it  is 


CIRCULATING  PUMP  AND  ROTATIVE  DRY  VACUUM  PUMP 
WITH  2000-KW  TURBINE 

well  represented  by  conspicuous  products  of  its  manufacture 
used  in  connection  with  the  exhibits  of  manufacturers  of  steam, 
electrical  or  other  machinery. 


surface  condenser  having  a  surface  of  8000  sq.  ft.,  and  fur- 
nished with  an  air  cooler.  The  condenser  is  located  directly  in 
the  base  of  the  turbine.  The  circulating  water  is  handled  by 
a  20-in.  horizontal  volute  pump  delivering  to  an  open  heater. 
This  latter  pump  is  located  several  feet  below  the  condenser, 
and  is  self-regulating,  requiring  neither  floats  nor  valves. 
Furthermore,  there  is  no  possibility  of  vapor  binding,  as  in 
direct-acting  pumps.  The  rotative  dry-vacuum  pump  used  in 
this  installation  has  a  22-in.  air  cylinder  and  18-in.  stroke.  It 
is  driven  by  a  General  Electric  motor  through  a  Renold  silent 
chain  drive. 

Another  important  application  of  the  company's  apparatus  to 
steam  turbines  may  be  seen  in  the  exhibit  of  Westinghouse, 
Church,  Kerr  &  Company.   The  latter  have  installed  a  400-kw 
Parsons  turbine,  in  connection  with  which  will  be  shown  a 
1500  sq.  ft.  surface  condenser,  with  a  hot  well 
and  air  cooler.     A  horizontal  rotative  dry- 
vacuum  pump  is  also  provided. 

The  horizontal  rotative  dry-vacuum  pump 
mentioned  is  of  special  interest.  It  possesses 
many  new  features  and  is  distinctively  a  dry 
pump,  intended  to  handle  air  practically  free 
from  water  and  is  very  valuable  wherever  high 
vacuums  are  essential.  Unlike  so-called  dry 
vacuum  pumps  that  require  considerable  water 
in  the  cylinders  to  lubricate  them  and  to  fill  the 
clearance  spaces,  this  machine  needs  none  at 
all  in  the  cylinders,  as  the  pistons  are  lubri- 
cated by  oil  in  the  same  manner  as  the  steam 
cylinders,  and  the  clearance  spaces  are  reduced 
to  a  minimum  because,  there  being  no  water, 
large  passages  are  unnecessary.  A  very  small 
amount  of  water  is  allowed  to  pass  through 
the  jackets  to  keep  the  cylinders  cool  and  to 
preserve  the  lubricating  effect  of  the  oil.  Not  only  is  a  saving 
in  water  made  by  this  machine,  but  the  very  doubtful  method 
of  putting  into  the  cylinders  water  that  may  carry  sand  and  grit 
is  entirely  avoided. 


USED 


VERTICAL  TYPE  OF  ROTATIVE  DRY  VACUUM  PUMP 

One  of  the  most  prominent  of  these  combination  exhibits  is 
that  of  a  2000-kw  Curtis  turbine,  in  connection  with  which  the 
International  Steam  Pump  Company  will  show  a  Worthington 


VIEW  OF  HORIZONTAL  ROTATIVE  DRY  VACUUM  PUMP 
WITHOUT  CHAIN 

Both  the  steam  and  the  vacuum  pistons  are  on  the  same 
piston  rod.  The  steam  valve  is  a  slide  valve,  with  an  adjust- 
able eccentric  to  vary  the  point  of  cut-off  according  to  the 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


77 


steam  pressure.  The  suction  air  valve  is  also  positively  driven 
by  an  eccentric  on  the  shaft,  and  so  set  as  to  open  the  ports 
fully  at  the  proper  time,  leaving  an  unobstructed  passage  for 
the  attenuated  air  and  vapor  to  enter  the  cylinder.  Unlike 
other  air  pumps,  using  even  the  smallest  quantity  of  water,  the 
capacity  for  handling  air  is  practically  in  proportion  to  the 
speed. 

The  vertical  dry-vacuum  pump  is  a  new  and  improved  form 
especially  adapted  for  marine  use,  or  similar  service  where 
floor  space  is  limited.  It  has  been  designed  especially  to  meet 
the  requirements  calling  for  high  degree  of  vacuum,  such  as 
demanded  for  the  condensing  system  of  steam  turbines,  etc. 
The  machine  is  very  compact,  substantial  and  simple,  and  con- 
sists of  but  one  air  cylinder  and  one  steam  cylinder,  both  being 
double-acting.  The  suction  and  discharge  valves  of  the  air 
cylinder  are  positively  operated  by  means  of  eccentrics,  and 


f^sforv  at  fine/  of  Strohe.  piston  a+  Wid  3trohe 


SKETCH,  SHOWING  THE  OPERATING  PRINCIPLE  OF  ROTATIVE 
DRY  VACUUM  PUMP  CYLINDER,  WITH  POPPET 
DISCHARGE  VALVES 

the  speed  of  the  machine  is  only  limited  by  the  conditions  that 
usually  exist  with  ordinary  engines.  As  no  water  is  admitted 
to  the  interior  of  the  air  cylinder,  no  difficulty  is  encountered 
in  securing  high  rotative  speed.  Manufacturers  of  rotative  dry- 


HORIZONTAL  ROTATIVE  DRY  VACUUM  PUMP 


vacuum  pumps  who  employ  the  ordinary  suction  and  delivery 
valves  (necessitating  water  to  be  injected  into  the  air  cylin- 
ders to  keep  them  cool  and  to  seal  the  valves)  require  such 
pumps  to  run  at  a  slow  rate  of  speed  to  permit  the  water  to 
be  safely  discharged  as  the  pistons  approach  the  end  of  each 
stroke. 

The  details  of  the  air  cylinder  of  this  dry  vacuum  pump  are 
as  follows :  The  main  slide  valve  controls  the  suction  and  is 
a  balanced  valve  similar  in  construction  to  the  steam  valve. 
The  discharge  valve,  which  is  made  in  two  parts,  rides  on  top 
of  a  balancing  plate  of  the  main  slide  valve  referred  to;  these 
parts  are  adjustable  by  means  of  an  outside  hand  wheel,  so  as 
to  open  and  close  the  discharge  at  any  position  of  the  piston 
— from  half  to  full  stroke — depending  upon  the  amount  of  air 
bandied  and  the  vacuum  desired  to  be  maintained.  There  are 
also  several  small  poppet  relief  valves  located  on  the  back  of 
the  balancing  plate,  which  automatically  open  and  discharge 
at  any  portion  of  the  stroke  when  the  pressure  in  the  air  cyl- 
inder becomes  greater  than  that  of  the  atmosphere.  These 
poppet  valves,  therefore,  prevent  any  excessive  pressure  in  case 
of  a  large  in-rush  of  air,  as  might  occur  in  case  of  unusual 


leakage  or  a  break-down  in  the  condenser  or  suction  pipes. 
The  suction  valve,  being  mechanically  moved,  opens  promptly, 
and  therefore  offers  no  obstruction  to  the  entrance  of  vapors 
to  overcome  the  tension  of  suction  valve  springs,  as  in  the  or- 
dinary type  of  vacuum  pump.  An  equalizing  port  formed  by 
the  suction  valve  and  the  balancing  plate  connects  the  two  ends 
of  the  air  cylinder  at  the  instant  of  the  reversal  of  the  piston. 
The  result  is  that  the  vapors  collected  in  the  clearance  space 
in  front  of  the  piston,  at  atmospheric  pressure,  immediately 
pass  back  into  the  vacuum  space  at  the  rear  of  the  piston ;  the 
pressure  on  the  two  sides  of  the  air  piston,  being  thus  equal- 
ized, is  reduced  very  nearly  to  that  in  the  suction  pipe,  so  that 
when  the  piston  begins  to  make  its  return  stroke,  instead  of  the 
clearance  space  being  filled  with  vapor  at  atmospheric  pressure 
(which  would  expand  and  prevent  the  immediate  production 
of  a  complete  vacuum),  work  begins  at  once,  consequently  the 


CONDENSER  USED  FOR  2000-KW  TURBINE 

full  displacement  of  the  piston  is  effective  at  each  stroke. 

In  combination  with  the  reciprocating  engine  display  of 
Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Company,  the  International 
Pump  Company  will  show  two  40-in.  elevated  jet  condensers, 
equipped  with  air  coolers  to  cool  and  dry  the  air  on  its  way 
from  the  condenser  cone  to  three  rotative  dry-vacuum  pumps, 
two  horizontal  and  one  vertical.  Four  cooling  towers  are  used 
in  connection  with  the  elevated  jet  condensers.  Tbe  water 
will  be  circulated  by  three  24-in.  single  stage  turbine  pumps. 
The  capacity  of  this  plant  will  be  about  15,000  hp. 

The  company  has  also  finished  three  35,000  gallon  Worth- 
ington  36-in.  single-stage  turbine  pumps  for  the  grand  cascade. 
Other  apparatus  used  includes  fourteen  1000-gallon  fire  pumps; 
a  500-gallon  multi-stage  turbine  pump;  four  12-in.  centrifugal 
sewage  pumps,  and  a  2000  sq.  ft.  Worthington  surface  con- 
denser, vertical  twin  Blake  steam  air  pump  and  volute  circu- 
lating pump  for  a  1000-hp  Willans  engine. 

The  International  Steam  Pump  Company  is  represented  in 
England  by  the  Worthington  Pump  Company,  Limited,  of 
London,  which  also  manufactures  the  former  company's  ap- 
paratus mentioned  in  this  description. 


78 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


NEW  TRUCKS  FOR  THE  NORTHWESTERN  ELEVATED 

The  accompanying  illustration  is  from  a  photograph  of  the 
seventy  new  trucks  for  the  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad 
Company,  of  Chicago,  built  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company,  to 


TRUCK  USED  ON  NORTHWESTERN  ELEVATED  RAILWAY, 
OF  CHICAGO 

go  under  car  bodies  which  are  also  being  built  by  the  same 
company.  This  is  to  be  known  as  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
No.  50  truck.  It  is  of  the  so-called  M.  C.  B.  type.  Among  the 
special  features  of  this  truck  are  the  method  of  hanging  the 
brake-shoes  at  the  ends  of  the  truck  frame,  and  the  outside 
brake  rods.  These  features  were,  of  course,  introduced  to  se- 
cure a  maximum  amount  of  room  for  the  motors  without  the 
interference  of  the  brake  rods. 

 ♦♦♦  

SWITCHBOARDS  EXHIBITED  AT  ST.  LOUIS 

The  D.  &  W.  Fuse  Company,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  has  on 
exhibition  in  the  Western  Electric  Company's  headquarters  at 
I  he  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  the  two  sample  boards 


TWO  SWITCHBOARD  PANELS  AT  ST.  LOUIS  EXPOSITION 


shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations.  One  panel  contains 
a  number  of  open  porcelain  cut-outs,  with  cartridge  fuses 
mounted  upon  them,  and  the  second  exhibits  cut-outs  enclosed 
in  iron  bodies.  In  the  latter  is  included  the  iron  fuse  box  for 
electric  car  service.  This  cut-out  has  heavy  contact  jaws, 
into  which  a  large  fuse  cartridge  is  pushed,  giving  a  contact 
similar  to  a  knife  switch.  Many  other  fuses  suitable  for  car 
lighting  circuits,  as  well  as  regular  lighting  circuits,  are 
shown. 


NEW  CARS  FOR  THE  OREGON  WATER  POWER  &  RAILWAY 

COMPANY 

The  eight  interurban  cars  lately  delivered  to  the  Oregon 
Water  Power  &  Railway  Company,  of  Portland,  Ore.,  by  the 
J.  G.  Brill  Company,  have  a  number  of  interesting  points.  The 
trailer  cars  are  provided  with  means  of  access  from  one  car 
to  another,  and  the  motor  cars  are  vestibuled  at  both  ends. 


MOTOR  CAR  ON  OREGON  WATER-POWER  &  RAILWAY 
COMPANY'S  LINES 


They  are  intended  to  be  operated  in  trains  of  three  cars.  The 
platforms  are  flush  with  the  car  floors  and  constructed  with 
extra  heavy  draft  timbers  fitted  with  channel-iron  draw  bars. 
Both  styles  of  cars  have  the  semi-convertible  window  system 


TYPE  OF  TRAIL  CAR  USED  IN  PORTLAND,  ORE. 


of  the  builder.  The  illustrations  show  that  the  sashes  may  be 
held  at  different  heights,  admitting  as  little  or  as  much  air  as 
is  desirable.    Arm  rests  are  placed  on  the  window  sills,  as  the 


CAR  INTERIOR,  SHOWING  SEATING  ARRANGEMENT  AND 
POSITIONS  OF  SASHES 


height  from  floor  to  top  of  sill  is  but  24^  ins. — too  low  to  be 
reached  by  the  elbows  of  adult  passengers. 

The  interior  illustration  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  bright  and 
attractive  appearance  afforded  by  the  large  windows,  both  open 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


79 


and  closed.  It  will  also  be  noticed  that  the  aisle  is  wide  enough 
for  persons  to  pass  comfortably ;  the  width  is  22  ins.  and  the 
seats  are  36  ins.  long,  and  yet  the  width  over  the  posts  is  but 
8  ft.  2  ins. 

The  general  dimensions  of  the  vestibuled  cars  are  as  follows: 
Length  over  end  panels,  30  ft.  8  ins.,  and  over  vestibules,  40 
ft.  1  in. ;  length  of  platforms,  4  ft.  8j/j  ins. ;  width  over  sills,  7 
ft.  10^2  ins. ;  and  over  posts  at  belt,  8  ft.  2  ins. ;  sweep  of  posts, 
1^4  ins.;  the  side  sills  are  4  ins.  x  7%  ins.,  with  12-in  x  J^-in. 
plates  on  the  inside ;  end  sills,  5%  ins.  x  6%  ins. ;  thickness  of 
corner  posts,  3^4  ins.,  and  side  posts,  3*4  ins.  The  trailers 
are  38.8  ins.  over  the  end  panels,  and  46  ft.  8  in.  over  the  crown 
pieces.  The  plattorms  are  4  ft.  from  end  panels  over  crown 
pieces.  These  cars  have  under  trusses,  with  double  truss 
needle  beams. 

The  cars  are  mounted  on  Brill  27-E-1  trucks,  with  6- ft.  wheel 
base,  33-in.  wheels,  and  the  motor  cars  are  equipped  with  four 
motors  of  50-hp  capacity  each.  The  cars  are  to  be  run  on  fast 
schedules  and  are  capable  of  sixty  miles  an  hour.  The  railway 
company's  lines  are  nearly  all  over  private  right  of  way.  The 
main  line  of  the  system  traverses  the  valley  of  the  Williamette 
River  between  Portland  and  Oregon  City. 

 »>♦  


ment  shows  at  a  glance  the  comparative  efficiencies  of  the 
blocks,  and  is  of  particular  interest  to  any  engineer. 

Yale  &  Towne  triplex  blocks  have  also  been  used  largely  for 
installing  many  of  the  heaviest  machines  at  the  Exposition. 


TRENTON  &  NEW  BRUNSWICK  RAILROAD  GIVES  OUTING 
TO  NEWSPAPER  MEN 


THE  YALE  &  TOWNE  CHAIN  BLOCK  EXHIBIT  AT  THE 
LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXHIBITION 


The  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company  has  spared  no 
pains  to  make  its  exhibit  interesting  to  the  casual  man,  as  well 


The  Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Railroad  gave  the  news- 
paper men  of  Trenton  and  New  Brunswick  their  second  an- 
nual outing  on  Saturday  evening,  June  25.  The  affair  was  in 
charge  of  Herbert  E.  Reed,  the  new  superintendent,  who  re- 
cently came  to  Trenton  from  Easton,  Pa.,  where  he  was  in 
charge  of  the  Northampton  Traction  Company's  lines.  Thirty- 
one  sat  down  to  the  banquet,  which  was  served  at  New  Bruns- 
wick. A  resolution  was  adopted,  signed  and  forwarded  to 
the  company's  Philadelphia  office  regretting  the  non-appear- 
ance of  any  of  the  executive  officers,  and  extending  the  thanks 
of  the  assemblage.  Another  resolution  was  adopted  and  for- 
warded to  former  Superintendent  E.  T.  Wagenhals,  who  was 
in  charge  of  last  year's  outing,  but  who,  as  vice-president  of 
the  Wagenhals  Construction  Company,  with  headquarters  at 
Winchester,  Ind.,  is  now  constructing  a  new  line.  This  reso- 
lution expressed  the  wish  that  he  were  present,  and  also  wished 
him  success  in  his  new  field  of  labor.  The  Trenton  &  New 
Brunswick  Company  is  one  of  the  few  electric  railway  com- 
panies in  the  United  States  that  have  come  to  realize  the  value 
of  a  liberal  policy  as  regards  the  newspapers.  As  a  result, 
stories  about  the  company  that  appear  in  the 
papers  can  be  relied  on,  for  the  company  never 
fails  to  give  the  facts  in  so  far  as  they  are  not 
positively  detrimental  to  its  interests.  Through 
liberal  advertising  and  its  policy  of  publicity, 
the  company  may  be  said  to  have  gained  much 
traffic.  Last  year,  basing  the  figures  upon  the 
earnings,  without  complete  terminals,  and  with 
but  ten  scheduled  daily  trips  for  four  months, 
the  company  carried  more  than  100,000  passen- 
gers a  greater  distance  than  25  miles,  aside  from 
the  local  travel.  This  year,  with  practically  a 
half-hour  service  and  through  cars  to  Jersey 
City,  it  would  be  impossible  even  to  approxi- 
mate the  traffic  figures. 




YALE  &  TOWNE  CHAIN  BLOCK  EXHIBIT  IN  MACHINERY  HALL 


as  to  the  engineering  student,  and  it  is  attracting  considerable 
attention.  The  company  shows  blocks  of  all  three  types  and 
from  one-eighth  ton  to  twenty  tons  capacity,  but  the  most  in- 
teresting part  of  its  exhibit  is  the  moving  hoists.  The  new 
electric  hoist  is  shown  in  operation,  and  also  one  each  of  its 
triplex,  duplex  and  differential  blocks  operated  by  electric  mo- 
tors for  the  purpose  of  showing  their  relative  efficiency.  Each 
block  is  supplied  with  a  looo-lb.  weight,  and  so  arranged  that 
equal  power  is  applied  to  each.  The  result  is  that  the  triplex 
block  lifts  its  load  much  quicker  than  the  others,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  ammeters  show  equal  power  applied  to  each 
block.  The  mechanism  is  automatic,  so  that  when  the  triplex 
weight  arrives  at  the  top  all  three  blocks  reverse  their  motion 
and  lower  the  weights  until  they  reach  the  floor,  when  they 
again  automatically  reverse  and  begin  to  hoist.    The  arrange- 


CURRENT  COLLECTION  ON  HIGH-SPEED  ELEC- 
TRIC RAILWAYS 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Elektrotechnischer 
Vereins,  held  in  Berlin,  Dr.  W.  Reichel,  of  the 
Siemens-Schuckert  Company,  gave  an  interest- 
Trip  l.on  October  Gtli.1903 

Yolt 

11000 
'.100O 

2000  Amp. 
1600-  100 


K.W. 

21001 


1200  K.M.  120 

I  pur 

800   300;  30 
400  160 
0  120 


in  - 

set- 
as 
0.2 
0.1 
0 


1 

m 

r 

T. 

It 

e_ 

nn  Car 

L( 

ml  i 

11 

Car 

r 

Z 

T 

/ 

-Cu 

T 

-1 

t  in  Cm 

K 

:w 

11 

_S_13 

■t 

in 

a 

)T 

■1 

■  1 

Curve 

\\  , 

Ai'i 

1 

at 

k 

n 

10     11      12     43     U     15     10     17     IS  0J40' 

Marlenfelde  >- Minutes  Zossen 

Street  Itjj.  Journal 

ZOSSEN  CURVES,  AT  201KM  PER  HOUR 


ing  lecture  relative  to  the  Siemens-Halske  apparatus  used  in  the 
Marienfclde-Zossen  high-speed  tests,   and  lie  presented  the 


8o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


accompanying  performance  curves,  obtained  on  the  first, 
third  and  fourth  trial  trips.  The  early  part  of  the  dis- 
course was  given  over  to  the  comparison  of  the  amount 
of  power  required  by  electrically-operated  elevated  trains 
and  high-speed  trunk  line  trains.  It  was  shown  that  a 
four-car  elevated  train,  weighing  90  tons,  and  having  an  ac- 
celeration of  .65  m  to  .7  m  (2.1  ft.  to  2.3  ft.)  per  second,  would 
require  during  the  starting  500  kw  to  600  kw,  while  a  250-ton 


Trip  4.011  October  23rd.l903 


38     39     10    10  11 
Marlenfelde 

Street  Ru.  Journal 

ZOSSEN  CURVES,  AT  207   KM  PER  HOUR 

train  consisting  of  one  motor  car  and  four  trailers  running  at 
150  km  to  200  km  (90  miles  to  120  miles)  an  hour,  would  re- 
quire during  the  acceleration  period  2000  kw  to  3000  kw;  that 
is,  2000  amps,  to  3000  amps,  at  1000  volts,  direct-current.  At 
this  comparatively  low  voltage  the  current  collector  would,  of 
course,  have  to  be  very  heavy. 

The  recognition  of  this  difficulty  in  operating  high-speed 
lines  by  direct-current,  led  Wilhelm  von  Siemens  to  suggest,  in 

Trip  3  on  November  25-1903. 


107  8 

Marienfelde 


ZOSSEN  CURVES,  AT  210   KM   PER  HOUR 


11      10  20 

Zossen 

.  Journal 


1897,  the  use  of  high-tension  alternating  current.  Following 
the  Siemens-Halske  Company's  experiments  at  Lichterfelde  in 
1897,  a  high-tension  three-phase  equipment  was  built  for  the 
Marienfelde-Zossen  tests,  which  began  in  1901.  As  is  well 
known,  the  early  trials  proved  the  electrical  apparatus  to  an- 
swer all  requirements,  but  it  was  found  necessary  to  strengthen 
the  roadbed. 

In  1903  the  experiments  were  renewed,  beginning  with  speeds 
of  145  km  (87  miles)  and  finally  reaching  210  km  (126  miles) 
per  hour.  When  the  car  attained  a  speed  of  175  km  (105  miles) 
per  hour,  it  was  found  that  the  weight  and  lack  of  elasticity  of 


the  current  collectors  induced  considerable  swaying  of  the 
power  wires,  causing  serious  interruption  in  the  collection  of 
current.  Several  changes  were  therefore  made  in  the  design 
of  these  collectors,  so  that  it  became  possible  to  collect  as  much 
as  2500  kw,  although  the  pressure  of  the  current  collectors  on 
the  line  was  only  2.5  kg  to  3  kg  (5  lbs.  to  6  lbs.) 

In  conclusion,  Dr.  Reichel  stated  that  he  felt  convinced  that 
the  sliding  type  of  current  collector  was  far  superior  to  any 
form  of  rolling  contact ;  that  where  trolley  wheels  are  used  the 
pressure  of  the  wheel  against  the  wire  is  often  as  much  as  20 
kg  to  25  kg  (40  lbs.  to  50  lbs.),  even  at  speeds  not  exceeding 
75  km  (45  miles)  per  hour,  and  that  on  interurban  lines  the 
life  of  the  trolley  wheel  was  hardly  one-third  of  what  it  would 
be  in  ordinary  city  service. 


STREET  AND  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  MILEAGE,  CARS  AND 
CAPITALIZATION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
AND  CANADA 

The  accompanying  table  shows  the  mileage,  number  of  cars 
and  capitalization  of  the  street  railway  companies  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada  for  the  year  1903,  and  has  been  compiled 
from  the  1904  edition  of  "American  Street  Railway  Invest- 
ments." The  reports  in  "American  Street  Railway  Invest- 
ments" are,  in  the  main,  for  the  year  ending  Dec.  31,  so  that 
the  figures  given  in  the  table  for  1902  and  1903  may  fairly  be 
said  to  represent  the  condition  of  the  industry  at  the  end  of 
each  calendar  year.  Similar  tables  have  been  published  in  this 
paper  annually  for  several  years  back,  but  statistics  for  the 
cable  and  steam  motive  powers  have  been  given  separately.  In 
view  of  the  rapid  disappearance  of  both  motive  powers  for 
street  railway  work,  it  has  been  considered  better  to  unite  them 
this  year.  In  this  column  it  will  be  seen  that  outside  of  New' 
York,  Illinois  and  Missouri,  the  use  of  these  outside  motive 
powers  are  confined  largely  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  The  New 
York  figures  are  made  up  almost  entirely  of  the  steam  equip- 
ment of  the  Brooklyn  elevated  railways,  which  is  now  disap- 
pearing. Illinois  still  reports  a  considerable  number  of  cable 
cars,  owing  to  the  continued  use  of  the  cable  in  Chicago,  but 
there  has  been  a  decrease  in  Colorado,  Washington  and  Cali- 
fornia. 

The  capital  liabilities  for  the  United  States  have  increased 
slightly  less  than  10  per  cent,  whereas  in  Canada  they  have  in- 
creased slightly  more  than  20  per  cent.  The  principal  increases 
in  the  United  States  are  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  Colorado,  Washington  and  California.  These 
increases  have  been  due  both  to  the  formation  of  large  holding 
companies  in  a  few  cities  in  each  State,  and  also  to  new  enter- 
prises. 

Under  "electric  railways"  a  new  classification  was  adopted 
by  providing  a  column  for  service  cars,  in  which  are  included 
mail  cars,  tower  cars,  snow  plows,  freight  cars,  and,  in  fact, 
all  cars  outside  of  passenger  cars  used  in  the  operation  or  con- 
struction of  a  line,  but  this  column  does  not  include  vehicles 
which  do  not  run  upon  the  track.  In  previous  years  no  special 
effort  was  made  to  secure  statistics  of  these  cars,  but  when 
reported  they  were  grouped  with  the  trail  cars. 

In  a  few  cases,  where  reliable  reports  could  no.,  be  obtained 
of  the  capital  stock  and  funded  debt  of  the  companies,  esti- 
mates have  been  made  based  upon  the  known  physical  property 
of  the  separate  companies.  As  the  roads  so  not  reporting  were 
very  small,  however,  both  in  number  and  importance,  the  esti- 
mates, it  is  thought,  do  not  vitally  affect  the  accuracy  of  the 
table.  More  important  estimates  had  to  be  made  of  the  out- 
standing capital  stock  and  funded  debt  in  cases  where  holding 
or  leasing  companies  owned  portions  of  the  outstanding  obliga- 
tions and  capital  of  sub-operating  companies.  These  esti- 
mates were  required,  as  many  of  the  holding  companies  do  not 
report  the  proportion  of  the  capitalization  of  sub-companies 
controlled  by  them. 


[Supplement  to 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


July  9.  1904] 


STREET  AND  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  MILEAGE,  CARS  AND  CAPITALIZATION  IN  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA. 

COMPILED  FROM  THE  STATISTICS  OF  THE  VARIOUS  PROPERTIES   CONTAINED  IN  "AMERICAN  STREET   RAILWAY  INVESTMENTS."  EDITION  OF  1904. 


New  England  Stales. 

Maine  

New  Hampshire  

Vermont  

Massachusetts  

Rhode  Island  

Connecticut  

Total  

Eastern  Stales. 

New  York   

New  Jersey  

Pennsylvania  .  

Delaware  

District  of  Columbia. 

Maryland  

Virginia  

West  Virginia.  

Total  


Southern  States. 

North  Carolina  

South  Carolina  

Georgia  

Florida  

Alabama  

Mississippi  

Tennessee  

Louisiana  

Arkansas  

Total  

Western  States. 

North  Dakota  

Nebraska  

Kansas  

Indian  Territory  

Oklahoma  

Texas  

Colorado  

Montana  

Idaho   

Utah  

Washington  

Oregon  

California  

Arizona  

Total  


ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS 


3,175 
1,025 
3,342 


1,199 

2,  SSI 
1,020 


1,741 
4.4H9 
1,097 


26,592  29,212 


U 

10 

3,882 
110,09] 
2,305 


CABLE  AND  STEAM  RAILWAYS. 


HORSE  RAILWAYS 


TOTAL  RAILWAYS. 


3,324 
29,830 


5,031 
70,  1  SO 


CAPITAL  STUCK. 


85,055,050 
14,725,000 
23,851,2-10 


3o0.15S.298 
85.252,300 
200,484  280 
4,020.000 
211,005,000 
16,823,30(5 


22,5 


1,260 


■1,053,000 


10,730,  J 
1,000,0 
8,475,0 
885,5 
B,632,0 

32,538,0 
1,200  0 


10,200,^00 
2.005,000 
212,600 
100,000 

1 4,024.500 


11,31 


,,oun 


1,395,000 
54,000 
3,-100,000 
10,880,100 
4,807,000 
00,421.750 
77,600 


;r.,o.si.8i3 

0,904,900 
2,800,10(1 
88,708,7!  8 
17,725,000 
27.887,890 

149.10S, -121 


32-1,490,117 
811,089,100 
224,518,820 
4,900,000 
29,005,000 
10,908,300 
20,409,50(1 
0,530,500 


30.920.0Do 
174,010,550 
48.L05.90ii 
9,781,900 
17,791,500 
108,807,916 
25,591,495 
10,530,000 
09,125,100 

571,070,355 


2,348,100 
2.718,000 

19,441,000 
2.  1 00,00(1 

11,075.9011 
1.925,00'i 
9.074,500 

30,092,80(1 
2.970,000 

s9,hii,:J(iu 


200,000 
10,5X7,500 
2,005,000 
212,500 
220.000 
15,807.500 
17.050.000 
1,095,013 
404,000 
6  400,000 
24.001.100 
4,888,000 
S0.5l0.4U0 
277,800 

171,719,413 


#781,738 
1.990,0(10 
975,100 
3.053,008 
3,0(10.0110 
4,030.050 

13,840,156 


85,000 
3,883.250 
1,877.500 


5.861.6 

20,-19,5 
19,4.10,0 
1,391,0 
2, 5, -,2.0 
3,010.2 


532.500 
700.  OOO 
2.7111,000 
800,000 
2  000,900 
1,039.500 
42,500 
41164,800 
1,770.000 

14,410,800 


60.000 
1.183,000 
0  315  000 
300,613 
350,000 
3.(11111  000 
7,292,(100 
81,000 
17.138,050 
200,300 


36,507,563 
178.058,138 


FUNDED  DEBT. 


f5.li)-:. (Km 
10,1)43,51 10 
1,460,000 
40.058,(1(111 
18,702. -.lid 
10,751,0(10 

92  473,1100 


280.109.782 
73.733,00(1 
151,103,901 
3,505,000 
20,220,350 
52,2-51,095 
25,7118,001) 
4,080,000 

010,780,791 


3.77;:  1100 
s, 592, 500 
1,701.511(1 
i.oo|,3o0 
3,818.05(1 
9,010,1^5(1 
3,SM,(H>[| 
1,123,000 
1.1,379,001.1 


1,37.5,0 
3.113-5.0 
14.072,5 
1.532,0 
7,663.0 


7,450,000 
1,695,000 
191,000 
100,000 
9,850,000 
9,564,000 
1,196,500 

10,909,00(1 
9,978,000 
72,309,000 
61,500 

121,527,000 

1,272,209,491 

17.546.25S 


&.  901, 000 
11,350,500 
2,108,000 
43,744.000 
19,300,200 
20,222,000 

102,805,700 


298  220,0 
71,13(1.(1 
15:;, 177, 5 


9,7 


9,000 


12,250 
107,724,000 
15,895.000 
9.313.500 
93,443,300 

433,019,450 


2,732,500 
3,150.000 

I'l.  793, 000 
2.009,000 
9,109,000 
1,408,000 
9,708,025 

30,880,000 
2,070,000 

78,220,125 


210,000 
7,875.000 
1,885,000 
191.000 
220,000 
11,979.000 


15,8 


i.000 


1,200,000 

2.870]666 
15,690,000 

9,978.000 
78,042,000 
120,000 

146,062,000 

1,401,664,048 

25,147,658 


|5.-.3.  

1. 307.OO0 
718,000 


>.110,27i 
1.103,o9H 
2. 1113, 595 
3.  109, Dim 


8,701,000 


16,61 


1,600 


Hi,487,".UO 
1,162,000 
3,214,200 
8.113,350 
2,014,000 
490,500 
7,064,300 

57,836,450 


1,357,500 

415,000 
2,720,500 

637,000 
1,446,000 

728,000 
1,008.025 
5,437,800 

670,000 

14,920,42-5 


210,000 
425,000 
290,000 

60.666 
2,129,000 
0,238,00(1 


129,394,557 
7,601,300 


CAPITAL  LIABILITIES. 


$9,705,0 
14.958,4 
3,275,0 
125,713.0 
33,487,5 
lo.002,2 


580,208,080 
158,986,300 
351,648.2-50 
7,615,000 
49,831,350 
09,075,001 
48,294,250 
8,742,000 

1,280,309.231 


07.841.4 

232,-153.5 
00,877,4 


3,190,600 

5,047.000 
30,808,900 

3,138,000 
10,133,000 

1,565,500 
17,732,000 
57,980,200 

2,600,000 

138,200,200 


17  650,500 
4,260,000 
403,500 
320,000 
24.474,600 
20,809.000 
2,591,500 
54,000 
4,063,000 
27,798,100 
14,786,000 
141,780,760 
139,000 

259,738,850 

!,794, 338,251 


132,152,718 
37.085,200 
-18,109,890 


377,696,385 
11,874,000 
49,872,450 
70,025,000 
54,999.314 
12,959.600 


82.394,000 
270,092,050 
90.794,900 
19.548,200 
34,823,766 
270,531.910 
41.480.495 
25.849,500 
162,563,400 

1.004,989,811 


5.030,000 

G,  168*.  000 
30,234,000 

4,535,000 
20,184,900 

3,333,000 
19,388,125 
07,572.800 

5.040,000 

107,531,425 


470,000 
18,462,500 
4,550,000 
403,500 
440,000 
27,786.500 
33,452,000 
2,895  613 
404.000 
9,270,000 
39,781,100 
14,866,000 
164,602,400 
397,800 

317,781,413 


yl.337.73S 
3,-97,00(1 
1,693,100 

0.739,001 
3,597.700 
7,507,650 

24.172,850 


30.454.o97 
1,939.950 
20,048,135 
4,349,000 
41,100 
949.999 
0,705,004 
4,217.600 

30,704,945 


14,552,001) 
37,139,100 
29,9l7,50o 
2,553,000 
5,700,200 
11,723.600 
2,419,000 
1,788,500 
9.691,000 

115,801,106 


4,016,9 
1,707,5 
1,651.1 

9,592,0 
2,440,0 


New  England  States. 

 Maine 

 New  Hampshire 

 Vermont 

-   Massachusetts 

 Rhode  Island 

  -.  Connecticut 

 Total 


Eastern  States. 

 New  York 

-  New  Jersey 

  Pennsylvania 

 Delaware 

.District  of  Columbia 
 Maryland 

 West  Virginia 

 Total 


   Michigan 

 Ohio 

 Indiana 

 Kentucky 

 Wisconsin 

 Illinois 

 Minnesota 

 Missouri 

 Total 

Southern  Stales 

...  North  Carolina 

 South  Carolina 

 Georgia 

 Florida 

 Alabama 

 Mississippi 

 Tennessee 

  Louisiana 

  Arkansas 

 Total 

Western  States. 

 North  Dakota 

 Nebraska 

. ..  -  Kansas 

 Indian  Territory 

 Oklahoma 

 Texas 

 Colorado 

 Montana 

!!""!!!!!!!"..  .Utah 

 Washington 

 Oregon 

  California 

. . .   — Arizona 

 Total 

 United  States 


*  Includes  service  c 


1 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


81 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 


Wall  Street,  July  9,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

The  money  market  has  given  another  proof  of  its  extremely  easy 
state  in  the  unconcerned  way  with  which  it  handled  the  half-yearly 
corporation  settlements.  Although  the  demands  for  this  purpose 
came  at  the  time  when  Wall  Street  was  arranging  its  loans  for  a 
three  days'  holiday,  there  was  scarcely  a  stir  in  money  rates  to 
indicate  that  anything  unusual  was  taking  place.  Call  money  on  the 
first  day  of  July  did  not  get  above  il/x  per  cent,  and  all  renewals 
were  made  at  this  or  even  a  slightly  lower  figure.  The  report  of  the 
national  banks  under  the  recent  call  of  the  Controller  was  interest- 
ing for  one  fact  of  great  importance  which  it  brought  to  light.  It 
showed  that  the  deposits  of  outside  institutions  (that  is,  trust  com- 
panies. States  banks,  banks  with  a  Federal  charter,  but  not  located 
at  the  reserve  centers)  carried  with  the  central  reserve  banks  have 
increased  during  the  year  almost  as  much  as  the  loans  of  the  entire 
country.  The  significance  of  this  lies  in  its  bearing  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  there  has  been  any  great  credit  inflation  within  the 
last  twelve  months.  It  appears  to  prove  a  negative ;  that  is  to  say,  it 
shows  that  while  the  larger  banks  have  been  increasing  their 
credits,  other  institutions  have  been  reducing  theirs,  preferring  to 
keep  their  funds  on  deposit  to  putting  them  out  at  unremunerative 
rates  of  interest.  The  conclusion  naturally  follows  that  were 
money  to  harden  at  all  in  the  autumn,  these  outside  lenders  would 
reappear  in  the  market  and  assume  a  good  part  of  the  loans  now 
being  carried  by  the  central  banks,  causing  the  loan  account  of  the 
latter  to  decrease.  There  is  little  to  say  by  way  of  comment  on  the 
other  features  of  the  immediate  money  situation.  They  remain 
substantially  unchanged  from  a  fortnight  ago.  The  New  York  sur- 
plus reserve  has  been  slightly  reduced  because  of  an  excess  of  loan 
expansion  over  addition  to  cash  held  in  reserve.  But  the  decrease  is 
of  no  consequence  whatsoever.  Currency  continues  to  pour  in  from 
the  interior  of  the  country  in  undiminished  and,  for  the  season,  in 
almost  unprecedented  volume.  Sterling  exchange  shows  no  in- 
clination to  move  any  nearer  the  gold-shipping  point.  Conse- 
quently, the  only  outlet  to  these  fresh  accessions  to  the  cash 
supply,  lies  in  an  extension  of  banking  credits.  The  plethoric 
condition  is  best  illustrated  by  the  unwillingness  of  borrowers  to 
bid  more  than  3  per  cent  for  loans  running  over  the  first  of  next 
year. 

The  Stock  Jlarket 

Two  circumstances  have  cast  their  influence  powerfully  upon  the 
movement  of  prices  during  the  last  two  weeks.  The  first  is  the 
probability,  which  events  have  developed  into  a  virtual  certainty, 
that  there  will  be  no  cause  of  disturbance  to  business  from  the 
Democratic  nominations  about  to  be  made  this  week.  The  second 
and  more  important  is  the  excellent  reports  which  are  coming  in 
from  the  harvest  regions.  The  July  government  estimates  on  cotton 
are  particularly  worthy  of  note,  revealing  an  advance  from  83  to  88 
per  cent  in  the  condition  of  the  crop  during  June  on  the  largest 
area  ever  under  cultivation.  What  this  means,  of  course,  is  that  it 
will  take  some  extraordinary  accident  in  the  three  months  interven- 
ing before  picking  time,  to  prevent  the  greatest  yield  of  cotton  the 
country  has  ever  known.  The  first  definite  statistics  on  the  corn 
crop  are  due  on  Monday  next,  when  the  agricultural  bureau  will 
give  out  its  calculations  on  the  condition  and  acreage,  as  of  the 
first  of  July.  In  the  meantime  the  most  trustworthy  information  is 
that  a  record  area  has  been  seeded  to  corn  this  season,  and  that 
while  the  plant  is  rather  backward  and  in  many  localities  not  up 
to  the  standard  of  growth,  its  average  position  is  very  satsfactory. 
On  the  strength  of  the  promising  crop  outlook  and  the  clearing 
political  situation,  the  upward  tendency  previously  observed  on  the 
Stock  Exchange  has  become  more  distinct,  and  some  rather  heavy 
buying  has  started  in  the  leading  railway  issues.  A  sustained  bull 
movement  is  hardly  expected  yet  awhile,  but  what  has  happened, 
and  what  is  happening,  all  bears  out  the  analysis  of  the  Wall 
Street  condition  as  one  where  recovery  has  set  in  slowly  but 
surely  and  is  likely  to  make  steady  progress. 

A  violent  rise  in  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  and  Metropolitan 
Securities  issues  at  the  close  of  last  week  still  awaits  some  satis- 
factory explanation.  Opinion  is  divided  as  to  whether  it  was 
merely  a  bold  demonstration  against  a  weak  short  interest  or 
whether  there  has  not  been  recently  heavy  accumulation  of  the 
stocks  in  anticipation  of  some  announcement  which  will  add  ma- 


terially to  the  value  of  Metropolitan  as  an  investment.  Both  Man- 
hattan and  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  sold  at  the  highest  prices  of  the 
present  upward  swing,  but  their  rise  seemed  to  be  wholly  sym- 
pathetic with  the  pyrotechnics  in  the  Metropolitan  market. 

Philadelphia 

Advances  in  the  investment  and  semi-investment  group  of  trac- 
tion stocks  have  been  the  main  characteristic  in  the  two  weeks' 
Philadelphia  dealings.  Philadelphia  Traction  is  up  from  96^  to 
98 — the  highest  reached  in  a  long  while  past.  Union  Traction  has 
risen  steadily  from  50M2  to  52,  which  also  is  the  high  mark  for  the 
season.  Nothing,  save  the  improvement  in  the  general  investment 
demand,  appears  to  explain  the  gains  in  these  stocks.  In  the  usual 
speculative  favorites  trading  has  been  comparatively  light. 

Price  variations  have  likewise  been  exceedingly  limited.  Phil- 
adelphia Company  common  has  not  sold  below  38^4,  nor  above 
39iHs,  ending  for  the  period  under  review  at  the  higher  quotation. 
Philadelphia  Electric  has  fluctuated  between  6  and  63-16,  the 
stories  industriously  circulated  of  an  alliance  with  the  Electric 
Company  of  America  failing  to  have  any  effect.  American  Rail- 
ways did  not  go  above  the  top  price — 46 — of  two  weeks  ago ;  the 
stock  reacted  slightly,  160  shares  selling  at  45^4.  Only  45  shares 
of  Rapid  Transit  sold,  altogether,  at  12.  Five  hundred  Consoli- 
dated of  New  Jersey  sold  on  an  advance  from  67%  to  68I/4,  after 
which,  with  the  dividend  off  its  price,  the  stock  changed  hands  at 
675^.  Seventy  shares  of  Scranton  Railway  common  sold  at  17^2, 
an  advance  of  5}4  points  from  the  last  previous  sale.  Sixty  shares 
of  the  preferred  went  at  40.  Easton  Consolidated  Electric  sold  at 
11  for  a  small  lot,  after  which  500  shares  were  dealt  in  at  10.  Other 
minor  transactions  included  Union  Passenger  Railway  (5  shares) 
at  240,  West  Philadelphia  Passenger  (50  shares)  at  247^,  and 
United  Railways  of  San  Francisco  preferred  at  47. 

Chicago 

Prices,  as  a  rule,  have  worked  lower  in  the  Chicago  market. 
Securities  of  the  elevated  companies  have  been  affected  adversely 
by  the  ordinance  calling  for  a  universal  transfer  system  which,  it 
is  feared,  may  be  forced  upon  the  roads.  Metropolitan  Elevated 
preferred  on  scattered  transactions  of  a  few  hundred  shares  melted 
away  from  57  to  52.  The  common  sold  down  2  points  to  19.  Ten 
shares  of  Northwestern  common  went  at  17.  South  Side  at  91,  and 
Lake  Street  at  3^  to  2sVa  were  comparatively  steady,  but  the  weak- 
ness of  the  other  elevated  stocks  was  the  most  important  incident 
of  the  fortnight.  The  transfer  proposal  will  be  brought  up  before 
the  Council  again  at  its  next  meet,  and  will  be  fought  by  the 
railroad  companies.  It  has  been  rumored,  however,  that  the  road? 
might  make  the  concession  if  they  were  given  the  right  to  extend 
their  platforms.  Franchise  negotiations  between  the  city  and  the 
Union  Traction  Company  have  been  broken  off  abruptly,  because 
the  company  refuses  to  accept  the  city's  commutation  plan.  There 
have  been  virtually  no  dealings  in  the  surface  line  issues  during 
the  past  fortnight.  Five  shares  of  North  Chicago  sold  at  70,  or  10 
points  down  from  the  high  of  a  month  ago.  Later  72  was  paid  for 
10  shares.  West  Chicago  sold  between  45  and  4554,  for  a  few  odd 
lots. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

The  Boston  Traction  specialties  have  been  inclined  to  sell  off  in 
the  recent  trading.  Elevated  shares  were  offered  down  from  151^2 
to  149,  bringing  out  some  stock.  Cessation  of  the  recent  invest- 
ment buying  is  evidently  what  this  decline  reflected.  Massachu- 
setts Electric  common  rose  from  19^?  to  20^4.  and  then  fell  back  to 
1834.  The  preferred,  selling  "ex"  dividend  advanced  from  71  to 
7354.  reacted  to  72  and  rallied  to  73.  West  End  common  gained 
a  point  from  90^  to  g\V2,  but  quickly  eased  off  to  91.  The  pre- 
ferred "ex"  dividend  advanced  from  109  to  110*4.  In  Baltimore 
trading  in  the  usually  active  issues  was  very  light.  There  were  no 
sales  of  United  Railways  stock.  Several  small  lots  of  the  income 
bonds  were  taken  between  42  and  43 \\.  The  general  4s  were 
bought  more  freely  between  90  and  90^.  Other  trading  for  the 
fortnight  comprised  Baltimore  Traction  5s  at  113%,  City  and  Su- 
burban (Washington)  5s  at  gSY.  Augusta  Street  Railway  5s  at 
iooT4,  Wilmington  (North  Carolina)  5s  at  100,  and  Pittsburg 
Traction  5s  at  113^.  On  the  New  York  curb  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  was  again  the  feature.  In  the  week  ending  last  Satur- 
day week,  it  advanced  from  ti8  to  121  on  sales  of  1450  shares. 
Last  week  it  rose  to  123  with  3800  shares  changing  hands,  and 


82 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


yesterday  it  made  still  another  high  record — 125 — on  sales  of  1770 
shares.  Ninety  shares  of  New  Orleans  common  went  at  9^  to  9^, 
100  St.  Louis  Transit  at  13^  and  100  at  13.  Not  quite  100  shares 
of  Brooklyn  City  Railway  were  dealt  in  at  232,  and  Nassau  bonds 
in  the  same  group  were  very  strong,  advancing  from  83^  to  84J/2. 
One  lot  of  Chesapeake  Traction  5s  sold  at  101. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stock,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 


last  week: 

Closing  Bid 

June  21  July  5 

American  Railways                                                                         44%  45% 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                              al4  al4 

Boston  Elevated                                                                           150  148 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                                  48%  49% 

Chicago  City   al75  al68 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                               —  4% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                            a30  a30 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                           69  70 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                            67  *671/4 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                      105%  106% 

Detroit  United                                                                                60%  61 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                          118%  124% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)                                                      —  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                      —  3% 

Manhattan   Railway                                                                       148%  149% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.    (common)                                        18  19% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                         70%  *72 

Metropolitan  Elevated,   Chicago  (common)                                  18%  18% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                    55  52 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                       110%  115 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                  76%  84 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                    9  9 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                                  27%  29 

New  Orleans  Ralways,  4%s                                                          74  74 

North  American                                                                             85%  86% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                    13  1314 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                   38%  38% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                             11%  W% 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                    96%  9g 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                        13  12% 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                       90%  90% 

Third  Avenue                                                                               119  i2iy2 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                 94  94y2 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                       50%  51% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                          56%  56% 

West  End  (common)                                                                      $0%  90% 

West  End  (preferred)   109  -t-ig 


a  Asked. 
Iron  and  Steel 

The  past  week,  having  been  pretty  largely  a  holiday  period,  has 
developed  little  that  is  new  in  the  iron  situation.  A  better  feel- 
ing undoubtedly  exists  so  far  as  the  future  is  concerned,  but  ac- 
tual conditions  are  scarcely  changed  from  what  they  have  been 
(luring  the  last  two  months.  Business  is  very  dull,  and  prices 
are  still  being  shaded  in  various  lines.  The  "Iron  Age"  records 
the  fact  that  with  a  capacity  of  3,500,000  tons,  the  rail  mills  have 
booked  1,500,000  tons  of  orders  thus  far  this  year,  including 
orders  carried  over  from  1903.  This  is  encouraging,  inasmuch 
as  it  indicates  that  if  the  rail  trade  were  to  pick  up  at  all  during 
the  next  six  months,  the  mills  would  have  more  than  enough  to 
do.  Quotations  are  as  follows:  Bessemer  pig  iron  $12.65,  Bes- 
semer steel  $23,  steel  rails  $28. 

fletals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:  Copper  12^ 
and  12' :>  cents,  tin  26  cents,  lead  4%  cents,  and  spelter  413-16 
cents. 


ELECTRICITY  ON  THE  DERBY  LINE  OF  THE  NEW  HAVEN 
-NEW  TERMINAL  STATION  IN  NEW  HAVEN 


The  announcement  is  made  that  the  next  step  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  plans  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
Railroad  Company  for  electrical  equipment  will  be  the  operation 
of  the  Derby  branch  by  electricity  and  the  construction  of  a  large 
power  house  in  New  Haven.  It  is  possible  that  water  power  in 
Windham  County,  where  under  the  charter  of  the  new  Consoli- 
dated Railway  Company,  the  New  Haven  road  has  peculiar  water 
privileges,  will  be  developed  for  this  purpose.  The  Derby  cars 
will  be  run  by  the  overhead  trolley  system  rather  than  by  the 
third  rail,  as  President  Mellen  is  said  to  consider  the  former 
preferable. 

The  plans  for  the  construction  of  the  new  depot  in  New  Haven 


have  recently  been  altered  by  the  company.  These  plans  were 
tentatively  drawn  some  time  ago,  and  they  have  now  been 
changed  to  accord  to  the  new  conditions  made  by  the  purchase 
by  the  steam  road  of  the  local  electric  railway  lines.  In  the 
changes  of  the  architectural  plans  the  new  depot,  which  is  to  be 
located  in  Union  Avenue,  between  the  present  depot  and  the 
office  building,  will  be  a  trolley  as  well  as  a  steam  depot.  Trolley 
cars  will  run  into  it,  in  shelter,  and  it  will  be  possible  for  steam 
passengers  to  step  from  the  New  York  road,  for  instance,  on  to 
a  trolley  car  that  will  carry  them  to  Whitney  Avenue.  Cars  of 
the  Derby  branch  when  equipped  with  electricity  will  run  into  the 
new  station  and  through  it  to  Chapel  Street,  whence  they  will 
run  over  the  present  New  Haven-Derby  trolley  line  back  to 
Derby.  It  will  thus  be  a  loop  line.  The  new  station  is  to  cost 
$1,000,000  and  the  improvement  in  the  railroad  cut  here  will  cost 
another  $1,000,000.    Work  on  both  will  be  begun  next  spring. 

President  Mellen  is  credited  with  the  statement  that  within  ten 
years  a  speed  of  75  miles  an  hour  can  be  made  by  cars  of  the  New 
York.  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  between  Boston  and 
New  York  by  means  of  electricity,  and  the  rapid  development 
of  his  plans  for  the  utilization  of  the  trolley  is  believed  to  fore- 
cast the  the  carrying  out  of  his  prediction.  The  general  expecta- 
tion seems  to  be  that  announcement  of  the  purchase  of  additional 
trolley  lines  is  likely  to  be  made  very  soon. 

■  

IMPORTANT  TRANSFER  DECISION  FOR  LOS  ANGELES 


Judge  N.  P.  Conrey,  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Los  Angeles 
County,  has  handed  down  an  important  decision,  in  a  legal  fight 
inaugurated  by  private  citizens,  wherein  he  grants  a  writ  of  man- 
date for  the  issuance  of  transfers  between  the  Pacific  Electric 
Railway  Company  and  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company  on  East 
Ninth  Street.  When  the  East  Ninth  Street  line  was  acquired  by 
the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  Jan.  1,  1904,  the  previous 
rule  of  giving  transfers  to  other  lines  of  the  Los  Angeles  Rail- 
way Company  was  suddenly  dispensed  with.  Then  it  was  that  the 
citizens  of  the  East  Ninth  Street  section  of  the  city  realized  that  to 
get  to  many  parts  of  the  municipality  by  street  car  they  were  com- 
pelled by  circumstances  to  pay  two  fares.  Finally,  the  courts  were 
resorted  to. 

It  is  announced  that  immediate  appeal  will  be  taken  to  the 
Supreme  Court,  by  the  railways,  from  Judge  Conrey's  opinion, 
which  follows  : 

D.  S.  Reynolds  vs.  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company  and  Los  Angeles  Rail- 
way Company: 

Petition  for  writ  of  mandate  to  compel  defendants  to  issue  and  receive  trans- 
fers on  East  Ninth  Street  and  all  intersecting  lines  of  street  railway  owned  or 
operated  by  said  corporations. 

The  evidence  does  not  sustain  the  petitioner's  claim  that  one  of  the  de- 
fendants controls  the  other  defendant.  As  business  corporations,  it  appears 
that  defendants  are  separate  and  independant  of  each  other,  although  it  is 
true  that  they  have  the  same  president  and  their  stock  is,  in  large  part, 
owned  by  the  same  individuals. 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  during  the  four  years  preceding  Jan.  1,  1904,  while 
the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company  owned  and  operated  the  East  Ninth  Street 
line  and  all  the  intersecting  lines,  that  company  was  obligated  to  give  and  re- 
ceive transfers  between  said  lines.  This  obligation  arose  out  of  the  terms  of 
the  franchise  granted  by  the  city  for  the  construction  and  operation  of  said 
line  on  East  Ninth  Street.  After  taking  into  consideration  the  language  of 
the  franchise  ordinance,  together  with  the  purpose  for  which  the  franchise  was 
granted  and  the  manner  in  which  the  roads  were  being  operated  prior  to  the 
preesnt  year,  and  the  nature  of  the  rights  held  and  exercised  by  the  de- 
fendants, it  is  my  opinion  that  the  burden  of  giving  and  receiving  such  trans- 
fers as  these  here  in  question  has  not  ceased  to  accompany  the  benefits  which 
the  defendants  enjoy. 

I  think  that  when  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company  surrendered  to  its 
co-defendant  the  possession  of  East  Ninth  Street  (so  far  as  such  possession 
existed  for  street  railway  purposes)  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company 
received  that  possession  subject  to  all  existing  burdens  thereof. 

It  willl  be  ordered  that  the  writ  of  mandate  issue  as  prayed  for. 



ELECTRIC  TRACTION  FOR  BALLARAT,  AUSTRALIA 

Australian  advices  state  that  the  Electric  Supply  Company,  of 
Victoria,  Ltd..  the  company  which  recently  purchased  the  horse- 
car  line  in  Ballarat,  formerly  operated  by  the  Ballarat  Tramways 
Company,  with  the  intention  of  installing  an  electric  traction 
system  in  that  prosperous  Victoria  mining  center,  is  seeking  the 
sanction  of  the  municipal  authorities  and  the  Victoria  Parliament 
to  several  extensions  of  the  line,  all  of  which  will  be  operated 
by  electric  motive  power. 



South  African  advices  state  that  the  Cape  Electric  Tramways 
are  to  be  considerably  extended.  The  present  system  is  about  30 
miles  long.  J.  E.  Lloyd  .s  general  manager  of  tne  company. 
The  London  offices  of  the  concern  are  at  56  Bishopsgate  Street, 
Within,  E.  C, 


July  9,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


83 


A  NEW  ELEVATED  TRAIN  FOR  THE  BROOKLYN 
ELEVATED  LINES 


An  interesting  trial  trip  was  made,  Friday,  July  I,  upon  a  newly 
equipped  elevated  train  for  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  lines,  which 
marks  the  inauguration  of  a  new  standard  of  car  equipments  for  this 
company.  The  company  has  for  some  time  had  under  way  the 
work  of  rebuilding  and  re-equipping  its  elevated  cars  in  order  to 
bring  them  up  to  a  standard  which  would  be  second  to  none  in  mat- 
ter of  modern  equipment,  safety  details,  and  provisions  for  the 
comfort  of  passengers.  The  direct  results  of  this  new  departure 
were  for  the  first  time  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  public  in 
this  trial,  which  was  given  to  representatives  of  the  newspapers 
and  technical  press  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn. 

A  trial  run  was  made  over  the  "Coney  Island  Express"  route, 
which  is  now  operated  via  the  Fifth  Avenue  Elevated  and  the  old 
"Sea  Beach"  surface  lines,  in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  remark- 
ably high-speed  service  that  is  now  maintained  over  this  route  be- 
tween the  New  York  terminal  and  Coney  Island.  This  run,  which  is 
nearly  11  miles  long,  is  now  made  in  the  schedule  time  of  thirty- 
four  minutes,  including  three  stops.  After  covering  this  route  in 
considerably  less  than  this  schedule  time,  the  trial  train  returned  to 
the  new  Thirty-Ninth  Street  repair  shop  of  the  company,  recently 
equipped  for  work  upon  elevated  cars,  where  a  complete  inspection 
was  afforded  of  the  new  features  of  the  equipment  of  the  cars,  in- 
cluding the  very  careful  provisions  for  the  fireproofing  of  all  the 
wiring,  the  new  Westinghouse  unit  switch  system  of  control,  the 
changes  in  arrangement  of  the  auxiliary  equipment  under  the  car, 
and  the  platform  and  cab  changes.  From  this  point  the  train 
was  operated  via  the  Culver  route  to  Coney  Island,  where  a  brief 
inspection  was  made  of  the  new  Culver  terminal,  which  was  fully 
described  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  June  11,  1904. 

The  return  trip  to  New  York  was  made  over  the  Brighton  Beach 
route,  which  connects  at  Franklin  Avenue  with  the  Fulton  Street 
Elevated  line.  In  this  way  a  very  complete  inspection  of  the  ele- 
vated lines  of  the  company,  and  the  various  improvements,  was 
afforded.  An  important  feature  of  the  trip  was  the  exhibition  of  a 
working  model  of  the  turret  controller,  which  was  mounted  inside 
the  parlor  car  and  so  connected  as  to  operate  in  conjunction  with 
the  regular  control  of  the  train.  The  operation  of  the  controller 
in  accelerating,  and  in  changing  to  the  various  running  positions 
was  in  this  way  made  clear  to  the  observers.  The  trip  was  very 
pleasantly  arranged  and  was  greatly  enjoyed.  Refreshments  were 
served  and  every  possible  opportunity  was  given  for  a  careful  study 
of  the  new  equipment. 

This  new  work  was  heralded  with  pleasure  by  all  those  interested 
in  the  betterment  of  city  traffic  conditons,  and  the  improvement  of 
suburban  service.  These  improvements  were  learned  of  with  great 
reassurance,  in  view  of  the  recent  marine  disaster  in  New  York- 
Harbor,  which  has  had  the  effect  of  restraining  the  majority  of 
pleasureseekers  from  further  indulgence  in  water  trips.  The  care- 
ful provisions  for  the  safety  of  traveling  to  the  various  ocean 
pleasure  resorts  over  the  elevated  lines  will  do  much  to  restore  the 
confidence  of  the  public  at  this  critical  time,  and  will  be  found 
of  material  benefit  in  urging  upon  them  the  greater  safety  of  this 
mode  of  travel. 

The  visitors  upon  the  trip  consisted  largely  of  daily  newspaper 
representatives  from  both  New  York  and  Brooklyn.  The  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  was  represented  by  E.  W.  Winter,  presi- 
dent; J.  F.  Calderwood,  general  manager;  G.  R.  Folds,  assistant  to 
general  manager;  D.  S.  Smith,  general  superintendent;  R.  C.  Tay- 
lor, mechanical  engineer,  and  W.  O.  Wood,  superintendent  of  the 
elevated  division.  The  Westinghouse  interests  were  ably  repre- 
sented by  J.  L.  Crouse,  who  explained  the  details  of  the  new 
unit  switch  control  with  which  the  train  was  equipped. 

TRANSFER  DECISION  CAUSES  TROUBLE  IN  BROOKLYN 

The  decision  of  the  Appellate  Division  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  Brooklyn  in  the  transfer  suit,  noted  in  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  of  July  2,  resulted  in  demands  from  passengers  for 
transfers  all  over  the  city,  and  was  interpreted  by  some  of  the 
patrons  of  the  lines  running  to  Coney  Island  to  mean  that  only 
a  single  5-cent  fare  could  be  charged  on  lines  operating  to  that 
place.  To  protect  itself  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company 
on  June  30,  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year  of  the  Nassau  Electric  Rail- 
road Company,  terminated  the  lease  of  that  company  to  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company.  Before  this  was  done, 
however,  the  unscrupulous  element  of  the.  community  made  all 
the  trouble  they  could  for  the  company  by  demanding  transfers 
where  they  knew  the  company's  rules  did  not  permit  conductors 
to  issue  tickets.  As  a  consequence,  a  number  of  suits  for  dam 
ages  arc  likely  to  follow  under  the  ruling  of  the  court,  which  says 
that  a  city  railway  company  must  give  transfers  to  its  leased 
lines  where  any  of  these  leased  lines  intersect. 


The  question  of  the  rate  of  fare  to  Coney  Island  was  settled  by 
the  court  some  time  ago.  The  lines  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Company  to  that  place  are  for  a  part  of  the  route  over 
private  right  of  way  and  operated  under  steam  railroad  charters, 
and  the  company  is  by  law  permitted  to  charge  a  fare  of  3  cents 
per  mile.  The  lines  of  the  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad 
Company,  which  also  operates  to  the  Island,  are,  however,  on 
the  public  highway.  This  company  charges  a  5-cent  fare  to  the 
Island  on  week  days,  but  charges  10  cents  on  Sundays  and  holi- 
days. As  previously  stated,  the  impression  spread  that  only  one- 
fare  could  be  charged  on  these  lines,  and  a  number  of  patrons 
refused  to  pay  the  extra  fare.  At  first  offenders  were  dealt  with 
leniently,  the  companies  not  caring  to  disturb  the  peace  of  their 
patrons  by  forcibly  ejecting  those  who  refused  to  pay  the  extra 
fare.  The  number  of  the  latter  increased  so  rapidly,  however, 
that  it  was  finally  decided  the  only  way  of  bringing  the  people  to 
a  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  law  was  on  the  side  of  the  com- 
pany was  to  eject  all  offenders.  As  a  consequence  there  were  a 
number  of  disturbances  over  the  recent  holiday  at  points  where 
the  extra  fare  is  collected.  Both  the  companies  had  inspectors 
at  these  points,  and  all  passengers  who  refused  to  comply  with 
the  rules  of  the  company  were  ejected.  There  certainly  is  some- 
thing wrong  with  the  instrument  of  justice  that  makes  it  possible 
for  the  unscrupulous  element  of  the  community  completely  to 
disrupt  the  organization  of  a  public  service  corporation  and  to 
inconvenience  the  great  mass  of  the  patrons  of  that  company,  and 
the  public  can  be  counted  on  soon  to  discover  that  in  this  par- 
ticular instance  they  have  been  cleverly  tricked.  The  Brooklyn 
Eagle  beseeches  the  people  not  to  base  too  gaudy  hopes  of  wealth 
on  damage  suits,  because,  as  it  says,  "nothing  succeeds  long  that 
is  founded  on  a  palpable  injustice,  and  it  is  an  injustice  to  demand 
a  quarter  of  a  dollar's  worth  of  travel  for  5  cents." 



CONTRACTS  PENDING  FOR  EXTENSIVE  CUBAN  SYSTEM 


The  Cienfuegos,  Palmira  &  Cruces  Railroad  &  Electric  Power 
Company,  which  was  organized  last  fall  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing an  extensive  electric  railway  system  in  Southern  Cuba, 
will  award  important  contracts  this  month  for  power  house  equip- 
ment, rails,  cars,  etc.  In  the  first  instance  about  40  miles  of 
road  will  be  built,  but  it  is  the  intention  of  the  company  eventu- 
ally to  construct  and  operate  some  90  miles  of  system.  The 
power  house  will  be  located  at  the  Habananilla  Falls,  which  are 
situated  about  30  miles  from  Cienfuegos.  The  available  head  is 
470  ft.  The  initial  capacity  of  the  plant  will  be  4000  hp.  Ulti- 
mately the  company  intends  to  add  further  machinery  which  will 
bring  the  development  up  to  10,000  hp.  The  equipment  about  to 
be  ordered  will  include  three  generators  of  1000-kw  each,  direct 
connected  to  water  turbines.  About  5  miles  of  track  will  be  con- 
structed in  Cienfuegos,  one  of  the  most  flourishing  seaport  cities 
in  Cuba,  where  at  present,  however,  there  are  no  tramways  of 
any  description.  The  line  will  run  from  Cienfuegos  to  Caonao, 
a  suburb  of  the  city,  thence  to  Palmira,  Horringuero  and  Cruces, 
thence  on  to  Ranchuelo  and  from  there  to  Santa  Clara,  one  of 
the  most  important  cities  in  the  interior  of  the  island.  From  the 
harbor  of  Cienfuegos  to  Caonao  there  will  be  a  second  line  built 
to  carry  freight  exclusively.  Owing  to  the  number  of  sugar, 
coffee  and  tobacco  plantations  along  the  route,  the  company  an- 
ticipates conducting  a  considerable  freight  business.  All  the 
lines  will  be  standard  gage.  The  Cienfuegos-Caonao  section  will 
be  operated  on  a  street  franchise,  but  the  balance  of  the  system 
will  be  on  a  private  right  of  way. 

Twelve  passenger  cars  will  be  ordered,  practically  immediately. 
They  will  each  be  42  ft.  long,  equipped  with  four  40-hp  motors. 
The  Cienfuegos-Caonao  section  is  expected  to  be  in  operation 
inside  of  twelve  months,  while  the  entire  Cienfuegos-Santa  Clara 
line  will  be  ready  within  eighteen  months.  The  construction  of 
the  Caonao-Los  Guaos-Cumanayagua  branch  is  deferred  for  the 
present. 

The  Cienfuegos,  Palmira  &  Cruces  Railroad  &  Electric  Power 
Company  is  composed  of  Cuban  capital  principally,  though  there 
is  some  German  money  invested  in  the  enterprise.  Bruno  Diaz, 
a  large  Cuban  tobacco  exporter,  is  president  of  the  company. 
Cornelius  C.  Vermeule,  of  203  Broadway,  New  York,  is  the  con- 
sulting engineer. 



TOLEDO  COMPANY  APPLIES  FOR  FRANCHISE  EXTENSION 

As  recently  forecasted  in  these  columns,  the  Toledo  Railways  & 
Light  Company  has  made  formal  application  to  the  Council  for  a 
twenty-five-year  extension  of  existing  franchises.  The  conditions 
of  the  grant  are  left  for  future  negotiations  of  the  parties  concerned. 
It  will  be  necessary  to  advertise  the  application  for  three  weeks  be- 
fore a  discussion  of  the  terms  to  lie  entered  into  can  take  place. 


§4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


PROGRAMME  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  ELECTRICAL 
CONGRESS 


The  general  arrangements  and  plan  of  the  circular  tour  for  the 
reception  and  entertainment  of  visiting  electrical  engineers  at- 
tending the  International  Electrical  Congress  next  September 
have  just  been  announced.  The  congress  will  be  held  at  St. 
Louis,  Sept.  12-17,  in  the  "Coliseum,  at  Olive  and  Thirteenth 
Streets.  Up  to  June  22,  1778  persons  had  signified  their  desire 
to  become  members  of  the  congress.  Of  this  number  286  were 
residents  of  countries  outside  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
The  fee  for  membership  in  the  congress  is  $5,  which  may  be  for- 
warded either  to  the  secretary,  Dr.  A.  E.  Kennelly,  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  or  to  the  treasurer,  W.  D.  Weaver, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York  City. 

In  connection  with  the  International  Electrical  Congress  a 
chamber  of  delegates  will  be  held,  these  delegates  being  ap- 
pointed by  the  various  governments,  and  the  proceedings  will  be 
conducted  in  a  manner  essentially  similar  to  the  meetings  of  the 
chambers  of  government  delegates  at  the  International  Electrical 
Congresses  of  Chicago  in  1893,  and  of  Paris  in  1900.  Switzer- 
land, Norway,  Sweden,  India  and  Mexico  have  already  appointed 
delegates  to  represent  their  respective  governments,  and  a  simi- 
lar action  is  expected  to  be  taken  in  the  near  future  by  the  United 
States.  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  Bel- 
gium, Italy,  Denmark,  Spain,  Portugal,  Australia,  Japan,  China, 
Brazil,  Chili  and  Peru. 

In  view  of  the  large  number  of  European  engineers  who  will 
attend  the  congress,  arrangements  have  been  made  for  circular 
tour  of  the  principal  cities  of  the  country,  in  which  it  is  expected 
a  large  number  of  the  foreign  visitors  will  participate.  The 
party  from  Great  Britain,  composed  of  members  of  the  Institu- 
tion of  Electrical  Engineers,  many  accompanied  by  ladies,  is 
expected  to  arrive  in  this  country  by  the  White  Star  steamship 
"Republic,"  reaching  Boston  Sept.  2.  There  will  also  be  a  large 
delegation  of  the  Associazione  Elettrotecnica  Italiana,  with  a 
number  of  ladies,  which  is  expected  to  arrive  in  New  York  Aug. 
24,  and  who  will  proceed  to  Boston,  joining  the  main  party  there 
on  Sept.  3. 

In  Boston  the  local  reception  committee  has  arranged  to  take 
the  visiting  engineers  on  a  visit  to  the  power  houses  in  Boston, 
to  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  and  to  Harvard 
University,  where  a  reception  will  be  held  on  Saturday,  Sept.  3. 
After  the  reception  the  visitors  will  leave  by  train  for  New  York. 
On  Sunday  afternoon,  Sept.  4,  the  visiting  electrical  engineers, 
and  all  the  members  of  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  En- 
gineers, will  be  the  guests  of  Messrs.  J.  G.  White  &  Company 
on  a  steamboat  excursion  either  up  the  Hudson  or  down  to 
Coney  Island,  as  may  be  arranged  later.  On  Sept.  5.  a  visit  will 
be  made  to  the  electrical  power  stations  of  New  York  City.  On 
the  evening  of  Sept.  5  a  reception  and  dinner  will  be  given  by 
the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  to  all  the  foreign 
visitors. 

The  circular  tour,  which  will  be  by  special  train  composed  of 
Pullman  drawing  room  and  sleeping  cars,  will  leave  New  York 
on  Tuesday,  Sept.  6,  and  the  itinerary  will  be  as  follows:  Sche- 
nectady, Sept.  6;  Montreal,  Sept.  7  and  8;  Niagara  Falls,  Sept.  9: 
Chicago,  Sept.  10;  St.  Louis,  Sept.  11  to  17;  Pittsburg,  Sept.  18 
and  19:  Washington.  Sept.  20,  and  Philadelphia,  Sept.  21.  In  all 
the  cities  the  visitors  will  be  met  by  local  committees  who.  in 
addition  to  entertaining  the  party,  will  in  many  cases  provide 
special  and  separate  entertainments  for  the  ladies  of  the  party. 

The  cost  of  a  ticket  for  the  special  tour,  including  railroad  fares, 
sleeping  car  berths,  hotel  accommodation  (St.  Louis  also),  meals, 
and  all  necessary  expenses  from  New  York  following  the  itine- 
rary above  outlined  and  back  to  New  York  will  be  $150.  This 
rate,  however,  does  not  include  hotel  expenses  in  New  York 
City,  or  the  expenses  of  the  Boston  trip — previously  referred  to — 
and  does  not  include  admission  to  the  grounds  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition. 

All  foreign  electrical  engineers  who  may  visit  the  United  States 
in  connection  with  the  International  Electrical  Congress  are  in- 
vited to  take  part  in  the  circular  tour.  It  is  expected,  however, 
that  they  shall  come  properly  accredited  by  the  electrical  engi- 
neering society  of  which  they  are  members.  The  foreign  visitors 
will  be  accompanied  during  the  circular  tour  by  representatives 
of  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  many  of  whom 
will  be  accompanied  by  ladies,  to  act  as  guides  to  the  visitors. 
This  representation  will  include  members  of  Council  of  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  of  the  Council-elect,  and 
the  general  reception  committee,  also  committee  on  organization, 
advisory  committee,  and  chairmen  and  secretaries  of  sections  of 
the  International  Electrical  Congress,  officers  of  the  National 
Electrical  Engineering  Societies  co-operating  with  the  congress, 


American  reception  committees  of  the  foreign  societies  and 
members  of  the  A.  I.  E.  E.  who  may  be  assigned  as  special 
guides  to  accompany  the  party.  It  is  desired  that  as  many  as 
possible  of  the  American  representatives  be  accompanied  by  their 
ladies  to  assist  in  entertaining  the  visiting  ladies.  Foreign  elec- 
trical engineering  societies  who  may  take  part  in  the  tour  repre- 
sented by  a  delegation  of  their  membership,  and  foreign  visiting 
electrical  engineers  who  desire  to  accompany  the  party  are  re- 
quested to  make  application  at  once,  giving  their  names,  address 
and  the  electrical  engineering  society  with  which  they  are  affili- 
ated and  from  whom  they  come  accredited,  and  to  state  when 
they  expect  to  arrive  in  the  United  States,  and  at  what  port,  to 
Ralph  W.  Pope,  secretary,  American  Institute  of  Electrical  En- 
gineers, 95  Liberty  Street,  New  York  City,  to  whom  all  com- 
munications respecting  the  circular  tour  should  be  addressed. 
To  him  also  should  be  addressed  all  letters,  telegrams,  etc.,  for 
those  participating  in  the  tour  and  while  they  are  en  route,  and 
his  office  will  forward  them  to  the  nearest  stopping  place. 



ANNUAL  OUTING  AND  GAMES  OF  NEW  YORK  CITY 
RAILWAY  COMPANY'S  EMPLOYEES 


The  employees  of  the  Broadway,  Columbus,  Lenox,  Sixth  and 
Seventh  Avenue  divisions  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Com- 
pany held  their  seventh  annual  outing  and  games  at  Donnelly's 
Grove,  College  Point,  L.  I.,  on  July  4.  The  picnic  was  a  most  suc- 
cessful one  in  every  respect,  and  was  greatly  enjoyed  by  all  present. 

At  8:30  a.  m.  the  participants  marched  from  the  Ninety-Sixth 
Street  car  house  to  the  Ninety-Ninth  Street  ferry  to  music  furnished 
by  the  First  Irish  Volunteers'  band,  embracing  twenty-one  pieces, 
and  the  railWay  men's  own  fife  and  drum  corps,  numbering  nineteen 
pieces.  Luncheon  was  served  shortly  after  reaching  the  fine  water- 
side grove,  and  then  the  sports  began  in  earnest. 

The  first  athletic  event  was  an  exciting  baseball  game  between 
Captain  Bodkin's  Sixth  Avenue  nine  and  Captain  Mack's  Broad- 
way team.  At  the  end  of  the  eighth  inning  the  score  was  tied,  but 
in  the  ninth  the  Sixth  Avenue  players  developed  a  wonderful 
batting  streak  and  won  out  by  the  score  of  31  to  17.  The  100-yard 
dash  took  place  immediately  after  the  baseball  game,  the  first 
prize,  a  gold  medal,  was  won  by  Victor  Brock,  his  brother  Fred 
winning  the  silver  medal  given  for  the  second  prize.  The  fat 
men's  race  was  won  by  Barney  Spaulding,  who  received  a  gold 
medal  for  his  efforts.  In  the  half-mile  race,  Fred  Brock  won  the 
gold  medal  and  J.  Sullivan  the  silver  one.  The  latter  was  also  an 
easy  winner  in  the  shoe  race.  V.  Armanino  was  presented  with  a 
fine  silver  medal  for  winning  the  sack  race.  The  Sixth  Avenue 
men  covered  themselves  with  glory,  winning  all  the  prizes  in  the 
athletic  events. 

After  the  games,  a  group  photograph  was  taken  of  the  assembly, 
and  then  the  latter  retired  to  enjoy  dinner.  After  dining,  the  mem- 
hers  of  the  association  presented  President  J.  J.  Cahill  with  a 
beautiful  floral  tribute  as  an  appreciation  of  his  efforts  in  their  be- 
half. 

Quite  a  number  of  the  company's  officials  were  present  at  the 
outing,  including  P.  J.  Travers,  superintendent  of  construction, 
T.  A.  Delaney,  superintendent  of  transportation,  and  J.  J.  Shea, 
division  superintendent.  The  officers  of  the  association  are  :  J.  J. 
Cahill,  president;  C.  H.  J.  Schwarz,  vice-president;  J.  H.  Ed- 
wards, secretary ;  M.  T.  Keeshen,  treasurer,  and  P.  Morgan, 
sergeant-at-arms. 



ST.  LOUIS  ENGINEERS'  CLUB  WORLD'S  FAIR  SOUVENIR 


The  Engineers'  Club  of  St.  Louis  has  prepared  a  fine  souvenir 
volume  which  contains  a  large  amount  of  valuable  information  to 
engineers  who,  when  visiting  the  Fair,  would  also  like  to  examine 
the  important  engineering  works  in  and  near  St.  Louis.  Division 
I.  contains  a  history  and  general  description  of  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase Exposition.  Division  II.  a  guide  to  the  large  engineering 
features  of  St.  Louis  and  vicinity,  Division  III.  local  engi- 
neering data,  and  Division  IV.  the  ninth  annual  bulletin  of  the 
club. 



NEW  YORK  CENTRAL-DELAWARE  &  HUDSON  JOINT 
PURCHASE  OF  SCHENECTADY  RAILWAY 

The  "Wall  Street  Journal"  says  that  notwithstanding  technical 
official  denials,  it  is  probable  that  announcement  will  soon  be 
made  of  the  joint  acquisition  by  New  York  Central  and  Delaware 
&  Hudson,  of  the  Schenectady  Railway,  which  operates  a  system 
of  interurban  street  railways  extending  from  Schenectady  to 
Albany  and  Troy. 


July  q,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


85 


THE  STRIKE  AT  HOUSTON 


The  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  Houston  Electric  Company,  of 
Houston,  Tex.,  has  petered  out.  The  full  schedule  of  cars  is  being 
operated,  and  except  for  an  occasional  demonstration,  there  is  no 
outward  evidence  that  a  strike  is  on.  On  some  of  the  lines  special 
officers  continue  to  be  used,  but  there  seems  to  be  little  occasion  for 
them.  The  traffic  of  all  lines  is  almost  normal.  No  clue  has  as  yet 
been  obtained  that  would  lead  to  the  solution  of  the  Houston 
Heights  dynamiting  mystery.  The  police  are  hot  on  the  trail  of  the 
dynamiters  and  hope  soon  to  run  them  down. 



CHICAGO  ELEVATED  TRAFFIC 


The  reports  of  the  elevated  traffic  in  Chicago  for  June  show 
considerable  falling  off.  The  absence  of  ball  games  on  the  west 
side  and  the  closing  of  the  Washington  Park  race  track  on  the 
south  side  are  considered  to  account  for  this.  The  figures  are 
given  below: 


METROPOLITAN  ELEVATED 

1904               1903  Increase  Per  Ct. 

January                                           112,413  112,771             358  0.3 

February                                            119,073  116,090  2,983  2.5 

March                                             112,507  116,717  5,790  4.9 

April                                               121,924  117,597  4,327  3.6 

May                                                   114,372  109,330  5,042  4.6 

June                                               110,923  111,613  *650  *0.G 

SOUTH  SIDE  ELEVATED 

January                                            87,601  86,637             961  1.1 

February                                             90,330  88,516  1,814  2.0 

March                                              92,547  87,989  4,558  5.1 

April                                                91,500  87,553  3,947  4.5 

May                                                 83,342  82,884             458  0.5 

June                                                 81,405  85,265  *3,860  *4.5 

NORTHWESTERN  ELEVATED 

February                                             73,193  69,885  3,308  4.7 

March                                                 74,344  70,070  4,274  6.1 

April                                                74,217  71,340  2,871  4.0 

May                                                 69,232  66,990  2,242  3.3 

June                                                 68,222  66,571  1,651  2.4 


*  Decrease. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  CAPITALIZATION  OF  THE  UNDERGROUND  TUBES  IN 
LONDON 


Some  interesting  testimony  on  the  cost  of  underground  tube 
railways  in  London  was  brought  out  in  the  testimony  of  Edgar 
Speyer,  of  Speyer  Brothers,  at  a  recent  hearing  before  the  Royal 
Commission  on  London  Traffic.  Messrs.  Speyer  Brothers,  it  will 
be  remembered,  are  the  principal  backers  of  Mr.  Yerkes  in  his 
underground  lines  in  London.  The  enterprises  with  which  they 
are  identified  are  as  follows: 

Capital  Authorized 


Share 

Loan 

Total 

£1,250,000 

£416,000 

£1,666,000 

75,000 

25,000 

100,000 

60,000 

20,000 

80,000 

1,000,000 

333,000 

1,333,000 

1,416,000 

472,000 

1,888,000 

360,000 

120,000 

480,000 

2,550,000 

850,000 

3,400,000 

600,000 

200,000 

800,000 

400,000 

133,000 

533,000 

1,425,000 

475,000 

1,900,000 

2,400,000 

800,000 

3,200,000 

Great  Northern,  Piccadilly  &  Brompton. 

250,000 

83,000 

333,000 

360,000 

120,000 

480,000 

£12,146,000 

£4,047,000 

£16,193,000 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  the  total  share  and  loan 
capital  authorized  for  these  several  enterprises  amounts  to  £16,- 
193,000,  which  represents  about  £700,000  per  mile  if  the  Edgware 
&  Hampstead  line  is  omitted.  The  Central  London  Under- 
ground Railway  has  a  capitalization  of  £4,200,000,  or  £650,000 
per  mile.  In  his  testimony  Mr.  Speyer  pointed  out  that  the 
slightly  higher  capitalization  of  his  enterprises  was  required  by 
a  number  of  conditions,  among  them  the  necessity  for  construct- 
ing subways  in  a  number  of  places,  the  purchase  of  sites  for  sta- 
tions, etc.  The  important  Bank  Station  of  the  Central  London 
was  acquired  without  the  purchase  of  any  land,  being  under  the 
street. 


ADVERSE  REPORT  ON  CLEVELAND  FRANCHISE 
ORDINANCE 


The  street  railway  committee  of  the  City  Council,  of  Cleveland, 
has  reported  adversely  on  a  resolution  recently  presented  to  the 
Council  instructing  the  city  solicitor  to  draw  up  an  ordinance  pro- 
viding for  franchise  extensions  for  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway' 
Company  for  twenty  years,  if  the  company  in  return  would  grant 
seven  tickets  for  twenty-five  cents,  with  universal  transfers.  The 
committee  thought  the  company  should  take  the  initiative  in  the 
matter  of  asking  for  franchise  extensions.  The  committee  is  con- 
sidering an  ordinance  for  the  extension  of  lines  at  present  existing 
on  Doan  Street,  Woodland  Hills  Avenue  and  Harvard  Street,  to 
form  a  new  crosstown  line  from  the  section  known  as  Newburg  to 
the  Lake  Shore.  Citizens  of  the  South  End  are  strongly  in  favor  of 
this  line,  as  it  would  greatly  improve  their  facilities  for  crossing 
the  city,  and  they  are  willing  that  the  existing  rate  of  fare  shall 
prevail  on  the  new  line.  The  council  committee  has  decided  to 
hold  a  public  hearing  on  the  question. 

—  ♦♦♦  

THE  NEW  PORTLAND  REPAIR  SHOPS 


In  the  last  week's  issue  of  this  journal  (page  16),  interesting 
details  were  presented  regarding  the  important  new  repair  shop 
installation  of  the  Portland  (Me.)  Railroad  Company.  It  should 
be  added  that  the  engineering  firm  responsible  for  the  design  of 
the  shop  installation  was  Sheaff  &  Jaastad,  who  have  offices  at 
85  Water  Street,  Boston,  Mass.  This  is  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant electric  railway  shop  installations  that  has  ever  been  de- 
signed, and  the  excellent  character  of  the  work  reflects  more 
than  usual  credit  upon  the  designing  engineers.  The  work  of 
installation  of  these  new  shops  is  in  charge  of  E.  A.  Newman, 
general  manager  of  the  Portland  Railroad  Company,  the  plans 
having  been  prepared  by  Sheaff  &  Jaastad,  to  whom  this  journal 
is  indebted  for  the  drawings  which  were  used  in  the  above- 
mentioned  descriptive  article. 

 ♦♦♦  

VISIT  OF  THE  BRITISH  INSTITUTE  OF  MECHANICAL 
ENGINEERS  TO  MILWAUKEE 


The  recent  visit  of  the  Institute  of  Mechanical  Engineers  of  Great 
Britain,  to  Milwaukee,  in  response  to  an  invitation  from  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company,  was  described  by  President 
Wicksteed,  of  the  institution,  in  his  speech  at  West  Allis,  as  "one 
of  the  pleasantest  experiences  that  had  come  to  the  members  during 
their  American  visit."  The  president,  secretary  and  other  members 
of  the  institution  said  that  in  the  way  of  industrial  sights  they  had 
never  seen  anything  more  impressive  than  the  huge  erecting  shop  of 
the  Allis-Chalmers  Company,  filled  as  it  is  with  engines  ranging 
from  30  hp  to  12,000  hp  in  process  of  construction. 

  ♦♦♦ 

METROPOLITAN  ELEVATED  OF  CHICAGO  ADOPTS 
AUTOMATIC  AIR  BRAKES 


The  Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Railway  Company,  of  Chi- 
cago, has  abandoned  the  use  of  the  straight  air  brake  on  its  trains, 
which  it  is  equipping  with  multiple-unit  control,  and  has  adopted 
in  its  stead  the  Westinghouse  quick-action  automatic  air  brake,  as 
used  in  steam  railway  service  with  the  few  modifications  necessary 
for  adaptation  to  trains  operated  by  multiple-unit  control.  It  also 
adopted  as  its  standard  motor-driven  air  compressors  and  electric 
pump  governors  of  the  same  manufacture,  and  will  equip  the  new 
cars  now  building  with  the  Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Com- 
pany's latest  type  of  compressor,  which  is  said  to  embody  a  num- 
ber of  valuable  improvements  over  previous  forms. 

The  work  of  equipping  the  cars  of  the  company  with  the  West- 
inghouse multiple-unit  system  is  progressing  rapidly.  The  first 
equipment  has  been  installed  on  a  trial  train,  and  all  of  the  cars 
will  be  equipped  by  about  Oct.  1.  The  company  is  proposing  to 
install  the  unit  switch  control  on  186  motor  cars,  and  to  equip  the 
remaining  300  cars  with  the  requisite  connections  for  trail  cars, 
making  a  total  of  486  cars  altogether  to  be  equipped.  The  stand- 
ard train  will  consist  of  two  motor  cars  and  three  trail  cars.  In 
view  of  the  extended  use  on  this  road  of  the  single  motor  car 
system,  the  change  to  the  multiple-unit  system  is  of  great  interest. 


86 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  2. 


STREET   RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ALLOWED  JUNE  21,  1904 

763,016.  Bail-Bearing  Trolley  Wheel ;  James  A.  Norton,  Wilkes- 
barre,  Pa.  App.  filed  Oct.  22,  1903.  A  separable  wheel  having  a 
flange  rotatably  mounted  on  each  arm  of  the  harp,  and  a  removable 
middle  section  between  the  flanges.  One  arm  of  the  harp  swings 
laterally  and  carries  with  it  one  flange  of  the  wheel,  thus  making  it 
possible  to  remove  the  tread  of  the  wheel. 

763,043.  Street  Railway  Switch ;  Albert  E.  Caughey,  Omaha, 
Neb.  App.  filed  June  8,  1903.  Two  levers  pivoted  on  one  of  the 
track  rails  and  means  whereby  depression  of  one  of  the  levers  will 
move  the  switch  point  in  one  directon  and  depression  of  the  other 
lever  will  move  the  switch  in  the  other  directon. 

763.046.  Pneumatic  System  of  Motor  Control ;  Fred.  B.  Corey, 
Schenectady,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Dec.  5,  1902.  This  and  the  two 
inventions  following,  relate  to  a  pneumatic  system  of  train  con- 
trol in  which  a  plurality  of  train  pipes  connected  with  a  source  of 
compressed  air  is  used.  The  admission  of  air  to  one  pipe  operates 
the  reversing  switch  or  switches  on  the  train,  and  while  the  pressure 
is  maintained  in  said  pipe,  air  is  admitted  to  a  second  pipe  to  start 
the  train ;  then  by  properly  manipulating  the  air  in  the  various 
pipes,  the  motor  connections  are  changed  to  increase  the  speed. 

763.047.  Motor  Control  System ;  Fred  B.  Corey,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.   App.  filed  Dec.  5,  1902.    See  preceding  patent. 

763,071.  Motor  Control  System  ;  Charles  L.  Perry,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.    App.  filed  July  22,  1903.   See  patent  No.  763,046. 

763,108.  Electric  Brake;  Frank  C.  Newell,  Wilkinburg,  Pa. 
App.  filed  April  1,  1902.  An  improved  form  of  braking  controller 
and  circuit  connections  by  means  of  which  the  brakes  may  be  ap- 
plied more  evenly  and  gradually  than  heretofore,  and  also  whereby 
leakage  from  the  brake  magnet  coils  to  ground  is  prevented. 

763,134.  Car  Brake ;  Evan  Williams,  Newcastle,  Pa.  App.  filed 
April  2,  1904.  Mounted  beneath  the  bottom  of  the  car  is  a  frame- 
work in  which  are  supported  two  angularly-disposed  sliding  bars 
adapted  when  projected  to  bear  against  the  inner  sides  of  the 
flanges  of  both  track  rails. 

763,341.  Street  Railway  Crossing;  Harlan  Currence  and  Ivan 
Maclvor,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  App.  filed  Aug.  20,  1903.  Details  of  con- 
struction. 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  JUNE  28,  1904 
763,364.  Third  Rail  for  Electric  Railways  ;  Jacob  Caesar,  New 
York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  March  2,  1903.  The  body  portion  is  thick 
and  provided  with  outwardly  inclined  flanges,  with  one  of  which 
the  supporting  bracket  is  connected,  the  current  being  taken  from 
the  under  side  of  the  rail  between  the  flanges. 

763.390.  Electric  Railway  Switch  ;  Edward  A.  Gray  and  Silas 
H.  Brand,  Chicago,  111.  App.  filed  Feb.  11,  1904.  When  the  wheels 
of  the  car  run  upon  insulated  plates  in  the  rails,  two  switch-throw- 
ing magnets  are  connected  in  circuit. 


PATENT  NO.  7C3.S20 


763,434.  Insulating  Support  for  Electric  Third  Rails ;  Frederick 
R.  Slater,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  May  28,  1903.  A  clamp 
mounted  in  the  top  of  the  string-piece  grips  the  web  of  a  T-rail 
between  its  two  lips. 

763.435-  Contact  Device  for  Under-Contact  Third  Rails ;  Fred- 
erick R.  Slater,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  June  20,  1903.  The 
shoe  is  counter-balanced  on  its  support  to  thereby  make  under  con- 
tact by  gravity,  and  has  a  spring  applied  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
prevent  chattering. 

703,543.  Track  Sander:  William  M.  Deal,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
App.  filed  June  17,  1903.    A  revoluble  feed  cylinder  in  the  sand  re- 


ceptacle having  a  series  of  pockets  disposed  around  the  periphery 
thereof,  a  rachet  wheel  on  a  journal  of  the  feed  cylinder  and  having 
the  same  number  of  teeth  as  there  are  pockets  in  the  feed  cylinder, 
a  lever  and  a  pawl  on  the  lever  and  engaging  the  ratchet  wheel. 

763,658.  Control  of  Dynamo  Electric  Machinery ;  Eugene  R. 
Carichoff,  East  Orange,  N.  J.  App.  filed  Aug.  1,  1901.  In  mul- 
tiple unit  control  systems,  a  series  of  magnets  controlling  switch  in 
the  motor  circuit,  a  master  switch,  an  actuating  circuit  for  connect- 
ing and  disconnecting  the  magnet  and  a  source  of  current,  a  main- 
taining circuit  and  means  adapted  to  include  the  magnets  succes- 
sively in  the  actuating  circuit  and  to  shift  each  magnet  when  it  has 
operated  to  the  maintaining  circuit. 

76^,723.  Guard  Rail  for  Street  Cars;  James  J.  Collins,  Boston. 
Mass.  App.  filed  Nov.  9,  1903.  Relates  to  guard  rails  for  open 
cars  and  provides  novel  means  for  operating  the  rails  and  for  lock- 
ing them  in  their  out-of-use  position. 

763,759.  Trolley ;  George  A.  Hunsinger  and  Edward  A.  De- 
wald,  Allegheny,  Pa.  App.  filed  Jan.  20,  1904.  Four  horizontal 
rollers  arranged  in  two  pairs  and  mounted  above  the  trolley  wheel 
to  prevent  the  latter  from  leaving  the  wire. 

763.806.  Track  Switch  ;  Ernest  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  App. 
fi°!i  Nov.  13,  1903.  The  combination  in  a  switch  of  a  piece  placed 
to  engage  a  car  wheel,  with  a  device  for  moving  the  piece  vertically, 
so  that  it  shall  be  out  of  operative  position  and  a  spring  for  raising 
it  out  of  inoperative  position. 

763.807.  Flexible  Wheel  Base  Car ;  Gustavus  L.  Stuebner, 
Blushing,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Dec.  11,  1903.  A  sleeve  concentric  with 
and  encircling  the  car  axle,  a  journal  box  for  the  sleeve  with  the 
axle,  arranged  to  allow  the  sleeve  to  roll  and  carry  the  axle  to 
different  positions. 

763,820.  Trolley  Pole ;  Andrus  S.  Weaver,  Joy,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  Aug.  19,  1903.  In  case  the  wheel  leaves  the  wire,  the  upper 
end  of  the  pole  folds  downward. 

 ♦♦♦  

PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  ELMER  P.  MORRIS,  of  the  Elmer  P.  Morris  Company, 
of  New  York,  has  left  on  a  short  trip  to  Mexico  City. 

MR.  RICHARD  EICK  has  been  appointed  division  superin- 
tendent of  the  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey,  in 
charge  of  that  company's  Elizabeth  division.  Mr.  Eick  was  until 
recently  a  division  superintendent  in  the  employ  of  the  United 
Railroad,  of  San  Francisco,  and  before  that  was  connected  with 
the  North  Jersey  Street  Railway  Company. 

MR.  W.  F.  HERRIN,  at  the  head  of  the  law  department  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  Railroad,  has  been  elected  vice-president  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  and  also 
(if  the  Los  Angeles  Interurban  Railway  Company,  in  place  of  Epes 
Randolph,  resigned.  Mr.  Huntington  explans  that  the  appointment 
of  a  Southern  Pacific  official  to  an  important  position  with  his  com- 
pany is  purely  complimentary,  and  in  no  way  indicative  that  the 
steam  road  has  gained  any  control  whatever  over  the  electric  rail- 
way situation  in  Southern  California. 

MR.  A.  M.  MATTICE,  chief  engineer  of  the  Allis-Chalmers 
Company,  has  returned  from  his  European  tour  of  inspection  and 
has  now  settled  down  to  the  duties  of  his  position  in  Milwaukee. 
While  in  Europe  Mr.  Mattice  visited  the  hydraulic  machinery 
works  of  Escher,  Wyss  &  Company,  of  Zurich,  and  arranged 
important  details  concerning  the  manufacture  in  the  United  States 
of  their  lines  of  product.  He  also  inspected  the  Nurnberg  gas 
engine  works,  at  Nurnberg,  and,  at  the  well-known  engineering 
establishment  of  Willans  &  Robinson,  at  Rugby,  England,  he 
paid  particular  attention  to  the  products  and  methods  of  manufac- 
ture of  the  Steam  Turbine  Advisory  Syndicate,  of  which  impor- 
tant organization  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company  is  the  American 
member. 

MR.  DAVID  KIRKCALDIE,  one  of  the  railroad  commis- 
sioners of  the  New  South  Wales  Government,  whose  department 
has  the  supervision  of  constructing  the  extensive  electric  traction 
system  in  Sydney  and  suburbs,  is  now  on  this  side  and  will  in- 
spect some  of  the  principal  American  roads,  mainly  with  a  view 
to  getting  pointers  for  the  extension  and  operation  of  the  Sydney 
lines.  At  time  of  writing  he  is  in  Canada,  but  is  expected  to  visit 
Boston  Monday  next,  and  will  be  in  New  York  about  the  middle 
of  next  week.  While  here  he  will  make  his  headquarters  at  the 
offices  of  R.  W.  Cameron  &  Company,  23  South  William  Street. 
Mr.  Kirkcaldie  is  booked  to  sail  for  Europe  on  the  White  Star 
liner  "Majestic,"  July  20.  As  mentioned  in  last  week's  issue,  Mr. 
Deane,  the  engineer  in  chief  of  the  New  South  Wales  Govern- 
ment railroad  and  tramway  department,  is  also  on  a  trip  here 
now.  Some  interesting  contracts  for  equipment,  etc.,  are  ex- 
pected to  be  placed  as  a  result  of  these  gentlemen's  sojourn  in 
America. 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV  NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  JULY  16,  1904.  No.  3 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

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London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York."— Lieber's  Code  used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS : 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Car- Wiring  Rules 

We  take  pleasure  in  presenting  in  this  issue  the  proposed 
rules  for  car-wiring,  drawn  up  by  the  committees  appointed  by 
the  American  Street  Railway  Association  and  the  Underwrit- 
ers' National  Electrical  Association,  and  which  have  been  under 
close  consideration  for  a  year  or  more.  There  was  a  time,  not 
so  very  long  ago,  when  the  insurance  interests  and  the  street 
railway  interests,  if  not  exactly  hostile,  were  acting  to  a  certain 
extent  at  cross  purposes,  with  the  result  that  the  position  of 
each  was  considered  arbitrary  by  the  other.  This  feeling  is  dis- 
appearing, however, and  both  sides  are  now  largely  united  in  the 
sentiment  that  progress  can  only  be  made  through  harmonious 


action.  The  importance  of  the  subject  of  proper  car-wiring  is 
constantly  growing  with  the  additional  capital  continually  being 
invested  in  rolling  stock.  A  street  car  complete  represented 
several  years  ago  often  not  more  than  $2,500,  whereas  many 
cars  now  cost  three  or  four  times  that  figure.  The  amount  of 
money  at  risk  when  one  hundred  or  more  of  these  cars  are 
stored  in  one  car  house  is  enormous,  and  if  this  capital  can  be 
safeguarded  by  a  set  of  reasonable  precautions,  it  is  for  the 
interest  of  all  parties  concerned  to  take  such  action  as  they  can. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  losses  from  destruction  of  car  houses, 
the  "Journal  of  Commerce,"  of  this  city,  recently  published  a 
list  of  reported  losses  from  car-house  fires  since  Jan.  1,  1899. 
This  list  covered  seventy-one  losses,  aggregating  $4,737,000, 
or  an  average  loss  on  these  buildings  of  nearly  $1,000,000  a 
year.  Two  of  these  fires  cost  $300,000  each,  and  one  other 
$230,000,  while  a  number  of  others  involved  a  loss  in  each  case 
of  over  $100,000.  As  the  readers  of  this  paper  know,  a  great 
deal  more  attention  has  been  devoted  by  both  the  insurance 
interests  and  the  street  railway  companies  to  precautions 
against  losses  of  this  kind  during  the  last  year  than  ever  before, 
and  several  recent  articles  in  this  paper  indicate  that  a  con- 
scientious effort  is  being  made  to  reduce  the  danger  from  con- 
flagration to  a  minimum,  both  in  the  construction  of  car  houses 
and  precautions  against  fire  in  those  which  have  been  built. 
We  understand  that  the  proposed  set  of  rules  published  else- 
where is  the  first  only  of  a  series  which  it  is  planned  to  draw 
up  to  protect  against  fires  of  this  kind. 

Economy  in  the  Repair  Shop 

In  common  with  all  manufacturing  establishments,  the  street 
railway  repair  shop  offers  a  gbod  field  for  the  practice  of 
economy.  These  are  the  days  when  the  "production  expert" 
walks  abroad  with  a  sharp  eye  open  for  leaks  of  every  kind  in 
industrial  processes,  in  the  praiseworthy  effort  to  cut  down  all 
needless  operating  expenses.  Believing  that  the  best  modern 
methods  of  eliminating  losses  are  demanded  by  good  repair  shop 
practice,  we  have,  of  late,  frequently  called  the  attention  of  our 
readers  to  various  labor-saving  devices  which  have  been 
adopted  by  progressive  roads. 

Unfortunately,  with  some  officials,  economy  means  getting 
along  in  the  same  old  way  without  any  change  in  apparatus 
from  wasteful  to  efficient  types — a  policy  which  often  produces 
but  little  effect  when  the  balance  sheets  are  made  up.  We 
recognize,  of  course,  that  there  are  times  in  the  life  of  many 
roads  when  it  is  difficult  to  secure  money  for  extensive  improve- 
ments on  account  of  the  apathy  of  stockholders  and  the  invest- 
ing public,  but  there  are  often  betterments  which  can  be  made 
without  great  expense,  and  which  are  most  effective  in  ridding 
roads  of  preventable  wastes.  As  an  instance  of  this  may  be 
cited  the  case  of  a  large  repair  shop's  handling  of  motors.  The 
shop  in  question  is  well  equipped  with  compressed  air  hoists, 
which  operate  rapidly  and  freely  over  the  car  pits  and  upon  the 
floor  of  the  motor  and  truck  repair  room,  but  the  motors  them- 
selves, after  being  taken  from  the  trucks,  are  cleaned  by  com- 
pressed air  in  the  repair  shop  yard.  Two  men  are  required  to 
push  each  motor  upon  a  small  wooden  flat  car  from  the  repair 


88 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


room  to  the  yard — a  distance  of  over  100  ft.  The  time  required 
to  do  this,  including  the  return,  is  a  minute  and  a  half,  against 
but  2  minutes  to  blow  out  the  motor  itself.  Besides  this  75 
per  cent  increase  in  the  time  used  up  in  cleaning  motors,  there 
is  a  further  loss  caused  by  the  lack  of  a  controlling  valve  near 
the  nozzle  of  the  air  hose,  as  this  deficiency  requires  the  ser- 
vices of  the  second  man  at  the  wall  valve,  some  30  ft.  away. 
There  is  no  reason  why  one  man  could  not  do  the  whole  of  this 
work  if  the  company  would  fit  up  an  inexpensive  runway  for 
the  pneumatic  hoist  to  travel  over  between  the  yard  and  the 
repair  shop ;  the  time  saving  would  be  considerable  through  the 
doing  away  with  the  present  slow-moving  and  back-breaking 
platform  car,  and  this,  with  the  placing  of  a  valve  at  the  opera- 
tor's hands,  would  enable  the  second  man  to  be  used  elsewhere 
in  the  shop.  Allowing  a  salary  of  $50  per  month  to  this  man,  it 
would  pay  to  install  a  traveler,  costing  nearly  $4,000,  figuring 
interest  at  6  per  cent  and  all  operating  charges  at  10  per  cent. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  any  such  expense  as  this 
would  be  uncalled  for,  as  the  hoists  are  already  at  hand — the 
running  track  and  its  supporting  brackets — constituting  the 
missing  link  between  inefficiency  and  economy. 

In  the  same  shops  a  list  of  instructions  to  employees  was  con- 
spicuously posted,  stating  the  duty  of  each  department  in  case 
of  fire.  Unfortunately,  the  rules  were  printed  as  an  almost 
illegible  carbon  copy  of  the  original  set  of  regulations,  illus- 
trating a  species  of  false  economy  deserving  much  criticism. 
If  there  is  any  one  requisite  of  such  instructions  that  stands 
head  and  shoulders  above  their  other  characteristics,  it  is  plain- 
ness. The  complication  of  these  particular  regulations  war- 
rants their  being  read  with  absolute  ease  and  extreme  speed  in 
times  of  emergency.  Still  another  evidence  of  loose  judgment 
was  found  in  the  whitewashing  of  hand  grenades,  so  that  they 
were  inconspicuous  when  hung  in  place  upon  the  walls. 

We  have  instanced  these  two  examples  of  cases  where 
economy  may  be  practiced  because  similar  opportunities  to  save 
money  await  seizure  upon  many  other  operating  roads.  The 
fire  risk  always  invites  examination,  and  for  a  rainy  day's  work 
there  are  innumerable  problems  waiting  to  be  solved  in  the 
direction  of  completing  repair  shop  operations  as  quickly  and 
conveniently  as  a  minimum  of  expense  will  allow.  It  is  by  no 
means  entirely  settled  yet  as  to  when  a  single  motor  should 
drive  all  the  machine  tools  in  the  repair  shop.  This,  and  other 
questions  of  power  cost  and  consumption  in  the  work  of  repairs, 
await  the  anaylsis  and  thought  of  those  responsible  for  the 
maintenance  factor  in  operating  expense. 

A  Sensible  Charity 

One  of  the  Metropolitan  daily  papers,  which  conducts  each 
summer  fresh-air  excursions  for  the  benefit  and  relief  of  the 
sick  children  in  the  tenement  districts  of  New  York,  has  taken 
a  very  sensible  step.  Instead  of  hiring  steamboats  and  barges 
for  a  trip  on  the  water  or  making  an  attempt  to  transport  the 
little  patients  and  their  mothers  100  miles  from  home  by  steam 
train,  the  excursions  this  year  have  taken  the  form  of  a  series 
of  trolley  trips.  Arrangements  have  been  made  with  the  New 
York  City  Railway  Company  for  frequent  trips  by  chartered 
trolley  cars  into  the  suburban  districts  of  the  Bronx  and  West- 
chester County,  and  the  results  so  far  achieved  amply  justify 
the  policy  pursued.  Outside  the  question  of  safety,  which  re- 
cent events  indicate  is  a  very  important  one,  the  trolley-car 
excursion  possesses  many  advantages  over  that  by  steamboat, 
even  for  a  city  entirely  surrounded  by  water,  as  is  New  York. 
The  length  of  trip  can  be  made  as  short  or  as  long  as  may  be 
required,  and  the  mothers  and  their  charges  can  be  picked  up 


and  can  leave  the  car  at  as  many  different  points  as  may  seem 
desirable.  While  a  trolley-car  outing  may  not  be  as  perma- 
nently beneficial  to  the  tenement  dweller  as  a  stay  of  a  week 
or  two  in  the  country,  it  can  be  extended  to  one  hundred  per- 
sons where  the  fresh-air  excursion  by  steam  railroad  would 
have  to  be  confined  to  one.  Altogether,  the  plan  is  one 
well  worthy  of  consideration  during  the  heated  term  by  the 
philanthropical  organizations  and  agencies  in  our  different 
cities. 

The  Ethics  of  the  End  Seat  Question 

The  conflict  now  being  waged  in  the  public  press  on  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  occupant  of  an  end  seat  in  an  open 
car  continues  unabated,  and  probably  will  survive  so  long  as 
human  nature  is  what  it  is,  and  there  is  a  choice  in  seats  in  a 
public  conveyance.  We  have  already  referred  to  this  question 
in  our  columns,  and  revert  to  it  in  this  issue  only  because  the 
warm  weather  seems  to  have  intensified  public  interest  in  the 
subject.  The  solution  would  be  a  simple  one  if  the  entire  rid- 
ing populace  was  as  altruistic  as  those  individuals  who  are 
demanding  municipal  legislation  on  the  subject,  and  writing 
letters  to  the  papers  denouncing  the  "end-seat  hog."  Many 
stories  related  of  the  sufferings  of  these  individuals  in  not 
being  able  to  obtain  the  coveted  position  in  the  car  are  pa- 
thetic. But  what  is  to  be  done  about  it?  The  Golden  Rule 
has  not  yet  been  adopted  by  any  municipal  body  as  its  gen- 
eral code,  and  while  street  railway  companies  may  try  to  live 
up  to  it  as  regards  their  relations  with  the  public,  they  cannot 
readily  enforce  it  upon  their  passengers.  Unquestionably  the 
end-seat  hog  is  more  or  less  of  a  nuisance  in  loading  and 
unloading  cars.  It  would  be  much  more  convenient  if  all  pas- 
sengers could  be  stowed  away  in  inverse  order  of  their  destina- 
tions and  could  thus  slip  quietly  out  seriatim,  but  no  such  ar- 
rangement being  possible,  the  street  railway  man  must  simply 
meet  conditions  as  he  finds  them.  We  do  not  see  how  it  is  in- 
cumbent upon  him  to  make  and  enforce  regulations  upon  the 
order  in  which  passengers  shall  seat  themselves,  particularly 
when  he  is  not  prepared  to  furnish  end  seats  to  all  comers. 
In  the  leisurely  conduct  of  tramways  on  the  continental  sys- 
tem, it  might  perhaps  be  possible  to  legislate  on  the  end-seat 
question  with  some  degree  of  success.  This  situation  is  not 
in  accordance  with  American  conditions,  and  so  long  as  pas- 
sengers insist  on  piling  upon  the  cars  on  the  devil-take-the- 
hindmost  plan,  very  little  can  be  done.  It  is  certainly  not  the 
business  of  street  railway  companies  to  set  up  schools  of  polite 
manners,  save  as  they  may  teach  by  example,  and  they  are  not 
obliged  to  apply  to  themselves  any  of  the  present  series  of 
newspaper  tirades  on  the  subject. 

Nor  do  we  think  that  any  material  good  can  be  accom- 
plished by  municipal  enactments.  Even  the  move-over  rule 
cannot  be  trusted  to  work  well  in  practice,  for  it  may  compel 
the  short-ride  contingent  to  climb  over  the  knees  of  those  who 
are  there  to  stay.  There  is  no  great  comfort  to  be  derived  from 
having  a  couple  of  fat  parties  on  the  off-side  trampling  over 
one's  feet  in  the  endeavor  to  get  out  in  a  hurry — it  were  better 
had  they  stayed  upon  the  other  end  of  the  seat.  Surely  no 
small  proportion  of  end-seat  occupants  are  better  settled  in  their 
appropriate  corner  seats.  The  protests  against  the  habits  of 
this  member  of  the  porcine  family  are  numerous  and  vivid, 
but  can  every  objector  be  guaranteed  regularly  to  keep  out  of 
the  coveted  corner  himself  (or  herself)?  By  no  means,  and 
unless  we  mistake,  the  complaints  are  quite  as  frequently  the 
squeals  of  envy  as  they  are  the  voice  of  righteous  indignation. 
That  there  is  need  of  more  courtesy  to  each  other  among  street- 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


89 


car  passengers  we  cannot  deny.  The  flower  of  courtesy  does 
not  flourish  as  we  would  wish  in  the  soil  of  a  6  o'clock  crowd, 
but  regrets  are  vain,  and  the  attempt  to  make  the  leopard 
change  his  spots  is  still  more  vain.  We  are  sorry  that  every 
passenger  is  not  a  mind  reader,  who  can  place  himself  at  once 
in  the  most  convenient  spot,  and  so  relieve  the  present  situa- 
tion. We  of  the  street  railway  fraternity  have  to  take  him — 
a  great  many  of  him — just  as  we  find  him,  and  make  the  best 
of  his  idiosyncrasies.  We  wish  the  public  would  be  more  con- 
siderate in  many  places,  notably  elevated  platforms,  and  at  all 
times,  but  we  cannot  do  more  than  to  express  our  feelings  in 
the  matter  without  overstepping  our  proper  powers. 

The  Engineer  Gets  Left 

The  commencement  season  of  multitudinous  colleges  and 
universities  is  now  over,  the  graduates  have  their  sheepskins 
and  distinguished  alumni  are  made  happy  with  academic  honors. 
But,  in  reading  over  the  lists  of  honorary  degrees  conferred, 
one  is  struck  by  the  fact  that  in  the  distribution  of  these  honors 
the  narrow  lines  of  the  older  education  arc  still  slavishly  fol- 
lowed, and  those  graduates  who  have  merely  rendered  illus- 
trious their  Alma  Mater  by  distinguished  success  in  the  tech- 
nical advancement  of  civilization  are  as  a  rule  left  out  in  the 
cold.  The  lawyer  who  has  organized  a  great  trust  purrs  com- 
fortably under  the  robe  of  a  Doctor  of  Laws,  while  the  engin- 
eers, perhaps  from  the  same  university,  who  have  made  it  pos- 
sible and  are  directly  responsible  for  its  future,  have  nothing 
but  the  consciousness  of  work  well  done.  We  are  not  disposed 
to  deny  that  this  consciousness  is  a  finer  thing  in  its  essence 
than  any  academic  recognition  thereof,  but  men  at  large  are 
not,  and  should  not,  be  entirely  insensible  to  an  appreciation  of 
merit,  and  it  should  not  be  denied  them  if,  by  their  intellectual 
powers,  they  have  achieved  greatness  in  those  lines  for  which 
they  were,  by  their  academic  experience,  especially  fitted.  We 
can  quite  understand  the  hesitation  of  university  authorities 
in  granting  honors  to  those  who,  however  successful,  have  won 
their  place  in  the  world  by  efforts  outside  the  strict  lines  of 
academic  training,  but  why  deny  them  to  those  who  have  gone 
on  into  the  very  fields  for  which  they  were  fitted  by  their  at- 
tendance and  studies  at  the  university  ? 

The  time  has  come  when  engineering  in  its  varied  branches 
should  be  taken  without  qualification  in  the  honorable  fellow- 
ship of  the  learned  professions.  Time  was  when  the  engineer 
was  only  an  advanced  artisan,  graduated  only  from  the  work- 
shop and  rising  above  it  by  his  own  unaided  efforts.  That 
time  is  now  long  past,  and  for  the  adequate  training  of  the  en- 
gineer there  is  demanded  a  course  of  instruction  far  more 
thorough  and  vastly  wider  in  its  scope  than  that  customarily 
demanded  of  the  doctor,  lawyer,  or  minister.  The  engineering 
course  in  a  modern  university  demands  severer  application 
and  more  thorough  preparation  than  the  so-called  liberal  arts' 
course  in  the  same  institution.  No  student  ever  picked  an  en- 
gineering course  out  of  the  curriculum  as  a  "soft  thing."  And 
it  is  a  fact  that  entrance  into  a  first-class  engineering  school 
is  beset  with  far  more  difficulties  than  entrance  into  the  usual 
law  school  or  medical  school.  After  graduation,  the  engineer 
has  to  keep  in  closer  touch  with  his  technical  training  than 
almost  any  other  professional  man,  for  his  field  of  work  is  ex- 
panding and  developing  new  requirements  at  a  rate  unknown 
in  other  professions,  not  even  excepting  medicine.  The  law 
is  largely  a  crystallization  of  precedents,  brought  down  through 
centuries,  and  divinity  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  field  for  the  ex- 
ploitation of  new  conceptions,  unless  one  wishes  to  qualify  for 
an   accusation  of  heresy,  while  engineering  continually  dis- 


closes new  methods  and  new  concepts,  which  must  be  grasped 
and  applied  with  swift  decision.  It  is  to-day  in  every  sense  a 
learned  profession,  and  none  the  less  so  because  it  is  a  product 
of  the  new  education  rather  than  the  old. 

But  academic  authorities  have  been  slow  to  grasp  the  situa- 
tion. The  degrees  which  they  have  in  stock  seem  consecrated 
to  antiquity,  or  unavailable  for  modern  uses.  The  two  higher 
scientific  degrees — Ph.D.  and  D.Sc. — are  by  common  consent 
and  wisely  reserved  as  the  laurels  of  post-graduate  study,  and 
are  not  now  granted  by  self-respecting  institutions  causa 
honoris,  save  in  case  of  extraordinarily  distinguished  merit. 
And  for  such  use  they  seem  scarcely  adequate — an  honorary 
Ph.D.  for  Darwin,  for  example,  would  have  been  an  idea  to 
provoke  a  grin.  There  are  no  distinctly  engineering  degrees 
above  graduate  rank,  and  if  there  were  they  would  not  fill  any 
long-felt  want — for  the  list  of  tentatively-used  miscellaneous 
degrees  is  already  ridiculously  long.  There  are,  however,  avail- 
able, the  two  time-honored  and  dignified  degrees  of  LL.D. 
and  D.  C.  L.,  both  noble  relics  of  the  time  when  all  learning  that' 
was  not  theology  was  law.  These  have  long  been  used  abroad, 
and  particularly  in  England,  to  honor  men  pre-eminent  for 
learning  and  intellectual  achievements,  or  those  who  in  other 
paths  have  left  a  deep  mark  on  the  world's  progress.  States- 
men, scientists,  jurists  and  men  world-known  in  art  and  letters 
are  joined  in  this  notable  company.  Why  should  not  our  uni- 
versities more  frequently  grant  these  degrees  to  renowned  sons 
who  have  won  unquestioned  place  in  engineering?  They  sel- 
dom have  seen  fit  to  do  so  in  the  past,  but  is  not  this  failure  a 
mere  remnant  of  the  old  prejudice  that  ranked  monkish  Latin 
higher  than  mathematics,  and  long  denied  to  science  a  co- 
ordinate place  in  a  liberal  education.  We  believe  heartily  in  a 
liberal  education,  the  deeper  and  wider  the  better,  but  we  would 
not  confine  its  rewards  to  a  few  time-worn  fields  of  scholar- 
ship. The  new  education  and  the  chieftains  in  its  victories  are 
equally  worthy  of  honors. 

The  Chicago  Union  Traction  Tangle 

The  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  at  the  present  time 
presents  one  of  the  most  colossal  financial  tangles  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  electric  railway  business.  This  may  appear  to 
some  of  our  readers  as  an  unnecessarily  plain  statement  of  fact, 
but  those  who  are  well  acquainted  with  the  paper  know  well 
that  we  are  not  given  to  idle  or  useless  criticism.  Our  policy 
is  to  build  up,  rather  than  tear  down.  Criticism  is  useful  only 
where  it  points  the  way  to  improvement.  In  calling  attention 
to  the  unfortunate  condition  of  the  aforesaid  company,  we  are 
not  so  much  offering  criticism  as  mentioning  a  fact  that  is  a 
matter  of  common  conversation  wherever  street  railway  men 
acquainted  with  the  facts  get  together.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
here  to  go  into  a  detailed  history  of  the  reasons  for  this  gi- 
gantic financial  wreck,  for  our  subscribers  might  object  if  we 
were  to  give  over  several  entire  issues  to  a  history  of  the 
troubles  of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company.  Leaving 
aside  all  the  legal  tangles  and  internal  strife,  and  getting  down 
to  the  bottom  causes,  it  appears  to  be  a  simple,  old-fashioned 
case  of  overcapitalization,  aggravated  first  by  long-continued 
troubles  over  franchises  with  the  city,  and  second  by  an  en- 
tire lack  of  adequate  depreciation,  reserve  and  sinking  funds 
in  years  past.  Big  wrecks  of  this  kind,  however  delightful 
from  a  purely  spectacular  standpoint,  are  anything  but  pleasant 
to  those  of  us  who  have  the  permanent  welfare  of  the  street 
railway  business  at  heart.  If  they  serve  as  a  warning  to  other 
companies,  all  of  the  money  lost  in  them  by  over-sanguine  pur- 
chases of  securities  will  not  have  been  entirely  wasted. 


go 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


THE  CLEVELAND,  PAINESVILLE  &  ASHTABULA  ELECTRIC 

RAILWAY 


Reference  has  been  made  in  these  columns  on  a  number  of 
occasions  to  the  great  chain  of  electric  lines  that  is  paralleling 
the  main  route  of  travel  between  New  York  and  Chicago.  As 
is  generally  known,  it  is  now  possible  to  travel  from  Western 


Population  Distance 

.S.024   

500    6 

2,720    ioJA 

400    131/: 

2,342    18 

1,200    23 

12,949    28 


STATION  AT  A  SMALL  TOWN 

New  York  entirely  across  Northern  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio 
to  points  in  the  interior  of  Michigan,  and  roads  are  under  con- 
struction which  within  two  or  three  years  will  make  possible 
through  electric  travel  between  Buffalo  and  Chicago.  Some 
of  the  recent  builders  along  this  route  have  appreciated  the 
possibilities  for  future  through  traffic,  and 
have  used  great  care  to  design  their  roads 
for  heavy  high-speed  service.  From  point 
of  construction,  one  of  the  best  of  these 
properties  is  the  Cleveland,  Painesville  & 
Ashtabula  Railway,  operating  between 
Painesville  and  Ashtabula,  Ohio.  This 
road  was  placed  in  operation  in  the  fall 
of  1903,  and  is  the  connecting  link  in  the 
chain  of  lines  mentioned  above  as  being 
now  in  operation. 

The  proposition  was  projected  originally 
by  the  Everett-Moore  syndicate,  of  Cleve- 
land, as  an  extension  of  the  Cleveland, 
Painesville  &  Eastern  Railway.  A  greater 
portion  of  the  right  of  way  had  been  ob- 
tained, and  some  work  done  when  the  syn- 
dicate became  financially  embarrassed  and 
the  extension  project  was  sold  to  a  syndi- 
cate headed  by  J.  W.  Holcomb  and  E.  J. 
Latimer,  of  Cleveland.  The  road  was  en- 
gineered and  built  by  the  Electric  Con- 
struction Company,  which  was  composed 
of  Messrs.  Holcomb  and  Latimer,  and  it 

was  financed  by  W.  J.  Hayes  &  Sons,  Cleveland,  bankers,  who 
now  have  the  controlling  interest  and  management  of  the  prop- 
erty. 

The  section  of  Ohio  tributary  to  this  road  is  part  of  the 
Western  Reserve,  which  was  early  settled  by  thrifty  emigrants 
from  Connecticut,  and  is  now  thickly  built  up,  this  being  par- 


ticularly true  of  the  main  east  and  west  highway,  which  is 
closely  paralleled  by  the  electric  road.  The  country  district  is 
devoted  largely  to  the  production  of  fruit  and  produce,  includ- 
ing large  quantities  of  butter,  cheese  and  milk.  Some  of  the 
largest  nurseries  in  the  country  are  located  In  this  district ;  that 
of  Storrs  &  Harrison,  about  three  miles  east  of  Painesville,  is 
said  to  be  the  largest  in  the  country,  and  employs  several  hun- 
dred persons  during  the  busy  season. 

The  mileage,  population  of  towns  and  rates  of  fare  are  shown 
in  the  accompanying  table  : 

Name  Fare 

Painesville   " 

Perry   15  cents 

Madison   25    "  . 

Unionville   30 

Geneva   35  " 

Saybrook   45 

Ashtabula   55  " 

Except  in  the  terminal  towns,  the  company  does  not  maintain 
ticket  agencies,  and  no  round-trip  tickets  are  sold.  Conductors 
sell  two  forms  of  coupon  books  containing  5-cent  coupons,  one 
of  them  containing  $2.50  worth  of  rides  for  $2,  and  the  other 
$1.25  worth  of  rides  for  $1.  These  books  are  good  until  used 
and  are  transferable ;  a  passenger  may  pay  fares  of  several  in  a 
party  if  he  desires.  Two  stubs  are  attached  to  the  books ;  one 
of  them  is  detached  by  the  auditor  when  he  issues  the  book, 
and  the  other  is  detached  by  the  conductor  when  the  book  is 
sold.   The  conductor  turns  his  stubs  in  each  night. 

The  company's  cars  enter  Painesville  from  the  village  limits 
over  the  tracks  of  the  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern  Rail- 
way, a  distance  of  ij4  miles.  Except  for  a  stretch  of  two 
blocks,  the  Cleveland,  Painesvlle  &  Ashtabula  Company  has  ex- 
clusive use  of  this  track,  and  pays  for  it  at  a  fixed  rental,  fur- 
nishing its  own  power  and  maintaining  the  line.  Cars  make 
direct  connection  at  the  Public  Square  with  the  Cleveland, 
Painesville  &  Eastern  cars  for  Cleveland.  The  latter  company 
operates  local  cars  in  Painesville,  and  the  two  roads  exchange 
transfers  on  the  local  service.  This  was  required  by  franchise, 
and  it  gives  Painesville  excellent  local  service. 

In  entering  Ashtabula  the  company  operates  for  il/2  miles 


MAIN  STREET  IN  PAINESVILLE,  JUNCTION  OF  THE  CLEVELAND,  PAINESVILLE  &  ASH- 
TABULA RAILWAY  AND  CLEVELAND,  PAINESVILLE  &  EASTERN  RAILWAY 


over  the  tracks  of  the  Ashtabula  Rapid  Transit  Company.  The 
interurban  company  furnishes  the  power  on  this  section,  and 
there  is  a  division  of  the  local  fares  collected  on  the  interurban 
cars.  At  Ashtabula  the  company  makes  direct  connection  with 
the  cars  of  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railway  Company,  which 
operates  two  branches — one  running  south  to  Jefferson,  the 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


9  J 


county  seat,  and  the  other  to  Conneaut,  making  connection  for 
Erie  and  points  east. 

Through  limited  service  between  Erie  and  Cleveland  has 
been  discussed  by  the  managers  of  the  various  roads  interested, 


in  villages,  and  in  all  towns  it  has  25-year  franchises.  Over  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  distance  the  right  of  way  adjoins 
that  of  the  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  Railway  (steam). 
The  country  is  very  level,  and  the  maximum  grade  is  but  iy2 


CLEVELAND 


MAP  OF  CLEVELAND,  PAINESVILLE  &  ASHTABULA  RAILWAY  SYSTEM 


and  a  few  weeks  ago  a  party  of  managers  made  an  inspection 
trip  over  the  various  properties  with  this  point  in  view,  but 
nothing  definite  has  been  accomplished  along  this  line,  as  it  was 
the  general  opinion  that  some  of  the  roads  were  not  in  physical 


LINE   VIEW,   SHOWING   OVERHEAD  CONSTRUCTION 

condition  to  admit  of  the  high  speed  that  would  be  necessary 
to  compete  with  the  great  steam  line  which  parallels  the  roads. 
However,  an  attempt  will  be  made  at  through  excursion  busi- 
ness, and  on  July  17  a  special  car  will  make  the  round  trip 
from  Erie  to  Cleveland  and  return,  and  if  the  venture  proves 
successful  it  will  be  repeated  at  intervals  during  the  summer. 

The  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ashtabula  Railway  is  built  en- 
tirely on  private  right  of  way  from  40  ft.  to  60  ft.  wide,  except 


per  cent,  this  being  at  an  undergrade  crossing.  This  crossing 
is  of  peculiar  construction,  as  the  tracks  cross  a  small  stream 
on  a  timber  trestle  at  the  point  of  passing  under  the  steam 
line.  The  arrangement  obviates  the  possibility  of  water  re- 
maining in  the  tunnel,  and  it  also  reduced  the  cost  of  the  under- 
grade crossing,  as  the  steam  road  already  had  a  bridge  at  that 
point.  Approaching  Painesville  it  was  necessary  to  erect  a 
large  viaduct  across  the  wide  valley  of  the  Grand  River.  A 
great  deal  of  money  was  saved  on  this  piece  of  work  through 
the  use  of  sections  of  two  steam  road  bridges  purchased  from 
the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad.  These  bridges  had  been  replaced 
with  heavier  structures  by  the  steam  company,  which  was  re- 
building its  line  to  admit  of  heavier  freight  traffic.  The  bridge 
was  erected  by  a  competent  bridge-building  concern,  and  all 
sections  were  thoroughly  tested  for  a  wide  margin  of  safety 
over  any  requirements  for  a  service  of  this  character.  Cross- 
ing the  stream  a  timber  section  80  ft.  long  and  resting  on  con- 
crete piers  was  inserted.  The  entire  length  of  the  bridge  is 
1056  ft.,  and  it  is  80  ft.  above  the  water.  The  power  station 
of  the  road  was  erected  adjoining  the  west  end  of  the  bridge, 
and  a  chute  was  built  into  the  bridge  so  that  fuel  is  delivered 
from  bottom  dump  cars  to  within  a  short  distance  of  the  boiler 
room  door.  It  is  the  intention  to  alter  this  chute  so  that  the 
fuel  may  be  delivered  directly  into  the  boiler  room  by  gravity. 
Views  of  the  viaduct,  the  timber  section  with  concrete  piers, 
and  the  fuel  chute  are  shown  herewith. 

The  track  is  built  on  standard  steam  road  specifications. 
Rails  are  standard  70  lb.  30  ft.  length,  laid  on  standard  white 
oak  ties,  2640  to  the  mile.  Six-bolt  fish-plates  are  used  at  joints, 
and  bonds  are  9  in.  No.  0000  Ohio  Brass  Company's  under 
the  fish-plates.  The  track  is  cross-bonded  every  1000  ft.,  and 
bonded  around  all  switches  and  frogs.  In  villages  where  there 
is  pavement,  a  90-lb.  girder  rail  is  used.  The  side  bracket  type 
of  overhead  is  used.  Poles  are  35  ft.,  with  7  in.  tops,  and  brack- 
ets are  9  ft.  i\'2  in.  iron  pipe,  guyed  above  and  braced  below. 
Trolley  wire  is  No.  0000,  Fig.  8.  The  high-tension  feeders 
are  three  No.  2  aluminum  designed  for  13,000  volts.  High- 
tension  insulators  are  7-in.  Hemingray  glass.  Garton  pole 
lightning  arresters  are  used,  two  to  the  mile,  and  they  are 
grounded  to  the  rail  by  soldering  the  connection  to  a  rail  bond. 
The  only  grade  crossing  on  the  line  is  protected  by  an  inter- 
locker  having  semaphores  on  the  steam  track  and  semaphores 
and  derailers  on  the  electric  tracks.  The  signal  on  the  steam 
track  is  set  for  "danger"  before  the  derailer  can  be  opened 
for  the  electric.  Originally,  the  crossing  was  operated  by  the 
conductors  of  the  electric  cars,  being  arranged  so  that  the  con- 
ductor, after  entering  the  booth,  could  not  leave  it  until  the 
car  had  crossed  and  the  semaphores  and  derailers  returned  to 
their  normal  position.  It  was  found  that  this  arrangement  took 
too  much  time,  and  now  a  watchman  is  maintained  at  the  cross- 
ing at  all  times. 


92 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


The  rolling  stock  is  of  the  most  modern  pattern,  consisting  ' 
of  six  straight  passenger  coaches,  built  by  the  Jewett  Car  Com- 
pany, of  Newark,  Ohio. 

The  principal  dimensions  of  this  car  are  as  follows:  Length 


tion.  The  cars  are  equipped  with  Jewett  standard  vestibules,  with 
double  folding  doors  on  each  side  and  automatic  trap  doors 
over  steps. 

Each    car    is    divided    into    three    compartments:  pas- 


STEEL  VIADUCT  AT  GRAND  RIVER 

over  buffers,  53  ft.  il/2  in. ;  width  over  posts,  8  ft.  9  in. ;  distance  senger,  smoker  and  baggage.   The  distance  from  the  front  end 

between  centers  of  trucks,  33  ft. ;  height  from  rail  to  top  of  of  the  car  to  the  front  of  smoking  compartment  is  8  ft.,  and 

roof,  12  ft.  9  in.    There  are  six  longitudinal  yellow  pine  sills  there  is  a  double  door  opening  into  the  compartment.  The 


VIADUCT  AND  POWER  HOUSE,  SHOWING  COAL  CHUTE  FROM  VIADUCT 


in  the  floor  framing  running  the  full  length  in  one  continuous 
piece.  The  side  sills  are  additionally  strengthened  by  a  6-in.  x 
6y2-'m.  steel  plate.  All  cross  timbers  are  of  the  best  quality  of 
white  oak.  M.  C.  B.  construction  is  used  in  the  bolster  and  truss- 
rod  work.    The  body  framing  is  white  ash,  steam-car  construc- 


company  decided  it  would  be  desirable  to  have  all  cars  of  this 
type,  because  a  great  many  traveling  men  cover  this  route 
who  desire  to  take  their  sample  cases  with  them,  and  would 
not  use  the  electric  road  if  they  could  not  do  so.  The  plan  also 
provides  space  for  handling  considerable  package  express,  and 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


93 


up  to  the  present  time  the  company  has  not  found  it  necessary 
to  install  exclusive  express  cars,  as  this  class  of  matter  can 
be  handled  on  any  run. 

The  main  and  smoking  compartments  are  finished  in  Hon- 
duras mahogany,  inlaid  with  marquetry,  and  the  baggage  com- 
partment in  white  ash  natural  finish.  The  ceiling  is  green, 
with  gold  decorations.  Hale  &  Kilburn  "walkover"  seats  arc- 
used,  being  green  plush  in  the  main  compartment  and  rattan 
in  the  smoker.  The  windows  are  of  polished  plate  glass,  ex- 
cept the  gothics,  which  are  green  opalescent  leaded  glasg,  and 
the  deck  lights  of  white  chipped  glass.  Trimmings  are  of  solid 
bronze  and  the  curtains  of  the  "Crown"  goods,  Forsyth  type. 
The  cars  are  lighted  by  35  single  incandescents,  distributed 
evenly  from  the  roof.  They  are  heated  by  the  Peter  Smith 
hot-water  system,  and  are  equipped  with  Christensen  straight- 
air,  style  2-B,  power  brakes ;  Van  Dorn  drawbars;  locomotive 
type  of  pilot ;  arc  headlights,  and  De  France  patent  air-blast 
sanding  device,  made  by  the  Newark  Air  Sand  Box  Company, 
of  Newark,  Ohio.  The  trucks  are  of  a  special  type,  built  by 
the  Peckham  Company,  and  are  a  combination  of  the  36-A 
and  the  No.  39  London  Special,  and  depart  somewhat  from 
the  usual  practice  in  that  the  top  frame  is  of  4-in.  angle-iron. 
Four  G.  E.  Xo.  57  motors  are  used,  with  K-10  controller,  the 
cars  being  single  enders.  Each  car  is  equipped  with  a  Strom- 
berg-Carlson  telephone ;  the  connection  is  made  by  plugging 
in  at  a  pole  located  between  the  tracks  at  each  siding,  or,  if 
necessary,  the  despatcher  may  be  reached  at  any  point  on  the 


ing  was  made  large  enough  for  double  the  present  equipment, 
and  it  was  designed  with  a  view  to  future  building  extension. 
The  building  is  machine-brick,  with  stone  trimmings,  and  has 


TIMBER    SECTION    BRIDGE    ON    CONCRETE  PIERS 

a  flat  tile  roof  on  iron  trusses.  The  flooring  is  all  concrete, 
laid  with  corrugated  steel.  A  175-lb.  steel  stack,  7  ft.  inside 
diameter,  extends  from  the  center  of  the  boiler  room,  and  is 


INTERIOR  OF    ENGINE  ROOM 


line  by  making  a  connection  with  the  telephone  wire  by  means 
of  a  jointed  bamboo  rod. 

The  power  station  for  the  road  was  located  at  Painesville,  at 
the  extreme  west  end  of  the  line,  primarily  because  the  best 
available  water  supply  was  located  at  that  point,  and  also  be- 
cause it  was  deemed  probable  that  at  some  future  time  this 
property  might  be  consolidated  with  the  road  running  west 
from  Painesville,  and  the  station  then  would  be  in  position 
to  handle  the  entire  system.   With  this  view  the  station  build- 


guyed  to  the  roof  and  bolted  down  to  the  foundations.  The 
engine  and  building  foundations  are  brick  and  concrete,  car- 
ried down  to  solid  rock.  The  building  is  equally  divided  into 
two  rooms,  each  54  ft.  x  94  ft.,  there  being  a  fire  wall  between. 
The  boiler-room  floor  is  6  ft.  below  the  level  of  the  engine 
room,  and  a  pit  below  one-half  of  the  engine  room  is  13  ft.  deep. 

Two  300-hp  Stirling  boilers  are  installed  at  present,  and 
there  is  space  in  the  house  for  four  more  of  the  same  size.  These 
boilers  are  of  standard  design,  each  having  3200  sq.  ft,  of  heat- 


94 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


ing  surface,  with  plain  grates  having  64  sq.  ft.  of  grate  surface. 
They  are  guaranteed  for  50  per  cent  overload  and  run  at  150 
lbs.  steam  pressure.  Each  has  two  ^y2-'m.  roll-pops,  with  Reli- 
ance water  columns  and  extra  water  alarms.  The  company 
has  a  gas  well  adjoining  the  house,  and  it  is  used  for  heating 
and  lighting  the  offices,  and  at  times  the  pressure  is  strong 
enough  to  enable  its  use  in  the  boilers,  and  they  are  provided 
with  gas  burners  in  the  arch  above  the  door.   There  is  a  space 


REPAIRING    CARS    OUT    OF  DOORS 

of  18  ft.  in  front  of  the  boilers,  arranged  for  coal  storage,  and 
the  boilers  are  12  ft.  from  the  division  wall,  leaving  ample 
room  for  the  piping  and  for  the  pumps. 

The  water  supply  is  taken  from  a  14-ft.  well  at  the  side  of  the 
river,  the  well  being  provided  with  a  filter.  The  condenser 
intake  is  a  12-in.  cast-iron  pipe,  and  there  is  also  a  6-in.  feed- 
water  line.  The  condensers  are  of  the 
Wheeler  surface  type,  and  are  located  in 
the  pit  below  the  engine-room  floor.  The 
air  and  circulating  pumps,  of  the  Laidlaw- 
Dunn-Gordon  type,  measure  10  ins.  x  12 
ins.  x  14  ins.  x  18  ins.,  and  are  set  at  the 
side  of  the  condensers.  The  intake  line 
is  216  ft.  in  length,  and  there  is  a  lift  of  22 
ft.  for  the  condenser  water.  Between  the 
condensers  there  is  a  hot  well  consisting 
of  a  4  ft.  x  12  ft.  steel  tank.  The  hot  well 
receives  all  water  of  condensation  and  the 
jacketing  water  from  the  engine  bearings. 
Water  is  taken  from  the  hot  well  by  low- 
duty  Laidlaw-Dunn-G  o  r  d  o  n  hot-well 
pumps,  which  deliver  it  to  a  1200-hp  A 
Cochrane  heater,  located  at  the  rear  of  the 
boilers.  The  feed-water  pumps  are  two 
Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon  8  in.  x  5  in.  x  10  in. 
outside  plunger  type,  each  of  sufficient  ca- 
pacity to  supply  both  boilers  at  full  load. 
They  take  water  from  the  Cochrane  heat- 
er, and  the  feed  piping  is  arranged  so  that 
it  is  also  possible  to  take  cold  water 
through  the  line  from  the  river.  The  hot- 
well  water  is  thoroughly  filtered  by 
packing  the  well  with  20  ins.  of  charcoal 
and  2  ft.  of  clover  hay,  which  is  changed 

from  time  to  time.  The  engines  are  two  Cooper-Cor- 
liss tandem-compound ;  high-pressure  cylinder,  18  in. ;  low 
pressure,  36  in.,  and  42  in.  stroke,  and  they  turn  at 
112  r.  p.  m.  The  engines  have  sole  plates  extending 
their  entire  length.  The  cross-heads  are  forged  steel 
and  extra  heavy-  They  have  Corliss  valves  and  safety  gov- 
ernors operated  by  butterfly  valves.   They  develop  650  hp  with 


125  lbs.  of  steam  at  quarter  cut-off,  and  are  guaranteed  to  use 
not  to  exceed  13  lbs.  of  steam  per  i.  h.  p.  They  will  operate 
under  160  lbs.  of  steam,  and  will  develop  900  hp  condensing. 
Steam  for  the  boilers  is  conveyed  to  the  steam  heater  through 
long  bends  entering  at  the  top.  The  supply  for  the  engines  and 
auxiliary  machinery  is  taken  from  the  bottom  of  the  heater 
directly  into  large  receiver  separators,  there  being  one  separa- 
tor for  each  engine.  Steam  for  the  engines  is  taken  from  one 
side  of  the  separators,  and  on  the 
other  side  is  a  connection  to  the  aux- 
iliary header,  which  supplies  the 
pumps  and  condensers.  The  conden- 
sers are  piped  independently  of  one 
another,  and  they  are  interchange- 
able for  either  engine.  An  automatic 
oiling  system,  with  overhead  supply 
tank,  lubricates  the  working  parts  of 
engines  and  auxiliaries,  the  oil  being 
filtered  in  a  Burt  automatic  filter  lo- 
cated in  the  basement.  The  engines 
are  fitted  with  Phcenix  oil  pumps  for 
cylinder  lubrication,  and  the  main  en- 
gine bearings  are  cooled  by  streams  of 
water  from  the  city  mains  running 
around  them. 

The  main  generators  are  located  on 
the  engine  shafts  and  are  of  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company's  revolving 
field,  alternating-current  type.  They  generate  three-phase  25- 
cycle  current  at  13,200  volts  pressure.  Directly  connected  on 
the  extended  shafts  of  the  engines  are  the  exciters,  consisting  of 
iyl/2-kw  generators  supplying  current  at  125  volts.  About  60 
amps,  are  required  for  exciting  each  engine,  and  each  exciter 
is    sufficiently    large  to   supply    both  main  generators,  and 


BOILER   ROOM    OF   CLEVELAND,    PAINESVILLE   &  ASHTABULA  RAILWAY 


at  the  same  time  supply  the  lighting  for  the  power  house. 

F.  B.  Perkins,  of  Toledo,  the  electrical  engineer  who  de- 
signed the  plant,  has  followed  the  plan  of  directly  connecting 
the  exciter  to  the  main  generator  in  all  his  recent  installations, 
and  he  claims  it  has  worked  out  satisfactorily  in  every  case. 
It  saves  space  and  dispenses  with  considerable  piping,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  the  extra  steam  required  to  pull  the  added  load 


PIPING  PLAN  FOR  POWER  STATION  OF  CLEVELAND,  PA  I  N ESVILLE  &  ASHTABULA  RAILWAY 


96 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


on  the  engine  is  insignificant.  It  gives  a  slow  speed  exciter 
in  place  of  a  high-speed  machine,  which  is  likely  to  give  trouble, 
and  Mr.  Perkins  claims  there  is  no  objection  to  giving  the  ex- 
citer the  same  speed  variation  as  that  of  the  main  generator. 

The  rotaries  used  are  compounded  rather  heavily,  and  the 
generators  are  run  with  a  low-power  factor  on  light  loads. 
With  a  variation  of  voltage  of  10  per  cent  at  the  main  power 


TRANS  FORM  ICRS 


AX  I)    WIRING  IN 
STATION 


BASEMENT   OF  POWER 


station,  the  voltage  at  the  Geneva  station  20  miles  east  is  held 
to  within  1  per  cent  variation.  One  of  these  units  has  been 
found  amply  large  to  handle  the  full  load  at  all  times.  In  ad- 
dition to  29  miles  of  interurban  road,  with  hourly  headway,  the 
station  assists  in  handling  the  Ashtabula  city  cars,  and  at  times 
takes  care  of  the  lighting  load  at  Geneva,  consisting  of  70  arc 
lamps  and  1500  incandescents.  The  average  output  of  the  sta- 
tion is  4500  ampere-hours  per  day.  To  supply  this  requires  on 
an  average  from  8  to  9  tons  of  run  of 
mine  fuel,  for  which  the  company  pays 
$2.15  per  ton,  delivered.  But  six  men  are 
used  in  the  house — three  in  the  engine 
room  and  three  in  the  boiler  room.  The 
cost  of  current,  including  all  overhead  ex- 
penses, has  been  brought  down  to  very 
close  to  1  cent  per  kw,  it  is  claimed. 

A  rotary  sub-station  is  located  in  the 
main  power  station,  the  rotary  converter 
being  a  360-kw  General  Electric  six-pole 
machine,  revolving  at  500  r.  p.  m..  and 
delivering  600  volts  direct-current  to  the 
line  in  that  vicinity.  Direjtlv  below  the 
rotary  in  the  basement  are  three  110-kw 
Type  H,  oil-cooled,  step-down  transform- 
ers. Current  from  the  generators  is  deliv- 
ered to  these  at  13,200  volts,  and  stepped 
down  to  370  volts,  passing  from  them  to 
the  rotary. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows 
the  transformers  in  the  basement,  together 
with    the    high-tension   wiring  running 

to  them.  The  high-tension  wires  are  No.  4  copper,  insulated 
with  y%  in.  of  rubber,  and  they  are  carried  in  triangular  ar- 
rangement by  means  of  a  special  three-way  porcelain  clamp 
hung  from  the  basement  ceiling,  as  shown  in  the  illustra- 
tion. 

The  switchboard  controlling  the  electrical  apparatus  in  the 
station  is  made  up  of  18  panels,  finished  in  black,  the  entire 
board  being  built  into  the  wall  separating  the  engine  room 
from  the  boiler  room.    Two  steel  I-beams  support  the  board, 


while  the  wall  above  is  carried  on  another  I-beam,  and  there 
is  an  ornamental  cornice  above  the  board.  All  the  wiring 
comes  up  from  the  basement  through  wood  and  porcelain  in- 
sulators. Back  of  the  switchboard,  on  a  level  with  the  engine 
room  and  partitioned  off  from  the  boiler  room  with  a  sheet- 
iron  partition,  is  a  separate  room  for  the  high-tension  oil 
switches.  The  oil  switches  are  the  G.  E.  Form  I,  hand-oper- 
ated type,  and  they  are  hung  from  a  pipe  rack  with  special 
clamps.  The  first  two  panels  on  the  switchboard  are  blank  for 
indicator  for  future  engines.  The  third  and  fourth  panels  con- 
tain steam  gages,  vacuum  gages  and  receiver  gages.  The  third 
and  fourth  panels  are  the  d.  c.  feeder  panels,  containing  cir- 
cuit breakers,  voltmeters,  ammeters  and  switches.  The  fifth 
panel  controls  the  station  lighting;  current  may  be  taken  from 
either  of  the  exciter  generators  or  from  the  city  lighting  sys- 
tem by  means  of  six  double-throw  double-pole  switches,  and 
the  board  contains  a  voltmeter  and  an  ammeter.  The  sixth 
and  seventh  panels  control  respectively  No.  1  generator  and 
its  exciter,  while  the  eighth  and  ninth  control  the  second  ma- 
chine and  its  exciter;  the  machine  panels  have  a.  c.  volt- 
meters, ammeters,  wattmeters,  power-factor  indicators  and 
mechanism  operating  oil  switches,  while  the  exciter  panels  have 
ammeters,  double-throw,  double-pole  field  switches  and  three- 
pole  double-throw  main  switches.  The  exciter  panels  are  ar- 
ranged to  work  in  multiple,  with  fields  of  generators  in  multiple 
or  with  exciters  feeding  each  separately.  Each  exciter  is  of 
sufficient  capacity  to  supply  exciting  current  to  both  generators. 
The  next  two  panels  control  the  high-tension  feeders,  and  each 
contains  three  ammeters,  mechanism  for  operating  oil  switches 
and  automatic  relays.  The  remaining  three  panels  are  blanks 
for  future  feeders.  The  lightning  arresters  are  standard  G.  E. 
2000-volt  arresters,  arranged  with  four  on  each  leg  half  way 
to  the  ground,  and  three  between  the  different  legs  and  the 
ground. 

In  addition  to  the  sub-station  in  the  main  station,  there  are 
three  sub-stations,  giving  an  average  distance  between  sub- 
stations of  7  miles.    When  the  road  was  first  projected,  the 


PORTABLE    SUB-STATION  ON 


CLEVELAND, 
RAILWAY 


PAINESVILLE    &  ASHTABULA 


company  purchased  the  local  lighting  plant  in  Geneva,  and 
utilizes  the  building  as  a  sub-station.  Giving  consideration  to 
the  possibilities  of  consolidation  with  other  neighboring  roads 
and  desiring  the  extreme  flexibility  made  possible  by  this  sys- 
tem, it  was  decided  to  place  the  other  two  sub-stations  in  box 
cars  and  use  them  as  floaters.  One  of  them  is  located  on  a 
siding  near  Madison,  and  the  other  at  a  siding  two  miles  west 
of  Ashtabula.  Two  large  standard  steam  flat  cars  were  pur- 
chased for  this  service,  and  a  body  40  ft.  long  and  9  ft.  high 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


97 


was  built.  No  motors  are  used,  and  the  cars  are  towed  when 
it  is  desired  to  change  their  position.  In  one  end  of  the  car  is 
a  360-kw  rotary,  and  at  the  other  end  are  three  110-kw  oil- 
cooled  transformers.  A  direct-current  board  controlling  the 
d.  c.  side  of  the  rotary  and  the  two  outgoing  d.  c.  lines  is 
placed  against  the  wall  on  one  side,  while  across  the  center  of 
the  car,  forming  a  partition  between  the  transformers  and  the 
rotary,  is  the  a.  c.  board  containing  three  panels.  The  high- 
tension  line  panels  contain  three  ammeters,  voltmeters,  three- 
pole  double-throw  500  amp.  quick-break  switches,  and  switch 
mechanism  for  the  oil  switches,  which  are  at  the  end  of  the 
car,  15  ft.  back  of  the  board,  enclosed  in  marble  partitions. 
The  line  panels  are  equipped  with  automatic  overload  relays, 
and  there  are  automatic  trips  on  the  d.  c.  circuit  breakers, 
which  cut  out  the  station  in  case  the  high  tension  goes  out. 
There  are  no  high-voltage  lightning  arresters  in  the  car,  but 
the  d.  c.  feeders  are  tied  through  lightning  arresters.  The 
floater  near  Ashtabula  supplies  about  125  kw  to  the  Ashtabula 
city  lines,  while  the  station  at  Madison  is  designed  to  supply 
lighting  current  for  that  village,  as  well  as  taking  care  of  its 
portion  of  the  road. 

The  old  Geneva  lighting  plant  was  equipped  with  two  100-hp 
Erie  boilers,  a  100-hp  Armington-Simms  simple  engine,  belted 
to  a  150-kw  G.  E.  three-phase  a.  c.  2300-volt  generator,  which 
supplied  both  arc  and  incandescent  loads  in  Geneva  and  the 
neighboring  village  of  Unionville.  The  railway  converter  was 
placed  immediately  adjoining  the  lighting  generator,  and  for 
a  time  the  latter  was  operated  by  means  of  a  clutch,  dispensing 
with  the  engine.  This  did  not  prove  entirely  satisfactory,  how- 
ever, because  the  two  machines  were  designed  for  different 
speeds,  and  to  obviate  this  difficulty  a  pulley  was  placed  on  the 
end  of  the  converter  shaft  and  the  two  machines  were  belted 
back  to  a  jack  shaft.  As  it  was  not  considered  economical  to 
run  the  main  power  station  for  the  all-night  load  at  Geneva,  the 
engine  for  the  lighting  plant  was  retained  and  used  for  the 


SWITCHBOARD    BUILT    INTO  WALL 


night  load.  The  scheme  of  changing  the  belts  each  day  is  not 
altogether  convenient,  and  it  is  the  intention  to  install  a  75-kw 
generator,  which  will  be  belted  to  the  rotary  for  the  day  ser- 
vice, and  then  run  the  old  outfit  as  originally  designed  for  night 
load.  To  take  care  of  the  irregularity  of  the  speed  of  the  gen- 
erator when  it  is  being  driven  by  the  rotary,  a  Chapman  voltage 
regulator  has  been  installed.  This  is  connected  between  the 
exciter  and  field  of  generator,  and  the  variation  on  the  in- 
candescent circuit  has  been  reduced  to  one  volt  either  way. 
For  the  railway  side  of  the  house  there  are  three  Tio-kw  trans- 


formers, with  a  reactive  coil  between  the  transformers  and 
the  rotary.  The  switchboards,  oil  switches  and  other  apparatus 
are  practically  the  same  as  those  in  the  floating  sub-stations, 
except  that  the  station  is  protected  by  high-tension  lightning 
arresters.  Following  the  latest  practice,  the  rotaries  in  every 
case  are  started  from  a  half  voltage  tap  on  the  low-tension  side 
of  the  transformers. 

The  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ashtabula  Railroad  Company 
has  a  capital  stock,  authorized  and  issued,  of  $1,000,000,  with 


LIGHTING    PLANT    IN    GENEVA  SUB-STATION 


first  mortgage  bonds  issued  to  the  amount  of  $850,000,  and 
bonds  in  the  treasury  for  future  extensions  of  $150,000.  The 
road  was  placed  in  operation  in  November,  1903,  but  it  was 
not  until  May,  1904,  that  cars  were  operated  to  the  center  of 
Painesville,  owing  to  a  controversy  with  the  village  authori- 
ties. Since  that  time  the  property  has  been  showing  very  sat- 
isfactory earnings,  and  has  more  than  earned  its  bond  interest. 
The  officers  of  the  company  are:    A.  B.  Cleveland,  Unionville, 


GRADE  CROSSING  PROTECTED  BY  INTERLOCKER  ON  CLEVELAND, 
PAINESVILLE  &  ASHTABULA  RAILWAY  AND  NICKEL 
PLATE  RAILROAD 

president  and  general  manager ;  W.  J.  Hayes,  Cleveland,  vice- 
president  ;  Miss  M.  A.  Phillips,  Cleveland,  secretary  and  pur- 
chasing agent:  Joseph  R.  Kraus,  Cleveland,  treasurer:  F.  I!. 
Perkins,  Toledo,  consulting  engineer.  The  general  offices  of 
the  company  are  at  Painesville,  Ohio. 


/ 


98 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


RULES  GOVERNING  CAR  WIRING  AND  EQUIPMENT  OF  CARS 


The  Underwriters'  National  Electrical  Association  will 
shortly  issue  rules  on  car  wiring  and  equipment  of  cars,  which 
have  recently  been  adopted  by  that  association.  These  rules 
are  the  product  of  a  special  committee  from  the  Underwriters' 
National  Electrical  Association  and  a  committee  from  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  appointed  by  President 
Ely. 

The  following  gentlemen  constitute  this  conference: 

On  behalf  of  the  Underwriters'  National  Electrical  Associa- 
tion :  Ralph  Sweetland,  chairman,  Electrical  Engineer,  New 
England  Insurance  Exchange,  Boston,  Mass. ;  William  Mc- 
Devitt,  Chief  Inspector,  Philadelphia  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers, Philadelphia,  Pa. ;  Bruce  E.  Loomis,  Electrical  Inspec- 
tion Bureau,  New  York  City. 

On  behalf  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association :  W. 
A.  Pearson,  chairman,  Electrical  Engineer,  New  York  City 
Railway  Company;  Richard  McCulloch,  recently  Assistant 
General  Manager  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company,  now 
of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company;  C.  B.  King,  Assistant  to 
the  President,  Detroit  United  Railway  Company ;  Henry  M. 
Ballard,  Superintendent  Car  Equipment  Shops,  Boston  Ele- 
vated Railway  Company ;  E.  A.  Sturgis,  Superintendent  of 
Motive  Power  and  Machinery,  Worcester  Consolidated  Street 
Railway  Company. 

The  conference  also  had  the  assistance  of  J.  S.  Pevear  and 
E.  H.  Nagelstack,  of  the  engineering  department  of  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company;  I.  S.  Perkins,  of  the  engineering  de- 
partment of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany ;  C.  M.  Goddard,  secretary  of  the  Underwriters'  National 
Electrical  Association;  H.  O.  Lacount,  of  the  Factory  Mutual 
Insurance  Companies,  and  O.  B.  Johnson,  of  the  Boston  Board 
of  Fire  Underwriters. 

The  compilation  of  rules  on  car  wiring  have  been  under 
consideration,  as  many  of  the  readers  of  this  paper  know,  for 
about  a  year.  Numerous  conference  meetings  have  been  held 
by  the  commission  during  this  time.  The  rules,  which  are  given 
below,  are  believed  to  cover  the  subject,  at  least  as  well  as  could 
be  expected,  considering  that  the  subject  is  entirely  a  new 
one.    The  rules  follow : 

CAR  WIRING  SUPPLEMENT 

TO  THE  1903  EDITION  OF  THE  "NATIONAL  ELECTRICAL  CODE." 

Rules  and  Requirements  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire  Under- 
writers for  the  Equipment  and  Wiring  of  Electric  Rail- 
way Cars.    As  recommended  by  the  Underwriters'  Na- 
tional Electric  Association. 
CLASS  C— INSIDE  WORK.    LOW-CONSTANT-POTENT LAL  SYS- 
TEMS.  550  VOLTS   OR  LESS 
32.    Car  Wiring  and  Equipment  of  Cars, 
a.  Protection  of  Car  Body,  etc. 

r.  Under  side  of  car  bodies  to  be  protected  by  approved  fire- 
resisting  insulating  material,  not  less  than  %  in.  in  thickness, 
or  by  sheet  iron  or  steel,  not  less  than  .04  in.  in  thickness,  as 
specified  in  Sections  2,  3  and  4.  This  protection  to  be  pro- 
vided over  all  electrical  apparatus,  such  as  motors  with  a  ca- 
pacity of  over  75  hp,  each,  resistances,  contactors,  lightning 
arresters,  air-brake  motors,  etc.,  and  also  where  wires  are  run. 
except  that  protection  may  be  omitted  over  wires  designed  to 
carry  25  amperes  or  less  if  they  are  encased  in  metal  conduit. 

2.  At  motors  of  over  75  hp  each,  fire-resisting  material  or 
sheet  iron  or  steel  to  extend  not  less  than  8  ins.  beyond  all 
edges  of  openings  in  motors,  and  not  less  than  6  ins.  beyond 
motor  leads  on  all  sides. 

3.  Over  resistances,  contactors  and  lightning  arresters,  and 
other  electrical  apparatus,  excepting  when  amply  protected  by 
their  casing,  fire-resisting  material  or  sheet  iron  or  steel  to  ex- 
tend not  less  than  8  ins.  beyond  all  edges  of  the  devices. 

4.  Over  conductors,  not  encased  in  conduit,  and  conductors 
in  conduit  when  designed  to  carry  over  25  amps.,  unless  the 


conduit  is  so  supported  as  to  give  not  less  than  l/2  in.  clear  air 
space  between  the  conduit  and  the  car,  fire-resisting  material 
or  sheet  iron  or  steel  to  extend  at  least  6  ins.  beyond  conductors 
on  either  side. 

Note. — The  fire-resisting  insulating  material  or  sheet  iron  or 
steel  may  be  omitted  over  cables  made  up  of  flameproof  braided 
outer  covering  when  surrounded  by  J^-in.  flameproof  covering, 
as  called  for  by  Section  i,  4. 

5.  In  all  cases  fireproof  material  or  sheet  iron  or  steel  to  have 
joints  well  fitted,  to  be  securely  fastened  to  the  sills,  floor  tim- 
bers and  cross-braces,  and  to  have  the  whole  surface  treated 
with  a  waterproof  paint. 

6.  Cut-out  and  switch  cabinets  to  be  substantially  made  of 
hard  wood.  The  entire  inside  of  cabinet  to  be  lined  with  not 
less  than  %-m.  fire-resisting  insulating  material,  which  shall 
be  securely  fastened  to  the  woodwork,  and  after  the  fire-resist- 
ing material  is  in  place  the  inside  of  the  cabinet  shall  be  treated 
with  a  waterproof  paint. 

b.  Wires,  Cables,  Etc. 

1.  All  conductors  to  be  stranded,  the  allowable  carrying  ca- 
pacity being  determined  by  Table  A,  of  Rule  No.  16,  except 
that  motor,  trolley  and  resistance  leads  shall  not  be  less  than 
No.  7  B.  &  S.  gage,  heater  circuits  not  less  than  No.  12  B.  &  S. 
gage,  and  lighting  and  other  auxiliary  circuits  not  less  than 
No.  14  B.  &  S.  gage. 

The  current  used  in  determining  the  size  of  motor,  trolley 
and  resistance  leads  shall  be  a  per  cent  of  the  full-load  current, 
based  on  one  hour's  run  of  the  motor,  as  given  by  the  following 
table : 

Size  each  Motor  Trolley  Resistance 

motor.  Leads.  Leads.  Leads. 

75  hp  or  less.  ..  .  50%  40%  15% 

Over  75  hp   45%  35%  15% 

Note. — Fixture  wire  complying  with  Rule  No.  46  will  be  per- 
mitted for  wiring  approved  clusters. 

2.  To  have  an  insulation  and  braid  as  called  for  by  Rule  No. 
41  for  wires  carrying  currents  of  the  same  potential. 

3.  When  run  in  metal  conduit,  to  be  protected  by  an  ad- 
ditional braid  as  called  for  by  Rule  No.  47. 

Note. — Where  conductors  are  laid  in  conduit,  not  being  drawn 
through,  the  additional  braid  will  not  be  required. 

4.  When  not  in  conduit,  in  approved  moulding,  or  when  not 
in  cables  surrounded  by  J/g-in.  flame-proof  covering,  to  be  pro- 
tected by  an  additional  flame-proof  braid,  at  least  1-32  in.  in 
thickness,  the  outside  being  saturated  with  a  preservative  flame- 
proof compound. 

Note. — This  rule  will  be  interpreted  to  include  the  leads  from 
the  motors. 

5.  Must  be  so  spliced  or  joined  as  to  be  both  mechanically 
and  electrically  secure  without  solder.  The  joints  must  then 
be  soldered  and  covered  with  an  insulation  equal  to  that  on  the 
conductors. 

Note. — This  rule  will  not  be  construed  to  apply  to  connection 
of  leads  to'  motors,  plows,  or  third-rail  shoes. 

6.  All  connections  of  cables  to  cut-outs,  switches  and  fittings, 
except  those  to  controller-connection  boards,  when  designed  to 
carry  over  25  amps.,  must  be  provided  with  lugs  or  terminals 
soldered  to  the  cable,  and  securely  fastened  to  the  device  by 
bolts,  screws,  or  by  clamping ;  or,  the  end  of  the  cable,  after 
the  insulation  is  removed,  shall  be  dipped  in  solder  and  be  fast- 
ened into  the  device  by  at  least  two  set  screws  having  check 
nuts. 

All  connections  for  conductors  to  fittings,  etc.,  designed  to 
carry  less  than  25  amps.,  must  be  provided  with  turned-up  lugs 
that  will  grip  the  conductor  between  the  screw  and  the  lug, 
the  screws  being  provided  with  flat  washers ;  or  by  block  ter- 
minals having  two  set  screws,  and  the  end  of  the  conductors 
must  be  dipped  in  solder.  Soldering,  in  addition  to  the  con- 
nection of  the  binding  screws,  is  strongly  recommended,  and 
will  be  insisted  on  when  above  requirements  are  not  complied 
with. 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


99 


Note. — This  rule  will  not  be  construed  to  apply  to  circuits 
where  the  maximum  potential  is  not  over  25  volts  and  current 
does  not  exceed  5  amperes. 

c.  Cut-outs,  Circuit  Breakers  and  Switches. 

1.  All  cut-outs  and  switches  having  exposed  live  metal  parts 
to  be  located  in  cabinets.  Cut-outs  and  switches,  not  in  iron 
boxes  or  in  cabinets,  shall  be  mounted  on  not  less  than  J^-in. 
fire-resisting  insulating  material,  which  shall  project  at  least 
J/2  in.  beyond  all  sides  of  the  cut-out  cr  switch. 

2.  Cut-outs  to  be  of  the  approved  cartridge  or  approved 
blow-out  type. 

3.  All  switches  contrelling  circuits  of  over  5  amp.  capacity 
shall  be  of  approved  single-pole,  quick-break,  or  approved  mag- 
netic blow-out  type. 

Switches  controlling  circuits  of  5  amp.  or  less  capacity  may 
be  of  the  approved  single-pole,  double-break,  snap  type. 

4.  Circuit  breakers  to  be  of  approved  type. 

5.  Circuits  must  not  be  fused  above  their  safe  carrying  ca- 
pacity. 

6.  A  cut-out  must  be  placed  as  near  as  possible  to  the  current 
collector,  so  that  the  opening  of  the  fuse  in  this  cut-out  will  cut 
off  all  current  from  the  car. 

Note. — When  cars  are  operated  by  metallic  return  circuits, 
with  the  circuit  breakers  connected  to  both  sides  of  the  circuit, 
no  fuses  in  addition  to  the  circuit  breakers  will  be  required. 

d.  Conduit. 

Note. — When  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  or  on  account  of  the 
size  of  the  conductors,  the  ordinary  pipe  and  junction  box  con- 
struction is  not  permissible,  a  special  form  of  conduit  system  may 
be  used,  provided  the  general  requirements  as  given  below  are 
complied  with. 

1.  Metal  conduits,  outlet  and  junction  boxes  to  be  constructed 
in  accordance  with  Rule  No.  49,  except  that  conduit  for  light- 
ing circuits  need  not  be  over  5-16  in.  internal  diameter  and 
in.  external  diameter,  and  for  heating  and  air-motor  circuits 
need  not  be  over  1/%  in.  internal  diameter  and  9-16  in.  external 
diameter,  and  all  conduits  where  exposed  to  dampness  must  be 
water  tight. 

2.  Must  be  continuous  between  and  be  firmly  secured  into  all 
outlet  or  junction  boxes  and  fittings,  making  a  thorough  me- 
chanical and  electrical  connection  between  same. 

3.  Metal  conduits,  where  they  enter  all  outlet  or  junction 
boxes  and  fittings,  must  be  provided  with  approved  bushings 
fitted  so  as  to  protect  cables  from  abrasion. 

4.  Except  as  noted  in  Section  i,  2,  must  have  the  metal  of 
the  conduit  permanently  and  effectively  grounded. 

5.  Junction  and  outlet  boxes  must  be  installed  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  be  accessible. 

6.  All  conduits,  outlets,  or  junction  boxes  and  fittings  to  be 
firmly  and  substantially  fastened  to  the  framework  of  the  car. 

e.  Moulding. 

1.  To  consist  of  a  backing  and  a  capping,  and  to  be  con- 
structed of  fire-resistng  insulating  material,  except  where  cir- 
cuits which  they  are  designed  to  support  are  nominally  not  ex- 
posed to  moisture,  they  may  be  construed  of  hard  wood. 

2.  When  constructed  of  fire-resisting  insulating  material,  the 
backing  shall  be  not  less  than  *4  m-  m  thickness  and  be  of  a 
width  sufficient  to  extend  not  less  than  1:  in.  beyond  conductors 
at  sides. 

The  capping,  to  be  not  less  than  y%  in.  in  thickness,  shall 
cover  and  extend  at  least  -)4  in.  beyond  conductors  on  either 
side. 

The  joints  in  the  moulding  shall  be  mitred  to  fit  close,  the 
whole  material  being  firmly  secured  in  place  by  screws  or  nails, 
and  treated  on  the  inside  and  outside  with  a  waterproof  paint. 

Note. — When  fire-resisting  moulding  is  used  over  surfaces  al- 
ready protected  by  Ya-'m.  fire-resisting  insulating  material,  no 
backing  will  be  required. 

3.  Wooden  mouldings  must  lie  so  constructed  as  to  thorough- 
ly encase  the  wire  and  provide  a  thickness  of  not  less  than 
Y%  in.  at  the  sides  and  back  of  the  conductors,  the  capping  being 


not  less  than  3-16  in.  in  thickness.  Must  have  both  outside  and 
inside  two  coats  of  waterproof  paint. 

The  backing  and  the  capping  shall  be  secured  in  place  by 
screws. 

f.  Lighting  and  Lighting  Circuits. 

1.  Outlets  to  be  provided  with  either  single  lamps  of  not  over 
32  cp,  the  lamps  being  supported  in  approved  porcelain  recep- 
tacles, or  with  approved  clusters. 

2.  Circuits  to  be  run  in  approved  metal  conduit,  or  approved 
moulding. 

3.  When  metal  conduit  is  used,  except  for  sign  lights,  all 
outlets  to  be  provided  with  approved  outlet  boxes. 

4.  At  outlet  boxes,  except  where  approved  clusters  are  used, 
porcelain  receptacles  to  be  fastened  to  the  inside  of  the  box, 
and  the  metal  cover  to  have  an  insulating  bushing  around  open- 
ing for  the  lamp. 

When  approved  clusters  are  used,  the  cluster  shall  be  thor- 
oughly insulated  from  the  metal  conduit,  being  mounted  on 
blocks  of  hardwood  or  fire-resisting  insulating  material. 

5.  Where  conductors  are  run  in  moulding  the  porcelain  re- 
ceptacles or  cluster  to  be  mounted  on  blocks  of  hard  wood  or 
of  fireproof  insulating  material. 

g.  Heaters  and  Heating  Circuits. 

1.  Heaters  to  be  of  approved  type. 

2.  Panel  heaters  to  be  so  constructed  and  located  that  when 
heaters  are  in  place  all  current-carrying  parts  will  be  at  least 
4  ins.  from  all  woodwork. 

Heaters  for  cross-seats  to  be  so  located  that  current-carrying 
parts  will  be  at  least  6  inches  below  under  side  of  seat,  unless 
under  side  of  seat  is  protected  by  not  less  than  }i-in.  fire-resist- 
ing insulating  material,  or  .04  in.  sheet  metal,  with  1  in.  air 
space  over  same,  when  the  distance  may  be  reduced  to  3  ins. 

3.  Circuits  to  be  run  in  approved  metal  conduit,  in  approved 
moulding,  or  if  the  location  of  conductors  is  such  as  will  per- 
mit an  air  space  of  not  less  than  2  ins.  on  all  sides,  except  from 
the  surface  wired  over,  they  may  be  supported  on  porcelain 
knobs  or  cleats,  provided  the  knobs  or  cleats  are  mounted  on 
not  less  than  'J-^-in.  fire-resisting  insulating  material  extending 
at  least  3  ins.  beyond  conductors  at  either  side,  the  supports 
raising  the  conductors  not  less  than  ]/2  in.  from  the  surface 
wired  over,  and  being  not  over  12  ins.  apart. 

h.  Air  Pump  Motor  and  Circuits. 

1.  Circuits  to  be  run  in  approved  metal  conduit  or  in  ap- 
proved moulding,  except  that  when  run  below  the  floor  of  the 
car  they  may  be  supported  on  porcelain  knobs  or  cleats,  pro- 
vided the  supports  raise  the  conductor  at  least  y2  in.  from  the 
surface  wired  over  and  are  not  over  12  ins.  apart. 

2.  Automatic  control  to  be  enclosed  in  an  approved  metal 
box.  Air  pump  and  motor,  when  enclosed,  to  be  in  approved 
metal  box  or  a  wooden  box  lined  with  metal  of  not  less  than 
1-32  in.  in  thickness. 

When  conductors  are  run  in  metal  conduit,  the  boxes  sur- 
rounding automatic  control  and  air  pump  and  motor  may  serve 
as  outlet  boxes. 

i.  Main  Motor  Circuits  and  Devices. 

1.  Conductors  connecting  between  trolley  stand  and  main 
cut-out  or  circuit  breakers  in  hood,  to  enter  car  through  ap- 
proved bushings,  or  to  be  protected  where  wires  enter  car  to 
prevent  ingress  of  moisture. 

2.  Conductors  connecting  between  third-rail  shoes  on  same 
truck,  to  be  supported  in  an  approved  fire-resisting  insulating 
moulding,  or  in  approved  iron  conduit  supported  by  soft  rubber 
or  other  approved  insulated  cleats. 

3.  Conductors  on  the  under  side  of  the  car,  except  as  noted 
in  No.  4,  to  be  supported  in  accordance  with  one  of  the  follow- 
ing: 

a.  To  be  run  in  approved  metal  conduit,  junction  boxes 
being  provided  where  branches  in  conduit  are  made,  and  outlet 
boxes  where  conductors  leave  conduit. 


TOO 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


b.  To  be  run  in  approved  fire-resisting  insulating  mould- 
ing. 

c.  To  be  supported  by  insulating  cleats,  the  supports  being 
not  over  12  ins.  apart. 

4.  Conductors,  with  flame-proof  braided  outer  covering,  con- 
necting between  controllers  at  either  end  of  car,  or,  controllers 
and  contactors  may  be  run  as  a  cable,  provided  the  cable  where 
exposed  to  the  weather  is  encased  in  a  canvas  hose  or  canvas 
tape,  thoroughly  taped  or  sewed  at  ends  and  where  taps  from 
the  cable  are  made,  and  the  hose  or  tape  enters  the  controllers. 

Conductors  with  or  without  flame-proof  braided  outer  cov- 
ering connecting  between  controllers  at  either  end  of  the  car, 
or,  controllers  and  contactors  may  be  run  as  a  cable,  provided 
the  cable  throughout  its  entire  length  is  surrounded  by  J^-in. 
flame-proof  covering,  thoroughly  taped  or  sewed  at  ends,  or 
where  taps  from  cable  are  made,  and  the  flame-proof  covering 
enters  the  controllers. 

Cables,  where  run  below  floor  of  car,  may  be  supported  by 
approved  insulating  straps  or  cleats.  Where  run  above  floor 
of  car,  to  be  in  a  metal  conduit  or  wooden  box  painted  on  the 
inside  with  not  less  than  two  coats  of  flame-proof  paint,  and 
wherp  this  box  is  so  placed  that  it  is  exposed  to  wate,,  as  by 
washing  of  the  car  floor,  attention  should  ne  given  to  making 
the  box  reasonably  waterproof. 

Canvas  hose  or  tape,  or  flame-proof  material  surrounding 
cables  after  conductors  are  in  same,  to  have  not  less  than  two 
coats  of  waterproof  insulating  material. 

5.  Motors  to  be  so  drilled  that,  on  double-truck  cars,  con- 
necting cables  can  leave  motor  on  side  nearest  to  king  bolt. 

6.  Resistances  to  be  so  located  that  there  will  be  at  least  6  in. 
air  space  between  resistances  proper  and  fire-resisting  material 
of  the  car.  To  be  mounted  on  iron  supports,  being  insulated 
by  non-combustible  bushings  or  washers,  or,  the  iron  supports 
shall  have  at  least  2  ins.  of  insulating  surface  between  them 
and  metal  work  of  car;  or,  the  resistances  may  be  mounted  on 
hardwood  bars,  supported  by  iron  stirrups,  which  shall  have 
not  less  than  2  ins.  of  insulating  surface  between  foot  of  re- 
sistance and  metal  stirrup,  the  entire  surface  of  the  bar  being 
covered  with  at  least  J^-in.  fire-resisting  insulating  material. 

The  insulation  of  the  conductor,  for  about  6  ins.  from  ter- 
minal of  the  resistance,  should  be  replaced,  if  any  insulation 
is  necessary,  by  a  porcelain  bushing  or  asbestos  sleeve. 

7.  Controllers  to  be  raised  above  platform  of  car  by  a  not 
less  than  1  in.  hardwood  block,  the  block  being  fitted  and  painted 
to  prevent  moisture  working  in  between  it  and  the  platform. 

j.  Lightning  Arresters. 

1.  To  be  preferably  located  to  protect  all  auxiliary  circuits 
in  addition  to  main  motor  circuits. 

2.  The  ground  conductor  shall  be  not  less  than  No.  6  B.  &  S. 
gage,  run  with  as  few  kinks  and  bends  as  possible,  and  be  se- 
curely grounded. 

k.  General  Rules. 

1.  When  passing  through  floors,  conductors  or  cables  must 
be  protected  by  approved  insulating  bushings,  which  shall  fit 
the  conductor  or  cable  as  closely  as  possible. 

2.  Moulding  should  never  be  concealed  except  where  readily 
accessible.    Conductors  should  never  be  tacked  into  mouldings. 

3.  Short  bends  in  conductors  should  be  avoided  where  pos- 
sible. 

4.  Sharp  edges  in  conduit  or  in  moulding  must  be  smoothed 
to  prevent  injury  to  conductors. 

NOTE. 

The  foregoing  rules  are  laid  down  as  embodying  the  prin- 
cipal precautions  necessary  in  safeguarding  street  railway  cars 
from  the  fire  hazard  of  their  own  electrical  appliances.  It  is 
not  expected  that  old  equipments  will  be  rapidly  brought  up  to 
this  standard,  but  it  should  be  required  that  all  new  equipments 
and  repairs  to  old  equipments  closely  follow  the  rules. 


CORRESPONDENCE 


THE  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE 


New  York,  July  4,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  description  appearing  in 
your  issue  of  June  4  of  the  motors  which  are  to  be  employed 
in  the  locomotives  in  the  New  York  Central  tunnel.  If  I  un- 
derstand the  illustration  and  figures  correctly,  these  motors  are 
to  be  gearless.  The  armature  is  to  suround  the  axle,  and  lacks 
only  10  ins.  or  15  ins.  of  the  diameter  of  the  44-in.  driving- 
wheels.  Moreover,  the  armature  and  commutator  fully  fill 
the  space  from  wheel  to  wheel.  The  iron  work  composing  the 
locomotive  frame  also  does  duty  as  a  return  magnetic  circuit, 
and  is  spring-suspended  from  the  axle.  The  pole  pieces  of  the 
motor  are  mounted  on  cross  members  between  the  side  frames 
of  the  locomotive.  In  order  that  the  up  and  down  motion  of 
the  frame  shall  not  cause  the  armature  to  come  in  contact  with 
the  pole  pieces,  the  machine  is  made  bi-polar,  with  horizontal 
salient  poles,  and  the  faces  of  the  latter  are  to  be  vertical  plane 
surfaces,  without  the  usual  polar  arc.  The  brushes  are  mounted 
on  spider-like  arms,  which  are  fastened  to  the  axle  box,  reach 
around  the  driving  wheels  and  support  the  brushes  on  opposite 
ends  of  a  diameter.  No  figures  are  given  as  to  the  number  of 
armature  conductors,  or  the  field  strength,  or  the  number  of 
turns  on  the  field  bobbin,  and  therefore  in  many  respects  there 
is  still  room  for  much  speculation  as  to  details. 

I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that  many  of  the  engineering 
profession  will  agree  that  did  not  this  marvelous  combination 
bear  the  seal  of  approval  of  a  large  manufacturing  company, 
and  of  experts  in  its  employ  whose  opinion  we  have  long  since 
learned  to  value,  the  whole  arrangement  would  be  in  danger  of 
criticism  as  fanciful  and  impractical.  Under  the  present  status, 
and  considering  the  large  size  of  the  motor,  one  can  only  say 
that  the  proposition  stands  without  precedent  as  the  boldest 
move  that  has  yet  been  made  in  railway  motor  design,  the  al- 
ternating series  motor  not  excepted. 

As  no  specific  data  have  been  given,  one  can  only  speculate, 
but  some  of  the  speculations  seem  to  be  very  pertinent. 

The  magnetic  circuit  of  the  motor  is  exceedingly  interesting 
from  a  designer's  point  of  view.  Truly,  recent  series  railway 
motors  are  teaching  us  that  the  volumes  that  have  been  written 
on  design  are  largely  superfluous.  All  that  seems  to  be  neces- 
sary in  modern  railway  motor  design  is  to  boldly  construct,  re- 
gardless of  magnetic  proportions  or  time-honored  traditions, 
and  produce  a  result  that  is  satisfactory  without  any  particular 
reason  therefor.  Certain  it  is  that  unless  the  able  designers  of 
this  motor  elect  to  expound  or  to  build  something  entirely 
different  from  that  which  has  been  illustrated,  we  shall  have  a 
mysterious  machine  which  will  take  its  place  alongside  certain 
well-known  arc  dynamos  which  work  well  in  spite  of  their  de- 
sign. 

Discussing  the  details  of  the  machine  as  it  is  described  and 
illustrated,  and  considering  further  the  magnetic  circuit,  its 
dimensions  as  shown  seem  insufficient  from  a  magnetic  stand- 
point. Comparing  these  with  the  armature  diameter  and  re- 
membering that  the  machine  is  a  bipolar  one,  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  density  in  the  armature  is  very  low; 
in  fact,  nothing  like  what  has  previously  been  good  railway 
practice.  Even  if  the  cross  members  on  which  the  pole  pieces 
are  mounted  had  depth  to  touch  the  rails,  their  section  seems 
insufficient,  and  so  arranged  they  would  form  a  serious  obstacle 
to  brake-shoes  and  kindred  mechanism.  Small  flux  means 
many  armature  conductors  if  large  torque  is  to  be  secured,  and 
many  armature  conductors  and  small  flux  means  field  distortion 
and  variable  points  of  commutation. 

The  gap  space  is  a  still  more  wonderful  creation.  One  cer- 
tainly cannot  accuse  the  machine  of  lack  of  graded  field  for 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


101 


commutation  purposes.  Even  the  minimum  air  gap  at  the  point 
of  tangency  must  be  not  only  large,  but  variable,  for  one-eighth 
of  an  inch  is  close  railroad  mechanics  in  fitting  axle  boxes  to 
pedestal  jaws. 

Figures  may  tell  a  different  story,  but  looking  at  the  wash 
drawing,  for  it  is  obviously  not  a  photograph  of  the  machine 
itself,  and  having  appreciated  the  poverty  of  iron  in  the  mag- 
netic circuit  as  far  as  the  drawing  will  permit,  the  additional 
reluctance  of  the  gap  space,  and  the  obvious  magnitude  of  the 
leakage  coefficient,  causes  one  to  look  doubtfully  at  the  rather 
diminutive  field  bobbin  there  portrayed,  and  still  the  wonder 
grows. 

Accustomed  as  we  are  to  railroad  motor  commutation  which 
is  prevented  from  pyrotechnics  only  by  the  grasp  of  an  over- 
mastering field  flux,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  congratulation  that 
the  machine  is  bipolar,  and  evidently  has  many  bars  between 
the  brushes. 

The  commutator  itself  is  depicted  of  noble  dimensions.  From 
the  appearance  of  the  drawing  one  may  gather  that  it  clears 
the  tops  of  the  rails  by  only  10  ins.  The  armature  perhaps 
escapes  the  rail  by  a  matter  of  8  ins.,  and  if  the  picture  is  to  be 
believed,  one  cannot  complain  of  lack  of  ventilation.  The  open 
motor  has  not  proved  entirely  satisfactory  on  elevated  railway 
work  where  the  permanent  way  is  comparatively  clean,  and  if 
the  structure  as  depicted  in  your  columns  is  to  be  actually  put 
in  service  on  the  New  York  Central  installation,  then  the  days 
of  motor  curtains  have  surely  returned.  When  one  considers 
this  large  commutator  receiving  as  it  does  600  amps,  at  a  po- 
tential of  650  volts,  and  delivering  the  same  to  an  armature 
which  revolves  in  a  field  of  very  doubtful  characteristics,  and 
considerably  exposed  at  best  to  the  splash  of  water  and  mud 
from  the  wheels,  one  can  be  pardoned  for  wondering  why  it 
is  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  machine  might  spill  over 
at  the  brushes.  A  spill-over  on  a  machine  of  such  dimensions 
is  a  formidable  catastrophe.  The  fertile  imagination  has 
visions  of  a  most  edifying  newspaper  description  of  the  elec- 
tric demon  of  the  tunnel  proceeding  on  four  thunderous  Cath- 
erine wheels  of  blue  flame. 

Surely,  the  designers  for  the  New  York  Central  tunnel  loco^ 
motive  have  taken  all  these  matters  into  consideration,  and 
have  good  answers  to  all  of  these  questions.  I  must  confess 
that  I  await  with  interest  the  reasons  for  justifying  the  remark- 
able designs  submitted,  for  they  must  not  only  be  very  convinc- 
ing, but  must  almost  contain  a  new  principle. 

Perhaps  after  all  we  have  not  seen  the  motors,  but  only  the 
preliminary  dream  of  some  well-meaning  artist  of  the  publish- 
ing department.  Every  reliable  and  energetic  manufacturing 
concern  has  made  many  pictures  of  machines  that  were  never 
built,  and  this  may  be  one  of  them. 

George  T.  Hanchett. 
 ♦♦♦  — - 

THE  DEPRECIATION  PROBLEM 

Denver,  Col.,  June  30,  1904. 
Editors  Street  Railway  Journal: 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  owners  and  managers  of  roads 
will  devote  the  most  painstaking  attention  to  methods  of  cutting 
down  operating  expenses  which  can  be  directly  expressed  in 
dollars  and  cents,  and  yet  largely  overlook  the  indefinite,  and 
yet  important,  questions  of  depreciation,  simply  because  so 
many  uncertainties  are  involved  in  the  life  of  their  plants. 

The  electric  railway  offers  an  admirable  opportunity  for 
the  study  of  depreciation,  composed  as  it  is  of  a  great  variety 
of  physical  features.  On  a  large  system,  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment deals  with  an  enormous  multiplication  of  parts  of  ma- 
chinery, and  the  material  is  at  hand  to  enable  very  interesting 
and  accurate  data  to  be  collected  upon  the  life  of  every  kind  of 
apparatus,  from  brake-shoes  to  car  cushions.  Ask  the  master 
mechanic  how  long  his  motors  last  in  service  and  he  will  prob- 


ably be  able  to  answer  you  with  pretty  fair  accuracy,  but  it  is 
another  story  when  we  dissect  the  machinery  and  endeavor  to 
form  a  correct  notion  of  the  depreciation  of  brushes,  com- 
mutators, bearings  and  armature  shafts.  The  point  which  1 
wish  to  make  is,  that  while  there  may  be  what  the  psychologists 
call  a  "sub-conscious  impression"  prevalent  in  the  minds  of  the 
mechanical  force  as  to  how  long  apparatus  lives  in  service 
under  varying  conditions,  there  is  an  unfortunate  absence  of 
exact  information  in  the  company's  files  based  upon  experience. 
It  is  all  the  more  important  that  each  company  should  secure 
this  kind  of  data  from  its  own  costly  experience,  because  the 
conditions  of  operation  vary  so  widely  on  different  roads.  In  a 
good  many  cases  it  is  possible  to  disentangle  from  the  records 
of  shop  repairs  a  vast  amount  of  data  upon  the  cost  of  main- 
taining the  plant,  but  in  other  instances  the  entire  energy  of 
the  mechanical  department  is  used  up  in  keeping  the  road 
moving,  records  of  money  spent  on  repairs  being  simply  kept 
in  the  aggregate,  as,  for  example,  "$500  in  a  certain  month  was 
expended  upon  car  equipment" — not  the  slightest  intimation 
being  given  as  to  how  much  went  to  motors,  controllers  or 
trucks. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  there  are  few  things  which  the  prac- 
tical mechanic  in  a  street  railway  repair  shop  dislikes  doing 
more  than  preparing  a  report  or  "doing  bookkeeping"  in  con- 
nection with  his  work.  He  would  much  prefer  to  be  let  severely 
alone  with  his  tools  and  the  diseases  which  they  cure,  and  the 
writer  has  considerable  sympathy  with  this  point  of  view. 
Certainly,  the  repair-man's  first  duty  is  to  keep  the  rolling  stock 
in  condition  to  move,  and  on  a  busy  system  if  such  a  man  should 
devote  the  necessary  time  to  getting  together  all  this  data  upon 
depreciation,  the  chances  are  that  in  a  short  time  the  road  would 
find  itself  crippled  for  cars,  or  else  short  of  power  in  the  engine 
room. 

In  the  writer's  judgment,  this  is  a  task  which  should  fall  to 
the  auditing  department.  What  is  needed  is  co-operation  be- 
tween the  mechanical  man  and  his  clerical  brother,  if  results 
are  to  be  secured  which  will  be  valuable.  The  problem  is 
simply  one  of  properly  recording  every  expense  which  is  in- 
curred in  the  life  of  a  given  piece  of  apparatus,  with  the  dates 
of  repairs,  and  some  data  as  to  the  conditions  under  which  it 
works.  The  card  catalogue  lends  itself  admirably  to  this  sort 
of  problem,  and  one  of  the  best  things  about  it  is  the  ease  with 
which  it  may  be  kept  up  to  date.  As  an  experiment  it  may  be 
begun  in  a  small  way  and  with  a  very  few  items,  such  as  car 
bodies,  motors,  controllers,  wiring,  trucks,  brakes,  engines,  gen- 
erators, boilers,  switchboards,  condensers,  pumps,  piping,  track 
and  overhead  lines.  Steadily  such  a  system  will  prove  its  value 
and  expand  to  meet  the  growing  plant  and  rolling  stock  equip- 
ment. A  daily  visit  to  the  repair  shop  by  one  of  the  auditing 
clerks  will  generally  enable  sufficient  data  to  be  filled  in  the  card 
catalogue  to  permit  accurate  study  of  depreciation.  On  very 
large  systems  it  is  profitable  to  have  a  single  clerk  devote  most 
of  his  time  to  gathering  information  upon  this  branch  of  elec- 
tric railway  economies. 

It  may  very  properly  be  asked,  "What  is  the  use  of  all  this 
data  after  you  have  collected  it  ?"  The  value  of  it  lies  in  the 
power  conferred  upon  the  company  to  put  its  finger  upon  any 
unusual  departure  from  regular  operation  which  is  a  source  of 
waste,  and  which  might  otherwise  run  along  to  the  tune  of 
many  hundred  dollars  a  year,  unnoticed  and  unrelieved.  There 
is  abundant  room  for  the  exercise  of  graphical  diagrams.  Even 
with  great  care  in  purchasing,  the  quality  of  materials  is  likely 
to  vary  from  time  to  time,  and  if  this  variation  appears  in  the 
auditing  department's  maintenance  record,  as  it  is  bound  to  do 
if  the  quality  of  materials  deteriorates,  there  is  a  pretty  good 
chance  of  its  being  discovered  in  time  to  prevent  undue  losses 
occurring.  The  electric  railway  can  well  afford  to  take  a  leaf 
from  the  book  of  the  modern  manufacturer  in  regard  to  study- 
ing (leprec'at'on.  instituting  economies  in  operation,  and-  re- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No  3. 


placing  old  apparatus  by  new  when  it  has  ceased  to  be  the  most 
profitable  known  method  of  accomplishing  a  given  result.  Any- 
thing which  can  bring  the  different  departments  of  a  large 
transportation  system  into  closer  working  harmony  and  ap- 
preciation of  each  other's  problems,  is  bound  to  produce  a 
lasting  benefit  and  constitute  an  influence  toward  better 
economy.  H.  S.  Knowlton. 

 ♦♦♦  


on  a  number  of  the  lines.  Statistics  as  to  the  cars  operated 
and  other  essential  factors  in  connection  with  the  system  of 
feeder  distribution  of  the  different  lines  will  be  found  in  the 
tables  already  referred  to  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal 
for  June  18. 


MANAGER  PECK,  OF  SCHENECTADY  RAILWAY,  GIVES  EN- 
TERTAINMENT TO  RAILWAY  OFFICIALS. 


POWER  DISTRIBUTION  ON  INDIANA  1NTERURBAN  RAILWAYS 


An  abstract  was  published  in  the  June  18  issue  of  the  Street 
Railway  Journal,  of  a  paper  presented  by  Robert  P.  Woods, 
of  Townsend,  Reed  &  Company,  before  the  Indiana  Engineer- 


General  Manager  Edward  F.  Peck,  of  the  Schenectady  Rail- 
way Company,  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  recently  entertained 
prominent  railway  officials.  The  party  left  the  office  of  the 
company  on  State  Street  in  a  private  car — one  of  the  hand- 
some new  coaches  constructed  expressly  for  the  service  upon 
the  new  Ballston  division  of  the  company.    Upon  their  arrival 


Illinois  1  Indiana 
7f0bY  rorsythe 


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CShelbyville  Division) 
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Gotten  6.4  4  Louisville &3>Mana  jr.co. 
45.0  s  Ft.Warne&southwestern  In  Co. 

33.2  6  Wabash-Logansport  Tr.Co 
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(p/a/Me/d  line) 
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la/re     i.0  9  doulhdind&do.McnM  Co. 
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deefnefirtxeo. 
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19.3 16  Richmond  Jt.&InierurunMCo 
4.5  n  barton  &  Western  Trac.Cb. 

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Electric  nr. 

4/5/9  Indpls.  Columbus  &  southm.  Tr.Co. 
135 20 Chicago •  &douib Jfiare  R/.0; 
1st  /*4<s  m2\Munck,tiarrrord&Ff.mnenY.Go. 
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Circular Mils  =  CM. 
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INTERURBAN 
RAILWAYS 

□r 

INDIANA 


FjoBERT  P.  Wd q.d : 

M.AM.SOC.C.E. 


'  JM.li.IJ04. 


POWER   AND   TRANSMISSION    SYSTEMS    OF   INTERURBAN    RAILWAYS   OF  INDIANA 


ing  Society,  giving  particulars  of  the  interurban  electric  rail- 
ways in  that  State.  Several  tables  of  statistics  of  all  of  the 
Indiana  interurban  lines  were  published  in  that  issue,  together 
with  a  diagram  showing  the  different  forms  of  overhead  con- 
struction in  use.  The  accompanying  diagram,  showing  the  lay- 
out of  the  feeder  systems  of  the  different  interurban  electric 
railways,  was  also  presented  at  that  meeting  and  is  published 
herewith ;  it  is  particularly  interesting  in  view  of  the  extent 
of  the  Indiana  interurban  railways,  and  the  high  voltages  used 


at  Ballston  Lake  the  party  embarked  in  a  yacht  and  enjoyed  a 
sail.  Later  the  guests  were  entertained  at  Captain  Guy 
Baker's.  The  guests  included  General  Manager  J.  N.  Shanna- 
han,  of  the  Fonda,  Johnstown  &  Gloversville  Railroad;  General 
Manager  George  G.  Blakeslee,  of  the  Albany  &  Hudson  Rail- 
way; General  Manager  C.  Loomis  Allen,  of  the  Utica  &  Mo- 
hawk Valley  Railway ;  Chief  Engineer  C.  C.  Lewis,  of  the 
Schenectady  Railway  Company,  and  Secretary  and  Treasurer 
James  O.  Carr,  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company. 


July  16,  1904.] 


V 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


103 


NEW  CARS  FOR  THE  SCHENECTADY  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


J.  M.  Jones'  Sons,  of  Watervliet,  N.  Y.,  have  recently  built 
for  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company,  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y., 
six  fine  interurban  cars  of  the  type  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration.  The  general  dimensions  of  these  cars  are:  Length, 
over  all,  51  ft.;  length  over  body,  41  ft.;  width  over  all,  8  ft. 
9  ins. ;  height  from  rail  to  top  of  trolley  board,  13  ft. 

The  framing  of  these  cars  follows  the  best  steam  car  con- 
struction, being  furnished  with  steel  platforms,  7-in.  I-beam 
side  sills  and  double  posts  for  insuring  great  strength  and 
rigidity.  There  are  fourteen  windows  on  each  side,  the  win- 
dow arching  being  in  Colonial  style,  having  polished  plate  glass 
in  sash  and  cathedral  opalescent  glass  in  the  fanlights.  The 
fixtures  for  both  the  side  and  vestibule  windows  were  furnished 
by  the  O.  M.  Edwards  Company,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Each  car  is  divided  into  a  passenger  and  a  smoking  compart- 
partment.  The  regular  compartment  has  eighteen  cross-seats 
and  two  longitudinal  spring-cushion  seats.  These  seats  have 
high  backs,  with  head  rolls  and  arm  rests  on  the  aisle  end,  and 
are  upholstered  in  Epingle,  an  English  covering  of  handsome 
design.  The  smoker  has  six  cross-seats  and  two  longitudinal 
seats,  of  the  same  type  as  those  used  in  regular  passenger  com- 
partment, except  that  the  covering  is  of  dark  leather.   All  seats 


gold  letters  through  the  center,  and  the  ends  having  corner 
ornaments  of  gold.    The  roof  color  is  a  dark  Pullman. 

The  electrical  equipment  consists  of  four  G.  E.  No.  66  mo- 
tors, geared  for  70  miles  an  hour,  and  operated  by  Type  M 
control.  These  motors  are  mounted  on  the  American  Locomo- 
tive Company's  M.  C.  B.  trucks,  which  have  34-in.  wheels  and 
a  6  ft.  6  in.  wheel-base.  The  air  brakes  are  of  the  General 
Electric  Company's  straight-air  type,  and  the  arc  headlights 
are  also  of  that  company's  manufacture.  The  lower  part  of 
the  car  is  also  fireproofed  by  Transite  boards. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  window  and  trap- 
door designs,  but  as  these  possess  several  interesting  features, 
they  will  now  be  described  in  detail. 

The  style  of  window  design  adopted  for  the  side  windows  of 
all  the  cars  is  known  as  No.  7-B1.  In  this  design  of  window, 
having  a  single  sash  in  two  parts,  the  sash  is  connected  with 
the  spring  roller  sash  balance  by  two  chains  arranged  to  draw 
at  an  angle  and  not  overlap  in  winding  and  unwinding  upon 
the  roller.  These  chains  are  attached  to  the  sash  by  a  rock- 
shaft  having  the  two  ends  extending  at  an  angle  to  each  other, 
where  the  chains  are  attached  so  that  the  rock  shaft  will  ro- 
tate in  its  bearings  to  give  and  take  any  variations  as  the  chains 
wind  and  unwind  upon  the  roller  in  raising  or  lowering  the 
window,  thereby  causing  the  chains  to  pull  with  equal  tension. 


TNTKRURRAN  CAR  FOR  THE  SCHENECTADY   RAILWAY  COMPANY 


are  of  Hale  &  Kilburn  manufacture.  The  ceiling  is  of  full  Em- 
pire design  and  painted  a  light  green,  with  no  decoration,  the 
effect  of  the  moulding  arrangement  being  considered  more 
pleasing.  Continuous  parcel  racks,  made  of  bronze,  extend 
throughout  the  car  on  both  sides.  Coat  and  hat  hooks  are  also 
furnished,  in  addition  to  register  fixtures,  bell-rope  hangers, 
ventilator  openers,  etc. 

The  interior  finish  is  of  solid  mahogany  throughout,  inlaid 
with  marquetry  work,  the  mouldings  being  plain,  with  rounded 
edges,  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  dust  in  the  depressed  sur- 
faces. The  passenger  compartment  is  illuminated  by  four  four- 
lamp  clusters  of  incandescent  lamps,  while  one  five-lamp  cluster 
serves  to  light  the  smoking  compartment.  Each  cluster  is  en- 
cased by  a  12-in.  Holophane  globe,  with  bronze  trimmings. 
The  platforms  are  each  furnished  with  one  Holophane  globe. 
The  side  curtains  are  of  Pantasote.  The  cars  will  be  heated 
according  to  the  Peter  Smith  hot-water  system,  the  pipes  ex- 
tending along  the  sides  of  the  car  and  the  heater  being  placed 
in  one  end  of  the  smoker. 

The  platforms  are  arranged  on  one  side  of  the  center,  with 
a  partition  for  the  motorman's  cab.  The  cab  in  the  smoker- 
end  contains  a  slate  panel,  on  which  are  placed  all  switches, 
etc.,  all  enclosed  by  a  casing  lined  with  the  H.  W.  Johns-Man- 
ville  Company's  new  fireproofing  material  known  as  "Tran- 
site." The  step-opening  arrangement  in  the  platforms  is  of 
Edwards'  design. 

The  car  exteriors  are  painted  in  the  Schenectady  Railway 
Company's  standard  colors,  the  body  being  maroon,  with  black 
and  nickel  striping,  the  name  of  the  company  appearing  in  large 


The  spindle  end  of  the  roller  is  received  in  a  worm-gear  roller 
bracket,  by  which  the  spring  in  the  roller  can  be  adjusted  as 
desired  without  removing  the  roller  from  the  brackets  or  dis- 
turbing the  finish.  This  is  accomplished  by  inserting  a  socket 
wrench  through  an  opening  provided  in  the  finish  and  engaging 
with  the  end  of  the  worm  projecting  from  the  bracket.  The 
roller  brackets  have  extending  flanges  designed  to  receive  the 
sash  when  raised  to  its  limit,  and  the  sash  is  provided  with 
rubber  buffers  placed  to  strike  against  the  bracket  flange. 

In  this  style  it  is  intended  that  the  roller  shall  be  adjusted 
to  balance  the  sash.  At  each  of  the  two  sides  of  the  window 
a  metal  bar  is  applied  to  the  stop  casings  having  a  bearing  sur- 
face at  an  angle  to  the  inside  surface  of  the  sash.  At  each  of 
the  two  bottom  corners  of  the  sash  a  lock  is  placed  having  a 
beveled  bolt  operated  by  a  pivoted  lever  or  finger  latch,  the 
bevel  bolt  being  normally  held  by  a  spring  against  the  level 
surface  of  the  bar  upon  the  stop  casing,  thereby  wedging  the 
sash  firmly  against  the  outside  stops  at  the  bottom  of  the  win- 
dow with  a  yielding  pressure  which  is  self-adjusting  to  varying 
conditions,  such  as  shrinking  or  swelling  of  the  wood,  and  al- 
ways maintaining  a  tight  joint  at  this  point,  excluding  dust  and 
cinders  from  the  car  and  preventing  any  rattling  or  play  of  the 
sash.  The  stop  bars  have  recesses  near  the  bottom  ends  de- 
signed to  receive  the  bevel  bolts  and  to  lock  the  sash  when  in  a 
closed  position.  The  length  of  the  stop  bars  is  determined  by 
the  raise  of  the  sash  and  the  corresponding  travel  of  the  lock 
bolt  with  which  they  engage. 

At  each  of  the  two  sides  of  the  window  a  roller-bearing  is 
applied  to  the  stop  casings  a  distance  above  the  stop  bars,  ar- 


104 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


ranged  to  bear  against  the  two  top  corners  of  the  sash  when 
the  sash  is  in  a  closed  position,  holding  the  sash  securely  against 
the  outside  stops  at  the  top  of  the  window  with  a  yielding  press- 
ure which  is  self-adjusting  to  varying  conditions,  and  main- 
taining a  tight  joint  at  the  top  of  the  sash.    Weather  stripping 


is 

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Stwt  Ry.Journal 

EXTENSION   PLATFORM  TRAP  DOOR.     DESIGN  S 

is  provided  at  both  the  top  and  bottom  edges  of  the  sash,  ap- 
plied so  as  to  maintain  a  tight  joint  at  these  two  places.  In 
operating  the  sash  the  bevel  bolts  are  withdrawn,  when  the 
sash  is  readily  raised  or  lowered  by  hand,  the  pressure  of  the 
roller-bearing  always  remaining  against  the  sash. 

For  the  vestibules  of  all  the  cars,  the  company's  window  de- 
sign No.  8  is  employed.  In  this  pattern  the  sash  is  connected 
at  its  lower  edge  with  a  spring-roller  sash  balance,  located  be- 
neath the  sill  by  a  linen  band,  the  arrangement  being  such  that 
the  sash  lowers  beneath  the  sill  to  open  the  window.  The 
spring  in  the  roller  is  adjusted  in  the  same  manner  as  in  win- 
dow design  No.  7-B1.  In  this  type  it  is  intended  that  the  roller 
shall  be  adjusted  to  raise  the  sash  automatically,  and  to  close 
the  window  when  the  sash  is  released  and  free  to  move.  The 
two  stop  casings,  which  form  the  finish  at  the  sides  of  the  win- 
dow, are  connected  at  their  lower  ends  by  a  sill  piece,  and  are 
pivoted  at  their  upper  ends,  the  three  pieces  forming  a  pivoted 
frame,  which  is  normally  held  against  the  sash  when  the  win- 
dow is  closed  or  partly  open,  by  two  springs,  one  at  each  side, 
forcing  the  sash  against  the  outer  stops  with  a  pressure  which 
adjusts  itself  to  varying  conditions. 

When  the  window  is  closed  the  sash  rests  upon  the  sill  over 
a  slightly  projecting  ledge.  To  open  the  window,  the  sash  is 
lifted  to  clear  the  ledge  and  the  stop  frame  withdrawn,  when 
the  sash,  by  connection  with  the  spring-roller  sash-lift,  is  drawn 
to  a  position  where  it  can  be  readily  pushed  down  against  the 
stress  of  the  roller  into  the  pocket  beneath  the  sill.  The  con- 
struction is  such  that  the  sill  piece  of  the  pivoted  frame  is  with- 
drawn to  release  the  sash,  which,  when  thus  released,  will  raise 
automatically  by  means  of  the  roller  sash-lift  and  its  connect- 
ing band  to  a  point  where  it  is  only  necessary  to  lift  the  sash 
over  the  projecting  ledge  of  the  sill  to  its  intended  position. 
The  sash  will  be  held  at  any  point  in  a  partly  open  position  by 
pressure  of  the  pivoted  frame.  This  design,  with  varying  con- 
struction, is  especially  adapted  to  all  windows  having  sash 
which  lower  to  open  the  window. 

The  following  is  a  description  of  the  Edwards  type  "S"  trap- 
doors used  on  the  Schenectady  cars : 

The  trap-door  is  attached  to  the  hinge,  being  received  be- 
tween the  flanges,  which  are  screwed  to  the  door  above  and  be- 
neath. The  hinge  is  pivoted  at  its  two  ends  by  brackets  or 
journal  bearings,  one  being  attached  to  the  step  timber,  and 
the  other  to  the  end  of  the  car.    The  door  is  supported  in  a 


closed  position  at  its  opposite  edge  by  a  support  bar  held  by 
brackets  screwed  to  the  platform  and  sill,  openings  being  left 
back  of  the  bar  to  allow  snow  or  other  material  to  fall  through, 
thus  giving  the  door  proper  freedom  to  close.  The  hinge  is 
designed  to  receive  either  two  or  three  flat  spring  bars,  as  the 
weight  of  the  door  may  demand.  These  bars  extend  through- 
out the  length  of  the  hinge,  and  are  held  at  one  end  in  the  hinge 
and  at  the  other  end  in  a  ratchet  wheel  located  in  the  bracket 
or  journal-bearing,  which  is  attached  to  the  end  of  the  car. 
The  ratchet  wheel  is  normally  held  by  a  wedge  piece  inserted 
through  an  opening  in  the  bracket  case  to  engage  the  teeth 
of  the  ratchet  wheel,  and  also  has  a  nut  extending  through  the 
bracket  case  to  adjust  the  torsion  of  the  spring  bars,  it  being 
intended  that  the  springs  shall  be  adjusted  to  open  the  door 
automatically  when  released  by  the  operating  means. 

A  lock  is  located  in  the  front  edge  of  the  door  having  a 
pivoted  bolt  designed  to  engage  with  the  keeper-plate  located 
opposite  in  the  platform  end  sill  to  lock  the  door  in  a  closed 
position.  The  operating  means  to  raise  the  door  embraces 
two  operating  handles,  consisting  of  rods  threaded  at  one  end 
to  screw  into  the  casting,  which  casting  is  received  in  a  recess 
in  the  platform  end  sill,  the  rods  being  fitted  at  the  other  ends 
by  handle  knobs.  One  handle  extending  above  the  platform 
is  held  at  its  upper  end  by  a  bracket  attached  to  the  vestibule 
side  wall,  designed  to  be  operated  within  the  vestibule  above 
the  platform.  The  other  handle,  extending  through  the  end 
sill,  is  designed  to  operate  the  door  from  beneath  the  platform. 
The  casting  to  which  these  two  handles  are  attached  and  which 


Street  Ry. Journal 

PLAN  SHOWING  APPLICATION  OF  WINDOW  FIXTURES. 

is  located  in  a  recess  in  the  platform  end  sill  is  so  designed  that 
by  an  upward  movement  the  lock  bolt  is  first  withdrawn  or 
forced  back  by  the  inclined  surface  of  this  casting  designed  to 
contact  with  the  lock  bolt  to  release  the  door,  and  then,  should 
the  door  stick  or  be  bound  by  the  platform,  the  knocker-end  of 
the  casting  is  brought  in  contact  with  the  bottom  of  the  door 
to  loosen  and  start  the  door  a  sufficient  distance  to  insure  its 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


opening  automatically.  This  arrangement  does  away  with  the 
necessity  of  a  hand-lift  in  the  top  surface  of  the  door.  One- 
eighth  inch  clearance  should  be  provided  between  the  edges  of 
the  door  and  the  platform.  The  trap-door  is  received  upon  its 
one  side  by  a  molded  piece  applied  to  the  vestibule  side  door, 
and  a  molded  piece  is  also  applied  in  a  manner  to  close  the  open- 
ing between  the  trap-door  hinge  and  the  end  of  the  car. 

This  door  is  especially  adapted  and  intended  for  the  needs  of 
vestibuled  street  and  interurban  cars.  The  simplicity  and  ease 
of  appliances  and  maintenance  of  this  door  has  brought  it  into 
general  favor  upon  this  class  of  cars. 


above  that  of  ordinary  operation.  If,  for  example,  the  motor 
has  been  running  at  a  load  of  35  amps,  at  300  volts  for  such  a 
time  that  a  temperature  of  75  deg.  has  been  reached,  it  may 
then  be  operated  for  \y2  hours  at  a  load  requiring  373/2  amps., 


THE  WESTINGHOUSE  NO.  101  RAILWAY  MOTOR 


The  No.  101  railway  motor  has  recently  been  brought  out  by 
the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  to  supply 
the  demand  for  a  motor  of  about  40  hp  nominal  rating.  Under 
usual  conditions  of  operation,  a  double  equipment  of  these  mo- 
tors is  suitable  for  single-truck  cars,  weighing  from  16,000  to 
18,000  lbs.,  without  equipment  or  load,  and  for  double-truck 
cars  of  equal  or  slightly  greater  weight.  A  quadruple  equip- 
ment will,  under  similar  conditions,  successfully  operate  a 
double-truck  car  weighing  approximately  30,000  lbs.,  exclusive 
of  equipment  and  load.  Schedule  and  running  speeds,  fre- 
quency of  stops,  construction  of  track,  grades  and  other  con- 
ditions of  installation  and  operation  must,  of  course,  be  more 
definitely  expressed  before  an  exact  determination  can  be  made. 

The  No.  101  motor,  as  stated,  has  a  nominal  rating  at  500 
volts  of  40  hp  for  one  hour.  The  curves  herewith  indicate 
more  exactly  the  performance  characteristics  of  the  motor  un- 
der the  given  conditions  of  gearing,  load  and  speed.  The  motor 
has  a  continuous  capacity  of  35  amps,  at  300  volts,  or  33  amps, 
at  400  volts.  At  the  close  of  a  shop  run  of  twenty-four  hours' 
duration,  at  either  of  these  loads,  the  rise  in  temperature  of  the 
motor  windings,  as  measured  by  thermometer,  will  not  exceed 
75  deg  C.    When  operated  under  a  running  car,  better  ventila- 


#W  Ry. Motor  -  .",00  Volts!. 
G6ar  Ratio  15.69  -  33"  Wheels 


Continuous  Capacity  35  Amps.  300  Volts 
33     "      400  " 


MOTOR  AND  GEAR  CASE  COMPLETE 

tion  is  usually  secured,  and  the  rise  in  temperature  should  not 
exceed  55  deg.  C.  Heavier  loads  may  be  safely  carried  for 
shorter  periods,  with  corresponding  higher  temperatures,  as 
indicated  by  the  time-temperature  curve,  which  is  based  on  a 
temperature  rise  in  the  interior  of  the  motor  coils  of  20  deg.  C. 


Amperes  street  Ky.jo 

PERFORMANCE  CURVES  OF  NO.  101  RAILWAY  MOTOR 

or  for  one-half  hour  at  a  load  of  50  amps,  with  an  increased 
rise  in  temperature  not  exceeding  20  deg.  C.    These  tempera- 
tures are  well  within  safe  limits,  and  do  not  subject  the  in- 
sulation to   injury  or   rapid  deteriora- 
tion 

The  No.  101  motor  retains  features 
standard  in  Westinghouse  practice,  but 
embodies  modifications  and  improve- 
ments in  design  and  construction  which 
mark  an  advance  over  earlier  types. 
The  frame  consists  of  two  castings  of 
high-grade  steel,  divided  along  a  hori- 
zontal plane,  and  hinged  together  in 
such  a  way  that  on  the  removal  of  the 
bolts  the  lower  field  may  be  opened 
down  either  with  or  without  the  arma- 
ture, and  access  obtained  to  any  part  for 
inspection  or  repair. 

The  motor  field  contains  four  poles 
of  laminated  steel  bolted  to  the  frames 
and  riveted  together  between  end  plates 
of  wrought  iron.  The  holding  bolts 
pass  through  the  frame  from  the  out- 
side and  terminate  in  heavy  rivets  pro- 
vided for  the  purpose.  The  pole  faces 
are  thus  left  smooth  and  with  unbroken 
surface.  The  pole  tips  are  extended 
and  serve  to  hold  the  field  coils  in  place. 

The  coils  are   wound   with  copper 
strap,  insulated  with  asbestos  and  mica, 
and  protected  by  heavy  wrappings  of 
tape.    Flat  steel  springs  between  the  coils  and  frame  prevent 
looseness  due  to  shrinkage.     Protection  against  mechanical 
injury  is  provided  by  leatheroid  washers  and  oiled  duck. 

The  armature  core  is  made  up  of  circular  punchings  of  soft 
steel,  built  up  on  a  cast-iron  spider,  and  secured  between  end 


io6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


plates  of  cast  iron.  The  spider  is  pressed  on  the  motor  shaft 
and  keyed  in  place.  The  armature  coils  are  imbedded  in  rec- 
tangular slots  in  the  core,  and  held  in  place  by  retaining  wedges 


NO  101  RAILWAY  MOTOR,  COMPLETE 

of  hard  fiber.  The  completer  armature  is  14  ins.  in  diameter. 
Wiper  rings  are  pressed  on  the  shaft  outside  the  armature. 
They  prevent  the  introduction  of  oil  within  the  motor  frame. 

The  commutator  is  formed  of  in  hard-drawn  copper  bars, 
built  up  together  upon  a  cast-steel  bushing  and 
pressed  on  and  keyed  to  the  armature  spider.  The 
commutator  face  is  10  ins.  in  diameter  by  4  1-16 
ins.  in  width,  and  presents  a  wearing  depth  of  ap- 
proximately Y\  in. 

The  brush  holders  are  independently  supported 
from  the  upper  frame  and  are  of  the  sliding  type, 
with  shunts.  Each  arm  carries  two  special  brush 
springs  of  flat  phosphor  bronze.  The  shunts  lie 
between  the  pressure  fingers  and  the  arm.  The 
brushes,  two  per  arm,  are  each  l/2  in.  x  1^4  his.  in 
section. 

Solid  sheets  of  cas^iron,  lined  with  babbit  metal 
and  pressed  in  circular  housings  of  cast-iron,  form 
bearings   for  the   armature   shaft.    The  bearing 
housings  are  securely  held  between  the  upper  and 
lower  motor  frames,  and  retained  in  place  by  fin- 
ished flanges  on  the  inner  ends,  which  fit  finished 
surfaces  on  the  frames.    Screw  taps  are  provided 
so  the  housings  may  be  bolted  to  either  frame  and 
the    armature.    The  bearing   houses  contain  oil 
and  waste  reservoirs,  which   extend  around  one 
side  and  below  the  armature  shaft,  and  allow  the 
saturated  waste  to  come  in  contact  with  the  shaft 
through  large  openings  in  the  low-pressure  side  of 
the  bearings.   This  method  of  lubrication  is  similar 
to  that  used  in  car-journal  boxes  on  interurban 
and  steam  roads.    The  ends  of  the  housings  next 
the  armature  are   extended  to   include  the  wiper 
rings  so  that  oil  thrown  off  by  these  rings  or  drip- 
pings from  the  housings  is  drained  directly  into 
separate  wells  in  the  bottom  of  the  housings.  The 
armature-bearing  at  the  commutator  end  is  7  1-16 
ins.  long;  that  at  the  pinion  end  8^  ins.  long.  Both 
are    bored    for    a    shaft    diameter    i>lA    ms-    The  axle 
bearings    consist    of    cast-iron    shells,    divided  horizontally 
and    lined    with    babbit    metal.    They    are    held  between 
projections  from  the  upper  frame  and  caps  of  cast  steel,  which 
are  bolted  to  these  projections.    These  caps  may  be  taken  off 
and  axle  and  wheels  removed  without  disturbing  motor  or  sus- 
pension.   The  axle  bearings  are  8  ins.  in  length  and  may  be 
made  for  any  shaft  diameter  not  exceeding  5  ins.  Lubrication 


is  obtained  by  the  use  of  oil  and  waste,  as  in  the  armature 
bearings.  A  large  reservoir,  with  an  opening  through  the  up- 
per frame,  is  located  in  the  axle  cap  behind  each  bearing,  and 
feeds  the  axle  through  an  opening  in  the 
lower  half  of  the  bearing. 

Lugs  cast  solid  with  the  upper  frame 
provide  for  suspension  from  the  trucks 
by  means  of  bars  set  parallel  with  the 
motor  shaft. 

A  forged  steel  pinion,  with  machine- 
cut  teeth,  is  keyed  to  the  shaft  and  held 
upon  its  seat  by  a  nut  and  lock- 
washer.  The  gear  is  made  of  cast-steel 
in  two  parts,  which  are  bolted  together 
and  keyed  to  the  axle.  The  face  is  5  ins. 
wide.  Gear  ratios  of  15  :6a.  to  26:58  may 
be  used;  15:69,  18:66  and  22:62  are 
standard. 

The  gear  is  made  of  malleable  iron  in 
two  castings,  which  are  secured  at  front 
and  back  to  the  upper  half  of  the  motor 
frame  by  bolts  which  pass  through  lugs 
on  each  half  of  the  gear  case  and  the  ex- 
tension from  the  motor  frame  shown  in  the  illustrations.  The 
gears  may  be  run  in  nil. 

The  diagram  on  the  previous  page  gives  the  performance 
curves  of  the  motor  with  a  gear  ratio  of  15  :6o  and  33-in.  wheels. 


MOTOR  OPEN,  SHOWING  ARMATURE 

The  weights  of  the  No.  101  motor  are  approximately  as  fol- 
lows:  Motor  alone,  2315  lbs.;  motor  complete  with  gears  and 
gear  case,  2645  lbs. ;  armature  complete  with  commutator  and 
shaft,  593  lbs.  A  complete  double  equipment,  including  two 
motors,  two  controllers  and  the  usual  details  will  weigh,  ap- 
proximately, 6430  lbs.  A  corresponding  equipment  of  four 
motors,  two  controllers,  etc.,  will  weigh,  approximately,  12,160 
lbs. 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


NEW  TYPE  OF  TRUCK  FOR  KANSAS  CITY 


The  St.  Louis  Car  Company  is  now  turning  out  a  new  de- 
sign of  truck  for  use  under  the  cars  which  it  is  supplying  to  the 
Kansas  City  Railway  &  Light  Company.-  This  truck  is  built 
along  the  same  lines  as  the  previous  No.  47  trucks,  but  it  has 
heavier  frames,  and  instead  of  the  swinging  link  brake-shoe 
hangers  used  on  the  No.  47  truck,  the  new  No.  47-A  truck  has 


HEAVY  TRUCK,  WITH  SLIDING  BRAKE  BEAMS,  USED  IN 
KANSAS  CITY 


sliding  brake  beams.  The  latter  are  well  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying illustration.  The  space  occupied  by  the  beams  is  di- 
rectly under  the  spring  plank.  The  entire  arrangement  is 
very  compact  and  substantial.  Flat  kick-off  springs  are  em- 
ployed for  releasing  the  brakes.  The  truck  is  made  to  receive 
two  G.  E.  57  motors,  outside  hung.  The  axles  are  5  ins.  in 
diameter  and  the  standard  Master  Car  Builders'  wheel  tread  is 
used,  that  tread  having  been  adopted  as  standard  in  Kansas 
City. 



AN  INTERESTING  EXCURSION  CAR  FOR  TEXARKANA 

The  Texarkana  Light  &  Traction  Company,  of  Texarkana, 
Tex.,  has  lately  received  from  the  American  Car  Company  the 
interesting  type  of  summer  excursion  car  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying illustration.  The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  last  year 
built  a  number  of  cars  somewhat  similar,  the  difference  being 
that  they  were  provided  with  awnings,  the  seats  extended  all 
the  way  across,  and  a  running-board  on  one  side  gave  entrance 
to  each  bench.  In  England  there  are  cars  like  the  type  illus- 
trated, which  have  been  in  use  for  the  past  year  or  two  at 


ROOFLESS  EXCURSION  CAR  FOR  TEXARKANA,  TEX. 


watering  places,  and  have  proved  very  popular.  The  English 
are  accustomed  In  riding  in  the  open  mi  double-deck  cars,  and 
therefore  take  kindly  to  an  arrangement  such  as  this. 

As  the  car  is  carried  on  high-speed  trucks,  the  seats  are  en- 
closed with  railings  for  safety,  and  entrance  only  at  the  ends. 
The  advantage  of  such  a  car  is,  of  course,  that  it  provides  at 
smaller  expense  a  means  of  carrying  the  crowds,  which  on 
fair  days  flock  to  the  parks.  As  the  illustration  shows,  the  car 
is  very  stanchly  built,  including  heavy  trusses  and  sill  plates, 


and  strong  braces  on  the  inside  of  the  panels;  the  side  sills  are 
4^4  ins.  x  7^4  ins.,  with  8-in.  x  s^-in.  sill  plates  on  the  outside. 
The  length  over  the  crown  pieces  is  41  ft.  6  ins. ;  the  width 
over  sills  and  plates,  8  ft.  6  in.  The  length  of  the  seats  is  36  ins. 
and  the  width  of  aisle,  24  ins.  The  heights  of  the  steps  is  re- 
spectively 16%  ins.,  11  ins.  and  11  ins.  The  trolley  board  is 
firmly  supported  by  continuing  three  of  the  tubular  posts  at 
the  center  of  the  car  and  arching  them  at  the  proper  height. 
The  seats  are  composed  of  ash  slats,  with  open  spindle  backs ; 
the  seating  capacity  is  fifty-two.  The  car  is  equipped  with 
American  Car  Company's  sand-boxes,  Brill  angle-iron  bumpers 
and  ratchet  brake  handles. 

♦  ♦♦ 

FINE  CARS  FOR  ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J, 

The  West  Jersey  &  Seashore  Railroad  Company,  of  Atlantic 
City,  which  is  owned  and  operated  by  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road, has  lately  placed  in  commission  twenty  semi-convertible 
cars,  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  The  lines  on  which 
these  cars  are  to  be  operated  extend  from  what  is  known  as 
the  Inlet,  at  the  north  end  of  the  city,  to  Longport,  several 
miles  to  the  south,  and  run  for  a  distance  of  9  miles  close  to 
the  beach.  The  route  is  exceedingly  attractive,  and  the  cars 
are  largely  used  by  those  who  ride  for  pleasure.  The  low  sides 
of  the  cars  give  them  a  very  light  and  airy  appearance  when 


DOUBLE  VESTIBULE  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR  OPERATED  IN 
ATLANTIC  CITY,  N.  J. 

the  window  sashes  are  raised  into  the  r$©f  pockets.  The  car 
in  the  illustration  has  a  number  of  windows  raised  to  different 
heights,  showing  that  passengers  may  have  as  little  or  as  much 
air  as  they  please.  The  window  sills  are  24^  ins.  from  the 
floor  and  have  the  builder's  patented  arm-rest,  which  adds  con- 
siderably to  the  comfort  of  passengers  and  does  not  interfere 
with  the  window  locks.  Seats  accommodating  four  passengers 
each  are  placed  longitudinally  at  the  corners ;  the  rest  of  the 
seats  are  36  ins.  long,  with  the  aisles  22  ins.  wide.  Mahogany 
ornamented  with  marquetry  comprise  the  interior  finish,  with 
ceilings  painted  light  green  and  striped  with  gold. 

The  cars  measure  30  ft.  8  ins.  over  the  body,  and  40  ft.  1  in. 
over  the  vestibules;  from  end  panels  over  vestibules,  4  ft.  8^2 
ins. :  width  over  the  sills,  7  ft.  ioLj  ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at 
belc,  8  ft.  2  ins. ;  sweep  of  posts,  1^4  ins. ;  the  side  sills,  of  long- 
leaf  yellow  pine,  are  4  ins.  x  734  ins.,  with  12-in.  x  ^-in.  plates 
on  the  inside,  which  take  the  place  of  upper  and  lower  trusses; 
the  end  sills,  of  white  oak,  are  5I4  ins.  x  6%  ins.;  the  stringers 
are  3} A  ins.  x  4J4  ins.,  re-enforced  with  4-in.  x  3-in.  angle-iron. 
The  thickness  of  the  corner-posts  is  334  ins.  and  of  the  side- 
posts,  3'J4  ins.  The  angle-iron  bumpers,  draw-bars,  brake 
handles,  platform  and  conductors'  gongs,  etc.,  are  of  the  build- 
er's manufacture.  The  trucks  are  Brill  27-G-1,  equipped  with 
two  40-hp  motors.  The  cars  are  framed  for  four  motors,  hut 
two  only  are  used  at  present,  both  on  the  rear  trucks.  The 
weight  of  a  car  and  trucks,  with  motors  and  controller,  is 
34,200  lbs. 

The  Toledo  &  Western  Railway  Company  has  been  awarded 
a  contra:!  for  carrying  United  States  mail  between  Toledo  and 
Pioneer.  A  special  compartment  ear  will  he  fitted  up  and 
mail  will  be  distributed  at  all  the  intermediate  towns. 


io8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


THE  RUST  WATER-TUBE  BOILER 


Although  the  Rust  water-tube  boiler  has  been  before  the  en- 
gineering public  only  a  short  time,  it  has  already  been  adopted 
by  several  important  power  plants,  and  a  description  of  its  prin- 
cipal features  should  therefore  prove  of  interest.  This  boiler 
was  designed  by  E.  G.  Rust,  formerly  chief  engineer  and  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  Colorado  Fuel  &  Iron  Company,  and 
was  first  placed  in  service  in  the  Minnequa  Steel  Works  of  that 
company.  It  is  now  being  manufactured  by  the  Rust  Boiler 
Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

While  investigating  the  question  of  boilers  with  a  view  to 
equipping  a  number  of  important  steam  plants,  Mr.  Rust  be- 
came strongly  convinced  that  there  was  no  boiler  obtainable 
which  would  prove  a  safe  and  economical  steam  generator  and 
be  easy  to  clean  and  repair.  This  conviction  induced  him  to 
undertake  the  design  of  a  water-tube  boiler  that  would  be  free 


FIGS.  1  AND  2.— SHOWING  TWO  COM- 
MON METHODS  OF  CONNECTING 
TUBES  TO  DRUMS 


FIG.  3.— RUST  CONSTRUCTION  FOR  WATER 
TUBE  BOILERS,  EMBRACING  THE  USE 
OF  CYLINDRICAL  DRUMS  WITHOUT 
FLAT  SURFACES  OR  BENT  TUBES 


from  the  disadvantages  possessed  by  other  boilers,  such  as  flat 
surfaces  requiring  staying;  construction  in  which  it  is  frequent- 
ly found  necessary  to  cut  out  good  tubes  to  replace  defective 
ones ;  curved  tubes  which  render  difficult  or  even  impossible 
the  removal  of  scale  and  make  it  necessary  to  keep  on  hand 
for  repairs  a  multitude  of  tubes  of  different  shapes  and  lengths ; 
horizontal  tubes,  or  tubes  slightly  inclined  to  the  horizontal, 
which  allow  scale  and  mud  to  lodge  in  the  bottom  of  the  tubes, 


tion  of  the  drums.  It  is  the  use  of  this  tube  sheet  that  makes 
possible  the  best  construction  for  water-proof  boilers,  namely, 
cylindrical  drums  without  flat  surfaces  or  bent  tubes.  The  con- 
struction of  this  sheet  is  clearly  shown  in  the  accompanying 
cuts,  Fig.  3  and  Fig.  4. 

This  tube  sheet  is  formed  by  heating  the  flat  plate  to  the 
proper  temperature,  then  pressing  in  a  hydraulic  press  fitted 
with  dies  especially  constructed  for  that  purpose,  the  pressing 
being  done  at  one  operation.  An  important  feature  of  the  con- 
struction of  these  tube  sheets  is  that  between  each  pressed-up 
portion  and  those  adjacent,  there  remain  undisturbed  cylindrical 
portions  or  belts  of  the  original  surface  of  the  drum.  This 
construction  provides  a  drum  in  which  bent  tubes  or  stayed 
surfaces  are  not  necessary,  and  which  at  the  same  time  is  in 
every  way  as  strong  and  reliable  as  those  in  which  it  is  neces- 
sary for  the  tubes  to  enter  radially. 

This  pressed  tube  sheet  is  considered  by  the  designer  to  mark 
a  great  advance  in  boiler  construction.    Aside  from  this,  the 
Rust  boiler  in  its  fundamental  principles  of  construction  and 
operation  is  in  no  wise  a  radical  departure  from  old  and  well- 
established  types.    It  is  believed  that  through  the  development 
of  this  tube  sheet  there  have  been  em- 
bodied in  this  boiler  the  best  features  of 
older  boilers,  while  their  defects  have 
been  eliminated. 

The  boiler  proper  consists  of  two 
steam  and  water  drums,  two  mud  drums 
and  an  auxiliary  drum,  each  steam  and 
water  drum  being  placed  directly  above 
a  mud  drum  and  connected  with  the 
same  by  a  bank  of  straight  vertical  tubes, 
the  two  mud  drums  being  connected  by  a 
row  of  tubes.  The  auxiliary  drum  is 
placed  above  and  between  the  mud 
drums  and  is  connected  to  one  of  them 
by  a  row  of  short  tubes  and.  to  a  series  of  small 
headers  by  a  bank  of  straight  vertical  tubes.  These  headers 
are  placed  between  the  steam  and  water  drums  and  connected 
with  the  same  by  short  straight  tubes  or  nipples.  Each  drum 
is  fitted  with  a  pressed  tube  sheet,  which  has  already  been  de- 
scribed. 

The  holes  for  the  tubes  forming  the  main  banks  are  so  spaced 
that  the  tubes  are  staggered — that  is,  the  two  inner  rows  are 


#  ® 


FIG.  4.— AUXILIARY  DRUM  FITTED  WITH  PRESSED  TUBE  SHEET 


causing  them  to  burn  out;  a  multitude  of  hand-pole  plates  to  be 
removed  and  replaced  with  every  cleaning;  excessively  thick 
metal  in  heating  surfaces ;  short  and  too  direct  path  for  flames 
and  hot  gases,  thereby  not  allowing  sufficient  time  for  contact 
with  heating  surfaces,  and  consequently  resulting  in  high  chim- 
ney temperature  and  low  efficiency;  lower  drums  subject  to 
corrosive  action  on  the  outside,  due  to  being  built  up  closely 
into  brickwork  of  setting  and  bridge  wall. 

The  most  novel  and  characteristic  feature  in  connection 
with  this  boiler  is  the  special  tube  sheet  used  in  the  construc- 


placed  on  a  line  between  the  tubes  of  the  outside  rows,  thereby 
securing  a  more  complete  exposure  to  the  hot  gases,  which,  in 
order  to  reach  the  chimney,  are  forced  to  completely  surround 
and  envelop  the  tubes. 

The  spacing  of  these  tubes  is  such  as  to  leave  room  enough 
between  the  tubes  of  the  outside  rows  to.  remove  the  tubes  of 
the  inner  rows,  thus  making  it  a  simple  operation  to  remove 
and  replace  any  tube  without  disturbing  any  other  tube  or  any 
of  the  brick  work.  After  a  defective  tube  has  been  removed 
from  the  bank,  it  is  passed  out  through  doors  placed  in  the  side 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


109 


of  the  setting  for  that  purpose.  By  the  introduction  of  the  aux- 
iliary drum  and  central  bank  of  tubes,  the  space  necessarily  left 
between  the  main  banks  of  tubes  is  so  utilized  as  to  secure  a 
serviceable  and  convenient  support  for  the  baffle  wall,  the  tiles 
forming  which  are  placed  between  and  supported  by  the  rows 
of  tubes  forming  this  bank,  and  owing  to  the  consequent  in- 
creased heating  surface  a  boiler  of  larger  capacity  results  with- 
out additional  floor  space,  fittings  or  cost  of  setting. 

The  boilers  are  made  right  and  left  hand,  and  are  arranged 
to  be  set  singly  or  in  batteries  of  two.  Each  drum  is  provided 
with  a  manhole  in  one  end  to  permit  of  access  to  the  interior 
of  the  drum,  and  in  the  top  of  each  header  there  is  an  oblong 
hand-hole  through  which  to  reach  the  interior  of  the  tubes  of 
the  central  bank. 

The  steam  spaces  of  the  steam  drums  are  connected  by  cross- 
pipes  of  liberal  dimensions.  On  top  of  each  is  an  outlet,  on 
which  is  placed  a  safety  valve.  The  steam  outlet  is  placed  on 
top  of  and  at  the  center  of  the  rear  steam  and  water  drum. 

The  boiler  is  supported  by  four  large  cast-iron  saddles  rest- 
ing on  masonry  foundations,  one  saddle  being  placed  under  each 


SECTIONAL  VIEW  OF  BOILER 

end  of  each  mud  drum,  the  saddles  under  one  of  the  drums  being 
placed  on  rollers  so  as  to  permit  of  any  slight  movement  that 
may  be  necessary  on  account  of  expansion. 

By  referring  to  the  sectional  view  of  the  boiler  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  top  of  the  central  baffle  wall  is  far  enough 
below  the  headers  to  leave  sufficient  space  for  the  products  of 
combustion  to  pass  from  the  front  to  the  rear  bank  of  tubes. 
It  will  also  be  observed  that  there  are  horizontal  baffles  or 
bracket  tiles  which  project  from  this  central  baffled  wall,  and 
which  serve  to  deflect  the  current  of  hot  gases  so  as  to  force 
them  toward  and  between  the  tubes  of  the  main  banks. 

The  setting  does  not  require  any  special  shapes  of  brick;  is 
symmetrical  and  durable,  and  is  firmly  bound  together  by  buck- 
stays,  rods  and  angle  binders  at  the  corners.  At  the  top  of  the 
setting  and  bolted  to  the  corner  binders  is  placed  a  box-shaped 
frame  made  up  of  channels  and  plates,  which  furnishes  a  rigid 
support  for  the  breeching  and  stack,  and  also  serves  to  firmly 
bind  the  brickwork  at  the  top  of  the  setting,  and  at  the  same 
time  results  in  a  neat  finish. 

On  one  side  of  the  setting,  near  the  top,  are  placed  four  small 
doors,  which  furnish  access  to  the  interior  of  the  brickwork, 


and  through  which  the  tubes  are  passed  in  and  out  when  re- 
placements become  necessary.  Doors  with  small  self-closing 
openings,  through  which  to  insert  a  hose  for  blowing  off  the 
top  of  the  tube  sheets,  are  placed  near  the  bottom  of  the  set- 
ting, and  other  doors  are  furnished  for  securing  access  to  the 
interior  of  the  setting  and  for  blowing  deposits  from  the  ex- 
terior of  tubes. 

Over  each  steam  and  water  drum  and  a  little  above  it  is 
placed  a  light  steel  arch,  which  serves  as  a  center  to  support 
the  brick  arches  over  the  drum  during  construction,  and  makes 
an  air-tight  covering  for  the  setting.  These  arches  are  placed 
sufficiently  above  the  drums  to  permit  all  possible  upward  ex- 
pansion of  the  boiler,  without  interfering  with  the  brick  cover- 
ing. Between  the  two  arches  are  placed  doors  through  which 
access  is  given  to  the  headers. 

Other  very  desirable  features  of  the  setting  are  its  ready 
adaptability  to  an  underground  flue  connection  without  the  use 
of  any  pipe  or  plate  work,  and  its  adaptability  for  the  use  of 
waste  gases  from  blast  furnace  and  heating  or  puddling  fur- 
naces. 

The  furnace  is  of  the  exterior  type,  which  experience  has 
proved  to  give  the  best  results,  being  convenient  and  of  ample 
capacity,  allowing  proper  admixture  of  air  and  fuel  and  com- 
plete combustion  before  the  gases  reach  the  cooling  influence 
of  the  heating  surfaces.  The  brick  arch  also  retains  sufficient 
heat  to  tend  to  preserve  a  uniform  temperature  in  the  furnace. 
This  type  of  furnace  permits  the  ready  adjustment  of  grate  area 
to  suit  any  kind  of  fuel,  and  the  application  of  any  style  of  grate 
bar  or  stoker.  The  ratio  of  heating  surface  to  grate  area  is 
such  as  to  give  the  best  results  under  average  conditions,  but 
may  readily  be  proportioned  to  suit  the  kind  of  fuel  to  be  used. 
The  front  is  of  cast-iron  of  ornamental  design,  surmounted 
with  a  bracket  in  the  center  for  supporting  the  steam  gage, 
and  is  so  arranged  as  to  permit  the  application  of  gas  burners 
or  any  form  of  stoker. 

Rust  boilers  were  first  used  in  Western  plants,  which  use 
coal  containing  a  high  percentage  of  volatile  matter  and  mois- 
ture. During  a  test,  one  of  these  boilers,  rated  at  200  hp,  de- 
veloped over  400  hp  in  evaporation,  furnishing  dry  steam  and 
showing  a  boiler  efficiency  of  over  67  per  cent  and  an  average 
temperature  of  escaping  gas  of  only  545  degs.  F.  The  same 
boiler  on  another  test,  running  slightly  over  its  rated  capacity, 
employing  an  inexperienced  fireman,  and  using  low-grade 
Western  bituminous  coal,  evaporated  10.4  lbs.  of  water  per 
pound  of  combustible  and  maintained  a  boiler  efficiency  of  over 
70  per  cent. 



The  Grand  Rapids  Railway  Company,  of  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich.,  has  just  issued  a  new  resort  book  for  distribution  in 
that  city  and  in  towns  within  a  radius  of  75  and  100  miles  of 
the  city.  The  book  was  designed  by  Arthur  W.  Jordan,  of  the 
company,  and  to  say  the  least  is  exquisitely  done.  The  title 
is  "What  Mr.  Sueji  Miyamori  Saw  in  Grand  Rapids,"  and  the 
narrative  describing  the  various  local  resorts  is  by  Mr.  Miya- 
mori, a  Japanese  student  in  the  University  of  Chicago,  who 
inspected  the  resorts  last  summer  in  connection  with  the  pre- 
paring of  the  book.  His  narrative  is  bright,  novel  and  read- 
able, and  he  draws  some  interesting  comparisons  between  Jap- 
anese and  the  local  resorts.  The  book  also  contains  a  picture 
of  the  young  Japanese.  It  is  profusely  and  handsomely 
illustrated  with  numerous  half-tones  of  scenes  at  the  local 
resorts  and  in  addition  contains  two  fine  illustrations  in  colors'. 
One  of  these  is  of  the  entrance  at  John  Ball  Park,  with  the 
Spanish  trophy  cannon,  and  gives  a  view  of  flower  beds  and 
foliage  done  in  colors.  The  other,  an  equally  artistic  produc- 
tion, is  a  view  of  the  car  landing  at  Reed's  Lake.  The  last  il- 
lustration is  of  a  neatly  drawn  female  figure  representing  Miss 
Grand  Rapids.  Illustrations  of  the  various  lake  attractions 
are  also  shown. 


I  10 


STREET  RAILWAY*  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


FORGED  STEEL  TRUCK 


THE  NILES-BEMENT-POND  COMPANY  AT  THE  ST.  LOUIS 

FAIR 


The  accompanying  illustrations  show  a  new  type  of  short- 
wheel-base  truck,  a  pair  of  which  have  recently  been  placed  in 
service  on  the  Worcester  &  Webster  division  of  the  Consoli- 
dated Railway  Company.  The  trucks  were  designed  by  W.  G. 
Price  and  were  constructed  by  the  Standard  Steel  Car  Com- 


SHOKX  WHEEL-BASE  OE  FORGED  STEEL  TRUCK 

pany,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  They  are  somewhat  similar  in  design 
to  those  described  in  the  issue  of  June  25,  1904. 

One  feature  of  special  interest  is  the  use  of  equalizer  bars  in 
a  short  wheel-base  truck  having  the  motors  suspended  outside 
of  the  wheel  base.  The  equalizer  springs  are  located  between 
the  equalizer  bars  and  close  to  the  side  of  the  journal  boxes. 
The  brake-shoes  are  hung  from  brackets,  which  are  secured  to 
the  equalizer  bars  so  that  the  shoes  retain  a  fixed  height  on 
the  wheels.  The  journal  boxes  and  bearings  are  of  the  forked 
check-plate  type.  The  boxes  are  planed  inside  to  one  exact 
width,  and  the  bearings  are  planed  to  a  width  1-32  in.  less  than 
the  boxes.  Although  the  bearings  are  fitted  so  closely  to  the 
boxes,  the  construction  is  such  that  they  have  ample  move- 
ment required  to  prevent  binding  and  heating.    The  boxes  are 


DOUBLE-TRUCK  CAR  ON  WORCESTER  WEBSTER  DIVISION  OE 
THE  CONSOLIDATED  RAILWAY  COMPANY 

rigidly  connected  by  the  equalizer  bars,  so  that  when  the  brakes 
are  applied  the  journal  boxes  are  not  forced  against  the  pedes- 
tals. The  rigid  connecting  of  the  journal  boxes  increases  the 
efficiency  of  the  brakes  and  greatly  reduces  the  amount  of  air 
required  to  operate  them  and  the  amount  of  wearing  away  of 
the  metal  between  the  boxes  and  pedestals. 

All  parts  which  have  to  withstand  a  tensile  strain  are  made 
of  rolled  open-hearth  steel,  without  welds,  and  are  pressed  to 
the  required  forms.  All  castings,  except  the  wheels  and  brake- 
shoes,  are  of  malleable  iron.  The  king-pin  is  screwed  into  a  nut 
in  the  bolster,  and  the  bolster  is  secured  to  the  transoms,  so 
that  the  car  body  can  not  tip  off  from  the  trucks.  The  bolster 
is  carried  by  swinging  hangers.  The  wheels  are  30  ins.  in 
diameter.  The  wheel  base  is  4  ins.  x  3  ins.  The  elliptic  bolster 
spring  is  double,  4  ins.  x  34  ins.,  with  four  leaves. 


One  of  the  finest  machinery  exhibits  at  the  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase Exposition  is  that  of  the  Niles-Bement-Pond  Company, 
of  New  York.  The  machine-tool  exhibit  is  located  in  sections 
17  and  25,  of  the  Palace  of  Machinery.  All  machines  exhibited 
are  either  of  entirely  new  designs  or  embody  radical  modifica- 
tions of  older  patterns,  and  are  well  worth  the 
careful  study  of  all  machine  users.  All  of  the 
larger  machines  are  driven  by  direct-connected 
motors.  Among  the  many  interesting  tools  shown 
are  a  No.  3  12-in.  double  axle  lathe;  an  80-in. 
extra  heavy  driving-wheel  lathe ;  a  lathe  de- 
signed for  trimming  or  truing  up  two  car  wheels 
of  42  ins.  or  smaller  diameter  at  the  same  time, 
without  removing  from  the  axles ;  rapid-reduc- 
tion lathes ;  turret  lathes  ;  forge  planer ;  milling, 
slotting,  shaping,  boring  and  drilling  machines ; 
hydraulic  riveters,  steam-hammer,  etc. 

In  addition  to  the  general  exhibit  in  Machinery 
Hall,  a  number  of  the  company's  machines  are 
shown  in  the  Electrical  Building  in  the  exhibits  of  various 
manufacturers  of  electrical  apparatus.  The  company  has  also 
equipped  the  Official  Machine  Shop  at  the  Exposition,  where  its 
machines  may  be  seen  in  commercial  operation. 

The  Pratt  &  Whitney  Company  will  also  exhibit  a  large  num- 
ber of  entirely  new  machines,  all  of  which  are  extremely  inter- 
esting. 

 ♦♦♦  


EXHIBIT  OF  THE  PHOTOSCOPE  COMPANY 


The  St.  Louis  headquarters  of  the  Photoscope  Company,  of 
New  York,  makers  of  the  well-known  nickel-in-the-slot  photo- 
graphing device  called  the  "Photoscope,"  will  be  found  in  the 
Liberal  Arts  Building,  where  visitors  can  secure  information 


PHOTOSCOPE  COMPANY'S  BOOTH  IN  THE  LIBERAL  ARTS 
BUILDING 

booklets  and  examine  the  products  of  the  machine.  The  com- 
pany, however,  has  not  confined  itself  to  merely  exhibiting  this 
machine,  for  about  seventy-five  are  in  active  service  throughout 
the  Exposition  grounds.  Seventy  more  are  to  be  shipped  there 
within  a  month. 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


1 1 1 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 


Wall  Street,  July  13,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

Nothing  of  note  has  developed  in  the  money  situation  during  the 
past  week.  It  is  taken  for  granted  by  all  authorities  that  there  will 
be  no  change  from  the  present  very  low  rates  until  the  super- 
abundant bank  reserves  begin  to  be  drawn  down  for  the  autumn 
crop-moving  purposes.  The  movement  of  currency  inward  from 
the  interior  has  fallen  off  somewhat,  but  the  weekly  gain  is  still 
considerably  larger  than  at  the  corresponding  period  of  previous 
years.  Last  week,  as  was  the  case  in  the  preceding  weeks,  the 
increase  in  cash  holdings  was  offset  by  expansion  in  loans,  and 
the  surplus  reserve  as  a  result  remained  stationary.  People  have 
ceased  to  regard  the  heavy  loan  account  as  a  serious  matter,  now 
that  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  the  enlargement  during  the 
past  twelve  months  is  entirely  due  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  trust 
companies  from  the  market  and  the  assumption  by  the  Clearing- 
House  banks  of  a  large  share  of  the  credits  formerly  carried  by 
these  institutions.  It  is  rather  surprising  that  the  starting  up  of 
activity  again  upon  the  Stock  Exchange  should  not  have  caused 
a  greater  loan  expansion  during  the  past  month  than  has  actually 
taken  place.  The  fact  at  least  is  established  that  borrowing  for 
new  security  syndicates  is  over  for  the  time  being,  and  conse- 
quently that  the  principal  demand  for  new  accommodations  has 
been  exhausted.  At  any  other  season  of  the  year  the  present 
conditions  would  probably  result  in  our  sending  gold  to  Europe. 
As  it  is  now,  however,  the  foreign  money  markets  themselves  are 
extremely  easy  and  there  is  not  enough  activity  in  any  quarter 
abroad  to  call  for  a  transfer  of  capital  for  the  purpose  of  equaliz- 
ing interest  rates.  Moreover,  Europe  is  preparing  to  make  pay- 
ment for  the  usual  heavy  purchases  of  American  cotton  and  food 
products,  which  occur  in  the  autumn  months,  and  would  there- 
fore not  be  disposed  to  incur  further  obligations  simply  because 
our  market  was  in  shape  to  extend  them.  The  situation  is  re- 
flected in  the  refusal  of  sterling  exchange  to  move  toward  the 
export  point,  rates  being,  if  anything,  a  trifle  lower  than  they 
were  a  fortnight  ago.  Call  money  on  the  Stock  Exchange  com- 
mands only  nominal  figures,  the  bulk  of  the  business  being  done 
at  1  to  l%  per  cent.  For  time  money  2^  per  cent  is  the  ruling 
rate  for  sixty-day  loans,  2}i  for  three  months,  and  3r<  per  cent 
for  six  months. 

The  Stock  Harket 

This  has  been  the  busiest  week  that  the  Stock  Exchange  has 
known  for  some  time,  both  in  respect  to  the  volume  of  transactions 
and  the  movement  of  prices.  All  the  active  issues  have  advanced 
sharply,  and  while  there  has  been  no  great  amount  of  what  might 
be  called  outside  buying,  the  absorption  of  securities  from  important 
Wall  Street  sources  has  been  heavy  and  persistent.  It  is  not  correct 
to  attribute  the  cheerful  feeling  in  Wall  Street  and  the  improve- 
ment in  the  market  to  any  single  cause.  Two  circumstances  have 
exerted  greater  influence  than  anything  else — the  excellent  crop  out- 
look on  the  one  hand,  and  the  disappearance  of  the  chief  reason 
for  uncertainty  and  anxiety  over  the  presidential  election,  on  the 
other  hand.  Neither  of  these  matters  by  itself  would  have  been 
sufficiently  powerful  to  induce  the  change  that  has  developed,  but 
in  combination  they  clearly  enough  account  for  the  improvement 
that  has  taken  place.  The  facts  concerning  the  crops  as  brought 
out  in  Monday's  monthly  government  report  and  in  the  weekly 
weather  bulletins  are  these :  The  outlook  for  corn  is  decidedly 
more  favorable  than  it  usually  is  at  this  time  of  the  year.  The 
crop  will  probably  not  reach  the  record  total  of  1902,  but  barring 
sonic  great  mischance  between  now  and  harvest  time  it  will  be  well 
above  the  average.  Spring  wheat  promises  a  somewhat  larger  yield 
than  usual ;  winter  wheat,  which  has  suffered  considerably  from  ex- 
cessive rainfall  and  floods,  will  be  relatively  a  short  crop.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  the  yield  of  wheat  will  probably  fall  below  last  year, 
but  not  to  an  extent  sufficient  to  be  regarded  very  seriously.  Cot- 
ton, unless  all  signs  fail,  will  lie  the  banner  harvest  next  autumn, 
the  present  estimates  of  acreage  and  condition  indicating  the  largest 
production  in  the  history  of  the  country.  This  situation  alone 
suffices  to  explain  a  great  deal  of  the  active  buying  which  has  con- 
verged upon  the  active  railroad  shares.  But  it  admits  of  no  doubt 
thai  the  developments  at  Si.  Louis,  confirming,  as  they  do,  the 
final  suppression  of  the  radical  elements  of  (he  Democratic  party. 


which,  for  the  last  eight  years  have  been  a  constant  dread  to  busi- 
ness interests,  have  added  a  powerful  incentive  to  the  purchasing 
movement. 

The  local  traction  shares  have  moved  forward  with  the  rest  of 
the  list,  but  have  scarcely  taken  their  proportionate  part  in  the 
week's  advance.  In  the  case  of  Metropolitan  the  indications  arc 
that  the  speculators  who  bought  the  stock  for  a  rise  ten  days  ago 
have  taken  advantage  of  the  general  strength  to  secure  some  of  their 
profits.  These  realizing  sales  have  been  sufficiently  heavy  to  hold 
the  Metropolitan  issues  in  check.  The  backwardness  of  these  shares 
has  had  some  effect,  sympathetically,  011  the  market  for  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit,  although  a  further  reason  for  the  sluggishness  in 
this  stock  is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  unreadiness  of  the  inside 
party  to  take  an  active  hand  in  the  speculation.  Manhattan  has 
made  the  best  showing  among  the  tractions  in  point  of  advance, 
reaching  the  highest  figures  of  the  season  during  the  week.  The 
rise  in  this  quarter  has  been  largely  influenced  by  the  sharp  ad- 
vance in  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  shares  on  the  curb. 

Philadelphia 

New  high  records  for  the  season  have  been  made  in  several  in- 
stances in  the  week's  Philadelphia  dealings.  Union  Traction  is  up 
from  52*4  to  531/?,  and  Philadelphia  Traction  from  98  to  98' 4 — the 
best  prices  that  either  has  made  in  a  long  while  past.  Beginning 
with  July  1,  Union  Traction  goes  from  a  3!/>  to  a  4  per  cent  dividend 
basis  under  the  graduated  advance  system  agreed  upon  at  the  time 
the  properly  was  taken  over  by  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 
Company.  Rapid  Transit  shares  have  not  joined  in  the  general 
improvement,  owing  to  the  dissatisfied  view  taken  of  recent  earn- 
ings. Several  hundred  sold  during  the  week  at  a  decline  from  12 
to  11^4.  Philadelphia  Company  common,  without  gaining  much, 
was  firm  between  39  and  39^,  and  the  preferred  was  dealt  in  at  45. 
Philadelphia  Electric  was  heavy  around  6.  One  hundred  and 
twenty  Fairmount  Transportation  went  at  20,  a  trifle  up  from  the 
last  previous  sale.  American  Railways  rose  fractionally  to  45-)4- 
Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey,  on  sales  of  about  800  shares, 
reacted  from  67%  to  67.  One  hundred  Reading  Traction  sold  at  32, 
forty-five  shares  of  Railways  General  at  i^s  to  1,  and  ten  Pittsburg 
Traction  preferred  at  49. 

Chicago 

According  to  an  official  of  the  Union  Traction  Company,  June 
was  a  good  month  for  traffic,  but  the  increase  in  gross  receipts  was 
small,  owing  to  the  handicap  the  road  is  under  with  regard  to  its  in- 
ability to  handle  the  crowds.  Operating  expenses  have  been  reduced 
a  little,  but  are  still  abnormally  high,  and  the  net  earnings  are  small 
as  a  result  of  such  a  condition.  For  the  fiscal  year  thus  far  the 
Metropolitan  Elevated  railroad  has  earned  at  the  rate  of  4*4  per  cent 
on  its  preferred  stock.  Close  friends  of  the  company  say  the  pres- 
ent showing  is  sufficient  to  permit  resumption  of  dividends,  but  in 
view  of  the  expense  entailed  by  a  number  of  improvements,  under 
way  and  contemplated,  it  is  not  believed  the  stock  will  be  returned 
to  dividends  in  August.  Under  the  circumstances,  these  interests 
contend,  next  April  would  be  the  more  logical  time  to  begin  dis- 
bursements. The  company  in  the  meantime  should  have  a  semi- 
annual meeting  during  the  first  week  next  month.  Traffic  of  the 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Electric  line  over  the  Fourth  of  July 
holidays  was  the  largest  in  the  company's  brief  history.  Officials 
say  that  for  the  first  lime  since  the  road's  inception  they  had  to 
operate  three-car  trains,  and  that  the  service  through  the  summer 
will  now  be  kept  on  fifteen-minute  schedule.  The  Metropolitan 
Elevated  is  deriving  a  big  revenue  from  the  traffic  turned  over  In 
it  by  this  road.  Dealings  in  the  various  traction  issues  during  the 
week  were  of  little  consequence.  Metropolitan  Elevated  comf 
mon  declined  from  20  to  T9T2.  and  rallied  to  20.  Odd  lots  of  the 
preferred  sold  between  52  and  S-lA-  Forty  shares  of  City  Rail- 
way went  at  168,  one  hundred  and  fifty  shares  of  South  Side  Ele- 
vated at  9r.  and  fractional  lots  of  Lake  Street  at  3Tj,  North 
Chicago  at  72,  and  West  Chicago  at  46. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

Boston  Elevated,  on  small  transactions,  recovered  all  the 
ground  lost  during  the  week  before.  The  stock  advanced 
from  149  to  i5i-}4-  Massachusetts  Electric  issues  were  in- 
active but  firmer,  the  common  selling  up  to  20.  and  the 
preferred  rallying  from  72' j  to  73.  West  End  common 
changed  hands  between  00''   and  01.  and   the   preferred  rose 


112 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


two  points  from  no  to  112.  Small  lots  of  Georgia  Railway  and 
Electric  common  went  at  40H,  and  the  preferred  at  80.  In  sym- 
pathy with  the  buoyancy  of  the  general  market,  the  United  Railway 
issues  of  Baltimore  recovered  sharply,  the  income  bonds  getting 
back  to  46  from  43lA,  and  the  stock  rallying  from  sYa  to  7,  on  sales 
of  1200  shares.  The  4  per  cent  generals  were  fractionally  higher  at 
90J/2,  selling  first  at  90^.  Other  Baltimore  transactions  of  the  week 
comprised  City  Passenger  5s  at  106^6,  Nashville  Street  Railway 
way  5s  from  102^  to  103^,  Wilmington  (North  Carolina)  Railway 
Light  &  Power  5s  at  97%  to  97^/4,  Anacostia  &  Potomac  5s  at  99, 
Atlanta  Street  Railway  5s  at  105  and  City  &  Suburban  (Washing- 
ton) 5s  at  983/2.  The  only  incident  of  the  week  on  the  New 
York  curb  was  another  very  sharp  rise  in  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit.  Ten  thousand  shares  of  the  stock  changed  hands  between 
123  and  131H,  and  3100  between  131^  and  134H)  which  was  the 
high  level.  Yesterday  the  stock  dropped  back  to  130,  but  rallied  to 
133  at  the  close.  No  explanation,  other  than  the  growing  apprecia- 
tion of  the  company  earning's  expansion,  was  advanced  for  the 
spectacular  movemnt. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 


last  week: 

Closing  Bid 
July  5   July  12 

American  Railways                                                                         45%  45% 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                               al4  al2 

Boston  Elevated                                                                        148  151% 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                              49%  50% 

Chicago  City   al68  168 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                4%  al6% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                             a30  a30 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                      70  70 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                           *67%  66% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                        106%  107 

Detroit  United                                                                           61  62% 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                         124%  132% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred,)                                                     —  a20 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                   3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                       149%  151% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)                                         19%  19% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                        *72  73% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                     18%  19% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                    52  52% 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                       115  115% 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                   84  88 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                     9  9 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                                   29  29 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                       74  73 

North  American                                                                              86%  87% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                     13%  13 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                    38%  38% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                             11%  11% 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     98  98% 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                 12%  9% 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                        90%  91 

Third  Avenue                                                                           121%  121% 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                  94%  94% 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                    51%  53% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                           56%  54 

West  End  (common)                                                                  90%  90% 

West  End  (preferred)                                                                    110  111 


a  Asked. 
Iron  and  Steel 

The  latest  estimates  of  pig  iron  production  show  a  considerable 
decrease  during  the  month  of  June.  It  is  still  a  matter  of  some 
doubt  whether  the  restriction  of  output  will  prove  to  have  been 
great  enough  to  offset  the  falling  off  in  consumption,  the  more 
^o  as  a  further  shrinkage  of  consumptive  demand  is  to  be  expected 
during  the  next  two  months.  But  at  all  events,  a  healthier  rela- 
tion now  obtains  between  demand  and  supply  than  was  the  case 
a  month  ago,  and  this  fact  is  encouraging  for  the  position  of  the 
entire  iron  trade.  Quotations  are  as  follows:  Bessemer  pig  iron, 
$12.65;  Bessemer  steel,  $23;  steel  rails,  $28. 

rietals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:   Copper,  12^5 
to  12^4  cents ;  tin,  25^  cents ;  lead,  4*4  cents,  and  spelter,  4^  cents. 


The  application  for  the  appointment  of  a  receiver  for  the  North 
Jacksonville  Street  Railway,  Town  &  Improvement  Company,  oper- 
ating an  electric  railway  in  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  and  dealing  in  real 
estate  in  that  city  and  the  suburbs,  has  been  denied. 


THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  EARNINGS 


The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  reports  gross  earnings  for  the 
last  six  months  of  $4,247,433.  Of  this  total  $837,873  was  earned  in 
May,  and  $925,386  was  earned  in  June.  With  five  more  months  of 
the  Fair  and  most  of  the  new  equipment  ready,  the  officials  of  the 
company  feel  emboldened  to  state  that  the  total  gross  earnings  for 
the  year  will  be  in  the  neighborhood  of  $10,000,000.  As  an  evidence 
of  the  increase  in  the  receipts  of  the  company,  the  June  statement 
shows  that  the  gross  earnings  in  that  month  were  $279,797  more 
than  the  earnings  in  June,  1903. 

Estimating  upon  the  basis  of  the  receipts  of  the  last  six  months, 
and  not  taking  into  account  the  most  important  factor  that  the  best 
five  months  of  the  Fair  are  to  come,  the  gross  earnings  for  the  year 
would  be  $8,494,866,  an  increase  over  the  gross  earnings  of  1903  of 
$1,235,406.. 

To  go  back  farther  regarding  the  yearly  increase  in  gross  earn- 
ings, the  records  show  that  the  gross  earnings  of  the  company  for 
1903  exceed  those  of  1902  by  $708,680,  which  was  considered  re- 
markable, and  at  the  close  of  1902,  the  deficit  was  for  the  first 
time  kept  within  five  figures,  being  $62,787. 

While  a  statement  has  not  as  yet  been  made  of  the  operating  ex- 
penses by  which  the  net  earnings  can  be  estimated,  it  is  believed  that 
under  the  careful  management  of  Captain  McCulloch  the  proportion 
of  operating  expenses  and  taxes  to  the  gross  earnings  will  not  ex- 
ceed 64  per  cent,  in  which  event  the  operating  expenses  in  the  last 
six  months  should  not  have  exceeded  $2,718,357,  leaving  a  net  profit 
of  $1,529,076.  k 

Based  upon  the  gross  earnings  of  the  last  six  months,  and  upon 
the  probable  cost  of  operation,  as  stated,  the  net  profit  of  this 
year  should  be  $3,058,152,  which  would  exceed  the  net  earnings  in 
1903  by  $312,207.  The  net  earnings  of  1903  exceeded  those  of  1902 
by  $274,878. 

At  the  close  of  1903  the  company  with  net  earnings  of  $2,745,945 
and  fixed  charges  of  $2,845,119,  had  a  deficit  of  $62,787,  while  at  the 
close  of  1902  the  deficit  amounted  to  $268,083.  By  a  recent  deal 
the  company  has  floated  additional  securities  by  which  the  notes 
outstanding  for  the  aggregate  deficit  of  $856,490,  and  the  money 
borrowed  for  the  extensive  improvement  work  could  be  retired,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  the  total  fixed  cha'rges  this  year  will  not  ex- 
ceed $3,000,000,  in  which  case,  based  upon  the  figures  given,  the 
company,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  may  be  able  to  close  the 
year  without  a  deficit. 

 ♦♦♦  

TOLEDO,  BOWLING  GREEN  &  SOUTHERN  TRACTION  TO 
BE  TAKEN  OVER  BY  A  HOLDING  COMPANY 


The  Toledo  Urban  &  Interurban  Railway  Company,  recently 
incorporated,  will  take  over  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  South- 
ern Traction  Company,  so  it  is  said.  As  now  outlined,  the  plan 
of  the  Toledo  Urban  &  Interurban  Company  is  to  lease  the 
Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Company,  and  guarantee  a 
dividend  on  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Company's 
common  stock.  The  dividend  will  probably  be  on  a  sliding  scale, 
as  is  guaranteed  by  the  lessors  of  the  Millcreek  Valley  lines.  The 
holding  company  will  also  pledge  itself  to  pay  off  all  the  indebted- 
ness of  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern,  and  complete  the 
toad  into  the  city  of  Toledo.  Just  what  improvements  will  be 
made  has  not  yet  been  decided  upon.  Among  those  in  contempla- 
tion is  the  erection  of  a  large  central  power  house  for  the  system. 
George  B.  Kerper,  president  of  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  & 
Southern  Company,  states'  that  the  new  holding  company  will 
probably  take  hold  of  the  property  about  Jan.  1,  1905. 

The  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Traction  Company 
was  organized  according  to  the  laws  of  Ohio  in  1901,  as  a  con- 
solidation of  the  Findlay  Street  Railway,  the  Toledo,  Bowling 
Green  &  Fremont  Railway,  and  the  Hancock  Light  &  Power 
Company.  It  operates  in  all  about  60  miles  of  electric  road,  ex- 
tending from  Findlay,  Ohio,  to  Toledo. 

The  capital  stock  authorized  and  issued  is  $1,500,000,  having  a 
par  value  of  $100  a  share.  The  dividends  paid  on  the  common 
stock  was.  Jan.  1,  1902,  1  per  cent;  July  r,  1902,  i]/2  per  cent; 
January,  1903,  ij£  per  cent.  The  bonded  debt  is  $1,225,000,  first 
mortgage  5  per  cent  gold  bonds,  due  May  1,  1921.  There  have 
been  sufficient  of  these  bonds  issued  to  retire  the  prior  mortgages. 

The  road  has  secured  2]^  miles  of  private  right  of  way  in 
Toledo  and  will  run  in  from  the  end  of  its  right  of  way  into  the 
business  center  of  the  city  over  the  tracks  of  the  Toledo  Railway 
&  Light  Company. 

It  is  now  urged  that  the  road  from  Findlay  to  Lima  be  com- 
pleted. When  this  is  assured  there  will  be  an  electric  line  con- 
structed to  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.  This  will  give  a  stretch  of  electric 
road  from  Cincinnati  to  Toledo. 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


113 


PLANS  BEING  COMPLETED  FOR  NEW  ORLEANS  POWER 
STATION 


Sanderson  &  Porter,  of  New  York,  have  been  retained 
by  the  New  Orleans  Railways  Company  to  draw  up  plans 
and  supervise  the  work  of  constructing  the  huge  power  station 
which  the  company  is  to  build  on  the  water  front.  Messrs.  Porter 
and  Blossom,  of  Sanderson  &  Porter,  have  just  returned  from 
New  Orleans,  where  they  went  to  look  over  the  ground  and  to 
confer  with  E.  C.  Foster,  the  president  of  the  New  Orleans  Rail- 
ways Company.  While  full  details  as  to  the  plans  are  not  available 
at  this  time,  it  can  be  said,  however,  that  the  capacity  of  the  plant 
will  be,  in  the  first  instance,  about  10,000  hp,  and  that  ultimately  no 
less  than  50,000  hp  will  be  generated.  The  initial  equipment  will  be 
contracted  for  as  soon  as  the  plans  have  been  finally  approved  of  by 
the  company,  which,  it  is  expected,  will  be  inside  of  thirty  days. 


REPORT  OF  CHICAGO  UNION  TRACTION  FOR  NINE  MONTHS 
AND  THE  THREE  ENDING  MAY  31 


In  pursuance  of  a  new  policy  the  receivers  of  the  Chicago 
Union  Traction  Company  have  made  public  a  statement  showing 
the  financial  condition  of  the  company  as  a  result  of  operations 
during  the  month  of  May.  It  indicated  that  the  corporation  had 
operated  at  a  loss  of  $68,909  for  that  period.  The  report  of  the 
company  printed  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  in  June 
showed  that  during  six  months  the  deficit  of  the  company  had 
been  $392,188  for  the  West  Side  lines  and  $191,360  for  the  North 
Side,  a  monthly  average  of  nearly  $65,364  for  the  former  and 
$3!. 893  for  the  latter.  The  report  for  May  shows  a  deficit  of 
$21,815  for  the  North  Side  line  and  $47,093  for  the  West  Side.  On 
the  North  Chicago  account  the  deficit  is  more  than  covered  by 
two  items  which  are  in  controversy  before  Judge  Grosscup. 
There  has  been  allowed  $28,470  for  depreciation  and  $12,815  Ior 
accrued  interest.  If  these  are  eliminated  the  account  for  the  road 
will  show  a  small  balance.  A  similar  condition  holds  good  for 
the  West  Chicago  Street  Railroad  Company,  where  a  balance 
would  be  shown  if  it  were  not  for  a  depreciation  account  of  $57,- 
057  and  an  interest  account  of  $7,158.  The  reports  show  that  the 
North  Chicago  lines  made  $77,081  net  income,  less  operating  ex- 
penses, during  the  month,  and  that  the  West  Chicago  lines  made 
$137,241  from  operation. 

The  figures  in  detail  follow: 

ALL  LINES  FOR  MONTH  OF  MAY 

West  North  Consol. 

Chicago         Chicago  Both  Traction 

Gross  earnings    $481,486         $274,707         $756,192  $136,161 

Operating  expenses    244,241  199,177  543,421  109,166 

Net    $137,241  $75,530         $212,771  $26,995 

Other  income    4,448  1,551  5,999  6,651 

Total  income    $141,689  $77,081         $218,770  $33,646 

Tax,  interest,  rent    115,158  61,007  176.165  59,633 

Surplus    $26,531  $16,074  $42,605  a  $25,987 

C.  C.  Traction  defici   16,567  9,420  25,987   

Depreciation    57,057  28,470  85,527   

Deficit    47,093  21,816  68,909  25,987 

Per  cent  expenses    71.91  73.32  72.51  80.45 

a  Deficit. 

THREE  MONTHS  ENDING  MAY  31,  1904 

West  North 

Chicago  Chicago  Both 

Gross  earnings   $1,351,876  $767,128  $2,119,004 

Operating  expenses                                         1,074,686  600,406  1,675,092 

Net    $277,190         $166,722  $443,912 

Other  income    11,812  5,549  17,361 

Total  income    $289,002  $172,271  $461,273 

Deductions : 

Taxes    $41,543  $40,554  $82,097 

Int.  funded  debt   151,205  57,795  209,000 

Other  interest   21,565  33,957  55,522 

Rental  accrued   .'   130,491  51,867  182,358 

Total    $344,804  $184,173  $528,977 

Deficit    55,802  11,902  67,704 

Other  deductions: 

C.  C.  Traction  deficit    $93,646  $52,955  $146,601 

Depreciation  reserve    171,172  85,410  296,582 

Total    $264,818         $138,365  $403,183 

Total  deficit    320,624  150,208  470,889 

Per  cent  expenses    80.0  79.22  79.72 

Note.— Interest  on  funded  debt  accrued  consists  of  interest  on  bonds  of  the 


West  Chicago  Street  Railroad  Company  and  the  North  Chicago  Street  Rail- 
road Company.  Rental  of  leased  lines  accrued  consists  of  interest  on  bonds  of 
Chicago  West  Division  Railway,  Chicago  Passenger  Railway,  North  Chicago 
City  Railway  and  of  the  guaranteed  dividends  on  outstanding  stocks  of  those 
companies. 

CHICAGO  CONSOLIDATED  TRACTION  EARNINGS 

3Mos.  to   9  Mos.  to 

Earnings:                                                                         May  31  May  31 

Passenger                                                                        $337,660  $978,143 

Mail                                                                                         1,080  3,241 

Advertising,  etc                                                                  1,306  4,369 

Gross                                                                              $340,046  $985,753 

Operating  expenses: 

Maintenance  way                                                                   $30,968  $101,516 

Maintenance  equipment                                                          47,607  97,134 

Transportation                                                                  189,084  565,494 

General                                                                              34,450  100,393 

$302,109  $864,537 

Net                                                                                   37,937  121,216 

Other  income                                                                     19,956  60,204 

Total  income                                                                    $57,893  $181,420 

Deductions: 

Taxes  accrued                                                                       $10,268  $30,457 

Int.  funded  debt                                                                    146,457  439,372 

Int.  floating  debt                                                                 2,126  6,193 

Rent  leased  lines                                                                19,875  59,625 

Total                                                                              $178,725  $535,647 

Deficit                                                                            al20,832  354,227 

Per  cent  expenses                                                                    89.18  88.09 

a  Increased  to  $146,602  by  charge  of  $25,770  to  correct  item  of  taxes  accrued 
for  six  months  ending  Feb.  29. 

NINE  MONTHS  ENDING  MAY  31,  1904 
West  North 

Earnings                                                    Chicago        Chicago  Both 

aPassenger   $3,960,806       $2,233,729  $6,194,535 

Mail                                                                17,447             5,564  23,011 

Advertising,  etc                                              25,597           27,038  52,605 

Gross   $4,003,850       $2,266,331  $6,270,181 

Operating  expenses: 

Maintenance  way                                             $247,874         $166,040  $413,914 

Maintenance  equipment                                     375,254           237,003  612,257 

Transportation                                                 1,813,860        1,034,417  2,848,277 

General                                                          545,563          253,396  798,959 

Total   $2,982,551       $1,690,856  $4,673,407 

Net                                                              1,021,298          575,475  1,596,774 

Other  income   '.                               31,255            17,014  48,269 

Total  income   $1,052,553         $592,490  $1,645,043 

Deductions : 

Taxes  accrued                                               $125,494         $123,814  $249,308 

Interest  funded  debt                                       453,615           173,385  627,000 

Interest  mortgages                                               6,900                675  7,575 

Interest  floating  debt                                         51,162           104,330  155,492 

Rent  leased  lines  accrued                                  391,474           155,602  547,076 

Total   *  $1,028,645         $557,806  $1,586,451 

Surplus                                                           23,908           34,684  58,592 

Other  deductions: 

Chicago  Consol.  Traction  deficit                    $226,332         $127,895  $354,227 

Reserve  depreciation                                         510,386           248,418  758, S04 

Total                                                            $736,718         $376,313  $1,113,031 

Deficit                                                            712,810          341,629  1,054,439 

Per  cent  operating  expenses                                74.97             75.51  75.16 

a  Including  chartered  cars. 

— +4*  

THE  CROCKER-WHEELER  COMPANY  &  BROWN,  B0VERI  & 

CIE 


The  Crocker-Wheeler  Company  has  just  announced  that  it  has 
effected  an  arrangement  with  Brown,  Boveri  &  Cie,  of  Baden, 
Switzerland,  by  which  it  secures  their  alternating-current  designs, 
patents  and  rights  to  manufacture  them  in  America.  The  Crocker- 
Wheeler  Company  has  also  retained  the  Swiss  firm  as  consulting 
engineers,  and  is  now  putting  on  the  market  alternating-current 
generators,  transformers  and  accessories  of  the  latest  design  and 
construction,  and  adapted  to  American  practice.  Opportunities 
to  bid  on  this  apparatus  are  invited.  The  company  has  already 
closed  a  contract  for  a  200-kw,  6o-cycle,  440-volt  alternating-cur- 
rent generator,  for  the  Atlanta  plant  of  the  Proctor  &  Gamble 
Company,  Cincinnati. 


U4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


A  WOMAN  ACCIDENT  FAKIR  RUN  DOWN 


General  Manager  Connette,  of  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  caused  the  arrest  in  that  city  a  few  days 
ago  of  a  bold  young  woman  accident  fakir,  who  admits  having 
obtained  money  from  a  number  of  street  railway  companies  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  on  fraudulent  accident  claims.  Her 
method  of  operation  was  very  different  from  the  ordinary  way  of 
the  accident  fakir.  She  tumbled  off  a  car  in  any  old  way,  and 
generally  after  the  car  had  stopped.  Then  she  would  throw  her- 
self on  the  mercy  of  the  officials  of  the  company,  depending  on 
their  generosity  and  sympathy  for  a  settlement  of  the  damages. 

The  young  woman,  Nellie  Cummings  by  name,  operated  under 
the  aliases,  Madeline  Banks,  Trellas  Reynolds  and  perhaps  others. 
She  came  from  Syracuse  to  Albany,  where,  by  enlisting  a  clergyman 
in  her  service,  she  induced  the  United  Company  of  that  city  to  give 
her  $35.  On  June  14  she  registered  at  the  Yates  Hotel,  Syracuse, 
and  on  June  21,  one  week  later,  deliberately  threw  herself  from  a 
car  of  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Railway  Company  at  Salina  and 
Genesee  Streets.  She  met  with  pretty  severe  injuries  in  this  fall 
and  had  to  be  taken  to  a  hospital  for  treatment.  Meanwhile  Mr. 
Connette  made  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  case,  with  the  result 
that  the  young  woman  was  turned  over  to  the  police  when  dis- 
charged from  the  hospital.  The  company  did  not,  however,  press 
the  charge  against  her  in  the  court,  and  she  was  released,  the 
authorities  feeling  that  she  thoroughly  repented  of  her  evil  deeds. 

The  young  woman's  history  and  her  operations  are  interesting. 
A  legitimate  accident  that  she  had  in  New  York  is  said  to  have 
started  her  on  her  career  of  evil  doing.  She  is  said  to  have  gone  to 
Coney  Island  by  trolley,  and  while  there  to  have  fallen  from  a  car, 
receiving  painful  injuries.  She  was  taken  to  the  Brooklyn  City 
Hospital,  and  on  the  following  day  the  claim  agent  of  the  com- 
pany settled  with  her  fur  $50  cash  and  the  doctor's  bill.  She  re- 
mained in  the  hospital  several  weeks,  and  when  released  thought 
that  inasmuch  as  this  money  had  come  so  easy  she  would  try  and 
fall  off  cars  again  and  get  settlements.  This,  it  seems,  was  in  May, 
1903.  She  visited  different  places  in  New  York  State,  and  fell  off 
a  car  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  under  the  name  of  Madeline  Banks,  but  got 
nothing.  In  Binghamton,  under  the  name  of  Nellie  Cummings,  she 
got  $9  in  cash  and  a  pass  on  the  trolley  lines.  In  Albany,  N.  Y., 
she  gave  the  name  Trellas  Reynolds.  Here  she  got  $35  cash  and 
the  company  paid  the  hospital  bill.  From  Albany  she  went  to  Syra- 
cuse. She  admitted  having  "faked"  accidents  against  companies 
outside  of  New  York  State,  but  declined  to  disclose  the  names  of 
tlie  places  in  which  she  operated. 



1NTERURBAN  ROADS  NOT  AN  ADDITIONAL  SERVITUDE 


The  Indiana  Supreme  Court  has  just  handed  down  a  decision 
holding  that  an  interurban  railway  with  a  franchise  from  the  city 
to  lay  tracks  in  the  streets  with  such  rails  as  it  sees  fit,  and  to  oper- 
ate thereon  by  electricity  cars  running  to  and  from  other  towns  and 
cities,  carrying  passengers,  baggage,  light  express  and  mail  matter, 
or  baggage,  light  express  and  mail  matter  without  passengers,  run- 
ning not  more  than  two  cars  in  a  train,  is  not  an  additional  servi- 
tude which  necessarily  causes  damage  to  an  abutting  owner  and 
entitles  him  to  enjoin  the  building  and  operating  of  such  railway  in  a 
street,  until  his  damages  are  assessed  and  paid,  or  tendered.  Such 
owner  can  only  have  his  action  at  law  for  actual  damages  suffered. 

The  decision  was  handed  down  in  the  case  of  Henry  Mordhurst 
versus  The  Fort  Wayne  &  Southwestern  Traction  Company,  in 
which  the  appellant  sought  to  enjoin  the  company  from  building 
and  operating  an  interurban  line  past  his  place  in  the  city  of  Fort 
Wayne  extending  to  the  city  of  Huntington.  It  was  admitted  that 
th  -  city  of  Fort  Wayne  had  granted  a  franchise,  and  the  State  had 
given  a  charter  to  the  traction  company,  authorizing  the  road  to  be 
constructed,  but  it  was  insisted  that  such  a  company  had  no  right  to 
occupy  the  street  without  buying  or  condemning  the  privilege  and 
compensating  the  abutting  owners. 

The  fact  that  a  city  street  railway  is  not  an  additional  servitude 
in  the  street  was  long  since  decided  by  the  courts  of  Indiana,  and  is 
equally  well  settled  that  a  steam  railroad  must  pay  the  lot  owners 
for  the  privilege  of  building  a  track  in  a  street.  The  question  of  an 
interurban  company's  rights  in  the  streets,  however,  is  a  new  one  in 
Indiana.    On  this  point  the  court  said: 

Tf  the  use  of  the  streets  by  the  defendant  in  the  manner  and  upon  the 
conditions  described  and  set  forth  in  the  contract  would  not  create  a  new 
and  additional  burden  upon  the  street,  and  a  deprivation  of  plaintiff's  bene- 
ficial interest  therein,  then  he  is  not  entitled  to  an  injunction  against  the  con- 
struction of  the  railroad.  The  kind  of  rail  was  not  specified  in  this  case, 
and  a  T-rail  such  as  is  used  by  steam  and  other  railroads  may  be  adopted. 

The  fact  that  light  express  matter,  passenger  baggage  and  United  States 
mail  are  carried  on  a  car  does  not  affect  the  property  owner  nor  injure  his 


property.  The  transportation  of  articles  of  this  kind  does  not  create  any  re- 
semblance between  the  interurban  electric  road  and  a  steam  road  carrying 
ordinary  goods  and  merchandise,  and  results  in  none  of  the  annoyances  and 
injuries  which  are  caused  by  either  passenger  or  freight  trains  on  a  steam 
railroad.  Trains  on  steam  roads  are  drawn  by  locomotives,  which  con- 
stantly emit  smoke,  sparks,  cinders  and  steam,  and  which  drop  coals  of  fire. 
Their  passenger  trains  usually  consist  of  an  express  and  baggage  car  and 
from  one  to  many  large  and  heavy  coaches.  Freight  trains  are  com- 
monly made  up  of  from  one  to  thirty  or  more  large  and  unsightly  cars  for 
the  transportation  of  coal  and  other  heavy  merchandise  and  live  stock.  It  '.s 
apparent  that  every  objection  founded  upon  injury  to  his  property  rights 
which  the  plaintiff  can  justly  urge  against  its  use  by  the  defendant  of  Fulton 
Street  in  front  of  plaintiff's  lot  would  apply  with  equal  force  to  the  use  of 
that  thoroughfare  by  an  electric  street  railroad  constructed  wholly  within  the 
city  limits. 

The  business  done  by  a  local  street  railway,  and  the  physical  agencies  and 
manner  in  which  and  by  which  it  is  carried  on  are  consistent  with  the  use 
of  the  street  by  the  lot  owner  and  general  public,  and  if  not  directly  bene- 
ficial to  the  abutting  real  estate,  they  are  not  detrimental  to  it.  They  relieve 
the  street  from  some  of  the  burdens  of  travel  upon  it,  they  facilitate  travel 
between  different  parts  of  the  city  and  enhance  the  value  of  abutting  prop- 
erty by  increasing  the  conveniences  of  access  to  it. 

Rapid  and  cheap  transportation  of  passengers,  light  express  and  mail  matter 
between  neighboring  towns  and  cities  may  be  quite  as  necessary  and  as 
largely  conducive  to  the  general  welfare  of  the  places  so  connected  and  their 
inhabitants  as  the  like  conveniences  within  the  town  or  city. 

Therefore,  for  any  actual  and  special  damage  sustained  by  the  abutting  lot 
owner  by  reason  of  the  construction  of  the  appellee's  railroad,  or  resulting 
from  its  use,  the  lot  owner  has  his  remedy  by  an  action  at  law,  and  the  in- 
terurban company  will  be  liable  to  the  abutting  owner  for  any  special  injury 
to  his  property  occasioned  by  the  negligence  of  the  company  in  constructing 
its  road  or  in  operating  it. 

The  interurban  interests  in  Indiana  are  greatly  pleased  over  the 
result  of  this  litigation.  For  some  time  there  has  been  uneasiness  lest 
the  courts  might  make  a  distinction  between  street  and  interurban 
roads.  Similar  suits  are  now  pending  against  the  Indiana  Union 
Tracton  Company  by  citizens  residing  in  College  Avenue,  Indian- 
apolis. This  decision,  however,  clears  the  way  and  grants  to  the 
interurban  companies  rights  equal  with  those  of  a  street  railway 
company. 

 ♦   

IOWA  INTERURBAN  EARNINGS  FOR  1903 


The  interurban  railways  of  Iowa  have  all  filed  with  the  Execu- 
tive Council  of  the  State,  for  assessment  purposes,  verified  state- 
ments of  their  gross  and  net  earnings,  operating  expenses,  taxes, 
etc.   The  statements  cover  the  year  1903. 

The  Boone  Suburban  Railway  Company  reports  a  mileage  of 
4.7;  total  gross  earnings,  $8,022;  gross  earnings  per  mile,  $1,706; 
total  operating  expenses,  $5,140;  operating  expenses  per  mile, 
$1,093;  total  net  earnings,  $2,882;  net  earnings  per  mile,  $613; 
The  total  value  of  the  road,  as  found  by  the  Executive  Council  for 
the  year  1902,  was  $18,800.  After  making  deductions  for  taxes, 
it  is  found  that  the  road  earned  14  per  cent  on  the  above  valuation. 

The  Cedar  Rapids  &  Marion  City  Railway  reports  a  mileage 
of  12.06,  the  same  as  for  1902;  gross  earnings  of  $113,743.50; 
gross  earnings  per  mile,  $9,431;  total  operating  expenses,  $89,886; 
operating  expenses  per  mile,  $7,453;  total  net  earnings,  $23,857, 
net  earnings  per  mile,  $7,453;  total  net  earnings,  $23,857;  net 
earnings  per  mile,  $1,978.  The  total  value  of  the  road  as  found 
by  the  Executive  Council  for  the  year  1902,  with  the  same  mileage, 
was  $188,040.  After  making  deductions  for  taxes,  it  is  found  that 
the  road  earned  11^2  per  cent  on  this  valuation. 

The  Interurban  Railway  Company  reports  a  mileage  of  28.87  < 
total  gross  earnings,  $125,949 ;  gross  earnings  per  mile,  $4,362 ; 
total  operating  expenses,  $67,685 ;  operating  expenses  per  mile, 
$2,344;  total  net  earnings,  $58,263;  net  earnings  per  mile,  $2,018. 
The  total  value  of  this  road,  as  found  by  the  Executive  Council 
for  the  year  1902,  witli  a  mileage  of  23.41,  was  $233,100.  By  add- 
ing $6o,coo  to  this  value  for  the  additional  mileage  of  5.42,  the 
total  value  for  1903  was  $293,100.  After  making  deductions  for 
taxes,  it  is  found  that  the  road  earned  nearly  19  per  cent  on  this 
valuation. 

The  Mason  City  &  Clear  Lake  Traction  Company  reports  a 
mileage  of  14.62,  the  same  as  for  1902;  gross  earnings  of  $41,986, 
gross  earnings  per  mile,  $2,421;  total  operating  expenses,  $38,- 
026;  operating  expenses  per  mile.  $2,193;  total  net  earnings, 
$3,960 ;  net  earnings  per  mile,  $228.  The  total  value  of  this  road,  as 
found  by  the  Executive  Council  for  the  year  1902,  with  the  same 
mileage,  was  $52,632.  The  road  earned  less  than  ^  of  1  per  cent, 
after  making  deductions  for  taxes,  on  the  above  valuation. 

The  Tama  &  Toledo  Electric  Railway  reports  a  mileage  of  2.75, 
the  same  as  for  1902 ;  total  gross  earnings,  $10,894 ;  gross  earnings 
per  mile  $3,961  ;  total  operating  expenses, $8.347 ;  operating  expenses 


July  16,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


ii5 


per  mile,  $3,035  ;  total  net  earnings,  $2,547  ;  net  earnings  per  mile, 
$926.  The  total  value  of  the  road,  as  found  by  the  Executive 
Council  for  the  year  1902,  with  the  same  mileage,  was  $19,996. 
The  per  cent  of  earnings  on  this  valuation,  after  deducting  taxes, 
was  nearly  12  per  cent. 

The  Waterloo  &  Cedar  Falls  Rapid  Transit  Company  reports  a 
mileage  of  54.73,  or  23.53  miles  more  than  for  the  year  1902.  Total 
gross  earnings,  $90,772;  gross  earnings  per  mile,  $1,658;  total 
operating  expenses,  $47,385 ;  operating  expenses  per  mile,  $866 ; 
total  net  earnings,  $43,386,  net  earnings  per  mile,  $792.  The  total 
value  of  the  road  for  1902,  with  a  mileage  of  31.2  was  found  by 
the  Executive  Council  to  be  $312,000.  By  adding  to  this  amount 
$235,300  for  the  additional  mileage,  the  total  value  of  the  road 
for  1903  was  $547,300.  On  this  valuation  the  road  earned  more 
than  8  per  cent,  after  making  deductions  for  taxes. 

All  but  one  road  earned  more  than  8  per  cent  on  the  actual  valu- 
ation, and  one  as  high  as  18  and  another  14  per  cent.  The  one 
exception  noted  above  was  no  doubt  due  to  the  unfavorable 
weather  last  year,  the  road  depending  largely  on  the  lake  resort 
traffic  for  its  earnings.  The  total  gross  earnings  for  all  six  of  the 
lines  were  $391,367;  the  average  gross  earnings  per  mile  for  all  the 
roads  were  $3,324;  the  total  operating  expenses  were  $256,471;  the 
average  operating  expenses  per  mile  were  $2,178;  the  total  net 
earnings,  $134,897;  the  average  net  earnings  per  mile  were  $1,146. 
The  average  earnings  on  actual  valuation,  after  deducting  taxes, 
were  more  than  10  per  cent. 



SELECTION  OF  ARCHITECTS  FOR  UNITED  ENGINEERING 
BUILDING 


The  conference  committee  of  the  three  national  engineering 
societies  and  of  the  Engineers'  Club,  charged  with  the  responsi- 
bility of  giving  effect  to  the  gift  of  Andrew  Carnegie  of  $1,500,000 
for  the  erection  of  two  buildings  in  New  York  City  suitable  for 
their  respective  purposes,  has  made  the  selection  of  architects  for 
the  respective  structures.  The  successful  competitor  for  the 
United  Engineering  Building  is  Herbert  D.  Hale,  of  Boston, 
with  Henry  G.  Morse,  of  New  York,  as  associate  architect,  and 
for  the  Engineers'  Club,  Whitfield  &  King,  of  New  York.  The 
successful  competitors  in  the  open  class  for  four  equal  prizes  of 
$400  each  in  addition  to  Mr.  Hale  are  Trowbridge  &  Livingston, 
of  New  York;  Frank  C.  Roberts  &  Company,  with  Edgar  V. 
Seeler  associate,  Philadelphia,  and  Allen  &  Collins,  of  Boston. 

Details  have  already  been  made  public  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
two  buildings,  which  will  require  for  construction  from  $1,000,000 
to  $1,200,000.  The  United  Engineering  Building  will  occupy  land 
125  ft.  front  by  100  ft.  on  West  Thirty-Ninth  Street,  while  the 
club,  with  a  frontage  of  50  ft.  and  a  depth  of  100  ft.,  will  face 
on  Bryant  Park  and  the  new  Public  Library.  The  United  Engi- 
neering Building,  aside  from  quarters  for  the  American  Society 
of  Mechanical  Engineers,  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical 
Engineers  and  the  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers,  as 
well  as  other  societies  enabled  to  participate  in  the  accommoda- 
tions, will  have  several  fine  auditoriums  and  a  magnificent  library. 
The  club  building  will  be  about  iiy'2  stories  high  with  the  usual 
accommodations  of  a  club  and  some  sixty  or  seventy  bedrooms 
for  members. 

 +++  

LOS  ANGELES  RAILWAYS  MAKE  GENEROUS  OFFER  TO 
SPRINKLE  STREETS 


The  Huntington  electric  railway  companies  of  Los  Angeles, 
through  Attorney  W.  E.  Dunn,  have  submitted  to  the  City  Council 
a  proposal  to  oil  that  portion  of  the  city  streets  occupied  by  rail- 
way tracks  of  the  companies,  and  for  a  space  of  2  ft.  on  either  side 
of  the  right  of  way,  provided  the  city  authorities  will  oil  the  re- 
maining portions  of  the  thoroughfares. 

The  proffer,  which,  in  all  probability  will  be  accepted,  reads  as 
follows : 

We  have  heretofore  refused  to  sprinkle  the  streets  with  water,  under  an 
ordinance  recently  passed  by  the  Council,  not  because  of  the  expense  of 
sprinkling,  but  because  we  believe  the  law  does  not  contemplate  the  placing 
of  this  burden  upon  us  any  more  than  upon  other  citizens  who  use  the  streets 
for  trucking,  driving  and  riding,  and,  further,  because  it  must  seem  un- 
reasonable to  any  fair  mind  that  your  Honorable  Body  should  have  the 
power  to  make  it  a  crime  for  us  not  to  sprinkle  such  portions  of  the  streets  as 
you  may  designate,  when  the  only  water  available  for  the  purpose  is  the 
water  owned  by  you,  for  which  you  and  succeeding  Councils  can  charge  us 
your  own  price.  In  short,  you  say  to  us:  "We  will  imprison  or  fine  you  if 
you  do  not  buy  water  from  us  at  our  price  and  sprinkle  our  streets  with  it." 

There  are  many  other  reasons  why  it  seems  to  us  this  is  an  unfair  position 
on  the  part  of  the  city,  but  we  will  not  discuss  them  here. 

It  is  essential  to  the  success  of  our  business,  as  well  as  to  the  comfort  of  the 


people,  that  the  streets  should  be  kept  in  good  condition,  and  having  that 
in  view,  and  feeling  as  we  do  that  the  city  cannot  afford  to  use  its  water  to 
sprinkle  its  streets  for  many  years  longer,  we  propose  that  we  will  begin  with 
the  city  a  system  of  oiling  the  streets,  and  that  we  will  thoroughly  oil  and 
maintain  that  portion  of  the  streets  upon  which  we  have  tracks,  between  the 
tracks,  between  the  rails,  and  for  2  ft.  on  each  side  thereof,  as  rapidly  as  the 
city  will  oil  the  balance  of  these  streets.  This  will  be  a  permanent  and  lasting 
improvement,  and,  while  it  will  cost  more  than  sprinkling  for  a  time,  it  will  in 
the  end  be  economy. 

Statistics  show  that  during  the  last  year  the  city's  sprinkling 
bill  was  $125,000,  or  nearly  $400  per  mile. 



CHICAGO  COUNCIL  ORDERS  A  UNION  TRACTION  LINE  TO 
VACATE— OTHER  FRANCHISE  MATTERS 

Another  decisive  move  has  been  made  by  the  Chicago  City 
Council  in  the  franchise  matter.  On  Monday,  July  11,  the  Coun- 
cil decided  to  offer  for  sale  to  a  new  company  the  Adams  Street 
rights  of  the  Chicago  Passenger  Railway  Company,  whose  fran- 
chise expired  April  21,  and  to  order  the  present  companies  off 
the  streets.  The  companies  will  be  given  three  months  in  which 
to  remove  their  cars  and  tracks.  Before  the  end  of  that  period 
the  City  Council  will  have  resumed  its  session  after  the  summer 
vacation,  and  the  question  of  giving  the  streets  to  a  new  company 
will  be  taken  up. 

Alderman  Foreman,  chairman  of  the  local  transportation  com- 
mittee, introduced  the  resolutions  and  orders  intended  to  bring 
about  these  results.  One  of  the  orders  authorized  and  directed 
Mayor  Harrison  to  invite  proposals  for  the  installation  of  a  sys- 
tem of  street  railways  upon  the  following  streets:  Adams  Street, 
from  Clark  Street  to  a  point  500  ft.  west  of  Desplaines  Street; 
Desplaines  Street,  from  Adams  Street  to  the  south  line  of  Har- 
rison Street;  Harrison  Street,  from  the  east  line  of  Desplaines 
Street  to  the  west  line  of  Western  Avenue;  Western  Avenue, 
from  the  north  line  of  Harrison  Street  to  the  south  line  of  Twelfth 
Street;  Twelfth  Street,  from  the  east  line  of  Western  Avenue  to 
Crawford  Avenue. 

These  streets  are  now  occupied  by  the  Chicago  Union  Traction 
Company  as  lessee  of  the  Chicago  Passenger  Railway  Company. 
The  resolution  also  provides  for  the  extension  of  the  system  upon 
other  streets  now  occupied  by  these  companies  at  such  times  as 
the  grants  shall  expire,  and  upon  such  other  streets  as  may  be 
advisable  for  the  completion  of  a  connected  system  of  track. 

The  order  provides  that  the  proposals  shall  be  invited  on  sev- 
eral plans  for  which  terms,  conditions  and  specifications  will  be 
furnished  by  the  city;  that  the  city  shall  require  the  deposit  of  a 
certified  check  for  such  sum  as  may  be  determined  on  with  each 
proposal,  and  shall  reserve  the  right  to  reject  any  or  all  bids,  and 
that  the  proposals  when  received  shall  be  reported  to  the  City 
Council  for  its  action. 

The  other  order  of  Alderman  Foreman  directed  the  Mayor  to 
notify  the  Chicago  Passenger  Railway  Company  and  Union  Trac- 
tion Company,  its  lessee,  to  vacate  and  remove  the  tracks  from 
Adams  and  other  streets  in  the  system  in  which  the  rights  granted 
April  21,  1884,  for  twenty  years,  have  terminated.  Corporation 
Counsel  Tolman  was  instructed  to  institute  such  legal  proceed- 
ings and  take  such  other  steps  as  may,  in  his  opinion,  be  neces- 
sary to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  the  order. 

The  question  of  transfers  came  near  to  upsetting  the  negotia- 
tions of  eighteen  months  between  the  city  and  the  Chicago  City 
Railway  Company  at  the  meeting  of  the  Council  on  Monday. 
In  fact,  matters  did  come  to  a  temporary  halt  when  Col.  Bliss, 
representing  the  South  Side  Railway  Company,  flatly  refused  to 
accede  to  the  demand  of  the  city  for  a  reservation  of  the  right 
to  designate  the  points  at  which  universal  transfers  might  be 
issued.  The  transfer  proposition  was  a  new  one,  injected  at  the 
last  moment,  and  provided  that  the  company  issue  transfers  be- 
tween its  line  and  those  of  other  companies  at  all  intersecting 
points,  or  where  the  tracks  came  within  200  ft.  of  each  other. 
Col.  Bliss  said  that  this  proposal  meant  bankruptcy  for  the  com- 
pany, and  eloquently  set  forth  his  reason  why  the  proposal  was 
impossible  of  adoption.  It  was  finally  decided  to  appoint  a  sub- 
committee of  the  Council  to  investigate  the  transfer  question 
with  the  officials  of  the.  company.  In  this  connection  it  is  inter- 
esting to  note  that  the  Council  has  retained  George  A.  Yuille  as 
expert  to  advise  on  street  railway  matters,  particularly  as  to  the 
location  of  transfer  points.  Mr.  Yuille,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  at  one  time  second  vice-president  and  assistant  general  man- 
ager of  the  West  Chicago  Street  Railway  Company. 

 >4> «  

The  St.  Joseph  Street  Railway,  Light,  Heal  &  Power  Company's 
system  in  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  was  recently  tied  up  by  a  strike  of  power- 
house firemen. 


n6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.  No.  3. 


STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 

[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  JULY  5,  1904 

764,007.  Automatic  Tramway  Point;  Richard  H.  Radford, 
Sheffield,  England.  App.  filed  Sept.  5,  1902.  The  rail  has  a  recess 
with  parallel  opposing  walls  and  a  movable  switch  point  having 
a  portion  adapted  to  enter  therein  and  fit  the  walls  so  snugly  as 
to  form  an  air  cushion,  thereby  preventing  noise  when  the  switch 
point  returns  to  normal  position. 

764,020.  Electrically  Propelled  Vehicle;  Russell  Thayer,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa.  App.  filed  April  11,  1904.  An  electrically  propelled 
vehicle  provided  with  an  electric  motor  and  storage  battery  ar- 
ranged to  traverse  the  tracks  of  an  overhead  trolley  system  and 
provided  with  means  whereby  the  vehicle  may  leave  the  track, 
pass  an  obstruction,  and  return  to  the  track. 

764,039.  Overhead  Trolley;  Clide  C.  Chambers,  Everson,  Pa. 
App.  filed  Feb.  25,  1904.  The  wheel  fork  is  pivotally  mounted 
and  adapted  to  swing  on  a  segmental  track  to  accommodate 
curves  or  kinks  in  the  trolley  wire. 

764,043.  Railway  Switching  Apparatus;  John  P.  Coleman, 
Edgewood,  Pa.  App.  filed  Oct.  7,  1903.  Means  whereby  indica- 
tion is  given  when  the  switching  mechanism  has  performed  its 
function. 

764,148.  Third-Rail  Guard  for  Electric  Roads;  John  S.  Payne, 
Midland  Park,  and  James  S.  Payne,  Wortendyke,  N.  J.  App. 
filed  July  23,  1903.  A  series  of  cover  plates  for  the  third  rail  and 
means  for  lifting  them  to  allow  the  shoe  to  make  contact  with 
the  rail,  the  plates  dropping  as  the  car  progresses. 

764,166.  Railroad  Switch;  Fletcher  T.  Troutman  and  Albert 
Gonzalez,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  App.  filed  March  29,  1904.  Details 
of  mechanism  for  throwing  the  switch  from  a  moving  car. 

764,194.  Trolley  Pole;  Caleb  Jones,  London,  Ky.  App.  filed 
Dec.  17,  1903.  A  trolley  pole  which  will  automatically  reverse  its 
position  when  the  direction  of  travel  of  the  car  is  reversed. 

764,211.  Current  Collector  for  Electric  Railways;  Frederick  R. 
Slater,  Yonkers,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Dec.  5,  1903.  A  guard  is 
mounted  above  the  conductor  with  its  inner  edge  extending  be- 
yond the  inner  side  face  thereof,  the  collecting  shoe  making  side- 
contact  with  the  conductor. 

764,224.  Trolley;  John  Q.  Brown,  Oakland,  Cal.  App.  filed 
April  12,  1904.  Details  of  construction  of  a  trolley  particularly 
adapted  for  use  on  high-speed,  heavy,  multiple-unit  electric  trains. 

764,244.  Third-Rail  System  for  Electric  Railways;  Washing- 
ton H.  Kilbourn,  Greenfield,  Mass.  App.  filed  Oct.  1,  1903. 
Comprises  a  conductor  and  guard  rails  secured  at  opposite  sides 
of  and  projecting  above  said  conductor,  and  separated  from  each 
other  above  the  conductor  by  an  arm-receiving  slot,  said  guard 
rails  being  composed  of  sections  insulated  from  each  other  and 
from  the  conductor. 

764,255.  Car  Fender;  Alfred  Robinson,  Pittsburg,  Pa.  App. 
filed  March  24,  1904.  Details. 

764,264.  Railway  Switch;  John  E.  Swonson,  Des  Moines,  la. 
App.  filed  June  3,  1903.  Details  of  a  switch  which  is  thrown  by 
an  electric  current  taken  from  the  trolley  wire  by  the  moving  car. 

764,317.  Car  Fender;  Philip  Todd,  Homestead,  Pa.  App.  filed 
April  12,  1904.  Means  for  lowering  the  fender  to  bring  it  closer 
to  the  rails 

764,371.  Trolley  Wire  Replacer;  John  D.  Ratliff,  Muncie,  Ind. 
App.  filed  Feb.  15,  1904.  Threaded  screw-drums  on  each  side  of 
the  trolley  wheel  in  which  the  pitch  of  the  threads  is  disposed 
toward  the  trolley  wheel. 

764,384.  Insulating  Support  for  Electric  Third  Rails;  Fred- 
erick R.  Slater,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  May  28,  1903.  De- 
tails. 

764,388.  Electric  Railway;  Henry  N.  Sporborg,  Rugby,  Eng- 
land. App.  filed  Dec.  9,  1902.  A  plurality  of  conductors  arranged 
parallel  to  the  track  rails  and  provided  with  means  for  connecting 
the  conductors  together  and  tripping  coils  for  rendering  the  con- 
necting means  inoperative,  adapted  to  be  operated  from  a  distant 
station. 

764,392.  Trolley;  Bernard  E.  Sunny,  Chicago,  III.  App.  filed 
Dec.  10,  1903.  A  current  collector  for  a  double  conductor  elec- 
tric system,  comprising  two  members,  one  having  a  constant  path 
of  contact  relatively  to  one  conductor  and  the  other  adapted  to 
have  a  shifting  path  of  contact  relatively  to  the  other  conductor. 

764,400.  Cut-Out  for  Trolley  Conductors;  Pendleton  G.  Wat- 
_  mough,  Jr.,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Nov.  1,  1901.  A 
safety  cut-out  for  trolleys  comprising  sectional  trolley  wires,  a 
loop  in  each  section  and  a  guide  bracket  therefor,  a  weight  at 
each  loop  for  holding  the  conductor  under  tension,  and  a  switch 
operated  by  the  falling  of  the  weight  when  the  conductor  yields 
or  breaks  to  disconnect  the  trolley  section  from  the  feeder. 


764,418.  Multiple  Trolley;  John  S.  Briggs,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 
App.  filed  June  1,  1903.  Two  trolley  wheels  arranged  in  tandem, 
one  of  which  is  mounted  in  the  harp  and  the  other  of  which  is 
connected  thereto  by  a  spring. 

764,494.  Fare  Register  and  Recorder;  Wilfred  I.  Ohmer,  Day- 
ton, Ohio.  App.  filed  Nov.  28,  1903.  The  register  produces  two 
records,  one  consisting  of  a  series  of  records  of  each  individual 
trip  and  the  other  being  a  final  record  covering  the  totals  of  the 
several  trip-records  for  any  desired  period  of  time. 

764,505.  Electric  Switch;  John  L.  Steeb,  Butler,  Pa.  App. 
filed  Sept.  29,  1903.  Details. 



PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  H.  C.  SPAULDING  has  just  been  appointed  assistant 
sales  manager  of  the  Triumph  Electric  Company,  of  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

MR.  C.  NESBITT  DUFFY,  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Com- 
pany, was  married  on  Wednesday,  July  6,  to  Miss  Clara  Cunning- 
ham, of  Chicago.  Mr.  Duffy's  many  friends  will  be  greatly  pleased 
to  extend  their  congratulations  to  him  on  the  happy  event. 

MR.  A.  L.  WATERBURY,  who  was  at  one  time  first  vice- 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  Citizens'  Telephone  Com- 
pany, of  Houston,  Tex.,  has  accepted  a  position  as  general  man- 
ager of  the  sales  department  of  the  American  Conduit  Company. 
Mr.  Waterbury  will  have  his  headquarters  at  the  Chicago  office 
of  this  company,  1005-6  Manhattan  Building. 

MR.  JAMES  D.  HOUSEMAN  has  resigned  as  general  manager 
of  the  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles  &  Western  Railroad,  which  runs  from 
the  terminus  of  the  Eastern  Avenue  division  of  the  St.  Louis  Tran- 
sit Company  to  St.  Charles,  Mo.  Mr.  Houseman  will  in  the  future 
devote  his  attention  to  the  Suburban  Telephone  Company  and  other 
enterprises  with  which  he  is  connected.  Mr.  Houseman  has  an- 
nounced that  Mr.  J.  B.  C.  Lucas,  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
railway  company,  has  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  company. 

MR.  H.  M.  LITTELL,  general  manager  of  the  Chattanooga 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  of  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  recently  ad- 
dressed to  the  employees  of  the  company  a  circular  in  which  he 
complimented  them  on  their  efficient  handling  of  the  extraordinary 
business  of  the  Festival  week.  Mr.  Littell  is  a  man  of  wide  experi- 
ence in  the  field,  and  is  a  strict  disciplinarian,  but  he  is  ever  ready 
to  acknowledge  unflinching  loyalty.  Mr.  Littell  said  that  never 
had  he  seen  a  road  more  smoothly  operated. 

MR.  W.  S.  HOOK,  who  was  vice-president,  treasurer  and  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Los  Angeles  Traction  Company,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal,  before  the  absorption  of  that  company  by  the  Los  Angeles  In- 
terurban  Railway  Company,  died  in  Philadelphia  a  few  days  ago. 
After  Mr.  Hook  disposed  of  his  interest  in  the  Traction  Company  he 
decided  to  take  a  long  rest,  as  the  exacting  duties  of  his  position  with 
the  company  had  slightly  impaired  his  health.  He  went  East  soon 
after  the  sale,  living  for  a  time  in  Chicago.  Later  he  moved  to 
Philadelphia.  Mr.  Hook  was,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  real  founder 
of  the  Traction  Company.  He  planned  the  enterprise  and  car- 
ried it  to  a  successful  end.  His  favorite  hobby  in  recent  years  was 
the  building  of  a  line  to  San  Pedro.  He  organized  a  special  com- 
pany to  build  the  road,  and  finally  saw  his  dream  realized.  Mr. 
Hook  was  distinctly  what  is  known  as  a  family  man.  He  is  sur- 
vived by  a  widow  and  two  sons. 

MR.  SAMUEL  JONES,  Mayor  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  who  was 
familiarly  known  by  the  soubriquet  of  Golden  Rule  Jones,  died 
at  his  home  in  that  city  Tuesday  evening,  July  12.  Mayor  Jones 
was  a  man  of  strong  personality,  and  during  his  brief  public 
career  did  many  noble  things  for  which  he  should  be  justly 
praised.  He  was,  however,  in  every  sense  a  radical,  and  like 
others  of  his  kind  knew  not  the  force  of  logic  when  applied  to 
questions  that  were  his  hobbies.  One  of  the  Mayor's  pet  themes 
was  the  regulation  of  public  service  corporations,  regarding  the 
restrictions  of  which  he  had  the  most  fanciful  ideas.  Some  of 
these  ideas  he  set  forth  plainly  in  a  recent  message  to  the  City 
Council  regarding  the  application  of  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company  for  franchise  renewals.  Mr.  Jones  was  serving  his 
fourth  term  as  Mayor  when  he  died.  His  first  term  was  served 
as  a  Republican.  During  the  next  six  years  he  ran  as  an  inde- 
pendent, as  the  Republican  organization  felt  that  it  could  not 
again  nominate  on  its  ticket  a  man  whose  views  of  municipal 
ownership,  labor  legislation  and  kindred  subjects  were  not  in 
keeping  with  the  views  of  the  organization.  Despite  this,  how- 
ever, he  was  elected  each  time  he  ran,  showing  that  he  was 
immensely  popular. 


Street  Railway  Journal 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  JULY  23,  1904.  No.  4. 


Vol.  XXIV. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block.  ► 
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Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London"— Liebcr's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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and  Mexico. 

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Combination    Rate,    with    Electric    Railway    Directory  and 

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Investments  (The  "Red  Book"— Published  annually  in  May; 

regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)   $6.50  per  annum 

Single  copies,  Street  Railway  Journal,  first  issue  of  each  month,  20  cents; 
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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  latur 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Economy  of  Air  Brakes 

Air  brakes  have  come  naturally  to  be  considered  a  necessity 
on  heavy  interurban  cars.  On  single-truck  city  cars  they  have 
made  very  little  headway.  When  it  comes  to  double-truck  city 
cars,  however,  there  is  a  contested  territory  where  there  is 
considerable  difference  both  in  practice  and  opinion.  Many 
companies  are  operating  double-truck  city  cars  with  hand 
brakes,  while  others  are  using  air  brakes  for  the  same  weight 
of  car.  The  question  is,  perhaps,  too  often  considered  simply 
as  one  of  cost  of  brake  maintenance.  If  that  is  the  only  thing 
to  be  considered  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  hand  brake  is  the 
most  economical.  Some  managers  object  to  the  air  brake  be- 
cause they  say  that  with  the  additional  complication  it  involves 
it  is  not,  on  the  whole,  as  reliable  as  the  band  brake,  and  that 
with  the  class  of  labor  employed  it  is  less  likely  to  prove  re- 
liable.   This,  however,  is  simply  another  way  of  putting  the 


argument  that  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  air  brake  is 
greater  than  of  the  hand  brake.  It  is  known  from  experience 
with  air  brakes  on  heavy  cars  that  they  can  be  maintained  so 
as  to  give  good  and  reliable  service  if  the  proper  attention  is 
given  to  maintain  them  in  reliable  condition.  It  is,  therefore, 
simply  a  question  of  cost  of  maintenance  after  all,  as  by  spend- 
ing enough  money  on  maintenance  the  air  brake  can  be  made 
reliable.  The  whole  thing  simmers  down,  then,  to  whether  it 
pays  to  spend  this  money  in  maintenance  for  the  benefits  re- 
ceived from  the  air  brakes. 

The  greatest  benefit  which  is  supposed  to  be  obtained  from 
the  use  of  air  brakes  is  the  reduction  of  accidents.  That  air 
brakes  save  some  accidents  there  is  no  doubt,  but  like  every 
other  safety  appliance  their  value  in  that  respect,  however  great, 
is  largely  a  matter  of  guess  work.  While  this  is  important, 
it  is  not  the  only  advantage  of  air  brakes.  There  are  other 
points  to  be  gained  by  their  use  as  compared  to  hand  brakes, 
which  are  susceptible  of  fairly  definite  engineering  determina- 
tion, and  it  is  to  these  points  that  we  wish  especially  to  call 
attention  here  in  the  hope  that  the  city  railways  that  are  now 
adopting  air  brakes  may  be  induced  to  determine  for  their  own 
benefit,  and  that  of  the  art  in  general,  how  much  these  points 
amount  to. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  with  cars  operating  over  the  same 
route  on  a  given  schedule  less  energy  in  kilowatt-hours  per  car 
mile  will  be  required  than  with  hand  brakes.  This  would 
apparently  be  true  for  two  reasons.  Since  the  air  brakes  are 
applied  more  quickly  and  easily  than  the  hand  brakes,  a  motor- 
man  will  naturally  drift  with  current  off  more  with  the  air 
brake  than  with  the  hand  brake.  When,  with  the  air  brake, 
he  would  apply  the  brake  suddenly  and  make  a  quick  stop,  he 
would  apply  it  slowly  by  hand,  and  hence  could  not  coast  as 
much  to  make  the  same  schedule  with  the  hand  as  with  the  air 
brake.  Further  than  this  a  motorman  is  tempted  to  run  with 
the  brakes  partly  set,  or  at  least  with  the  slack  all  taken  up 
when  in  a  crowded  street  with  a  hand-braked  car,  because  of 
the  necessity  of  being  prepared  to  stop  quickly.  We  see  here 
two  reasons  for  increased  economy  with  air  brakes.  Informal 
tests  that  we  have  heard  of  would  seem  to  indicate  that  these 
things  work  out  in  practice  as  expected,  but  a  determination 
of  how  much  this  saving  of  energy  will  amount  to  in  a  given 
case  would  be  valuable. 

Another  point  in  favor  of  the  air  brake  that  has  a  com- 
mercial value  aside  from  the  saving  of  accidents  is  that  they 
make  possible  a  faster  schedule  without  increased  risk.  We 
have  in  mind  one  case  where  the  introduction  of  air  brakes  in 
city  service  had  the  effect  of  changing  what  was  apparently  a 
very  fast  schedule  and  one  hard  to  maintain  into  one  with 
which  there  was  no  trouble  in  being  on  time. 

Ventilation  as  an  Asset 

Within  the  last  few  years  a  great  deal  of  stress  has  been 
laid  by  engineering  salesmen  upon  ventilation  as  a  strong  point 
in  the  design  of  apparatus,  and  there  has  grown  up  a  feeling 
among  operating  officials  that  unless  a  motor  or  a  generator 
is  pretty  well  perforated  by  air  ducts  and  holes  for  disposing 


n8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


of  accumulated  heat  losses,  the  machine  is  likely  to  be  in- 
capable of  operating  efficiently.  The  pendulum  has  swung  so 
far  in  this  direction  that  it  is  time  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  while  adequate  ventilation  is  a  valuable  asset,  in  the  make- 
up of  any  piece  of  electrical  machinery,  there  are  other  features 
of  design  which  have  quite  as  much  influence  upon  the  efficiency 
curve.  Like  the  hole  in  the  doughnut,  the  ventilation  duct  is 
the  least  expensive  part  of  the  machine,  and  may  be  used  to 
cover  up  a  multitude  of  sins  in  the  way  of  scamped  copper  and 
iron,  joint  forebears  of  excessive  PR  losses.  Everyone  knows 
that  a  motor  with  a  fixed  rating  will  carry  heavy  and  sustained 
overloads  without  protection  as  long  as  it  is  run  with  the  cov- 
ers off  and  air  blown  through  it  by  the  motion  of  the  cars 
or  by  a  special  fan.  These  points  should  be  kept  in  mind  in 
selecting  equipment  along  with  considerations  of  weight,  speed, 
accessibility,  reliability,  momentary  overload  capacity,  first 
cost,  maintenance  guarantees  and  experience  obtained  by  other 
purchases  with  any  given  type  of  apparatus.  It  is  more  im- 
portant to  get  an  idea  of  the  energy  which  is  thrown  away  in 
heat  losses  than  to  appreciate  the  admirable  arrangements  for 
disposing  of  such  wasted  power  after  it  is  liberated  in  the  regu- 
lar operation  of  the  machine. 

Car  Signs 

The  proper  labeling  of  routes  and  destinations  upon  street 
cars  is  a  problem  which  dates  back  to  the  earliest  days  of  horse 
traction,  and  the  requirements  of  different  transportation  sys- 
tems in  this  matter  are  as  variable  as  the  geography  of  the 
cities  which  they  serve.  The  importance  of  equipping  cars 
with  plainly-printed,  definite  signs,  has  often  been  referred  to 
in  our  columns,  and  there  would  be  little  need  of  calling  at- 
tention to  the  subject  at  this  time  were  it  not  for  the  lapses 
from  good  practice  so  frequently  encountered  in  both  city  and 
cross-country  operation. 

Progressive  officials  are  now  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that 
some  form  of  car  sign  is  indispensable,  even  upon  the  shortest 
roads.  It  is  now  pretty  well  realized  that  every  fare  counts  in 
the  race  of  gross  receipts  against  fixed  charges  and  operating 
expenses  toward  the  goal  of  dividends,  and  in  these  days  of 
almost  universal  traveling,  it  is  not  enough  that  the  inhabi- 
tants of  a  particular  locality  understand  their  car  service.  The 
stranger  within  the  gates  must  have  the  way  made  plain  to 
him  also,  if  the  cab  driver  and  the  steam  railroad  company  are 
not  to  capture  five  or  ten  times  the  money  which  ought  to  go 
to  the  street  railway. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  a  proper  equipment  of  signs 
means  that  a  car  must  in  every  case  be  as  plastered  with  labels 
as  the  windows  of  a  cut-rate  drug  store.  In  the  vast  majority 
of  cases  a  destination  sign  at  the  front  of  the  car,  with  a  route 
sign  at  the  side — painted  upon  the  panel,  over  the  windows,  or 
affixed  to  the  roof — answers  all  practical  purposes.  It  is  better 
practice  to  mark  a  definite  terminal,  "City  Park,"  upon  the 
front  sign  than  to  label  it  with  the  route  "name,  "Main  Street." 
The  latter  belongs  at  the  side  of  the  car,  because  of  the  over- 
balancing importance  of  the  destination. 

The  adoption  of  different  colored  cars  for  the  various  routes 
is  a  convenience  to  the  regular  inhabitants  of  a  city,  but  it  is 
of  little  use  to  the  stranger,  and  on  medium  or  small-sized  sys- 
tems has  the  disadvantage  of  preventing  the  interchange  or 
pooling  of  cars  for  service  on  different  routes.  In  like  manner, 
the  use  of  colored  lights  at  night  is  far  less  valuable  to  the 
visitor  than  the  employment  of  a  good  illuminated  sign  above 
the  motorman's  head. 

Failure  to  properly  equip  cars  with  signs  may  easily  result 


in  increased  wear  and  tear  and  power  consumption  of  the  car 
equipment,  due  to  additional  stops  and  starts  made  necessary 
by  the  inquiries  of  uncertain  passengers.  When  these  stops 
and  starts  are  made  upon  heavy  grades  the  strain  upon  the 
equipment  and  waste  of  energy  is  all  the  more  needless.  The 
would-be  passenger  has  no  other  recourse  than  to  stop  the 
car  in  order  to  find  out  where  it  is  going — if  it  is  insufficiently 
labeled — and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in  the  course  of  a 
year  the  cost  of  wasted  power  and  extra  depreciation  of  rolling 
stock  due  to  this  poverty  in  the  use  of  signs  amounts  to  con- 
siderably more  than  the  expense  of  properly  marking  the  cars. 

Operating  points  of  this  character  are  small  things  in  them- 
selves, but  their  sum  total  often  decides  the  profit  and  loss  of 
a  year's  business.  Interurban  lines  with  established  stations 
and  printed  time-tables  are  naturally  less  affected  by  the  sign 
problem  than  city  and  suburban  roads.  In  no  business  in  the 
world  is  the  old  Scotch  proverb,  "Many  a  mickle  makes  a 
muckle,"  better  illustrated  than  in  street  railway  work,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  little  more  care  in  the  use  of  car  signs 
will  amply  repay  considerable  trouble  and  expense  in  its  re- 
sulting effect  upon  transient  traffic  on  many  modern  electric 
railway  systems. 

Sub-Station  Wiring 

Within  the  past  few  years  the  wiring  of  sub-stations  has 
come  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  features  of 
design.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  increasing  use  of  higher 
voltages  upon  the  line  side  of  the  transformers,  and  in  part  to 
a  growing  appreciation  of  the  value  of  continuous,  reliable  ser- 
vice. In  the  congested  districts  of  large  cities  the  value  of  real 
estate  and  fixity  of  established  property  lines  do  not  permit  that 
freedom  of  design  which  we  find  carried  out  in  country  or 
suburban  sub-stations,  so  that  much  greater  ingenuity  is  re- 
quired in  securing  a  good  arrangement  of  apparatus. 

The  wiring  problem  is  naturally  conditioned  by  the  design  as 
a  complete  whole,  and  it  generally  follows  that  a  simple, 
straightforward  arrangement  of  apparatus  means  the  avoid- 
ance of  complication  in  the  high  and  low-tension  circuits.  In 
the  early  days  of  alternating-current  transmission  little  atten- 
tion was  paid  to  the  systematic  layout  of  sub-station  wiring. 
The  advent  of  potentials  varying  from  10,000  volts  to  60,000 
volts  has  changed  all  this,  and  the  practice  of  simplifying  the 
high-tension  circuits  in  particular  is  rapidly  being  standard- 
ized. Even  in  modern  designs,  however,  there  are  still  many 
things  to  criticise  in  regard  to  the  wiring  arrangements.  In  a 
sub-station  placed  in  operation  but  a  few  weeks  ago,  the  high- 
tension  wiring  runs  down  a  brick  flue  but  18  ins.  wide  and  5  ft. 
long,  to  the  serious  danger  of  any  employee  who  attempts  to 
repair  any  line  trouble  within  the  station,  and  the  lightning 
arresters'  bare  terminals  project  from  the  wall  within  2  ft.  of 
the  floor.  Safety  to  employees  is  a  fundamental  requisite  in 
sub-station  design,  and  the  growing  practice  of  running  the 
high-tension  circuits  in  the  open,  where  their  course  can  be 
plainly  followed  from  the  wall  bushings  to  the  transformer 
primaries;  deserves  the  utmost  commendation. 

Although  wiring  troubles  are  of  infrequent  occurrence  in 
most  modern  sub-stations,  there  is  always  danger  of  at  least  a 
burn-out  from  lightning  or  from  fire,  caused  by  some  high- 
tension  cross  between  low  and  high-potential  circuits  in  the 
system  or  its  neighborhood  It  is  always  vitally  important  to 
cut  short  every  period  of  break-down  as  far  as  possible,  and  the 
sub-station  which  is  wired  in  a  simple,  straightforward  fash- 
ion, possesses  no  small  advantage  when  anything  goes  wrong 
with  its  circuits.   The  use  of  polyphase  instead  of  single-phase 


July  23,  1904.  J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


119 


transformers  means  greater  simplicity  in  both  high  and  low- 
tension  wiring  construction,  in  addition  to  an  economy  in  space 
and  weight  which  permits  a  highly  desirable  saving  in  the  first 
cost  of  real  estate  and  building  construction.  Thus,  three 
1000-kw  three-phase  transformers  take  the  place  of  nine  333-kw 
single-phase  units,  with  a  marked  saving  in  wiring  complica- 
tions and  a  reduction  of  30  per  cent  in  floor  space.  It  is  poor 
economy  to  use  smaller  insulators  and  less  expensive  insula- 
tion inside  the  sub-station  building  in  the  belief  that  the  ab- 
sence of  exposure  to  the  elements  warrants  this  sort  of  laxity. 
Of  course,  insulation  is  a  snare  and  a  delusion  upon  circuits 
carrying  much  over  10,000  volts,  and  the  best  practice  usually 
leaves  the  high-tension  wires  bare  inside  the  building  as  well 
as  without.  It  is  likewise  a  mistake  to  fail  to  insulate  properly 
the  low-tension  circuits,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  danger 
to  attendants  as  in  the  interests  of  safety  against  fires  and 
crosses. 

The  keynote  of  simple  sub-station  design  lies  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  apparatus  arrangement  from  what  we  might  call 
the  manufacturing  or  industrial  standpoint.  That  is,  the  pro- 
cess of  transformation  must  be  realized  at  every  step  in  laying 
out  the  equipment,  just  as  the  sequence  of  operations  in  a 
factory  determines  the  route  of  the  raw  material  through  the 
machinery  to  the  product.  From  this  viewpoint  the  high- 
tension  entering  current  is  the  raw  material,  and  the  low- 
tension  current  the  completed  product.  Just  as  in  a  modern 
factory  the  effort  is  made  to  carry  every  process  ahead  of  its 
preceding  operation  in  the  shortest  and  most  direct  route,  so 
is  it  desirable  to  follow  the  straight-line  course  in  carrying 
electrical  energy  through  a  sub-station's  wiring  and  equipment. 

The  Future  of  Coal 

Mr.  Parker,  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  has  re- 
cently predicted  that  another  half  century  will  see  the  practical 
end  of  the  anthracite  supply,  and  that  from  now  on  the  bitu- 
minous coal  will  come  steadily  more  and  more  into  use.  The 
fact  is  that  the  anthracite  beds  are  very  limited  in  extent,  have 
been  now  hard-worked  for  a  good  many  years,  and  there  seems 
small  prospect  of  finding  new  fields,  at  least  within  reach  of  any 
considerable  extent.  Aside  from  the  Pennsylvania  field  there 
is  practically  no  American  source  of  anthracite,  save  one  of 
minor  consequence  in  Colorado.  The  specially  significant  fact 
which  Mr.  Parker  brings  out  is  that  the  anthracite  production 
has  already  passed  its  maximum.  For  several  years  the  annual 
output  ranged  around  70,000,000  tons,  but  in  the  past  three 
years  it  has  averaged  less  than  60,000,000.  A  decline  in  pro- 
duction so  considerable  as  this  is  no  accident — it  means  that 
the  conditions  of  supply  are  such  that  the  use  of  anthracite  is 
on  the  decline,  and  that  the  growing  industries  of  the  country 
are  depending,  either  by  design  or  as  an  incident  of  situation, 
upon  the  bituminous  supply.  Confirmatory  evidence  is  fur- 
nished by  the  fact  that  in  the  past  three  years  the  output  of 
bituminous  coal  has  considerably  more  than  doubled,  rising  to 
the  enormous  figure  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  billion  tons 
per  year.  Of  course,  in  large  industries,  soft  coal  has  been  the 
staple  for  years,  but  it  seems  clear  that  in  the  future — and  in 
the  near  future,  at  that — it  will  be  the  exclusive  fuel  for  gen- 
eral manufacturing  purposes.  But,  with  the  country  growing, 
the  immense  output  of  soft  coal  must  still  rapidly  increase, 
while  that  of  anthracite  falls  off.  It  is  probably  not  stating  the 
case  too  strongly  to  say  that  in  the  lifetime  of  men  now  in 
active  pursuits,  anthracite  coal  will  become  as  much  of  a  luxury 
as  cannel  coal  now  is. 


In  other  words,  it  is  clear  that  within  comparatively  few 
years  the  shortened  supply  and  increased  difficulty  of  mining 
anthracite  will  put  it  practically  out  of  the  market.  But  what 
about  the  supply  of  soft  coal  ?  One  can  hardly  expect  the  coal- 
using  industry  to  decline,  and  at  a  very  conservative  estimate 
of  growth  one  may  soon  expect  to  find  the  quarter  billion  tons 
become  a  half  billion.  At  such  a  rate  of  dissipation,  what  is 
the  outlook  for  the  world's  future  coal  supply.  It  is,  perhaps, 
idle  to  speculate  on  the  grand  total  of  the  world's  resources,  for 
Asia  and  Africa  are  yet  to  be  exploited.  That  there  is  a  great 
store  of  coal  in  these  continents  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt. 
Whether  it  is,  upon  the  whole,  good  coal,  reasonably  easy  to 
mine,  and  within  range  of  practicable  transportation,  is  quite 
another  matter.  Much  of  our  own  soft  coal  is  of  rather  low 
grade,  and  similar  conditions  may  reasonably  be  expected  else- 
where. Coal  from  Central  Africa  would  mean  serious  freight 
charges,  so  serious  as  to  tend  to  a  shifting  of  the  world's  in- 
dustrial center.  Even  now  we  see  the  effect  of  cheap  coal  in 
drawing  our  own  industries  southward,  and  it  may  be  no 
idle  dream  to  look  forward  to  a  day  when  the  world's  metrop- 
olis may  be  located  in  Rhodesia.  Population  and  manufacture 
must  inevitably  shift  away  from  regions  of  rigorous  climate, 
when  coupled  with  scant  fuel  supply.  Fancy  for  a  moment  the 
anthracite  supply  exhausted  and  soft  coal  gone  to  the  present 
price  of  anthracite,  a  condition  which  even  some  men  now  born 
may  live  to  see.  How  long,  for  instance,  could  the  American 
cotton  manufacturer  compete  with  mills  in  Egypt,  with  fuel 
sent  down  from  the  Nile. 

But  the  practical  side  of  this  very  problem  which  confronts 
us  to-day  is  the  conservation  of  the  fuel  supply.   The  coal  sup- 
ply is  a  fixed  quantity,  even  though  large,  and  the  present  in- 
roads upon  the  store  are  tremendous.    What  can  be  done  to 
lessen  them  and  so  to  preserve  the  status  quo  a  century  or  two 
longer.    Obviously,  if  manufacture  grows,  one  of  two  things 
must  happen — either  fuel  must  be  used  up  at  a  rapidly  increas- 
ing rate,  or  it  must  be  made  to  go  further.   The  latter  horn  of 
the  dilemma  is  the  one  which  immediately  concerns  the  en- 
gineer.   If  industry  depended  on  the  engines  of  seventy-five 
years,  or  even  fifty  years  ago,  the  coal  output  would  have  al- 
ready risen  to  a  billion  tons  a  year.   What  can  be  done  in  the 
next  half  century  to  make  a  ton  of  coal  go  further  in  industrial 
use?    Improvement  of  our  prime  movers  is  clearly  the  first 
logical  step.   It  does  not  seem  a  wild  vision  to  imagine  the  coal 
consumption  brought  down,  even  with  steam  engines  or  tur- 
bines, to  a  pound  per  horse-power  hour.    In  internal  combus- 
tion engines  there  is  hope  for  still  greater  reduction.    In  the 
best  examples  to-day  nearly  one-third  of  the  heat  is  converted 
into  work,  about  one-third  is  rejected  in  the  water  circulation 
and  the  last  third  is  rejected  in  the  exhaust.    Clearly  the  lost 
heat  can  either  be  put  to  work  or  lessened  in  amount,  for  it  is 
still  at  a  relatively  high  temperature.    If  the  consumption  of 
fuel  could  be  brought  down  to  half  a  pound  of  coal,  or  its  equiv- 
alent, per  horse-power  hour,  the  life  of  the  coal  supply  would 
be  greatly  increased.    And  perhaps  there  are  improvements 
now  quite  unthought  of  which  will  help  out  still  more.  The 
water  powers,  too,  can  be  worked  to  their  full  value.    At  the 
present  time  they  are  only  beginning  to  be  utilized,  but  in  the 
long  run  they  must  win  out  against  a  rising  cost  of  fuel.  Econ- 
omy in  the  production  of  power  is  the  watchword  of  the  present. 
The  whole  trend  of  the  situation  indicates  that  as  years  go  by 
the  relative  fixed  charges  in  power  production — the  rate  of  in- 
terest— will  steadily  decrease  and  the  fuel  costs  will  go  up.  He 
will  build  wisely  who  bears  this  in  mind. 


120 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


THE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

The  majority  of  electric  railway  builders  in  Ohio  have  gone 
into  territory  already  occupied  by  steam  roads,  and  by  reason 
of  low  rates  and  frequent  service  have  succeeded  in  securing  a 
profitable  share  of  the  short-haul  freight  and  passenger  busi- 
ness. In  a  few  instances,  electric  roads  have  been  built  through 
districts  which  heretofore  have  had  no  rail  transportation  facili- 
ties of  any  kind,  and  in  nearly  all  instances  such  roads  have 
proven  of  inestimable  value  in  developing  territory  that  has 
practically  been  standing  still  for  many  years. 

In  Clarke  and  Miami  counties,  in  Ohio,  is  a  prosperous  farm- 


SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY  AND  SPRINGFIELD  & 
XENIA  RAILWAY  TERMINALS  ON  SAME  RIGHT  OF  WAY  AS 
THE  BIG  FOUR  (STEAM)  RAILROAD 


ing  district,  dotted  by  a  number  of  small  villages,  which  will 
shortly  hail  with  delight  the  first  through  cars  on  the  Spring- 
field, Troy  &  Piqua  Railway,  a  modern  high-speed  interurban 
road,  designed  for  handling  freight  as  well  as  passengers,  which 
has  been  built  through  the  center  of  this  district.  The  road  is 
practically  completed  between  Springfield  and  Troy,  a  distance 
of  29.6  miles,  passing  through  the  villages  of  Maitland,  Law- 
renceville,  North  Hampton,  Dialton,  Thackray,  Christiansburg 


GASOLENE  INSPECTION  CAR 


and  Casstown,  and  a  right  of  way  has  been  secured  for  a  spur 
line  from  a  point  near  Casstown  to  Piqua,  affording  a  direct 
route  between  Piqua  and  Springfield,  and  providing  a  shorter 
all-electric  route  between  Lima,  Springfield  and  Columbus. 
The  population  on  the  present  route  is  estimated  at  1980  per 
mile  of  track,  including  terminal  cities.  Springfield  is  one  of 
the  best  known  manufacturing  cities  in  the  Central  West ;  noted 


for  its  varied  industries  and  for  its  public  institutions,  among 
them  the  Masonic  Home  and  the  K.  of  P.  Home.  The  popu- 
lation of  Springfield  is  42,000.  Troy  is  a  seat  of  Miami  County, 
and  is  a  live  manufacturing  city;  population,  6000.  Christians- 
burg is  the  center  of  a  large  farming  district,  and  heretofore 
it  has  had  no  railroad  connection;  population,  1100. 

The  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  Railway  was  projected  by  the 
late  General  Asa  S.  Bushnell,  former  Governor  of  Ohio,  a 
gentleman  who  had  acquired  a  large  fortune  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  agricultural  implements  at  Springfield.  Two  years  ago 
he  sold  out  these  interests  to  a  combine,  and  he  determined  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  his  home  city  by  making  it  the  center  of 


SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY  AND  DETROIT  SOUTH- 
ERN (STEAM)  RAILROAD  ON  SAME  RIGHT  OF  WAY 


an  extensive  system  of  interurban  roads.  With  his  immediate 
associates  he  purchased  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Spring- 
field &  Xenia  Traction  Company,  operating  a  line  to  Xenia, 
the  seat  of  Green  County,  a  city  of  9000  inhabitants,  located 
25  miles  south  of  Springfield.  Work  on  the  Springfield,  Troy 
&  Piqua  Railway  was  started  in  the  spring  of  1903,  and  another 
road  was  projected  to  open  up  territory  southeast  from  Spring- 
field.   General  Bushnell  did  not  live  to  see  his  plans  consum- 


A  HEAVY  CUT  ON  THE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY 


mated,  as  he  died  in  January  of  this  year.  In  the  construction 
of  the  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua,  General  Bushnell  secured  the 
assistance  of  F.  J.  Green,  who  had  been  identified  with  the 
building  and  management  of  several  of  the  leading  traction 
properties  in  Central  Ohio.  D.  H.  Ullery,  formerly  chief  elec- 
trician for  the  Appleyard  syndicate,  was  secured  to  supervise 
the  installation  of  power  equipment.    The  Champion  Construe- 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


121 


tion  Company  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  building  this  and 
other  roads,  and  with  ample  financial  backing,  with  the  per- 
sonal supervision  of  their  own  engineers  and  construction 
forces,  and  without  the  usual  contractor's  profit,  the  road  has 
been  equipped  with  the  best  of  material  and  built  on  an  econom- 
ical basis. 

Few  roads  have  such  advantageous  terminal  facilities  as  the 
Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua.  In  entering  Springfield  it  would 
have  been  possible  to  make  a  traffic  arrangement  with  another 
company  operating  into  the  city 
from  the  west,  but  General  Bushnell 
preferred  an  independent  entrance. 
This  was  secured  by  leasing  for 
ninety-nine  years  half  of  the  double- 
track  right  of  way  of  the  Detroit 
Southern  Railroad  (steam),  thus 
bringing  the  electric  line  to  within 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  center  of 
the  city.  The  company  built  its  car 
house  and  freight  terminal  at  the 
end  of  this  private  right  of  way, 
giving  it  a  most  advantageous  loca- 
tion for  handling  package  as  well  as 
bulk  freight.  Passenger  cars  oper- 
ate to  the  Esplanade  in  the  center  of 
the  city  by  way  of  Grant  Street, 

Yellow  Springs  Street  and  Washington  Street.  Washington 
Street  is  also  occupied  by  the  tracks  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad 
(steam),  and  passengers  are  landed  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
the  Union  Passenger  Station.  Direct  connection  is  also  made 
with  electric  cars  to  Columbus,  Urbana,  Dayton  and  Xenia. 
Entering  Troy  the  company  built  its  own  track  to  the  center  of 
the  town,  where  connection  is  made  with  the  Dayton  &  Troy 
Railway  for  Dayton,  Piqua  and  Lima. 

In  two  instances  the  road  runs  around  the  centers  of  small 
towns  on  private  right  of  way,  with  6-deg.  curves,  while  in 
other  villages  the  line  takes  the  center  of  the  street. 

But  a  trifle  over  one  mile  of  the  entire  road  is  on  highway 
or  streets,  and  T-rail  is  used  exclusively.  In  Springfield  and 
Troy  this  is  paved. with  a  special  beveled  brick  known  as  the 
Hocking  paving  brick.  Through  the  country  the  road  is  on 
private  right  of  way,  a  short  portion  being  at  the  side  of  the 
highway,  while  the  balance  is  cross-country,  following  a  sec- 


view  of  this  piece  of  work  is  presented.  There  are  but  two 
grade  crossings  on  the  line ;  one  at  Troy  is  protected  by  a  de- 
railer,  while  the  other,  two  miles  west  of  Springfield,  is  in 
conjunction  with  the  crossing  of  the  Erie  and  Detroit  Southern 
steam  roads,  and  the  crossing  is  protected  by  semaphores  and 
interlocker  system  operated  from  a  tower ;  a  view  of  this  cross- 
ing is  also  presented.  The  only  bridge  on  the  line  is  a  360-ft. 
double-deck  timber  trestle  resting  on  concrete  foundations. 
Sixty-pound  standard  T-rail  is  used  through  the  country  and 


STANDARD  INTERURBAN  CAR  USED  ON  THE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY 


70-lb.  T-rails  in  cities  and  villages.  .Four-bolt  and  six-bolt 
fish-plates  are  used.  Concealed  bonds  are  employed  in  the  city 
and  Ohio  Brass  Company's  outside  soldered  bonds  in  the  coun- 
try. The  track  is  cross-bonded  every  500  ft.  The  ties  arc 
standard  size  and  spacing. 

The  poles  are  35  ft.,  spaced  100  ft.  apart,  are  all  perfectly 
straight  and  have  8-in.  tops.  The  brackets  are  of  the  Rich- 
mond flexible  type,  10  ft.  long,  of  il/>-in.  pipe.  There  are  three 
cross  arms,  the  two  upper  being  designed  to  carry  two  sets  of 
three-phase  high-tension  lines,  although  at  present  only  one 
set  is  installed.  The  upper  arm  carries  one  12^-m.  pin,  while 
the  lower  has  a  pin  on  either  end,  so  that  the  scheme  of  an 
equilateral  triangle  will  not  be  carried  out  until  another  set 
of  lines  is  installed.  The  arms  are  supported  by  wood  braces, 
the  pins  are  soaked  in  paraffine ;  the  insulators  are  7-in.  double- 
petticoat  chocolate-colored  porcelain,  tested  for  40,000  volts, 
while  the  three  high-phase  high-tension  wires  are  No.  4  copper. 


Cliffs 


CAR  HOUSE  AND  FREIGHT  TERMINAL  OF 

tion  line  with  the  highways  half  a  mile  on  either  side ;  right 
of  way  ranging  from  40  to  60  feet.  The  track  bed  is  graded 
12  ft.  wide  on  a  level  and  14  ft.  on  the  cuts. 

The  heaviest  cut  on  the  line  is  38  ft.  deep  at  one  point  and 
about  80,000  yards  were  taken  out  and  filled  nearby.  At  this 
point  on  the  line  there  is  a  grade  of  2.6  per  cent,  nearly  a  half 
mile  long,  which  is  practically  the  only  grade  on  the  road. 
This  cut  was  made  nearly  40  ft.  wide  to  avoid  cave-ins,  and  a 


IE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY 

The  trolley  wire  is  two  0000  grooved  wire,  dispensing  with  the 
use  of  d.  c.  feeders. 

The  company  decided  it  would  be  advisable  to  use  combina- 
tion cars  exclusively.  This  enables  traveling  men  to  carry 
their  trunks  with  them,  and  makes  every  run  an  express  run. 
There  are  four  of  these  cars,  built  by  the  John  Stephenson 
Company.  The  general  dimensions  are:  Length  of  body  over 
corner  posts,  40  ft. ;  length  over  bumpers,  50  ft.  1  in. ;  width 


122 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


over  sills,  8  ft.  6  in. ;  height  from  top  of  floor  to  under  side  of 
head  lining,  8  ft.  6  in. ;  weight  of  body,  26,000  lbs.  The  cars 
are  steam-coach  type,  with  vertical  sides,  and  have  12  double 
sash  windows  on  each  side,  monitor  roof,  drop  platforms,  round 
front  three-window  vestibules,  and  Stanwood  steps,  with  double 
folding-step  doors,  which  must  be  raised  before  door  can  be 
opened.  The  side  sills  are  one  continuous  piece  of  4%-in.  x 
jY^-'m.  yellow  pine.  The  sub-sills  are  3^  ins.  x  5^4  ins.,  with 
Yt,-\n.  x  7-in.  steel  plates  bolted  between,  running  the  full  length 
of  sills.  The  end  sills  are  4%-in.  x  7^-in.  white  oak,  with 
^-in.  x  6-in.  steel  plates  running  between  the  width  of  framing 
and  returning  on  each  end  about  8  ins.,  forming  right  angles 
where  the  end  and  side  sills  are  joined  with  tenon  and  lap  joint. 
The  platforms  are  supported  by  two  4-in.  x  5-in.  tees  and  four 
y2-'m.  x  5-in.  steel  plates.    The  bumpers  are  3-in.  white  oak, 


1NTERLOCKER  AT  ERIE  CROSSING,  WITH  POWER  HOUSE  IN 
THE  BACKGROUND 


capped  with  7-in.  x  3^-in.  x  7-16-in.  steel  angles.  The  floor- 
ing is  double,  with  building  paper  between.  The  side  posts 
are  2y2-'m.  x  4-in.  ash,  and  the  corner  posts  are  4  ins.  x  4l/2 
ins.  The  cars  are  thoroughly  trussed. 

The  cars  are  designed  to  run  double-end,  and  to  obviate  the 
possibility  of  passengers  interfering  with  the  controlling  appa- 
ratus there  is  a  cab  at  each  end  provided  with  double  folding 
doors,  which  partitions  off  the  controlling  mechanism  and  at  the 
same  time  leaves  both  doors  of  the  rear  end  open  for  passengers. 
The  sashes  in  the  upper  portion  of  outside  door  of  cab  are 
hinged  and  secured  by  a  spring  catch  so  that  the  motorman 
may  look  out  of  the  window  without  opening  the  entire  door. 
The  baggage  compartment  is  combined  with  the  smoking  com- 
partment, and  has  seats  arranged  to  fold  against  the  ends  and 
side  of  cars  when  not  in  use.  Six  camp  stools  are  also  carried 
on  hooks  from  the  roof.    The  windows  have  two  sashes  and 


bottom  sash  raises  22  ins.  Window  heads  are  oval  and  have 
art  glass.  The  interior  finish  is  all  cherry.  The  window  shades 
are  pantasote,  with  Forsythe  spring  rollers.  The  seats  are  the 
Hale  &  Kilburn  walk-over  pattern,  upholstered  with  black 
pantasote.  The  heaters  are  Consolidated  Electric.  Nichols- 
Lintern  air-sanders,Wagenhal's  headlights,  Eclipse  car-fenders 
and  Van  Dorn  couplers  are  other  items  of  equipment.  The 
cars  are  mounted  on  Peckham  M.  C.  B.  No.  40  trucks,  and  are 
equipped  with  four  G.  E.  No.  57  motors.  They  are  operated 
by  the  G.  E.  Type  M.  multiple  control  system,  and  have  West- 
inghouse  air  brakes. 

The  company  has  one  50-ft.  express  car,  which  is  fitted  with 
75  hp  motors,  and  has  unusually  low  gear,  as  it  is  the  intention 
to  use  it  as  a  locomotive  and  haul  standard  steam  freight  cars. 
A  feature  of  the  car  is  the  fact  that  it  is  fitted  with  special  ice- 


BRIDGE  IN  SNYDER  PARK 


racks,  so  that  the  drip  will  not  injure  the  woodwork  and  wiring. 
The  company  expects  to  handle  considerable  ice  from  a  lake 
on  its  line,  and  it  will  also  haul  considerable  produce  and 
dressed  meat  that  will  be  benefited  by  the  refrigerator  feature. 
The  company  has  an  arrangement  with  the  Detroit  Southern 
Railway  (steam)  for  handling  its  freight  cars,  ;  nd  it  hopes  to 
make  similar  arrangements  with  other  steam  roads  in  this 
vicinity.  At  Maitland  the  company  has  track  connection  with 
the  Detroit  Southern  and  the  Erie  roads,  and  at  Troy  with  the 
Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  Railway.  The  prospects  for 
car-load  freight  business  are  very  promising.  At  Christians- 
burg  and  Casstown  the  advent  of  the  road  has  induced  the  erec- 
tion of  grain  elevators  and  warehouses  for  coal,  lime  and  lum- 
ber, and  the  company  has  placed  connecting  tracks  to  these 
establishments.  Freight  and  ticket  offices  will  be  maintained 
in  these  towns.    The  freight  house  at  Springfield  is  a  brick 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


123 


building  36  ft.  x  60  ft,  with  track  through  the  center  and  one  at 
the  side.  There  is  an  office  and  two  10-ft.  platforms  extend- 
ing the  length  of  the  building,  with  large  double  doors  on  both 
sides.  The  property  at  this  point  provides  ample  space  for  a 
freight  yard. 

The  car  houses  adjoining  the  freight  station  is  45  ft.  x  180  ft., 
built  of  brick,  with  steel-supported  slate  roof.  There  is  a  wing 
containing  a  stock  room,  dispatcher's  office,  reading  room,  bath 


THE  CASCADE  IN  NEFF  PARK 


room  and  shower  bath  for  employees.  There  are  three  tracks 
in  the  house.  A  portion  of  one  is  fitted  with  drains  and  cement 
floors  for  washing  cars,  while  the  third  extends  over  a  pit  5  ft. 
deep  and  15  ft.  wide.  In  this  pit  is  the  machine  shop,  the  tools 
being  arranged  along  the  outside  wall  and  including  a  wheel 
press,  wheel  lathe,  planer,  lathe  and  drill  press.  A  5-ton  chain 
hoist  covers  the  entire  pit  and  track.  There  is  a  screw-jack  on 
a  truck  below  the  track,  and  the  advantage  claimed  for  this 


CASCADE  CREEK  IN  NEFF  PARK 


shop  arrangement  is  that  practically  all  the  repair  work  can 
be  done  without  leaving  the  pit.  All  the  floors  in  the  building 
are  concrete  and  the  tracks  are  supported  on  concrete  piers. 
The  building  is  well  lighted  and,  as  it  stands  on  the  edge  of  a 
cliff,  the  drainage  is  excellent.  The  tracks  in  the  house  have 
an  elevation  of  one-half  of  1  per  cent,  so  that  cars  will  run  out 
as  a  protection  against  fire.  The  house  is  fitted  with  three  Kin- 
near  rolling  steel  shutters.  The  special  work  at  this  point,  as 
well  as  other  special  work,  was  furnished  by  the  Indianapolis 
Switch  &  Crossing  Company,  of  Springfield. 

The  company  expects  to  derive  considerable  traffic  through 
excursion  business.   Four  miles  from  Springfield,  a  large  base- 


ball park,  with  covered  grand  stand,  has  been  erected  by  the 
company,  and  regular  scheduled  games  will  be  played  during 
the  balance  of  the  season.  The  park  was  opened  June  26,  and 
the  company  handled  a  veryjarge  crowd  with  the  first  passen- 
ger cars  to  operate  on  the  line.  Two  miles  west  of  the  busi- 
ness section  of  Springfield  lies  Snyder  Park,  a  magnificent  city 
park,  upon  which  the  municipality  has  expended  large  sums 
in  beautifying  and  improving.  Two  views  in  this  park  are 
presented.  The  electric  line  extends  the  full  length  of  the 
park,  a  distance  of  more  than  a  mile,  and  three  waiting  rooms 
have  been  erected.  Pioneer  Woods  and  Echoltz  Park  are 
popular  picnic  grounds,  while  Lost  Creek  and  Mad  River  are 
famous  fishing  streams.  Neff  Park,  near  Yellow  Springs,  on 
the  Springfield  &  Xenia  Railway,  will  also  give  this  company 
considerable  business,  and  through  excursion  cars  will  be  oper- 
ated to  this  resort,  which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  that 
portion  of  Ohio.  The  park,  embracing  nearly  two  hundred 
acres,  occupies  a  deep  ravine,  surrounded  by  lime-stone  rocks 
affording  rugged  and  picturesque  scenery.  There  is  a  large 
lake,  affording  boating  and  bathing,  and  a  large  dancing  pa- 
vilion and  dining  room  are  among  the  attractions.  The  man- 
agement caters  only  to  the  best  class  of  people,  and  the  park 
is  used  primarily  for  picnics  and  evening  trolley  parties.  Tick- 
ets are  sold  over  both  roads  bearing  coupons  for  admission  to 
the  park,  and  both  roads  have  arrangements  for  furnishing 
special  cars,  with  exclusive  use  of  the  dancing  pavilion. 

In  planning  for  the  power  station  for  the  Springfield,  Troy 
&  Piqua  Railway,  several  circumstances  made  it  inadvisable  to 
follow  the  usual  practice  of  placing  it  near  the  center  of  the 
line.  The  Springfield  &  Xenia  Railway  had  no  power  station 
of  its  own,  and  it  was  thought  probable  that  other  roads  would 
be  built  from  Springfield  which  would  require  power.  Excel- 
lent water  supply  and  fueling  facilities  were  available  at 
Springfield,  and  a  location  was  obtained  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Erie  and  the  Detroit  Southern,  where  connections  were  made 


POMPEY'S  PILLAR  IN  NEFF  PARK 


with  both  roads.  The  site  faces  Snyder  Park,  and  General 
Bushnell  decided  on  an  ornamental  building  that  should  be  in 
harmony  with  its  surroundings.  It  is  built  of  machine-made 
brick,  with  red  mortar  and  sand-stone  trimmings.  The  roof 
is  tile,  with  1^2-in.  roofing  sheeting  and  roofing  felt,  with  moni- 
tor construction  resting  on  structural  steel  trusses.  There  are 
numerous  ventilators,  with  transom-operating  devices.  The 
cornices  are  galvanized  iron,  and  all  gutters  and  down-spouts 
are  copper.  The  flooring  is  all  concrete  on  expanded  metal, 
and  the  foundations  are  stone  and  concrete.  There  are  numer- 
ous steel  columns  in  the  walls,  and  the  crane  beams  are  sup- 
ported on  steel  columns.    A  20-ton  60-ft.  span  crane,  built  by 


124 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


the  Case  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Columbus,  covers  the 
engine  room.    The  coal  bunkers  at  the  side  of  the  house  are 

75  ft.  x  20  ft.  x  20  ft.  high,  having  a  capacity  of  600  tons,  and 
are  reached  by  a  timber  trestle  from  a  siding.  The  trestle  has- 
scuttle  openings  for  use  of  either  side-dump  or  center-dump 
cars.    The  engine  room  is  75  ft.  x  75  ft.,  and  the  boiler  room 

76  ft.  x  46  ft.,  and  there  is  a  bay-off  from  the  former  56  ft.  x 
1 1.6  ft.  for  the  office  and  transformers.  The  boiler-room  floor 
is  6  ft.  below  the  engine-room  floor  and  the  pit  below  the  engine 
room  is  13  ft.  6  in.  below  the  engine-room  floor. 

The  boilers  are  four  300-hp  Babcock  &  Wilcox,  arranged  in 
two  batteries  and  having  "Dutch  Oven"  extended  furnaces, 
which  give  better  combustion  and  larger  grate  surface  than 
the  ordinary  type.  Each  boiler  has  144  4-in.  tubes  18  ft.  long 
and  two  42-in.  steam  drums.  Grates  are  plain,  measuring  7  ft. 
x  9  ft.  8  ins.    Ample  draft  is  afforded  by  a  160-ft.  radial  brick 


driven  exciters,  and  these  are  by-passed  so  that  no  matter  what 
portion  of  the  header  is  cut  out,  either  or  both  exciter  engines 
can  still  be  supplied.  All  valves  over  6  ins.  are  by-passed.  The 
Holly  return  system  is  installed  for  taking  care  of  condensa- 
tion from  main  steam  lines,  separators,  etc. 

The  engines  are  two  Cooper-Corliss  cross-compound  con- 
densing, high-pressure  cylinder  22-in.  low-pressure,  44-in.  and 
42-in.  stroke,  having  intermediate  receiver.  They  are  rated  at 
850  hp,  and  are  guaranteed  for  50  per  cent  overload.  They 
have  Corliss  valves,  and  Cooper  safety  governors  operating  but- 
terfly valves  at  overspeed.  Governors  are  connected  with 
synchronizing  devices  for  equalizing  speed  when  engines  are 
operating  in  parallel.  Engines  are  provided  with  mechanism 
for  operating  automatic  dampers  in  the  furnace  breeching.  The 
high-pressure  lines  from  the  header  to  the  engines  are  carried 
below  the  engine-room  floor,  and  there  is  no  steam  piping  of 


VIEW  OF  POWER  STATION,  SHOWING  SWITCHBOARD,  TRANSFORMERS  AND  EXCITER  SETS 


stack  8  ft.  inside  diameter,  resting  on  its  own  foundation  ten 
feet  from  the  building,  and  connected  to  the  boilers  by  a  6  ft.  x 
o-ft.  breeching.  Run  of  mine  or  nut  and  slack  will  be  used. 
The  main  steam  header  is  a  12-in.  wrought-iron  pipe,  fitted 
with  Malmanco  joints  consisting  of  double  flanges,  obviating 
the  necessity  of  threading  the  pipe.  The  header  is  supported 
on  brackets  hung  from  the  dividing  wall,  and  it  rests  on  rollers 
to  provide  for  expansion  and  contraction.  There  is  an  8-in. 
line  from  each  boiler  to  the  header,  and  each  is  provided  with 
two  valves.  The  header  is  separated  in  the  center  by  a  Wal- 
worth 12-in.  gate  valve,  so  that  it  is  possible  to  cut  out  either 
battery  or  any  boiler.   There  are  two  steam  lines  to  the  engine- 


any  kind  in  the  engine  room.  There  is  a  central  condenser 
plant  of  the  Worthington  elevated  cone  type  located  outside  the 
engine  room.  The  dry-vacuum  pump  for  the  condenser  is  a 
Worthington,  10  ins.  x  16  ins.  x  10  ins.,  and  is  located  on  the 
engine-room  floor  to  the  rear  of  the  engines.  A  Worthington 
12-in.  x  17-in.  x  15-in.  circulating  pump,  located  in  the  pit  below 
the  engine  room,  supplies  the  cooling  water,  which  is  taken  from 
a  10-ft.  x  30-ft.  well  outside  the  building.  The  well  is  supplied 
by  gravity  a  distance  of  1200  ft.  through  a  20-in.  sewer  pipe. 
The  digging  of  this  30-ft.  trench  was  no  small  piece  of  work, 
particularly  as  a  great  deal  of  limestone  rock  was  encountered. 
However,  a  large  number  of  springs  were  turned  into  the  line, 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


125 


and  the  water  supply  is  practically  furnished  by  these,  afford- 
ing very  clear  cold  water  for  condensing.  The  condenser  sys- 
tem has  been  tested  out  satisfactorily,  and  from  26  ins.  to  27  ins. 
of  vacuum  obtained.  There  is  a  relief  valve  on  the  exhaust 
line  and  the  engines  may  exhaust  through  a  Hoppes  exhaust 
head,  the  condensation  passing  to  the  hot  well.  The  condensa- 
tion from  the  condenser  system  falls  to  a  4-ft.  x  6-ft.  hot-well 
located  below  the  condenser  head. 

The  facilities  for  handling  feed-water  are  very  complete. 
One  end  of  the  boiler  room  is  devoted  to  the  pumps,  five  in 
number.  Two  Worthington  6-in.  x  7^2 -in.  x  6-in.  hot- well 
pumps  take  water  from  the  hot  well  and  deliver  it  to  a  Hoppes 
open-type  heater  of  1200-hp  capacity,  supported  25  ft.  above 
the  boiler  room  on  a  steel  framework.    Adjoining  the  heater 


well-Bierce-Smith-Vaile  underwriters'  fire  pump,  which  takes 
cold  water  from  the  cold  well,  supplying  water  to  all  parts  of 
the  house.  By  means  of  an  automatic  regulating  valve,  a  con- 
stant pressure  is  maintained  in  the  fire  system,  and  by  means 
of  a  by-pass  on  the  steam  line  it  is  possible  to  turn  direct  pres- 
sure into  the  pump.  An  interesting  manifold  system  of  valves 
has  been  worked  out  in  connection  with  the  pumps.  By  means 
of  these  valves,  which  are  located  at  the  side  of  the  pumps,  it 
is  possible  to  make  any  combination  of  pipe  connections  from 
the  floor  without  the  annoying  and  time-taking  work  of  climb- 
ing all  over  the  boiler  room  to  change  valves.  The  details  of 
this  manifold  system  of  valves  are  illustrated  in  a  drawing. 
All  pumps  are  provided  with  Lunkenheimer  mechanical  lubri- 
cators.   The  exhaust  lines  from  the  engines  to  the  condenser 


INTERIOR  OF  POWER  STATION,  SHOWING  DIRECT-CONNECTED  GENERATING  SETS 


is  a  Hoppes  closed  type  live-steam  purifier,  consisting  of  a 
large  drum  provided  with  numerous  shells. 

Two  Worthington  9-in.  x  534-in.  x  10-in.  inside-plunger  type 
duplex  pumps  take  the  water  from  the  heater  and  pass  it 
through  the  purifier.  The  water  flows  over  a  series  of  shells 
and  comes  into  contact  with  live  steam  from  the  boilers,  which 
precipitates  all  impurities.  The  bottom  of  the  purifier  is  6  ft. 
above  the  boilers  and  the  water  flows  by  gravity  to  the  boilers, 
flow  being  aided  by  the  steam  pressure  in  the  purifier.  Either 
of  the  boiler  feed-pumps  are  amply  large  enough  to  supply  the 
full  capacity  of  the  boilers,  and  the  piping  is  arranged  so  that 
they  can  take  water  directly  from  the  hot  well  to  the 
boilers,  if  necessary,  or  can  deliver  cold  water  from  the  cold 
well.    Adjoining  the  boiler-feed  and  hot-well  pumps  is  a  Still- 


have  Hoppes  heaters,  purifiers,  steam  separators  and  oil  elim- 
inators. The  exhaust  from  the  auxiliaries,  steam  pumps  and 
steam  exciters  is  all  conveyed  to  the  open  type  heater,  giving 
the  benefit  of  this  additional  hot  water.  The  engines  are  lubri- 
c?ted  by  an  automatic  oiling  system  consisting  of  a  90-gallon 
overhead  tank  and  a  90-gallon  Cross  filter  in  the  basement.  A 
small  Victor  pump  delivers  oil  from  the  filter  to  the  tank,  and 
from  the  latter  it  flows  by  gravity  to  all  bearings.  Floor  stands 
on  the  engine-room  floor  give  the  engineer  control  of  the  en- 
gines, condenser  and  exciter  engines. 

The  main  generators  are  direct-connected  to  the  engine 
shafts  and  are  the  General  Electric  Company's  revolving  field, 
three-phase,  25-cycle  type.  They  are  rated  at  540  kw,  and  de- 
liver 845  amps,  at  370  volts.    They  are  guaranteed  to  stand  50 


126 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


from  Exciters 


iti-^—ffO"--^ 
Detail  Of  Street  Ry.  Journal' 


Section  It-K 


'6»  1 

Suction  Manifold 


DIAGRAM  OF  FEED-WATER  PURIFIER  AND  PUMPING  ARRANGEMENTS,  SHOWING  ALSO  AUXILIARY  STEAM  AND 

BOILER  FEED  PIPING 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


127 


per  cent  overload  for  two  hours  and  25  per  cent  continuously. 
Speed  is  94  r.  p.  m.  Exciting  current  is  supplied  by  two  G.  E. 
35-kw  125-volt  generators,  operated  by  two  marine-type  steam 
engines.  Either  unit  is  sufficiently  large  for  exciting  both  gen- 
erators and  supplying  light  for  the  house, 
110-volt  arc  lamps,  being  used  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

The  station  was  designed  to  take  care  of 
both  the  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  and  the 
Springfield  &  Xenia.  The  last-mentioned 
company  uses  6600  volts  in  transmitting  to 
two  sub-stations,  current  for  these  at  present 
being  supplied  from  a  power  house  which  was 
leased  and  fitted  with  old  d.  c.  apparatus.  A.  c. 
current  was  obtained  by  means  of  belted  ro- 
tary converters  and  step-up  transformers.  A 
potential  of  26,400  volts  was  decided  upon  for 
the  new  line,  and  to  allow  for  the  two  voltages 
two  sets  of  transformers  were  installed  in 
the  new  house.  The  transformers  occupy  a  bay 
off  from  the  engine  room,  and  the  two  sets  of 
outgoing  lines,  lightning  arresters,  etc.,  are 
kept  separate,  the  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua 
lines  passing  out  of  the  building  to  the  north, 
and  the  Springfield  &  Xenia  to  the  south,  the 
latter  line  being  carried  around  the  city  of 
Springfield  to  the  first  sub-station.  To  pro- 
vide for  possible  multiple  operation,  and  in  case 
the  voltage  on  the  Springfield  &  Xenia  should 
at  any  time  be  changed  to  that  of  the  other 
road,  the  transformers  were  made  inter- 
changeable for  either  voltage.  This  was  ef- 
fected by  making  the  total  coils  in  the  transformers 
in  multiples  of  four.    They  may  be  connected  in  series  for 


ers  in  each  bank  of  the  air-cooled  type  rated  at  180  kw  and 
having  370  volt  secondaries. 

The  basement  below  the  transformer  bay  is  partitioned  off 
for  an  air-blast  chamber,  and  all  wiring  is  carried  through  this 


VIEW  IN  THE  BOILER  ROOM 

chamber.  There  are  two  blower  sets  consisting  of  Buffalo 
Forge  Company's  fans,  driven  by  4-hp  induction  motors  taking 
current  from  the  low-tension  bus-bar.  The  blowers  are  pro- 
vided with  dampers,  which  are  automatically  regulated  by  air 
pressure,  so  that  they  require  no  attention.  Either  set  is  large 
enough  to  cool  both  sets  of  transformers.  No  high-tension  oil 
switches  are  installed  in  the  station,  since  each  line  has  its 
own  group  of  transformers,  and  short  circuits  or  other  line 


CONDENSER,  HOT  WELL  AND  COLD  WELL  AT  POWER  STATION 


POWER  STATION  OF  THE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA 
RAILWAY 


26,400  volts,  two  in  series  and  two  in  parallel  for  13,200  volts, 
or  four  in  parallel  for  6600  volts.   There  are  three  transform- 


troubles  are  opened  by  means  of  1500-amp.,  600-volt  automatic 
oil  switches  between  the  low-tension  buses  and  the  transform- 


128 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


crs.  These  switches  are  suspended  from  a  tubular  framework 
immediately  below  the  switchboard,  which  is  located  in  front  of 
the  transformers.    In  case  the  high-tension  lines  are  paralleled 


FIRE  PUMP  IN  PUMP  ROOM  OF  POWER  STATION 

at  any  time  in  the  future,  motor-operated  high-tension  oil 
switches  will  be  installed,  and  space  has  been  left  for  these 
back  of  the  transformers,  together  with  suitable  foundations 
and  wiring  arrangements. 

The  low-voltage  wiring  in  the  basement  and  air-blast  cham- 
ber is  all  weather-proof,  covered  with  asbestos  and  empire 


7-in.  chocolate  insulators.  The  high-tension  wires  are  carried 
up  through  shafts  at  either  end  of  the  air-blast  chamber  to  line 
anchorages,  which,  together  with  the  lightning  arresters,  are 
accessible  from  galleries  in  the  transformer  bay.  The  high- 
tension  shafts  are  sealed  at  the  top  just  below  the  lightning 
arresters,  and  the  high-tension  lines  pass  through  Locke  21 
porcelain  bushings.  Similar  bushings  are  used  in  carrying  the 
high-tension  lines  through  the  walls  of  the  air  lock  at  one  end 
of  the  air  chamber.  Back  of  the  lightning  arresters  each  line 
is  connected  to  one  pole  of  a  double-pole  copper-blade  switch, 
which  is  used  to  disconnect  the  line  from  the  apparatus  in  the 
building.  The  other  pole  of  this  switch  is  interposed  between 
the  line  and  the  lightning  arresters ;  opening  this  blade  of  the 
switch  makes  it  possible  to  do  the  necessary  cleaning  of  arrest- 
ers, while  the  current  is  on  the  line.  The  lightning  arresters 
are  standard  G.  E.,  designed  for  26,400  volts,  having  multiplex 
connections  to  prevent  abnormal  voltages  between  lines.  Both 
sets  of  lightning  arresters  are  the  same,  except  that  for  the 
6600-volt  line  the  ground  is  tapped  part  way  up  the  bank  of 
arresters. 

About  ten  miles  of  road  are  fed  direct  from  the  power  sta- 
tion and  a  rotary  converter  is  installed  in  the  house.  Space  and 
wiring  arrangements  provide  for  a  second  rotary,  which  may 
be  installed  later.    The  rotary  is  a  standard  G.  E.  300  kw  370 

Qj  li"Drij,  to  Sewer 
throueh  Boiler!  Room 


2"r>raiu  to  Hot  Well 


Section  at  A-A 


lJ»Blow-oft,  with 
Reversed  Swing  Check  Valve, 
Piped  to  Sewer 


to  Holly  System W 


Section  at  M-M 

SECTIONS   SHOWING   MAIN   AND   AUXILIARY  STEAM   PIPING    AND    ARRANGEMENT    OF    BAROMETIC    CONDENSER,  DRY 

VACUUM  PUMP,  HOT  WELL,  ETC. 


linen,  and  is  carried  on  porcelain  cleats.  The  high-voltage 
wiring  is  bare,  carried  on  wrought-iron  brackets,  with  Locke 


volts  a.  c,  600  volts  d.  c,  revolving  at  500  r.  p.  m.  The  ma- 
chine has  a  standard  G.  E.  end-play  device,  a  speed-limiting 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


129 


H 

w 

en 
C 
a 
in 

> 
H 

o 
ss 

o 
z 

H 

a 

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a) 

2 

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r 
d 

H 

O 
>< 

R° 
HJ 
JO 

a 


device  and  a  field  break-up  and  reversing  switch 
for  changing  the  polarity  if  it  comes  up  reversed. 
There  is  a  reactive  coil  between  the  transformers 
and  the  rotary  for  regulation,  and  there  is  a  start- 
ing panel  for  the  rotary  mounted  on  the  reactive 
coil.  The  standard  practice  of  starting  by  alter- 
nating current  at  low  voltage  is  followed.  In  this 
particular  case,  since  the  converter  has  no  trans- 
formers of  its  own,  half  voltage  for  starting  is 
obtained  from  taps  in  the  low-voltage  windings  of 
one  group  of  step-up  line  transformers.  After 
the  rotary  is  started  it  takes  current  directly  from 
the  a.  c.  bus-bar.  This  bus-bar  consists  of  copper 
bars  carefully  insulated  and  hung  from  an  I-beam 
framework  above  the  oil  switches  in  the  basement. 

All  switching  is  done  from  the  low-tension  side, 
and  no  high-tension  wires  reach  the  board.  Eleven 
panels  are  at  present  installed.  The  first  two  pan- 
els are  the  exciter-generator  panels  and  are  con- 
nected on  the  negative  side  of  the  exciter  circuits. 
They  have  single-pole  switches  connected  to  the 
positive  leads  from  the  positive  bus  in  the  base- 
ment, and  positive  current  only  is  brought  to  the 
board  for  field  excitation.  Each  panel  has  an  ex- 
citer field  rheostat,  ammeter,  voltmeter  and  volt- 
age plugs,  and  the  sub-base  of  one  panel  has 
switches  for  the  lighting  circuits.  Two  a.  c.  gen- 
erator panels  have  hand  wheels  governing  field 
rheostats  in  the  basement  below  the  board;  also 
voltmeters,  ammeters  and  balanced  three-phase 
indicating  wattmeters,  together  with  switch  levers 
operating  1500-amp.,  600-volt  non-automatic  oil 
switches  in  basement  below,  which  connect  gen- 
erators to  low-tension  buses  ;  also  two  transformer 
panels,  each  of  which  controls  a  bank  of  step-up 
transformers.  Each  panel  has  one  ammeter- 
switch  lever,  operating  1500-amp.,  600-volt  oil 
switches,  and  trip  coils  operated  from  current 
transformers  in  the  circuit  between  the  low-ten- 
sion buses  and  the  low-tension  transformer  deltas. 
Next  to  these  two  panels  there  is  space  for  two 
panels  to  be  installed  when  motor-operated  Type 
H  oil  switches  are  installed  on  the  outgoing  high- 
tension  lines.  Then  there  is  a  panel  controlling 
the  a.  c.  side  of  the  rotary  and  containing  a 
Thomson  ammeter  and  a  switch  lever  operating 
an  oil  switch  in  the  basement,  which  connects 
the  rotary  through  the  reactive  coil  to 
the  low-tension  buses.  On  the  sub-base  of 
this  panel  is  a  three-pole  double-throw  switch, 
with  fuses  for  motor-driven  blowers.  Next,  there 
is  a  blank  panel  for  the  a.  c.  side  of  another  rotary, 
and  it  will  have  similar  instruments,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  blower  switches.  The  next  panel  is  for 
the  d.  c.  side  of  the  rotary,  and  contains  a  1200- 
amp.  M.  K.  circuit  breaker,  main  switch,  rotary 
field  rheostat,  Thomson  recording  wattmeter  and 
an  illuminated  dial  1000  ammeter.  The  circuit 
breaker  has  a  low-voltage  release  coil,  which 
operates  also  in  connection  with  speed-limit- 
ing switch  on  converter.  The  two  following 
d.  c.  600-volt  feeder  panels  have  M.  K.  cir- 
cuit breakers;  1500-amp.  static  ammeters,  main 
switches  and  M.  D.  lightning  arresters.  The  d.  c. 
feeders  are  carried  through  clay  conduits  to  a  dis- 
tributing pole,  where  they  are  tapped  to  the  trol- 
leys. At  one  end  of  the  board  is  a  d.  c.  750-volt 
astatic  voltmeter  on  a  swinging  bracket,  and  on  the 
other  end,  adjoining  tine  exciter  panels,  is  a  175- 


i3'o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


131 


D.C.  Board 

CSF  Panel,  GOO  Volt      CSR  Pane! 

C(10  Volt,  300  K.W. 

300  K.W."*8  S  2  1 

% 

volt  astatic  meter  for  exciters;  also  a  G.  E.  round-pattern 
synchronizer,  used  in  paralleling  generators.  This  operation 
is  effected  on  the  low-tension  side. 

The  generator  panels  contain  instruments  which  serve  as 
combined  wattmeters  and  power- 
factor  indicators.  They  are  oper- 
ated by  double-throw  switches. 
When  the  switch  is  in  the  upper 
position  it  throws  the  potential 
coil  of  the  wattmeter  in  phase  with 
current  on  the  current-coil  on 
unity  power-factor.  A  lag  or  lead 
of  current  out  of  phase  with  e.  m. 
f.,  of  course,  reduces  the  watts,  the 
true  power-factor  being  shown  by 
the  reading  of  instruments.  With 
the  switch  in  the  downward  position 
the  potential  coil  of  wattmeter  is 
connected  across  the  two  outside 
legs,  thus  forming  a  potential 
90  degs.  out  of  phase  with 
current  at  unity  power-factor  and 
wattmeter  will  indicate  zero.  With 
a  lag  or  lead  of  the  main  current 
out  of  phase  with  e.  m.  f.,  the  e. 
m.  f.  in  the  potential  coil  of  watt- 
meter will  be  no  longer  90  degs. 
out  of  phase  with  current  on  cur- 
rent-coil, and  wattmeter  will  in- 
dicate that  current  and  e.  m.  f.  are 
no  longer  in  phase.  The  station  at- 
tendant then  takes  steps  to  so  ad- 
just the  field  excitation  of  genera- 
tors and  rotaries  that  instrument 
will  again  record  zero,  thus  show- 
ing that  current  and  e.  m.  f.  have 

been  brought  back  into  phase.  All  a.  c.  instruments  on  the 
board  are  of  the  G.  E.  horizontal  edgewise  type,  and 
the  d.  c.  instruments  are  the  G.  E.  astatic,  with  separately  ex- 
cited fields. 


and  the  other  at  Casstown.  The  buildings  are  plain  struc- 
tures, built  unusually  high  to  allow  for  a  crane,  which  is  high 
enough  to  lift  one  rotary  over  another  if  desired ;  also  allowing 
for  the  lightning-arrester  gallery.   The  buildings  have  concrete 


Incoming  Lino 

lit 

spst  sviiciici  rftfit 


SUB-STATION  ON  THE  SPRINGFIELD,  TROY  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY 

There  are  two  sub-stations  on  the  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua 
in  addition  to  the  one  in  the  house;  one  located  at  Thackary 


Grounded, Negative  Una.  Equalizer  Bus. 

Eotary  Converter 

DIAGRAM  OF  SWITCHBOARD  WIRING  AT  INTERMEDIATE  SUB- STATION  OF  THE  SPRING- 
FIELD, TROY  &  PIQUA  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


floors,  with  air-blast  chamber  for  a.  c.  wiring,  as  in  the  main 
station.  Each  station  is  designed  for  two  300-kw  rotaries,  al- 
though but  one  is  installed  at  present.  It  is  the  intention  to 
run  two  rotaries  from  one  bank  of  three  transformers,  and  at 
present  but  two  transformers  are  installed. 

The  transformers  are  rated  at  220  kw  each,  and  are,  of 
course,  more  than  ample  capacity  for  the  one  converter.  They 
are  operated  on  "open-delta"  connection,  the  two  secondary 
windings  under  this  arrangement  being  connected  in  multiple. 
In  case  it  is  ever  desired  to  install  a  second  rotary  in  the  sub- 
station, one  more  transformer  will  be  added  to  the  group,  in 
which  case  three  transformers  will  supply  two  rotaries,  as 
stated  above.  The  incoming  and  outgoing  high-tension  lines 
are  protected  by  33,000-volt  hand-operated  oil  switches  in  con- 
crete cells,  with  slate  tops,  located  back  of  the  transformers. 
The  two  sub-stations  are  alike,  except  that  the  intermediate 
sub-station  has  outgoing  as  well  as  incoming  lines,  together 
with  the  necessary  oil  switches  and  lightning  arresters.  The 
terminal  sub-station,  however,  has  outgoing  line  anchorage 
and  space  for  additional  oil  switches  and  lightning  arresters, 
which  could  be  installed  without  change  in  case  the  line  is  ex- 
tended or  in  event  of  consolidation  with  other  roads.  In  the 
terminal  sub-station  the  a.  c.  switchboard  panel  stands  in  front 
of  the  transformers  and  carries  ammeter,  voltmeter  and  switch- 
lever  operating  33,000-volt  oil  switches  connecting  incoming 
lines  to  transformers,  and  there  is  an  a.  c.  half-tap  rotary  start- 
ing-switch mounted  on  the  reactive  coil.  In  the  intermediate 
sub-station  the  a.  c.  switching  is  similar  to  that  in  the  terminal 
sub-station  with  the  addition  of  a  second  panel  bearing  three 
ammeters  and  levers  operating  oil  switches,  which  are  between 
the  high-tension  buses  and  the  outgoing  line.  In  both  cases  the 
oil  switches  are  arranged  to  operate  automatically  by  means 
of  trips  operated  by  current  transformers  connected  to  the  high 


132 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


tension.  The  d.  c.  boards  are  duplicates  of  those  in  the  main 
power  station. 

The  stock  of  the  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  Railway  Com- 
pany is  practically  all  held  by  the  Bushnell  estate  and  its  im- 
mediate friends.  The  bonds  have  not  been  sold,  and  no  attempt 
will  be  made  to  dispose  of  them  until  the  property  develops  it? 
earning  power.  All  construction  work  was  done  by  the  com- 
pany's own  engineers  and  force,  this  being  true  even  to  the  in- 
stalling of  the  engines  in  the  power  house.  The  electrical 
equipment,  however,  was  installed  by  the  General  Electric 
Company,  with  W.  S.  Culver,  the  engineer,  in  charge  of  the 
work.  The  officers  of  the  company  are :  John  L.  Bushnell, 
president ;  Fred  J.  Green,  vice-president  and  general  manager. 
H.  C.  Dimond,  secretary-treasurer  and  purchasing  agent ;  D.  H. 
Ullery,  chief  engineer.  The  Springfield  &  Xenia  Traction 
Company  is  under  practically  the  same  management;  F.  J. 
Green  being  president  and  general  manager ;  John  L.  Bushnell, 
vice-president;  H.  C.  Dimond,  secretary-treasurer,  and  D.  H. 
Ulkry,  chief  engineer.  , 
 ♦♦♦  


FINE  CARS  FOR  THE  BOSTON  &  WORCESTER  RAILWAY 


Ten  large  semi-convertible  cars  like  the  one  illustrated  were 
lately  delivered  to  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway 
Company  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company,  and  are  now  in  use  on 
the  high-speed  double-track  line  recently  completed.  The  new 
road  is  for  the  most  part  on  private  right  of  way,  and  extends 
in  almost  a  straight  line  between  Boston  and  Worcester.  Pas- 
sengers coming  from  any  point  of  the  immense  surface  and 


sash  frames,  is  quartered  oak,  and  the  ceilings  are  birc  1  veneer, 
tinted  light  green  and  decorated  with  gold. 

The  bottom  framing  is  very  substantial  and  includes  4-in. 
x  7%-in.  long-leaf  yellow  pine  side  sills,  with  12-in.  x  jH$-in. 
steel  plates  on  the  inside,  to  which  the  bases  of  the  posts  are 
secured.  These  plates  take  the  place  of  upper  trusses.  Heavy 
under  trusses,  with  queen  posts,  are  firmly  anchored  at  the 


SEMI  CONVERTIBLE   VESTIBULED    CAR  ON   BOSTON   &  WOR- 
CESTER STREET  RAILWAY 

body  bolsters.  End  sills  of  white  oak  are  534  ins.  x  6%  ins. 
The  platform  timbers  are  reinforced  with  angle-iron,  and  angle- 
iron  center  knees  extend  well  back  of  the  body  bolsters.  The 
car  bodies  measure  32  ft.,  and  over  the  vestibules  41  ft.  6  ins. ; 
from  end  panels  over  vestibules,  4  ft.  9  ins. ;  height  from  rail 
oyer  trolley  board,  12  ft. ;  from  center  to  center  of  body  bolster, 
22  ft. ;  angle-iron  bumpers,  Dedenda  gongs,  Retriever  conduc- 
tors' bells,  track  scrapers  and  other  furnishings  are  of  the 
builder's  manufacture.  The  trucks  are  No.  27-F-E-1,  with  4 
ft.  10-in.  wheel  base  and  solid  forced  side  frames.    A  car  and 


FLOOR  PLAN  OF  BOSTON  &  WORCESTER  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR 


elevated  system  of  Boston  are  taken  on  at  the  Park  Street 
subway  station  and  carried  to  Worcester,  a  distance  of  40 
miles,  in  two  hours.  The  towns  and  cities  along  the  route  ag- 
gregate a  population  of  nearly  100,000,  and  including  the  ter- 
minal cities,  it  is  estimated  that  a  population  of  about  1,000,000 
is  served  by  the  road. 

The  cars  are  of  the  builder's  well-known  semi-convertible 
type,  and  are  mounted  on  Brill  trucks.  Longitudinal  seats  accom- 
modating five  passengers  each  are  at  the  corners,  on  account 
of  which  the  two  windows  next  the  ends  are  extra  wide,  being 
3  ft.  7  ins.  from  center  to  center  of  posts.  These  seats  have 
19-in.  backs,  while  the  transverse  seats  have  22-in.  backs,  with 
comfortable  head-rolls,  and  are  36  ins.  long.  Hand-rails,  with 
straps,  are  provided  over  the  longitudinal  seats.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  several  windows  are  opened  to  different  heights, 
showing  that  passengers  may  admit  as  much  or  as  little  air  as 
they  please,  five  window-lock  stops  being  provided  in  each  sash 
runway  for  the  purpose.  The  neat  arm-rests  on  the  window 
sills  will  also  be  noticed.  They  are  necessary  because  the 
window  sills  are  extra  low  in  this  type  of  car.  The  sashes  of 
the  rear  windows  in  the  illustration  are  completely  raised  into 
the  roof  pockets,  giving  an  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  car 
when  entirely  opened.  All  three  sashes  of  the  vestibules  are 
composed  of  single  lights  and  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets. 
The  interior  finish  of  the  car,  including  vestibules,  doors  and 


trucks,  with  electrical  equipment,  including  train-control  ap- 
paratus, but  without  motors,  weighs  35,660  lbs. 




LAKE  SHORE  ELECTRIC  MAKES  TRAFFIC  AGREEMENT 
WITH  STEAM  LINE 


The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company  has  entered 
into  an  arrangement  with  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  &  Western 
Railway  (Clover  Leaf)  to  take  care  of  St.  Louis  business 
throughout  its  territory.  Through  tickets  will  be  sold  from  all 
points  on  the  electric  system.  The  Clover  Leaf  is  one  of  the 
"differential"  roads,  and  the  result  of  the  arrangement  is  that 
the  rate  from  Cleveland  over  this  route  is  $2  lower  for  all 
classes  of  tickets  than  is  the  rate  on  the  steam  roads  out  of 
Cleveland.  Another  interesting  point  is  that  people  from  all 
over  northeastern  Ohio  can  come  to  Cleveland  by  electric  rail- 
way, and  go  to  St.  Louis  at  a  lower  rate  than  the  through 
steam  rate  from  Cleveland.  The  electric  company  expects  to 
advertise  this  business  extensively  throughout  its  district. 


All  the  Oakland  Transit  Company's  lines  running  into 
Rerkeley  have  had  their  tracks  treated  with  crude  oil, 
sprinkled  by  means  of  a  tank  car.  The  object  is  to  lay  the  dust 
effectually  by  turning  the  road  into  a  mixture,  which  will  event- 
ually wear  down  into  a  surface  similar  to  asphaltum. 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


133 


CORRESPONDENCE 
THE  PAINTING  DEPARTMENT  IN  THE  PORTLAND  SHOPS 

New  York,  July  12,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

While  in  many  respects  the  design  of  the  Portland  Railway 
Company's  proposed  new  repair  shops,  as  published  in  your 
issue  of  July  2  are  very  desirable,  one  or  two  improvements 
might  be  made,  in  my  opinion,  so  far  as  the  plan  of  the  paint 
shop  is  concerned.  As  I  understand  that  suggestions  of  this 
kind  are  welcomed,  I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  mentioning  a  few 
of  them. 

The  plan  shows  four  separate  tracks  150  ft.  in  length  on 
what  is  known  as  the  pocket  plan.  I  do  not  know  the  length 
of  the  Portland  cars,  but  estimate  that  each  track  will  hold 
four  cars,  with  ample  room  to  work  between.  These  cars  are  to 
enter  and  leave  by  one  end  of  each  track.  If  this  plan  is  adhered 
to  it  will  result  in  much  confusion  and  expense  in  the  handling 
of  the  cars.  In  the  operation  of  painting,  the  first  car  entering 
any  one  of  the  tracks  would  be  the  first  one  to  leave  the  shop 
to  go  into  service,  and  in  order  to  do  this,  the  three  cars  in 
front  of  it,  in  case  the  track  is  filled  up,  would  have  to  be 
moved  out  the  shop  and  switched  out  of  the  way  in  order  to 
let  No.  1  out. 

In  nearly  all  shops  now  the  practice  is  to  put  the  cars 
in  the  paint  shop  dead,  the  motors  undergoing  repairs  while 
the  car  is  in  the  paint  shop.  In  this  case  a  line  car  would  have 
to  be  used  to  do  the  switching,  so  that  to  relieve  car  No.  1  three 
cars  would  have  to  be  switched  and  then  returned  to  their 
track.  This  operation  will  be  found  expensive  and  also  vexa- 
tious to  the  management,  for  it  will  often  happen  that  one  or 
two  of  the  three  cars  to  be  moved  will  be  wet  in  paint  or  var- 
nish, and  not  in  condition  to  be  moved  out  into  the  dust  or  wet 
of  the  street.  It  may  also  happen  that  one  of  the  cars  to  be 
moved  out  in  order  to  relieve  No.  1  is  minus  its  trucks  and  is 
jacked  up.  This  would  entail  additional  time  and  cost  to  move 
and  return  it  to  its  position  after  No.  1  has  been  taken  out. 
Again,  it  will  occur  frequently  in  paint-shop  practice  that  a 
car  merely  requiring  to  be  touched  up  and  revarnished  will  be 
placed  on  a  track  and  ahead  of  three  cars  to  be  repainted.  The 
revarnished  car  will  take  only  one-third  of  the  time  necessary 
to  repaint  the  other  cars,  so  that  to  relieve  the  revarnished 
car  the  same  confusion  will  occur.  The  writer  figures  out  that 
the  full  complement  of  cars  in  this  particular  shop  would  be 
sixteen.  If  the  work  was  in  full  swing  on  these  cars,  one  or 
other  of  the  doors  would  have  to  be  opened  twice  every  time  a 
car  was  moved ;  once  when  it  was  taken  out  and  once  when 
the  next  car  entered.  The  result  is  that  on  a  windy  and  dusty 
day  the  whole  shop  for  a  considerable  time  would  be  exposed 
to  the  dust,  which  would  be  bad  for  wet  paint  or  varnish,  and 
should  a  car  wet  in  varnish  happen  to  be  near  the  door  or  on  the 
next  track,  the  varnish  would  be  ruined  by  the  dust.  This  has 
actually  occurred  several  times  in  the  writer's  experience  in 
shops  so  constructed. 

Nothing  in  the  plan  indicates  the  manner  of  heating  the 
paint  shop.  It  will  be  found  impossible  to  carry  on  painting 
in  the  winter  without  heat  of  some  kind,  and  winter  months 
are  generally  the  busiest  in  the  paint  shop. 

There  is  a  track  in  the  paint  shop  which  is  to  be  devoted  to 
"washing  cars  with  a  hose  when  found  necessary."  The  writer 
is  not  clear  as  to  the  meaning  of  this.  Is  it  meant  to  use  that 
portion  of  the  paint  shop  as  a  stand  to  wash  such  cars  as  re- 
quire it  in  the  ordinary  running  of  the  road?  In  that  case, 
there  would  be  a  part  of  the  paint  shop  in  a  constant  state  of 
slop.  This  is  bad.  Moisture  should  be  very  carefully  avoided 
in  the  atmosphere  of  the  paint  shop,  and  for  that  reason,  when 
a  car  is  washed  in  the  paint  shop  for  revarnishing  or  painting, 
the  painter  uses  little  water,  certainly  not  a  hose.  Energy, 
pumice  stone  and  soap  are  more  to  the  purpose. 


The  writer  very  carefully  noted  the  position  of  the  paint 
store  room  and  heartily  endorses  the  type  of  roof.  It  is  an  apt 
idea  as  set  forth,  but  of  the  many  fires  which  have  occurred  in 
car  houses  from  time  to  time,  the  writer  does  not  recall  to 
knowledge  that  a  fire  ever  started  in  the  paint  shop.  Care  is 
always  exercised  in  the  storage  of  paints  from  the  fact  that 
they  are  known  to  be  highly  combustible.  It  is  in  the  other 
departments  and  where  danger  is  not  a  first  consideration,  and 
where,  consequently,  carelessness  occurs,  that  fires  are  apt  to 
originate.  Frequent  causes  are  a  too  lavish  use  of  gasoline, 
the  oil  lamp  turned  down  low,  the  lavish  and  careless  use  of 
cotton  waste  and  the  saturating  of  floors  with  lubricating  oil, 
and,  worst  of  all,  the  pipe-smoking  sneak. 

The  most  perfect  street  railway  paint  shop  with  which  the 
writer  is  acquainted  is  one  which  was  built  to  his  plans  and 
which  was  on  the  top  floor  of  a  building.  The  cars  were  ele- 
vated to  a  track  running  at  right  angles  to  the  tracks  in  cen- 
ter of  shop,  and  as  the  cars  came  up  on  the  elevator,  they  were 
pushed  on  the  table  operating  the  center  track.  By  this  means 
switching  was  reduced  75  per  cent,  and  as  there  was  no  opening 
of  doors,  the  elevator  being  enclosed,  the  weather  conditions 
outside  the  shop  were  not  considered.  As  the  shop  was  ele- 
vated, dampness  was  overcome  and  the  heating  question  was 
easily  solved,  while  dust  did  not  give  any  trouble,  even  in  the 
hot  weather,  when  windows  and  skylights  would  be  open  on 
fine  days.  The  write'r  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  Portland  car 
shop  could  be  easily  altered  to  obviate  any  of  the  trouble  de- 
scribed above.  It  would  also  be  more  practical  to  have  the 
woodworking  shop  next  to  the  paint  shop,  as  there  is  work  for 
the  painter  in  the  workshop  all  the  time,  such  as  priming  and 
touching-up  emergency  jobs. 

Trusting  the  motive  of  writing  the  above  reflections  will  not 
be  misunderstood,  I  am,  yours  truly,         John  C.  Weaver. 


THE  ADVANTAGE  OF  PUBLICITY 

Jamaica,  N.  Y.,  July  11,  1904. 
Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

The  short  article  in  your  issue  of  July  9  about  the  policy  of 
the  Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Railway  Company  toward  the 
newspapers  was  to  the  point.  My  opinion  is  that  not  one  man- 
ager in  one  hundred  has  any  idea  of  the  value  of  the  news- 
paper man  as  an  asset.  And  my  opinion  is  based  on  practical 
experience.  Not  so  many  years  ago  I  was  on  a  paper  in  a  town 
that  was  the  division  headquarters  of  a  large  steam  road. 
Things  were  always  happening  on  that  road.  But  we  news- 
paper men  never  hunted  for  a  story,  for  we  knew  that  the  facts 
were  ours  for  the  asking.  In  the  case  of  the  few  minor  acci- 
dents on  the  system  we  first  obtained  the  accounts  of  the  eye 
witnesses  and  then  got  the  details  as  given  out  by  the  company. 
Thus  we  were  often  able  to  modify  greatly  a  story  that  if 
printed  as  given  by  excited  spectators  would  have  contained 
that  element  of  the  terrible  so  very  likely  to  be  injected  into 
a  tale  told  by  a  sufferer.  The  superintendent  of  the  road  real- 
ized that  we  were  desirous  of  publishing  the  facts,  but  that  a 
story  would  be  printed,  and  that  if  he  did  not  do  his  duty  and 
present  his  side,  the  tale  would  go  just  as  gotten  from  specta- 
tors or  as  conjured  in  the  fertile  mind  of  the  writer.  The  boys 
really  learned  to  love  that  "super."  Whenever  any  new  equip- 
ment arrived,  we  were  notified,  and  every  means  was  placed  at 
our  disposal  for  getting  a  good  story.  The  arrival  of  a  new- 
coach  or  a  new  locomotive  was  duly  heralded,  and  every  change 
that  in  any  way  worked  to  the  benefit  of  the  patron  of  the  road 
was  given  publicity,  and  publicity  that  was  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth.  To  illustrate  the  point  I  am  trying  to  make,  a 
certain  street  railway  system  was  recently  equipped  with  air 
brakes.  Frequency  of  accidents  on  this  road  had  made  neces- 
sary the  adoption  of  power  brakes.  Flere  was  a  chance  to  re- 
store public  confidence  through  publicity,  but  as  far  as  I  know, 


134 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


the  chance  was  lost.  Some  one  in  authority  in  that  company 
might  have  devoted  an  hour  or  two  to  giving  the  newspaper 
men  there  that  story.  What  would  have  been  the  result  ? 
Every  paper  in  town  would  have  devoted  space  to  it,  and  the 
confidence  of  a  timid  public  would  have  been  restored.  As  it  is 
now,  the  people  at  large  are  totally  ignorant  of  an  expenditure 
of  thousands  of  dollars  that  has  been  made  solely  to  protect 
them.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  does  not  take  great  news  sense  in 
a  manager  to  see  the  benefit  of  all  this  to  the  company. 

G.  M.  Murray. 

 +++  

CAR  SIGNS  IN  BERLIN 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  17,  1904. 
Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

In  connection  with  your  editoral  on  "Car  Signs"  in  your 
issue  of  July  2,  I  should  like  to  call  your  attention  to  a  method 
of  indicating  different  routes,  as  noticed  in  Berlin,  Germany, 
during  a  recent  trip  abroad.  This  method  consists  in  giving 
each  route  a  number,  this  number  being  put  on  a  large  disk  at 
the  top  of  the  car  in  addition  to  the  regular  car  sign  indicating 
the  destination.  It  is  obvious  that  such  a  sign  can  be  readily 
seen  and  recognized  from  a  long  distance. 

This  method  has  been  in  operation  for  some  time,  and  has 
proved  to  be  a  success,  and  if  it  were  given  a  trial  in  this  coun- 
try by  one  of  the  large  companies  it  would  undoubtedly  prove 
equally  successful.  L.  C.  Marburg. 


COLLEGIATE  RECOGNITION  OF  THE  ENGINEER 


New  York,  July  19,  1904. 

Editors  Street, Railway  Journal: 

1  have  read  with  interest  the  editorial  in  your  issue  of  July 
16  on  "The  Engineer  Gets  Left." 

It  appears  to  me  that  much  good  would  be  done  if  the  en- 
gineering press  of  this  country  will  impress  upon  the  various 
institutions  of  learning  that  they  would  materially  advance  the 
art  if,  among  other  things,  they  showed  their  recognition  of 
the  worth  of  the  engineers  of  the  country.  It  is  a  lamentable 
fact  that  it  is  most  difficult  to  find  cases  where  institutions  of 
learning  have  seen  fit  to  confer  their  honorary  degrees  upon  en- 
gineers— and  this,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
world's  most  notable  achievements  have  been  the  work  of  en- 
gineers. 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  editorial,  and  hope  that  you  will 
continue  to  hold  the  matter  up  to  public  view  until  some  of 
the  universities  of  the  country  will  be  brought  to  a  realization 
of  the  fact  that  others  besides  politicians  and  clergymen  are 
entiled  to  their  recognition  and  the  honors  which  they  oc- 
casionally confer.  W.  C.  Gotshall. 


The  Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven  &  Muskegon  Railway  Com- 
pany, of  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  conducts  a  school  of  instruction 
for  its  employees.  Sessions  are  held  every  Friday,  and  there 
is  a  special  session  in  the  evening  for  those  whose  duties  do  not 
permit  of  their  attending  the  regular  session.  A  feature  of  the 
instruction  is  a  question-box,  to  which  the  men  contribute  such 
questions  as  suggest  themselves  during  service.  The  box  is 
opened  at  each  session,  when  the  questions  are  read  and  dis- 
cussed. 

E.  B.  Kirk,  master  mechanic,  instructs  in  handling  electrical 
apparatus ;  J.  P.  Pulliam,  train  master,  gives  lessons  in  the 
operation  of  trains,  handling  train  orders,  etc. ;  T.  L.  Hackett 
takes  up  with  the  men  the  handling  of  tickets,  the  collecting  of 
fares  and  dealing  with  the  public  in  general.  The  principal  of 
the  school  is  General  Manager  Morley,  who  looks  after  the 
work  as  a  whole. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  INSTRUCTION  AT  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 

The  constantly  increasing  application  of  electricity  to  prac- 
tical affairs  has  made  it  evident  to  progressive  instructors  that 
something  more  than  theory  and  trifling  experiments  must  be 
given  to  students  of  electrical  engineering.  Sibley  College,  the 
engineering  school  of  Cornell  University,  is  an  excellent  ex- 
ample of  the  most  advanced  practice,  and  the  apparatus  in- 
stalled for  experimental  work  by  the  students  is  characteristic 
of  what  is  being  done  by  the  best  technical  schools. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  Sprague  multiple- 
umt  outfit  used  at  Sibley  College.  This  outfit  is  of  entirely 
modern  construction,  and  was  purchased  to  show  to  the  students 
of  electric  railway  engineering  the  principles  which  underly 
the  control  of  heavy  electric  trains.  The  apparatus  is  kept  in 
working  condition,  both  for  demonstration  and  testing,  the  for- 
mer being  considered  the  more  important  for  instruction  pur- 
poses. The  large  class  of  over  one  hundred  is  divided  into 
small  sections  for  the  study  of  such  equipments,  and  they  are 
permitted  to  operate  it  and  to  study  the  general  features  which 
have  been  previously  described  in  the  lecture  room.  Electric 
railways  is  a  subject  which  is  not  required  of  the  regular  elec- 


MULTIPLE  UNIT  EQUIPMENT  AT  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 


trical  engineering  students  at  the  present  time,  but  it  is  re- 
quired in  the  course  in  railway  mechanical  engineering,  show- 
ing that  those  in  charge  of  that  work  realize  the  great  impor- 
tance of  this  subject  in  relation  to  the  motive-power  depart- 
ments of  steam  railroad  systems.  In  time  it  is  probable  that 
the  college  will  expect  all  of  its  electrical  students  to  take  this 
course  as  a  part  of  the  required  work.  They  now  take  it  quite 
generally  as  an  "elective"  subject,  voluntarily  carrying  it  in  ad- 
dition to  the  heavy  required  work  of  the  course.  It  is  the  in- 
tention of  the  electrical  department  to  provide  as  complete  an 
equipment  for  this  work  as  the  means  of  the  college  will  allow. 
The  manufacturers  of  railway  apparatus  appreciate  the  im- 
portance of  this  movement  and  are  heartily  co-operating  in 
making  it  a  success.  This  work  is  in  charge  of  Prof.  Henry 
N.  Norris,  of  the  electrical  department,  at  Cornell  University, 
and  also  of  the  Electric  Railway  Test  Commission  at  St.  Louis. 
 ♦♦♦  

The  Sterling,  Dixon  &  Eastern  Electric  Railway,  operating 
between  Sterling  and  Dixon,  111.,  has  built  platforms  at  all 
stations  on  its  line  between  the  cities.  The  stations  are  built 
at  the  regular  stopping  places  and  consist  of  a  bed  of  gravel 
eight  feet  long  and  six  feet  wide.  This  gravel  is  even  with  the 
ties  of  the  road,  making  it  easy  to  step  on  and  off  the  cars. 
The  section  men  along  the  road  have  been  given  orders  to 
keep  the  grass  mowed  and  otherwise  make  the  right  of  way 
of  the  company  neat  and  beautiful. 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


PUGET  SOUND  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  COMPANY'S  EFFECTIVE  METHOD 
FOR  HANDLING  LARGE  CROWDS 


The  accompanying  illustration  is  from  a  photograph  of  one  of  the  race 
track  trains  on  the  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway,  operating  between  the 
race  track,  known  as  the  "Meadows,"  6  miles  out  of  Seattle,  and  Seattle. 
The  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway  is  the  interurban  line  between  Tacoma 
and  Seattle,  and  is  a  third-rail  line,  except  between  Seattle  and  this  race 
track,  and  through  the  city  streets  of  Tacoma.  For  two  seasons  the  company 
had  found  it  very  expensive  to  handle  the  crowds  going  to  the  races,  which 
are  run  through  the  months  of  June  and  July,  when  such  traffic  was  handled 
with  the  ordinary  double-truck  passenger  car.  While  the  company's  line 
is  virtually  double  track  all  of  the  way  between  the  above  points,  the  per- 
centage of  accidents  is  greatly  increased  by  running  so  many  different  cars, 
from  the  fact  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  obtain  men  who  will  keep  the 
cars  a  proper  and  safe  distance  apart,  and  the  liability  of  rear-end  collisions 
is  very  great.  The  problem  has,  however,  been  solved  by  using  the  ordinary 
flat  car  with  a  canvas  top  upon  it,  such  as  shown  in  the  illustration.  The 
company  is  now  able,  with  two  trains  of  the  type  in  question,  to  give  a  half- 
hour  service  between  Seattle  and  the  race  track,  and  runs  two  to  four  ordi- 
nary double-truck  passenger  cars  between  these  trains  to  pick  up  the  strag- 
glers. This  method  has  worked  out  very  satisfactorily.  As  soon  as  the 
season  is  over  the  tops  will  be  removed  from  the  cars  and  stored  one  above 
another  in  a  car  house,  where  summer  cars  are  stored,  where  they  will  be 
ready  for  use  next  season.  The  railing  around  the  cars  will  be  taken  off, 
and  the  motors  and  flat  cars  will  again  be  ready  for  the  freight  service.  The 
motor  equipment  is  of  the  company's  ordinary  center-cab  type,  used  in  the 
freight  service  between  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  speeded  to  about  30  miles  per 
hour,  and  containing  four  125-hp  G.  E.  No.  66  motors.  The  inside  of  the 
car  is  arranged  with  two  longitudinal  rows  down  the  center,  and  a  longi- 
tudinal row  on  each  side.  There  is  an  opening  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
car  at  the  opposite  end  to  that  shown  in  the  illustration. 

On  busy  days  the  trains  are  composed  of  one  motor  and  five  cars.  During 
the  middle  of  the  week,  when  the  crowds  are  smaller,  the  traffic  can  be 
handled  with  one  train,  made  up  of  eight  cars,  to  reduce  the  expense. 

This  style  of  car,  while  just  as  safe  as  other  designs,  is  not  quite  as  handy 
as  the  cross-seat  car,  with  entrance  opposite  each  seat.  But  the  local  condi- 
tions for  loading  and  unloading,  of  course,  govern  the.  style  of  car  the  com- 
pany is  compelled  to  use.  As  the  interurban  line  is  run  strictly  upon  steam 
road  principles,  each  train  is  equipped  with  one  motorman  and  conductor, 
who  have  charge  of  the  train  and  its  operation  under  standard  rules,  and 
there  is  besides  a  conductor  to  each  car  to  look  out  for  the  loading  and  un- 
loading of  passengers,  and  the  collection  of  fares.  The  cars  are  equipped 
with  ordinary  registers. 

There  is  a  pair  of  steps  carried  upon  the  small  bumper  platform  at  the 
end  of  the  cars,  and  the  moment  the  car  stops  the  conductor  hooks  the  step 
into  a  heavy  iron  fastening  opposite  the  entrance,  thus  making  an  easy 
mode  of  ingress  and  egress. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  W.  S.  Dimmock,  manager  of  the  company,  for 
the  illustration  and  data  given  in  this  article. 




The  Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Railroad  Company,  of  Chicago,  is 
installing  two  interlocking  switching  plants  operated  upon  the  electro-pneu- 
matic system.  One  of  these  plants  will  be  located  just  east  of  the  river,  to 
control  the  tracks  running  into  the  stub  terminal  and  also  to  the  Union  Loop. 
The  other  will  be  at  Marshfield  Avenue,  which  is  now  the  busiest  junction 
on  the  line.  A  provision  in  the  new  Union  Loop  ordinance,  which  is  now 
before  the  City  Council,  will  permit  the  Metropolitan  Elevated  to  make  a 
turn-out  on  Van  Buren  Street  and  thereby  complete  a  little  loop  of  its  own. 
This  will  allow  the  turning  around  of  the  trains  that  enter  the  stub  terminal, 
thus  greatly  increasing  its  capacity.  Progress  is  reported  in  the  work  of 
equipping  the  cars  with  the  multiple-unit  control  system. 


Traffic  on  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  was  interfered  with  for 
a  short  time  a  few  days  ago  by  a  vessel  entering  Black  River  and  tearing 
down  the  high-tension  lines  which  had  been  strung  across  the  river  on  two 
high  steel  towers  140  ft.  tall.  It  appears  that  the  feeders,  which  are  of 
aluminum,  had  sagged  considerably,  owing  to  the  extremely  long  span. 


136 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


RECONSTRUCTED  CARS  OF  PACIFIC  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY, 
OF  LOS  ANGELES,  CAL. 


An  interesting  example  of  what  may  be  done  by  an  electric 
railway  in  rebuilding  and  equipping  for  efficient  service  cars 
that  apparently  are  only  suitable  for  the  junk  heap,  has  recently 


FIG.  2.— REBUILT  PASSENGER  MOTOR  CAK 


been  set  by  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Los  An- 
geles, Cal.  About  the  time  of  the  incorporation  of  this  com- 
pany, two  years  ago,  it  purchased  three  motor  cars  and  twelve 
trailers  or  coaches  that  had  been  operated  in  trains  on  the  rail- 


tered  to  meet  the  local  conditions.  Each  car  is  equipped 
with  four  G.  E.  51  motors,  rated  at  80  hp  each,  and  pneu- 
matic trolley  bases  have  been  fitted  on  them.  One  of  these 
cars  has  been  in  constant  service  on  the  Long  Beach  line 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  for  some  time,  and  is  used 
for  the  "flyer"  service,  morning  and  evening,  making  a  speed 

regularly  of  a  mile  a  minute.  The 
reconstructed  car  is  55  ft.  long 
over  all,  and  weighs  62,500  lbs., 
while  the  standard  "250"  type  car 
of  the  company  is  49  ft.  6  ins.  in 
length  and  weighs  64,700  lbs. 

The  trailers  were  originally  40 
ft.  long  and  had  no  windows, 
being  as  shown  in  Fig.  3.  Six  of 
these  cars  have  been  rebuilt  into 
express  cars  of  the  type  illus- 
trated in  Fig.  4,  and  six  .will  be 
remodeled  and  used  as  passenger 
trailers  for  service  on  the  San 
Pedro  and  Newport  Beach 
branches  of  the  Long  Beach  line.  The  express  car,  as  re- 
built, is  41  ft.  9  ins.  long,  weighs  37,360  lbs.,  and  is  mounted 


FIG.  1.— OLD  MOTOR  CAR  BEFORE  REBUILDING 

way  running  between  Golden  Gate  Park  and  the  Cliff  House 
in  San  Francisco.   At  first  it  was  thought  they  could  be  run  as 
they  were  on  the  interurban  lines  near  Los  Angeles,  but  it  was 
soon  seen  that  they  could  not  be  used  without 
reconstructing  them,  and  so  they  were  tempo- 
rarily relegated  to  the  storage  end  of  the  car 
house.   A  few  months  ago,  J.  McMillan,  at  that 
time  chief  clerk  to  the  general  manager  of  the 
company,  and  at  present  traffic  manager  of  the 
Pacific  Electric  and  Los  Angeles  Interurban 
Railway  Companies,  interested  himself  in  the 
old  cars,  and  it  has  been  under  his  supervision 
that  they  have  been  reconstructed. 

The  motor  cars  have  been  narrowed  to  con- 
form with  the  width  of  the  standard  Pacific 
Electric  interurban  car,  the  closed  vestibules 
have  been  changed  to  an  open  construction,  the 
stationary  windows  to  movable  ones,  the  seats 
upholstered  with  imitation  leather  and  the  cars 
painted  the  standard  color  of  the  others  on  the 
line.    The  cars  have  smoking  compartments, 
which  occupy  about  one-third  of  the  total 
length.    The  seating  capacity  is  sixty-eight 
passengers.    Fig.  1  shows  one  of  the  motor  cars  before  be- 
ing rebuilt,  and  Fig.  2  the  same  car  in  its  present  improved 
form.     The   original   trucks,   which   are   of  the  remodeled 
Brill  27-A  type,  have  been  retained,  the  gear  ratios  being  al- 


FIG 


-OLD  TRAILER  CAR 


on  two  standard  trucks,  equipped  with  four  50-hp  motors. 
A  large  sliding  door  has  been  placed  on  each  side,  the 
cabs   have   been    vestibuled,   and   at   each   end   small  slid- 


FIG.  4.-CAR  551  REMODELED  FROM  611  TYPE 


ing  doors  have  been  placed  under  the  vestibule  windows,  so 
that  poles  and  other  long  articles  may  easily  be  loaded.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  the  three  motor  cars  as  now  equipped 
are  considered  worth  what  the  entire  fifteen  cost  the  company. 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


137 


CONVENTION  PROGRAMME  OF  THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY, 
MECHANiCAL  &  ELECTRICAL  ASSOCIATION 


TRAFFIC  TICKET  SYSTEM 


In  addition  to  the  five  papers  which  are  to  be  presented  at 
the  convention  of  the  American  Railway,  Mechanical  &  Elec- 
trical Association  on  Oct.  10  and  11,  there  will  be  a  question 
box.  It  is  hoped  that  this  will  give  rise  to  very  interesting  dis- 
cussions on  subjects  aside  from  the  topics  on  which  papers  are 
being  prepared.  • 

Members  have  been  requested  to  submit  on  a  special  blank 
any  questions  pertaining  to  the  electrical  and  mechanical  de- 
partments which  they  desire  to  bring  up  for  discussion,  mail- 
ing them  to  S.  W.  Mower,  secretary,  12  Woodward  Avenue, 
Detroit,  Mich.,  not  later  than  Aug.  1.  All  questions  will  be 
printed  and  distributed  to  the  members  for  replies  as  soon  there- 
after as  possible,  as  will  also  the  answers  when  they  are  re- 
ceived, and,  together  with  the  discussions  at  the  convention, 
will  be  included  in  the  annual  report.  The  questioner's  names 
will  not  be  made  known.  It  is  believed  that  this  feature  of  the 
convention  will  be  a  very  interesting  one.  The  papers  which 
are  being  prepared  for  discussion  at  the  convention  are  the 
following : 

"Inspection  and  Maintenance  of  Electrical  Equipment,"  by 
Messrs.  Baker  and  Lindall,  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 

"Wheels,"  by  J.  Millar,  of  the  International  Railway  Com- 
pany, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

"Universal  Street  Car  Body,"  by  W.  W.  Amiable,  Grand 
Rapids  Railway  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

"The  Ideal  Shop,"  by  W.  D.  Wright,  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company,  Providence,  R.  I.  There  will  also  be  a  joint  meeting 
with  the  accountants  on  Oct.  14  to  discuss  "Shop  Records  and 
Accounts."  H.  H.  Adams,  of  Baltimore,  and  H.  E.  Farrington, 
of  Boston,  have  this  matter  in  charge  for  the  mechanics,  and 
H.  M.  Pease,  of  Buffalo,  and  W.  G.  McDole,  of  Cleveland,  are 
to  represent  the  accountants. 

The  headquarters  of  the  American  Railway,  Mechanical  & 
Electrical  Association  will  be  at  the  Inside  Inn  during  the  con- 
vention period. 

 ♦♦♦  

FIRST  PUBLIC  SINGLE-PHASE   RAILWAY  OPENED  IN 
GERMANY  ON  JULY  4. 

As  noted  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  Oct.  17,  1903, 
the  Allgemeine  Elektricitats-Gesellschaft,  successor  to  the 
Union  Elektricitats-Gesellschaft  has  been  conducting  a  series 
of  important  tests  with  the  Eichberg-Winter  single-phase 
motor  on  the  Niederschoneweide-Spindlersfeld  State  railroad 
line,  which  is  4.1  km.  (3  miles)  long,  and  connects  the  Berlin 
suburbs  known  as  Niederschoneweide,  Johannisthal  and  Spind- 
lersfeld.  These  experiments  began  Aug.  15,  1903,  and  by  July 
4,  1904,  the  single-phase  equipments  were  placed  in  regular 
service  after  the  experimental  cars  had  traveled  about  30,000 
km  (18,000  miles). 

The  experiments  were  begun  with  one  motor  car,  then  with 
a  train  of  two  motor  cars  and  finally  a  train  consisting  of  two 
motor  cars  and  five  trailers  between.  The  average  speed,  in- 
cluding stops,  was  40  km  (24  miles)  an  hour,  and  30  watt- 
hours  were  required  per  tonne-kilometer  (50  watt-hours  per 
ton-mile).  All  of  the  trips  were  under  the  supervision  of 
special  government  officials,  who  reported  to  their  bureaus  the 
resultfc  of  the  several  trials. 

The  single-phase  equipment  is  now  operated  by  the  Govern- 
ment under  a  tentative  lease  for  one  year  with  the  Allgemeine 
Company.  During  this  period  the  service  will  be  steam  and  elec- 
tric, since  the  present  apparatus  suffices  for  one  regular  train 
only.  As  no  reserve  power  has  been  provided,  the  electric  ser- 
vice will  suffer  interruptions  whenever  repairs  to  the  equip- 
ment arc  necessary. 


Very  many  suburban  and  interurban  electric  railways  operate 
cars  over  the  tracks  of  other  independent  city  line  companies, 
under  a  traffic  agreement,  whereby  the  former  pay  tribute  to 
the  city  lines  over  whose  tracks  they  run.  This  tribute  is  as- 
sessed against  each  passenger  or  other  traffic  named,  and  the 
usual  method  employed  for  checking  this  traffic  is  by  the  con- 
ductor of  the  suburban  or  interurban  car  counting  the  passen- 
gers and  then  registering  the  number  counted  upon  the  ordinary 
counting-machine  or  register.  This  operation  is  crude,  annoy- 
ing, and,  at  best,  is  unreliable ;  nor  does  it  provide  means  for 
making  the  division  of  accounts — for  example,  as  between 
adults  and  children ;  neither  docs  it  provide  a  separate  account- 
ing from  the  passengers  and  other  traffic,  such  as  freight,  bag- 
gage, express,  etc.,  from  which  a  levy  must  be  made. 

The  Ohmer  Fare  Register  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  has 
devised  a  duplex  ticket  system,  with  which  a  complete  record 
of  the  traffic,  whether  it  be  adults,  children,  employees,  passen- 
ger traveling  on  pass ;  freight,  express  or  baggage,  can  be  ob- 
tained in  a  concise  form,  correctly  and  expeditiously,  and  the 
record  made  in  duplicate,  one  copy  of  which  may  be  turned  over 
to  the  city  line  over  which  the  suburban  cars  operate. 


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A  NEW  TRAFFIC  TICKET 

The  accompanying  illustration  is  a  reproduction  of  one-half 
of  a  specimen  ticket  used  in  this  system,  the  other  half  being  a 
duplicate.  It  is  stated  that  this  style  of  ticket  is  to  be  put  in 
use  between  the  People's  Railway,  of  Dayton,  and  the  Dayton  & 
Troy  Electric  Railway,  which  enters  Troy  over  the  first-named 
company's  lines. 

There  are  spaces  on  the  ticket  for  punching,  and  thus  indi- 
cating adults  and  children,  with  year,  month  and  day,  the  direc- 
tion and  the  time  by  hours  and  minutes.  These  tickets  are 
bound  in  the  usual  form,  and  are  charged  out  to  the  conduc- 
tors in  the  regular  way.  The  conductor  does  not  detach  any  of 
the  tickets,  but  returns  the  books  when  all  the  tickets  therein 
have  been  punched,  one  copy  of  which  may  be  detached  and 
turned  over  to  the  city  company  each  day,  if  desirable.  It  is  be- 
lieved that  this  traffic  system  will  subserve  its  purpose  m  the 
best,  quickest  and  most  economical  manner.  It  dispenses  with 
the  annoyance  of  ringing  up  the  number  of  passengers  on  a 
register  provided  for  the  purpose.  If  excess  baggage,  express 
matter  and  other  traffic  are  to  be  accounted  for,  the  ticket  can 
be  altered  especially  for  that  purpose.  As  only  one  ticket  is 
required  for  each  trip,  the  number  necessary  for  the  largest 
interurban  lines  would  not  be  many. 


The  annual  report  of  the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Mutual 
Benefit  Association,  submitted  to  the  members,  shows  that  dur- 
ing the  past  seven  months,  Oct.  1  to  April  30,  the  sum  of  $3,040 
has  been  paid  out  in  sickness  and  injury  benefit  claims.  The 
association  had  on  hand  after  meeting  all  payments,  the  sum 
of  $5,800.  The  total  contributions  have  amounted  to  $9,513, 
and  of  this  sum  the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Company  has  con- 
tributed $3,000.  The  membership  is  now  1152.  Sick  commit- 
tees, composed  of  five  members  for  each  division  of  the  system, 
visit  disabled  members  and  report  upon  their  needs. 


i3« 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


RULE  BOOK  IN  DENVER 


The  Denver  City  Tramway  Company  has  just  issued  a  new 
rule  book  for  its  employees,  which  possesses  a  number  of  novel 
features.  As  stated  in  the  preface  to  the  book,  the  rules  and 
regulations  embodied  in  it  are  based  upon  those  adopted  by 
the  American  Street  Railway  Association  at  its  convention  in 
Saratoga  last  year.  In  addition,  a  number  of  local  rules  have 
been  added,  but,  as  far  as  possible,  all  rules  of  a  purely  tem- 
porary character,  such  as  those  pertaining  to  the  issue  and  ac- 
ceptance of  transfers  and  time  allowances  on  the  various  lines, 
have  been  eliminiated.  These  transfer  rules  and  regulations 
and  time  schedules  are  published  in  convenient  pamphlet  form 
by  themselves.  As  these  regulations  are  changed  more  fre- 
quently than  the  general  rules,  this  plan  eliminates  the  possi- 
bility of  being  obliged  to  change  the  book  frequently  or  the 
charge  that  one  sometimes  hears  made,  that  "the  rule-book  is 
obsolete." 

This  plan,  and  the  fact  that  all  rules  introduced  by  the  com- 
pany have  been  expressed  very  concisely,  has  brought  the  oper- 
ating rules  down  to  59  pages.  Each  page  is  5*4  ins-  x  3/4  ins-i 
and  as  the  book  is  printed  on  thin  bond  paper,  with  narrow 
margins  and  is  provided  with  semi-flexible  binding,  it  can  be 
easily  carried  in  the  vest  pocket. 

Another  interesting  feature  of  the  book  is  that  besides  num- 
bering each  rule,  each  paragraph  is  lettered.  This  plan  was 
adopted  principally  on  account  of  the  recent  installation  on 
the  Denver  Tramway  system  of  the  Brown  "Merit  System." 
For  example:  Should  a  trainman  fail  to  answer  civilly,  he 
would  receive  a  small  slip  stating  that  he  had  violated  Rule  10, 
Section  C,  for  which  he  had  received  two  demerit  marks.  Or, 
as  another  illustration,  a  motorman  might  pass  a  school  house 
recklessly.  His  attention  would  then  be  called  to  Rule  89a. 
Rule  89  provides  for  caution  when  children  are  around  a  car; 
the  first  paragraph  (a)  warns  against  running  past  a  school- 
house  recklessly,  and  the  second  paragraph  (b)  states  that 
children  should  not  play  in  or  around  a  car.  The  penalty  in 
demerit  marks  for  the  violation  of  the  various  rules  is  indicated 
on  the  margin  of  the  general  manager's  and  superintendent's 
books.  This  system  has  a  tendency  to  encourage  and  interest 
employees  in  studying  and  becoming  familiar  with  the  rules. 

Where  a  rule  in  the  book  is  the  same  as  that  adopted  by  the 
association,  this  fact  is  indicated  in  parenthesis  immediately 
following  the  number  given  to  the  rule.  For  instance :  Nos. 
1  and  2  of  the  association  rules  are  also  Nos.  1  and  2  of  the 
Denver  rules,  and  the  association  numbers  follow  in  a  paren- 
thesis the  Denver  numbers.  On  the  other  hand,  rules  Nos.  3, 
4  and  5  of  the  Denver  rules  are  requirements  not  covered  by 
the  association,  and  have  only  the  Denver  numbers. 

On  April  21  of  the  present  year,  the  Brown  "Merit  System" 
was  adopted  by  the  Denver  City  Tramway  Company.  The 
following  bulletin,  which  was  posted  by  the  company  at  that 
time,  explains  the  operation  of  the  system : 

Commencing  April  21,  19x14,  the  Brown  System,  otherwise  known 
as  the  "Merit  System,"  will  be  adopted  by  The  Denver  City  Tram- 
way Company,  as  regards  the  operations  of  the  Transportation  De- 
partment, and  gradually  extended  to  other  departments  as  experi- 
ence may  warrant. 

The  objects  to  be  obtained  by  the  adoption  of  this  system  are 
briefly  stated  by  the  author,  Mr.  George  R.  Brown,  as  follows : 

1.  To  secure  the  highest  possible  state  of  efficiency.  To  accom- 
plish this,  strict  discipline  is  essential  to  successful  operation. 

2.  To  avoid  loss  of  time  and  earnings  of  employees. 

3.  To  judge  each  case  of  an  erring  employee  on  its  merits,  with 
regard  to  his  previous  record  and  his  possible  future  availability. 

4.  To  stimulate  co-operation,  which  is  to  the  mutual  advantage 
of  employer  and  employee. 

5.  To  enable  employees  to  gain  in  self-respect,  loyalty,  watchful- 
ness and  zeal,  and  realize  that  the  interests  of  the  company  are 
practically  their  own,  and  to  establish  discipline  in  which  the  ele- 
ment of  force  is  not  predominant. 

6.  To  become  acquainted  with  other  cases  of  discipline  or  com- 


*htfl  (MkiBB 

isj  jlatoncnt 
rqsrdkl  ttn 
mtd,  dnn 
eta  awrt  Ra 


INSPECTOR'S  REPORT 


Date  Time  

Line  Car  .Yc... 


..M. 


Conductor,  Mr. 
Motorman,  Mr. 
Violation  Rule 
Remarks:  


mendation,  through  the  bulletin  notices,  and  learn  from  them  the 
lesson  which  is  taught  by  the  success  or  failure  of  others. 

7.  To  inspire  and  develop  in  all  employees  a  feeling  of  security, 
and  confidence  that  faithful  service  is  appreciated  and  will  be  re- 
warded by  their  uninterrupted  retention  in  the  service,  and  that  the 
names  of  the  employees  who  are  habitually  careless  and  indifferent 
to  the  company's  and  their  own  interests  will  be  dropped  from  the 
rolls. 

All  trainmen  will  start  on  the  above  date  with  a  clean  record, 
except  where  it  may  hereafter  develop  th^t  old  offenses  are  being 
repeated. 

Infractions  of  rules  and  regulations  will  be  charged  against  the 
individual  employee  by  one  or  more  demerits  for  each  offense,  and 
where  a  repetition  of  the  same  offense  occurs,  the  number  of  de- 
merits for  the  second  and  third  offense  may  be  increased. 

Incompetency,  dishonesty,  making  false  statements,  disloyalty  to 
the  company,  gross  or  ungentlemanly  conduct,  immorality  or  intoxi- 
cation, failure  to  report  an  accident,  or  concealing  facts  concerning 
matters  under  investigation,  will  be  cause  for  immediate  discharge. 

Merits  will  be  given  for :  Especially  meritorious  acts  and  good 
conduct  generally,  such  as  unusual  display  of  skill  or  energy  in 
avoiding  an  accident,  or  making  an  especially  complete  accident 
report  or  securing  names  and  addresses  of  witnesses  of  accidents 
occurring  on  other  cars,  etc.  For  making  good  suggestions  as  to 
betterment      of     service,  M<1> 

pointing  out  where  time   |         |  The  Denver  City  Tramway  Co. 

can  be  saved,  unnecessary 
stops  eliminated  or  travel 
stimulated  and  increased. 
For  uniform  politeness 
and  courtesy  to  patrons, 
and  rendering  assistance  to 
them  cheerfully  when  nec- 
essary. For  running  on  time, 
economical  use  of  current, 
keeping  car  neat  and  tidy, 
and  generally  efficient  ser- 
vice. For  taking  up  badge 
or  pass-book,  etc.,  found 
in  the  hands  of  an  unau- 
thorized person,  or  secur- 
ing information  whereby 
the  company  is  being  de- 
frauded or  their  property 
damaged  in  any  manner. 
For  display  of  energy  and 
good  generalship  in  re- 
moving blockade,  taking 
care  of  disabled  car,  clear- 
ing tracks  after  an  acci- 
dent or  casualty,  or  pre- 
venting damage  to  com- 
pany's property,  resulting  from  fire,  accident  or  maliciousness.  For 
perfect  trip-sheets  for  the  month.  And  for  many  acts  which  good 
judgment  will  suggest. 

Each  merit  will  offset  one  demerit,  and  record  will  be  determined 
by  taking  the  difference  between  the  debits  and  credits. 

At  any  time  should  the  demerits  exceed  the  merits  by  one  hun- 
dred (100),  such  fact  will  be  sufficient  cause  for  dismissal. 

Each  record  will  be  kept  strictly  in  confidence  between  the  man- 
agement and  the  individual  employee,  and  may  be  seen  by  that  em- 
ployee, only. 

Promotion  will  be  governed,  as  far  as  possible,  by  the  records, 
taking  into  consideration,  of  course,  the  individual's  personal  quali- 
fications for  the  position  in  question. 

The  discipline  bulletins  published  from  time  to  time  have 
been  of  considerable  interest  to  the  men,  and  the  system  so 
far,  as  shown  by  the  results  in  Denver,  seems  to  be  working 
satisfactorily  to  all  concerned. 

Where  a  trainman  has  worked  for  a  month  without  having 
received  any  demerits  whatever,  at  the  end  of  the  month  he 
receives  a  slip  notifying  him  that  three  merits  have  been  placed 
to  his  credit.  All  reports  are  made  in  duplicate,  as  shown  by 
the  Inspector's  Report,  reproduced  herewith,  and  are  sent  in 
to  the  Superintendent's  office,  where  the  number  of  the  rule 
violated  and  the  number  of  demerits  for  such  offense  are  in- 
dicated on  same.  Where  demerits  are  given,  the  reason  for 
so  doing  is  indicated  under  "Remarks."  The  carbon  copy  of 
each  report  is  then  forwarded  to  the  General  Manager's  office 
for  filing. 


Demerits   Merits... 

Signed  , 


Employee  receiving  this  notice  will  acknowledge  receipt  or  same 
by  signing  name  in  line  below,  reluming  Ibis  to  superintendent's  office 
within  48  hours  of  receipt  of  same,  together  with  such  explanation  as 
he  may  desire  to  make. 


(Signature) 

FORM  OF  INSPECTOR'S  REPORT 
USED  BY  THE  DENVER  CITY  TRAM- 
WAY COMPANY 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


139 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 

Wall  Street,  July  20,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

No  change  in  the  ruling  rates  for  money  has  occurred  within  the 
past  week.  That  the  active  speculation  in  stocks  has  caused  a  larger 
demand  upon  local  capital  was  shown  by  the  $9,000,000  increase  in 
loans  of  the  New  York  banks  reported  last  Saturday.  But  money 
is  pouring  into  this  city  so  fast  from  the  interior  centers  that  the 
larger  borrowing  requirements  find  no  reflection  in  the  market. 
Call  money  is  still  quoted  at  i  to  1%  per  cent,  with  renewals  made 
at  1  to  1%.  For  sixty-day  loans  2  to  2%  per  cent  is  asked,  for 
ninety  days  2J/2,  for  five  months  3^2  and  for  six  months — that  is, 
for  a  period  extending  over  the  first  of  the  year — 3*^  to  2>Va  Per 
cent.  Mercantile  paper  continues  in  good  demand  at  2>Va  to  4  per 
cent  for  thirty  to  ninety  days,  indorsed  bills  receivable,  and  4  to  4% 
per  cent  for  choice  four  to  six-month  single  names.  Surplus  reserve 
has  now  risen  above $44,000,000,  which  not  only  far  surpasses  the  cor- 
responding total  of  any  recent  year,  but  has  rarely  been  equalled  at 
any  similar  season  in  our  history.  In  face  of  this  unusual  accumula- 
tion of  idle  funds,  it  is  remarkable  to  find  sterling  exchange  declin- 
ing again,  rates  having  dropped  this  week  a  quarter  cent  in  the 
pound.  With  such  a  position  and  no  visible  signs  of  any  change,  it 
seems  superfluous  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  harvest  movement 
and  the  effect  which  it  will  have  on  the  local  market.  Should  the 
promise  of  very  large  crops  of  com  and  cotton  be  fulfilled,  the 
drain  upon  the  New  York  banks  will  undoubtedly  be  greater  than 
usual,  especially  as  deposits  of  interior  institutions  in  this  city  at 
the  present  time  are  exceptionally  large.  But  as  the  financial 
community  now  feels,  this  is  a  development  which  will  be  rather 
welcomed  than  feared. 

The  Stock  Harket 

The  upward  movement  has  made  further  rapid  progress  on  the 
Stock  Exchange  during  the  week.  All  classes  of  stocks  have  been 
active  in  the  rise,  but  operations  for  higher  prices  have  converged 
particularly  on  the  railway  shares  and  on  a  few  of  the  industrials, 
such  as  Steel  preferred  and  Copper,  which  suffered  the  most  in  last 
season's  great  decline.  Dealings  have  expanded  to  nearly  four 
times  the  daily  average  of  the  dull  period  six  weeks  ago,  and  in  the 
main  the  familiar  characteristics  of  a  bull  market  have  again  ap- 
peared. For  the  first  half  of  the  week  covered  by  this  review 
Union  Pacific  was  the  leader  in  the  speculation.  The  adavnce  in 
the  stock  culminated  for  the  time  being,  when  on  Friday  last  the 
New  Jersey  court  handed  down  its  decision  making  permanent  the 
injunction  obtained  in  April  in  the  Northern  Securities  dissolu- 
tion case.  As  a  victory  for  the  Union  Pacific  party  this  announce- 
ment had  for  the  movement  a  powerful  sentimental  effect,  helping 
the  market  for  the  stock.  It  was  at  once  made  apparent,  however, 
that  the  litigation  would  be  carried  to  the  Supreme  Court,  and 
that  a  very  long  time  must  elapse  before  it  could  be  determined 
whether  control  of  the  merger  companies  will  rest  with  the 
capitalists  representing  the  Union  Pacific  or  with  the  rival  party- 
identified  with  the  old  regime.  Calm  consideration  of  the  matter 
led  to  heavy  profit-taking  in  Union  and  Southern  Pacific  shares, 
and  in  the  later  dealings  of  the  week  the  leadership  of  the  market 
was  assumed  by  other  issues.  The  sharp  advance  in  such  stocks 
as  Atchison,  St.  Paul  and  Northwest  has  occurred  in  face  of  con- 
firmation that  very  great  injury  was  inflicted  upon  the  wheat 
crop  by  the  rains  and  floods  early  in  the  month.  It  has  plainly 
reflected  the  confidence  now  felt  in  high  financial  circles  that  the 
losses  in  wheat  will  be  more  than  made  good  by  the  huge  yield 
now  indicated  for  corn.  The  shares  of  the  railroads  in  the  South 
have  also  benefited  greatly  by  the  excellent  outlook  which  con- 
tinues undiminished  for  the  cotton  harvest.  Subject,  of  course, 
to  the  usual  setbacks  of  every  speculation,  the  present  advance  is 
altogether  a  more  substantial  and  better  supported  movement  than 
Wall  Street  has  seen  since  the  period  of  depression  which  reached 
its  climax  last  September. 

The  local  tractions  have  attracted  a  less  share  of  the  general 
speculative  interest  than  any  other  group  of  active  stocks.  This  is 
explained  in  the  case  of  Metropolitan  and  Manhattan,  on  the 
ground  that  these  shares  had  most  of  their  move  before  the  gen- 
eral list  started  upward.  Manhattan  has  been  virtually  neglected 
during  the  week  ;  Metropolitan  has  been  held  in  check  by  sales  com- 
ing evidently  from  speculators  who  bought  at  the  low  figures  re- 


cently prevailing,  and  have  utilized  the  general  market's  buoyancy 
to  retire  profitably  from  their  obligations.  Brooklyn  Rapid  Tran- 
sit has  also  moved  rather  slowly.  But  the  optimistic  feeling  which 
has  for  some  time  past  centered  upon  this  specialty,  has  been 
encouraged  by  the  successful  placing  of  a  large  block  of  the  com- 
pany's new  4  per  cent  bonds,  part  of  which  are  said  to  have  been 
taken  by  foreign  capitalists.  The  stock  is  also  understood  to  be  a 
favorite  in  the  speculative  houses  which  have  been  most  active  in 
promoting  the  rise  in  other  quarters  of  the  market. 

Philadelphia 

The  advance  has  continued  in  the  Philadelphia  market  during 
the  week,  with  more  active  and  better  distributed  trading  than  has 
been  seen  in  some  time  past.  Union  Traction  rose  to  54/4,  and 
Philadelphia  Traction  to  98%,  both  of  which  are  new  high  points 
for  the  year.  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit,  which  has  been  con- 
spicuously a  laggard  in  the  recent  dealings,  developed  sudden  ac- 
tivity and  advanced  from  11%  to  izVa-  Philadelphia  Electric 
gained  a  quarter  point  from  6  to  6J4.  About  1200  shares  of  Amer- 
ican Railways  were  taken  on  a  scale  up  from  45%  to  47,  which 
is  the  highest  the  stock  has  reached  this  season.  Consolidated 
Traction  of  New  Jersey,  on  sales  of  250  shares,  declined  from  67 
to  66^>,  and  recovered  to  67.  Philadelphia  Company  preferred  was 
notably  strong  at  an  adavnce  from  45  to  45%.  but  the  common, 
after  a  rise  from  38^  to  405^,  seemed  to  encounter  very  heavy 
distributive  sales,  and  eased  off  to  29Va-  The  activity  in  all  cases 
was  due  to  speculative  operations  based  on  general  market  condi- 
tions, rather  than  on  any  developments,  actual  or  prospective,  affect- 
ing individual  properties.  Minor  transactions  of  the  week  com- 
prised Union  Passenger  Railway  (35  shares)  at  235,  Thirteenth 
&  Fifteenth  Street  Passenger  (50  shares)  at  305,  Fairmount 
Transportation  at  19,  and  Rochester  Passenger  preferred  at  98^. 
Chicago 

Dealings  in  the  Chicago  tractions  have  been  at  a  standstill  during 
the  week.  A  hundred  shares  of  Metropolitan  common  sold  at  20^, 
an  odd  lot  of  the  preferred  at  55,  seventy-five  shares  of  City  Rail- 
way at  175,  and  a  small  block  of  West  Chicago  at  47.  This  is  a 
complete  list  of  the  week's  transactions,  and  no  other  comment 
is  necessary. 

A  belt  line  for  the  transfer  of  passengers  between  the  North- 
west and  South  Side  Street  railway  lines  is  proposed  by  George  A. 
Yuille,  the  city's  expert  on  transfers.  Under  Mr.  Yuille's  plan  cars 
could  be  run  each  way  on  a  belt  line  every  two  and  a  half  minutes. 
The  cars  would  run  on  three  sides  of  a  square,  switching  back  at 
each  end.  It  is  proposed  to  make  the  belt  lines  on  the  following 
streets :  Twelfth  from  Wabash  Avenue  to  Halsted  Street,  Halsted 
Street  to  Indiana  Street,  and  Indiana  Street  to  North  State  Street. 
The  South  Side  representatives  favored  the  proposition,  and  the 
Union  Traction  interests  can't  get  a  franchise  unless  they  agree 
to  it. 

Formal  notice  has  been  sent  to  the  Union  Traction  Company  by 
the  Mayor  of  the  City  Council's  action  requiring  the  removal  of 
the  Chicago  Passenger  Railway's  tracks  in  Adams  Street,  Des- 
plaines  Street,  Harrison  Street,  Western  Avenue  and  Twelfth 
Street  within  ninety  days  from  June  11. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

Prices  have  moved  upward  in  the  week's  Boston  trading,  but  the 
improvement  has  not  been  as  great  as  the  extent  of  the  advance 
in  other  quarters  would  have  called  for.  Elevated  shares  rose 
from  151  to  152,  a  new  high  point  for  the  season.  Massachusetts 
Electric  preferred  advanced  from  74  to  74M,  and  an  odd  lot  went 
at  75.  The  common,  however,  after  rising  to  21  }i  was  well  enough 
supplied  to  cause  a  recession  to  20.  West  End  common  was  steady 
around  91^,  while  the  preferred  gained  a  point  from  111  to  112. 
Fifty  shares  of  Georgia  Railway  common  sold  at  39.  In  Baltimore 
the  United  Railway  issues  made  a  further  recovery,  the  stock 
rising  from  7%  to  7^4  on  sales  of  about  400  shares.  The  income 
bonds  gnined  1^  points  from  46^2  to  48,  then  reacted  to  47.  The 
general  4s  moved  only  between  90%  and  90^.  Charleston  Con- 
solidated Street  Railway  5s  were  a  feature  at  an  advance  from  84 
to  85K,  and  so  were  the  City  &  Suburban  (Washington)  5s  at  an 
advance  from  98*%  to  100.  Anacostia  &  Potomac  5s  sold  at  99, 
Lexington  Street  Railway  5s  at  100,  and  Wilmington  (North  Caro- 
lina) Electric,  Light  &  Power  5s  at  97-)4.  On  the  New  York  curb 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  sold  down  from  134^2 — its  high  rec- 
ord— to  130,  but  subsequently  rallied  to  134.    Almost  '15,000  shares 


140 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


of  this  stock  have  been  dealt  in  during  the  last  ten  days.  The  only 
other  transactions  comprised  a  few  odd  lots  of  American  Light  & 
Traction  common  at  50  and  50J/2,  one  small  block  of  Washington 
Electric  common  at  12)2,  and  one  lot  of  the  4  per  cent  bonds 
at  78^. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 


last  week:  Closing  Bid 

July  12  July  19 

American  Railways                                                                         45%  47% 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                              al2  — 

Boston  Elevated   151V2  151% 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                                  50%  52% 

Chicago  City                                                                                 168  175 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                             al6%  4% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                            a30  a30 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                      70  73y8 

Consolidated  Traction  ot  New  Jersey                                            66%  66V2 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                        107  108% 

Detroit  United                                                                         62%  '67% 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                         132%.  133% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)  _  a20  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                   3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                        151%  152 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)                                          19%  19% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                         73%  73 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                    19%  19% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                    52%  52% 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                       115%  117y8 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                   88  88% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                   9  9% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                                29  29% 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                          73  72 

North  American                                                                             87%  88% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                 13  al5% 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                  38%  39% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                             11%  13% 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     98%  98% 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                       9%  11% 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                  91  91% 

Third  Avenue                                                                          121%  121% 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                               94%  95% 

Union  Traction   (Philadelphia)                                                      53%  54% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                         54  41% 

West  End  (common)                                                                 90%  91 

West  End  (preferred)   '.                                                   Ill  110 


a  Asked. 

Iron  and  Steel 

Doubt  continues  to  be  thrown  on  the  reality  of  the  recent  im- 
provement reported  in  the  iron  trade.  One  of  the  leading  trade 
journals  in  its  weekly  review  to-day  declares  positively  that  actual 
conditions  have  not  changed  for  the  better,  that  a  further  decrease 
in  consumption  is  even  expected  next  month,  and  that  the  better 
feeling  in  the  industry  is  entirely  a  reflection  of  recent  recovery  in 
the  Wall  Street  markets.  A  tendency  toward  lower  prices  is  re- 
ported this  week  in  several  lines.  Bessemer  pig  iron  is  now  quoted 
at  the  lowest  price  in  the  last  nine  years,  $12  a  ton;  Bessemer 
steel  is  unchanged  at  $23,  and  steel  rails  at  $28. 
rietals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows :    Copper  12^ 
and  12%  cents,  tin  26  cents,  lead  4%  cents,  and  spelter  4^  cents. 
 ♦♦-»  

REPORT  OF  THE  MANCHESTER  CORPORATION 
TRAMWAY'S 


The  annual  report  of  the  Manchester  (England)  Corporation 
Tramways  for  the  year  ending  March  31,  1904,  has  just  been  pub- 
lished. The  length  of  line,  measured  as  single  track,  on  that 
day  was  137  miles,  1602  yards.  The  following  is  a  summary  of 
the  profit  and  loss  account:  Traffic  revenue.  £603,182;  other 
revenue,  £8,698;  total  revenue,  £611,881;  working  expenses, 
£392,504;  gross  profit,  £219,376;  add  bank  and  other  interest, 
£3,079;  leaving  a  sum  available  of  £222,456.  This  sum  has  been 
applied  as  follows:  Interest  on  mortgage  debt,  £52,711;  re- 
demption of  debt,  £26,902;  rent  of  tramways,  £200,000:  lease- 
holds, £1,136;  reserve  and  depreciation  accounts,  £69,693;  con- 
tribution to  relief  of  rates,  £50,000;  street  improvements,  interest, 
etc.,  £2,012. 

The  number  of  passengers  carried  was  120,772,368.  Of  this 
number  the  percentages  at  the  different  fares  was  as  follows:  JAd.', 
4.56;  id.,  75.2;  i^d.,  5.32:  2d.,  10.69;  2V2A.,  1.05;  3d.,  2.2;  3^d., 
0.52;  4d.,  0.46.  The  average  revenue  per  car  mile  io.52d.,  and 
per  mile  of  track  £4,468.  The  average  fare  per  passenger  was 
1. 2d. 


REPORT  OF  THE  GLASGOW  CORPORATION  TRAMWAYS 


The  report  of  the  Glasgow  Corporation  Tramways  for  the  year 
ending  May  31,  1904,  contains  the  following:  Traffic  receipts, 
£717,893;  other  receipts,  £6,958;  working  expenses,  including 
depreciation,  £496,266;  balance,  £228,584.  From  this  sum  the 
following  amounts  have  been  deducted:  Interest  and  sinking- 
fund  on  Govan  Tramways,  £5,068;  interest  on  capital,  £59,307; 
sinking  fund,  £45,552;  Parliamentary  expenses,  £12,864;  pay- 
ment to  common  good,  £25,000;  leaving  a  balance  of  £80,790. 

There  are  now  140  miles  of  line,  measured  as  single  track.  The 
passengers  carried  were  188,962,610.  * 

 +0*  

RECEIVERS  FOR  RICHMOND  PROPERTIES 


Upon  the  petition  of  the  Bowling  Green  Trust  Company, 
trustee,  under  the  consolidated  mortgage  of  the  Virginia  Passen- 
ger &  Power  Company,  William  Northrup  and  Henry  T.  Wick- 
ham  have  been  appointed  receivers  of  the  Virginia  Passenger  & 
Power  Company,  the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Company 
and  the  Richmond  Traction  Company,  of  Richmond,  Va.  The 
application  of  the  trustee  for  the  appointment  of  receivers  for 
these  properties  was  one  of  the  results  of  the  harassing  litigation 
which  has  been  instituted  in  the  courts  of  Virginia  and  New  York 
for  the  past  few  months  by  George  E.  Fisher  and  his  associates. 

In  December,  1902,  the  control  of  these  properties,  which  had 
formerly  been  held  by  Mr.  Fisher,  was  acquired  by  Frank  Jay 
Gould  and  Miss  Helen  Miller  Gould,  of  New  York. 

Since  Jan.  I,  1904,  Mr.  Fisher  and  his  associates  have  instituted 
against  the  company  and  Mr.  and  Miss  Gould  some  eight  or  ten 
suits  in  the  courts  of  Virginia  and  New  York,  alleging  various 
grounds  of  complaint,  and  in  the  last  suit,  instituted  in  Peters- 
burg about  three  weeks  ago,  they  asked  for  a  receiver  for  the  Vir- 
ginia Passenger  &  Power  Company. 

As  a  result  of  this  motion  the  company  was  not  in  a  position 
on  July  1  to  make  its  financial  arrangements  to  pay  interest 
coupons  maturing  on  that  date,  and  the  management  had  hoped 
to  be  able  to  defeat  the  motion  for  a  receiver  in  time  to  avoid 
other  litigation  and  enable  the  company  to  carry  on  its  business. 
A  few  days  since,  however,  the  trustee  in  one  of  the  underlying 
mortgages  filed  a  bill  in  the  United  States  Court  against  the 
Richmond  Traction  Company  to  place  that  company  in  the  hands 
of  a  receiver,  and  the  dismissal  of  the  bill  was  only  secured  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  and  by  the  advancing  of  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  by  Mr.  Gould  personally. 

Only  a  few  days  ago  the  company  learned  that  the  Metropolitan 
Trust  Company,  of  New  York,  trustee  in  the  debenture  mortgage 
i.l  the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Company,  had  declared 
the  principal  of  the  bonds  due  and  would  proceed  at  once  to  fore- 
close that  mortgage.  It  was  at  once  realized  that  there  was  no 
way  to  avoid  a  receivership  for  the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power 
Company,  except  by  paying  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  de- 
benture bonds,  which  would  have  required  the  sum  of  $1,025,000. 
This  the  company  did  not  feel  justified  in  doing,  with  a  motion 
for  a  receiver  pending  in  Petersburg  and  in  the  face  of  imminent 
danger  of  other  litigation  which  it  had  reason  to  believe  would 
be  brought  or  instigated. 

The  consolidated  mortgage  of  the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power 
Company  was  the  only  mortgage  constituting  a  general  lien  upon 
all  of  the  properties,  the  other  mortgages  being  only  upon  por- 
tions of  the  property  originally  owned  by  the  several  companies. 
It  at  once  became  manifest,  therefore,  that  in  order  to  avoid  a 
disintegration  of  these  properties,  which  would  result  from  sepa- 
rate receiverships  for  each  company,  and  which  would  have  been 
ruinous  to  the  holders  of  the  consolidated  bonds,  as  well  as  in- 
jurious to  other  security  holders  and  to  the  public,  steps  must  be 
taken  to  place  the  property  under  the  control  of  a  court  having 
jurisdiction  of  all  of  the  companies  and  in  which  it  could  be 
properly  administered. 

It  is  understood  that  counsel  for  the  Bowling  Green  Trust 
Company  were  very  reluctant  to  institute  proceedings  in  any 
other  court  until  the  motion  now  pending  before  Judge  Mullen 
in  the  hustings  court  of  Petersburg  had  been  disposed  of;  but.  in 
view  of  the  imminent  danger  of  disintegration  and  of  the  further 
fact  that  the  hustings  court  of  Petersburg  only  had  jurisdiction 
of  the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Company  and  therefore  could 
not  appoint  receivers  for  the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Com- 
pany and  the  Richmond  Traction  Company  and  maintain  the 
integrity  of  the  system,  no  course  was  left  open  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  bondholders  except  for  the  trustee  to  apply  to  the 
United  States  Court,  which  had  jurisdiction  of  all  the  companies, 
and  to  operate  them  all  under  one  receivership. 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


STATISTICS  OF  RAILWAYS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  FOR 
THE  YEAR  ENDING  JUNE  30,  1903 

The  following  figures  relative  to  all  steam,  electric  and  other 
railways  in  the  United  States  are  taken  from  summaries  which 
will  appear  in  the  Sixteenth  Statistical  Report  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  prepared  by  its  statistician  as  the  complete 
report  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903.  The  total  single-track 
railway  mileage  in  the  United  States  on  June  30,  1903,  was  207,- 
977.22  miles,  having  increased  5,505.37  miles  in  the  year  ending  on 
that  date.  This  increase  exceeds  that  of  any  previous  year  since 
1890.  The  operated  mileage  concerning  which  substantially  com- 
plete returns  were  made  was  205,313.54  miles,  including  5,902.87 
miles  of  line  on  which  trackage  privileges  were  exercised.  The 
aggregate  length  of  railway  mileage,  including  tracks  of  all  kinds, 
was  283,821.52  miles,  being  classified  as  follows:  Single  track, 
205.3I3-54  miles;  second  track,  14,681.03  miles;  third  track,  1,303.53 
miles;  fourth  track,  963.36  miles;  and  yard  track  and  sidings,  61,- 
560.06  miles.  The  number  of  railway  corporations  included  in  the 
report  was  2078.  Of  this  number  1036  maintained  operating  ac- 
counts, 805  being  classed  as  independent  operating  roads  and  231 
as  subsidiary  roads. 

The  total  number  of  cars  of  all  classes  was  1,753,389,  this  total 
having  increased  113,204  during  the  year.  The  assignment  of  this 
rolling  stock  was,  to  the  passenger  service,  38,140  cars;  to  the 
freight  service,  1,653,782  cars;  the  remaining  61,467  cars  being  those 
employed  directly  by  the  railways  in  their  own  service.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  on  the  pay  rolls  of  the  railways  in  the  United  States, 
as  returned  for  June  30,  1903,  was  1,312,537,  or  639  per  100  miles 
of  line.  These  figures,  when  compared  with  corresponding  ones 
for  the  year  1902,  show  an  increase  of  123,222  in  the  number  of 
employees,  or  45  per  100  miles  of  line. 

The  par  value  of  the  amount  of  railway  capital  outstanding  on 
June  30,  1903,  was  $12,599,990,258,  which  represents  a  capitalization 
of  $63,186  per  mile  for  the  railways  in  the  United  States.  Current 
liabilities  for  the  year  amounted  to  $864,552,960,  or  $4,211  per  mile 
of  line.  Of  the  total  capital  stock  outstanding,  $2,704,821,163,  or 
43.94  per  cent,  paid  no  dividends.  The  amount  of  dividends  de- 
clared during  the  year  was  $196,728,176,  being  equivalent  to  5.70 
per  cent  on  dividend-paying  stock. 

The  number  of  passengers  reported  as  carried  by  the  railways 
in  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  was  694,891,535,  indicating  an 
increase  of  45,013,030  as  compared  with  the  year  ending  June  30, 
1902.  The  passenger-mileage,  or  the  number  of  passengers  carried 
1  mile,  was  20,915,763,881,  having  increased  1,225,826,261.  The 
average  revenue  per  passenger  per  mile  for  the  year  mentioned  was 
2.006  cents,  the  average  for  the  preceding  year  being  1.986  cents. 

The  gross  earnings  of  the  railways  in  the  United  States  from  the 
operation  of  205,313.54  miles  of  line  were,  for  the  year  ending  June 
30,  1903,  $1,900,846,907,  being  $174,466,640  greater  than  for  the 
previous  year.  Their  operating  expenses  were  $1,257,538,852.  or 
$141,290,105  more  than  in  1902. 

The  income  from  operation,  or  the  net  earnings,  of  the  railways 
amounted  to  $643,308,055.  This  item,  when  compared  with  the  net 
earnings  of  the  year  1902,  shows  an  increase  of  $33,176,535.  The 
amount  of  dividends  declared  during  the  year  (including  $420,400, 
other  payments  from  net  income)  was  $197,148,576,  leaving  as  the 
surplus  from  the  operations  of  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  $09,- 
227,469,  that  of  the  previous  year  having  been  $94,855,088. 

The  total  number  of  casualties  to  persons  on  the  railways  for  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1903,  was  86,393,  of  which  9840  represented 
the  number  of  persons  killed  and  76.553  the  number  injured. 
Casualties  occurred  among  three  general  classes  of  railway  em- 
ployees, as  follows:  Trainmen,  2070  killed  and  25,676  injured: 
switch  tenders,  crossing  tenders,  and  watchmen,  283  killed,  2352 
injured;  other  employees,  1253  killed,  32.453  injured.  The  casual- 
ties to  employees  coupling  and  uncoupling  cars  were,  employees 
killed.  281  ;  injured,  3551.  The  ratios  of  casualties  indicate  that  t 
employee  in  every  364  was  killed,  and  I  employee  in  every  22  in- 
jured. With  regard  to  trainmen — that  is,  enginemen,  firemen,  con- 
ductors and  other  trainmen — it  appears  that  t  trainman  was  killed 
for  every  123  employed,  and  1  was  injured  for  every  10  employed. 

One  passenger  was  killed  for  every  1,957,441  carried,  and  I  in- 
jured for  every  84,424  carried.  With  respect  to  the  number  of  miles 
traveled,  however,  the  figures  show  that  58,917,645  passenger-miles 
were  accomplished  for  each  passenger  killed,  and  2,541,096  passen- 
ger-miles for  each  passenger  injured. 

 >,  <,, »  

The  attorneys  of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  have  sent 
a  letter  to  Mayor  Harrison,  in  which  it  is  asserted  that  the  fran- 
chises of  the  Chicago  Passenger  Railway  Company  run  until  March, 
1007.  These  are  on  (he  streets  which  the  City  Council  recently  or- 
dered (he  company  to  vacate  because  it  was  thought  the  franchises 
had  expired. 


REPORTED  HUNTINGTON  MERGER 


Persistent  rumors  are  abroad  in  Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  to  the  effect 
that  all  the  Huntington  interurban  roads  in  that  section  are  to  be 
consolidated  and  that  a  European  syndicate  wants  $4,000,000  worth 
of  the  bonds  of  the  new  company,  which  will  probably  be  known 
as  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company  of  California.  Since  the 
Huntington  companies  were  organized,  their  investment  has 
amounted  to  more  than  $15,000,000,  and  is  said  to  be  continuing 
at  the  rate  of  about  $500,000  per  month.  In  this  connection  it  is 
known  that  Mr.  Huntington  said  to  a  friend  last  winter  that  he  had 
it  in  mind  to  put  all  of  his  interurban  lines  under  one  management. 
Said  one  of  his  closest  friends  to  a  representative  of  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  recently:  "If  I  were  to  tell  you  what  Mr. 
Huntington  believes  as  to  the  future  of  this  country,  you  might 
think  he  was  'daffy.'  What  are  apparently  the  wildest  claims  of 
the  realty  brokers  in  Los  Angeles  do  not  approach  his  idea  of  what 
the  next  decade  will  bring  about.  He  has  plans  to  meet  the  growth 
he  feels  sure  will  come  that  are  simply  tremendous.  He  believes 
that  electricity  will  eventually  take  the  place  of  steam  in  transpor- 
tation, so  he  aims  to  be  ready  and  a  little  more  than  ready  when 
that  times  does  come." 



NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  BECOMES  INTERESTED  IN  TROLLEYS 


On  Saturday,  July  16,  the  report  came  from  Syracuse  that  the 
New  York  Central  interests  had  just  closed  a  deal  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  stock  of  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Railway  Com- 
pany held  by  the  estate  of  L.  K.  McClymonds,  of  Cleveland,  and 
that  at  the  same  time  and  by  the  same  transaction  the  Central 
secured  control  of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  operates  from  Little  Falls  to  Rome,  with  city  systems 
in  LHica,  Rome  and  Oneida.  This  statement  contained  a  certain 
element  of  truth,  but  according  to  an  announcement  made  later 
by  the  management  of  that  company,  the  Stanley-Andrews  syndi- 
cate of  Cleveland,  controlling  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Com- 
pany, really  acquired  a  controlling  interest  in  the  Syracuse  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  and  proposes  to  merge  these  properties  in  one 
system.  The  New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad 
Company  has  purchased  an  interest  in  these  properties,  and  will 
probably  enter  into  a  trackage  agreement  for  the  use  of  the  West 
Shore  Railroad  to  connect  the  systems  of  which  Syracuse  and 
Utica  are  the  centers.  Further  extensions,  east  and  west,  are  in 
contemplation.  The  New  York  Central  intends  to  aid  the  new 
company  in  taking  care  of  and  developing  the  short-haul  traffic 
to  the  fullest  extent.  In  Syracuse  it  is  said  that  the  West  Shore 
will  be  electrified  from  Canastota  to  Syracuse,  permitting  the 
Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  cars  to  enter  this  city  over  that  line. 
The  report  that  the  West  Shore  would  be  electrified  to  Rochester 
is  regarded  as  a  move  to  influence  the  sale  of  the  Rochester. 
Syracuse  &  Eastern  Railroad,  which  has  expended  $500,000  and 
has  a  right  of  way  between  the  two  cities. 



A  BROOKLYN  COMPANY  TO  EMPLOY  ONLY  UNION  MEN 


An  announcement  which  caused  much  interest  was  that  made 
Saturday,  June  16,  of  an  agreement  entered  into  between  the  Coney 
Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad  Company  and  its  employees.  The  com- 
pany voluntarily  engages  to  employ  only  union  men  on  its  lines, 
even  expressing  preference  that  its  employees  be  members  of  the 
local  organization  of  electric  railway  workers. 

It  has  been  the  custom  of  the  company  for  years  to  treat  annually 
with  its  men,  and  to  enter  into  an  annual  agreement  each  July. 
The  men  have  for  a  long  time  desired  to  get  the  union  concession 
from  the  company,  but  have  never  threatened  trouble  over  the 
matter.    One  clause  in  the  agreement  entered  into  is  as  follows : 

"The  party  of  the  first  part  (the  company)  does  not  object  to 
any  employee  belonging  to  the  union,  and  would  prefer  that  the  em- 
ployees should,  and  will  not  employ  or  keep  any  man  who  does 
not  belong  to  the  union." 

The  company  also  agrees  that  no  motorman  or  conductor  on 
straight  runs  shall  be  required  to  be  on  duty  more  than  ten  hours, 
inside  of  eleven  hours  from  the  time  of  reporting  for  duty,  instead 
of  ten  hours  inside  of  twelve  from  the  time  of  reporting  for  duty, 
as  at  present,  and  that  seven  Park  Circle  trips  shall  be  considered  a 
day's  work  on  the  Franklin  Avenue  line,  instead  of  eight  trips,  as 
now.  The  agreement  as  to  the  matter  of  pay  in  force  during  the 
last  year  is  renewed.  The  motormen  and  conductors  are  receiving 
$2.25  for  a  full  day's  work. 

It  is  said  there  are  only  about  a  dozen  non-union  men  now  in 
(he  company's  employ,  and  that  they  will  all  probably  join  the 
union. 


142 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


SEVERE  MEASURES  RESORTED  TO  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 

Action  unprecedented  in  Massachusetts  was  taken  on  the  night 
of  July  13,  when  newly  laid  tracks  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  Street 
Railway  Company,  of  North  Adams,  Mass.,  were  torn  up  by  order 
of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Commission.  Procuring  a  steam 
roller  at  Williamstown,  Mass.,  Engineer  F.  H.  Joyner,  of  the 
commission,  proceeded  to  North  Adams.  The  steam  roller  was 
chained  to  the  tracks  and  the  engine  started,  the  result  being  that 
the  rails  were  pulled  from  the  ties  and  twisted  out  of  shape.  This 
operation  was  repeated  in  two  separate  places. 

When  the  first  car  was  run  over  this  line  the  following  morn- 
ing the  motorman  came  upon  a  section  of  the  torn  up  track  and 
was  forced  to  bring  his  car  to  a  sudden  stop  in  order  to  prevent  an 
accident.  It  has  been  stated  that  wheel-barrows  were  placed  across 
the  track  in  order  to  give  the  motorman  warning,  but  the  motor- 
man  reported  that  no  such  obstruction  was  there  when  his  car 
approached. 

Secretary  Austin  B.  Fletcher,  of  the  Highway  Commission,  gave 
as  a  reason  for  this  summary  action  on  the  part  of  an  agent  of  the 
commission  that  the  street  railway  company  had  violated  the  terms 
of  its  franchise  over  the  State  highway  in  North  Adams  in  neg- 
lecting to  leave  the  highway  in  as  good  condition  after  the  tracks 
had  been  laid  as  it  was  before  work  was  begun.  It  is  stated  by 
the  company's  representatives  that  an  offer  had  been  made  to  pay 
the  highway  commission  for  whatever  work  it  considered  neces- 
sary. 

Secretary  Fletcher  says  that  he  sent  a  letter  to  President  A.  H. 
Rice,  of  the  Hoosac  Valley  Street  Railway  Company,  on  June  22, 
calling  his  attention  to  the  condition  of  the  highway  in  question. 
President  Rice  replied  that  he  had  called  the  matter  to  the  atten- 
tion of  his  general  manager  and  that  he  would  attend  to  it.  Secre- 
tary Fletcher  wrote  another  letter  June  30,  notifying  President 
Rice  that  the  locations  would  be  invalid  unless  the  conditions  were 
complied  with. 

What  adds  importance  to  this  case  is  the  intimation  given  by 
officials  of  the  commission  that  the  action  it  took  is  intended  not 
only  as  a  check  to  the  one  street  railway,  but  as  a  warning  to  all 
the  Western  Massachusetts  street  railways,  with  which  it  claims  to 
have  had  more  or  less  trouble. 

 — 

MERIT  SYSTEM  IN  LOS  ANGELES 

The  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company  and  the  Los  Angeles  In- 
terurban  Railway  Company  adopted  on  July  1  the  merit  system  of 
discipline,  such  modifications  of  the  system  being  made  as  were 
thought  necessary  to  meet  peculiar  local  conditions.  With  the 
adoption  of  the  new  system  all  employees  were  freed  of  any 
charges  of  misconduct  standing  against  them.  Under  the  new 
code,  instead  of  actual  suspension,  employees  are  continued  at  work 
while  charges  against  them  are  under  investigation.  For  good  work 
credits  are  given,  and  they  are  allowed  to  offset  particular  offenses. 
Disloyalty,  dishonesty,  desertion,  intemperance,  insubordination, 
willful  neglect,  gross  carelessness  and  immorality  continue,  as  in 
the  past,  to  be  cause  for  dismissal,  and  no  reprimand  is  published 
without  giving  to  the  offender  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  in  his 
own  defense.  A  reprimand  is  canceled  by  a  perfect  record  for  two 
months.  A  suspension  of  five  days  is  canceled  by  a  perfect  record 
for  three  months.  A  suspension  of  ten  days  is  canceled  by  a  per- 
fect record  for  four  months.  A  suspension  of  twenty  days  is  can- 
celed by  a  perfect  record  for  eight  months.  A  suspension  of  thirty 
days  is  canceled  by  a  perfect  record  for  one  year. 

For  the  assignment  of  credits  for  good  record,  the  year  has  been 
divided  into  three  periods  of  four  months  each,  beginning  July  1, 
Nov.  1  and  March  1.  An  employee  who  maintains  a  clear  record, 
secures  a  credit  of  ten  days  for  each  perfect  period  until  the  thirty 
demerits  are  wiped  off.  In  the  event,  however,  of  additional  de- 
merits being  assessed  against  the  same  employee,  no  credits  accrue 
during  any  portion  of  the  four  months  period  in  which  the  demerits 
are  recorded. 

Credits  for  extraordinary  service  are  given  at  all  times  and  are 
cumulative.  If  any  employee  has  a  credit  of  thirty  days  for  an  ex- 
traordinary service  and  then  receives  a  debit  of  thirty  days  for  viola- 
tion of  rules,  his  account  will  stand  even.  A  balance  of  sixty  de- 
merit marks  subjects  an  employee  to  dismissal,  in  which  case  he  is 
called  in  by  the  head  of  the  department,  and,  unless  there  are  miti- 
gating circumstances,  is  taken  out  of  the  service. 

In  adopting  the  system  the  companies  issued  a  statement  in 
which  they  said :  "It  is  expected  that  the  system  of  'discipline  by 
record'  will  prove  of  great  advantage  alike  to  the  company  and  to 
its  employees  and  their  families.  Wages  will  not  be  lost  by  dis- 
ciplined employees,  who  are  not  to  be  suspended,  except  for  such 
time  as -may  be  required  for  satisfactory  .investigation,  in  attend- 
ance at  the  office  of  the  head  of  the  department,  or  by  themselves 


looking  up  facts,  witnesses,  etc.,  after  which  the  employee  will  re- 
turn to  his  work.  It  is  also  expected  that  it  will  encourage  and 
stimulate  all  employees  to  co-operate  heartily  with  the  officers  of 
the  company  in  matters  pertaining  to  harmony,  economy,  safety 
and  efficiency,  thereby  securing  better  service  and  increasing  bene- 
fits, security  and  satisfaction  to  the  public  and  to  all." 



PROPOSED  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  IN  ECUADOR 


L.  F.  Carbo,  of  New  York,  is  interested  in  the  development  of 
an  electric  railway  in  Quito,  Ecuador.  The  proposed  line  is  to 
be  36  miles  in  length  and  is  to  be  operated  by  water  power.  Mr. 
Carbo,  who  has  a  perpetual  and  very  liberal  franchise,  leaves  for 
Quito  in  the  latter  part  of  July  with  a  well-known  American  en- 
gineer to  investigate  the  possibilities  of  the  system.  The  situa- 
tion may  turn  out  to  be  a  good  investment  for  American  capital. 
 ♦♦♦  

STRIKE  IN  NEWBURGH,  N.  Y. 

The  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  Orange  County  Traction  Com- 
pany, of  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  declared  early  Sunday  morning,  July  17, 
was  settled  Tuesday  afternoon,  July  19,  when  cars  were  immedi- 
ately placed  in  regular  operation  again.  The  men  demanded 
recognition  of  their  union,  the  employment  by  the  company  of 
union  men  only,  the  discharge  of  certain  non-union  men  and 
the  adjustment  of  a  few  minor  grievances  affecting  time  allowed 
for  meals,  overtime  allowance,  etc.  They  modified  these  demands 
later  on,  however,  so  that  it  was  possible  for  the  management  to 
accept  the  modifications.  The  agreement  as  finally  drawn  con- 
tains eleven  sections,  and  is  binding  upon  both  parties  to  it  for  tw& 
years.  It  provides  in  brief  that  the  management  of  the  company 
shall  treat  with  properly  accredited  representatives  of  the  men  who 
shall  be  employees  of  the  company ;  that  senority  of  service  shall  be 
recognized  in  arranging  runs  ;  that  any  employee  suspended  by  the 
company  shall  be  reinstated  and  fully  compensated  at  the  prevail- 
ing wages,  if  the  charges  against  him  are  not  proved ;  that  all  em- 
ployees in  good  standing  on  July  16  be  reinstated ;  that  the  prevail- 
ing rate  of  wages  shall  continue  to  prevail  during  the  life  of  the 
agreement,  and  that  employees  discharged  at  the  beginning  of  the 
formation  of  the  union  shall  be  given  a  fair  hearing. 



INCONSISTENCY  OF  GRADE  CROSSING  ADVOCATES 


An  application  has  been  received  by  the  Commissioner  of  Rail- 
roads of  Michigan  from  the  Detroit  United  Railway  for  the  ap- 
proval of  a  proposed  grade  crossing  of  its  line  with  the  Michigan 
Central,  Lake  Shore  &  Michigan  Southern  and  Grand  Trunk  Rail- 
roads in  Greenwood  Avenue  in  the  city  of  Detroit,  such  application 
having  the  approval  of  the  Mayor  and  a  majority  of  the  Alder- 
men of  the  city. 

As  is  well  known,  there  has  been  during  the  past  few  years  con- 
siderable agitation  in  the  city  of  Detroit,  in  favor  of  a  separation 
of  the  grades  at  all  crossings  of  electric  and  steam  roads,  the  advo- 
cates of  this  plan  having  been  unusually  active  since  the  accident 
that  occurred  at  Gratiot  Avenue  a  few  months  ago. 

As  a  result  of  this  agitation,  a  contract  has  been  entered  into 
between  the  city  and  the  . railroad  companies  in  interest,  providing 
that  the  railroad  companies  shall  expend  not  less  than  $200,000 
each  year  in  grade  separation  work  until  the  entire  separation  shall 
be  accomplished,  the  city  agreeing  to  take  care  of  all  damage  to 
adjacent  property. 

Under  this  contract  and  the  general  plan  that  has  been  adopted 
it  is  hoped  and  expected  that  the  much  desired  abolition  of  all 
grade  crossings  can  be  accomplished  within  a  few  years. 

And  now  come  the  Mayor  and  the  Common  Council  of  the  city, 
who  entered  into  the  contract  referred  to,  and  request  the  Com- 
missioner of  Railroads  to  approve  of  a  new  crossing  that  will,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  Commissioner,  be  fully  as  dangerous  if  not  more 
so,  than  any  now  existing,  thus  creating  a  new  and  dangerous 
condition  that  must  be  changed  within  a  very  few  years  at  most, 
at  the  expense  of  the  railroad  companies. 

It  would  certainly  seem  that  if  the  city  authorities,  and  others 
who  are  so  actively  advocating  a  change  of  grades,  are  sincere  and 
consistent  in  their  position  and  desires,  they  should  insist  that  the 
new  crossing,  if  constructed,  shall  be  made  at  a  separate  grade  at 
the  expense  of  the  company  desiring  to  make  the  same,  and  the 
owners  of  the  property  to  be  benefited  thereby,  and  not  wait  until 
there  has  been  an  unnecessary  risk  of  life  and  property,  and  until 
the  adjacent  property  has  been  built  up  around  a  grade  crossing, 
to  be  changed  in  a  short  time  at  the  expense  of  the  railroad  com- 
panies, and  to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the  owners  and  occupant 
of  such  property. 


July  23,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


H3 


ANOTHER  NEW  ELECTRIC  LINE  FOR  LOUISIANA 


The  Bayou  Teche  Electric  Company  will  in  the  very  near  future 
construct  an  electric  railway  from  New  Iberia  to  Berwick,  La.,  and 
will  supply  light  and  power  to  a  large  section  of  the  State.  The  cor- 
poration is  under  the  direction  of  General  F.  F.  Myles,  who  has 
large  personal  interests  in  that  section  of  the  State.  The  company 
has  a  capital  of  $1,000,000. 

This  is  one  of  several  electric  railway  projects  on  foot  in 
Louisiana  which  will  be  of  benefit  to  New  Orleans,  operating  as 
they  will  through  the  most  fertile  part  of  the  State,  and  opening 
new  territory  to  settlement  and  development. 

Work  on  this  road  will  be  begun  in  the  early  fall. 

■  

WORK  BEGINS  ON  BUFFALO,  LOCKPORT  &  ROCHESTER 

LINE 


Work  was  begun  a  few  days  ago  at  Albion,  N.  Y.,  on  what 
is  to  be  known  as  the  Buffalo,  Lockport  &  Rochester  Electric 
Railway,  which  is  to  run  from  Rochester  to  Lockport,  where  it 
will  make  connections  with  electric  lines  running  to  Tonawanda 
and  Buffalo,  and  Niagara  Falls.  This  road,  which  was  incorpo- 
rated under  the  name  of  the  Albion  Electric  Railway,  was  to 
have  run  only  from  Albion  to  Lockport,  but  it  has  since  been 
decided  to  extend  it  to  Rochester  and  operating  agreements  have 
been  made  with  the  International  Traction  Company,  with  lines 
running  to  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls. 

The  cars  of  the  new  road  are  to  enter  Rochester  over  the  Lyell 
Avenue  tracks  of  the  Rochester  Railway  Company,  and  will  carry 
their  passengers  to  the  Four  Corners.  It  is  expected  that  the 
road  will  be  laid  at  least  from  Rochester  to  Brockport  by  fall, 
when  that  part  of  the  line  will  be  operated. 

Throughout  its  whole  length  the  new  line  will  parallel  the 
Falls  road  of  the  New  York  Central.  It  will  run  on  its  own 
right  of  way,  except  through  the  streets  of  the  villages  and  towns 
along  the  route.  The  line  is  on  the  north  side  of  the  steam  rail- 
road, between  it  and  the  canal.  The  new  company  has  practically 
obtained  the  right  of  way  from  Rochester  to  Lockport  and  has 
permission  to  go  through  the  business  streets  of  the  villages  and 
towns.  The  places  through  which  it  will  pass  are  South  Greece, 
Spencerport,  Adams  Basin,  Brockport,  Holley,  Fancher,  Albion, 
Eagle  Harbor,  Knowlesville,  Medina,  Middleport,  Gasport  and 
Lockport. 

The  construction  of  the  road  is  now  being  supervised  by  A.  T. 
Tomlinson,  who  represents  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  of  New 
York.  The  road  is  being  financed  by  the  Transit  Finance  Com- 
pany, of  Philadelphia. 



NEW  PUBLICATIONS 


Derrah's  Trolley  Trips:  By  Trolley  Through  Eastern  New  Eng- 
land; 154  pages.   By  Trolley  Through  Western  New  England: 
105  pages.    Bound  separately  in  paper ;  also  bound  together  in 
cloth.     Price,  $1.15.    Published  by  Robert  H.  Derrah,  365 
Washington  Street,  Boston,  Mass. 
These  trolley  guides  are  models  of  their  kind  in  every  way, 
typographically  and  in  arrangement  and  execution.    The  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  the  different  attractions  in  the  cities  described 
is  supplemented  by  well-chosen  illustrations  and  time-tables  of 
the  different  lines,  and  indices  make  the  task  of  finding  his  way 
an  easy  one  for  the  traveler.    The  New  England  district  is  a  very 
popular  one  for  trolley  excursionists.    One  reason  is  that  it 
possesses  so  many  historical  associations,  but  the  fact  that  the 
territory  is  so  well  supplied  with  trolley  guides  is  undoubtedly 
another  reason  for  the  popularity  in  that  region  of  the  trolley 
tourist.    Other  sections  of  the  country  might- well  draw  a  lesson 
from  the  way  in  which  this  business  has  been  developed. 
Manual  for  Engineers.    Compiled  by  Charles  E.  Ferris,  B.  S.,  Pro- 
fessor of  Mechanical  Engineering,  University  of  Tennessee. 
Published  by  the  University  of  Tennessee  Press,  Knoxville, 
Tenn.    Price,  by  mail,  50  cents. 
This  little  engineering  manual  is  gratifying  evidence  of  the 
steady  advancement  of  the  South  along  the  lines  of  sound  tech- 
nical education.    The  primary  object  of  the  university  in  publish- 
ing this  book  is  to  bring  directly  to  the  attention  of  Southern  men 
of  affairs  the  value  of  technical  training  in  the  schools  and  col- 
leges of  the  South.    In  addition  to  a  small  amount  of  matter  about 
the  engineering  departments  of  the  University  of  Tennessee,  the 
book  contains  considerable  information  of  the  highest  value  to 
engineers  and  merchants.    That  the  book  has  been  successful  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  publishers  have  received  orders  for  the 
book  from  nearly  every  part  of  the  world,  and  that  it  has  reached 
a  fourth  edition  of  5000  copies. 


STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  JULY  12,  1904. 

764,688.  Trolley;  George  E.  Smith,  Exeter,  N.  H.  App.  filed 
June  5,  1903.  A  main  truck  in  the  trolley  harp,  a  swinging  frame 
supported  on  the  harp  and  carrying  an  auxiliary  truck  and  a  pair 
of  flaring  fingers  movably  connected  to  the  swinging  frame. 

764,692.  Overhead  Trolley ;  William  J.  Sumner,  Holyoke, 
Mass.    App.  filed  Feb.  6,  1904.  Details. 

764,758.  Operating  Mechanism  for  Fare  Registers  ;  Wilfred  I. 
Ohmer,  Dayton,  Ohio.  App.  filed  Feb.  24,  1904.  Comprises  a 
rotatable  shaft  and  a  longitudinally  movable  rod,  a  housing  in  which 
the  shaft  and  rod  are  mounted,  a  vertical  shaft  mounted  in  the 
housing  and  having  a  geared  connection  with  the  longitudinal 
shaft  within  the  housing,  an  operating  handle  mounted  on  the 
vertical  shaft,  so  as  to  rotate  therewith  and  movable  longitudinally 
thereon,  a  bell  crank  lever  mounted  in  the  housing  and  engaging 
the  rod  to  move  the  same  longitudinally,  a  connection  between  the 
operating  handle  and  bellcrank  lever  to  actuate  the  lever  when 
the  handle  is  moved  longitudinally,  an  indicator  ha\ing  a  shaft 
mounted  in  the  housing  and  operatively  connected  with  the  vertical 
shaft,  and  detent  mechanism  for  holding  the  parts  in  indicating 
position. 

764.780.  Trolley  for  Overhead  Tracks ;  William  J.  Sumner,  Hol- 
yoke, Mass.  App.  filed  Feb.  6,  1904.  Consists  of  a  wheel-supported 
head  and  a  jointed  pendant  connected  with  the  head  and  extending 
below  the  track,  the  pendant  being  capable  of  swinging  trans- 
versely of  the  track  and  independently  of  the  head. 

764.781.  Switch  for  Overhead  Trolley  Tracks;  William  J.  Sum- 
ner, Holyoke,  Mass.   App.  filed  Feb.  6,  1904.  Details. 

764,807.  Trolley  Retractor ;  Richard  H.  Ham,  Stockport,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Sept.  29,  1903.  Means  whereby  when  a  pull  is  exerted 
on  the  retaining  socket  of  the  catcher,  the  socket  will  be  freed  from 
its  locked  position  and  caused  to  rotate  or  move  in  approximate 
parallelism  to  the  dash,  so  as  to  exert  a  downward  pull  on  the 
trolley  rope. 

764,867.  Switch  Point  Shifter ;  Robert  H.  Roberts,  San  Antonio, 
Texas.  App.  filed  April  2,  1904.  Details  of  construction  of  a 
depressible  operating  rod  mounted  on  the  dash  of  the  car. 

764,836.  Electric  Fluid  Pressure  Switching  Mechanism ;  Walter 
J.  Bell,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  App.  filed  Aug.  6,  1903.  Comprises  a 
switch  element,  a  double-acting  pump  for  moving  the  switch  ele- 
ment, solenoids  for  reciprocating  the  pump  piston,  and  a  pole 
changer  for  said  solenoids  consisting  of  a  contact  carried  by  a 
moving  part,  spring  contacts  each  electrically  connected  with  one 
of  said  magnets  and  alternately  engaged  by  said  contact,  and  an 
inclined  bar  between  the  spring  contacts  for  deflecting  the  contact 
whereby  the  latter  is  snapped  from  one  contact  to  the  other  at  the 
ends  of  is  movements. 

764,856.  Electric  Railway ;  Timothy  Mahoney,"  San  Francisco, 
Cal.  App.  filed  Aug.  4,  1903.  Means  carried  by  the  car  for  operat- 
ing a  switch-box  consisting  of  a  trolley  wheel  having  a  magnetiz- 
able rim  and  a  series  of  readily  magnetizable  spokes  inclosed 
thereby ;  the  series  of  spokes  being  helically  wound  by  a  continu- 
ous conductor  to  form  a  single  magnet  whose  opposite  poles  are  at 
the  center  and  the  periphery  of  the  wheel. 

764,915.  Trolley  Guard;  Anton  Christensen,  Chicago,  111.  App. 
filed  April  29,  1904.  Details. 

764,942.  Electric  Railway  System ;  Wilbur  E.  Guthrie,  Cham- 
bersburg,  Pa.  App.  filed  Feb.  5,  1904.  The  system  dispenses  with 
the  use  of  a  continuous  live  trolley,  either  overhead  or  under- 
ground, and  employs  a  feed  wire  buried  in  the  roadbed  and  con- 
nected at  intervals  with  a  series  of  upwardly  projecting  contacts, 
adapted  to  make  contact  with  a  long  shoe  carried  by  the  car  and  of 
such  length  as  to  bridge  the  space  between  the  contacts. 

765,004.  Trolley  Pole  Head ;  John  E.  Greenwood,  Utica,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Aug.  29,  1903.  A  coiled  spring  secured  to  the  trolley 
pole  at  a  point  intermediate  its  ends,  collectors  on  the  spring,  and 
means  engaging  the  ends  of  the  spring  to  maintain  it  in  horizontal 
position. 

765,004.  Trolley  Pole  Head ;  John  .  Greenwood,  Utica,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Aug.  29,  1903.  A  cap-piece  piotally  mounted  on  the 
trolley  pole,  a  leaf  spring  supported  on  edge  on  the  cap-piece  and 
collectors  aranged  in  tandem  on  the  spring. 

765,041.  Car  Fender;  William  H.  Reece,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  App. 
filed  Dec.  1,  1003.  The  fender  comprises  three  separate  parts 
pivotally  connected  to  move  in  unison,  to  wit:  An  apron  pivoted 
approximately  at  its  upper  edge,  a  cradle  pivoted  beneath  the 
apron,  and  a  pilot  mounted  below  said  cradle. 

765,067.  Street  Car  Fender ;  Jacob  Derx,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  App. 
filed  Jan.  29,  1904,    Comprises  a  stationary  frame  and  a  pivoted 


144 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  4. 


frame,  and  a  plurality  of  pivotally-mounted  rigid  plates  con- 
necting the  frames  and  forming  the  side  walls  of  the  fender. 

765,075.  Trolley  Harp ;  Charles  L.  Hooper,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Dec.  15,  1903.  Details. 

765.136.  Overhead  Conductor  Point  Operating  Mechanism; 
Charles  G.  Goord,  Brighton,  England.  App.  filed  Sept.  17,  1903. 
Comprises  a  switch  operated  by  the  rail-point,  a  agnet  upon  the 
overhead  frog,  an  electric  circuit  including  the  magnet  and  switch, 
and  conductor  connections  operated  by  the  magnet. 

765.137.  Trolley  Fork;  Charles  G.  Hartman,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Dec.  21,  1903.  A  disc  mounted  on  the  trolley  fork  is 
provided  with  means  for  temporarily  holding  the  pin  of  the  trolley 
wheel,  means  upon  the  fork  for  permanently  holding  the  pin  and 
means  for  bringing  the  two  means  into  a  registering  position. 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


DR.  SCHUYLER  SKAATS  WHEELER,  president  of  Crocker- 
Wheeler  Company,  electrical  manufacturers,  sailed  July  13,  with 
Mrs.  Wheeler,  on  the  White  Star  liner  "Baltic." 

MR.  G.  H.  WINSLOW,  who  has  for  several  months  past  been 
in  charge  of  the  reading  and  club  rooms  of  the  Public  Service 
Corporation  of  New  Jersey,  under  the  direction  of  the  State  com- 
mittee of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  has  resigned 
to  accept  the  position  of  superintendent  of  the  railroad  Y.  M.  C. 
A.  of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad,  at  the  company's  shops 
at  New  Decatur,  Ala. 

MR.  JOHN  P.  POPE  has  accepted  the  position  of  superin- 
tendent of  the  Columbus,  London  &  Springfield  Railway  Company, 
of  Columbus,  Ohio;  Mr.  B.  M.  Brown  has  accepted  the  position  of 
superintendent  of  transportation  of  the  Dayton,  Springfield  & 
Urbana  Electric  Railway  Company,  and  Mr.  C.  C.  Collins  has  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  F.  G.  Mensch  as  superintendent  of  express  of  the 
same  company.  Mr.  E.  B.  Gunn  has  resigned  as  general  super- 
intendent of  the  Dayton,  Springfield  &  Urbana  Electric  Railway 
Company,  and  is  to  be  succeeded  by  Mr.  A.  H.  Hayward. 

MR.  JAMES  D.  HOUSEMAN,  who  now  is  general  manager 
of  the  Suburban  Telephone  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  made  an 
enviable  reputation  while  general  manager  of  the  St.  Louis,  St. 
Charles  &  Western  Railway,  from  which,  as  previously  noted  in 
the  Street  Railway  Journal,  he  resigned  quite  recently.  From 
the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  road  in  1899  until  he  resigned,  Mr. 
Houseman  did  not  have  occasion  to  discharge  a  single  man,  and 
during  that  time  only  four  regular  employees  resigned.  But  even 
more  remarkable  than  this  is  the  fact  that  during  the  five  years 
only  $250  was  paid  out  for  damages,  and  that  there  are  at  present 
no  damage  suits  against  the  company.  Since  the  opening  of  the 
road  Mr.  Houseman  has  been  able  to  grant  the  men  an  increase  in 
wages  amounting  to  20  per  cent.  Mr.  R.  W.  Gray  has  been  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  Mr.  Houseman. 

MR.  J.  A.  BARRY,  general  manager  of  the  New  Jersey  &  Penn- 
sylvania Traction  Company,  with  headquarters  at  Trenton,  N.  J., 
has  resigned  his  position  to  accept  the  managership  of  the  Indiana 
Northern  Traction  Company's  line  between  Marion  and  Wabash, 
Ind.  Mr.  Barry  has  been  at  Trenton  since  March,  1901,  and  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Jilson  J.  Coleman,  president  of  the  New  Jersey  &  Penn- 
sylvania Traction  Company,  as  general  manager  in  1902.  Mr. 
Coleman  is  now  president  of  the  Indiana  Northern  Traction  Com- 
pany. The  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Company  con- 
trols 25  miles  of  road,  extending  from  Trenton  to  Princeton,  in 
New  Jersey,  and  to  Newtown,  Pa.  The  Princeton  line  was  the 
pioneer  high-speed  line  in  the  State.  Mr.  Barry  has  been  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  management  of  the  road,  carrying,  since  the  opening 
in  the  fall  of  1901,  about  3,000,000  passengers  without  a  single 
injury.  He  was  the  pioneer  newspaper  advertiser  in  Trenton,  and, 
so  far  as  known,  in  the  State,  running  at  first  regular  railroad 
time-cards,  and,  later,  supplementing  these  by  reading  notices,  to 
which  attention  has  been  called  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal. 
Previous  to  coining  to  Trenton,  Mr.  Barry  was  with  the  Brooklyn 
Heights  and  old  Nassau  Railroads  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  He  began 
his  railroad  career  with  the  Cleveland,  Loraine  &  Wheeling  Rail- 
road, with  which  he  served  seventeen  years,  filling  many  positions. 
He  left  the  steam  railroad  to  take  a  position  with  the  Yonkers 
(N.  Y.)  Street  Railway,  and  has  been  connected  with  electric  rail- 
\va>s  ever  Fiuce. 

MR.  T.  G.  HANSEN,  who,  in  June,  1902,  resigned  as  general 
superintendent  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction  Company,  of  Akron, 


A.  J.  WILSON 


Ohio,  to  become  connected  with  the  British  Electric  Traction  Com- 
pany, of  London,  has  resigned  from  that  company,  and  is  returning 
to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Hansen  has  been  acting  as  manager  of 
the  Costa  Rica  Electric  Light  &  Traction  Company,  of  San  Jose, 
Costa  Rica.  Here  he  became  very  popular  with  the  employees,  and 
earned  the  approbation  of  his  employees  by  his  loyalty  to  their  in- 
terests. Mr.  Hansen  began  his  street  railway  career  in  Chicago. 
Here  he  was  first  employed  as  a  gripman  on  a  cable  road.  Later 
he  became  an  inspector,  and  then  went  to  Cleveland  as  a  division 
superintendent  of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway.  His  next  posi- 
tion was  that  of  superintendent  of  the  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
Company.  The  employees  of  the  Costa  Rica  Company  presented 
Mr.  Hansen  with  a  gold  chain  and  a  charm  as  a  token  of  their 
esteem  when  they  learned  he  was  to  leave. 

MR.  A.  J.  WILSON  has  resigned  from  his  position  of  master 
mechanic  of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company,  owing  to 
ill-health.  It  has  appeared  advisable  for  him  to  take  a  much- 
needed  rest,  which  he  has  decided  to  do,  after  which  he  will 
undoubtedly    resume    his    railroad    work.     Mr.    Wilson  has 

been  connected  with  the  Brooklyn 
Union  Elevated  Railroad  and  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  for 
over  fourteen  years  in  the  operat- 
ing department  and  in  charge  of 
repair-shop  work,  coming  to 
Brooklyn  from  the  Central  Ver- 
mont Railroad.  His  work  in 
Brooklyn  began  very  soon  after 
the  opening  of  the  Brooklyn 
Union  Elevated  Railroad,  upon 
which  system  he  spent  five  years 
in  the  operating  department  and 
was  then  placed  in  charge  of  the 
work  of  repairs  and  maintenance 
of  cars  and  locomotives.  He  has 
had  a  very  valuable  experience  in 
the  remarkable  development  of 
urban  traffic  that  has  taken  place 
111  that  city,  his  experience  covering  both  the  earlier  steam  loco- 
motive service  and  of  installing  and  maintaining  the  electrical 
equipment  which  is  now  so  successfully  in  use.  He  has  for  sev- 
eral years  past  been  in  charge  of  the  three  large  repair  shops  of 
the  surface  and  elevated  divisions  and  the  fifteen  division  shops, 
and  has  also  been  in  charge  of  the  important  new  work  of  recon- 
struction of  elevated  cars. 

MR.  FRANKLIN  EVENS  MORSE,  superintendent  of  power 
1  if  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company,  died  at  his  residence, 
at  1327  Dean  Street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  on  Friday,  July  15.  His  death 
comes  as  a  shock  to  his  many  friends  and  co-workers,  who  had  all 
learned  to  esteem  him  for  his  many  sterling  qualities.  He  was  ill 
only  a  week  of  typhoid  fever,  but  the  immediate  cause  of  his  death 
was  exhaustion  from  an  operation.  Mr.  Morse  was  thirty-three 
years  of  age,  unmarried,  and  lived  with  his  parents  and  a  sister. 
He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  having  been  born  in  Walpole, 
Aug.  16,  1870.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  and  high  schools  in 
his  home  town,  and  received  his  technical  education  at  Dean 
Academy,  Franklin,  Mass.  Mr.  Morse  has  been  associated  with 
the  Brooklyn  railroads  for  the  last  thirteen  years,  and  in  the  ca- 
pacity of  superintendent  of  power  for  the  last  seven  years.  He 
was  a  popular  member  of  the  New  York  Railroad  Club,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order,  holding  the  high  honor  of 
Past  Master  of  the  Montgomery  Lodge,  F.  and  A.  M.  Mr.  Morse's 
first  electrical  work  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Wright  Electric  Com- 
pany, of  Boston.  Subsequently  he  worked  for  the  Electric  Light 
Company,  of  Clinton,  Mass.  In  1891  he  came  to  Brooklyn  and 
entered  the  service  of  the  Brooklyn  City  Railway  Company  as  a 
switchboard  operator  under  Mr.  M.  G.  Starrett.  His  rise  from 
this  position  was  rapid  and  he  soon  became  chief  electrician  of  the 
Southern  Power  Station  of  the  company,  which  position  he  held 
until  the  fall  of  1894.  He  was  then  promoted  to  the  position  -of 
superintendent  of  power  of  the  Brooklyn  Height  Railroad  Com- 
pany by  the  late  Mr.  R.  B.  Bfown,  E.  E.  This  position  he  has 
held  very  efficiently  through  several  administrations  of  the  com- 
pany. Mr.  Morse  was  one  of  the  most  popular  and  highly  thought 
of  men  in  the  company,  and  his  loss  is  deeply  felt  by  all  those  con- 
nected with  the  mechanical  department.  His  professional  attain- 
ments were  of  the  highest  order.  He  grew  with  the  electrical  pro- 
fession, and  was  probably  one  of  the  best  posted  men  in  the  field 
upon  practical  power  plant  subjects.  He  was  very  fond  of  the 
work,  and  was  closely  devoted  to  it,  and  his  interests  were  one  with 
the  company.  In  the  field  of  invention,  Mr.  Morse  has  also  made  a 
record ;  he  was  the  inventor  and  patentee  of  the  Brazed  Rail 
Joint. 


INDEXED 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  JULY  30,  1904 


No.  5. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 


Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Liebcr's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

In  the  United  States,  Hawaii,  Puerto  Rico,  Philippines,  Cuba,  Canada 
and  Mexico. 

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Both  of  the  above,  in  connection  with  American  Street  Railway 
Investments  (The  "Red  Book" — Published  annually  in  May; 
regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)   $6.50  per  annum 

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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  latvr 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 

Operating  Electrical  Exhibits  at  St.  Louis 

A  great  deal  of  credit  is  due  to  the  Department  of  Elec- 
tricity of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Professor  W.  E.  Golclshorough,  for  the  character  of  the 
electric  railway  exhihits  to  be  found  there,  as  well  as  for  the 
work  of  the  electric  railway  test  commission  which  is  now 
being  taken  up.  Although  it  has  not  been  possible,  in  the  case 
of  the  electric  railway  exhibits,  to  have  them  all  operating 
exhibits  to  the  extent  that  other  exhibits  in  the  Electricity 
Building  are  operating,  this  deficiency  has  been  made  up  for 


by  the  inauguration  of  the  electric  railway  tests,  where  the 
actual  performance  of  various  types  of  electric  railway  ap- 
paratus can  be  determined.  Under  Professor  Goldsborough's 
guidance  the  electric  railway  exhibits  have  been  made  some- 
thing more  than  warehouse  displays.  A  great  deal  of  the  elec- 
tric railway  apparatus  exhibit  will  be  placed  in  operation  be- 
fore the  season  is  over  on  the  electric  railway  test  track.  Much 
of  the  stationary  apparatus  in  Electricity  Building  is  connected 
up  electrically  to  operate  without  load,  and  thus  some  idea  of 
running  conditions  can  be  obtained.  In  showing  the  operation 
of  new  controlling  devices,  such  an  operation  in  place  can  be 
made  of  considerable  value  to  the  electric  railway  man,  and 
even  if  not  of  value  to  him,  it  is  of  an  educational  value  to  the 
general  public. 

The  Spread  of  Power  Troubles 

Although  much  attention  has  been  given  by  electrical  en- 
gineers in  the  past  seven  years  to  the  design  of  power  sta- 
tions and  transmission  lines,  which  will  prevent  the  spread  of 
trouble  due  to  a  short  circuit  at  one  point,  recent  accidents  do 
not  seem  to  show  that  modern  plants,  with  their  immense  ca- 
pacities, are  any  more  immune  from  trouble  than  were  older 
and  less  skilfully  designed  plants  where  less  power  was  concen- 
trated on  these  transmission  lines.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is 
that,  while  additional  precautions  are  being  taken  to  isolate 
feeders  so  that  short  circuits  on  one  feeder  will  not  break  down 
adjacent  ones,  there  is  another  tendency  in  power-plant  opera- 
tion which  largely  tends  to  counteract  the  advantages  gained 
by  such  isolation.  This  tendency  is  to  do  away  with  auto- 
matic overload  devices  which  will  open  a  circuit  upon  excessive 
overload ;  or,  if  not  to  do  away  with  them  entirely,  to  set  them 
so  that  they  will  open  only  at  such  a  large  overload  that  they 
are  almost  valueless  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed. There  has  been  a  decided  tendency  to  do  away  with 
fuses  because  of  the  possibility  of  their  opening  at  inopportune 
times,  and  the  same  complaint  is  heard  of  the  automatic  circuit 
breaker. 

Managers  of  central  station  electric  lighting  systems  are 
probably  more  prone  to  do  away  with  all  devices  for  opening 
automatically  upon  overload  than  are  electric  railway  men, 
because  momentary  interruptions  are  less  permissible  in  cen- 
tral-station lighting-work  than  in  railway  work.  Neverthe- 
less, when  a  system  is  being  worked  up  to  its  full  capacity,  or 
perhaps  frequently  on  overload,  there  is  a  strong  temptation 
for  those  operating  an  electric  railway  system  of  any  kind  to  set 
overload  devices  for  excessively  large  loads  or  to  plug  them 
up  entirely.  The  result  of  such  practice  is  that  troubles  from 
circuit  breakers  operating  when  they  should  not  are  reduced  to 
a  minimum,  and  a  station  may  operate  for  a  long  period  with- 
out trouble.  When,  however,  a  heavy  short  circuit  occurs  near 
the  power  house  or  in  the  power  house  itself,  the  chances  for 
a  general  wreck  are  almost  appalling.  A  short  circuit,  which 
if  promptly  cut  out  will  do  little  damage,  may  do  an  immense 
iniurv  if  the  full  canacitv  of  the  power  house  is  turned  into 


146 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


it  pending  the  time  that  power-house  attendants  can  cut  it  out 
by  hand.  Taken  altogether,  it  is  a  question  whether  the  great 
price  which  is  likely  to  be  paid  for  the  immunity  from  small 
troubles  is  justifiable.  At  least  it  is  well  for  the  operators  of 
large  railway  stations  to  consider  well  both  sides  of  the  case. 
There  are  certain  practical  difficulties,  whichever  plan  is 
chosen,  but  we  are  inclined  to  think,  on  the  whole,  that  the 
tendency  to  "connect  everything  up  solid"  usually  involves 
greater  risks  than  operating  conditions  justify. 

The  Public  as  a  Spoiled  Child 

The  tendency  of  the  general  public  in  some  sections  of  the 
country  to  play  the  spoiled  child  at  the  prospect  of  being  denied 
its  own  way  was  well  illustrated  a  few  days  ago  at  a  hearing 
held  by  the  Massachusetts  Railroad  Commission.  Certain  citi- 
zens of  Woburn  and  Lexington  appeared  before  the  board  in 
remonstrance  against  the  charging  of  a  10-cent  fare  between 
Woburn  Center  and  Lexington  Center  by  the  Lexington  & 
Boston  Street  Railway  Company.  It  seems  that  the  company 
has  not  been  embarrassed  by  an  excess  of  profits  lately,  and 
therefore  felt  justified  in  raising  the  tariff  between  these  two 
points  from  5  to  10  cents,  the  distance  between  the  two  towns 
being  about  5  miles.  In  order  to  be  just  to  its  regular  patrons, 
however,  the  company  recently  made  the  same  proposition  to 
the  citizens  of  Lexington  and  Woburn  as  it  had  made  to  the 
residents  of  Bedford  and  Billerica,  a  short  time  previously — 
namely,  to  issue  a  non-transferable  twenty-ride  ticket  book, 
costing  $1,  from  center  to  center.  The  commission  had  ap- 
proved this  course,  and  had  decided  to  try  the  experiment  be- 
tween the  two  latter  towns,  regulating  the  fares  later,  if  neces- 
sary, on  the  basis  of  the  experience  obtained. 

"Eminent  counsel"  for  Lexington  and  Woburn  argued  ve- 
hemently that  there  are  a  number  of  patrons  of  the  road  who 
are  too  poor  to  take  advantage  of  the  twenty-trip  book,  and 
that  as  the  books  are  non-transferable  between  different  per- 
sons in  a  family,  the  poorer  households  cannot  afford  to  buy 
separate  books  for  all  the  children,  aunts,  uncles  and  cousins 
of  the  domestic  hearthstone.  The  discourse  concluded  with  a 
threat  by  the  mayor  of  Woburn  to  rip  up  the  tracks  of  the  road 
unless  the  company  conceded  to  the  demands  of  the  citizens 
and  granted  the  unrestricted  5-cent  fare  between  the  two  towns 
desired. 

Doubtless  there  is  something  to  be  said  against  the  incon- 
venience which  is  inseparable  from  the  company's  proposition, 
but  the  main  fact  remains  that  a  means  has  been  offered  by  the 
company  in  good  faith  whereby  a  5-cent  fare  is  in  force  be- 
tween the  two  communities.  It  is  difficult  to  see  wherein  any 
wage-earner  who  spends  60  cents  a  week  in  riding  to  and  from 
his  work  daily  is  going  to  be  impoverished  by  paying  fare  once 
in  ten  days  instead  of  every  day;  and  it  is  also  apparent  that 
the  principles  of  good  economy  in  the  running  expenses  of 
families  of  very  limited  means  do  not  justify  a  large  amount  of 
going  about  when  the  extraction  of  $1  from  the  exchecquer 
leaves  a  balance  inadequate  to  the  supply  of  a  few  days'  food, 
clothing  and  shelter.  There  often  seems  to  be  a  woeful  lacking 
in  appreciation  of  the  facts  that  a  road  must  pay  its  expenses 
in  the  long  run  if  it  is  to  give  any  service  at  all,  and  that  fares 
cannot  possibly  be  as  cheap  in  suburban  or  sparsely  settled  com- 
munities as  in  the  populous  districts  of  large  cities.  The  traffic 
simply  prohibits  it,  as  many  a  road  has  found  to  its  sorrow. 
It  is  no  very  gross  misconception  of  the  transportation  facilities 
of  to-day  and  yesterday  to  emphasize  the  alacrity  with  which 
our  forefathers  would  produce  a  dime  for  a  5-mile  ride  in 
twenty  minutes  or  so,  unless  they  were  willing  to  economize 


by  having  recourse  to  the  stalwart  legs  with  which  they  were 
provided — if  one  may  trust  the  drawings  which  illustrate  the 
Colonial  and  even  later  periods  of  our  history. 

As  for  the  dog-in-the-manger  attitude  in  regard  to  a  possible 
tearing  up  of  the  tracks,  it  would  be  too  puerile  to  deserve 
comment  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  it  is  a  symptom  of  a 
disease  which  has  lately  scarred  the  fair  face  of  this  land  from 
Colorado  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Respect  for  law,  and  not  vio- 
lence, is  demanded  in  these  trying  times  of  social  unrest,  and 
it  ill  becomes  the  representatives  of  government — national, 
State  or  municipal — to  countenance  measures  more  character- 
istic of  ignorant  mobs  than  of  civilized  communities.  It  is 
gratifying  that  the  commission  sees  the  matter  in  a  broader 
light  than  did  the  remonstrants  at  the  hearing. 

Reserve  Equipment 

A  recent  editorial  in  these  columns  calling  attention  to  the 
inadequate  repair  shop  facilities  found  on  many  street  railway 
systems  has  brought  out  the  comment  from  one  of  our  readers 
that  in  the  past  few  years  of  prosperity  it  has  frequently  been 
not  so  much  a  question  of  repair  shop  facilities  as  of  being 
able  to  take  a  large  enough  per  cent  of  the  rolling  stock  out  of 
service  to  maintain  the  rolling  stock  in  good  condition.  It  is, 
of  course,  true  that  idle  cars  are  earning  no  money,  and  that 
the  smaller  the  per  cent  of  idle  investment  in  rolling  stock  the 
better.  But  there  is  a  point  where  attempts  to  keep  down  the 
idle  investment  by  keeping  cars  on  the  road  when  they  should 
be  in  the  repair  shop,  is  sure  to  result  in  loss.  The  reserve 
equipment  should  be  sufficient  so  that  defective  equipments 
can  be  given  that  "stitch  in  time"  which  "saves  nine."  We 
have  personal  knowledge  of  at  least  one  large  street  railway 
system  where  for  the  past  two  years  there  has  constantly  been 
an  incipient  war  between  the  transportation  and  master  me- 
chanic's departments,  owing  to  the  desire  of  the  former  to  keep 
every  car  in  service  and  the  desire  of  the  master  mechanic  to 
get  cars  off  the  road  long  enough  to  give  them  the  attention 
they  should  have,  in  order  to  keep  them  from  breaking  down  in 
service.  It  is  perhaps  a  good  thing  for  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment of  a  road  not  to  have  a  superabundance  of  reserve  equip- 
ments. A  large  reserve,  in  addition  to  representing  a  large  in- 
vestment, also  tends  to  laxity  in  repair  methods.  The  neces- 
sity of  repairing  equipments  in  such  a  way  that  they  will  "stay 
out"  on  the  road  the  longest  possible  time  is  brought  home  to 
the  master  mechanic  of  a  road  where  there  is  a  small  reserve 
in  a  way  that  it  can  not  possibly  occur  where  there  is  a  large 
reserve. 

In  connection  with  the  reserve  equipments  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  present  tendency  to  use  long,  double-truck  cars  in  city 
service  necessitates  a  greater  investment  for  reserve  cars  than 
in  former  days,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  car  units  are 
larger.  However,  we  have  as  a  counterbalance  to  this  the  fact 
that  the  large  car,  with  four  motors  and  double  trucks,  is  com- 
posed of  various  interchangeable  parts,  so  that  if  a  large 
enough  reserve  supply  of  some  of  these  parts  is  kept  in  stock 
there  is  no  need  of  maintaining  a  large  number  of  complete 
reserve  cars.  For  example,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  substitute 
one  truck  for  another  on  a  double-truck  car,  and  in  case  the 
defect  is  confined  to  one  or  two  motors  on  a  truck,  this  is  a 
very  quick  way  of  remedying  the  trouble  and  getting  the  car 
body  back  on  the  road  in  active  service.  With  proper  repair 
shop  facilities  for  quickly  making  substitutions  of  this  kind,  the 
idle  investment  in  complete  equipment  can  be  made  very  small, 
the  reserve  being  carried  rather  in  the  shape  of  repair  parts 
than  in  complete  equipments. 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


HI 


Light  Roads  for  Summer  Traffic 

A  surprisingly  large  number  of  the  smaller  electric  roads  of 
the  country  depend  in  no  small  measure  on  their  summer  traffic 
to  hold  up  the  year's  receipts.  Year  by  year  "aestivation,"  as 
Dr.  Holmes  cheerfully  called  it,  becomes  more  and  more  the 
fixed  habit  of  urban  folk,  and  the  resulting  demand  for  trans- 
portation in  country  districts  becomes  more  and  more  acute. 
The  easier  it  is  to  reach  pleasant  country  places  the  fuller 
grows  the  tide  of  summer  visitors.  At  the  present  time  many 
people  of  very  moderate  means  spend  the  summer  in  the  coun- 
try, and  the  regions  accessible  to  them  depend  on  the  facilities 
for  transportation.  The  railways  of  the  country  give  but  in- 
different access  to  the  scores  of  villages  that  are  ready  for 
visitors,  and  therefore  there  is  a  wide  field  for  electric  roads. 
But  the  summer  traffic  is  a  matter  of  only  two  or  three  months, 
and  the  investment  required  for  an  electric  road  built  on  stand- 
ard lines  is  too  heavy  to  stand  the  strain  of  nine  or  ten  months 
of  light  traffic.  And  right  here  we  want  to  put  in  a  plea  for 
the  adoptation  of  methods  to  results.  There  are  scores  of 
routes  which  would  just  fail  to  pay  with  ordinary  construction, 
and  which  could  be  made  to  pay  if  the  initial  investment  were 
kept  down.  It  is  a  problem  for  shrewd  engineering  and  the 
adoption  of  new  methods.  We  would  hardly  dare  to  say  how 
cheaply  a  light  road  could  be  built  at  a  pinch,  but  the  figure 
would  surprise  even  some  experts  in  the  business.  Given  a 
line  running  into  the  summer  visitors'  country,  and  connecting 
it  with  the  railway,  or  some  minor  center  of  population,  and  a 
truly  remarkable  amount  of  traffic  can  be  built  up.  We  are  not 
considering  here  the  suburban  or  interurban  road,  but  the  line 
that  is  its  own  reason  for  being. 

In  this  connection  the  use  of  the  new  alternating-current 
railway  motors  at  once  suggests  itself.  They  have  for  such 
use  obvious  merits  which  they  do  not  have  in  equal  measure 
for  suburban  service.  Where  traffic  must  be  exchanged  with 
direct-current  systems  the  alternating  motor  has  its  conven- 
ience yet  to  prove,  but  operating  on  its  own  account  its  merits 
come  to  the  front.  In  particular,  the  feeding  system,  which  in 
relatively  long  lines  is  a  source  of  heavy  expense,  becomes  of 
small  moment,  and  a  pretty  long  line  can  be  worked  over  the 
trolley  wire  alone.  Supporting  this  by  a  bracket  construction, 
the  overhead  system  falls  to  a  very  modest  figure,  and  long  dis- 
tances can  be  readily  covered.  The  alternating  motor,  too,  can 
be  economically  regulated  without  need  of  a  double-motor 
equipment  and  series  parallel  control,  so  that  the  cost  of  car 
equipment  can  be  kept  down.  Bearing  in  mind  the  nature  of 
the  traffic  and  the  need  for  keeping  down  the  investment,  the 
track  work  can  also  be  kept  down  in  cost.  Power  in  a  small 
road  is  always  likely  to  be  relatively  costly,  but  here  again  the 
alternating  system  would  come  to  the  rescue.  Current  could 
be  readily  obtained  from  any  road  in  the  vicinity  which  op- 
erated a  transmission  system,  or  from  a  neighboring  lighting 
system,  via  a  frequency  changer  and  a  short  transmission  line. 
The  main  point  is  that  attention  at  a  power  station  or  a  con- 
verter sub-station  could  in  many  cases  be  eliminated,  leaving 
simply  the  operation  of  the  cars  to  the  electrical  department. 
There  are  not  a  few  interurban  lines  which  could  with  advan- 
tage build  branches  and  feeders  on  such  a  system,  working 
them  from  the  general  power  station,  and  thus  keeping  the 
local  expense  down  to  a  minimum  figure. 

Of  course  there  is  always  the  feeling  that  a  light  equipment 
may  prove  inadequate,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  a  surprisingly  large 


amount  of  traffic  can  be  picked  up  on  a  light  road,  and  when 
this  amount  grows  so  as  to  exceed  the  facilities,  a  change  can 
be  profitably  made.  But  in  the  class  of  work  we  are  consider- 
ing, the  period  of  moderate  traffic  is  likely  to  be  rather  long, 
save  in  exceptional  instances.  The  point  is  to  so  build  and 
operate  that  this  moderate  traffic  may  be  made  to  pay.  At 
present  there  are  plenty  of  roads  that  do  not  pay,  simply  be- 
cause the  traffic  they  can  pick  up  is  too  small,  considering  the 
investment.  They  must  wait  for  the  country  to  grow  up  along 
the  line,  and  the  waiting  is  often  tedious.  If,  however,  loca- 
tions are  picked  out  deliberately  with  reference  to  summer 
travel,  plus  the  very  moderate  receipts  of  the  rest  of  the  year, 
it  seems  possible  to  organize  roads  that  would  keep  their  noses 
above  water  all  the  time  and  grow  to  be  thoroughly  successful. 
This  is  a  matter  for  local  enterprise  rather  than  for  general 
promotion.  Every  electric  railway  man  knows  that  a  project 
of  small  dimensions  is  relatively  difficult  to  float,  quite  irre- 
spective of  its  merits.  Light  roads  of  the  kind  we  are  con- 
sidering can  best  be  built  either  by  systems  already  operating 
in  the  vicinity  or  by  the  enlistment  of  local  capital.  In  the 
latter  case  there  is  usually  very  little  difficulty  in  securing 
rights  of  way  and  other  local  concessions  that  are  of  real  value. 
Every  such  road  should  have  a  freight  and  express  franchise, 
and  the  local  mail  contract  if  possible.  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  knock  about  the  country  during  the  summer  without  seeing 
opportunities  for  just  this  kind  of  work,  and  the  wonder  is  that 
more  of  them  have  not  been  grasped  already.  The  advent  of 
alternating  motors  will  make  it  much  easier  to  build  and 
operate  light  roads  with  profit,  and  ought  to  stir  the  business 
into  activity.  We  have  been  watching  the  alternating  motor 
situation  with  much  interest,  for  this  as  well  as  for  other 
reasons.  The  next  year  will  see  the  system  tried  upon  its 
merits,  but  this  much  is  certain,  that  the  motors  of  moderate 
power  will  be  easier  to  work  out  than  the  big  fellows,  and  for 
the  work  considered  large  motors  are  not  needed. 

Dust  Guards  for  Rotaries 

Designers  of  electrical  machinery  have  always  been  guided 
in  improving  upon  early  types  of  apparatus  by  the  experience 
which  their  products  have  undergone  in  practice.  This  is  par- 
ticularly true  in  the  case  of  rotary  converters,  which  have  been 
brought  to  a  high  state  of  reliability,  efficiency,  freedom  from 
sparking  and  hunting  by  a  decade  of  operation  in  sub  and  gen- 
erating stations.  The  electrical  difficulties  have  been  taken 
pretty  well  in  hand  by  the  engineers  of  the  manufacturing  com- 
panies. 

The  recent  experience  of  a  Western  street  railway  company, 
however,  shows  that  more  consideration  should  be  given  to  the 
old  problem  of  mechanical  friction.  A  500-kw  machine  in- 
stalled in  a  sub-station  of  the  road  in  question  gathered 
dust  enough  to  require  its  bearings  to  be  scraped  four  times  in 
the  last  four  months,  so  badly  were  the  wearing  surfaces  cut 
by  dust  and  grit  which  lodged  in  the  journals.  The  sub-station 
was  located  between  a  large  building  and  an  open  yard,  and  the 
shaft  of  the  machine  affected  was  in  direct  line  with  the  win- 
dows and  door.  The  remedy  of  the  railway  company  was  the 
simple  expedient  of  tying  cloths  over  the  end  of  the  shaft,  but 
the  difficulty  is  certainly  serious  enough  to  warrant  the  pro- 
vision by  the  designers  of  some  permanent  dust  guard  which 
will  eliminate  the  necessity  of  fitting  up  machines  with  the 
night-cap  affair  born  of  the  present  emergency. 


148 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


INVERTED  THIRD  RAIL  UPON  THE  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE 

An  innovation  in  electric  third-rail  arrangement  has  recently 
been  introduced  upon  the  "Brooklyn  Bridge,"  the  old  bridge 
between  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  by  the  Brook- 
lyn Rapid  Transit  Company,  for  the  operation  of  all  its  ele- 
vated trains  through  to  New  York.    It  involves  what  is  prob- 


inverted  position  for  this  purpose ;  in  this  way  sufficient  width 
of  contact  surface  is  presented  to  the  car  shoes,  and  very  little 
special  work  was  required  in  making  the  change.  The  accom- 
panying drawings  show  the  details  of  the  new  work,  while  the 
photograph  illustrates  the  new  lail  in  position. 

The  sectional  drawing,  or  diagram,  showing  the  location  of 
the  third  rail  relative  to  the  nearest  running:  rails  of  the  two 


TYPICAL  VIEW  OF   THE  NEW 


INVERTED   THIRD   RAIL  CONSTRUCTION  UPON  THE  NEW  YORK  AND  BROOKLYN  BRIDCE 
BROOKLYN  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


ably  the  first  use,  on  a  large  scale  at  least,  of  the  T-rail  in  an 
inverted  position  for  use  as  a  third-rail  propulsion  current  con- 
ductor. It  may  be  stated  that  this  idea  of  using  the  T-rail  in- 
verted has  before  been  suggested,  as  its  use  in  this  position 
would  offer  many  advantages  by  making  possible  greater  avail- 
able contact  area  between  the  shoe  and  the  third  rail.  But  for 
reasons  of  difficulty  of  supporting  the  rail  in  this  inverted  posi- 
tion, undoubtedly,  this  idea  has  never  heretofore  been  put  into 
pi  actice. 

This  change  is  due  to  the  peculiar  conditions  met  in  the 
operation  of  the  electric  trains  over  the  bridge  between  New 
York  and  Brooklyn.  Very  difficult  and  abnormal  conditions 
have  been  introduced  by  the  enormous  growth  of  the  traffic  to 
and  from  Brooklyn  via  this  route.  As  is  probably  well  known, 
trains  are  operated  across  the  bridge  upon  two  lines  of  track  in 
each  direction,  which  tracks  are  arranged  in  gauntlet.  The 
gauntlet  arrangement  was  installed  several  years  ago  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  handling  of  the  trains  under  the  extreme  ser- 
vice of  55  seconds  headways ;  this  arrangement  avoided  the  in- 
convenience of  switching  at  either  end.  When  electric  traction 
was  installed  upon  the  bridge  a  few  years  ago,  it  was  desired  to 
use  a  common  third  rail  for  both  of  the  gauntlet  tracks  to  avoid 
the  complication  of  the  two  third  rails.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  making  the  contact  shoes  upon  the  cars  wide  enough 
to  afford  contact  with  the  rail  when  on  either  track.  At  that 
time,  however,  the  contact  shoes  were  made  10  ins.  wide,  which 
easily  allowed  for  the  variation  of  5%  ins.  between  the  center 
lines  of  the  two  tracks,  giving  good  contacts  when  cars  were 
upon  either  track. 

Recently,  however,  it  has  been  found  desirable  to  operate 
elevated  trains  from  the  various  elevated  lines  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  over  the  bridge  to  the  New  York  ter- 
minal. The  limiting  conditions  upon  these  elevated  structures 
prohibited  a  width  of  shoe  greater  than  8  ins.,  which  made  it 
impossible  to  use  one  of  the  gauntlet  tracks  on  account  of  the 
shoes  not  making  sufficient  contact  with  the  existing  third  rail. 
Accordingly  an  additional  third  rail  on  the  other  side,  or  a 
wider  single  rail  in  place  of  the  former  one,  became  necessary. 
The  problem  was  solved  by  rebuilding  the  third  rail,  involving 
the  installation  of  a  70-Ib.  A.  S.  C.  E.  standard  T-rail  in  its 


gauntlet  tracks,  clearly  indicates  the  advantages  gained  from 
this  new  arrangement  of  conductor-rail.  The  former  position 
of  the  third  rail  is  shown  in  dotted  lines,  from  which  it  may 
be  seen  that  only  the  edge  of  the  contact  shoe  would  normally 


VIEW   SHOWING  CONTACT  OF  SHOES  OF  A   PASSING  TRAIN 
WITH  INVERTED  CONDUCTOR  RAIL 

be  in  contact  with  the  rail ;  from  this  it  is  evident  that  a  slight 
jolting  of  the  car  to  one  side  might  easily  move  the  shoe  en- 
tirely off  the  rail.  With  the  new  arrangement,  using  the  in- 
verted rail,  which  is  here  shown  in  full  lines,  the  minimum 
width  of  contact  of  the  shoe  with  the  third  rail  of  3^  ins.  will 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


149 


prevent  any  possible  trouble  from  side  jolting  due  to  uneven- 
ness  of  track  or  other  causes.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  white 
and  red-line  rails,  which  are  indicated  on  the  drawing,  refer 
merely  to  the  arrangements  of  signals  which  are  used  upon 
the  bridge ;  all  trains  upon  the  north  gauntlet  track  carry  red 
signals,  which  track  is  therefore  termed  "the  red  iine,"  in  con- 


the  former  third  rail.  The  insulators  are  of  standard  form, 
having  been  supplied  by  the  R.  Thomas  &  Sons  Company,  East 
Liverpool,  Ohio. 

Another  drawing  shows  the  details  of  the  chair  construc- 
tion. As  may  be  noted,  the  two  halves  are  made  in  duplicate, 
an  important  saving  in  the  original  cost,  and  from  an  end 
view  the  opening  may  be  seen  to  cor- 
respond in  general  with  the  outline 
of  the  rail  in  its  inverted  position. 
Considerable  space  is  left  free  around 
the  head  portion  of  the  rail,  the  bear- 
ing   portion,    which    receives  the 


DIAGRAM  TO  SHOW  POSITIONS  OF  THE  FORMER  RAIL  AND 
THE   NEW   INVERTED    RAIL    RELATIVE    TO    THE  NEARER 
RUNNING  CENTER  RAILS  OF  THE  GAUNTLET  TRACKS 

tradistinction  to  the  south  track,  which  is  termed  "the  white 
line"  on  account  of  the  use  of  white  signals  for  protection  of 
trains  when  on  that  track. 

The  greatest  difficulty  encountered  in  the  use  of  the  third 
rail  in  this  inverted  position  was  that  of  supporting  it.  None 
of  the  present  forms  of  third-rail  insulators  would  permit  of 


VIEW   OF  ONE  END   OF  THE  INVERTED   THIRD   RAIL  AT  A 
SECTION  BREAK,  SHOWING  SPECIAL  FORM  OF  NOSE  USED 

supporting  a  T-rail  in  its  inverted  position,  and  it  was  thus 
found  necessary  to  design  a  special  fitting  or  chair  in  order  to 
thus  support  the  rail  above  the  insulator.  As  may  be  noted 
from  the  photographs,  a  standar  1  form  of  white  porcelain  third- 
rail  insulator  is  used  to  support  the  rail,  but  for  steadying  the 
rail  upon  this  is  provided  a  special  two-piece  cast-iron  chair 
fitting,  which  is  so  arranged  as  to  support  the  rail  flexibly  and 
fairly  loose,  in  a  position  corresponding  to  that  occupied  by 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  INSULATOR  CHAIR  FOR  SUPPORT- 
ING THE  INVERTED  RAIL 


weight  of  the  third  rail,  coming  at  the  top  of  the  casting,  which 
here  fits  under  the  base  of  the  inverted  rail.  This  is  provided 
to  allow  for  slight  inequalities  of  the  rail  between  the  head 
and  base,  due  to  unevenness  of  rolling. 

The  chair  casting  is  of  strong  design,  being  considerably 
stiffened  by  a  transverse  web,  to  provide  against  breakage 
from  side  strains:  from  the  side  view  it  may  be  seen  that  the 
general  contour  of  the  casting  is  such  as  to  afford  maximum 
strength  in  that  direction,  both  side  plates  being  of  a  shape  to 
resist  the  thrust  of  end  motion.  It  should  also  be  noted  that 
this  special  construction,  with  loose-fitting  interior  contour,  is 
such  as  to  permit  of  the  insulators  settling  with  the  tie  as  each 
truck  passes,  without  introducing  any  strain  in  the  insulating 
material;  the  rail  will  lift  within  the  chair  casting,  or  the  entire 
casting  will  be  lifted  off  of  the  insulator,  if  necessary  ;  as  in 
this  case,  the  chair  is  not  fastened  to  the  insulator,  but  merely 
rests  upon  it,  the  opening  at  the  bottom  being  designed  to  con- 
form to  the  general  conical  shape  of  the  porcelain  insulator. 

Another  feature  of  the  inverted  third  rail  which  required 
special  attention  with  this  new  arrangement,  was  that  of  the 
nosings  used  at  the  ends  of  sections,  next  to  openings  for  sec- 
tion breaks,  cross-overs,  etc.,  which  are  used  to  guide  the  shoe 
form  its  loose  position  up  on  to  the  rail.  The  standard  form  of 
nosing  adopted  for  this  new  installation  is  illustrated  in  the 
accompanying  photograph  and  detail  drawing.  These  nosings 
are  made  in  3-ft,  lengths  from  the  70-lb.  A.  S,  C,  E,  standard 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


rail,  being  forged  at  the  end  opposite  the  fish-plate  connection 
to  the  shape  shown.  The  change  of  section  begins  at  a  point 
1 1  J/2  ins.  from  the  fish-plate  end,  being  forged  down  to  the  in- 
clined shape  shown  for  bringing  the  shoe  up  upon  the  rail  grad- 
ually. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  since  going  into  operation  the  inverted 
arrangement  of  rail  has  given  the  best  of  satisfaction  and 
works  perfectly.    An  advantage  of  no  little  importance  has  re- 


-l-l-X-Straight- 


Top 


rved— , 


1 

Plan 

i 

DETAILS  OF  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  NOSE  FOR  USE  AT  SECTION 
AND  AT  ENDS  OF  THE  THIRD-RAIL  CONDUCTOR 


suited  from  the  new  departure  in  that  a  much  greater  contact 
area  is  provided  between  the  shoe  and  the  rail  in  all  positions. 
With  the  rail  in  its  former  position  the  rounding  shape  of  the 
head  seriously  cut  down  the  available  area  of  contact  with  the 
shot,  but  with  this  new  arrangement  the  contact  surface  of 
the  rail  presented  to  the  shoe  is  perfectly  flat,  affording  a  maxi- 
mum contact  surface  with  shoe.  This  change  of  arrangement 
of  the  third  rail  has  been  worked  out  by  the  electrical  depart- 
ment of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company  under  the 
direction  of  C.  E.  Roehl  and  C.  B.  Martin,  electrical  engineers. 
Credit  for  this  information  is  due  to  Mr.  Martin,  who  is  re- 
sponsible for  the  design  of  this  important  change. 




ct  Ry.Journal 

BREAKS 


IMPROVEMENTS  AT  THE  BROADWAY  REPAIR  SHOPS  IN 

DENVER 


The  Denver  City  Tramway  Company  has  recently  given  the 
fire  risk  considerable  attention,  with  the  result  that  a  new  set  of 
rules  and  a  more  complete  organization  of  employees  has  gone 
into  effect  at  its  South  Broadway  repair  and  car  shops.  These 
shops,  which  .have  been  described  in  previous  issues  of  the 
Street  Railway  Journal,  constitute  the  repairing  headquar- 
ters of  the  company,  and  are  divided  into  a  depot  and  car 
storage  yard,  woodworking  shop  and  armature  room,  pit  room, 
machine  shop,  store  room,  boiler  room,  car  house,  tie  yard  and 
track  construction  shop.  The  variety  of  work  which  is  carried 
out  in  a  limited  area  introduces  an  additional  fire  hazard,  and 
three  hose  companies  have  been  organized  to  combat  the  flames 
in  the  event  of  a  conflagration  starting. 

Each  of  the  hose  companies  operates  a  small  hose  wagon 
ordinarily  kept  in  a  small  shed,  in  different  portions  of  the 
premises,  and  upon  receiving  an  alarm  of  fire,  proceed  at  full 
speed  to  that  part  of  the  grounds  indicated  by  the  signals. 
These  signals  are  blown  upon  a  steam  whistle  at  the  boiler 
shop  as  soon  as  a  fire  is  discovered,  and  its  whereabouts  com- 
municated to  the  employees  at  the  boiler  room.  In  each  de- 
partment of  the  repair  shop  are  two  men  whose  duty  it  is  to 
give  the  alarm  at  the  nearest  city  fire  signal-box,  and  two  men 
who  handle  fire  extinguishers.  A  definite  schedule  is  laid  down 
for  each  one  of  the  hose  companies  to  follow  upon  the  sound- 
ing of  an  alarm  from  the  different  portions  of  the  shop  and 
yards,  and  the  department  firemen  are  placed  in  charge  of  the 
different  companies. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  premises  is  the  setting  apart  of 


a  club  room  by  the  company  for  the  use  of  a  trainmen's  organi- 
zation called  the  "South  Side  Tramway  Athletic  Club."  Each 
of  the  different  divisions  of  the  company  has  a  club  of  this  kind. 
At  the  Broadway  quarters  are  provided  various  games,  maga- 
zines, technical  journals,  two  billiard  tables,  a  piano,  gymnastic 
apparatus  and  a  fine  bath,  with  artesian  water.   The  dues  are 
25  cents  a  month,  and  there  are  about  sixty-five  members,  who 
make  use  of  the  club  privileges  during  periods  of  layover  be- 
tween runs,  upon  evenings,  etc.  Theatri- 
cal performances  have  also  been  given  by 
the  men  in  these  quarters. 

Armature  and  field  coils  are  built  up  and 
formed,  insulated  and  applied  to  the  car 
motors  in  the  armature  room.  All  the 
machinery  is  driven  by  an  old  railway 
motor  through  line  shafting  and  belting. 
A  convenient  device  for  tightening  wire  as 
it  passes  from  the  spool  to  the  coil  forms 
is  made  from  old  trolley  wheels  arranged 
in  parallel  rows,  around  which  the  wire  is 
obliged  to  pass  before  going  to  the  lathes. 
There  is  just  enough  friction  to  hold  the 
wire  tight  without  any  danger  of  breaking 
it.  The  field  coils  and  armature  coils  are 
manufactured  entirely  new  by  this  shqp,  and  the  latter  are 
taped  by  a  special  machine  driven  from  the  line  shaft.  The 
armature  shop  is  equipped  with  pneumatic  hoisting  apparatus, 
which  runs  its  entire  length  upon  an  overhead  track. 

In  the  woodworking  shop  an  old  Edison  bipolar  motor  drives 
a  circular  saw,  turning  lathe,  buzz  planer,  band  saw,  twist  drill 
and  grindstone.  To  guard  against  fire  and  dust,  the  motor  is 
located  behind  a  wooden  screen  about  4  ft.  square,  which  effec- 
tually protects  it  from  sawdust — a  decided  contrast  to  a  steam 
railroad  shop  recently  described  in  these  columns.  The  black- 
smith shop  is  equipped  with  a  power  hammer  driven  by  an  elec- 
tric motor  through  shafting,  in  addition  to  a  steam  hammer. 
In  the  machine  shop  all  the  tools  are  driven  by  an  Edison  bi- 
polar 550-volt  motor.  At  first  sight  one  would  think  economy 
would  be  best  served  by  sub-dividing  the  motive  power,  as  there 
are  several  lathes,  drills,  planers,  a  screw  machine,  boring  ma- 
chine, air  compressor  and  forge  blower  all  driven  from  line 
shafting  operated  from  this  one  motor;  but  when  one  realizes 
that  most  of  the  machinery  is  in  constant  use,  the  wisdom  of 
driving  it  from  a  single  power  unit  is  more  apparent.  Large 
hogsheads  marked,  "Water  for  Fire  Purposes  Only,"  are  placed 
at  frequent  and  handy  points  throughout  the  shops,  and  there 
is  a  plentiful  supply  of  fire  extinguishers.  Cars  are  washed 
on  tracks  set  into  a  concrete  floor.  The  boilers  of  an  old  power 
plant  furnish  steam  for  heating  purposes,  the  engine  room 
having  been  turned  into  a  sub-station  containing  two  500-kw 
rotary  converters.  A  notable  feature  of  the  car  storage  yard 
is  the  absence  of  overhead  covering,  which  was  not  considered 
necessary  in  the  dry  Colorado  climate,  where  the  sun  shines 
304  days  per  year. 

Although  the  Denver  shops  are  not  new  in  appearance,  they 
show  the  marks  of  progressive  operation  in  every  department, 
and  are  specially  interesting  because  of  their  compactness. 
■   ♦♦♦  


Quite  a  number  of  railway  companies  sell  current  for  light- 
ing and  other  purposes,  but  many,  through  neglect  of  proper 
advertising  methods,  fail  to  get  all  the  revenue  possible.  The 
Roanoke  (Va.)  Railway  &  Electric  Company,  of  which  John 
W.  Hancock  is  general  manager,  fully  realizes  the  value  of 
thoroughly  exploiting  auxiliary  sources  of  revenue,  as  is  shown 
by  a  perusal  of  its  advertising  circulars,  which  set  forth  in  a 
very  attractive  manner  the  superiority  of  electricity  for  light- 
ing and  miscellaneous  work.  The  company  also  conducts  a 
fast  freight  service  between  Roanoke  and  Salem,  making  two 
round  trips  a  day. 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


CHANGES  IN  THE  BALTIMORE  &  OHIO  LOCOMOTIVE 
PICK-UP  DEVICE 

The  sectional  third-rail  system  installed  on  the  B.  &  O.  belt 
line  and  described  at  length  by  W.  D.  Young  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  of  March  14,  1903,  has  recently  been  slightly 
changed  by  the  installation  of  an  improved  pick-up  compressor 
on  the  cab.  The  readers  of  the  previous  article  will  remember 
that  the  system  employed  is  that  of  the  Hopkinson  switch,  using 
a  high-voltage  pick-up  bobbin  and  a  series  hold-up  bobbin. 
For  picking  up  the  switch  there  must,  therefore,  be  a  source  of 
high  potential  on  the  cab,  and  one  independent  of  the  power 
house.  In  fact,  one  of  the  features  of  the  B.  &  O.  system  is  the 
fact  that  a  source  of  high  potential  has  been  obtained  in  a  re- 
liable manner  without  the  addition  of  any  large  quantity  of 
auxiliary  apparatus.  This  is  accomplished  by  using  an  electric 
motor  air  compressor,  either  in  its  normal  function  as  an  air 
compressor  for  the  brakes  or  as  an  air  motor.  In  this  service 
it  takes  air  from  the  tanks  and  drives  its  motor  as  a  dynamo, 
thereby  supplying  the  necessary  pick-up  current,  and  also  the 
lights  for  the  cabs  at  such  times  when  the  rail  section  upon 
which  the  shoes  are  resting  is  dead.    This  compressor,  which 


FIG.  L.— ELECTRIC  MOTOR  AIR  COMPRESSOR 


has  recently  been  redesigned,  is  of  the  Christensen  type,  and 
was  built  by  the  National  Electric  Company.  It  is  illustrated  in 
Fig.  1. 

It  is  a  geared  machine,  carrying  a  motor  on  the  top,  the  com- 
pressor proper  being  below.  The  latter  has  three  cylinders,  so 
that  there  will  be  no  dead  center  in  starting,  as  an  engine,  and 
it  is  equipped  with  poppets  in  the  ordinary  way,  the  engine  por- 
tion of  the  equipment- being  provided  for  in  the  shape  of  a  re- 
volving valve,  which  is  driven  by  spur  gearing  from  the  main 
compressor  shaft  in  the  same  direction  and  at  the  same  speed. 
This  valve  shaft  can  be  moved  to  the  right  or  left,  and  in  one 
position  admits  and  exhausts  air  in  engine  time,  and  in  the  other 
is  out  of  commission.  The  valve  shaft  is  provided  with  a  spline, 
which  slides  back  and  forth  through  an  appropriate  key  in  the 
driving  gear.  The  motion  of  the  valve  shaft  is  controlled  by 
an  air  cylinder,  shown  at  the  right  of  the  figure  and  in  Fig.  3. 
Air  is  admitted  or  exhausted  from  this  cylinder  by  means  of  a 
sliding  valve,  D,  controlled  by  an  electro-magnet,  E,  also  shown 
at  the  right,  and  above  in  the  photograph,  Fig.  1.  This  magnet 
is  wound  with  two  coils,  a  shunt  and  a  series  coil,  the  shunt 
coil  being  in  series  with  the  shunt  field  of  the  magnet  and  a 
series  coil  in  series  with  the  armature.  When  the  magnet  is 
de-energized,  the  sliding  valve  adjusts  the  air  ports  and  admits 
air  to  C,  moving  the  piston,  P,  and  the  valve  shaft,  R,  so  that 


engine  position  will  be  assumed  by  the  latter  when  the  air  is 
supplied  to  the  apparatus.  As  soon  as  the  magnet  has  received 
energy  from  both  its  shunt  and  series  coil,  the  sliding  valve 
shifts  so  as  to  vent  the  cylinder,  C,  and  the  spring  shifts  the 
valve  shaft  to  compressor  position. 

The  operation  is  as  follows:  Assume  the  engine  to  be  rest- 
ing on  a  third  rail,  which  is  disconnected  from  the  power  house 
or  dead;  that  the  tanks  are  full  of  air,  and  that  the  compressor 
also  is  at  rest.  Air  is  admitted  to  the  compressor,  and  the  mag- 
net, E,  being  de-energized,  the  valve  is  at  once  shifted  to  engine 
position,  the  machine  starts  as  an  armature  and  rapidly  builds 
its  dynamo  up  to  voltage.  The  circuit  connecting  the  com- 
pressor to  the  electric  line  is  then  closed.  As  the  air  pressure 
reduces,  due  to  the  demands  of  the  compressor  upon  the  tank, 
the  pump  governor  closes  its  circuit  also.  This  completes  a 
circuit  of  the  compressor  from  third  rail  to  ground,  and  raises 
the  potential  of  the  third  rail  to  550  volts  and  immediately  picks 
up  the  sectional  track  switch.  As  soon  as  this  occurs,  current 
from  the  third  rail  enters  the  compressor  system  and  proceeds 
to  drive  the  machine  as  a  motor.  The  magnet,  with  its  addi- 
tional excitation,  now  readjusts  its  sliding  valve,  and  the  valve 
shaft  now  moves  to  compressor  position,  and  the  machine  now 


FIG.  2.— COMPRESSOR  TANK  AND  PIPING 

compresses  air.  This  it  continues  to  do  until  the  tanks  have 
been  pumped  up  to  90  lbs.,  or  to  whatever  pressure  the  pump 
governor  is  set.  At  this  instant,  the  pneumatic  governor  flies 
open,  the  sliding  valve  drops,  and  the  machine  becomes  an  en- 
gine and  runs  as  such  for  a  brief  period  until  the  cycle  of  opera- 
tion is  repeated.  If  the  locomotive  is  running,  the  sectional 
track-switch  will,  of  course,  not  drop,  for  it  is  held  up  by  the 
locomotive  current  in  the  series  coil,  but  this  will  make  no  dif- 
ference in  the  behavior  of  the  compressor,  whether  it  be  on  a 
permanently  live  or  on  a  sectional  rail. 

When  the  locomotive  is  drifting  over  sections,  it  is  highly 
important  that  current  shall  always  be  available  to  the  motor- 
man  ;  therefore,  the  sectional  switch  must  be  kept  up,  and  for 
this  purpose  the  compressor  current  is  sufficient.  If  for  any 
reason  the  switch  should  happen  to  drop,  due  to  jar,  it  will  in- 
stantly pick  up  again,  because  the  compressor  keeps  the  rail  at 
a  voltage  equivalent  to  that  of  the  line. 

Tn  order  to  control  the  compressor  from  the  motorman's 
stand,  it  is  necessary  that  he  have  complete  control  of  both  the 
air  supply  and  the  electric  supply.  The  latter  is  easily  pro- 
vided for  by  means  of  a  switch  at  his  station.  The  air  supply, 
however,  is  controlled  electro-pneufnatically.  An  automatic 
air  valve  is  placed  on  the  tank.  This  air  valve  is  shown  in  Fig. 
2.    On  the  right  and  left  of  this  air  valve  are  two  bobbins, 


152 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


which  open  needle  valves  which  control  a  piston  which  oper- 
ates a  main  valve.  The  needle  valves  are  controlled  by  a  dry 
battery,  operated  by  two  buttons  at  the  motorman's  stand,  one 
of  which  will  open  and  the  other  close  the  main  valve.  If  the 
motor  is  resting  on  a  dead  section,  and  the  motorman  desires 
to  start,  he  presses  the  starting  button.  This  admits  air  to  the 
compressor  and  operates  it  as  an  engine.  He  then  closes  his 
compressor  circuit,  and  his  switch  presently  picks  up  coin- 
cidentally  with  the  closing  of  the  pump  governor.  He  is  then 
free  to  start  and  stop  his  locomotive  as  he  pleases,  whether  the 
section  that  he  is  on  be  controlled  by  a  sectional  switch  or  not. 
Having  finished  his  trip  and  desiring  to  stop  permanently,  he 
brings  his  locomotive  to  rest  in  the  ordinary  way,  opens  the 
compressor  circuit  and  presses  the  closing  button  on  the  air- 
valve  system.  This  brings  the  compressor  to  rest,  having  cut 
off  both  of  its  sources  of  energy,  and  leaves  him  with  air  in  the 
tank  for  starting  purposes  again. 

The  value  of  the  apparatus  will  be  appreciated  when  it  is 
seen  that  it  is  a  rugged  machine  of  large  capacity,  which  is 
capable  of  picking  up  the  switch  in  spite  of  any  leak  which  may 


FIG.  3.— ELECTRIC  CONTROLLING  MECHANISM  OF  AIR 
COMPRESSOR 


be  upon  the  rail.  The  compressor  shown  in  the  figure  will  de- 
liver for  an  instant  as  high  as  30  amps,  at  550  volts. 

When  a  sectional  rail  leaks  to  an  extent  exceeding  15  amps., 
it  begins  to  give  ample  notice  of  its  condition,  and  is  so  trouble- 
some in  any  event  that  it  should  be  corrected,  and,this  being 
the  case  the  apparatus  described  is  able  to  cope  with  any  leak- 
age conditions  that  may  be  found  in  practice.  The  only  ad- 
ditions to  the  regular  locomotive  equipment  are  the  automatic 
valve  for  controlling  the  compressor  air  and  the  additional 
valve  shaft  and  shifting  piston  installed  upon  the  compressor 
itself.  The  remainder  of  the  equipment  must  be  had  in  any 
event  in  the  ordinary  third-rail  system. 

The  compressor  is  so  designed  that  the  engine  equipment  in 
no  way  interferes  with  the  operation  of  the  machine  as  a  com- 
pressor. It  could  be  totally  disabled  and  the  machine  would 
still  be  compressor  operative.  The  loss  of  pressure  in  the  reser- 
voir does  not  affect  the  Westinghouse  air-brake  system,  to 
which  it  is  connected,  for  the  reason  that  the  latter  is  connected 
to  auxiliary  tanks  separated  from  the  air  entering  tank  by  a 
check  valve.  The  first  tank  forms  the  reserve  supply  for  the 
compressor,  and  the  pressure  in  the  tanks  to  which  the  air- 
brake system  is  connected  is  therefore  not  reduced  by  any  de- 
mands the  compressor  may  make  upon  the  air  system  for  its 


engine  duty.  The  speed  of  the  compressor  as  an  engine  is  en- 
tirely independent  of  its  compressor  performance. 

By  suitable  adjustments  controlling  engine  mechanism,  the 
compressor  voltage  can  be  raised  from  400  volts  to  1000  volts, 
regardless  of  whatever  the  line  voltage  may  be.  It  is  therefore 
able  to  pick  up  switches  that  may  have  bad  contacts  in  the 
shunt  circuits  of  sufficient  resistance  so  that  the  line  voltage 
would  not  be  able  to  operate  them.  The  apparatus  has  given 
very  satisfactory  results  in  its  recent  performance  and  bids 
fair  to  give  commercial  satisfaction  in  the  future. 



THE  FINZI  SYSTEM  TO  BE  TESTED  ON  THE  VALTELLINA 

RAILWAY 

In  the  issue  of  Dec.  12,  1903,  a  description  was  published  of 
a  test  made  with  the  Finzi  single-phase  system  on  the  street 
railway  lines  of  Milan,  Italy.  It  is  now  announced  that  the 
Societa  Italiana  per  le  Strade  Ferrate  Meridionali  will  soon 
make  extended  comparative  tests  between  the  three-phase  sys- 
tem now  employed  on  its  Valtellina  road  and  the  Finzi  single- 
phase  system. 

The  Valtellina  Railway,  as  most  of  the  readers  of  this  paper 
know,  is  a  standard  gage  line,  operated  distinctly  under  steam 
railway  conditions,  "and  connecting  Como  with  Lecco,  Colico, 
Sondrio  and  Chiavenna,  in  the  northern  part  of  Italy.  For  the 
last  year  this  road  has  been  operated  as  a  three-phase  alter- 
nating-current road.  Its  power  station  is  situated  in  the  Alps, 
and  generates  20,000  volts  at  15  cycles  per  second.  Twelve 
transformer  sub-stations  distributed  along  the  line  reduce  this 
tension  to  3000  volts,  which  is  directly  fed  to  the  overhead 
contact  line.  The  rolling  stock  consists  of  passenger  motor 
cars  and  freight  locomotives,  both  of  the  double-truck  type,  and 
both  equipped  with  one  three-phase  induction  motor  on  each  of 
the  four  driving  axles.  The  passenger  motor  cars  usually  haul 
one  or  more  trailers,  and  the  locomotives  are  coupled  to  the 
ordinary  freight  trains  in  the  manner  customary  on  steam 
roads. 

The  administration  of  this  road,  naturally  greatly  interested 
in  all  electrical  progress,  has  for  some  time  been  anxious  to 
compare  the  merits  of  the  three-phase  and  the  single-phase 
system,  and  it  has  now  decided  on  a  series  of  impartial  tests 
which  will  undoubtedly  furnish  a  great  amount  of  very  val- 
uable information  in  this  respect.  After  careful  consideration 
of  the  merits  of  the  various  single-phase  systems  now  on  the 
market,  a  Finzi  single-phase  equipment  was  ordered  to  be  in- 
stalled in  one  of  the  standard  Valtellina  motor  cars,  the  equip- 
ment to  consist  of  four  single-phase  alternating-current  mo- 
tors, each  rated  for  a  normal  output  of  100  hp  at  200  volts  to 
400  volts,  together  with  the  necessary  controlling  apparatus. 
The  car  is  to  be  controlled  electrically  from  either  end,  but  no 
rheostats  will  be  used,  thus  making  the  regulation  very  efficient. 
The  current  will  be  taken  direct  from  the  3000-volt  overhead 
contact  line  by  means  of  the  standard  type  of  Valtellina  roller 
trolley.  Each  of  the  four  motors  will  drive  one  of  the  four 
axles  of  the  double  truck  car  by  means  of  an  intermediate  gear. 
This  car,  as  well  as  the  three-phase  cars  now  in  use,  will  be 
called  upon  to  haul  a  100-ton  train  from  Lecco  to  Sondrio  at 
a  speed  up  to  45  miles  per  hour. 

This  paper  hopes  soon  to  be  able  to  give  further  details  re- 
garding these  tests,  which  will  undoubtedly  be  watched  with 
great  interest  by  all  interested  in  electric  traction  matters.  The 
Finzi  system  is  represented  in  this  country  by  Muralt  &  Com- 
pany, of  25  Pine  Street,  New  York. 



The  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Colorado  Electric  Light, 

Power  &  Railway  Association  will  be  held  at  Colorado  Springs, 

Sept.  21,  22  and  23,  1904.    This  is  a  recent  organization,  and 

a  large  attendance  is  expected. 


July  30,  1904. J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


15.3 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRAFFIC  AND  METHODS  OF  DEVELOPMENT 


BY  HENRY  W.  BROOKS,  JR. 


In  the  effort  to  increase  the  net  earning  capacities  of  street 
railway  properties,  it  has  been  the  writer's  experience  to  find 
that  managements  have  generally  devoted  relatively  far  more 
attention  to  questions  of  economic  operation  than  to  methods 
of  stimulating  traffic.  This  may  be  due  to  a  too  widely  accepted 
conception  that  there  is  a  certain  defined  volume  of  traffic, 
little  more,  little  less,  waiting  to  be  handled,  and  that  energy 
devoted  to  handling  that  traffic  cheaply  is  more  productive 
of  results  than  if  devoted  to  efforts  to  get  more.  In  some  in- 
stances, we  may  lay  it  to  want  of  faith  in  ability  to  control 
traffic ;  again,  to  lack  of  keen  perception  of  highest  traffic 
possibilities.  The  road,  once  having  been  built  upon  a  location 
selected  by  the  original  constructor  as  affording  the  best  route 
(at  that  time),  the  tendency  is  to  simply  accept  what  traffic 
comes,  without  a  systematic  and  vigorous  policy  of  working 
up  more  patronage. 

The  traffic  is  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  road.  It  is  vital ;  it 
is  ever  before  us ;  it  presents  great  possibilities.  The  study  of 
passenger  movement  is  very  broad,  but  space  permits  of  but  a 
brief  analysis  and  a  few  general  suggestions  as  to  methods 
of  development. 

In  looking  back  over  the  last  few  years,  electric  railway 
owners  and  managers  have  reason  to  feel  well  satisfied  with 
the  traffic  statistics  presented.  It  is  reasonable  to  suppose, 
in  as  many  years  hence,  having  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  traffic,  equally  good  increases  will  be  shown. 

The  traffic  problem  is  not  an  easy  one  to  tackle.  We  cannot 
definitely  tabulate,  mentally  or  by  records,  the  actual  re- 
sults of  any  policy  we  instituted.  The  different  threads  making 
up  the  total  traffic  are  so  numerous  and  so  closely  interwoven, 
it  is  hard  to  distinguish  them.  In  making  any  special  analysis 
of  traffic  fluctuations,  one  must  be  extremely  careful  at  all 
times  to  follow  correct  reasoning  and  deduction,  it  being  easy 
to  go  astray  for  this  reason.  For  instance,  we  note  an  in- 
creased traffic  in  connection  with  an  increased  car  service,  and 
possibly  we  give  to  it  all  the  credit,  without  taking  into 
consideration  such  other  causes  as  increased  directions  of 
industrial  activity  calling  for  more  hands  at  the  mills  served. 
But  if  it  presents  many  difficulties,  it  is  prolific  of  good  re- 
sults, if  an  accurate  analysis  of  individual  conditions  is  made 
and  the  proper  stimulating  methods  applied. 

The  fundamental  basis  for  any  traffic  study,  whether  pro- 
posed for  a  new  line  or  improvement  of  an  old  road,  is  a 
careful  consideration  of  total  population  and  that  part  which 
is  to  be  served,  its  tendency  to  increase  or  decrease  in  num- 
bers, to  shift  its  locality,  becoming  more  dense  or  more 
spread  out,  its  social,  commercial  and  industrial  characteristics 
and  to  what  extent  it  can  be  dominated  by  transportation 
facilities. 

The  total  traffic  of  a  road  rests,  first,  upon  the  aggregate 
population  served,  which  in  turn  is  modified  by  its  charac- 
teristics or  habits ;  second,  the  natural  location ;  third,  the 
type  of  construction  and  equipment  of  the  line,  and  fourth, 
the  operating  methods. 

While  total  population  has  a  decided  effect  on  volume  of 
travel,  yet  the  equal  population  of  two  cities  may  produce 
widely  different  amounts  of  passenger  traffic.  This  difference 
may  be  due  to  differences  in  location  of  social  and  industrial 
conditions.  As  total  populations  increase  from  year  to  year, 
it  is  found  the  number  of  rides  per  inhabitant  increases  and 
in  a  somewhat  faster  ratio.  This,  of  course,  may  be  limited 
by  the  distribution  of  the  population.  In  many  healthily  grow- 
ing cities,  it  may  be  noted  the  ratio  is  2  per  cent  or  3  per  cent 
increase  in  passengers  carried  to  1  per  cent  in  population. 

The  business,  industrial  and  social  habits  of  the  people,  to- 


gether with  the  location  of  different  points  or  centres;  in  other 
words,  the  grouping  of  the  business,  industrial,  residence, 
suburban,  shopping  and  amusement  localities,  are  very  im- 
portant forces.  The  local  prosperity,  wage  scale  and  stability 
of  employment  all  bear  on  the  traffic  obtainable. 

The  effect  of  tributary  cities,  suburbs  and  towns  in  feeding 
traffic  to  a  terminal  system  in  a  central  city  is  very  apparent. 
Terminal  lines,  those  located  in  and  about  large  cities,  are 
materially  benefited  by  the  construction  of  outlying  or  in- 
terurban  lines,  the  latter  serving  as  feeders.  Two  of  the  large 
electric  railway  syndicates  hold  opposing  views  on  this  point; 
one  constructs  its  own  feeders  or  extensions ;  the  other, 
doubtful  of  the  return  to  the  investor,  encourages  rather  than 
prevents  the  construction  of  such  lines  by  independent  parties, 
then  effects  very  satisfactory  terminal  agreements.  By  this 
policy  the  latter  secure  a  very  remunerative  additional  traffic 
without  the  risks  of  capital  investment  or  direct  obligation. 

The  railway  facilities  existing  have  a  considerable  effect 
on  the  number  of  passengers. 

In  laying  plans  for  a  vigorous  policy  of  stimulating  traffic, 
we  may  ask  ourselves,  why?  where?  when?  how  do  people 
travel?  and  what  will  induce  them  to  take  our  cars?  From 
what  sources  do  our  passenger  earnings  come  ? 

The  motives  which  induce  travel  are  necessity  and  pleasure. 
The  necessity  of  making  the  trip,  the  saving  of  time,  physical 
exertion  and  discomfort,  also  protection  from  the  weather. 

The  different  classes  of  travelers  are  generally  divided  into 
the  following  groups,  and  an  analysis  of  the  traffic  of  individual 
companies  along  these  lines  may  show  in  which  groups  the 
company  is  losing  its  full  traffic  possibilities  and  what  methods 
to  apply  to  secure  it. 

First,  "regular,"  being  that  traffic  which  arises  from  the 
necessities  of  people,  such  as  between  homes,  offices,  factories, 
stores  and  schools.  This  affords  a  final  volume,  daily  between 
certain  hours  of  morning,  noon  and  evening,  all  the  year  around 
between  certain  points. 

Second,  "floating,"  or  that  occasional  or  irregular  travel  such 
as  visitors  to  the  city,  children,  those  overtaken  by  storms 
and  other  inclement  weather,  and  that  arising  from  social  life, 
such  as  visiting,  marketing  and  shopping.  This  class  of  travel 
is  not  large,  with  the  exception  of  the  shopping  which  in  some 
localities  is  quite  dense  at  certain  hours,  as  seen,  for  instance, 
between  4  and  6  o'clock  at  the  Manhattan  Elevated  stations 
in  the  shopping  districts,  or  on  the  Madison  Avenue  line, 
formerly  known  as  the  "Shoppers'  Line." 

Third,  "rush"  travel,  which  includes  theater,  base  ball,  rac- 
ing, public  celebration,  circus  day  and  other  extraordinary 
crowds. 

Fourth,  those  who  travel  on  Sundays,  holidays  and  other 
pleasant  days  just  for  the  pleasure  of  the  car  ride. 

Fifth,  "special"  travel  by  chartered  cars.  Leaving  aside 
for  the  moment  the  general  methods  of  "traffic  building," 
what  methods  shall  we  apply  specially  to  the  different  classes 
to  secure  their  traffic? 

The  first  group  or  "regular"  travel  can  largely  be  depended 
upon  without  special  catering,  other  than  to  give  a  quick,  reli- 
able and  frequent  service  with  due  consideration  to  comfort. 
All  these  points,  however,  are  vital,  as  business  and  working 
people  must  lie  punctual  to  their  work,  count  cn  a  certain  time 
for  making  the  trip,  are  annoyed  and  injured  by  delays,  or 
having  just  missed  a  car,  if  there  is  not  one  following  shortly. 
Then,  too,  a  working  man  would  prefer  to  live  in  the  slums 
near  his  work,  rather  than  get  up  early  in  the  morning  and 
have  a  long,  slow  ride  home  at  night  in  an  uncomfortable  car, 
when  tired  with  his  day's  labor. 

Clean,  neat,  attractive  cars  and  courteous  conductors  and 
motormen,  appeal  specially  to  the  shoppers  and  callers  of  the 
second  class. 

The  manager  who  is  always  alert  to  the  opportunities 


'54 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


afforded  by  all  local  events,  always  on  hand  at  the  right  time 
with  adequate  service  for  large  crowds,  will  catch  considerable 
revenue  from  the  third  class,  that  might  have  been  lost  or 
sought  other  channels. 

The  pleasing  appearance  of  cars,  swiftness  of  motion  and 
agreeeable  locality  draw  pleasure  travel,  which  is  not  so  par- 
ticular as  to  schedules. 

By  coming  in  contact  with  and  catering  to  Sunday-schools, 
lodges,  clubs  and  other  bodies,  quite  a  good  business  by  special 
cars  many  be  done.  The  writer  has  in  mind  r.  small  road  that 
only  ran  six  special  cars  during  all  of  last  season.  By  the 
above  policy,  they  have  diverted  or  originated  traffic  for  thirty- 
two  special  cars  so  far  this  month. 

Some  of  the  methods  by  which  general  traffic  is  secured 
and  kept  might  be  briefly  mentioned.  If  we  stop  to  consider 
the  many  salesmen  of  a  merchant  seeking  patronage  or  the 
vast  army  of  officials,  general,  local  and  traveling  freight  and 
passenger  agents  and  solicitors  employed  by  steam  roads  to 
scour  the  country  for  traffic,  it  certainly  is  worth  while  for  the 
more  favored  electric  roads  to  reach  out  for  more  business. 

The  route  has  in  many  instances  a  very  direct  bearing  on 
the  volume  of  business,  but  as  we  are  dealing  with  established 
properties,  we  can  only  suggest  judicious  extensions  and  rout- 
ing cars  along  natural  lines  of  travel.  The  accessibility  of  the 
line,  avoiding  the  time  and  effort  of  walking  at  either  end,  has 
a  direct  influence  upon  the  choice  of  routes  or  making  the  trip 
at  all,  and  it  may  be  judicious  to  extend  feeders  into  territory 
where  travel  arises.  While  it  is  the  originating  point,  gener- 
ally speaking,  that  gets  the  business,  yet  it  is  often  the  point 
of  destination  which  causes  the  traffic,  and  these  points  should 
also  be  reached,  if  they  are  not  already. 

The  type  of  construction  and  car  equipment  must  be  such  as 
will  make  the  trip  easy,  quick,  safe,  comfortable  and  agreeable. 
The  use  of  open  or  closed  cars  in  respective  seasons  and  special 
types,  such  as  combination  cars,  influences  travel.  Large,  con- 
spicuous and  commodious  terminals  have  very  effectively  aided 
recreation  travel. 

In  facing  the  car  service  question,  the  manager  has  to  draw 
the  line  between  affording  his  patrons  a  frequent  service  and 
keeping  down  his  car  mileage.  Unfortunately,  but  little  prac- 
tical information  has  been  obtained  from  experience  as  to 
the  direct  relation  between  frequent  service  and  volume  of 
traffic.  But  we  do  know  generally,  that  up  to  certain  bounds, 
increased  service  results  in  increased  traffic.  A  small  inter- 
urban  road  in  Massachusetts  is  continuing  its  winter  schedule 
of  hourly  service,  with  the  result  of  a  considerably  lighter  traf- 
fic than  last  summer,  when  half  hourly  service  was  given.  It 
is  also  very  evident  that  the  bulk  of  short  haul  traffic  can  only 
be  secured  by  a  frequent  and  punctual  service.  All  roads  can- 
not afford  to  give  a  frequent  service,  but  they  can  be  punctual, 
which  is  often  fully  as  stimulating  to  traffic.  As  a  rule  sched- 
ules usually  follow,  rather  than  precede,  traffic  increases.  In- 
creased facilities  are  not  offered  to  invite  new  travel,  but  come 
only  when  demanded  by  overcrowding.  Frequently  the  car 
service  can  be  readjusted  to  good  advantage  by  a  more  equit- 
able appointment  of  cars  over  the  various  system  lines,  thus 
caring  for  the  heavier  business  without  additional  equipment 
or  operating  expense. 

Another  source  of  increased  traffic  is  found  in  running 
through  cars  over  connecting  roads,  especially  in  establishing 
new  long  distance  routes.  When  several  electric  lines  form 
a  route  in  competition  with  a  steam  road,  it  is  quite  essential  to 
offer  equivalent  facilities  in  the  way  of  taking  passengers  from 
originating  point  to  destination  without  change  of  cars  or  loss 
of  time.  Where  impossible,  the  next  best  thing  is  an  adjust- 
ment of  schedules  by  adjoining  lines,  to  make  connections. 
Interchangeable  mileage  books  are  talked  of  in  connection  with 
this  traffic,  but  it  is  a  question  whether  they  would  promote 
enough  new  traffic  to  pay  for  their  added  bother. 


The  effect  of  consolidating  connecting  properties  is  very 
apparent  in  the  increases  of  this  through  traffic. 

The  speed  or  time  required  to  make  the  round  trip  is  an 
essential  point  in  inducing  traffic.  Important  as  it  is,  speed 
with  a  view  to  securing  traffic  should  never  be  sought  at  the 
expense  of  safety.  The  proceeds  of  such  increased  traffic  is 
far  less  than  the  cost  of  the  inevitable  accident.  Very  high 
speed  is  not  always  required ;  frequently  a  reasonably  rapid 
service  is  quite  as  satisfactory.  This  should  be  based  on  local 
requirements.  We  must,  however,  successfully  compete  with 
the  time  made  by  other  methods  of  travel,  such  as  steam  roads, 
boat  lines  and  other  electric  railways. 

Get  and  keep  a  good  reputation  for  safety.  Many  people 
will  avoid  a  recklessly  operated  road  by  taking  another  route. 

One  of  the  prime  causes  of  electric  traffic,  especially  on  in- 
terurban  lines,  is  cheapness  of  transportation.  The  low  cost 
from  starting  point  to  destination  and  return,  influences  people 
to  make  the  trip  and  select  their  route  in  preference  to  a  rail- 
road or  boat.  As  fares  are  reduced  traffic  will  increase,  al- 
though not  in  the  same  proportion.  There  is  a  limit  beyond 
which  further  reductions  fail  to  draw  sufficient  traffic  to  war- 
rant the  concession.  Reductions  for  school  and  workmen's 
tickets  are  effective,  but  the  greatest  possibilities  lie  in  con- 
cessions to  amusement  travel,  which  promptly  responds. 

It  is  advised  to  be  extremely  conservative  in  irrevocably  re- 
ducing fares,  especially  marked  reductions  or  wholesale  slash- 
ing of  rates  in  anticipation  of  enormous  traffic  increases.  A 
company  can  only  afford  to  make  a  less  rate  when  either  a 
very  large  volume  can  be  obtained  thereby  or  where  it  entails 
but  little  additional  cost  of  handling. 

A  judicious  and  systematic  policy  of  advertising  produces 
good  results,  and  desired  patrons  may  be  reached  withou+  heavy 
outlay.  Briefly,  the  most  successful  advertising  has  been  along 
the  line  of  attractive  cars,  inexpensive  car  signs,  striking  fliers, 
or  illustrated  booklets  respecting  amusement  parks  and  other 
places  of  interest,  the  self-paying,  specially  illuminated  trolley 
car  for  excursionists,  very  suggestive  of  the  pleasures  of  riding, 
time  tables  (especially  for  new  lines)  distributed  at  hotels, 
stations,  etc.;  reading  notices  in  the  daily  papers  as  to  the  at- 
tractiveness of  points  along  the  line,  and  last,  but  not  least, 
through  the  men.  Handle  them  so  that  every  well-bred,  cour- 
teous, well-dressed  conductor  and  motorman  will  be  an  active 
traveling  passenger  agent  and  promoter  of  publicity,  by  always 
taking  a  personal  interest  in  handling  traffic,  by  his  pride  in 
the  company's  line,  cars  and  service,  and  by  his  words  of  sup- 
port. They  are  the  men  who  come  directly  in  contact  with 
the  traveling  public  and  can  reach  business. 

So  much  has  been  written  and  said  about  amusement  parks 
as  a  source  of  increased  traffic,  that  the  writer  will  simply  refer 
to  the  financial  operations  of  two  properties  with  which  he  is 
familiar. 

The  first  road  is  located  in  and  about  a  city  of  some  35,000 
population,  and  connects  with  two  other  lines.  About  two 
miles  from  the  city,  near  the  main  line,  a  tract  of  some  forty 
acres  was  secured  and  an  amusement  park  established  at  a 
cost  of  $38,400.  A  three-quarter  mile  spur  from  the  main  line 
was  built  at  a  cost  of  $7,755.60  for  roadway,  track  and  line, 
and  $975  for  a  terminal  shed. 

The  aim  was  to  build  cheaply  and  spend  money  from  season 
to  season,  as  conditions  warranted. 

The  amusements  installed  consist  of  an  open-air  theater, 
with  capacity  for  1500;  different  performances  nightly  by  a 
light  opera  stock  company;  ball  ground;  framing  track;  casino 
and  dancing  pavilion;  cafe,  naphtha  launch,  row  boats,  bath- 
ing houses,  swings,  donkeys,  merry-go-rounds,  and  a  monkey 
cage.  The  grove  has  a  capacity  of  8000  or  more  picknickers. 
The  largest  attendance  so  far  was  about  7400,  on  a  holiday ; 
the  average,  2800;  the  total  for  last  season,  350,000  (partly 
estimated) . 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


155 


The  financial  results  for  the  second  full  season  were  as 
follows : 

Railway:  Av.  per 

Day.  Season. 

Gross  receipts  (partly  estimated)   $280.00  $35,000.00 

Net  receipts  (upon  basis  average  net  re- 
ceipts per  passenger  carried,  whole  line 

line,  1.75  cents   49.00  6,125.00 

Fixed  charges  (on  additional  track  and 

equipment)    14.27  1,783  84 

Net  income,  the  result  of  establishing 

park    3473  434- 16 

Park: 

Gross  receipts  from  theater,  other  amuse- 
ments and  refreshments,  and  cost  of 

refreshments    $793-50  $99,187.50 

Direct  expenses  of  amusements..  .$556.50 

General  expenses   48.20 

Advertising    20.05 

Repairs  and  renewals   12.47 

Management   23.44 

Interest,  taxes,  etc   21.50     682.16  85,270.00 

Net  income  from  park   $111.34  $r3.9T7-50 

The  average  amount  spent  in  the  park  per  person  was  quite 
high — about  28  cents. 

The  company  believed  the  manager  had  enough  to  do  to 
concentrate  his  attention  on  the  railway  proper,  without  going 
into  the  "show  business,"  and  therefore  an  arrangement  was 
made  with  an  ex-owner  of  a  pleasure  resort  to  run  this  place 
for  a  proportion  of  the  net  profits.  From  the  above  figures, 
this  seems  to  have  worked  well.  The  above  figures  make  an 
excellent  showing,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  practically 
nothing  has  been  deducted  for  the  very  large  depreciation  in 
such  park  equipment,  nor  was  the  park  department  charged 
with  the  cost  of  lighting  during  that  year. 

The  other  company  to  whurh  I  refer  has  a  smaller,  higher- 
priced  park  property,  built  on  a  more  expensive  scale,  but 
drawing  far  less  traffic.  The  total  cost  of  line  and  park  stands 
them  $48,247.65,  and  about  $30,000  of  car  equipment  is  de- 
voted to  that  service  on  an  average.  A  cheaper  and  less  at- 
tractive class  of  vaudeville  performances  and  band  concerts  are 
given.  The  largest  attendance  was  about  6000 ;  the  average 
for  132  days  nco,  and  145,200  for  the  season  (closely  esti- 
mated). Assuming  the  average  net  receipts  per  passenger  to 
have  been  the  same  as  for  all  the  line,  or  1.43  cents,  the  rail- 
way net  receipts  were  for  the  season  $2,076.36,  less  fixed 
charges  of  $1,954.02,  or  $122.34  net  income. 

The  gross  receipts  of  the  park  were  $29,767.60 ;  the  cost  of 
amusements,  general  expenses,  including  lighting,  advertising 
and  salaries,  was  $28,512.72,  showing  net  earnings  of  $1,254.88. 
Although  not  separated  on  the  books,  the  taxes,  interest,  etc., 
on  the  park  property  were  $2,632,  thus  leaving  a  deficit  of 
$1,377.12,  exclusive  of  any  allowance  for  depreciation. 

The  coming  summer  season  it  is  proposed  to  advertise  more 
freely  and  "popularize"  the  place.  It  is  planned  to  secure  some 
skating  and  dancing  parties  and  crowds  in  the  winter. 

It  has  been  possible  in  limited  space  to  only  outline  some 
of  the  methods  by  which  traffic  may  be  built  up.  Doubtless 
many  others  will  suggest  themselves  to  the  reader's  mind.  With 
careful  watching  of  traffic  fluctuations,  general  or  on  certain 
lines,  or  in  certain  classes  of  traffic,  the  why  and  wherefore 
can  be  ascertained  and  proper  measures  taken. 

A  locaJ  man  and  manager  of  a  property,  being  more  familiar 
with  all  surrounding  conditions,  naturally  should  be  the  best 
one  to  analyze  the  traffic  problem  and  plan  a  policy  for  securing 
increases.  As  often  happens  in  the  industrial  world,  it  is  some- 
times wise  to  call  in  a  brother  manager  or  some  outside  traffic 
expert  of  clear  insight,  keen  observation  and  wide  comparative 
knowledge  of  traffic  under  various  conditions. 

The  traffic  end  affords  splendid  opportunities  for  building 
up  the  earning  capacities  of  properties. 


NEW  CARS  FOR  THE  CITY  OF  MEXICO 


The  Mexico  Electric  Tramways,  Limited,  has  lately  added  to 
its  equipment  twenty-four  new  cars,  built  by  the  American  Car 
Company,  of  St.  Louis.  Twelve  of  the  cars  measure  25  ft. 
4  ins.  over  the  end  panels  and  34  ft.  9  ins.  over  the  crown 
pieces,  and  twelve  are  30  ft.  8  ins.  over  end  panels  and  40  ft. 
1  in.  over  crown  pieces.  Of  the  latter  number,  four  are  for 
second-class  passengers,  the  difference  being  that  longitudinal 
seats,  composed  of  wooden  slats,  are  provided  instead  of  the 


FIRST-CLASS  CAR  FOR  MEXICO  CITY 

transversely  placed  cane  upholstered  seats  of  the  first-class 
cars;  the  roofs  are  without  ceilings,  and  the  lights  of  the  win- 
dow sashes  are  divided  into  four  parts.  The  shorter  cars  are 
vestibuled  at  both  ends,  and  have  entrances  at  both  sides,  while 
the  rest  are  used  on  lines  with  loops  at  the  terminals,  and 


INTERIOR  OF  SECOND-CLASS  CAR 

therefore  are  vestibuled  at  one  end  only,  with  entrance  at  one 
side. 

The  climate  of  the  City  of  Mexico  is  exceedingly  severe  on 
cars.  The  intense  sun  and  extremely  dry  atmosphere  produce 
a  shrinkage  of  the  most  carefully  seasoned  wood,  rendering  the 


SECOND-CLASS  CAR  FOR  MEXICO  CITY 

use  of  large,  unprotected,  thin  sections  very  unsatisfactory. 
To  overcome  this,  the  cars  are  built  with  straight  sides,  faced 
with  steel.    Steel  ceilings  are  used  instead  of  veneer,  as 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


the  laminated  sections  of  the  veneer  become  detached  in  that 
climate.  The  steel  plates  of  the  ceilings  are  so  arranged  that 
rattling  is  prevented.  They  are  painted  and  decorated,  and 
have  the  same  appearance  as  painted  veneer. 

Except  the  difference  in  length  mentioned,  the  dimensions 
of  the  cars  and  sizes  of  materials  are  the  same.  They  are  as 
follows:  Width  over  belt  rails,  8  ft.  2  ins.;  over  centers  of 
posts,  2  ft.  8  ins. ;  height  of  the  steps,  17%  ins. ;  height  of  the 
risers,  14  ins.  The  side  sills  are  4^4  ins.  x  7J4  ins.,  and  the 
end  sills,  5^4  ins.  x  6%  ins.  The  sill  plates  are  8  ins.  x  ^  in. ; 
center  cross  joists,  4^  ins.  x  5^2  ins.;  thickness  of  corner 
posts,  5^4  ins.,  and  side  posts,  2^4  ins.  The  furnishings  include 
Brill  sand  boxes,  angle  iron  bumpers,  "Dedenda"  platform 
gongs,  ratchet  brake  handles  and  folding  gates. 

The  illustration  of  the  first-class  car  shows  it  mounted  on  a 
temporary  pair  of  trucks.  All  the  cars  are  mounted  on  Brill 
27-G  trucks,  with  4-ft.  wheel  base  and  33-in.  wheels. 

 ♦♦♦  

INVERSE  TIME-LIMIT  RELAY 

The  inverse  time-limit  relay  is  a  recent  addition  to  the  line 
of  electrical  appliances  and  marks  a  distinct  advance  in  the 
protection  of  line  apparatus  from  the  effect  of  overloads.  As 
its  name  suggests,  the  time  element  is  in  inverse  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  current  required  to  operate  it.    In  other  words, 


mm 

INVERSE  TIME  LIMIT  RELAY  IN  CASE 


the  greater  the  need  for  its  action  the  quicker  it  responds,  and 
this  feature  marks  the  difference  between  the  inverse  time- 
limit  relay  and  the  time-limit  relays  which  preceded  it,  and  are 
more  widely  known. 

The  ordinary  time  limit  relay,  as  generally  employed  in  con- 
nection with  the  tripping  coil  of  a  circuit  breaker,  insures  the 
line  current  from  interruption  until  an  overload  shall  have  been 
sustained  for  a  predetermined  period  which  is  long  enough  to 
threaten  t'  e  safety  of  the  apparatus.  A  movable  contact  then 
meets  a  stationary  contact  in  the  relay,  and  the  tripping  circuit 
in  the  breaker  is  closed,  causing  it  to  rupture  the  line  current. 
The  action  of  the  inverse  time-limit  relay  is  similar,  except 
that  the  speed  with  which  the  movable  contact  travels  is  regu- 
lated by  the  amount  of  the  overload,  and  it  thus  differentiates 
between  a  short  circuit  which  requires  an  immediate  action  of 
the  circuit  breaker  and  a  slight  overload  which  will  cause  no 
damage  unless  sustained  until  the  thermal  effect  is  dangerous. 
Both  types  prevent  unnecessary  interruption  of  the  service 
from  slight  momentary  overloads  by  preventing  the  instan- 
taneous operation  of  a  circuit  breaker,  but  in  the  simple  time- 
limit- relay  the  time  element  is  fixed,  while  in  the  inverse  time- 
limit  relay  it  is  automatically  adjusted  to  any  excess  of  the  nor- 


mal current  from  a  light  overload  to  a  short  circuit.  The  value 
of  this  feature  is  apparent. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  new  inverse  time-limit 
relay  announced  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufactur- 
ing Company.  It  is  made  in  types  for  both  single  and  poly- 
phase circuits,  the  single-phase  relay  containing  one  electro- 
magnet, with  its  regulating  mechanism  and  the  polyphase  type 
consisting  essentially  of  two  single-phase  mechanisms  in  a  case, 
and  properly  connected.  The  electro-magnet  consists  of  two 
coils  connected  in  series  with  a  series  transformer  and  having 
a  U-shaped  laminated  iron  core  from  which  the  moving  con- 
tact is  suspended.  When  an  overload  occurs  the  core  is  drawn 
into  the  coils,  raising  the  moving  contact  until  connection  is 
made  with  the  stationary  contact  and  the  tripping  circuit  is 
closed. 

The  variable  time  element  is  supplied  by  an  air  check  which 
is  connected  with  the  magnet  core  by  a  vertical  rod.  As  the 
core  and  moving  contact  rise  the  air  in  the  checking  chamber 
is  compressed  and  acts  in  the  same  manner  as  a  dash  pot  in 
retarding  the  closure  of  the  circuit.  An  intake  valve  allows 
the  checking  chamber  to  fill  quickly  when  the  overload  is  re- 
moved and  the  relay  is  thus  automatically  reset.  The  outlet 
valve  furnishes  the.  inverse  time-limit  feature,  as  the  ball  which 
closes  the  valve  is  held  lightly  under  the  compression  of  a 
coiled  spring,  the  amount  of  the  pressure  upon  the  valve  from 
within  regulating  the  size  of  the  opening.  When  a  slight  over- 
load occurs  the  pressure  upon  the  check  is  light  and  the  air 
escapes  slowly  through  a  small  opening.  In  the  event  of  a 
short  circuit  the  magnet  core  would  be  drawn  rapidly  upward, 
the  air  being  expelled  quickly  from  the  valve  which  the  pres- 
sure would  force  wide  open,  and  the  tripping  circuit  would  be 
closed.  The  effect  upon  the  time  limit  varies  with  the  amount 
of  overload,  the  length  of  time  being  in  inverse  proportion  to 
the  excess  of  current.  Should  the  overload  cease  before  the 
contacts  touch,  the  magnet  core  drops  to  its  original  position 
and  the  relay  is  reset.  The  simplicity  of  this  arrangement  in- 
sures its  perfect  action  under  all  conditions,  and  permits  a 
sturdiness  of  construction  not  always  found  in  conjunction 
with  so  sensitive  and  delicate  an  operation. 

Adjustments  are  provided  covering  a  wide  range  in  time 
and  current.  The  stationary  contacts  can  be  raised  or  lowered, 
thus  varying  the  distance  traversed  by  the  moving  contacts. 
Both  the  intake  and  the  outlet  valve  of  the  air  check  are  ad- 
justable, thus  controlling  the  speed  with  which  it  is  emptied 
and  filled.  The  leverage  of  the  counterpoises  attached  to  the 
check  is  also  subject  to  adjustment,  and  by  means  of  weights 
placed  upon  the  scale  pan  beneath  the  magnet  the  weight  of  the 
moving  element  is  increased. 



AN  IMPROVED  TRACK  SANDER 

An  improved  track  sander  for  electric  cars  has  been  invented 
recently  by  Henry  Fresh,  and  is  now  manufactured  by  the 
Emergency  Car  Brake  Company,  of  Cumberland,  Md.  The 
accompanying  illustration  shows  a  St.  Louis  M.  C.  B.  truck, 
partially  equipped  with  the  sander  designed  for  double-truck 
cars.  This  sander  consists  of  a  water-proof  hopper  built  on 
the  truck,  with  an  agitator  to  loosen  the  sand,  a  double-port 
valve  to  insure  the  flow  of  sand,  and  a  shoe  to  deposit  the  sand 
on  the  rail. 

The  hopper  is  made  of  a  single  steel  casting.  The  top 
or  dome  and  the  bottom  bowl  are  fitted  with  a  lap  flange  union, 
machined  and  fitted  with  rubber  gaskets  bolted  firmly  together. 
The  opening  in  the  dome  for  filling  is  fitted  with  a  cap  in  the 
same  manner,  locking  itself  over  the  rim  on  the  collar  by  giv- 
ing the  cap  one-half  turn  with  a  wrench,  making  the  hopper 
water-tight.  The  hopper  is  porcelain  lined  throughout,  which 
gives  the  interior  a  dry  and  smooth  surface  and  prevents  the 
sand  from  getting  damp. 


JULY  30,  I904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


LS7 


The  valves  are  provided  with  two  sanding  ports,  so  that  in 
case  one  of  the  ports  becomes  choked  the  other  will  produce 
sufficient  sand  to  sand  the  rail.  The  lower  disc  is  stationed  in 
the  lower  portion  of  the  hopper,  and  the  upper  is  rigidly  at- 
tached to  the  agitator  bar  connecting  to  the  operating  bar. 
The  discs  operate  one  over  the  other.  When  the  sand  is  needed 
the  ports  are  brought  over  each  other  by  the  upper  disc  making 
one-half  revolution,  and  when  closed  are  turned  back,  making 
a  tight  valve. 

The  agitator,  which  connects  the  valve  to  the  operating  bar, 
is  provided  with  six  teeth  or  cutters,  which,  in  turning  the 
valve,  cut  loose  through  the  hopper  the  sand  which  becomes 
compact  from  the  vibration  of  the  truck.  The  sand  cannot 
be  applied  without  being  loosened  by  the  agitator.  The  gear 
wheels  are  in  the  little  dome,  where  they  are  kept  free  from 
the  sand  and  enclosed  from  the  snow  and  mud  from  the  wheels. 
The  shaft  from  the  gear  wheels  is  connected  to  the  operating 
bar  by  a  sleeve  coupling. 

The  shoe  is  said  to  distribute  the  sand  on  the  rail  very  eco- 
nomically, while  at  the  same  time  it  is  a  positive  sander,  put- 
ting the  sand  where  it  is  needed,  whether  on  a  curve  or  straight 
track.  The  shoe  is  made  of  a  steel  casting,  receiving  a  2-in. 
hose,  which  conveys  the  sand  from  the  hopper  into  the. shoe. 
The  shoe  has  a  6-in.  base  on  the  rail,  with  an  opening  in  the 
bottom  2  ins.  wide  from  front  to  tip,  forming  a  channel  to  dis- 
tribute the  sand  without  rolling  off  the  sides  of  the  rail.  The 
shoe  is  provided  with  an  inside  flange  to  guide  through  curves, 


TRUCK    EQUIPPED    WITH    TRACK    SANDER,    ALSO  SHOWING 
SANDING   SHOE  EMPLOYED 


and  projections  to  attach  the  adjusting  and  hanger  bars,  the 
latter  connecting  the  shoes  to  the  operating  bar  with  lugs  and 
jaws,  the  shoes  being  raised  and  lowered  as  the  sand  is  applied 
and  closed. 

The  operation  of  the  sander  is  simple,  as  the  parts  arc 
operated  from  one  lever  at  one  time.  The  operating  bar  is  con- 
nected to  the  lever  by  draw-bars  running  back  to  the  king  bolt 
and  then  to  the  operating  lever.  The  lever  can  be  operated 
freely  without  catching,  and  when  put  back  holds  itself  se- 
curely. The  hopper  can  be  attached  to  the  different  styles  of 
trucks  by  making  the  attachments  and  bracing  to  suit. 

The  opening  for  filling  is  on  the  inside  of  the  hopper,  near 
the  center  of  the  truck,  16  ins.  from  the  wheels,  protecting  it 
from  the  mud,  snow  and  water  from  the  wheels.  All  the  valves 
and  operating  parts  are  enclosed,  making  it  a  sure  and  positive 
sander  in  the  worst  weather.  Every  part  or  opening  is  made 
tight  with  gaskets  or  bushings,  so  that  it  is  practically  impossi- 
ble for  the  sand  to  get  damp  in  the  hopper. 


SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  COMBINATION  CABS  FOR  YORK,  PA. 

The  J.  (i.  Brill  Company  has  lately  finished  four  combina- 
tion passenger  and  baggage  cars,  like  the  one  illustrated,  for 
the  York  Street  Railway  Company.  The  railway  is  one  of  a 
number  owned  by  the*  York  County  Traction  Company,  aggre- 
gating a  trackage  of  33  miles,  and  connecting  the  important 
towns  in  the  vicinity  of  York.  Thirty-five  miles  of  lines  are 
about  to  be  added  to  the  system,  which,  with  the  existing  roads, 
will  practically  cover  the  county. 

The  new  cars  are  of  the  builders'  semi-convertible  type,  as 


ONE   OF   THE   SEMI-CONVERTIBLE    COM  BIN  ATI  ON  CARS 
IN  YORK,  PA. 


will  be  seen  in  the  illustration.  The  large  windows  and  low 
window  sills  always  indicate  this  design.  The  interiors  are 
handsomely  finished  in  cherry  of  natural  color,  with  decorated 
birch  veneer  ceilings.  Thirty-six-in.  transversely  placed  seats 
leave  the  aisles  22  ins.  wide,  although  the  cars  are  but  8  ft. 
2  ins.  over  the  posts  at  belt.  This  is  on  account  of  having  the 
window  pockets  in  the  side  roofs  instead  of  in  the  walls,  there- 
by allowing  the  seat  ends  to  be  brought  within  the  posts  and 
against  the  side  lining.  The  length  of  the  cars  over  the  bodies 
is  30  ft.  8  ins.,  and  over  the  vestibules,  40  ft.  1  in. ;  width  over 
the  sills,  7  ft.  10**2  ins.,  and  over  the  belt  rails,  8  ft.  2  ins.  The 
length  of  the  baggage  compartment  is  12  ft.  8  ins.  This  com- 
partment is  furnished  with  folding  seats  for  the  use  of  smokers, 
and  has  a  4-ft.  sliding  door  on  either  side.  The  side  sills  are 
of  long  leaf  yellow  pine,  444  ins.  x  7-V4  ins.,  plated  on  the  inside 
with  6-in.  x  J/j-'n.  steel.  The  end  sills  are  5*4  ins.  x  6j/g  ins. 
The  distance  from  center  to  center  of  posts  is  2  ft.  8  ins. ;  sweep 
of  posts,  1^4  ins.;  thickness  of  corner  posts,  3^  ins.,  and  of 
side  posts,  3^4  ins.  The  angle-iron  bumpers,  platform  gongs, 
channel-iron  draw  bars,  brake  handles  and  other  specialties  are 
of  the  builders'  manufacture.  The  trucks  are  Brill  27-G-1, 
with  4-ft.  wheel  base,  33-in.  wheels  and  4-in.  axles. 



INCREASE  IN  ST.  LOUIS  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC 

Nearly  15,000,000  more  passengers  were  carried  by  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company  during  the  three  months  which  ended 
June  30,  1904,  than  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  year.  The 
figures  also  exceed  by  12,000,000  the  second  quarter  of  1903. 
The  quarterly  report  of  the  company,  filed  a  few  days  ago, 
shows  that  during  the  months  of  April,  May  and  fune,  there 
were  made  1,551,168  trips,  upon  which  were  carried  50,027,717 
passengers.  During  the  same  period  of  1903  there  were  1.367,- 
454  trips  made  and  38,421,172  passengers  carried.  Last  year 
a  law  was  passed  requiring  daily  instead  of  quarterly  reports 
from  street  railway  companies,  and  providing  that  the  com- 
panies pay  car  licenses  at  the  rate  of  one  mill  for  each  passen- 
ger carried.  Upon  this  basis  the  company  would  have  to  pay 
the  city  $50,027  for  the  quarter  just  ended.  The  companies  are 
fighting  the  law  in  court  and  have  obtained  a  temporary  order 
restraining  the  city  from  enforcing  it.  The  case  will  be  heard 
next  fall. 


158 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


LEGAL  DEPARTMENT* 


ABUSIVE  LANGUAGE  OF  EMPLOYEE  TO  PASSENGER 


The  law  is  very  well  settled  that  a  common  carrier  is  liable 
for  an  actual  assault  and  battery  committed  by  a  conductor  or 
other  employee  upon  a  passenger.  In  one  of  the  most  recent 
cases  involving  the  subject,  which  recognized  the  right  of  a 
conductor  to  strike  a  passenger  in  self-defense,  it  is  neverthe- 
less expressly  laid  down  that  abusive  language  or  approbrious 
epithets  applied  by  the  passenger  to  the  conductor  are  insuf- 
ficient to  justify  an  assault  by  the  latter.  (Birmingham  Rail- 
way, Light  &  Power  Company  vs.  Mullen  [Ala.]  35  So.  702.) 

A  recent  case  in  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  New  York  has  at- 
tracted much  attention,  in  which  it  was  held  that  a  street  car 
company  might  be  held  liable  in  damages  for  the  use  by  a  con- 
ductor of  abusive  language  without  any  assault  or  physical 
contact.  (Gillespie  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company, 
178  N.  Y.  347.)  The  conductor  refused  to  return  to  the  plain- 
tiff, a  passenger,  her  change  for  car  fare,  and,  on  being  re- 
quested to  do  so,  he  called  the  plaintiff  a  "dead  beat"  and  "a 
swindler,"  and  applied  other  abusive  epithets  to  her  in  the  pres- 
ence of  other  passengers. 

This  case  has  been  the  subject  of  very  grave  divergence  of 
judicial  opinion.  The  trial  court  allowed  a  judgment  for  the 
return  of  the  change,  to  which  the  plaintiff  was  indisputably 
entitled,  but  held  that  "other  damages,  if  any,  were  not  the 
proximate  result  of  the  act  of  the  conductor."  The  Appellate 
division  affirmed  this  action  of  the  trial  court,  dismissing  the 
claim  for  damages  for  abusive  language  without  opinion.  The 
Court  of  Appeals,  by  a  bare  majority  vote,  reversed  the  lower 
courts  and  holds  that  the  liability  in  question  may  exist.  The 
reasoning  in  the  Court  of  Appeals  was  not  entirely  satisfactory. 
The  dissenting  judges,  for  example,  say  that  "it  is  extending 
unduly  the  doctrine  of  a  common-carrier's  liability,  in  making 
it  answerable  in  damages  for  slanderous  words  spoken  by  one 
of  its  agents."  But  the  majority  did  not  hold  the  master  liable, 
as  for  an  act  of  deformation.  In  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  it 
was  expressly  stated  that  the  plaintiff  was  not  entitled  to  re- 
cover for  any  injury  to  her  character  resulting  from  the  in- 
sulting language,  and,  as  the  present  writer  understands  the 
discussion,  although  the  presence  of  other  persons  aggravated 
the  injury,  the  liability  would  have  existed  if  the  abusive  lan- 
guage had  been  used  by  the  conductor  when  no  third  person 
was  within  hearing. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  hesitation  on  the  part  of  many 
of  the  judges  to  recognize  the  cause  of  action  grew  out  of  the 
sentiment  against  permitting  the  recovery  of  damages  for 
mental  suffering  only.  It  has  been  held  in  New  York  that  no 
recovery  can  be  had  for  injuries  resulting  from  fright  caused 
by  the  negligence  of  another,  where  there  is  no  immediate 
physical  injury  (Mitchell  vs.  Rochester  Railway,  151  N.  Y. 
107).  This  is  in  accordance  with  the  present  weight  of  au- 
thority in  the  United  States.  The  real  reason  for  such  decision 
is  expressed  in  the  following  language  from  the  opinion  in  the 
Mitchell  case: 

"If  the  right  of  recovery  in  this  class  of  cases  should  be  once 
established,  it  would  naturally  result  in  a  flood  of  litigation  in 
cases  where  the  injury  complained  of  may  be  easily  feigned  without 
detection,  and  where  the  damages  must  rest  upon  mere  conjecture 
or  speculation.  The  difficulty  which  often  exists  in  cases  of  alleged 
physical  injury,  in  determining  whether  they  exist,  and  if  so, 
whether  they  were  caused  by  the  negligent  act  of  the  defendant, 
would  not  only  be  greatly  increased,  but  a  wide  field  would  be 
opened  for  fictitious  or  speculative  claims.  To  establish  such  a 
doctrine  would  be  contrary  to  principles  of  public  policy." 

The  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  Gillespie  case  seems  to  have 
drawn  a  somewhat  arbitrary  exception  to  the  rule  that  dam- 
ages may  not  be  allowed  for  mental  suffering  only,  and  while 
the  decision  is  theoretically  vulnerable  in  certain  respects,  many 
considerations  of  expectancy  are  urged  in  its  favor  by  leading 
text  writers.  The  decision,  indeed,  would  seem  to  constitute 
an  expression  of  a  practical  policy  to  be  followed  in  a  certain 

*  Conducted  by  Wilbur  Larremore,  of  the  New  York  Bar,  32  Nassau  Street. 
New  York,  to  whom  all  correspondence  concerning  this  department  should  be 
addressed. 


class  of  cases  rather  than  the  disposal  of  a  particular  case  ac- 
cording to  general  principles  and  the  ordinary  analogies  of  the 
law.  The  Court  of  Appeals  expressly  withholds  the  right  to 
recover  exemplary  damages,  although  it  is  true  that  the  idea 
of  compensation  by  money  for  injured  feelings  is  anomalous 
and  the  gist  of  the  recovery  is  essentially  punitive. 

In  spite  of  its  theoretical  inconsistence,  this  decision  now 
embodies  the  law  of  New  York,  and  there  is  considerable  au- 
thority in  other  States  tending  in  favor  of  the  same  position. 
The  withholding  of  the  right  to  exemplary  damages  will  pre- 
vent the  grievous  oppression  of  common  carriers  through  in- 
ordinate verdicts,  but  the  right  to  recover  whatever  a  jury  shall, 
within  reasonable  limits,  pronounce  to  be  compensation  for 
abusive  and  insulting  language  is  a  principle  that  must  be  reck- 
oned with  in  practice. 


LIABILITY  FOR  NEGLIGENCE. 
ILLINOIS. — Carriers — Street  Railroads — Passenge-s — Injuries — 
Complaint — Allegations  of  Negligence — Proof — Res  Ipsa  Lo- 
quitur— Evidence  —  Witnesses — Cross-Examination — Trial — 
Order  of  Proof — Discretion — Instructions — Appeal — Objec- 
tions— Exceptions — Supreme  Court- — Jurisdiction — Questions 
Reviewable. 

1.  Where  plaintiff  was  injured  by  the  fall  of  a  trolley  pole 
while  he  was  passing  from  one  street  car  to  another  at  a  junction 
point,  and  his  evidence  that  he  had  a  transfer,  and  that  of  his 
son  that  a  transfer  was  taken  from  his  pocket  when  he  was  brought 
home  after  the  injury,  was  not  contradicted,  the  fact  that  the 
transfer  itself  was  not  offered  in  evidence  did  not  render  the  proof 
as  to  plaintiff's  status  as  a  passenger  insufficient. 

2.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  was  injured  by  the  fall 
of  a  trolley  pole  as  he  was  alighting  at  a  junction  point,  proof 
that  plaintiff  was  a  passenger,  of  the  fact  of  the  accident,  and  the 
resulting  injury,  established  a  prima  facie  case  of  negligence,  with- 
out proof  as  to  what  caused  the  pole  to  fall. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street 
car  by  the  fall  of  a  trolley  pole  as  he  was  alighting,  at  least  three 
of  the  six  counts  of  the  declaration  charged  general  negligence, 
the  fact  that  other  counts  of  the  declaration  charged  specific  neg- 
ligence with  reference  to  the  fall  of  the  pole,  which  was  not  proved 
was  not  material. 

4.  Where  plaintiff  was  injured  by  the  fall  of  a  trolley  pole  from 
a  street  car  running  on  a  certain  avenue  in  a  city,  and  plaintiff's 
son  testified  that  cars  running  on  such  avenue  bore  the  inscrip- 
tion, "The  Chicago  City  Railway,"  which  was  defendant's  cor- 
porate name,  and  defendant  introduced  medical  witnesses  who 
testified  that  on  the  same  day  plaintiff  was  injured  they  were  di- 
rected by  defendant  to  make  an  examination  of  plaintiff,  and  were 
paid  by  defendant  for  so  doing,  such  evidence  was  insufficient  to 
show  that  defendant  owned  and  operated  the  cars  on  such  avenue. 

5.  An  objection  that  plaintiff  could  not  recover,  by  reason  of  a 
variance  between  the  declaration  and  the  evidence,  should  be 
denied  where  the  objection  failed  to  point  out  wherein  there  was 
a  variance,  so  that  it  might  be  obviated  by  proper  amendment. 

6.  Where  physicians  were  introduced  as  witnesses  for  defendant 
in  a  suit  for  injuries,  it  was  proper  to  permit  them  to  be  asked  on 
cross-examination  by  whom  they  had  been  sent  to  examine  plain- 
tiff, and  by  whom  they  were  paid,  for  the  purpose  of  affecting  their 
credibility  and  the  weight  of  their  evidence. 

7.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street 
car,  plaintiff  asked  leave  to  recall  his  son  for  the  purpose  of  show- 
ing the  inscription  on  the  cars  on  the  line  on  which  he  was  in- 
jured, after  plaintiff  had  closed  his  case,  the  granting  of  such  per- 
mission was  not  an  abuse  of  discretion. 

8.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger,  the  court 
permitted  plaintiff,  after  he  had  rested,  to  introduce  evidence  of 
the  inscription  on  the  cars  of  the  line  on  which  he  was  injured, 
and,  after  the  witness  had  retired  and  plaintiff  had  rested,  de- 
fendant's attorney  stated  that  he  desired  to  offer  evidence  "on  the 
question  of  the  inspection  of  the  cars,"  etc.,  whereupon  the  judge 
stated  that  he  would  receive  no  evidence,  except  as  to  the  owner- 
ship of  the  line,  at  that  stage  of  the  case,  and  defendant  thereupon 
did  not  put  any  witness  on  the  stand,  or  make  any  offer  of  proof, 
it  could  not  claim  on  appeal  that  the  court  erred  by  its  mere  state- 
ment in  refusing  to  receive  the  evidence. 

9.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger,  plaintiff 
alleged  that  he  was  a  carpenter  and  contractor,  evidence  as  to  his 
general  earning  capacity  prior  to  the  accident  was  admissible. 

10.  In  the  absence  of  objections  and  exceptions  taken  at  the 
time  to  alleged  improper  remarks  of  the  trial  judge,  error  cannot 
be  predicated  thereon. 

11.  In  an  action  for  injuries,  an  instruction  that,  if  plaintiff  had 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


159 


proved  his  cause  of  action  as  alleged  in  his  declaration,  he  was 
entitled  to  a  verdict,  was  not  unobjectionable. 

12.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger,  plaintiff's 
evidence  as  to  defendant's  ownership  and  operation  of  the  rail- 
road on  which  plaintiff  was  injured  was  sufficient  to  establish  a 
prima  facie  case,  and  was  not  contradicted,  it  was  not  error  for  the 
court  to  assume  such  fact  in  its  instructions  to  the  jury. 

13.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  by  being  struck  by 
a  trolley  pole,  an  instruction  that  the  burden  was  on  the  carrier 
to  show  that  it  did  all  that  human  care,  vigilance,  and  foresight 
could  reasonably  do,  consistent  with  the  character  and  mode  of 
conveyance  adopted,  in  the  practical  prosecution  of  its  business 
to  prevent  accidents  and  injuries  to  passengers  riding  on  and 
alighting  from  its  cars,  was  not  in  conflict  with  other  instructions 
requiring  plaintiff  to  prove  that  defendant  owned  and  operated 
the  car  in  question,  and  requiring  defendant  to  exercise  such  care 
as  human  beings  are  capable  ot,  consistent  with  the  practical 
operation  of  defendant's  trains,  and  that  a  party  charging  negli- 
gence must  prove  it. 

14.  Where  a  declaration  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  charged  that 
the  injury  was  permanent,  it  was  not  error  for  the  court  to  permit 
the  jury  to  allow  damages  for  future  suffering. 

15.  Where  an  instruction  submitted  a  number  of  matters  of  fact 
to  the  jury,  and  correctly  stated  the  law  applicable  thereto,  and 
concluded  with  a  sentence  beginning  with,  "What  is  the  truth,  the 
jury  must  determine  from  the  evidence  only,"  the  instruction  was 
not  objectionable  on  the  ground  that  it  did  not  require  the  jury  to 
find  the  matters  submitted  from  the  evidence. 

16.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger,  objections  that  the 
verdict  is  contrary  to  the  evidence,  that  the  damages  are  exces- 
sive, and  that  plaintiff  is  a  maligner  cannot  be  reviewed  by  the 
Supreme  Court. — (Chicago  City  Railway  Company  vs.  Carroll, 
68,  N.  E.  Rep.  1087.) 

INDIANA. — Carriers — Street     Railway — Injury     to  Passenger 
While  Alighting — Instructions — Harmless  Error. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  by  a  passenger  for  injuries  in  alighting 
from  a  street  car,  the  jury  find  that  the  car  was  not  moving,  any 
error  in  refusing  to  instruct  that,  if  she  attempted  to  alight  from 
a  moving  car,  she  could  not  recover,  and  in  instructing  that,  if 
the  car  was  so  nearly  stopped  that  an  ordinarily  prudent  person 
would  have  deemed  it  safe  to  alight,  and  she  was  injured  by  its 
sudden  starting,  she  could  recover,  was  harmless. 

2.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  against  a  street  car  company  it 
is  not  error  to  instruct  that,  if  she  was  injured  while  attempting, 
in  the  exercise  of  proper  care,  to  alight  from  a  car,  by  the  motor- 
man  suddenly  starting  it,  she  can  recover,  though  the  motorman's 
act  is  not  required  to  have  been  negligent ;  since  starting  a  car 
while  a  passenger  is  alighting  is  prima  facie  negligence. 

3.  In  an  action  by  a  street  car  passenger  injured  in  attempting 
to  alight  it  is  proper  to  instruct  that,  while  a  common  carrier  of 
passengers  is  not  an  insurer  of  their  safety,  still  the  law  exacts 
of  it  the  exercise  of  the  highest  practicable  care  in  the  operation 
of  its  cars  and  stopping  and  starting  them  to  enable  passengers 
to  get  on  and  off,  and  for  any  failure  to  exercise  such  care,  and 
for  slight  neglect  of  duty  in  this  respect,  it  is  liable  to  a  passenger 
who  is  himself  without  fault,  etc. 

4.  In  an  action  by  a  street  car  passenger  injured  while  attempt- 
ing to  alight,  and  in  which  the  burden  of  showing  contributory 
negligence  is  on  the  defendant,  it  is  proper  to  instruct  that,  if  the 
burden  is  upon  either  party  to  show  any  particular  fact,  such  fact 
should  be  established  by  a  fair  preponderance  of  the  evidence, 
and  that,  if  there  is  no  preponderance  on  any  question — that  is,  if 
affirmative  evidence  is  only  balanced  by  the  negative  evidence — 
then  such  fact  would  not  be  proven. — (Indianapolis  Street  Rail- 
way Company  vs.  Brown,  69  N.  E.  Rep.,  407.) 

INDIANA— Collision  With  Street  Car— Action  for  Damages- 
Pleading — Negligence  and  Contributory  Negligence. 
1.  The  complaint  in  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  company 
alleged  that  plaintiff  was  driving  his  horse  and  wagon  along  a 
street  on  the  north  side  of  defendant's  track,  and  when  within 
10  or  12  feet  west  of  a  cross  street,  on  which  he  intended  to  drive 
north,  his  horse  took  fright  at  the  rapid  approach  of  one  of  de- 
fendant's cars,  then  about  200  feet  east  of  him;  that  his  horse, 
on  account  of  such  fright,  ran  rapidly,  and  shied  to  the  north, 
and  the  wagon  struck  violently  against  a  pole  at  the  corner  of 
the  street  intersection,  and  the  horse  became  unmanageable,  and 
reared  and  fell  back  toward  the  wagon,  and  wheeled  toward  the 
track,  running  along  the  same,  and  that  during  all  such  time  his 
horse  was  unmanageable;  that  his  horse  continued  thus  to  run 
along  the  track  for  about  75  feet,  when  the  car  caught  up  with 
the  wagon,  and  was  carelessly  and  negligently  run  into  and 
against  the  same,  and  the  wagon  was  broken,  the  horse  injured, 
and  plaintiff  knocked  out  and  injured.  Held,  that  it  clearly  averred 
that  plaintiff's  injury  was  the  result  of  defendant's  negligence. 


and  that  this  was  all  that  was  necessary,  and  the  fact  that  the 
complaint  also  averred  that  plaintiff  was  not  guilty  of  contributing 
to  his  injury  was  unnecessary,  and  did  not  render  it  bad;  such 
averment  being  immaterial,  and,  at  most,  merely  surplusage. 

2.  Defendant's  street  car  was  200  feet  or  more  distant  from  the 
place  where  plaintiff  had  hitched  his  horse  when  he  started  to 
get  into  his  wagon,  and,  before  lie  had  reached  or  could  reach 
the  lines,  the  horse  jumped  and  threw  him  down,  and  then,  being 
unmanageable,  started  with  the  wagon  and  plaintiff  along  and 
near  the  track  before  the  car,  swerving  from  one  side  to  the  other, 
until  they  were  struck  by  the  car.  Held,  that  plaintiff's  negligence, 
if  any,  did  not  contribute  to  the  injury,  and  that  he  could  not  be 
charged  with  negligence  after  the  horse  became  unmanageable. 

3.  It  being  shown  that  the  motorman,  by  the  exercise  of  due 
care  under  all  the  circumstances,  might  and  should  have  prevented 
the  injury,  the  case  was  fully  within  the  rule  that  where  one  per- 
son sees  another  in  peril,  from  which  he  is  unable  to  extricate 
himself  by  reasonable  care,  it  is  his  duty  to  so  act  as  not  to  in- 
crease the  peril,  and  if  he  acts  so  as  to  increase  the  danger,  with 
full  knowledge  of  the  facts,  he  will  not  be  relieved  from  the  dam- 
ages resulting  from  his  negligence. — (Hammond,  W.  &  E.  C. 
Electric  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Eads,  69  N.  E.  Rep.,  555.) 

INDIANA. — Master — Injuries  to  Servant — Fellow  Servants — 
Negligence  —  Complaint  — ■  Employer's  Liability  Act  —  Con- 
struction. 

1  Where  several  defendants  file  joint  and  separate  demurrers 
to  a  complaint,  which  are  overruled,  and  they  then  jointly  and 
separately  except  to  the  ruling  of  the  court,  an  assignment  of 
error  by  one  of  the  defendants,  predicated  on  the  exception,  raises 
the  question  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  complaint. 

2.  An  employee  of  an  interurban  railroad  engaged  in  the  con- 
struction of  track,  who  is  injured  while  in  a  work  car  of  the  com- 
pany for  the  purpose  of  being  carried  to  his  home  from  his  work, 
is  a  fellow  servant  of  employees  of  the  company  operating  a  pas- 
senger car  which  caused  the  injuries. 

3.  Allegations  in  a  complaint  by  a  servant  against  his  master 
for  damages  for  personal  injuries  that  the  work  plaintiff  was  en- 
gaged in  doing  had  no  connection  with,  and  was  not  in  any  way 
incident  to  or  a  part  of  the  work  or  employment  of  the  motorman 
or  servants  in  charge  of  a  passenger  car  of  defendant  which  ran 
into  the  work  car  in  which  plaintiff  was  seated;  that  he  was  simply 
a  passenger  on  the  work  car;  that  defendant  owed  him  a  duty, 
and  was  bound  to  carry  him  safely,  are  mere  conclusions  of  the 
pleader,  not  admitted  by  demurrer. 

4.  An  allegation  in  a  complaint  for  damages  for  personal  in- 
juries received  by  an  employee  that  he  was  injured  without  any 
fault  or  negligence  on  his  part  does  not  take  the  place  of  aver- 
ments showing  that  the  risk  of  incompetency  of  the  person  in 
charge  of  a  switch,  whose  negligence  is  alleged  to  have  caused  the 
injuries,  was  not  knowingly  assumed  by  plaintiff  as  an  incident 
of  his  service. 

5.  Under  Burns'  Rev.  St.  1901,  section  7083,  subd.  2  (Horner's 
Rev.  St.  1901,  section  5206s),  providing  that  every  railroad  cor- 
poration shall  be  liable  for  damages  for  personal  injuries  suffered 
by  any  employee  while  in  its  service,  the  employee  so  injured 
being  in  the  exercise  of  due  care  and  diligence,  where  such  injury 
resulted  from  the  negligence  of  any  person  in  the  service  of  such 
corporation  to  whose  order  or  direction  the  injured  employee 
at  the  time  of  the  injury  was  bound  to  conform,  no  recovery  can 
be  had  where  the  employee  is  injured  while  conforming  to  the 
order  or  direction  of  one  employee  and  his  injury  is  caused  by 
the  negligence  of  another  employee,  who  had  no  such  authority. 

6.  Under  Burns'  Rev.  St.  1901,  section  7083,  subd.  4.  providing 
that  every  railroad  corporation  shall  be  liable  for  damages  for 
personal  injuries  suffered  by  any  employee  while  in  its  service, 
the  employee  so  injured  being  in  the  exercise  of  due  care  and 
diligence,  where  such  injury  was  caused  by  the  negligence  of  any 
person  in  the  service  of  such  corporation  who  has  charge  of  any 
signal,  telegraph  office,  switch  yard,  shop,  roundhouse,  locomo- 
tive engine  or  train  upon  a  railway,  an  injury  due  to  the  negli- 
gence of  a  person  in  charge  of  a  switch  does  not  render  the  cor- 
poration liable. 

7.  In  an  action  by  a  servant  against  his  master  for  personal 
injuries,  predicated  upon  the  common-law  liability  of  the  master, 
where  the  injury  was  caused  by  the  negligence  of  a  fellow  servant, 
known  by  the  master  to  be  reckless  and  incompetent,  the  com- 
plaint must  allege  that  plaintiff  had  no  knowledge  of  the  reckless- 
ness and  incompetency  of  the  negligent  fellow  servant. 

8.  In  a  complaint  by  a  servant  against  his  master  for  personal 
injuries,  predicated  upon  the  common-law  liability  of  the  master 
for  injury  caused  by  the  negligence  of  a  fellow  servant,  known 
by  the  master  to  be  reckless  and  incompetnent,  an  allegation  that 
plaintiff  was  without  any  knowledge  of  the  careless  and  reckless 
conduct  of  "said  motorman  in  operating  said  car"  which  caused 


i6o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5, 


plaintiff's  injuries  is  not  equivalent  to  an  allegation  that  plaintiff 
at  and  before  the  time  of  his  injury  had  no  knowledge  of  the  reck- 
lessness and  incompetency  of  the  motorman. 

9.  In  a  complaint  by  a  servant  against  his  master  for  personal 
injuries,  allegations  that  the  injuries  were  received  by  reason  of 
the  master's  negligent  and  defective  rules  and  mode  of  keeping 
knowledge  of  and  directing  its  cars  are  mere  conclusions  of  the 
pleader,  stated  by  way  of  recital,  and  will  be  disregarded  in  de- 
termining the  sufficiency  of  the  pleading. 

10.  In  an  action  by  a  servant  against  his  master  for  personal 
injuries  alleged  to  have  been  received  as  the  result  of  negligence 
of  fellow  servants,  proof  of  plaintiff's  knowledge  of  the  reckless- 
ness and  incompetency  of  his  fellow  servant  who  caused  the  injury 
is  not  limited  to  actual  knowledge,  but  he  is  bound  by  implied 
knowledge  such  as  he  could  have  acquired  by  the  exercise  of  or- 
dinary care. — (Indianapolis  &  G.  R.  T.  Company  vs.  Foreman,  69 
N.  E.  Rep.,  669.) 

INDIANA. — Street  Railways — Personal  Injuries — Negligence — 
Collision  With  Vehicle — Evidence — Sufficiency — Inferential 
Circumstances — Silence  of  Defendant — Streets — Right  <>f 
Way. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  negligently 
running  its  car  into  plaintiff's  vehicle  and  injuring  him,  evidence 
examined,  and  held  sufficient  to  sustain  the  verdict  for  plaintiff. 

2.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries  the  negligence  of  the  de- 
fendant directly  contributing  to  the  injury  may  be  shown  by  direct 
or  circumstantial  evidence,  and  may  be  inferred  from  all  of  the 
facts  of  the  case. 

3.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries  the  purpose  to  commit  wil- 
ful injury  will  not  be  inferred  when  the  result  of  wrongful  conduct 
may  be  reasonably  attributed  to  negligence  or  inattention. 

4.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for 
personal  injuries  by  collision  with  plaintiff's  vehicle,  defendant 
gave  no  evidence,  the  jury  might  draw  an  inference  of  carelessness, 
rather  than  of  pure  accident,  from  the  fact  of  such  silence. 

5.  Though  a  person  driving  his  vehicle  along  a  street  railway 
track  in  the  direction  traveled  by  the  cars  must  get  off  the  track 
on  approach  of  a  car,  he  is  not  required  to  constantly  look  behind 
him. 

6.  Where  plaintiff  was  driving  his  vehicle  along  a  street  railway- 
track  in  the  direction  traveled  by  the  cars  on  a  street  on  which 
the  wagon  was  plainly  visible  to  a  motorman  approaching  from 
behind,  plaintiff  might  be  presumed  to  know  that  the  car  could 
only  run  him  down  by  carelessness  or  wilfulness. —  (Indianapolis 
Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Darnell,  68  N.  E.  Rep.,  609.) 

INDIANA. — Street  Railroads — Driving  Across  Tracks — Con- 
tributory Negligence — Jury — Answers  to  Interrogatories — 
General  Verdict — Evidence — Admissibility. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  personal  injuries,  it 
appeared  that  plaintiff  attempted  to  drive  across  defendant's 
tracks;  that,  before  going  on  the  crossing,  he  looked  and  listened, 
but  did  not  stop;  that  no  car  was  within  250  feet  when  he  started 
over;  that  he  did  not  know  a  car  was  approaching;  that  no  gong 
was  sounded,  or  warning  given  of  the  approach  of  the  car;  that 
the  motorman  saw  plaintiff's  horse  on  the  crossing  when  the  car 
was  over  200  feet  away,  and  could  have  stopped  the  car  within  75 
feet  at  any  time  after  the  horse  entered  the  crossing;  and  that  the 
car  approached  the  crossing  at  a  high  and  dangerous  rate  of 
speed.  Held,  that  plaintiff's  failure  to  stop  was  not  contributory 
negligence,  as  matter  of  law. 

2  The  general  verdict  determines  all  material  issues  in  its  favor. 

3.  All  reasonable  presumptions  will  be  indulged  in  favor  of  the 
general  verdict. 

4.  No  presumptions  will  be  indulged  in  favor  of  the  jury's  an- 
swers to  interrogatories. 

5.  The  answers  of  the  jury  to  interrogatories  will  not  control 
the  general  verdict  unless  in  irreconcilable  conflict  therewith. 

6.  Where  the  answers  of  the  jury  to  interrogatories  are  antag 
onistic  or  inconsistent,  they  neutralize  each  other,  and  will  be  dis- 
regarded. 

7.  The  answers  of  the  jury  to  interrogatories  override  the  gen- 
eral verdict  only  when  both  cannot  stand,  the  conflict  being  such 
as  to  be  beyond  the  possibility  of  being  removed  by  any  evidence 
admissible  under  the  issues. 

8.  The  right  of  a  traveler  to  cross  the  track  of  a  street  railroad 
is  not  inferior  to  the  right  of  the  street  railroad  to  pass  over  the 
crossing. 

9.  While  the  failure  of  those  in  charge  of  a  street  car  to  give 
the  required  signals  of  its  approach  will  not  excuse  a  person  at- 
tempting to  cross  the  track  in  front  of  it  from  the  exercise  of  due 
care,  yet  the  jury  may  consider  that  fact  in  connection  with  all  the 
circumstances  attending  the  accident,  in  passing  on  the  conduct 
of  the  one  injured  in  making  the  attempt. 

10.  Answers  to  interrogatories  by  the  jury  in  an  action  against 


a  street  railroad  for  personal  injuries  received  by  being  struck  by 
a  car  while  attempting  to  cross  the  track,  indicating  that,  had 
plaintiff  stopped,  he  could  have  seen  and  heard  the  car  in  time  to 
have  avoided  the  injury,  are  not  inconsistent  with  the  general  ver- 
dict, finding  that  he  used  due  care. —  (Union  Traction  Company  of 
Indiana  vs.  Vandercook,  69  N.  E.  Rep.,  486.) 

INDIANA. — Carriers — Negligence — Dangerous  Premises — Invi- 
tation— Owner's  Knowledge  of  Danger — Liability — Evidence. 

1.  Where  a  street  railway  owning  a  park  reached  by  its  lines, 
and  maintaining  attractions  for  the  public  there,  has  knowledge 
that  there  is  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  certain  persons  to  assault 
any  colored  persons  visiting  the  park,  and  knows  of  acts  of  vio- 
lence committed  pursuant  to  such  design,  but  it  transports  col- 
ored persons  there  without  warning  them  of  the  danger,  and  they 
are  assaulted,  pursuant  to  the  conspiracy,  the  company's  em- 
ployees making  no  attempt  to  interfere,  the  railway  company  is 
liable  for  the  injuries. 

2.  In  an  action  for  such  injuries,  evidence  of  prior  assaults  com- 
mitted on  colored  persons  at  the  park,  and  articles  published  in 
daily  papers  describing  the  occurrences,  were  admissible. — In- 
dianapolis Street  Railway  Company  vs.  Dawson,  68  N.  E.  Rep., 
909.) 

INDIANA. — Street  Railroads  —  Passengers  —  Injuries  While 
Alighting  From  Cars — Excavations  in  Street — Negligence. 
1.  A  street  car  company  operating  its  cars  on  streets  in  which 
the  city  had  made  excavations  was  guilty  of  actionable  negligence 
in  stopping  its  cars  opposite  such  excavations  for  the  purpose  of 
letting  off  passengers  without  properly  guarding  the  passengers 
alighting,  or  warning  them  of  the  danger,  of  which  they  were 
ignorant,  but  of  which  the  company  knew  or  was  bound  to  know. 
—  (Fort  Wayne  Traction  Company  vs.  Morvilius,  68  N.  E.  Rep., 
304  ) 

IOWA. — Railroads — Employee  of  Independent  Contractor — Per- 
sonal Injuries — Action. 
1.  A  railroad  company  is  not  liable  to  an  employee  of  an  inde- 
pendent contractor,  engaged  in  raising  defendant's  roadbed  and 
track,  for  personal  injuries  received  by  him  from  being  struck 
by  a  stone  which  had  rolled  from  the  pile  of  dirt  which  was  being 
used  in  the  work  in  which  plaintiff  was  engaged,  lodged  upon  the 
tracks,  and  was  knocked  against  the  plaintiff  by  a  passing  train. — 
(Reilly  vs.  Chicago  &  N.  W.  Railway  Company,  98  N.  W.  Rep., 
464.) 

IOWA. — Carriers  of  Passengers — Street  Railways — Personal  In- 
juries— Absence  of  Conductor — Negligence — Question  for 
Jury. 

1.  The  fact  that  the  motorman  left  the  car  on  which  plaintiff 
was  riding,  and  that  the  conductor  took  his  place,  and  became 
acting  motorman  in  sole  charge  of  the  car,  was  not  of  itself  such 
negligence  as  would  render  the  company  liable  to  plaintiff  for  in- 
juries received  in  alighting  from  the  car. 

2.  Plaintiff  claimed  that,  while  riding  on  a  street  car  in  the  sole 
charge  of  a  motorman,  she  signaled  him  to  stop,  but  that  the  in- 
tersecting street  was  passed  some  distance  before  the  car  slack- 
ened, as  she  thought,  to  allow  her  to  alight,  and  when  she  un- 
dertook to  do  so  the  car  suddenly  moved  forward,  causing,  her 
to  fall.  Held  that,  if  the  motorman  saw  plaintiff  signal,  the  ques- 
tion whether,  in  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care,  he  should  have 
anticipated  that  she  would  attempt  to  alight  while  between  such 
crossings,  was  a  question  for  the  jury,  and  it  was  error  to  instruct 
that  he  should  have  anticipated  such  movement. 

3.  If  the  negligence  of  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  contributed 
to  her  injury,  as  an  efficient  cause,  she  could  not  recover,  and  the 
jury  need  not  find  that  she  contributed  in  a  "material"  degree. 

4.  An  instruction  that  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  could  not  re- 
cover if  she  contributed  to  her  injury  in  a  "material"  degree  was 
erroneous,  and  could  not  be  interpreted  as  merely  intending  that 
her  negligence  must  have  directly  or  approximately  contributed 
to  it.- — (Root  vs.  Des  Moines  Railway  Company,  98  N.  W.  Rep., 
291.) 

KANSAS. — Carriers — Injury  to  Passenger — Directing  Verdict. 

1.  Generally,  in  an  action  to  recover  damages  for  personal  in- 
juries, where  the  defense  is  the  contributory  negligence  of  the 
plaintiff,  the  question  is  one  of  fact,  and  not  of  law;  and  it  is  error 
for  the  court  to  render  judgment  for  the  defendant  upon  the  peti- 
tion and  opening  statement  of  the  case  by  counsel  for  plaintiff,  un- 
less the  facts  admitted  are  such  that  reasonable  minds  could  not 
differ  as  to  the  negligent  conduct  of  plaintiff. —  (Cummings  vs. 
Wichita  Railway  &  Light  Company,  74  Pacific  Rep.,  1104.) 
KANSAS. — New  Trial — Grounds — Insufficient  Damages. 

1.  Section  307  of  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure,  which  reads,  "A 
new  trial  shall  not  be  granted  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  the 
damages,  in  an  action  for  an  injury  to  the  person  or  reputation, 
nor  in  any  other  action  where  the  damages  shall  equal  the  actual 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


161 


pecuniary  injury  sustained,"  denies  the  right  to  grant  a  new  trial 
in  the  kind  of  actions  therein  named  on  account  of  the  smallness 
of  the  damages  awarded,  and  to  grant  such  new  trial  is  error. 

2.  The  last  clause  of  said  section  is  a  limitation  on  the  right  to 
grant  new  trials  under  the  provisions  of  section  306,  rather  than 
an  enlargement  of  the  power  denied  in  the  first  part  thereof. — 
(Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  O'Neill,  74  Pacific 
Rep.,  1105.) 

KENTUCKY.— Street  Railroads— Collision  With  Wagon— Neg- 
ligence— Jury  Question. 
1.  The  horse  drawing  the  wagon  in  which  plaintiff  was  driving 
ran  away  across  a  bridge,  and  as  it  was  about  300  feet  from  the 
end  of  the  structure  a  street  car  turned  onto  the  bridge.  The 
horse  continued  to  run  along  the  track  on  which  the  car  was  ad- 
vancing until  it  got  just  in  front  of  the  car,  when  it  swung  to  one 
side,  and  the  car  collided  with  the  wagon,  and  threw  plaintiff  out. 
The  car  made  no  effort  to  stop  until  after  the  collision.  When 
about  100  feet  from  the  car,  plaintiff  waved  his  hands,  as  if  to 
notify  the  motorman.  The  car  could  have  been  stopped  within 
6  or  8  feet.  Held,  that  a  peremptory  instruction  for  the  defendant 
street  car  company  was  error. — (Thiel  vs.  South  Covington  &  C. 
Street  Railway  Company,  78  S.  W.  Rep.,  206.) 
KENTUCKY. — Carriers  —  Injury  to  Passengers  —  Excessive 
Damages. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  railroad  company  for  an  injury  to  a 
passenger's  finger  which  did  not  cause  any  permanent  impairment 
of  plaintiff's  ability  to  earn  money,  and  only  caused  him  a  loss  of 
$255  for  doctor  bill  and  wages,  a  verdict  for  $1,100  was  excessive. 
— (Louisville  Railway  Company  vs.  O'Mara,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  402.; 
KENTUCKY. — Street  Railways — Collisions    With    Carriages — • 
Duty  of  Company — Failure  to  Watch  and  Warn — Actions  for 
Injuries — Evidence — Offer  of  Settlement — Gross  Negligence 
— Damages — Appeal — Harmless  Error. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injury  to  a 
hack  and  death  of  a  horse,  testimony  of  plaintiff  that  immediately 
before  the  accident  his  hack  was  worth  $1,100  or  $1,000;  that,  after 
spending  over  $200  in  repairs,  it  was  not  worth  more  than  $500  or 
$600;  that  the  horse  was  worth  $80,  and  the  harness  destroyed  $60 
— supports  a  verdict  for  $800. 

2.  Statement  in  an  offer  by  plaintiff  to  settle  with  a  street  rail- 
way company  for  damages  done  to  his  horse  and  hack,  to  the 
effect  that  he  had  expended  $207  in  repairs  of  the  hack,  and  wanted 
that,  with  $100  for  his  horse  and  harness,  in  full  for  his  claim,  is 
not  conclusive  on  plaintiff  as  to  the  amount  of  his  damage. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  damages  to  a  horse 
and  hack,  the  admission  of  evidence  as  to  the  time  plaintiff  was 
deprived  of  the  use  of  the  hack,  and  of  the  value  of  the  lost  use  for 
that  time,  was  nqt  prejudicial,  where  the  evidence  was  later  with- 
drawn from  the  jury  by  a  written  instruction  and  admonition  of 
the  court,  and  the  verdict  showed  that  the  jury  obeyed  such  in- 
struction. 

4.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  hack, 
evidence  that  the  track  was  on  a  much-traveled  highway  in  an 
incorporated  town,  and  that  the  place  of  the  injury  was  on  a  down 
grade,  and  where  the  view  to  the  approach  was  obstructed,  and 
that  the  car  was  being  run  at  a  speed  of  20  miles  an  hour,  without 
any  signal  of  its  approach,  was  sufficient  to  submit  to  the  jury  the 
question  of  gross  negligence. 

5.  Drivers  and  pedestrians  on  a  highway  are  not  trespassers,  but 
have  an  equal  right  with  street  cars  to  use  the  highways;  and,  if 
the  car  driver  fails  to  keep  a  proper  lookout  for  their  presence 
and  give  them  timely  warning  of  his  approach,  the  company  will 
be  liable  for  a  resulting  injury,  although  the  car  was  running  at  a 
reasonable  rate  of  speed,  and  although,  after  the  driver  actually 
discovered  the  peril  of  the  person  on  the  track,  he  unavailingly 
used  every  means  at  his  command  to  avert  the  injury. — (South 
Covington  &  C.  Street  Railway  Company  vs.  McHugh,  77  S.  W. 
Rep..  202.) 

KENTUCKY. — Street  Railways — Injuries  to  Teams — Punitive 
Damages — Gross  Neglect — Evidence — Sufficiency. 
1.  Evidence  that  a  street  car  was  running  through  a  narrow 
city  street  after  dark,  at  a  rate  of  from  12  to  20  miles  an  hour;  that 
it  failed  to  sound  its  gong  at  the  crossing;  and  that  the  motorman 
was  looking  back,  and  not  ahead — was  sufficient  to  show  gross 
neglect  and  authorize  punitive  damages  in  an  action  for  injuries 
by  a  driver  of  a  team. —  (Louisville  Railway  Company  vs.  Teekin, 
78  S.  W.  Rep.,  470.) 

LOUISIANA. — Carriers — Negligence — Injury  to  Passengers. 

1.  It  is  not  negligence  for  a  street  car  to  start  while  a  passenger 
is  in  the  act  of  passing  from  the  platform  into  the  car. — (Sharp 
vs.  New  Orleans  City  R.  Company,  35  S.  Rep.,  614.) 
LOUISIANA.— Street  Railroads— Operation— Lease  of  Road- 
Negligence  of  Lessee. 

1.  A  railroad  corporation,  by  its  very  incorporation  under  the 


laws  of  the  State,  assumes  as  one  of  its  primary  obligations  that 
it  shall  operate  the  road  under  such  conditions  as  to  properly  se- 
cure the  safety  of  the  general  public. 

2.  It  is  liable  for  injuries  to  persons  caused  by  the  wrongful  or 
negligent  operation  of  the  cars  upon  the  road,  whether  operated 
by  itself  or  by  another  corporation  to  which  it  had  leased  it. — 
(Muntz  vs.  Algiers  &  G.  Railway  Company  et  al.,  35  Southern 
Rep.,  624.) 

LOUISIANA. — Street  Railroads — Accident  at  Crossing — Con- 
tributory Negligence. 

1.  The  recognized  rule  is  that  before  attempting  to  cross  a  rail- 
way track  a  person  should  stop,  look  and  listen,  and  it  will  hardly 
do  to  substitute  for  it  a  rule  to  the  effect  that,  being  at  a  distance 
from  a  crossing,  toward  which  he  and  an  electric  or  steam  car  are 
traveling,  he  may  then  form  an  opinion  as  to  which  of  the  two 
will  get  there  first,  and,  acting  upon  that  opinion,  essay  the  cross- 
ing without  giving  himself  further  concern  upon  the  subject. 

2.  The  fact  that  a  street  railway  company  has  operated  a  car  at 
too  high  a  rate  of  speed  will  not  entitle  a  party  who  is  injured  to 
recover  if  it  appears  that  the  fault  of  the  company  would  not  have 
caused  the  injury  save  for  the  supervening  and  greater  fault  of 
the  party  injured. — Heebe  vs.  New  Orleans  &  C.  Railroad,  Light 
&  Power  Company,  35  Southern  Rep.,  251.) 

MARYLAND. — Street  Railways — Personal  Injuries — Crossings 
— Vehicles — Collisions — Imputed  Negligence — Contributory 
Negligence. 

1.  The  negligence  of  a  driver  of  a  vehicle  is  not  to  be  imputed 
to  one  who  rides  with  him  by  invitation,  and  is  injured  by  collision 
with  a  street  car. 

2.  Where  plaintiff  was  riding  by  invitation  with  one  whom  he 
knew  was  a  skillful,  experienced  driver,  who  had  for  many  years 
been  traveling  the  streets  in  vehicles  such  as  they  were  riding  in, 
and  he  saw  this  driver  check  his  horse  as  they  approached  a  street 
railway,  and  lean  forward  beyond  the  side  curtains  and  look  for 
cars,  and  plaintiff,  in  his  position,  could  not  see  through  the  glass 
in  the  side  of  the  curtain,  and  did  not  l.^ar  a  car  approaching,  he 
was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  in  relying  on  the  care 
of  the  driver. — (United  Railways  &  Electric  Company  vs.  Biedler, 
56  Atlantic  Rep.,  813.) 

MASSACHUSETTS. — Carriers — Injuries  to  Passengers — Alight- 
ing From  Cars — Negligence — Evidence. 
1.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  made  no  effort  to  alight 
when  the  car  reached  the  terminus  of  a  branch  track  at  a  station, 
at  which  point  other  passengers  alighted,  and  after  the  conductor 
carried  the  trolley  around  to  the  other  end  of  the  car,  and  as  the 
car  was  about  to  start,  plaintiff  attempted  to  alight,  and  was  in- 
jured by  the  car  starting  while  he  was  doing  so,  but  neither  the 
conductor  nor  the  motorman  had  any  reason  to  suppose  plaintiff 
desired  to  get  off  at  that  time,  defendant  was  not  guilty  of  negli- 
gence warranting  a  recovery. — (Spaulding  vs.  Quincy  &  B.  Street 
Railway  Company,  69  N.  E.  Rep.,  217.) 

MASSACHUSETTS. — Carriers  —  Injury  to  Passengers  —  Evi- 
dence— Sufficiency — Competency. 

1.  On  appeal  by  plaintiff  in  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by 
a  passenger  on  a  street  car  owing  to  a  defective  device  for  open- 
ing and  shutting  the  door,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed,  in  favor  of 
appellant,  that  an  inspection  of  the  car  by  the  jury  added  anything 
to  the  evidence  contained  in  the  bill  of  exceptions. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  passen- 
ger, it  was  plaintiff's  theory  that  the  slot  in  the  door  which  con- 
tained the  opening  device  was  defective,  and  exposed  those  open- 
ing the  door  to  the  risk  of  having  their  fingers  bruised  when  the 
door  was  slid  back.  It  appeared  that  the  passenger  had  declared 
that  he  "jammed  his  finger  at  the  door,"  and  one  witness,  who 
saw  him  open  the  door,  testified  that  he  used  his  right  hand,  while 
it  was  his  left  that  was  injured.  Held,  that  there  was  nothing  to 
warrant  a  finding  that  plaintiff  was  injured  by  means  of  the  open- 
ing device. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  negligence  causing 
the  death  of  a  passenger,  it  was  plaintiff's  theory  that  the  passen- 
ger's fingers  were  bruised  in  the  device  for  opening  the  door,  and 
that  from  such  injuries  he  fainted,  and  fell  from  the  car,  and  was 
killed.  There  was  evidence  that  he  had  taken  six  or  eight  glasses 
of  ale  that  evening,  and  there  was  no  evidence  to  show  that  he  did 
faint.  Held,  that  the  jury  would  not  have  been  warranted  in  find- 
ing that  his  fall  was  caused  by  an  injury  to  his  finger,  it  being  as 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  he  might  have  fallen  from  sleepiness, 
apoplexy  or  from  the  effects  of  the  ale. 

4.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway,  where  plaintiff  claims 
that  a  passenger  was  injured  by  his  fingers  having  been  bruised 
in  the  slot  used  for  opening  the  door  of  the  car,  there  was  nothing 
to  show  that  the  injury  ;o  his  hand  was  caused  by  any  difficulty 
in  opening  the  door.  Held,  that  testimony  of  a  witness  as  to 
whether  he  had  observed  any  difficulty  in  opening  the  door  in 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


that  car,  or  one  like  it,  was  incompetent. — (Williams  vs.  Citizens' 
Electric  Street  Railway,  68  N.  E.  Rep.,  840.) 

MASSACHUSETTS.— Street  Railroads— Injury  to  Child— Negli- 
gence of  Parents — Questions  for  Jury. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  an  injury 
to  a  child  through  the  negligence  of  the  company,  the  question 
whether  the  father  exercised  due  care  in  permitting  the  child  to 
go  into  the  yard,  which  was  inclosed,  to  play,  from  whence  she 
went  into  the  street,  was  for  the  jury. 

2.  A  child  of  three  years  was  permitted  by  her  father  to  go  into 
the  yard  to  play  with  an  older  sister  of  9  years  and  a  neighbor's 
child  aged  10.  The  yard  was  inclosed,  and  the  gate  was  kept 
closed.  After  going  into  the  yard,  the  children  wandered  into  the 
street,  and  the  younger  child  was  struck  by  a  street  car.  Held, 
that  it  was  for  the  jury  whether  the  child  was  under  the  charge 
of  her  older  sister  afte'r  they  left  the  yard  and  went  on  the  street. — 
(Mellen  vs.  Old  Colony  Street  Railway  Company,  68  N.  E.  Rep., 
679-) 

MASSACHUSETTS.— Street  Railroads— Boy  Clinging  to  Car- 
Wanton  Injury — Contributory  Negligence  as  Defense — In- 
struction— Company's  Liability — Previous  Acts  of  Negligence 
— Admissibility  of  Evidence. 

1.  Plaintiff,  a  boy  6^4  years  old,  ran  against  a  street  car,  and 
was  clinging  to  the  lower  step  near  the  forward  end  as  the  car 
rounded  a  curve.  He  cried  to  the  motorman  to  let  him  off,  but 
the  motorman,  though  perceiving  plaintiff's  danger,  turned  on 
the  power  in  a  wanton  and  reckless  way,  thus  starting  the  car 
quickly  forward  and  throwing  plaintiff  to  the  ground,  injuring 
him.  Held,  that  plaintiff's  failure  to  exercise  ordinary  care,  even 
at  and  after  the  motorman's  act,  was  no  defense,  in  view  of  the 
wilful,  wanton  and  reckless  character  of  the  act. 

2.  An  instruction,  in  a  personal  injury  case,  that,  if  defendant's 
act  was  wilful  and  intentional,  plaintiff  need  not  show  that  he  was 
"in  the  exercise  of  due  care,"  means  ordinary  care,  and  is  not  ob- 
jectionable as  relieving  plaintiff  from  special  care,  which  peculiar 
circumstances  might  impose  upon  him. 

3.  A  master  is  liable  for  the  acts  of  his  servant  done  recklessly 
or  wilfully  in  the  course  of  his  employment. 

4.  In  a  personal  injury  action  involving  the  defense  of  contribu- 
tory negligence,  defendant's  evidence  of  previous  acts  of  careless- 
ness on  plaintiff's  part  is  inadmissible. — (Aiken  vs.  Holyoke  Street 
Railway  Company,  68  N.  E.  Rep.,  238.) 

MASSACHUSETTS.— Street  Railroads— Injuries  to  Pedestrians 
— Contributory  Negligence — Evidence. 
1.  In  an  action  to  recover  for  the  death  of  plaintiff's  intestate, 
who  was  run  over  by  one  of  defendant's  street  cars,  evidence  held 
to  show  that,  though  deceased  stepped  between  the  rails  to  avoid 
travelers  approaching  him  on  the  street,  he  was  guilty  of  negli- 
gence in  not  stepping  off  the  track,  and  out  of  the  way  of  the 
car  approaching  him  from  the  rear,  and  the  evidence  was  there- 
fore insufficient  to  take  the  case  to  the  jury. — (Dooley  vs.  Green- 
field &  T.  F.  Street  Railway  Company,  68  N.  E.  Rep.,  203.) 

MICHIGAN.' — Carriers — Injuries  to  Passengers — Street  Rail- 
roads— Evidence — Appeal — Assignments  of  Error — Review. 

1.  Where  no  assignment  of  error  was  taken  to  a  portion  of  the 
judge's  charge  at  the  trial  which  was  objected  to  on  the  oral  argu- 
ment on  appeal,  such  objection  cannot  be  reviewed. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street  car,  evi- 
dence reviewed,  and  held  to  justify  the  court  in  submitting  to  the 
jury  the  question  whether  an  injury  to  plaintiff's  spinal  column 
was  caused  by  other  hurts  which  plaintiff  received  during  the  ac- 
cident, and  not  by  an  electric  shock,  for  which  he  was  not  en- 
titled to  recover. — (Perry  vs.  Detroit  United  Railway,  98  N.  W. 
Rep.,  17.) 

MICHIGAN.— Street  Railroads— Right  of  Way— Contributory 
Negligence. 

1.  The  cars  of  a  street  railway  company  do  not  have  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  way  on  its  tracks,  and  a  motorman  has  no  right 
to  operate  a  car  under  the  assumption  that  the  right  of  way  will 
be  clear,  and  propel  the  car  at  the  extreme  rate  permitted  by  law. 

2.  Failure  of  persons  driving  on  street  railroad  tracks  to  look 
and  listen  for  cars  approaching  from  behind  does  not  constitute 
contributory  negligence  as  a  matter  of  law. — (Rouse  vs.  Detroit 
Electric  Railway,  98  N.  W.  Rep.,  258.) 

MICHIGAN. — Street  Railways — Driver  of  Vehicle — Attempt  to 
Cross  Track — Contributory  Negligence — Jury  Question. 
1.  Where  the  driver  of  a  vehicle  at  night  turns  to  cross  a  double 
street  car  track,  looking  as  he  does  so,  and  perceiving  one  car 
approaching  on  the  nearer  track  at  the  distance  of  a  block,  and 
another  on  the  further  track  at  a  distance  of  two  blocks,  he  is  not 
guilty  of  negligence,  as  a  matter  of  law,  in  failing  to  look  a  second 
time  before  reaching  the  second  track,  and  to  endeavor  to  avoid 
the  car  on  that  track  by  remaining  on  the  first  track,  or  backing 


clear  of  it,  but  the  question  is  for  the  jury. — (Chauvin  vs.  Detroit 
United  Railway,  97  N.  W.  Rep.,  160.) 

MICHIGAN. — Carriers  of  Passengers — Personal  Injury- — Declar- 
ation— Proof  of  Injury — Negligence — Evidence — Instructions 
— Remarks  of  Counsel — Harmless  Error. 

1.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  for  injuries  sustained  by  rea- 
son of  the  car  running  through  an  open  switch,  the  declaration 
alleged  that  defendant's  negligence  consisted  in  want  of  reasonable 
care,  in  not  having  the  switch  properly  adjusted,  in  not  keeping 
the  implements  used  in  adjusting  it  so  that  children  and  others 
could  not  improperly  use  them  to  move  the  switch,  in  running 
the  car  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  and  in  failing'  to  approach  the 
switch  with  the  car  under  control.  It  was  shown  that  the  switch 
was  at  a  public  place,  where  many  children  congregated;  that  it 
was  not  fastened;  that  it  was  opened  by  any  one  desiring  to  do  so 
by  the  use  of  a  bar  left  there  by  defendant;  that  the  car  approached 
the  switch  at  a  rate  of  15  or  20  miles  an  hour;  and  that  some  one 
had  thrown  the  switch  open.  Held,  that  the  evidence  was  suf- 
ficient to  require  the  submission  of  the  case  to  the  jury. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by  a  passenger  by  reason 
of  the  car  running  through  an  open  switch,  the  declaration  alleged 
that  plaintiff  was  thrown  on  the  ground;  that  he  was  thereby 
bruised,  hurt  and  wounded,  sustaining  a  concussion  of  the  spine, 
and  injuring  the  tissues  and  nerves  in  the  gluteal  region  of  the 
right  hip,  causing  a  wasting  of  the  right  leg,  and  the  nerves, 
muscles  and  tissues  thereof,  permanently  disabling  him  from 
manual  labor;  that  he  suffered  great  pain  and  anguish  of  mind 
and  body;  and  that  he  became  sick,  sore,  lame  and  disordered. 
Held  to  authorize  proof  relative  to  neuritis  of  the  sciatic  nerve. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  a  pre-existing  in- 
jury was  shown,  which  was  caused  by  plaintiff  falling  on  ice,  which 
had  not  prevented  him  from  working,  and  which  affected  the  hip 
joint  and  left  leg,  but  not  his  back,  an  instruction  that  plaintiff 
could  not  hold  defendant  liable  for  the  effects  due  to  the  former 
condition,  or  its  growth  or  development,  and  that  plaintiff  was 
entitled  only  to  such  damages  on  account  of  decreased  earning 
power  as,  in  accordance  with  his  former  condition,  the  jury  should 
consider  just,  properly  and  sufficiently  stated  the  law. 

4.  The  remark  of  counsel,  in  his  argument  to  the  jury,  that  the 
witnesses  for  the  adverse  party  were  "cattle,"  though  highly  im- 
proper, does  not  constitute  prejudical  error,  where  the  court 
stated  that  he  would  not  make  such  remarks,  and  where  counsel 
thereupon  retracted,  and  his  associate  stated  that  he  did  not  think 
counsel  intended  to  say  the  men  were  cattle. — (Leslie  vs.  Jackson 
&  S.  Traction  Company,  96  N.  W.  Rep.,  580.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Pedestrian — Contribu- 
tory Negligence — Burden  of  Proof — Evidence — Sufficiency — 
Instructions. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  in- 
juries to  a  pedestrian  from  being  struck  by  defendants'  car,  there 
was  no  proof  that  plaintiff  did  not  look  or  listen  before  attempt- 
ing to  cross  the  track,  it  will  be  presumed  that  she  was  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  due  care. 

2.  It  is  not  negligence  as  a  matter  of  law  for  a  person  to  fail  to 
look  and  listen  before  attempting  to  cross  a  street  railway  track 
while  a  car  is  over  200  feet  distant,  with  the  view  of  the  motor- 
man  unobstructed. 

3.  Where  plaintiff,  in  attempting  to  cross  defendant  street  rail- 
way company's  track,  fell  while  the  car  was  over  200  feet  distant, 
and  the  motorman's  view  unobstructed,  the  question  of  whether 
he  could  have  seen  plaintiff  in  time  to  have  stopped  the  car  before 
injuring  her  was  for  the  jury. 

4.  In  an  action  for  negligence,  failure  to  specifically  define  rea- 
sonable care  is  not  error,  where  no  such  definition  was  requested. 
— (Priesmeyer  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  313.) 

MISSOURI.— Carriers— Injury  to  Passenger— Degree  of  Care 
Required — Instruction. 
1.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  for  injuries  it  is  not  error  to  in- 
struct that  the  common  carrier  of  persons  is  bound  to  use  "the 
highest  degree  of  care"  for  the  safety  of  its  passengers. — (Tillman 
vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  320.) 

MISSOURI.— Carrier  of    Passengers— Street   Car  Company- 
Negligent  Carriage  Beyond  Destination — Injury  While  Re- 
turning— Liability. 
1.  The  act  of  a  street  car  company  in  negligently  carrying  a 
passenger  one  block  beyond  her  destination  is  not  the  proximate 
cause  of  an  injury  sustained  by  her  from  a  fall  on  an  icy  sidewalk 
while  returning  to  the  point  of  original  destination. — (Haley  vs. 
St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  731.) 
MISSOURI.— Carriers  of  Passengers— Injury— Evidence— Bur- 
den of  Proof — Instructions. 
1.  An  instruction  that  the  negligence  charged  is  that  the  con- 
ductor of  defendant's  car  stopped  it  to  permit  plaintiff  to  alight, 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


and  while  she  was  alighting  suddenly  started  it,  throwing  her 
down  and  injuring  her,  is  not  objectionable  as  placing  stress  on 
the  stopping  of  the  car  as  part  of  the  act  of  negligence. 

2.  A  charge  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for 
negligence,  setting  out  plaintiff's  theory,  and  stating  that  the 
burden  is  on  plaintiff  as  to  the  act  of  negligence  "throughout  the 
case,"  is  not  objectionable  as  requiring  the  plaintiff  to  prove  her- 
self free  from  contributory  negligence,  where  no  reference  is 
made  to  that. 

3.  The  burden  is  not  shifted  from  a  passenger  on  proof  of  her 
injury  in  alighting"  from  a  street  car  so  as  to  require  an  explana- 
tion from  the  company,  but  she  must  also  prove  that  the  accident 
occurred  through  the  company's  fault. 

4.  Where  a  street  car  company  was  entitled  to  an  instruction 
that  it  was  not  guilty  of  negligence  unless  a  car  had  "stopped" 
when  a  passenger  attempted  to  alight,  the  use  of  the  term 
"stopped  still"  was  no  abuse  of  the  right. 

5.  Where  a  passenger,  in  her  petition  against  a  street  railway 
company,  alleged,  and  her  evidence  tended  to  prove,  and  her  re- 
quests for  instructions  assumed,  that  the  car  had  stopped  when 
she  attempted  to  alight  therefrom  and  was  injured,  she  cannot 
complain  of  instructions,  on  defendant's  request,  that,  if  the  in- 
juries were  caused  by  her  leaving  the  car  before  it  had  stopped, 
or  if  she  got  off  the  car  while  it  was  yet  moving,  the  company  is 
not  liable. — (Peck  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep., 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Crossings — Injuries  to  Pedes- 
trians— Contributory  Negligence — Humanitarian  Doctrine — 
Trial — Witnesses — Examination — Facts  Previously  Testified 
To. 

r.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  the 
death  of  a  pedestrian  at  a  street  crossing  certain  witnesses  not 
only  testified  that  the  motorman  could  see  the  deceased,  but  also 
testified  to  all  the  physical  facts  necessary  to  determine  how  far 
the  motorman  could  have  seen  him,  and  were  permitted  to  make 
all  the  corrections  they  desired  in  their  testimony,  it  was  not 
error  for  the  court  to  refuse  to  permit  plaintiff's  counsel  to  again 
ask  the  witnesses  concerning  such  facts. 

2.  Where  plaintiff's  decedent  could  have  seen  an  approaching 
street  car,  by  which  he  was  killed  at  a  street  crossing,  at  all  times 
after  starting  to  cross  the  street,  but  attempted  to  cross  in  front 
of  the  car  without  looking  or  paying  any  attention  thereto,  he 
was  guilty  of  such  contributory  negligence  as  precluded  recovery. 

3.  Where  the  negligence  of  plaintiff's  decedent,  who  was  killed 
by  a  street  car  at  a  crossing,  was  not  only  concurrent  with  that  of 
the  motorman,  but  was  contemporaneous  and  coincident  with  his 
injury,  no  recovery  could  be  had  under  the  humanitarian  doctrine. 
■ — (Ries  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  734.) 
MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Persons  on  Track 

— Proximate  Cause — Discovered  Peril — Action  by  Parents — 
Evidence. 

1.  A  girl  of  11  years  of  age  and  a  boy  of  9,  walking  on  the 
tracks  of  a  Street  railway  without  looking  for  a  car,  are  guilty  of 
negligence. 

2.  Where  two  children  went  on  the  tracks  of  a  street  railway 
and  walked  along  the  same  in  the  same  direction  from  which  a 
car  was  approaching  them,  the  motorman  of  the  car  had  a  right 
to  presume,  in  the  first  instance,  that  they  had  looked  for  the  car, 
or  would  look,  and  get  out  of  the  way. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  the  death 
of  a  child  who  was  run  over  by  a  car,  it  appeared  from  plaintiff's 
evidence  that  deceased  was  walking  along  the  track  in  the  same 
direction  in  which  the  car  was  moving,  and  could  have  been  seen 
for  over  400  feet  by  the  motorman,  it  was  a  question  for  the  jury 
whether  the  motorman  knew,  or  by  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care 
should  have  known,  of  the  danger  in  time  to  have  averted  the 
accident. 

4.  Where  the  motorman  of  a  street  car  sees  one  walking  along 
the  track  ahead  of  the  car,  and  that  he  is  oblivious  of  his  danger, 
in  time  to  avert  accident,  but  fails  to  do  so,  the  company  is  liable. 

5.  In  an  action  for  the  death  of  plaintiff's  11-year-old  daughter, 
killed  by  being  run  over  by  a  street  car  while  on  her  way  to  school, 
the  fact  that  there  was  no  positive  evidence  to  show  that  the  girl 
was  unmarried  was  no  ground  for  sustaining  a  demu-rer  to  the 
evidence.— (Jett  et  al.  vs.  Central  Electric  Railway  Company,  77 
S.  W.  Rep.,  738.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Wagon — Actions — 
Evidence  —  Nonsuit— Instructions  —  Uncompleteness— Con- 
flicting. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  injuries  to  a  wagon 
a  nonsuit  was  properly  denied  where,  on  plaintiff's  evidence,  the 
wagon  was  visible  for  the  length  of  a  block  on  the  same  track 
as  that  on  which  tne  car  was  running,  and  the  motorman  might 
have  avoided  the  collision. 


2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  injuries  to  a  wagon, 
an  instruction  to  find  for  plaintiff  if  the  motorman  saw  or  could 
have  seen  the  wagon  in  time  to  warn  the  driver  and  enable  him 
to  drive  off,  or  in  time  to  stop  the  car,  before  the  collision,  was 
incomplete  in  that  it  failed  to  also  state  that  the  motorman  must 
have  neglected  to  warn  plaintiff's  driver,  and  that  such  neglect 
must  have  been  the  proximate  cause  of  the  accident. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  injuries  to  a  wagon, 
an  instruction  to  find  for  plaintiff  if  the  motorman  could  have 
seen  the  wagon  in  time  to  warn  the  driver  and  enable  him  to  drive 
off,  or  in  time  to  stop  the  car,  before  collision,  was  in  conflict 
with  instructions  given  for  defendant  to  the  effect  that  it  was 
not  liable  if  its  servants  used  ordinary  care  to  stop  the  car  as  soon 
as  they  saw,  or  might  have  seen,  plaintiff's  wagon  in  a  position 
of  danger,  and  which  accepted  that  theory  as  the  only  ground  of 
recovery. — (Jersey  Farm  Dairy  Company  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  346.) 

MISSOURI. — Street    Railroads — Crossings — Injuries — Duty  to 
Look  and  Listen — Contributory  Negligence — Questions  for 
Jury — Proximate  Cause — Last  Clear  Chance — Care  Required 
— Instructions — Quotient — Verdict — Appeal. 
1.  Plaintiff  testified  that  before  crossing  a  street  car  track  he 
looked  both  ways,  and  saw  no  car  coming,  and  when  the  front 
wheels  of  his  wagon  struck  the  south  rail  of  the  track  he  heard  a 
noise,  and  looked  west,  and  saw  a  car  approaching  about  200  feet 
away  at  a  rapid  rate  of  speed;  that  he  whipped  up  his  horses,  but 
failed  to  get  the  wagon  across  in  time  to  avoid  a  collision,  and  was 
injured;  that  the  reason  he  did  not  see  the  car  before  starting 
across  the  track  was  that  his  view  was  obstructed  by  the  foliage 
of  shade  trees,  which  was  not  disproved.    Held,  that  plaintiff  was 
not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence,  as  a  matter  of  law. 

2..  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  in  a  collision  with  a  street 
car  at  a  crossing,  plaintiff's  evidence  tended  to  show  that  the  car 
was  running  at  a  rate  of  speed  prohibited  by  a  city  ordinance,  and 
it  was  a  reasonable  inference  that,  if  the  car  had  been  running  at 
a  lawful  rate  of  speed,  plaintiff  could  have  cleared  the  track  before 
the  car  arrived,  such  proof  showed'negligence  per  se. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  in  a  collision  with  a  street 
car  at  a  crossing,  it  appeared  that  the  car  was  from  200  to  250  feet 
west  of  plaintiff  when  his  horses  were  in  the  track  on  which  the 
car  was  running,  and  that  the  car  could  have  been  stopped  within 
a  much  shorter  space  than  200  feet,  and  plaintiff  and  his  team 
were  in  plain  view  of  the  motorman,  attempting  to  cross  as  the 
latter  approached  the  crossing,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  motorman 
to  have  stopped  the  car  in  time  to  have  avoided  injuring  plaintiff, 
and  his  omission  to  do  so  was  the  proximate  cause  of  the  injury. 

4.  Where  the  negligence  of  a  street  railway  motorman  in  failing 
to  stop  his  car  to  avoid  injuring  plaintiff  while  he  was  endeavor- 
ing to  cross  the  track,  which  the  motorman  could  easily  have  done, 
was  the  proximate  cause  of  plaintiff's  injury,  plaintiff's  contribu- 
tory negligence  in  driving  on  the  track  without  looking  or  listen- 
ing was  no  defense. 

5.  In  the  absence  of  proof  that  a  quotient  verdict  had  been  re- 
turned by  the  jury,  error  of  the  court  in  charging  that,  though 
it  was  improper  and  illegal  for  them  to  agree  to  arrive  at  a  verdict 
in  that  manner,  yet,  if  they  did  not  so  agree,  but  assented  and 
voluntarily  agreed  on  such  amount  without  reference  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  obtained,  the  verdict  was  not  contrary  to  law, 
was  not  available  on  appeal. 

6.  In  an  action  for  injuries  in  a  collision  with  a  street  car  at  a 
crossing  in  a  populous  part  of  a  large  city,  an  instruction  which 
required  the  motorman  in  charge  of  the  car  to  keep  a  vigilant 
watch  for  other  vehicles,  and  on  the  first  appearance  of  danger  to 
stop  or  check  his  car  in  the  shortest  time  and  space  practicable, 
was  not  erroneous,  as  requiring  too  high  a  degree  of  care. — 
(Kolb  vs.  St.  Louis  Traction  Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  1050.) 
MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Passenger — Negli- 
gence—Instructions— Pleadings— Assumption  of  Risk— Dam- 
ages. 

1.  A  street  railway  company  assuming  to  carry  a  passenger 
standing  on  the  steps  of  the  platform  of  the  car,  outside  of  the 
gate,  and  on  the  side  next  to  the  other  track,  on  which  cars  run 
in  the  opposite  direction,  is  chargeable  with  the  duty  of  carrying 
him  safely  in  that  position,  if  it  can  be  done  by  that  high  degree 
of  care  which  the  law  requires  the  company  to  observe  toward  its 
passengers. 

2.  A  street  car  passenger  taking  a  dangerous  position  by  stand- 
ing on  the  car  steps,  outside  of  the  gate,  and  on  the  side  of  the 
adjacent  track,  on  which  cars  run  in  the  opposite  direction,  is  re- 
quired to  exercise  that  degree  of  care  for  his  own  safety  which 
prudent  persons  under  like  circumstances  would  observe. 

3.  A  street  car  passenger,  because  of  the  crowded  condition  of 
the  car,  stood  on  the  step  of  the  front  platform  of  the  car,  outside 
of  the  gate  enclosing  the  platform,  and  on  the  side  next  to  the 


164 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


track  on  which  cars  were  operated  in  the  opposite  direction.  The 
motorman  saw  him,  and  warned  him  that  it  was  a  position  of 
danger.  The  conductor  saw  him,  and,  without  warning,  collected 
his  fare.  It  was  feasible  to  carry  a  passenger  safely  in  that  posi- 
tion. The  company  carried  men  safely  in  that  position,  and  car- 
ried this  passenger  for  about  two  miles,  when  he  was  injured  by 
the  car  and  a  car  traveling  on  the  other  track  coming  nearly  in 
contact  with  each  other  at  a  curve  in  the  road,  because  of  a  viola- 
tion of  the  rules  of  the  companies  operating  cars  on  the  tracks, 
governing  the  passing  of  cars  at  curves.  There  was  nothing  to 
show  that  the  passenger  was  guilty  of  negligence  after  taking  his 
position  on  the  step.  Held,  that  the  question  of  defendants'  negli- 
gence was  for  the  jury. 

4.  Though  the  act  of  the  passenger  in  taking  the  position  on 
the  step  was  an  act  of  negligence,  which  contributed  to  his  injury, 
the  question  of  the  negligence  of  the  motorman,  knowing  the 
position  of  the  passenger,  running  his  car  into  the  curve  in  plain 
view  of  the  car  on  the  other  track,  was  for  the  jury. 

5.  The  petition  in  an  action  by  a  street  car  passenger  for  in- 
juries, alleged  negligence  of  defendants  in  bringing  their  cars  in 
close  proximity  while  meeting  on  a  curve.  The  answer  consisted 
of  a  general  denial  and  a  plea  of  contributory  negligence,  in  tak- 
ing a  dangerous  position  on  the  step  01  the  platform  of  the  car, 
outside  of  the  gate,  and  on  the  side  next  to  the  other  track.  Held, 
that  an  additional  plea  alleging  that  the  passenger  knew,  or  by 
ordinary  care  might  have  known,  the  situation  of  the  tracks,  and 
that  the  danger  of  riding  on  the  step  was  known,  or  by  ordinary 
care  might  have  been  known,  to  the  passenger,  and  that  he  as- 
sumed the  risk,  if  intended  to  charge  that  his  injuries  resulted 
solely  from  his  voluntary  act  of  riding  on  the  step,  was  covered  by 
the  plea  of  general  denial. 

6.  If  the  pleader  intended  to  allege  that  the  position  was  so 
dangerous  that  injury  to  the  passenger  could  not  have  been 
avoided  by  the  exercise  of  the  care  incumbent  on  the  carrier,  and 
that  the  danger  was  obvious  or  known  to  the  passenger,  the  plea 
was  defective  for  failing  to  so  allege. 

7.  If  the  plea  intended  to  allege  that  the  passenger's  negligent 
act  of  riding  on  the  step  contributed  to  his  injury,  it  was  covered 
by  the  plea  of  contributory  negligence. 

8.  A  street  railway  passenger  never  assumes  the  risk  of  the 
company's  negligence. 

9.  A  fact  about  which  there  is  no  dispute,  and  which  is  con- 
ceded to  be  true  notwithstanding  the  allegations  in  the  pleadings, 
may  be  assumed  in  an  instruction  to  be  true. 

10.  Where  there  was  some  evidence  that  the  car  of  the  other 
company  stopped  after  entering  the  curve  at  a  point  where  the 
danger  was  greatest,  an  instruction  that  such  company  was  not 
liable,  if  at  the  moment  of  the  accident  its  cars  was  not  passing 
through  the  curve,  was  properly  refused,  because  authorizing  a 
verdict  for  it  if  its  car  had  stopped  after  entering  the  curve. 

11.  Where  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  verdict  in  a 
personal  injury  action  was  not  the  result  of  calm  judgment,  the 
court  on  appeal  will  not  disturb  it  as  excessive. —  (Parks  vs.  St. 
Louis  &  S.  Railway  Company,  et  si.,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  70.) 

MISSOURI.— Master  and  Servant — Personal  Injuries — Negli- 
gence— Pleading — General  Charge — Evidence — Sufficiency — 
Accident — Presumption — Fellow  Servants — Street  Railways. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  master  for  personal  injuries  to  a  ser- 
vant, a  general  charge  of  negligence  is  sufficient  as  against  an 
objection  first  made  on  trial. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  master  by  a  servant  for  personal  in- 
juries, evidence  that  a  crowbar  used  by  other  servants  fell  through 
the  floor  to  the  next  story,  and  struck  plaintiff  on  the  head,  was 
sufficient  to  cast  on  defendant  the  necessity  of  showing  that  the 
accident  was  not  the  result  of  negligence. 

3.  Plaintiff,  who  was  engaged  in  hauling  away  rubbish  made  by 
carpenters  in  their  work,  was  a  fellow  servant  with  the  carpenters, 
and  could  not  recover  for  injuries  inflicted  by  their  negligence. 

4.  A  street  railway  is  not  within  the  provisions  of  the  fellow- 
servant  statute  applicable  to  railroads,  whereby  the  master  of  com- 
mon servants  is  made  answerable  for  their  negligence  to  each 
other. 

5.  Where  an  action  was  against  the  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  and  the  petition  charged  that  such  company  was  a 
common  carrier,  and  a  corporation  organized  and  existing  under 
the  laws  of  the  State,  owning  and  operating  street  and  electric 
railways  between  certain  points,  and  that  plaintiff  was  employed 
by  defendant  in  hauling  trash  from  its  power  house,  there  was 
sufficient  in  the  case  to  show  that  defendant  was  a  street  railway- 
company,  and  not  within  the  fellow-servant  statute  applicable  to 
railroads,  though  there  was  no  direct  and  affirmative  proof  of  such 
fact.— (Johnson  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  78 
S.  W.  Rep.,  276.) 


MISSOURI.— New  Trials— Discretion  of  Trial  Court— Malicious 

Prosecution — Damages — Excessive  Verdicts. 

1.  The  granting  of  new  trials  rests  peculiarly  within  the  sound 
discretion  of  the  trial  court. 

2.  In  circuit  courts  is  vested  the  authority  and  the  duty  to 
supervise  verdicts,  and  to  grant  new  trials  if  the  verdict  is  im- 
proper or  not  sustained  by  the  evidence. 

3.  In  an  action  for  malicious  prosecution,  although  plaintiff's 
evidence  established  his  high  character,  and  unjust  denouncement 
by  defendant's  servants  upon  the  charge  of  breach  of  the  peace 
and  their  detention  of  him  prior  to  arrest,  his  release  on  bail,  and 
discharge  after  trial,  coupled  with  unprovoked  and  unjustified  in- 
sult, so  that  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  liberal  redress  and  punitive 
damages,  a  verdict  for  $1,500  actual  damages  and  $1,000  exemplary 
damages  was  excessive. — (Farrell  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company, 
78  S.  W.  Rep.,  312.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Passenger  Alighting 
— Time  to  be  Allowed — Variance — Impeaching  Testimony — 
Damages — Instructions — Harmless  Error. 

1.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  has  a  young  girl  with  her, 
extra  time  should  be  allowed  her  in  alighting,  in  view  of  her  de- 
lay necessary  to  assist  her  companion  to  alight. 

2.  There  is  no  variance  between  a  complaint  alleging  that  while 
plaintiff  was  alighting  from  a  street  car,  and  before  she  had  a  rea- 
sonable time  to  alight,  the  car  started,  and  proof  that  it  did  not 
stop  a  sufficient  time  to  allow  her  to  alight,  in  view  of  her  delay 
caused  in  assisting  a  young  girl  with  her  to  alight. 

3.  Judgment  will  not  be  reversed  for  variance,  in  the  absence 
of  a  showing,  under  Rev.  St.  1899,  section  655,  providing  that  no 
variance  shall  be  deemed  material  unless  proved  so  by  affidavit. 

4.  The  conductor  of  the  street  car  having  testified,  in  an  action 
for  injury  to  a  passenger  in  alighting,  that  the  car  did  not  start 
till  after  the  passenger  had  alighted,  evidence  that  while  assisting 
her  to  arise  from  the  ground  he  recognized  that  she  had  been 
thrown  from  the  car,  is  admissible  to  impeach  him. 

5.  Error  in  an  instruction  in  an  action  for  personal  injury,  in 
which  the  testimony  showed  that  plaintiffs  paid  his  pnysician  $20 
for  his  services,  authorizing  a  recovery  for  any  expenses  neces- 
sarily incurred  for  medical  attention,  instead  of  leaving  it  to  the 
jury  to  decide  whether  the  amount  paid  was  reasonable,  is  not  ma- 
terially prejudicial,  so  as  to  require  a  reversal. — (Hannon  vs.  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  158.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Passenger — Assault 
by  Conductor — Petition — Demurrer — Waiver — Statutes — Ap- 
peal and  Error — Verdict. 

1.  An  appeal  on  the  record,  in  the  absence  of  a  bill  of  excep- 
tions, restricts  the  court  to  a  review  of  questions  arising  on  the 
face  of  the  record. 

2.  Where  a  demurrer  to  a  petition  on  the  ground  that  defendant 
is  not  a  necessary  party  ,.0  a  complete  determination  of  the  action 
is  overruled,  an  answer  on  the  merits  is  equivalent  to  a  with- 
withdrawal  or  abandonment  of  the  demurrer,  under  Rev.  St.  1899, 
section  602,  relating  to  waiver  of  objections. 

3.  A  carrier  is  liable  where  plaintiff,  after  a  street  car  had 
stopped  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  passengers,  and  while  still, 
or  slowly  moving,  attempted  to  get  on,  and  was  violently  and 
without  provocation  assaulted  by  the  conductor,  causing  plaintiff 
to  fall  from  the  car,  whereby  he  sustained  injuries. 

4.  By  pleading  to  the  merits  defendant  waives  all  objections  to 
the  petition  except  that  it  fails  to  state  facts  sufficient  to  constitute 
a  cause  of  action  and  the  objection  that  the  court  has  no  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  subject-matter  of  the  action. 

5.  Any  defects  in  a  petition  alleging  that  plaintiff,  after  a  street 
car  had  stopped  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  passengers,  and  while 
still,  or  slowly  moving,  attempted  to  get  on,  and  was  violently  as- 
saulted by  the  conductor,  causing  plaintiff  to  be  thrown  and  fall 
from  the  car,  whereby  he  sustained  injuries,  such  assault  being 
without  provocation  or  justification,  and  committed  while  plain- 
tiff was  on  the  car  or  step  thereof,  are  cured  by  verdict,  under  Rev. 
St.  1899,  section  629,  requiring  pleadings  to  be  liberally  construed 
with  a  view  to  substantial  justice  between  the  parties. — (Strauss 
vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  156.) 
MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Ejection  of  Passenger — Injuries 

— Action — Declaration  of  Conductor — Res  Gestae — Instruc- 
tions. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
sustained  by  a  passenger  on  his  being  thrown  from  a  car  by  the 
conductor,  the  statement  of  the  conductor,  made  shortly  after  the 
occurrence,  and  when  passengers  were  crying,  "Stop  the  car!" 
to  the  effect  that  he  was  not  going  to  stop  the  line  for  a  man, 
was  not  admissible  as  a  part  of  the  res  gestae. 

2.  Though  plaintiff's  witnesses  testified  that  the  car  proceeded 
without  stopping,  the  erroneous  admission  of  the  declaration  of 
the  conductor  was  not  harmless. 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


165 


3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company,  the  complain- 
ant alleged  that  plaintiff  had  refused  to  pay  his  fare  until  the  car 
had  passed  a  dangerous  curve,  plaintiff  at  the  time  the  fare  was 
demanded  having  hold  of  a  rail  to  keep  from  being  thrown  from 
the  car,  and  being  incumbered  with  packages,  but  that  the  con- 
ductor threw  him  from  the  moving  car,  which  allegations  were 
sustained  by  plaintiff's  testimony,  and  the  answer  alleged  that  on 
refusal  to  pay  his  fare  the  conductor  had  put  plaintiff  off  without 
unnecessary  force,  which  theory  was  sustained  by  the  conductor's 
testimony.  The  court  instructed  that  if  the  jury  found  that  plain- 
tiff refused  to  pay  his  fare  the  conductor  had  a  right  to  put  him 
off,  but  had  no  right  to  use  any  more  force  than  necessary,  nor 
to  subject  him  to  injury  by  pushing  him  off  while  the  car  was 
moving;  and,  if  the  conductor  violently  pushed  him  from  the  car 
when  it  was  moving  so  rapidly  as  to  throw  him  to  the  ground  and 
injure  him,  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  recover.  Held,  that  the  in- 
struction was  not  open  to  the  objection  that  it  permitted  a  recov- 
ery on  a  different  cause  of  action  from  that  stated  in  the  petition. — 
(Gotwald  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  126.) 
MISSOURI— Carriers  of  Passengers— Street  Railway— Landing 
Passenger — Running  Past  Crossing — Proximate  Cause  of  In- 
jury— Safe  Place  to  Alight. 

1.  Running  past  a  street  crossing  is  not  the  proximate  cause  of 
injury  to  a  street  car  passenger  hurt  in  an  attempt  to  alight. 

2.  Where  a  street  car  stops  15  feet  beyond  a  street  crossing,  at 
a  place  where  the  ground  slopes  up  from  the  track  so  as  to  be  on 
a  level  with  the  car's  step  at  a  point  reached  by  a  passenger  in  hei 
first  step  in  alighting,  but  the  place  from  all  appearances  is  safe, 
there  is  no  negligence  sustaining  a  recovery  by  the  passenger  for 
straining  the  muscles  of  the  leg  in  alighting. — (Lynch  vs.  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep..  100.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Passenger — Duty  of 
Carrier — Damages — Instructions. 

1.  Evidence  of  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  that  she  was  thrown 
from  the  body  of  the  car  into  the  street  by  a  sudden  lurch  thereof 
is  sufficient  to  authorize  a  finding  that  there  was  such  an  unusual 
and  severe  lurching  thereof  as  to  constitute  negligence. 

2.  An  instruction  in  an  action  for  injury  to  a  passenger  on  a 
street  car  that  a  common  carrier  is  bound  to  use  the  highest  de- 
gree of  care  for  the  safety  of  its  passengers,  followed  by  an  in- 
struction that  if  the  motorman  was  negligent,  and  his  negligence 
caused  the  car  to  lurch,  throwing  plaintiff  into  the  street,  plaintiff 
could  recover,  unless  she  was  not  exercising  ordinary  care,  is  not 
erroneous  because  the  term  "highest  degree  of  care"  is  not  de- 
fined. 

3.  An  instruction  that,  if  the  jury  find  for  plaintiff,  they  should 
assess  her  such  damages  as  they  think,  under  the  evidence,  would 
compensate  her,  etc.,  is  not  erroneous  because  using  the  word 
"think"  instead  of  "believe"  or  "find."- — (Ilges  vs.  St.  Louis  Trac- 
tion Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  94.) 

MISSOURI. — Carriers — Ejection  of  Passenger — Refusing  Money 
as  Counterfeit — Damages — Evidence  of  Character. 

1.  In  estimating  damages  for  the  wrongful  and  forcible  ejection 
of  a  passenger,  his  physical  pain,  though  slight,  and  his  mental 
suffering  naturally  resulting,  may  be  considered. 

2.  The  honest  expression  of  opinion  by  a  conductor  that  money 
offered  to  him  for  fare  is  counterfeit,  and  his  refusal  to  accept  it 
on  that  account,  he  not  charging  that  the  passenger  knew  it  was 
counterfeit,  is  not  a  tort,  or  an  element  of  damages  for  the  wrong- 
ful ejection  of  the  passenger. 

3.  A  passenger,  in  an  action  against  a  carrier  for  a  wrongful 
ejection,  may  not  give  evidence  as  to  his  character,  it  not  being 
attacked. 

4.  Where  a  passenger  is  rightfully  on  a  car,  and  tenders  and 
continues  to  tender  a  lawful  money  for  his  fare,  which  is  refused 
on  the  claim  that  it  is  counterfeit,  he  is  not  required  to  leave  the 
car,  but  may  make  protest  against  and  reasonably  resist  ejection. 
— (Breen  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  77  S.  W.  Rep.,  78.) 
MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Person  on  Track — 

Negligence — Instructions — Evidence — Harmless  Error. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  the  killing 
of  a  child  on  its  track,  evidence  examined,  and  held  that  the  ques- 
tion of  the  company's  negligence  in  failing  to  stop  the  car  in  time 
to  have  averted  the  injury  after  discovering  the  child's  peril,  or 
which,  by  the  exercise  of  ordinary  care,  could  have  been  discov- 
ered, was  for  the  jury. 

2.  Where  the  petition  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  com- 
pany for  killing  a  child  on  its  track  alleged  that  the  company's 
servants  saw  the  child  on  the  track  and  approaching  thereto  in 
time  to  have  avoided  the  accident  by  stopping  the  car,  an  instruc- 
tion that  the  company's  servants  were  not  required  to  stop  the 
car  until  they  saw,  or  might  have  seen  by  the  exercise  of  reason- 
able care,  that  the  child  was  or  about  to  be  placed  in  a  position 
of  peril,  was  not  outside  of  the  issues. 


3.  The  servants  of  a  street  railway  company  in  charge  of  a  car 
are  required  to  stop  the  car  when  they  see,  or  may  see  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  reasonable  care,  that  a  child  is  in  a  position  of  peril  by 
being  on  the  track,  or  is  about  to  be  placed  in  such  peril. 

4.  The  error,  if  any,  in  excluding  evidence,  is  cured  by  its  sub- 
sequent admission. 

5.  The  error  in  excluding  from  a  hypothetical  question  asked 
as  an  expert  as  to  the  space  within  which  a  street  car  could  be 
stopped  the  element  whether  the  car  was  empty  was  harmless 
where  on  cross-examination  the  witness  testified  that  it  would 
make  no  difference  whether  the  car  was  empty  or  filled  with 
passengers. — Meeker  et  al.  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 77  S.  W.  Rep.,  58.) 

MISSOURI.  —  Carriers  —  Passengers  —  Street  Car — Injury  in 
Alighting — Sufficiency  of  Petition — Preliminary  Statement  of 
Counsel — Effect — Assumption  of  Risk — Duration  of  Contract 
of  Carriage — Instruction  as  to  Degree  of  Care — Contributory 
Negligence. 

1.  A  passenger  alleged  that  the  defendant  company  operated  an 
electric  line  through  a  country  district;  that  the  car  she  was  on 
was  an  open  one;  that  at  a  regular  station  defendant  maintained 
an  elevated  wooden  platform;  that  plaintiff  notified  the  conductor 
of  her  desire  to  alight  at  this  station,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
the  carmen  to  stop  opposite  the  platform,  but  they  carelessly  ran 
the  car  beyond  that,  and  stopped  where  the  ground  was  three  or 
four  feet  below  the  running  board  and  the  surface  was  rough;  that 
when  the  car  stopped  the  conductor  carelessly  called  the  name  of 
the  station,  and  waited  for  plaintiff  to  alight,  without  offering  to 
assist  her;  and  that  in  attempting  to  step  carefully  onto  the  ground 
by  reason  of  the  great  distance  and  the  uneven  surface,  she  fell 
and  was  injured.  Held,  that  the  petition  stated  a  cause  of  action, 
though  it  was  not  expressively  averred  that  the  place  where  the 
car  stopped  was  unsafe  or  dangerous. 

2.  The  opening  statement  of  counsel  as  to  what  he  expects  the 
evidence  will  disclose  is  not  an  admission  binding  on  his  client,  so 
as  to  form  a  basis  for  a  nonsuit. 

3.  The  doctrine  of  assumption  of  risk  has  no  application  to  the 
case  of  a  passenger  injured  while  attempting  to  alight  from  an 
electric  car  at  a  dangerous  place  selected  by  the  carmen,  though 
she  made  no  demand  to  have  the  car  returned  to  a  safe  place  for 
alighting. 

4.  A  passenger's  contract  for  carriage  on  an  electric  car  covers 
the  period  needed  for  safely  alighting  therefrom,  during  which 
she  is  entitled  to  be  shown  the  highest  degree  of  care. 

5.  In  an  action  by  a  passenger  for  injuries,  an  instruction  that 
defendant  is  held  to  "the  utmost  care,  skill  and  vigilance,"  ac- 
companied by  a  recital  of  the  particular  facts  which  will  sustain  a 
recovery,  is  not  ground  for  reversal,  in  the  absence  of  a  request 
for  amendment,  though  it  does  not  define  the  degree  of  care  speci- 
fied as  that  which  would  be  exercised  under  the  circumstances  by 
very  cautious  men. 

6.  An  electric  car  running  through  a  country  district  ran  past  a 
platform  provided  for  the  exit  of  passengers  and  across  a  road, 
where  it  stopped  to  permit  a  passenger  to  alight,  the  conductor 
calling  the  station.  There  was  a  footboard  along  the  side  of  the 
car,  and  plaintiff  was  permitted  to  alight,  without  assistance  or 
remonstrance  from  the  carmen,  at  a  place  testified  by  her  to  have 
been  3  or  4  feet,  and  by  others  22  inches  below  the  footboard,  and 
where  the  ground  was  uneven.  Held,  that  she  was  not  guilty  of 
contributory  negligence,  though  she  failed  to  go  along  the  foot- 
board to  the  rear  of  the  car,  which  was  opposite  a  level  piece  of 
ground. —  (Fillingham  s.  St.  Louis  Traction  Company,  77  S.  W. 
Rep.,  314.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Passengers  Alighting — Sudden- 
ly Starting  Car — Negligence — Proximate  Cause — Contribu- 
tory Negligence. 

1.  The  negligence  of  a  street  railway  company  in  suddenly  start 
ing  an  open  car,  by  reason  of  which  a  passenger  standing  between 
two  seats,  in  the  act  of  alighting,  was  thrown  forward  and  toward 
the  adjoining  track,  in  which  position  he  was  struck  by  a  car 
passing  on  the  adjacent  track,  held  the  proximate  cause  of  the 
injuries  sustained. 

2.  The  statement  of  a  street  car  passenger,  who,  because  of  tin 
sudden  starting  of  an  open  car  while  he  was  standing  between  two 
seats,  in  the  act  of  alighting,  was  thrown  forward  toward  the  ad- 
joining track,  in  which  position  he  was  struck  by  a  car  passing  on 
the  adjoining  track,  that  when  he  lost  his  footing  he  was  not 
looking  for  a  car  on  the  adjoining  track,  but  was  looking  where 
hr  meant  to  step,  did  not  show  (hat  he  meant  to  step  onto  the 
adjoining  track  without  looking,  and  so  did  not  show  that  he 
was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence, 

3.  It  is  the  duty  of  street  car  companies  to  stop  their  cars  long 
enough  to  permit  passengers  to  alight  safely,  and  to  start  a  car 
without  giving  ample  time  for  this  purpose  is  actionable  negli- 


1 66 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


gence. — (Scamell  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep., 
660.) 

MISSOURI. — Carriers — Street  Cars — Injury  to  Passenger — Pre- 
mature Start- — Damages — Earning  Capacity — Future  Pain 
and  Suffering — Excessiveness. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries,  plaintiff  testified  that  she 
was  keeping  a  boarding  house  when  she  was  injured,  and  that 
prior  to  her  injury  she  did  certain  necessary  work  with  reference 
thereto,  and  that  after  her  injury  she  was  unable  to  do  any  such 
work,  and  was  compelled  to  hire  others  to  do  it,  whose  services 
cost  her  a  certain  sum  each  week,  an  instruction  submitting  loss 
of  earning  capacity  as  an  element  of  plaintiff's  damages  was 
proper. 

2.  Where  there  was  evidence  that  plaintiff's  injuries  were  per- 
manent, or  were  reasonably  certain  to  last  an  indefinite  period, 
and  continue  to  cause  bodily  pain  and  mental  anguish,  such  future 
pain  and  anguish  constituted  proper  elements  of  damage,  though 
plaintiff's  injuries  were  not  such  as  to  be  externally  visible. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  while  attempting  to 
board  a  street  car  by  reason  of  a  premature  start,  evidence  held 
insufficient  to  show  that  a  verdict  for  $2,000  was  excessive. — (Bat- 
ten vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  728.) 

MISSOURI. — Carriers — Negligence — Contributory  Negligence — 
Evidence — Instructions — Credibility  of  Witnesses. 

1.  A  passenger  was  alighting  from  a  street  car,  and  her  left  foot 
was  on  the  lower  step  and  her  right  foot  in  the  air,  and  she  had 
released  her  hold  of  the  hand  rail,  when  the  car  suddenly  started, 
and,  to  prevent  being  thrown  on  the  ground,  she  threw  herself 
backward  in  an  effort  to  remain  on  the  car,  but  missed  the  car, 
and  was  injured.  Held,  that  the  passenger  was  not  guilty  of  con- 
tributory negligence. 

2.  Where  there  was  no  conflict  in  the  testimony,  and  no  wit- 
ness made  any  inconsistent  or  contradictory  statement,  and  no 
effort  was  made  to  impeach  any  of  them,  it  was  proper  to  refuse 
an  instruction  that  the  jury  were  the  sole  judges  of  the  credibility 
of  witnesses  and  the  probability  or  improbability  of  the  testimony 
of  any  of  the  witnesses;  and  that,  if  they  believed  any  witness  had 
sworn  falsely,  they  might  disregard  his  whole  testimony. — (Brazis 
vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  708.) 
MISSOURI.— Street    Railways— Negligence  —  Collision  With 

Vehicle  —  Contributory  Negligence — Evidence — Contradic- 
tory Physical  Facts — Comparative  Negligence. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  damages  by 
a  collision  between  a  car  and  plaintiff's  wagon,  the  physical  facts 
show  that,  if  plaintiff  had  looked  before  driving  on  the  track  he 
could  have  seen  the  car,  his  testimony  that  he  looked,  but  did  not 
see  the  car,  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  consideration  of  the 
jury. 

2.  Where,  if  the  motorman  of  a  street  car  had  kept  a  vigilant 
watch,  he  would  have  seen  plaintiff's  perilous  position  in  time  to 
have  stopped  his  car  and  avoided  the  collision,  the  railroad  is 
liable,  though  plaintiff  drove  upon  the  track  without  looking  or 
listening. 

3.  Where,  without  looking  or  listening,  one  drove  on  a  street 
railway  track  so  near  to  an  approaching  car  that  it  could  not  be 
stopped  in  time  to  avoid  a  collision,  the  railroad  was  not  liable, 
though  the  motorman  failed  to  sound  his  gong. 

4.  Where  one  driving  a  vehicle  and  approaching  a  street  railway 
track  sees  the  car  approaching,  but  continues  on  his  course  with- 
out again  looking  to  see  whether  he  can  safely  cross,  he  is  guilt> 
of  contributory  negligence,  precluding  recovery. 

5.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  damages  from  a  col- 
lision between  plaintiff's  wagon  and  a  car,  plaintiff  testified  that 
on  approaching  the  tracks  he  looked  for  a  car,  but  did  not  see 
one  until  the  front  wheels  of  his  wagon  were  on  the  track.  The 
physical  facts  showed  that  the  car  must  have  been  in  sight  when 
he  looked.  Held,  that  an  instruction  that  if  defendant  could  have 
averted  the  accident  after  discovering  plaintiff's  peril,  but  failed  to 
do  so,  it  was  liable,  irrespective  of  whether  plaintiff  exercised 
care  to  look  out  for  the  car,  if  plaintiff  exercised  ordinary  care 
to  avoid  the  accident  after  he  became  aware  of  his  danger,  was 
erroneous,  as  authorizing  a  recovery  on  the  assumption  that  plain- 
tiff was  guilty  of  no  contributory  negligence,  provided  he  used 
diligence  to  get  over  the  track  after  the  front  wheels  of  the  wagon 
were  on  it. — (Barrie  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep., 
706.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railways — Passengers  —  Negligence — Sud- 
den Starting  of  Car — Contributory  Negligence — Question  for 
Jury — Instructions. 
1.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  signaled  the  motorman 
to  stop  for  a  certain  crossing,  and  the  car  slowed  down,  as  the 
passenger  supposed,  in  response  to  the  signal,  and  while  it  was 
moving  at  the  rate  of  about  three  miles  an  hour  he  undertook  to 


alight,  and  the  car  suddenly  started  forward,  whereby  he  sustained 
injuries,  the  passenger  was  not  guilty  of  negligence  as  a  matter 
of  law. 

2.  The  question  whether  a  passenger  may  safely  alight  from  a 
street  car  moving  at  the  rate  of  three  miles  an  hour,  depending  as 
it  does  largely  on  the  surroundings,  expertness  of  the  passengers, 
etc.,  is  a  question  of  fact  for  the  jury. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by  a  passenger  who  was 
attempting  to  alight  from  a  street  car  moving  at  the  rate  of  three 
miles  an  hour  when  the  car  suddenly  started  forward,  the  use  in 
an  instruction  of  the  word  "slowly"  with  reference  to  the  speed 
of  the  car  was  not  erroneous,  especially  where  other  instructions 
fully  and  correctly  submitted  the  issue  of  contributory  negligence. 

4.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries 
sustained  by  a  passenger,  where  it  appeared  that  his  legs  and 
shoulders  were  badly  bruised,  and  that  he  was  badly  shocked, 
and  confined  to  his  bed,  but  propped  up  therein,  not  being  able 
to  lie  down,  for  five  or  six  weeks,  and  had  pleurisy,  spat  blood 
and  suffered  great  bodily  pain,  and  that  his  legs  for  a  time  were 
bruised,  and  that  he  was  still  lame  and  suffered  pain  in  his  legs,  a 
verdict  for  $2,000  was  not  excessive. — (Dawson  vs.  St.  Louis  Tran- 
sit Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  690.) 

MISSOURI.— Street  Railroads— Collisions  —  Negligence — Suf- 
ficiency of  Evidence. 

1.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  team  by  a  collision  with  a  street 
car,  held,  that  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  was  not  supported  by  the  evi- 
dence; the  physical  facts  showing  its  unsoundness. 

2.  While  the  court  on  appeal  is  reluctant  to  interfere  with  a  ver- 
dict on  the  ground  of  insufficient  evidence,  it  will  not  accept  as 
conclusive  one  given  at  the  first  hearing,  if  it  cannot  be  accounted 
for  by  rational  theories. —  (Spiro  vs.  St.  Louis  Transit  Company, 
76  S.  W.  Rep.,  684.) 

MISSOURI. — Street  Railroads — Negligence — Personal  Injuries 
— Contributory  Negligence — Collision  With  Vehicle — Ques- 
tion for  Jury — Instructions — Generality — Right  to  Object — 
Waiver. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  injuries  caused 
by  defendant's  car  colliding  with  plaintiff's  buggy  from  the  rear, 
evidence  considered  and  held  to  require  submission  of  the  issue 
whether  plaintiff  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  personal  in- 
juries resulting  from  defendant's  car  colliding  with  plaintiff's 
wagon,  an  instruction,  if  the  servants  of  defendant  negligently 
ran  the  car  upon  the  plaintiff's  team,  and  by  ordinary  care  could 
have  avoided  doing  so,  and  such  negligence  was  the  cause  of  the 
injuries,  to  find  for  plaintiff,  did  not  constitute  reversible  error 
because  too  general,  where  other  charges  restricted  plaintiff's 
recovery  to  the  negligence  specifically  pleaded. 

3.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  in  which  the  petition  con- 
tained allegations  of  general  damages,  and  defendant  did  not  ob- 
ject to  evidence  on  plaintiff's  earning  capacity,  it  thereby  waived 
its  right  to  object  to  an  instruction  authorizing  the  awarding  of 
damages  for  loss  of  time. — (Twelkemeyer  vs.  St.  Louis  Traction 
Company,  76  S.  W.  Rep.,  682.) 



TROLLEY-WHEEL  PATENT  DECISION 


United  States  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Sixth  Circuit, 
that  of  Cincinnati,  recently  decided  that  the  trolley  wheel  of  the 
Star  Brass  Works,  of  Kalamazoo,  is  not  an  infringement  of  the 
Anderson  patent  No.  412,155,  owned  by  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany. The  case  was  brought  before  the  court  on  an  appeal  from 
the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Wesern  District  of 
Michigan. 

The  suit  for  infringement  was  on  the  eighth  claim  of  the  patent, 
which  covered  "the  combination,  with  a  trolley  frame  and  trolley 
wheel,  of  metallic  conducting  brushes,  g2,  between  the  hubs  of 
the  trolley  wheel  and  the  said  frame,  to  operate  substantially  as 
described."  The  court  construed  this  claim  as  requiring  the 
springs  to  be  located  inside  the  harp.  In  the  present  form  of 
trolley  wheel  manufactured  by  the  Star  Brass  Works,  and  which 
is  covered  by  a  patent.  No.  690,639,  the  spring  is  placed  on  the 
outside  of  the  harp.  Here  it  is  protected  against  injury  from 
without  by  being  placed  in  a  deep  recess,  and  against  injury  from 
within  by  the  intervening  frame.  The  court  held  that  "a  patent 
for  protecting  a  spring  by  locating  it  on  the  inside  of  the  trolley 
harp  is  not  infringed  by  placing  it  in  a  recess  on  the  outside  any 
more  than  a  patent  for  protecting  it  by  counter-sinking  it  on  the 
outside  is  infringed  by  locating  it  wholly  on  the  inside.  Although 
the  result  may  be  the  same,  the  device  is  different,  and  the  patent 
covers  only  the  device."  The  judgment  of  the  lower  court  was, 
therefore,  reversed. 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


167 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 

Wall  Street,  July  27,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

A  somewhat  firmer  tendency  has  developed  in  the  money  mar- 
ket during  the  week.  Rates  on  call  loans  have  remained  the 
same,  but  on  time  loans  they  are  fractionally  higher  all  around. 
Sixty-day  maturities  have  hardened  .from  1%  to  2  per  cent  and, 
whereas  a  little  while  ago,  six  months  money  was  offered  freely  at 
354  Per  cent,  354  is  the  figure  which  bankers  now  hold  out  for. 
This  slight  advance  is  a  reflection  of  conditions  prospective  rather 
than  present.  At  the  moment  the  plethora  of  idle  capital  contin- 
ues, the  surplus,  as  shown  in  last  Saturady's  statement,  having 
reached  the  exceptionally  high  level  of  $50,000,000.  No  immedi- 
ate signs  have  appeared  of  a  slackening  in  the  currency  movement 
inward  from  the  interior ;  on  the  contrary  receipts  of  cash  from  the 
country  last  week  exceeded  considerably  the  average  of  the  weeks 
directly  preceding.  This  extreme  ease  of  the  immediate  situation  is 
summed  up  in  the  market  for  call  money,  which,  in  spite  of  the 
more  active  speculation  in  securities,  has  frequently  loaned  as  low 
as  ^4  of  1  per  cent  within  the  last  few  days.  In  fixing  their  terms 
for  the  longer  advances,  however,  bankers  have  been  governed 
more  by  the  consideration  that  it  will  soon  be  time  for  the  interior 
institutions  to  begin  their  usual  autumn  drafts  on  their  New 
York  deposits.  These  deposits  this  season  are  unusually  large. 
Moreover,  if  present  indications  are  borne  out  there  will  be  an 
unusually  heavy  crop  yield  this  year  at  considerably  more  than 
the  average  prices.  For  these  two  reasons,  it  is  quite  likely  that 
the  drafts  upon  New  York  balances  during  the  approaching 
autumn  will  be  very  much  larger  than  the  ordinary.  To  this  prob- 
ability is  now  added  a  new  feature  of  the  situation  which  has  not 
developed  until  this  week.  Sterling  exchange,  after  persistently 
refusing  to  recognize  the  easy  condition  of  the  local  money 
market,  has  reflected  a  sudden  and  remarkable  reversal  of  opinion. 
It  is  now  perceived  that  strange  as  it  may  seem  at  this  period  of 
the  year,  the  conditions  favor  high  rather  than  low  rates  of  ex- 
change. Not  only  has  all  idea  of  gold  imports  been  abandoned, 
but  with  the  marked  tendency  of  foreign  money  to  harden,  while 
our  market  keeps  stationary,  there  is  strong  likelihood  of  a  re- 
newal of  gold  exports.  Tn  fact  exchange  has  already  advanced  to 
the  point  where  shipments  to  London  direct  are  very  nearly  in 
sight.  That  this  extraordinary  spectacle  has  had  something  to  do 
with  the  hardening  of  time  money,  there  is  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve ;  if  exports  of  gold  do  actually  set  in,  we  may  expect  the 
money  market  to  make  more  of  a  response. 

The  Stock  riarket 

The  rise  in  prices  after  continuing  enthusiastically  during  the 
first  half  of  the  week  under  review,  has  within  the  last  few  d.ays 
encountered  a  sharp  check.  There  are  several  reasons  more  or 
less  obvious  for  speculative  sentiment  becoming  less  confident. 
One  of  these,  and  perhaps  the  main  one,  has  been  the  disturbance 
occasioned  in  foreign  financial  circles  by  the  seizure  and  sinking 
of  English  ships  by  Russian  war  vessels.  This  has  stopped  what- 
ever desire  there  might  have  been  abroad  to  enter  the  American 
market,  and  it  has  besides  caused  considerable  selling  of  our  se- 
curities for  foreign  account.  Another  influence  against  the  mar- 
ket has  been  the  extension  of  the  beef  strike,  and  the  outbreak  of 
labor  troubles  in  the  New  England  cotton  mills.  Still  another  re- 
tarding incident  is  the  sudden  advance  in  exchange  with  the  at- 
tendant prospect  of  gold  exports  referred  to  in  the  paragraph 
above.  Good  judges  of  Wall  Street  conditions  do  not,  however, 
deceive  themselves  that  these  are  more  than  supplementary  fac- 
tors in  this  week's  decline.  The  governing  reason  unquestionably 
has  been  the  necessity  always  belonging  to  a  rising  market, 
to  have  its  sharp  reactions  from  time  to  time,  clearing  away  the 
extravagances  which  have  developed  from  too  eager  speculative 
operations.  A  perfectly  natural  set  back  is  really  what  the  Stock 
Exchange  has  witnessed  during  the  last  few  days.  The  news  in 
which  the  financial  situation  is  most  deeply  concerned — the  crop 
reports — is  still  of  the  most  encouraging  character.  Since  the 
first  week  of  the  month  the  weather  throughout  the  country  has 
been  almost  perfect  for  the  advancement  of  all  crops.  That  im- 
provement in  conditions  has  occurred  everywhere,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  parts  of  the  spring  wheat  territory,  is  un- 
doubtedly true.    The  market  is  bound  to  respond  to  this  power- 


ful stimulus  in  time,  whether  or  not  it  decides  to  rest  for  the 
immediate  future. 

The  local  tractions  have  followed  the  course  of  the  general 
market,  without  developing  any  noteworthy  feature  by  them- 
selves. Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  has  suffered  from  liquidation  of 
speculative  holdings  created  on  the  recent  rise,  and  scattered 
selling  has  carried  Metropolitan  off  over  3  points  from  its  late 
top  figure.    Manhattan  has  been  inactive. 

Philadelphia 

As  a  rule,  prices  have  worked  lower  in  the  Philadelphia  market 
during  the  week.  The  traction  list  has  felt  the  effect  of  the 
reactionary  tendency  in  other  directions,  but  losses  have  been 
limited  pretty  generally  to  fractions.  Philadelphia  Company 
common  is  off  the  most  of  any,  having  dropped  1 54  per  cent  from 
40J4  to  39.  The  action  of  this  stock  for  some  time  has  sug- 
gested that  the  interests  who  have  been  trying  to  put  it  up  have 
had  by  no  means  an  easy  task.  The  preferred  lost  a  half-point 
on  the  week,  from  45^4  to  45%.  All  the  other  leading  specialties 
were  reactionary,  Rapid  Transit  falling  back  from  1454  to  1354, 
Philadelphia  Traction  from  98%  to  9854.  On  the  other  hand,  Phil- 
adelphia Electric  was  comparatively  strong,  advancing  from  654 
to  6%,  and  in  the  general  decline  not  losing  quite  all  its  gain. 
American  Railways,  after  selling  at  4754,  dropped  to  4754  on 
sales  of  300  shares.  Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  was 
steady,  450  shares  changing  hands  at  67.  Other  minor  transac- 
tions comprised  100  shares  of  Reading  Traction  at  32,  Thirteenth 
and  Fifteenth  Streets  Passenger  at  305  and  300,  Fairmount  Park 
Transportation  (210  shares (  at  if»  Philadelphia  City  Passenger  at 
201,  and  Hestonville  Passenger  at  47. 

Chicago 

The  Chicago  dealings  in  the  traction  group  have  again  this 
week  been  only  trifling.  Except  as  a  matter  of  record  they  are 
hardly  worth  recording.  One  hundred  South  Side  Elevated  sold 
at  91  J-<  to  91  Y%,  and  100  Northwestern  Elevated  common  at  16. 
Otherwise  transactions  were  confined  to  small  odd  lots,  compris- 
ing West  Chicago  between  43  and  4254,  North  Chicago  at  71  and 
72,  City  Railway  at  175,  and  Metropolitan  Elevated  preferred  at 
5554-  The  steel  requirements  of  the  South  Side  Elevated  Rail- 
road for  its  extensions  will  aggregate  25,000  to  30,000  tons  and 
the  company  is  said  to  be  shopping  around  for  the  material. 
Stockholders  in  all  likelihood  will  vote  for  the  bond  issue  to 
provide  for  these  extensions  at  the  special  meeting  August  9. 
Injunction  proceedings  have  been  commenced  in  the  Circuit  Court 
for  an  order  restraining  the  elevated  railroads  from  further  using 
the  Union  Loop.  The  charge  is  set  forth  that  the  Union  Loop 
is  an  obstruction  to  travel,  shuts  out  light  from  the  abutting 
buildings,  and  creates  too  much  noise.  Officials  of  the  road  say 
the  whole  thing  is  an  attempt  at  political  holdup. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

The  weakness  in  Massachusetts  Electric  issues  has  been  the 
incident  of  the  week  in  Boston.  From  21 54,  two  weeks  ago,  and 
20  a  week  ago,  the  common  fell  to  17%  on  fairly  large  sales.  The 
preferred,  on  lighter  trading,  broke  violently  from  74  to  6g54. 
It  is  thought  that  the  main  cause  of  this  decline,  as  well  as  the 
very  apparent  heaviness  of  the  stocks  for  some  time  past,  will  be 
revealed  when  the  company's  next  earnings  statement  is  pub- 
lished. Boston  Elevated,  after  a  reaction  to  151,  recovered  to 
152^4,  mostly  on  odd  lot  purchases.  West  End  common  went  at 
9154,  and  the  preferred  from  11 1  to  112.  In  Baltimore  the  feature 
of  the  week  was  a  further  recovery  in  United  Railways  issues. 
The  stock  was  very  active,  rising  from  7^4  to  8^4,  and  receding 
to  8.  Nearly  1000  shares  changed  hands  between  8  and  8%.  The 
income  bonds  reached  49,  but  reacted  later  to  4754.  The  general 
4s  sold  as  low  as  90%  and  as  high  as  92,  ending  at  92.  Anacostia 
&  Potomac  5s  continued  their  rise  of  the  week  before,  selling  up 
from  too  to  101.34.  Other  sales  comprised  City  &  Suburban 
(Washington)  5s  at  101,  Richmond  Traction  5s  at  103,  City  & 
Suburban  (Baltimore)  5s  at  113%  and  113*4,  City  Passenger 
454s  at  10254,  and  Charleston  Consolidated  5s  at  85.  On  the 
New  York  curb  trading  was  rather  broader  than  in  the  preceding 
weeks.  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  was  the  feature  still,  over 
4000  shares  being  dealt  in  between  132  and  134  in  the  week  end- 
ing Saturday.  On  Monday  the  stock  advanced  from  13274  to 
133}^,  and  yesterday  on  sales  of  1500  shares  it  went  to  I33-54-  Other 


i68 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


transactions  comprised  odd  lots  of  American  Light  &  Traction, 
the  common  at  SQlA  to  51H.  the  preferred  at  91^2  to  92;  New 
Orleans  Railway  common  (235  shares)  at  gT/i  to  g3/$,  the  pre- 
ferred (100  shares)  at  2g% ;  St.  Louis  Transit  (60  shares)  at 
10^2,  Nassau  Electric  4s  at  82%  to  83,  and  Washington  Trac- 
tion 4s  78^  to  79.  Indianapolis  Street  Railway  4  per  cent  bonds 
were  the  feature  of  the  trading  in  Cincinnati  last  week.  Nearly 
$100,000  worth  changed  hands  in  small  lots  at  prices  ranging  from 
83  to  85%.  Detroit  United  stock  showed  considerable  activity, 
and  it  advanced  from  66  to  68.  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  sold  at 
141  and  142.  Bond  sales  were  also  very  heavy  in  Cleveland,  the 
demand  being  particularly  strong  for  early  maturities.  Detroit 
Citizens  5s  to  the  par  value  of  over  $200,000  sold  at  100^.  Cleve- 
land Electric  consolidated  5s  sold  at  I02T4  to  1021/  for  $66,000 
worth.  Northern  Texas  Traction  5s  brought  80  to  8oJ/>  for  $18,- 
000  worth.  Cleveland  Electric  stock  showed  unusual  activity,  and 
it  advanced  from  72l/2  to  73T<  on  sales  of  575  shares.  Northern 
Ohio  Traction  &  Light  stock  advanced  to  14%  on  sales  of  175 
shares. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
last  week : 

Closing  Bid 
July  19   July  26 


American  Railways                                                                         47%  47 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                                —  al2 

Boston  Elevated                                                                       151%  152% 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                               52%  50% 

Chicago  City                                                                            175  170 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                4%  4% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                            a30  — 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                      73%  71% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                            66%  66% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                        108%  108% 

Detroit  United                                                                          67%  61% 

Tnterhorough  Rapid  Transit                                                          133%  133 

Lake  Shore  Electric   (preferred)                                                   —  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                       3%  3% 

Manhattan   Railway                                                                       152  150% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.   (common)                                         19%  17% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                         73  70 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                    19%  19% 

Metropolitan  Elevated.  Chicago  (preferred)                                  52%  54 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                       117%  115 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                               88%  86% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                   9%  9% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                            29%  29 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                      72  73 

North  American                                                                        88%  87% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                   al5%  13% 

Philadelphia  Company   (common)                                                  39%  39 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                              13%  13 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     98%  98% 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                        11%  10% 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                   91%  91% 

Third  Avenue  121%  117% 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                  95%  95 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                        54%  54 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                            54%  54 

West  End  (common)                                                                 91  91 

West  End  (preferred)                                                               110  111 


a  Asked. 
Iron  and  Steel 

The  Steel  Corporation's  report  for  the  June  quarter,  issued 
yesterday  afternoon,  is  likely  to  start  discussion  afresh  as  to  the 
present  tendency  in  the  iron  trade.  Net  earnings  for  the  three 
months  reach  close  to  $20,000,000,  which  is  as  good  as  expected, 
and  the  company  shows  a  comfortable  surplus  after  payment  of 
preferred  dividends  against  a  deficit  for  the  March  quarter.  But 
in  the  unfilled  orders  on  hand  a  large  decrease  is  shown,  both  in 
comparison  with  three  months  ago  and  a  year  ago.  This  might 
seem  to  bear  out  the  recent  assertions  that  there  has  been  no  real 
improvement  in  the  trade  situation,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that 
the  decrease  in  orders  on  hand  from  July,  1903,  no  more  than 
corresponds  in  proportion  to  the  decrease  in  earnings.  Quota- 
tions are  as  follows:  Bessemer  pig  iron  $12.35,  Bessemer  steel 
$23,  and  steel  rails  $28. 

Hetals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:  Copper  12% 
cents,  tin  25  15-16  cents,  lead  4T4  cents,  and  spelter  4  15-16  cents. 


THE  RICHMOND  RECEIVERSHIP 


As  noted  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  July  23,  William 
Northrop  and  Henry  T.  Wickham  were  appointed  on  July  16  by 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Vir- 
ginia as  receivers  of  the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Company, 
the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Company  and  the  Richmond 
Traction  Company.  Mr.  Northrop,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  opera- 
tion of  these  properties,  is  the  assistant  secretary  and  assistant 
treasurer  of  the  three  companies,  while  Mr.  Wickham  is  a  well- 
known  financial  authority  in  Virginia. 

The  first  act  of  the  receivers  was  to  begin  an  inventory  of  the 
property  of  the  consolidated  companies,  to  be  presented  to  Judge 
Edmund  Waddill,  Jr.,  of  the  Federal  Court.  It  is  understood 
that  no  change  in  the  policy  or  operation  of  the  properties  will 
be  made  for  some  time,  if  at  all.  The  officials  in  charge  of  the 
several  departments  have  been  retained  in  their  old  positions  at 
the  same  salaries.  Meanwhile  the  proceedings  instituted  by  the 
Corporation  Court  of  Petersburg  by  Messrs.  Fisher,  Davis  and 
Rogers  continue  to  be  heard,  and  will  probably  be  concluded 
in  a  few  days.  In  that  proceeding,  as  previously  mentioned,  re- 
ceivers are  asked  for  the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Company 
alone.  It  is  difficult  to  see  just  what  would  be  the  effect  if  Judge 
Mullen,  in  the  State  Court,  would  grant  their  plea,  for  such  action 
would  conflict  with  that  taken  by  the  Federal  Court. 

The  business  of  the  railway  lines  of  this  city  and  suburbs  Sun- 
day, July  17,  the  first  day  under  the  receivership,  was  unusually 
large.  Travel  to  and  from  the  parks  in  the  afternoon  and  evening 
and  on  the  city  lines  during  business  hours  and  in  the  evening 
on  July  18,  was  above  the  average,  the  warmer  weather  causing 
more  general  patronage  of  the  trolley  lines. 

It  is  alleged  in  the  bill  of  the  Bowling  Green  Trust  Company, 
which  prevailed  upon  Judge  Waddill  to  appoint  a  receiver,  that' 
the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Company  has  failed  to  pay  its 
taxes  due  upon  its  property  on  Jan.  1,  1904,  and  is  still  in  default 
that  it  has  failed  to  keep  up  the  insurance  on  some  of  its  proper- 
ties, as  agreed  to;  that  it  has  repeatedly  defaulted  on  its  interest, 
and  now  owes  large  sums  to  the  holders  of  its  coupons.  The 
complainant  further  alleges  that  during  the  year  1903  the  con- 
stituent companies  failed  to  earn  their  fixed  charges  over  and 
above  operating  expenses,  and  that  the  results  of  operating  of 
said  properties  for  the  year  shows  total  deficit  of  $648,602.80,  and 
that  the  floating  debt  of  the  Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Com- 
pany on  Dec.  31,  1903,  aggregated  the  sum  of  $3,026,523.49. 

It  should  be  stated  here  that  the  interest  on  the  bonds  of  the 
Traction  Company  has  been  paid  since  this  bill  was  filed. 

The  complexity  of  the  Richmond  traction  situation  has  been 
increased  further  by  the  action  of  Miles  M.  Martin  and  George  A. 
Ainslie,  former  counsel  for  George  E.  Fisher  in  his  various  street 
railway  transactions,  who  have  filed  suit  against  Fisher  through 
their  attorney,  James  E.  Cannon,  in  the  Chancery  Court  for  $6,500 
alleged  to  be  due  for  professional  services.  An  attachment  has 
been  accordingly  issued  against  anything  of  monetary  value  which 
may  be  due  to  Mr.  Fisher  from  his  Richmond  street  railway  and 
other  interests  in  Richmond.  A  copy  has  been  served  upon  the 
Virginia  Passenger  &  Power  Company  by  the  Sheriff. 

 ♦♦♦  

TRACKLESS  TROLLEY  CHARTER  REFUSED  IN 
PENNSYLVANIA 


Attorney-General  Carson  has  given  an  interesting  opinion  to 
Governor  Pennypacker  on  the  status  of  trackless  trolley  com- 
panies, in  which  he  advises  against  the  granting  of  a  charter  to 
the  Sayre  Trackless  Trolley  Company,  because  the  purpose  for 
which  the  company  sought  a  charter  is  not  within  the  provisions 
of  the  acts  of  Assembly  authorizing  the  granting  of  charters. 

An  application  for  a  charter  was  made  by  the  company  for  the 
purpose  of  installing  and  operating  a  line  of  trackless  cars  and 
coaches,  with  electric  power,  to  furnish  transportation  for  the 
public  in  the  boroughs  of  South  Waverly,  Sayre  and  Athens,  in 
Bradford  County.  After  discussing  the  acts  of  Assembly  which 
provide  for  the  granting  of  charters,  and  commenting  on  the 
language  of  the  acts,  the  attorney-general  says: 

"All  existing  companies  are  subject  to  restraint.  This  pro- 
posed new  company  would  be  without  restraint.  No  statute  ap- 
plies to  it.  It  is  not  a  railroad,  nor  a  railway,  nor  an  omnibus 
line.  If  it  were  attempted  to  subject  it  to  the  restraint  of  existing 
statutes,  it  might  be  found  that  no  statute  in  terms  applied  to  it, 
and  that  no  statute  could  be  judicially  stretched  so  as  to  cover  it. 
Hence,  a  gigantic  creature  of  the  State's  begetting  would  arise 
to  roam  at  will,  uncontrollable  because  beyond  the  reach  of  ex- 
isting law." 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


169 


RAILROAD  MEN  ENJOY  BATHING  AND  FISH  DINNER  AT 
MANHATTAN  BEACH 


Prominent  railroad  officials  and  their  invited  guests  who  are 
accustomed  to  participate  annually  in  a  Coney  Island  fish  dinner 
did  so  for  the  ninth  time  on  the  evening  of  July  22  at  the  Man- 
hattan Beach  Hotel.  The  committee  of  arrangements  consisted 
of  H.  H.  Vreeland,  president  New  York  City  Railway  Company; 
W.  F.  Potter,  general  manager  Long  Island  Railroad;  D.  M. 
Brady,  president  Brady  Brass  Company,  and  George  W.  West, 
superintendent  of  motive  power,  New  York,  Ontario  &  Western 
Railroad. 

The  party,  which  numbered  about  seventy,  was  taken  to  Man- 
hattan Beach  in  a  special  train  over  the  Long  Island  Railroad. 
On  arriving  at  Manhattan  Beach,  the  guests  enjoyed  a  dip  in  the 
sea.  After  the  dinner,  which  was  as  good  as  any  other  ever 
served  for  a  like  event,  a  brief  time  was  pleasantly  spent  upon  the 
pier,  and  the  evening  was  concluded  at  the  beach  theater. 

The  outing  was  a  most  enjoyable  one  in  every  respect,  and  the 
committee  of  arrangements  received  many  deserved  congratu- 
lations. 

 ♦♦♦  — 

AN  IMPORTANT  ORDER  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  COMMIS- 
SIONERS ON  FARE  QUESTION 

The  Massachusetts  Railroad  Commissioners  have  recently 
handed  down  a  decision  in  which  they  hold  that  if,  when  a  street 
railway  company  applies  for  a  location,  it  chooses,  instead  of 
relying  upon  its  rights  to  leave  fares  for  the  future  determination 
as  to  what  may  prove  to  be  reasonable  charges,  to  pledge  itself 
to  specific  rates,  its  failure  immediately  to  realize  the  expected 
profit  does  not  justify  it  in  the  establishment  of  a  higher  rate  in 
violation  of  the  assurances  given.  The  order  deals  with  the  com- 
plaint of  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  Haverhill  concerning  fares 
upon  the  Haverhill  &  Southern  New  Hampshire  Street  Railway. 
In  it  the  board  also  adheres  to  the  theory  that  fare  limits  should 
be  largely  governed  by  the  location  of  communities,  rather  than 
by  exact  distances.  The  company  in  question  had  sought  to  es- 
tablish a  mileage  basis,  claiming  that  between  three  and  four 
miles  is  as  far  as  it  ought  to  carry  a  passenger  for  5  cents. 

The  text  of  the  order  is  as  follows: 

The  Haverhill  &  Southern  New  Hampshire  Street  Railway  Company  has 
been  in  operation  about  two  years.  The  company  has  secured  from  the  Board 
of  Aldermen  of  Haverhill  a  location  in  that  city,  offering  as  an  inducement 
therefor  the  promise  of  a  5-cent  fare  within  the  city  limits.  This  arrangement 
as  to  fare  was  made  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  grant  of  location. 

In  the  recent  case  of  Keefe  against  the  Lexington  &  Boston  Street  Railway 
Company  it  was  decided  that  a  condition  in  a  street  railway  location  which 
purports  to  establish  fares  is  not  legally  binding  upon  the  company,  as  boards 
of  aldermen  and  selectmen  under  existing  statutes  have  no  authority  to 
regulate  fares  upon  street  railways. 

The  Haverhill  &  Southern  New  Hampshire  Company  has  now  raised  its 
fares,  and  among  other  changes  has  increased  the  charge  between  Haver- 
hill Square  and  Ayer's  Village  from  5  to  10  cents.  It  is  contended  that 
under  the  old  rates  the  company  has  been  unable  to  operate  its  railway  with 
profit. 

In  establishing  the  new  fare  limits  the  company  attempted  to  carry  out  a 
sort  of  a  mileage  basis  for  rates  charged,  claiming  that  between  3  and  4 
miles  is  as  far  as  it  ought  to  carry  a  passenger  for  five  cents.  This  new 
theory  as  to  the  establishment  of  fare  limits  overthrows  the  commonly 
recognized  custom  of  fixing  fare  limits  with  reference  to  points  where  pa- 
trons have  occasion  to  regularly  take  or  leave  the  cars  in  large  numbers.  We 
doubt  the  wisdom  of  this  change,  as  we  believe  that  the  interests  of  the  public, 
and  in  the  end  those  of  the  company,  will  more  likely  be  served  by  adher- 
ence to  the  theory  that  fare  limits  should  be  largely  governed  by  the  location 
of  communities  rather  than  by  exact  distances. 

The  Haverhill  &  Southern  New  Hampshire  Street  Railway  Company  is 
part  of  a  system  controlled  by  companies  having,  to  be  sure,  a  separate  cor- 
porate existence  but  a  common  ownership  of  stock  and  a  common  manage- 
ment. An  examination  of  conditions  of  traffic  upon  all  parts  of  this  system 
is  therefore  pertinent  to  the  decision  of  such  a  question  as  that  raised  here. 
If  wc  assume  that  these  companies  may  rightfully  undertake  to  increase 
their  receipts  in  some  way  we  arc  not  satisfied  that  the  10-cent  fare  between 
Haverhill  Square  and  Ayer's  Village  is  justifiable.  Haverhill  Square  is 
about  5  miles  from  Ayer's  Village,  both  places  being  within  the  city  of 
Haverhill.  The  new  fare  of  10  cents  between  these  points,  a  rate  of  about 
2  cents  a  mile,  is  higher  than  the  usual  charge  found  upon  steam  railroads 
in  suburban  travel. 

Nor  do  we  consider  that  a  10-cent  fare  between  these  points  is  a  reason- 
able charge  when  considered  in  connection  with  other  fares  in  force  else- 
where upon  street  railways  under  conditions  which  permit  some  measure 
of  comparison. 

Boards  of  aldermen  and  selectmen,  in  granting  street  railway  locations  in  the 
streets,  naturally  inquire  into  the  purpose  of  those  who  seek  to  obtain  them. 
If  at  such  a  time,  instead  of  relying  upon  its  rights  to  leave  fares  to  future 
determination  as  to  what  may  prove  to  be  reasonable  charges,  a  company 
chooses  to  pledge  itself  to  specific  rates,  its  failure  to  realize  at  once  the 
expected  profit  from  the  undertaking  would  hardly  justify  the  establishment 
of  a  higher  rate  of  charge  in  violation  of  the  assurances  given.    Relying  up- 


on these  assurances  not  only  may  the  public  authorities  have  been  induced  to 
grant  rights  in  the  streets  in  the  expectation  of  relieving  congested  districts 
in  city  and  town  centers  by  a  better  distribution  of  homes,  but  individuals,  in 
many  instances  in  considerable  numbers,  may  have  been  lead  to  change  their 
places  of  residence  in  furtherance  of  the  same  purpose. 

But  however  this  may  be,  we  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  increase  of  fare 
between  Haverhill  and  Ayers  Village  imposes  a  disproportionate  burden  upon 
that  portion  of  the  traveling  public  which  is  required  to  pay  it,  and  for  that 
reason  a  lower  charge  must  be  recommended. 

 ■ 

NEW  YORK  ALDERMEN  GRANT  APPLICATION  OF  NEW 
YORK,  WESTCHESTER  &  BOSTON  RAILROAD 


With  only  eight  dissenting  votes,  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  on 
July  26,  approved  the  application  of  the  New  York,  Westchester  & 
Boston  Railroad  for  permission  to  cross  the  streets  of  Bronx 
Borough  in  the  construction  of  an  electric  railway  to  various 
points  in  Westchester  County,  including  a  spur  to  White  Plains 
and  another  to  the  Connecticut  State  line  at  the  village  of  Port 
Chester.  Sixty-two  affirmative  votes  were  cast  on  the  passage  of 
the  resolution  after  a  favorable  report  had  been  received  from  the 
railroad  committee.  During  the  debate  on  the  Westchester  grant 
Aid.  McCall,  the  nominal  Tammany  leader  of  the  Board,  prom- 
ised that  at  the  next  meeting,  to  be  held  Aug.  9,  a  report  would  be 
made  on  the  application  of  the  New  York  &  Portchester  Railroad 
Company,  so  that  that  matter  could  be  disposed  of  by  the  mem- 
bers at  that  time.  The  resolution  now  goes  to  Mayor  McClellan 
for  action. 

Immediately  on  the  passage  of  the  resolution  a  statement  was 
issued  by  the  banking  house  of  Dick  &  Robinson,  of  New  York, 
which  is  financing  the  Westchester  line,  in  which  it  is  stated  that 
the  Westchester  Company  will  enter  the  field  to  bid  for  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of  the  proposed  East  Side  Subway,  which 
will  extend  from  the  lower  end  of  New  York  City  up  Broadway 
and  Lexington  Avenue  to  the  Harlem  River.  This  would  enable 
the  company,  if  it  got  the  contract,  to  make  a  connection  with  its 
Westchester  line  at  Third  Avenue  and  138th  Street,  making  pos- 
sible an  interchange  of  cars  and  the  operation  of  through  trains 
from  White  Plains  and  the  cities  and  towns  along  Long  Island 
Sound  and  the  Bronx  to  the  Battery. 

Dick  &  Robinson  state  that  the  general  supervision  of  the  road 
will  be  under  Samuel  Hunt,  vice-president  of  the  company  and 
one  of  the  trustees  for  the  City  of  Cincinnati  of  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railroad,  while  the  engineering  plans  will  be  under  the 
direction  of  John  Bogart,  formerly  State  Engineer  of  New  York. 
James  P.  McDonald  will  be  the  contractor,  he  having  had  twenty- 
five  years  of  experience  building  roads  in  this  country,  South 
America  and  the  West  Indies.  They  say  he  will  put  15,000  men 
and  all  the  necessary  plant  to  work  as  soon  as  the  right  of  way  is 
obtained,  the  contract  calling  for  the  completion  of  the  road  in 
two  years. 



ILLINOIS  TUNNEL  COMPANY  BUYS  TERMINAL  SITE 

A  site  for  a  general  terminal  of  the  Illinois  Tunnel  Company's 
system  of  underground  electric  railways  has  been  secured  by  the 
company  at  a  cost  of  $2,500,000,  through  the  purchase  of  the  prop- 
erty on  the  west  bank  of  the  Chicago  River,  north  of  Taylor 
Street,  now  occupied  by  the  Albert  Dickinson  Company's  seed 
warehouses  and  owned  by  the  Chicago  Dock  Company.  The  tun- 
nel company  will  proceed  immediately  to  remodel  the  property, 
and  promises  to  have  its  lines  in  use  by  November  for  general 
transportation  under  the  streets  of  much  traffic  now  carried  on 
the  surface.  On  all  sides  of  the  purchased  tract,  which  measures 
404  ft.  north  and  south  and  700  ft.  east  and  west,  are  the  terminals 
of  trunk  lines.  The  property  has  connection  with  all  the  rail- 
roads and  is  adjacent  to  the  tunnel  company's  large  conduit  under 
Taylor  Street,  which  connects  the  tunnels  under  the  business  dis- 
trict of  the  South  Side  with  the  West  Side  tunnels. 

"On  the  terminal  site,"  said  Albert  G.  Wheeler,  president  of 
the  Illinois  Tunnel  Company,  "we  shall  have  a  general  distributing 
system  for  the  transportation  of  freight  between  stores  and  ware- 
houses and  the  steam  railroads.  We  also  will  have  our  own 
power  plant.  We  shall  spend  $1,500,000  immediately  and  im- 
prove the  property  gradually." 

The  most  important  feature  of  this  practical  completion  of 
the  tunnel  company's  equipment  will  be  the  probable  ending  of 
street  congestion  in  downtown  districts  by  heavy  teaming.  A 
tunnel  extending  under  nearly  all  the  important  streets  of  the 
loop  district,  and  connections  will  be  made  with  all  the  large 
wholesale  and  retail  houses  and  business  blocks.  It  is  the  inten- 
tion of  the  company  to  haul  all  kinds  of  freight  and  material  to  and 
from  these  big  establishments,  to  carry  goods  from  the  stores  to 
outlying  distributing  centers,  and  to  transport  all  kinds  of  refuse 
which  collects  in  the  large  business  blocks. 


170 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


FIRE  IN  EAST  ST.  LOUIS  POWER  HOUSE 


ANOTHER  PROPOSED  FRANCHISE  ORDINANCE  FOR  THE 
CHICAGO  CITY  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


Fire  damaged  the  power  house  of  the  East  St.  Louis  &  Subur- 
ban Railway  Company  one  evening  last  week.  It  started  in  the 
boiler  room,  and  is  believed  to  have  originated  from  spontaneous 
combustion.  Hundreds  of  passengers  on  the  cars  of  the  inter- 
urban  system  of  the  company,  spreading  over  122  miles  of  country 
adjacent  to  East  St.  Louis,  were  compelled  to  walk  to  their  destina- 
tions or  remain  in  the  cars.  The  automatic  coal  bins  and  stokers 
were  the  first  to  be  destroyed.  Every  available  fireman  in  East  St. 
Louis  was  summoned,  and  the  entire  force  concentrated  upon  a 
fire  wall,  4  ft.  6  ins.  thick,  which  separated  the  boiler  room  from 
the  engines  and  generators.  The  flames  were  stopped  at  this  wall 
and  the  million-dollar  plant  was  saved,  the  chief  damage  being 
the  explosion  of  one  boiler  shortly  after  the  fire  started,  and  the 
bursting  of  one  of  the  main  steam  pipes.  As  every  car  on  the 
system  is  equipped  with  a  telephone,  the  general  office  communi- 
cated with  all  conductors,  informed  them  of  the  reason  for  the 
shutting  off  of  the  power,  and  told  them  to  stay  with  their  cars 
until  morning.  With  the  break  in  the  power  supply,  came  the 
extinguishing  of  all  the  electric  light  in  East  St.  Louis,  as  the 
railway  plant  furnishes  power  for  both  private  lights  and  the  city 
lighting  service.  The  steam  pipe  which  burst  was  the  principal 
feeder  from  the  boiler  room  to  the  engines,  and  until  this  was  re- 
paired no  power  of  any  kind  could  be  furnished.  The  break  was 
repaired  early  the  next  morning  and  service  resumed.  With  the 
assistance  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  the  cars  on  the  city 
lines  were  given  sufficient  power  to  take  them  to  the  sheds.  The 
loss  is  estimated  between  $15,000  and  $50,000. 

— — -  ♦  ♦  


EARNINGS  OF  THE  PITTSBURG,  McKEESPORT  &  GREENS- 
BURG  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


The  Pittsburg,  McKeesport  &  Greensburg  Railway  Company, 
of  Greensburg,  Pa.,  report  as  follows  for  the  year  ending  Dec.  31, 
1903: 

Gross  Net 

Earnings  Expenses  Earnings 

1902                                                              $99,308.28  $57,519.93  $41,788.35 

1903                                                              124,533.54  70,454.63  54,078.91 

The  following  is  a  statement  for  the  six  months  ending  July  1 : 

Gross  Net 
Earnings     Expenses  Earnings 

1903    $55,967.28      $32,935.26  $23,032.02 

1904    68,644.73       38,550.85  30,093.88 

Gain,  $12,677.35  =  22.6  per  cent. 

The  Pittsburg,  McKeesport  &  Greensburg  Railway  Company 
is  a  consolidation  of  the  Westmoreland  Railway  Company  and  the 
Greensburg  &  Hempfield  Electric  Street  Railway  Company.  The 
railway  passes  through  Irwin,  Jeannette  and  Greensburg  to 
Youngwood  and  Hunker.  Extensions  are  also  being  built  to 
Trafford  City  for  connection  with  the  Pittsburg  Railways  Com- 
pany. The  company  takes  power  from  the  Westmoreland  Light, 
Heat  &  Power  Company.  Charles  L.  Walther,  of  Pittsburg,  has 
recently  been  elected  director  of  the  company  in  place  of  E.  M. 
Prindle,  of  New  York.  The  other  directors  are  Edward  Bailey, 
of  Harrisburg,  Pa.;  E.  C.  Gibson,  L.  B.  Huff,  Richard  Coulter, 
Jr.;  W.  D.  Chapman,  of  Greensburg,  Pa.,  and  J.  E.  Studley,  of 
Providence,  R.  I. 

 — 

DR.  PERRINE'S  NEW  WORK 


Dr.  Frederic  A.  C.  Perrine,  who  has  resigned  from  the  vice- 
presidency  and  general  management  of  the  Stanley  Electric  Manu- 
facturing Company,  to  be  succeeded  by  C.  C.  Chesney,  has  been 
elected  president  of  the  Construction  Company  of  America.  This 
company  last  year  secured  control  of  the  Sheboygan  (Wis.)  Light, 
Power  &  Railway  Company,  and  built  the  electric  interurban  line 
between  Sheboygan  and  Plymouth,  Wis.  It  owns  a  franchise  in 
the  city  of  Port  Washington,  Wis.,  and  has  procured  the  neces- 
sary right  of  way  for  an  interurban  line  to  Cedar  Grove,  a  village 
located  about  midway  between  Sheboygan  and  Port  Washington. 
It  is  understood  that  work  on  this  line  will  be  begun  this  year. 
Herman  A.  Strauss,  formerly  of  the  engineering  department  of 
the  Construction  Company  of  America,  has  been  placed  in  charge 
of  the  company's  interests  at  Sheboygan.  The  company  contem- 
plates also  building  a  line  to  connect  Plymouth  with  Chilton,  Wis. 
M.  D.  Barr,  second  vice-president  of  the  Stanley  Electric  Manu- 
facturing Company,  was  the  former  president  of  the  Construction 
Company. 


The  local  transportation  committee  of  the  Chicago  City  Council 
has  at  last  drawn  up  another  franchise  ordinance  for  the  Chicago 
City  Railway  Company.  Last  year  the  local  transportation  com- 
mittee drew  up  a  lengthy  ordinance,  which  came  to  naught  be- 
cause of  a  disagreement  as  to  the  compensation  to  be  paid  the 
city  for  the  franchise.  The  local  transportation  committee  of  this 
year's  Council  has  just  completed  another  ordinance  which  in- 
cludes a  compensation  clause.  The  ordinance  is  based  on  the 
theory  that  franchises  granted  prior  to  1875  run  for  ninety-nine 
years  from  the  time  they  were  granted,  as  decided  recently  by 
Judge  Grosscup.  By  averaging  the  lives  of  the  various  franchises 
owned  by  the  company,  the  local  transportation  committee  fixed 
upon  thirteen  years  as  the  life  for  a  blanket  franchise  covering  all 
the  lines.  The  ordinance  provides  that  at  the  end  of  thirteen 
years  the  city  may  take  over  the  property  of  the  company  on  pay- 
ing a  fair  price  therefor,  or  it  may  allow  the  company  to  operate 
thereafter  up  to  twenty  years  from  the  date  of  the  original  grant. 
Franchise  is  to  end  absolutely  at  the  end  of  twenty  years.  The 
company  is  to  put  the  plant  in  thoroughly  modern  condition  in  the 
first  three  years,  at  an  estimated  cost  of  $15,000,000.  As  compen- 
sation for  the  franchise,  the  company  is  to  pay  to  the  city  5  per 
cent  of  its  gross  receipts  each  year  for  the  thirteen-year  period 
and  for  each  year  operated  thereafter,  up  to  twenty  years,  it  is  to 
pay  10  per  cent  per  annum.  Five  cents  fare  is  to  be  charged,  but 
the  city  reserves  the  right  to  change  the  percentage  of  gross  re- 
ceipts prescribed  to  be  paid  to  it  into  a  lower  fare  at  any  time. 
The  company  must  give  transfers  and  receive  transfers  from  the 
Belt  Line  planned  for  Twelfth,  Halsted  and  Indiana  Streets  by 
George  A.  Yuille.  This  route  begins  at  Wabash  Avenue  and 
Twelfth  Street  on  the  south,  runs  west  on  Twelfth  Street  to 
Halsted,  north  on  Halsted  to  Indiana  Street,  east  on  Indiana 
Street  to  North  State  Street.  In  addition,  Halsted  Street  is  to 
have  through  service  from  one  end  of  the  street  to  the  other.  The 
ordinance  has  been  favorably  received  by  the  Council  committee 
and  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company's  representatives. 

If  the  city  desires  to  buy  the  company's  lines  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteen-year  period  and  transfer  the  franchise  to  another  com- 
pany it  must  give  the  company  written  notice  of  such  intention  at 
least  one  year,  and  not  more  than  two  years,  prior  to  the  time  of 
purchase. 

The  company  must  waive  its  rights  under  the  ninety-nine-year 
act  and  all  the  rights  it  has  in  unexpired  franchises  in  return  for 
the  new  blanket  franchise. 

If  the  company's  property  is  taken  by  the  city  at  the  end  of  the 
thirteen-year  period  or  thereafter,  three  appraisers  are  to  be  ap- 
pointed, one  by  the  city,  one  by  the  company,  and  the  third  by  the 
two  thus  selected.  If  either  party  shall  fail  to  appoint  an  ap- 
praiser the  other  party  may  appeal  to  two  judges  of  the  Circuit 
Court  for  the  Northern  District  of  Illinois,  outside  of  Chicago. 
The  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  and  these 
judges,  or  any  two  of  them,  may  appoint  the  appraiser  for  the 
side  failing  to  make  such  appointment. 

It  has  not  yet  been  announced  whether  these  terms  are  accept- 
able to  the  directors  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company. 




LARGE  SWITCHBOARD  CONTRACT  FOR  NEW  YORK 
SUBWAY 


The  Albert  &  J.  M.  Anderson  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Boston,  Mass.,  has  secured  a  contract  for  200  switchboards  for 
the  Wason  Manufacturing  Company's  steel  cars,  to  be  operated 
in  the  New  York  Subway.  The  switchboards  will  be  of  a  special 
type,  will  be  enclosed  in  steel  cabinets  and  handle  the  pumps, 
lights,  air-brakes  and  heaters  on  the  cars. 


MORE  CARS  FOR  MANILA  SYSTEM 


A  contract  is  about  to  be  let  for  more  cars  to  be  used  on  the 
Manila  Electric  Traction  system,  which  is  being  built  by  J.  G. 
White  &  Company.  As  noted  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal 
at  the  time  a  contract  was  recently  awarded  to  a  Belgian  concern, 
the  Companie  Metalurgique,  of  Brussels,  for  several  cars.  The 
contract  now  being  considered  will  be  for  six  double-truck,  open, 
twelve-bench  cars.  The  frames  will  be  made  of  teakwood  and 
steel,  so  as  to  withstand  the  ravages  of  the  white  ants,  which  are 
very  much  in  evidence  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 


July  30,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


171 


ANOTHER  STRIKE  ON  THE  NEW  YORK  SUBWAY 


The  new  strike  on  the  New  York  Subway,  which  was  ordered 
by  the  Building  Trades  Alliance  on  July  25,  brought  out  1160 
mechanics  belonging  to  the  Alliance.  The  tile  layers,  though  they 
belong  to  the  Alliance,  did  not  strike,  as  their  union  decided  that 
they  must  remain  at  work.  The  officers  of  the  Alliance,  however, 
are  bringing  strong  pressure  on  them  to  quit.  Fifteen  hundred 
painters  belonging  to  the  Brotherhood  of  Painters  are  at  work, 
an  additional  force  of  360  being  put  on  just  before  the  strike  was 
declared,  in  order  to  hurry  along  the  work.  It  is  to  get  one-half 
of  this  work  for  the  Amalgamated  Painters'  Society  that  the  strike 
has  been  declared.  The  contract  for  the  painting  is  held  by  Hol- 
brook,  Cabot  &  Rollins.  Mr.  Holbrook  said  that  the  painting 
would  be  finished  in  a  day  or  two,  anyway.  The  bricklayers  and 
members  of  several  other  unions  which  are  not  in  the  Alliance 
are  at  work  in  the  subway. 

John  B.  McDonald,  the  general  contractor,  said  that  he  had  not 
had  time  to  consider  the  situation,  but  he  felt  that  matters  would 
soon  arrange  themselves,  and  that  the  subway  would  be  finished 
on  time  in  any  event. 

 ♦♦♦  

SINGLE-PHASE  RAILWAYS 


The  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  an- 
nounces that  it  has  taken  contracts  covering  nearly  150  single- 
phase  alternating-current  railway  motors  of  the  series-wound  com- 
mutator type.  The  aggregate  length  of  these  lines  is  about  150 
miles.  The  car  equipments  will  consist  for  the  most  part  of  four 
motors  varying  in  size  from  50  hp  to  150  hp,  controlled  by  auto- 
transformers  and  induction  regulators  on  the  cars,  and  operated 
by  alternating  current  only.  One  road,  which  is  over  50  miles 
long,  however,  will  operate  from  a  3000-volt  alternating  trolley  in 
the  interurban  portions,  and  from  a  previously  installed  500-volt 
d.  c.  system  within  a  certain  portion  of  the  urban  limits.  Others 
are  installing  a  separate  low-voltage  alternating  trolley  system 
for  the  city  service,  sometimes  paralleling  the  existing  d.  c.  500 
lines,  and  using  1100  volts,  2200  volts  or  3300  volts  outside  the 
city  limits.  The  trolley  potentials  vary  from  500  volts  to  3300 
volts.  Three  of  these  contracts  have  been  mentioned  in  these 
pages,  viz.:  the  Indianapolis  &  Cincinnati  Traction  Company, 
the  Fort  Wayne,  Decatur  &  Springfield  Railway  Company,  of 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  and  a  line  in  San  Pedro,  Cal.  It  is  understood 
that  a  number  of  other  contracts  have  been  taken. 

♦  ♦♦  

THE  LEVIS  COUNTY  RAILWAY  COMPANY  VS.  THE  CANA- 
DIAN ELECTRIC  LIGHT  COMPANY 

On  July  2,  at  noon,  the  Levis  County  Railway  Company,  a  10-mile 
electric  railway,  operating  on  the  south  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
River,  opposite  Quebec  City,  Canada,  had  its  electric  power  cut 
off  by  the  Canadian  Electric  Light  Company.  The  railway  com- 
pany for  a  year  and  a  half  had  been  taking  electric  power  at  10,000 
volts  at  its  own  sub-station,  8  miles  from  the  Chaudiere  Falls 
power  station,  owned  and  operated  by  the  Canadian  Electric  Light 
Company.  Since  the  first  of  November  last  there  had  been  a 
dispute  between  the  two  companies  with  regard  to  the  interpreta- 
tion of  a  clause  in  their  contract  relating  to  the  amount  of  power  to 
be  delivered  by  the  power  company.  Each  successive  month,  be- 
ginning with  the  first  of  December,  1903,  the  railway  company 
refused  to  pay  for  the  power  at  the  rate  of  $8,000  a  year,  claiming 
that  the  power  company  prevented  the  use  of  the  amount  called 
for  by  the  terms  of  the  contract.  Several  suits  were  entered  in 
the  Quebec  Court  by  the  power  company  in  order  to  enforce  pay- 
ment ;  and  the  case  is  now  pending,  and  will  come  to  trial  next  fall. 
In  March  last  the  railway  company  took  action  for  $10,000  dam- 
ages against  the  power  company  on  two  points ;  first,  for  prevent- 
ing it  from  using  the  amount  of  power  which  should  be  permitted 
by  its  interpretation  of  the  contract ;  second,  for  the  failure  of 
the  power  company  to  continuously  deliver  power  at  the  10,000- 
volt  switch  in  its  sub-station. 

The  first  of  the  foregoing  questions  hinges  on  the  result  of  the 
cases  now  pending  before  the  court,  while  the  second  question  is 
one  upon  which  it  would  appear  to  be  clear  that  the  power  com- 
pany would  have  to  answer.  It  seems  that  momentary  overloads 
of  the  railway  load  blew  the  circuit  breakers  in  the  main  power 
house  of  the  power  company,  and  the  railway  was  notified  thai  if 
it  caused  the  breakers  to  blow,  that  the  power  company  would  cease 
to  deliver  any  more  power.  On  several  occasions  it  is  claimed  that 
the  power  company  kept  power  from  the  railway's  sub-station 
after  the  blowing  of  the  main  power  house  circuit  breakers,  even 
to  periods  of  time  exceeding  one-half  an  hour.  This,  to  say  the 
least,  was  peculiar  when  water  was  flowing  to  waste  over  its  dam  ; 
for  the  company  would  have  the  right  of  rendering  a  bill  for  ex- 


cess power  supplied,  and  if  just,  the  court  would  uphold  the  claim. 

The  Canadian  Electric  Light  Company  apparently  not  being  sat- 
isfied with  the  court  delay  in  making  a  trial  of  the  above  questions 
between  the  two  companies,  notified  the  Levis  County  Railway 
Company  on  June  13,  that  unless  it  paid  for  the  power  at  the  rate 
of  $8,000  a  year  for  the  months  of  April,  May  and  June,  1904,  it 
would  cut  off  the  service  July  2.  The  railway  endeavored  to  come 
to  an  understanding  with  the  power  company,  offering  to  pay 
weekly  in  cash,  not  merely  the  rate  called  for  by  the  $8,000  a  year 
contract,  but  an  amount  in  excess  of  the  rate,  viz. :  $170,  stating 
to  the  power  company  that  upon  the  decision  of  the  court  in  the 
fall,  the  apportionment  could  be  made  of  this  $170,  distributing  it 
on  current  power,  and  the  power  for  the  past  three  months  (which 
three  months  were  not  before  the  court).  This  offer  the  power 
company  refused,'  and  disconnected  the  service.  In  order  not  to 
disappoint  its  patrons,  the  railway  company  then  offered  to  the 
power  company  $154  in  cash  for  power  to  be  supplied  by  the  week, 
which  was  slightly  in  excess  of  the  $8,000  a  year  rate,  and  sug- 
gested the  making  of  a  new  contract.  This  the  Canadian  Electric 
Light  Company  refused.  The  cars  were  left  along  the  line,  in  as 
much  as  the  railway  company  denied  the  right  of  the  power  com- 
pany to  cut  off  for  any  cause  a  public  corporation,  and  as  the  very 
point  brought  up  by  the  power  company  was  already  before  the 
court.  The  proceedings  in  the  above  case  will  be  watched  with 
great  interest. 

Meanwhile,  the  railway  company  is  operating  its  inclined  ele- 
vator by  outside  power,  and  is  now  proceeding,  and  hopes  to  have 
in  a  few  days  temporary  power,  which  will  run  half  of  its  usual 
number  of  cars.  The  railway  company  at  once  purchased,  and  is 
getting  ready  to  erect,  a  steam  plant  of  500  hp  in  a  location  along 
the  river,  giving  ample  water  and  coal  facilities.  A  battery  of  500 
hp  of  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers  is  to  be  erected,  and  a  350-hp  Robb 
compound  condensing  engine  is  to  be  installed.  The  intention  is 
to  belt  from  the  engine  to  one  of  the  two  motor-generator  sets  of 
250  kw  each,  removing  for  this  purpose  the  alternating-current 
end.  The  railway  company  was  very  fortunate  in  being  able  to 
procure  immediately  a  first-class  second-hand  equipment  as  above, 
which  had  just  been  superseded  by  larger  units,  in  a  tramway 
company  a  few  hundred  miles  from  Quebec.  Fortunately  for  the 
railway  company,  the  great  majority  of  the  population  on  both 
sides  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence  have  taken  sides  with  it  in  the 
controversy. 

 ♦  

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  MANUFACTURERS'  COMMITTEE  OF 
THE  A.  S.  R.  A. 


The  manufacturers'  committee  of  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association,  which  was  appointed  at  a  special  meeting  of  the  ex- 
hibitors at  Saratoga  last  year,  held  a  meeting  at  New  York  last 
week,  at  which  a  number  of  important  steps  were  taken.  Rich- 
ard W.  Meade,  of  621  Broadway,  New  York,  was  appointed  per- 
manent secretary  of  the  association;  Charles  C.  Pierce,  of  Boston, 
was  appointed  chairman  of  the  entertainment  committee;  Edward 
H.  Baker,  of  New  York,  chairman  of  the  finance  committee,  and 
George  J.  Kobusch.  of  St.  Louis,  chairman  of  the  reception  com- 
mittee. W.  B.  Albright  and  E.  H.  Baker  were  appointed  a 
committee  on  badges,  and  J.  R.  Lovejoy,  John  A.  Brill  and  R. 
W.  Meade,  a  committee  on  permanent  organization. 

An  entertainment  programme  at  St.  Louis,  including  a  number 
of  attractive  features,  was  arranged.  It  was  further  decided  to 
send  a  circular  to  all  manufacturers  of  street  railway  material  and 
others  interested,  soliciting  their  co-operation  and  explaining  the 
reasons  leading  to  the  organization  of  the  committee  and  the  ob- 
jects which  it  desires  to  accomplish.  The  membership  of  the 
committee  was  published  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  for 
June  25.  The  headquarters  of  the  committee  are  at  95  Liberty 
Street,  New  York  City. 

*♦* 

ALLIS-CHALMERS  TURBINE  CONTRACT 

Thomas  E.  Murray,  electrical  engineer  for  the  Anthony  N. 
Brady  interests,  has  placed  a  contract  with  the  Allis-Chalmers 
Company  for  six  5500-kw  turbo-generators.  One  of  these  is  to 
be  installed  in  the  new  power  station  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  which  is  being  erected  adjoining  the  present 
Kent  Avenue  station.  This  is  the  first  contract  which  the  Allis- 
Chalmers  Company  has  taken  for  turbines,  and  the  machines  will 
be  delivered  in  November.  The  destination  of  the  other  five 
turbines  is  not  officially  announced,  but  they  will  probably  go  to 
some  other  Brady  electric  stations.  The  new  power  station  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  will  contain  twelve  5500-kw 
turbo  units.  The  station  is  now  being  built  for  half  this  number, 
and  so  far  contracts  have  been  placed  for  one  Westinghouse 
turbo  unit  and  one  Allis-Chalmers  unit. 


172 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  5. 


NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN  &  HARTFORD  PURCHASES 
MORE  TROLLEYS 


The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  through  the 
Consolidated  Railway,  wnich  it  owns,  continues  to  purchase  the 
electric  railways  operating  in  its  territory.  The  latest  acquisi- 
tions of  the  company  are  the  Norwich  Street  Railway,  the  New 
London  Street  Railway  and  the  Montville  Street  Railway.  The 
purchase  of  these  lines  places  the  company  in  complete  control 
of  the  street  railway  systems  of  Norwich  and  New  London  and 
the  connecting  line  between  the  two  cities,  the  Montville  Com- 
pany. The  statement  is  made  in  the  East  that  the  Consolidated 
Company  is  to  extend  its  Worcester  &  Connecticut  Eastern  line 
t"  Norwich  at  once.  This  would  complete  the  line  from  Worces- 
ter to  tidewater.  The  three  lines  just  acquired  have  a  total  of  36^ 
miles  of  track. 

.  

STREET   RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  JULY  19,  1904 

765,160.  Brake  Operating-Mechanism;  Irvin  Baker,  Latty, 
Ohio.  App.  filed  Jan.  14,  1904.  A  brake-wheel  grips  the  rails,  in- 
cluding devices  to  raise  the  brake  members  to  override  frogs, 
switches  and  other  obstructions. 

765,212.  Electromagnetic  Block  System  of  Control;  Guion 
Thompson,  Duluth,  Minn.  App.  filed  March  17,  1902.  An  ar- 
rangement of  co-acting  electro-magnetic  devices  located  on  a 
moving  car  and  along  the  roadbed  adapted  to  operate  a  signal  on 
the  car  under  certain  conditions. 

765,216.  Trolley  Guard;  William  C.  Washburn,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio.  App.  filed  Feb.  24,  1904.  Guard-arms  for  preventing  the 
wheel  from  leaving  the  feed-wire. 

765.263.  Electro  Fluid-Pressure  Switching  Mechanism;  Walter 
I.  Bell,  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  App.  filed  July  25,  1903.  Improved 
switching  mechanism  wherein  a  solenoid  magnet  for  actuating  the 
compressor  is  substituted  for  the  electric  motor. 

765.264.  Railway  Crossing  Signal;  Walter  J.  Bell,  Los  Angeles, 
Cal.  App.  filed  July  28,  1903.  Comprises  a  plurality  of  electric 
lights,  each  arranged  to  project  light  rays  in  a  direction  different 
from  the  others,  and  a  group  of  separately  manipulated  circuit 
closers  in  the  light  connections. 

765,266.  Audible  Signaling  Device;  Walter  J.  Bell,  Los  An- 
geles, Cal.  App.  filed  Jan.  5,  1904.  An  electro-magnetically 
operated  bell  adapted  for  use  in  connection  with  a  railway  barrier 
or  gate,  or  semaphores  and  other  display  signals. 

765,333.  Car  Replacer;  William  E.  Burroughs  and  Seele  H. 
Ellis,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  March  8,  1904.  The  replacer 
is  of  symmetrical  construction  and  adapted  to  be  used  either  on 
right  or  left  side  of  the  track. 

765,449.  Trolley  Harp;  Earl  R.  Warren,  Holyoke,  Mass.  App. 
filed  March  7,  1904.  The  construction  of  the  harp  is  such  that  the 
trolley-wheel  may  be  removed  and  replaced  readily. 

765,516.  Trolley;  Wilson  Selakosky,  Lehighton,  Pa.  App.  filed 
Jan.  27,  1904.  Disks  arranged  at  an  angle  to  the  trolley-wheel  and 
on  each  side  thereof  to  prevent  the  wheel  slipping  from  the  wire. 

765,544.  Trolley  Head;  Stanislas  Bourgeois,  Manchester,  N. 
H.  App.  filed  Oct.  24,  1903.  The  lower  half  of  the  trolley-wheel 
is  embraced  by  a  U-shaped  guard,  which  prevents  the  wheel  from 
engaging  with  the  upper  part  of  the  feed-wire  when  displaced. 

765,572.  Railroad  Switch;  Milam  M.  Fitzgerald.  San  Antonio, 
Tex.  App.  filed  Dec.  23,  1903.  A  construction  which  eliminates 
switch  tongues  and  provides  for  switching  all  cars  going  in  one 
direction  onto  the  turn-out,  while  cars  going  in  the  other  direction 
will  keep  to  the  main  track. 

765,604.  Shunting  Lever  or  Device  for  Operating  Railway  or 
Tramway  Points  or  the  Like;  William  Taylor,  Sandiacre,  Eng- 
land. App.  filed  March  21,  1904.  Provides  means  whereby  the 
switch  can  adjust  itself  automatically  in  the  event  of  a  car  being 
run  backward  through  the  points. 

765,612.  Safety  Device;  Fred  B.  Corey,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Jan.  2,  1904.  Means,  such  as  a  pneumatically  actuated 
relay  operatively  connected  to  the  train-pipe  of  an  air-brake  sys- 
tem, and  arranged  to  control  the  supply  of  power  to  the  operating 
means  for  the  motor  controller  in  a  system  of  control  employing 
master  and  motor  controllers. 

765,614.  Convertible  Seat;  James  S.  Doyle,  New  York*  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Jan.  31,  1903.  Relates  to  seat  in  the  inclosure  used  by 
motorman,  and  provides  for  an  auxiliary  seat  adapted  for  use  by 
the  motorman  when  the  passenger  seat  is  turned  to  in  operative 
position. 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  F.  A.  AUSTIN  has  been  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
Erie  Traction  Company,  of  Erie,  Pa. 

COL.  THOMAS  LOWRY,  president  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  has  bought  the  William  E.  Goodfellow  interest 
in  the  Minneapolis  "Times"  for  $60,000. 

MR.  H.  N.  ALDRICH  has  been  appointed  superintendent  of 
the  Amherst  &  Sunderland  Street  Railway  Company,  of  Amherst, 
Mass.,  to  succeed  Mr.  L.  N.  Wheelock,  resigned. 

MR.  CHARLES  S.  LUDLAM,  formerly  with  Haskins  &  Sells, 
the  well-known  accountants  of  New  York,  has  been  appointed 
comptroller  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company. 

MR.  G.  F.  MANSELL,  general  auditor  of  the  Appleyard  elec- 
tris  system  in  Ohio,  resigned  on  July  1.  He  has  been  succeeded 
by  Mr.  A.  J.  Armstrong,  who  for  many  years  has  been  connected 
with  the  Pennsylvania  and  other  steam  railroad  companies  in 
the  auditing  and  other    departments.  , 

MR.  H.  A.  BELDEN,  general  manager  of  the  electric  traction 
and  lighting  system  which  is  now  being  hastened  to  completion 
in  Manila  by  the  contractors,  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  is  at  pres- 
ent on  a  visit  to  this  side.  He  expects  to  be  here  about  two 
months.    He  is  a  guest  at  the  Hotel  Manhattan. 

MR.  THOMAS  FARMER,  formerly  superintendent  of  motive 
power  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  Company,  has  resigned  his 
position  as  superintendent  of  the  G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Company, 
of  Collinwood,  Ohio.  Mr.  Farmer  was  one  of  the  founders  and 
the  first  president  of  the  American  Railway,  Mechanical  &  Elec- 
trical Association. 

MR.  D.  H.  LAVENBERG  has  been  elected  general  manager  of 
the  Toledo  &  Indiana  Railway  Company,  of  Delta,  Ohio,  and  took 
charge  of  the  property  July  15.  Mr.  Lavenberg  is  a  well-known 
steam  railway  man,  and  left  steam  railway  work  in  1899  to  engage 
in  electric  railway  work.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  Toledo 
division  of  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  until  February,  1902, 
when  he  resigned  to  accept  a  position  as  superintendent  of  Northern 
Texas  Traction  Company,  with  headquarters  at  Dallas,  Tex. 

MR.  CHARLES  E.  WARNER  has  accepted  the  position  of 
general  manager  of  the  San  Juan  Light  &  Transit  Company,  San 
Juan,  Porto  Rico,  which  is  controlled  by  J.  G.  White  &  Company, 
of  New  York.  Mr.  Warner  is  a  Western  man,  having  spent  most 
of  his  boyhood  in  Portland,  Ore.  He  entered  Cornell  University, 
but  left  there  in  1890  to  engage  in  practical  work,  and  spent  sev- 


eral years  in  the  various  branches 
of  railway  and  lighting  construc- 
tion in  New  Westminster,  Van- 
couver, Nanimo,  B.  C„  and  Port- 
land, Ore.  He  was  manager  of 
the  Northwestern  Agency  of  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company  at  Tacoma, 
Wash.,  from  1893  to  1898,  dur- 
ing which  period  he  had  charge 
of  the  surveys  and  early  develop- 
ment of  the  White  River  Power 
project  which  is  now  one  of  the 
largest  hydraulic  electric  powers 
in  the  Northwest.  In  1898  he 
resigned   his   position   with  the 


Westinghouse  Company  and 
CHARLES  E.  WARNER         spent  several  years  in  engineering 

work  in  Alaska,  Nova  Scotia  and 
New  England,  being  connected  in  Nova  Scotia  with  the  Dominion 
Iron  &  Steel  Company  and  in  New  England  with  some  of  the  high- 
speed electric  railway  construction  of  the  Massachusetts  Electric 
Companies.  His  most  notable  work,  probably,  has  been  done  as 
general  superintendent  of  the  Allegheny  County  Light  Company, 
of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  This  company  embraces  a  combination  of  nearly 
all  the  electric  lighting  interests  of  Allegheny  County,  including 
Pittsburg,  Allegheny,  McKeesport  and  the  surrounding  boroughs, 
with  a  total  population  of  about  700,000  people.  Mr.  Warner  in- 
fused new  life  into  this  organization  and  put  into  practice  a  num- 
ber of  important  features  of  operating  economy,  beside  adopting 
new  methods  of  getting  business.  The  remarkable  results  which 
he  has  shown  have  attracted  the  attention  not  only  of  Pittsburg 
business  men  and  capitalists,  but  have  given  him  a  broader  reputa- 
tion as  a  successful  manager  of  electrical  properties,  which  resulted 
in  his  services  being  sought  for  the  more  important  position  of 
general  manager  of  the  combined  light  and  railway  property  at 
San  Juan. 


INDEXED 


Street  Railway  Journal 


XXIV 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  AUGUST  6,  1904. 


No  6 


Vol. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

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London :    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Lieber's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


The  Coming  Conventions 

The  approaching  convention  in  September  of  the  Inter- 
national Tramway  &  Light  Railway  Association,  at  Vienna, 
is  indicated  in  this  issue  by  the  publication  of  the  programme 
of  the  Vienna  meeting,  and  also  by  the  interesting  report  on 
the  Control  of  Transfer  Traffic  which  is  to  be  presented  at 
that  meeting.  At  the  same  time  the  approaching  date  of  the 
Street  Railway  Accountants'  convention  is  presaged  by  the  ap- 
pearance in  this  number  of  the  question  box  of  that  association 
to  be  discussed  at  St.  Louis.    Another  approaching  convention 


is  that  of  the  New  York  State  Street  Railway  Association  at 
Utica. 

The  convention  of  the  New  York  State  Street  Railway  Asso- 
ciation has  always  attracted  a  wider  attention  and  larger  at- 
tendance than  that  of  any  other  State  association,  and  the 
convention  this  year  promises  to  be  of  unusual  interest.  As 
already  announced,  it  is  to  be  held  at  Utica  on  Sept.  13  and  14, 
and  a  number  of  important  topics  are  to  be  discussed.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  a  State  body  of  street  railway  managers  can 
accomplish  many  things  which  are  outside  the  scope  of  a  na- 
tional association.  As  the  attendants  are  all  from  the  same 
section  of  the  country,  their  operation  is  conducted  under  simi- 
lar conditions,  and  as  they  are  neighbors,  the  local  conditions 
on  each  system  are  pretty  well  understood  by  all  present.  For 
this  reason  each  company  gets  the  maximum  amount  of  benefit 
from  the  treatment  of  the  different  topics.  The  introduction 
this  year  by  the  New  York  association  of  a  question  box  is 
somewhat  of  a  departure  from  former  traditions,  but  the  prac- 
tical utility  of  a  set  of  topics  of  this  kind  has  been  demon- 
strated at  other  conventions,  and  the  innovation  is  a  wise  move 
on  the  part  of  President  Connette  and  his  associates. 

The  Vienna  convention  of  the  International  association  also 
promises  to  be  a  most  interesting  one.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  it 
is  not  practical  for  more  Americans  to  be  members  of  this 
association,  but  the  time  required  for  a  trip  to  Europe  to  attend 
the  meetings  of  this  association,  and  the  complications  intro- 
duced by  the  employment  of  French  and  German  in  the  dis- 
cussions, practically  preclude  any  of  the  American  companies 
from  taking  an  active  part  in  the  association  to  which,  how- 
ever, they  are  eligible.  Although  in  certain  respects  the  con- 
ditions in  Europe  are  different  from  those  in  America,  street 
railway  practice  in  the  two  continents  is  more  nearly  alike  than 
many  American  managers  realize.  The  problems  which  con- 
front the  companies  and  the  policies  which  they  pursue  are  ex- 
tremely similar,  and  it  has  been  this  fact  which  has  prompted 
this  paper  to  devote  the  attention  which  it  has  to  descriptions 
of  European  roads  and  discussions  of  European  operating  prob- 
lems. The  conventions  of  the  International  Tramway  &  Light 
Railway  Association  are  models  for  the  amount  of  work  which 
is  accomplished  in  them  and  the  value  of  the  information 
which  is  disseminated.  The  date  of  the  Vienna  meeting,  which 
is  now  set  for  Sept.  5  to  8,  has  been  advanced  one  week,  to 
permit  a  number  of  the  members  who  wish  to  visit  St.  Louis 
in  October  to  do  so. 

The  Indiana  Servitude  Case 

The  case  recently  decided  in  Indiana,  and  reported  in  our 
issue  of  July  16,  as  to  whether  the  operation  of  an  interurban 
railway  upon  a  city  street  constitutes  such  an  additional  servi- 
tude as  would  require  the  interurban  company  to  purchase  a 
right  of  way  like  a  steam  road,  was  one  which  was  watched 
with  a  great  deal  of  interest  by  all  interurban  men  in  Indiana. 
An  adverse  decision  would  have  threatened  the  very  existence 
of  the  interurban  roads.  It  is  well  established  in  Indiana  that 
the  operation  of  a  street  railway  is  not  an  additional  servitude 


174 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


upon  the  street,  and  injures  property  no  more  than  the  other 
legitimate  uses  of  the  street.  Those  who  brought  this  suit 
claimed  that  the  operation  of  heavy  interurban  cars,  with  oc- 
casional freight  and  express  cars,  introduces  so  many  new  ele- 
ments that  it  is  beyond  the  legitimate  use  of  a  city  street.  The 
decision  of  the  court  was  that  the  operation  of  cars  of  an  in- 
terurban road  over  a  street  was  not  materially  different  from 
that  of  a  city  railway.  The  court  further  added  that  such  roads 
were  of  much  benefit  in  building  up  a  community,  thus  intimat- 
ing that  it  would  be  against  public  policy  to  hamper  them  by  a 
decision  requiring  them  to  condemn  a  right  of  way  through  the 
city.  The  judge  held  that  there  was  a  wide  difference  between 
an  interurban  road  operating  one  or  two  electric  cars  in  a 
train  over  a  street  and  a  steam  road  using  steam  locomotives 
and  hauling  long,  heavy  trains.  The  case  was  such  an  im- 
portant one  that  naturally  all  interurban  roads  in  Indiana  were 
interested  in  a  favorable  decision.  While  of  course  this  suit 
and  others  of  the  same  nature  were  brought  by  property  own- 
ers, who  claimed  injuries  to  property  because  of  the  operation 
of  interurban  cars  over  the  street,  there  will  always  be  a  strong 
suspicion  in  some  minds  that  steam  railroad  interests  were 
more  instrumental  than  the  property  owners  in  the  prosecution 
of  these  cases. 

Abusing  the  Transfer 

The  abuse  of  the  transfer  privilege  is  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon difficulties  which  the  electric  railway  manager  has  to  face, 
and  the  ingenuity  of  the  public  in  this  direction  is  almost  be- 
yond the  belief  of  one  outside  the  transportation  business.  The 
more  complicated  the  system  the  greater  becomes  the  difficulty 
of  keeping  the  scheme  of  transfers  within  its  proper  bounds, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  large  amount  of  money  is  lost 
each  year  by  operating  companies  through  the  misuse  of  these 
troublesome  bits  of  paper.  At  a  recent  suit  in  Boston,  the 
representative  of  the  street  railway  company  estimated  the  an- 
nual loss  to  his  road  in  this  way  as  something  over  $50,000,  or 
nearly  one-half  of  1  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts  from 
operation. 

It  is  claimed  by  the  transfer  abuser  that  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence to  the  company  who  rides  upon  its  cars  and  that  it  is 
therefore  allowable  and  right  for  him  to  sell  his  transfer  to 
another  person  if  he  does  not  wish  to  continue  his  ride.  In 
other  words,  the  passenger  feels  that  the  company  still  owes 
him  certain  transportation  if  he  does  not  ride  to  the  limit  of  his 
fare,  which  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  the  passenger 
assumes  to  pay  tariff  in  proportion  to  the  distance  traveled,  as 
in  certain  European  cities.  This  view  is,  of  course,  a  mistake, 
for  the  passenger  pays  for  transportation  in  American  cities 
at  a  flat  rate,  which  is  well  nigh  universal  in  this  country,  al- 
though we  are  told  of  an  interurban  road  in  Colorado  which 
proposes  to  base  its  charges  upon  the  avoirdupois  of  the  pas- 
sengers !  There  is  certainly  no  more  ground  for  the  company's 
owing  a  passenger  additional  transportation  because  he  has 
not  personally  used  it  up  to  the  fare  limit  than  there  is  for  the 
government  to  give  a  man  a  rebate  for  every  stamp  used  in  city 
delivery  because  it  might  have  been  required  for  the  same 
money  to  carry  a  letter  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco.  In 
most  American  institutions  there  is  a  certain  continuity  in  the 
transfer  between  the  coin  of  the  realm  and  the  service  or  ma- 
terials rendered,  and  the  street  railway  business  is  no  excep- 
tion. The  argument  that  it  costs  the  company  no  more  to  carry 
a  second  person  who  receives  a  transfer  from  a  paying  pas- 
senger may  he  true  as  far  as  operating  expenses  go,  but  it  is 


utterly  fallacious,  on  the  ground  of  absolute  cost,  since  the 
company  is  deprived  of  the  fare  which  it  would  otherwise  take 
from  the  second  passenger.  Then  there  is  the  argument  that 
the  company  has  no  right  to  make  its  transfers  non-transferable 
from  person  to  person,  and  therefore  it  is  right  to  beat  the 
road  out  of  a  fare  if  possible.  This  is  only  another  illustration 
of  the  morals  of  the  ticket  scalping  profession,  as  evidenced  by 
the  number  of  persons  who  are  willing  to  pass  themselves  off 
as  somebody  else  for  the  purpose  of  traveling  at  a  reduced  rate. 

As  a  general  thing,  the  practice  of  giving  a  transfer  upon 
receipt  of  a  transfer  is  not  regarded  favorably  by  operating 
roads,  although  exceptional  cases  seem  to  demand  the  granting 
of  this  privilege  on  some  lines.  It  is  most  important,  in  the 
interests  of  good  service,  that  fixed  and  definite  rules  be  ob- 
served by  employees  in  regard  to  these  checks.  Thus,  in  many 
cities,  the  passenger  can  receive  a  transfer  only  by  asking  for 
it  when  he  pays  his  fare,  while  in  other  cases  the  conductor 
collects  all  the  fares  before  issuing  any  transfer  checks.  In 
either  circumstance  good  service  demands  that  the  rules  be 
strictly  followed,  in  justice  to  both  passengers  and  the  com- 
pany. Sometimes  a  change  of  conductors  on  the  line  deprives 
the  passenger  of  receiving  a  transfer  which  he  has  asked  for 
when  paying  fare,  but  which  cannot  be  issued  until  nearly  all 
the  other  fares  in  the  car  have  been  collected.  These  little 
points  should  be  carefully  watched,  because  the  company's  in- 
terests and  the  passenger's  are  identical  when  both  are  con- 
sidered on  the  ground  of  fair  and  square  business  dealing. 
Conductors  should  be  instructed  to  courteously  explain  the  use 
and  granting  of  transfer  checks  in  all  cases  where  doubt  arises, 
or  else  plainly  printed  placards  should  be  posted  in  the  cars  of 
systems  which  have  a  complex  transfer  traffic. 

Losing  Time  in  Switches 

The  maintenance  of  a  close  schedule  in  the  congested  district 
of  a  city  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  encountered  in 
the  operation  of  street  railways.  However  carefully  the  run- 
ning time  may  be  tried  and  calculated  from  point  to  point,  the 
motorman  can  never  tell  at  just  what  moment  his  track  may 
be  obstructed  by  the  complex  traffic  which  wanders  at  will  over 
the  route  of  the  cars,  or  at  what  time  a  serious  blockade  may 
be  precipitated  by  the  breakdown  of  some  heavy  dray  which 
has  taken  to  the  rails  in  its  slow  and  cumbersome  journey.  The 
result  of  this  uncertainty  is  the  allowance  of  a  certain  leeway, 
say  from  five  to  ten  minutes,  in  the  schedule  of  surface  cars 
at  the  end  of  the  route,  reinforced  in  some  cities  by  the  running 
of  extra  cars  from  the  barns  in  case  the  regulars  are  delayed. 
All  this  means  extra  expense  in  the  operation  of  the  road 
whose  cars  are  delayed  in  the  crowded  parts  of  a  city ;  partly 
through  the  loss  of  time  of  the  regulars  and  consequent  de- 
crease in  car  mileage  per  crew-hour,  and  partly  on  account  of 
the  additional  men  and  cars  required  to  start  out  upon  the 
schedule  time  of  the  late  comers  in  order  to  maintain  the  sched- 
ule originally  laid  down. 

Anything  which  will  offset  the  delays  of  the  crowded  thor- 
oughfare without  unduly  increasing  the  cost  of  operation  in 
other  ways  is  therefore  worth  careful  study  on  the  part  of 
transportation  officials.  Some  of  the  most  annoying  and  need- 
less delays  which  lengthen  out  the  running  time  of  city  and 
suburban  roads  occur  in  special  work,  one  or  two  of  which  are 
worth  recording  in  this  connection. 

The  first  case  is  that  of  a  system  in  Colorado  which  has  a 
large  loop  terminal  in  the  heart  of  the  city  that  it  serves.  A 
main  line  track  passes  the  loop  on  the  way  up  town,  a  switch 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


175 


leading  from  this  track  to  the  loop  over  which  the  majority  of 
the  cars  pass.  The  delay  is  incurred  by  stopping  the  loop  cars 
upon  the  main  line  before  they  take  the  loop  switch,  instead 
of  bringing  them  first  to  a  standstill  upon  the  loop  itself,  close 
by  the  platforms  provided  for  passengers  to  use  in  entering  and 
leaving  the  terminal.  In  addition  to  the  extra  stop,  which 
wastes  power  and  adds  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  equipment, 
the  through  cars  of  the  main  line  are  delayed  upon  their  ap- 
proach to  the  loop  switch.  The  distance  between  the  objection- 
able stopping  point  and  the  center  of  the  loop  platform  is  not 
far  from  100  ft.,  and  there  would  seem  to  be  no  reason  why  the 
first  stop  could  not  be  omitted. 

Another  line,  located  in  Minnesota,  runs  cars  to  a  residential 
suburb  by  a  double-tracked  route,  which  turns  into  a  single 
track  for  the  last  mile  of  the  trip.  The  schedule  is  planned 
for  the  outbound  car  to  pass  its  inbound  predecessor  at  the  end 
of  the  double-tracked  section.  Over  and  over  again,  the  in- 
bound car  makes  a  stop  for  passengers  at  a  street  corner  on 
the  single-track  side  of  the  switch,  instead  of  coming  to  rest  on 
the  double-track  section,  perhaps  50  ft.  beyond,  and  permitting 
the  waiting  outward-bound  car  to  proceed  without  delay. 

The  practice  of  marking  stopping  places  at  street  corners 
and  at  other  points  where  passengers  may  enter  or  leave  cars 
has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  schedule  time.  There  should  al- 
ways be  something  printed  or  suitably  marked  to  show  where 
cars  will  stop,  in  cases  where  some  streets  are  down  for  stops, 
while  others  are  always  omitted.  Attention  to  these  little  de- 
tails of  operation  goes  a  long  way  toward  perfecting  the  service, 
and  there  is  certainly  constant  opportunity  to  study  the  saving 
of  time  upon  every  growing  electric  railway  system. 

The  Automobile  and  the  Law 

A  few  days  ago  a  wholesale  inspection  of  automobiles  was 
made  by  the  Boston  police,  with  a  view  toward  ascertaining 
how  well  the  regulations  of  the  Massachusetts  Highway  Com- 
mission were  being  observed.  Out  of  234  machines  examined, 
only  126,  or  less  than  55  per  cent,  were  found  to  comply  with 
the  law  in  regard  to  numbering,  badges,  certificates  and  lamps. 
There  were  sixty-two  operators  who  could  show  no  certificates, 
either  for  the  machine  or  the  chauffeur;  five  cars  without 
lamps ;  thirty-five  machines  without  numbered  lamps ;  one  car 
with  no  number,  and  others  which  were  improperly  marked, 
which  failed  to  display  numbers  in  the  right  places,  and  whose 
numbers  disagreed  with  one  another,  or  were  illegible. 

This  woeful  showing  is  a  pretty  fair  illustration  of  the 
present  day  law-abiding  tendencies  of  the  average  automobilist, 
and  as  a  bit  of  transportation  statistics  deserves  to  be  stowed 
away  in  the  quiver  of  the  street  railway  man  who  has  so  often 
to  bear  the  undeserved  blame  of  accidents  and  a  reputation 
for  careless  operation  which  should  rightfully  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  automobile.  More  than  once  we  have  called  atten- 
tion to  the  ease  with  which  an  unnumbered  or  poorly  desig- 
nated automobile  can  take  to  its  heels  after  an  accident,  in  com- 
parison with  the  ease  with  which  the  general  public  can  iden- 
tify an  electric  car,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  auto- 
mobilist who  scorches  a  zig-zag  trail  at  his  own  sweet  will 
along  the  highway  has  many  times  taught  the  public,  by  his 
excessive  speed,  to  overestimate  the  danger  of  rapid  transit 
over  the  fixed  right  of  way  upon  which  the  trolley  car  travels. 
We  have  no  quarrel  with  the  law-abiding  automobilist,  and 
doubt  uot  that  many  of  the  Boston  offenders  were  possessed  of 
good  intentions  in  lieu  of  licenses  and  numbers,  but  the  inci- 
dent serves  to  bring  out  the  importance  .of  enforcing  laws  if 
they  are  to  protect  the  welfare  of  the  community  at  large. 


Good  intentions  may  serve  very  well  as  a  pavement  for  the 
unmentionable  abode  of  evil-doers,  but  they  amount  to  little 
in  the  safe  conduct  of  transportation,  whether  by  motor  ve- 
hicles or  by  electric  cars. 

The  Intramural  at  The  World's  Fair 

At  the  time  when  the  question  was  being  decided  whether 
there  would  be  an  intramural  railway  at  the  World's  Fair  in 
St.  Louis,  we  took  occasion  to  enter  a  vigorous  protest  against 
any  attempt  to  conduct  a  large  exposition  of  this  kind  without 
some  means  of  electric  railway  transportation  within  the 
grounds.  Those  who  have  already  visited  the  Exposition  and 
have  had  to  cope  with  the  immense  distances,  realize  how  im- 
portant intramural  transportation  is  in  an  exposition.  It  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  arrangement  of  buildings  on  the  Exposi- 
tion grounds  would  not  have  permitted  the  Intramural  Railway 
to  take  a  more  accessible  route.  As  useful  as  the  road  is  at 
present,  it  could  be  made  much  more  so  had  it  been  possible  to 
select  routes  which  would  be  nearer  to  the  principal  centers  of 
attraction  of  the  Exposition.  Could  such  a  route  have  been 
selected,  the  Intramural  would  have  been  heavily  patronized 
for  much  short  distance  riding,  which  it  does  not  now  get,  and 
which  the  public  would  gladly  give  to  it  were  its  stations  lo- 
cated nearer  the  principal  centers  of  the  Exposition.  As  it 
was,  the  only  route  left  to  the  engineers  was  around  the  outer 
edge  of  the  Exposition.  While  it  is  extremely  useful  in  serving 
the  outlying  portions,  it  is  of  practically  no  other  service  than 
this,  and  to  convey  passengers  from  one  side  of  the  grounds  to 
the  other  by  a  circuitous  route. 

We  do  not  wish  anything  said  here  to  be  construed  as  be- 
littling the  importance  of  the  Intramural,  or  the  judgment  of 
the  engineers  who  selected  the  route.  Circumstances  practi- 
cally forced  the  adoption  of  it  as  it  is.  We  can  only  regret  that 
circumstances  were  such.  Should  there  ever  be  another  ex- 
position on  such  a  large  scale  as  that  at  St.  Louis,  the  location 
of  intramural  transportation  routes  should  be  borne  in  mind 
from  the  first  in  laying  out  the  general  plan  of  the  grounds, 
instead  of  leaving  this  important  matter  to  be  worked  in  as 
best  it  can,  after  the  general  plan  of  the  Exposition  has  been 
decided  upon.  Even  at  best,  the  amount  of  walking  done  by 
the  average  person  at  an  exposition  of  this  kind  is  so  much  as 
to  become  very  tiresome,  and  may  even  detract  seriously  from 
the  pleasure  of  the  visit.  Local  transportation  is  of  first,  and 
not  secondary,  importance  in  such  an  undertaking. 

Incidentally,  it  may  be  remarked  that  it  is  the  belief  of  not 
a  few  that  the  location  of  the  route  of  the  Intramural  at  St. 
Louis  has  been  responsible  for  many  of  the  reports  that  have 
been  given  out  by  early  visitors  to  the  Exposition  that  the  Ex- 
position was  in  a  very  unfinished  state.  The  main  buildings 
and  roadways  of  the  Exposition  on  opening  day  were  in  a  very 
creditable  state  of  completion.  Outlying  buildings  and  road- 
ways were  many  of  them  unfinished.  These  outlying  build- 
ings and  roadways  were  the  very  ones  passed  by  the  Intramural 
Railway,  and,  naturally  enough,  nine  out  of  every  ten  visitors 
took  a  ride  around  the  Intramural  almost  the  first  thing,  in 
order  to  get,  as  they  thought,  a  general  idea  of  the  grounds. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  such  general  idea  was  obtainable  by  a 
ride  of  this  kind,  and  the  main  impression  left  on  (he  visitor's 
mind  was  a  chaos  of  uncompleted  roads  and  buildings.  All  this 
worked  to  the  detriment  of  the  Fair,  and  it  is  only  right  to  the 
Exposition  management  to  make  this  explanation  of  why  so 
many  reports  of  the  unfinished  buildings  and  grounds  were 
given  by  the  early  visitors. 


176 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


EXTENSION  OF  THE  THIRD-RAIL  SYSTEM  OF  THE  PARIS- 
ORLEANS  RAILWAY 


Descriptions  of  the  electrical  division  of  the  Paris-Orleans 
Railway  Company  of  France  were  published  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  for  Dec.  21,  1901,  and  Nov.  15,  1902  (In- 
ternational Editions  for  January,  1901,  and  December,  1902). 
The  Paris-Orleans  Railway  is  one  of  the  large  steam  trunk 
lines  of  France,  and  its  electrical  division  is  very  similar  in 
character  to  that  proposed  by  the  New  York  Central  and  the 
Pennsylvania  railroads  in  securing  an  entrance  into  New  York 
City — that  is,  the  through  steam  trains  are  stopped  at  the  Aus- 
terlitz  station,  which  is  near  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  and  are 
then  hauled  by  electric  locomotives  a  distance  of  2^4  miles 


was  considered  unsuited  to  the  proposed  service  of  the  Orleans 
Railway,  which  consisted  solely  of  hauling  the  main  line  and 
local  trains  from  the  old  to  the  new  terminus,  the  line  running 
mostly  in  a  tunnel,  where  steam  traction  was  undesirable. 
Nevertheless  the  capabilities  of  the  multiple-unit  system  for 
suburban  service  early  attracted  the  attention  of  the  company's 
officials,  and  soon  after  the  Paris  Exposition  the  company  put 
in  service  an  experimental  train  of  two  cars. 

The  Paris-Orleans  Company  has  a  far  more  important  rail- 
way system  than  can  be  judged  from  the  number  of  trains  arriv- 
ing at  the  terminus  each  day.  It  extends  to  the  Spanish  frontier 
and  furnishes  the  most  direct  communication  to  Toulouse  and 
Bordeaux  in  the  south,  and  reaches  to  the  important  commer- 
cial city  of  Brest  in  the  west  of  France.    Its  suburban  traffic, 


INTERIOR  OF  ORSAY  RAILROAD  STATION,  THE  TERMINUS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  SERVICE— THE  ELECTRIC  ELEVATOR  FOR  HOIST- 
ING TRUNKS  AND  OTHER  BAGGAGE  IS  SHOWN  AT  THE  REAR  OF  THE  MIDDLE  PLATFORM 


(4  km)  to  the  Quai  d'Orsay  station,  not  far  from  the  Champs 
de  Mars.  The  electrical  equipment  was  put  in  operation  about 
May,  1900,  and  since  that  time  from  150  to  200  trains  have  been 
hauled  daily  by  electric  locomotives  between  the  Austerlitz 
station  and  the  main  station  at  the  Quai  d'Orsay. 

The  original  power  station  contained  two  groups  of  1000-kw 
units,  generating  at  5500  volts,  three-phase  25  cycles.  Two 
sub-stations,  each  of  500  kw  capacity,  furnished  with  a  battery 
of  1 100  ampere-hours'  capacity  at  one-hour  discharge  rate, 
boosters  and  transformers  (5500-volt  to  440-volt)  of  the  air- 
blast  type  completed  the  stationary  traction  machinery.  Poly- 
phase distribution  was  adopted  because,  although  the  line  was 
only  2^/2  miles  in  length,  the  company  anticipated  the  exten- 
sions to  the  system  which  have  just  been  completed.  The  roll- 
ing stock  comprised  eight  locomotives,  equipped  with  four  G.E.- 
65  motors.  The  third-rail  distribution  is  used  throughout,  sup- 
plemented by  stretches  of  overhead  conductor  formed  of  an  in- 
verted 2754-lb.  channel  in  places  where  the  third-rail  construc- 
tion was  too  complicated  or  inconvenient. 

The  multiple-unit  system  of  traction,  which  was  just  being 
introduced  in  1900,  at  the  time  that  this  system  was  installed. 


however,  has  never  been  very  large,  a  somewhat  strange  fact 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  tracks  extend  for  some  dis- 
tance along  the  Seine  valley  and  tap  one  of  the  most  favored 
districts  in  the  southeast  of  the  metropolis.  One  reason  for 
this  lack  of  suburban  traffic  is  perhaps  the  fact  that  the  old 
terminus  of  Austerlitz  was  too  far  from  the  business  center  of 
the  city  to  attract  commuters,  while  the  new  station  is  even 
yet  not  so  well  known  to  the  Parisian  populace  as  a  noisy  steam 
railroad  station  might  be. 

To  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  and  to  create  rather  than 
develop  a  paying  suburban  traffic  through  a  district  as  yet  un- 
touched by  the  fast  interurban  tramways,  which  are  now  be- 
ginning to  make  their  way  in  the  neighborhood  of  Paris,  has 
been  the  work  in  which  the  management  of  the  Orleans  Com- 
pany has  been  engaged  for  the  past  eighteen  months.  To  accom- 
plish this  they  decided  to  introduce  electric  traction  on  a  large 
scale,  not  only  for  the  suburban  trains,  but  also  for  all  trains 
arriving  at  Paris,  excepting  only  a  few  "rapides"  or  limited 
trains,  which  are  not  scheduled  to  stop  at  the  present  terminus 
of  the  electric  extension. 

The  new  extension  includes  about  12  miles  of  double  track, 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


177 


together  with  a  number  of  sidings  and  switchings,  all  equipped 
with  the  third  rail,  the  track  being  used  as  a  current  return. 
As  shown  in  the  accompanying  map,  it  extends  from  the  old 
terminus  of  Austerlitz  to  Juvisy,  which  is  an  important  junc- 
tion with  the  "Grande  Ceinture"  or  large  belt  railway  encir- 
cling Paris,  and  also  connecting  with 
the  Paris,  Lyons  &  Mediterranean  Rail- 
way. This  extension  runs  through  a 
flat  district  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine, 
and  the  curves  and  grades  may  be  con- 
sidered negligible,  averaging  y2  per 
cent  on  the  new  extension.  All  of  this 
territory  is  well  adapted  for  building 
purposes.  The  Orleans  Railway  Com- 
pany has  doubled  the  two  existing 
tracks  in  this  territory,  making  four 
tracks  in  all,  the  two  outer  tracks  be- 
ing supplied  with  a  third  rail.  New 
stations  have  been  built  and  there  has 
been  inaugurated  a  fast  and  frequent 
suburban  service  between  Juvisy,  the 
new  terminus  of  the  electric  lines, 
and  Paris-Orsay.  This  service  is  be- 
ing handled  by  a  number  of  trains 
equipped  with  multiple-unit  type  M 
equipments  of  the  latest  Sprague- 
General  Electric  type. 

Three  new  locomotives,  containing 
similar  apparatus  to  that  in  the  first 
lot  of  eight  machines,  have  been  pur- 
chased, and  certain  changes  have  been 

made  in  their  equipment  and  arrangement  to  adapt  them  to 
the  new  service. 

Instead  of  changing  steam  locomotives  at  Austerlitz,  as  in 
the  past  four  years,  the  steam  locomotives  of  the  through  trains 
will  be  uncoupled  at  Juvisy  and  the  remainder  of  the  journey 
to  Paris  run  behind  the  electric  locomotives.  Juvisy  is  also 
the  changing  over  station  for  the  outgoing  trains.    Only  a  few 


view  of  the  faster  service  demanded  of  the  machines  this  has 
been  changed  to  2.23  to  1.  In  addition  to  this  every  machine 
has  been  supplied  with  a  commutating  switch,  the  function  of 
which  is  to  place  each  of  the  motors  of  each  pair  of  motors 
either  in  series  or  in  parallel,  by  which  means  a  greater  range 


NEW  55-TON  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE 

of  efficient  speed  control  than  otherwise  would  be  possible  has 
been  obtained.  One  of  these  eight  original  locomotives  has 
always  been  connected  (all  four  motors)  in  series,  and  has 
been  used  for  station  work,  switching,  etc.  The  gear  ratio  of 
this  machine  has  been  changed  to  3.04  to  1,  being  thus  inter- 
mediate between  the  fast  service  given  by  the  2.23  ratio  and 
the  4  to  1,  as  first  supplied.    The  changes  mentioned  are  the 


SECTION  CABIN  FOR  UNDERGROUND 
TRANSMISSION  CABLES 


GROUP  OF  OLD-STYLE  LOCOMOTIVES  IN  AUSTERLITZ  STATION 


"rapides"  or  "limiteds"  arrive  at  the  Paris  (Austerlitz) 
terminus  in  charge  of  steam  locomotives,  no  stop  being  made  at 
Juvisy. 

The  above  remarks  apply  only  to  the  passenger  traffic,  as  the 
freight  trains  are  made  up,  as  usual,  at  the  Austerlitz  freight 
yard,  outside  the  passenger  station,  by  steam  locomotives. 

The  original  locomotives  had  a  gear  ratio  of  4  to  i,  and  in 


principal  ones  made  to  the  first  lot  of  electric  machines,  which 
have  given  every  satisfaction  since  the  starting  up  of  the 
service  in  1900. 

The  three  new  locomotives  are  very  different  in  appearance 
and  construction  to  the  above  machines,  although  the  equip- 
ment is  practically  identical.  The  new  locomotives  have  a 
length  of  10.2  m,  with  a  width  over  all  of  2.84  m.   The  height 


1 78 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


is  3.87  m.  The  distance  between  center  pin  of  each  double 
truck  is  5.63  m.  The  wheel  base  of  the  truck  is  2.38  m.  The 
baggage  type  of  car  construction  has  been  preferred,  the  com- 
partment for  luggage  being  between  two  end  cabs,  in  which 
the  controller  and  other  apparatus  are  placed.    This  involves 

a  double  set  of  con- 

If 

t.Ouen1 


trollers,  circuit  break- 
ers, switches  and  am- 
meters, as  well  as  a 
duplication  of  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  cable. 
This,    however,  has 


apparatus  is  placed  inside  the  car  cab,  including  contactors, 
reversers  and  relays.  The  last  three  devices  are  all  placed  on 
slabs  of  insulating  material,  and  the  type  T  and  CG  rheostats 
are  provided  with  insulated  bolts,  holding  them  in  position. 
No  boxes  are  used  for  the  contactors  and  reversers.  The  reason 
for  this  was  the  fear  on  the  part  of  the  railway  engineers  that 
dust  could  not  be  perfectly  excluded  from  boxes  placed  under 
the  car.  Necessary  precautions  have,  of  course,  been  taken  to 
separate  the  rheostats  from  the  controlling  apparatus,  and  also 
for  their  ventilation.  The  rheostats  are  placed  high  up  in  the 
cab  and  suitable  partitions,  lined  with  uralite,  separate  them 
from  the  remainder  of  the  apparatus.    In  this  way  bare  wiring 


Street  Ry.JoiftnM 

MAP  SHOWING  ELECTRIC  EXTENSION  OF  THE 
PA Rl S  O R LEA N S  RAILWAY 


MAIN  SWITCHBOARD,  IVRY  POWER  STATION,  SHOWING    LIGHTING  SWITCH- 
HOARD  BELOW  GALLERY— MACHINES  IN  FOREGROUND  FORM 
PART  OF  IVRY  SUB-STATION 


evidently  been  considered  of  secondary  importance  to  the  ad- 
vantages obtained.  Commutating  switches  similar  to  those 
added  to  the  old  locomotives  have  been  furnished  with  the  new 
machines,  and  the  gear  ratio  is  the  same,  viz:  2.23  to  1.  Wes- 
ton ammeters  with  a  scale  of  2000  amps,  have  been  provided. 
Owing  to  some  slight  trouble  to  the  ammeters  of  the  original 
locomotives,  caused  by  the  vibrations  of  the  locomotives,  the 
Weston  Instrument  Company  has  made  certain  modifications 
in  the  method  of  support. 

The  cabs  of  the  new  locomotives  are  of  steel,  lined  with 
Uralite  insulating  sheeting,  and  the  cabling 
is  asbestos  braided,  painted  a  slate  color,  re- 
ducing chances  of  abrasion  by  friction.  The 
motor  and  shoe  leads  are  passed  through  brass 
flexible  tubing.  The  construction  of  the  new 
locomotive  has  involved  an  additional  weight, 
now  approximating  55  tons. 

The  multiple-unit  system  is  represented  on 
the  line  by  two  trains,  comprising  each  two 
motor  cars  and  a  number  of  trailers.  These 
two  trains  perform  the  local  suburban  service, 
running  between  Orsay  and  Juvisy  as  fre- 
quently as  possible.  There  are  six  stops  be- 
.  tween  Juvisy  and  Austerlitz,  each  occupying 
about  a  minute.  The  12-mile  run  between  the 
above  points  is  performed  in  thirty  minutes. 
The  motors  are  of  the  GE-66  type  (125  hp), 
the  same  as  used  on  the  Manhattan  elevated  railway  in  New 
York.    The  gear  ratio  is  3.08  to  1. 

The  arrangement  of  the  train-control  apparatus  is  somewhat 
different  to  that  in  common  use  in  the  United  States.    All  the 


has  been  used  between  contactors  and  reversers,  and  the  cabling 
on  the  car  has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Flexible  armour 
has  been  used  for  shoe  and  motor-leads,  similar  to  the  loco- 
motives. 

One  air  compressor  per  car  is  used.  It  is  of  the  CP-10 
type  of  the  General  Electric  Company.  The  MQ  type  of  circuit 
breaker,  as  supplied  for  the  first  locomotives,  has  been  replaced 
by  a  fuse  and  fuse-block.  The  first  locomotives  were  supplied 
one  type  CP-10  air  compressor  per  locomotive,  but  in  conse- 
cjuence  of  the  stringent  conditions  existing  of  French  railways, 


SIDE  VIEW  OF  MOTOR  CAR  TRUCK 


these  were  increased,  and  two  are  now  used  per  machine,  nor- 
mally connected  in  multiple. 

The  motor  cars  are  17.3  m  long,  3.8  m  high  and  2.8  m  wide. 
The  distance  between  center  to  center  of  truck  bolt  is  12.4  m. 


August  6,  1904.] 

The  weight  of  the  car  empty,  without  trucks,  is  about  30,000 
lbs.  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works  trucks  are  used;  the  two 
trucks,  without  wheels  and  axles,  each  weigh  6300  lbs.,  and  are 


179 

ance  of  baggage.  The  standard  color  for  the  Orleans  locomo- 
tives is  dark  green,  picked  out  with  vermilion,  and  the  new 
locomotives  and  motor  cars  present  an  attractive  appearance 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


LAYING  THE  THIRD  RAIL  OUTSIDE  OF  JUVISY  JUNCTION 


IVRY  SUB-STATION,  SHOWING  SWITCHBOARD  ON  RIGHT  AND  CORNER  OF  POWER  STATION  SWITCHBOARD  GALLERY  ON  LEFT 


mounted  on  40-in.  wheels.   The  wheel-base  is  6  ft.  6  ins.    The  thus  painted.    Two  new  sub-stations  have  been  provided,  one 

four  motors  weigh  4300  lbs.  each.    The  motor  car  is  arranged  of  the  old  ones  abolished,  and  the  machinery  contained  therein 

for  third-class  passengers  and  has  accommodations  for  over  distributed   over  the   two   new  ones.    Thus   the  Austerlitz 

thirty.    There  is  also  a  smaller  compartment  for  the  convey-  sub-station  contained  two  rotary  converters,  four-pole,  three- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


phase  250  kw,  340  volts  to  550  volts,  and  also  six  three-phase, 
5500  volts  to  340  volts  air-blast  transformers.  One  of  these 
converters  and  three  of  the  transformers  have  been  placed  in 
the  new  Ivry  sub-station,  situated  at  one  end  of  the  power 
station  itself.  The  other  converter  and  transformers  have 
been  removed  to  the  second  new  sub-station,  built  at  Ablon,  a 


"I 


Street  Ry.Joiirn.il  1 

SECTION  SHOWING  LOCATION  OF  THIRD  RAIL  AND  PROTECTION 
USED  AT  STATIONS 

few  kilometers  from  Juvisy.  The  remainder  of  the  machinery 
of  the  old  sub-station  of  Austerlitz,  including  lighting  sets  and 
the  buffer  battery  (increased  to  1500  amp.-hours  at  one-hour 
discharge  rate),  has  been  installed  at  the  Ivry  sub-station. 

In  other  respects  the  Ivry  and  Ablon  sub-stations  are  practi- 
cally identical,  each  containing  two  rotary  converters  of  Gen- 
eral Electric  make,  six-phase,  500  kw,  six-pole,  changing  440 
volts  three-phase  alternating  current  25  cycles  to  600  volts 
direct  current. 

The  transformers  are  of  the  air-blast  type,  six-phase,  550 
kw,  stepping  down  from  5500  volts  to  440  volts.  Whenever 
the  voltage  of  the  plant  should  be 
changed  to  11,000  volts  the  transformers 
can  be  altered  to  this  voltage,  the  pri- 
mary windings  being  arranged  with  this 
end  in  view.  Necessary  reactances, 
rheostats,  booster  and  controlling  ap- 
paratus are  installed.  At  Ablon  there 
is  also  a  motor-generating  set  for  the 
five-wire  lighting  system  and  a  1500 
amp. -hour  storage  battery,  taking  care 
of  the  load  in  the  small  hours  of  the 
morning  and  used  as  a  buffer  battery  at 
any  time.  The  rotaries  are  started  by 
means  of  the  battery. 

The  usual  feeder,  machine  and  light- 
ing panels  are  installed  in  the  sub- 
stations, most  of  the  apparatus  used, 
especially  the  alternating-current  instru- 
ments, being  of  the  horizontal  edgewise 
switchboard  type  of  the  General  Electric 
Company.  The  oil  switches  and  lami- 
nated toggle  switches  and  breakers  are 
also  of  the  same  make.  The  direct-cur- 
rent instruments  have  been  supplied 
from  various  sources,  Chauvin  and 
Arnoux  being  the  most  prominent  make. 
The  ultimate  use  of  11,000-volt  circuit 
has,  of  course,  necessitated  the  use  of 
switches  and  instruments  arranged  for 
this  tension.    The  main  change  in  the 

second  of  the  first  two  sub-stations  which  were  built  in  1900 
is  the  increase  of  the  storage  battery  from  260  to  290  elements 
(1100  to  1500  amp.-hours).  The  voltage  of  the  third  rail  is 
about  600. 

The  transmission  line  is  laid  entirely  underground.  This 
form  of  transmission  line  was  adopted  because  the  insulation 
of  an  overhead  construction,  though  cheaper,  was  thought  to 
be  liable  to  depreciation  from  the  gases  of  combustion  thrown 


off  by  the  steam  locomotives.  There  are  two  transmission 
cables,  usually  connected  in  multiple,  established  for  a  11,000 
circuit,  but  now  run  under  a  tension  of  5500  volts,  three-phase 
25  cycles.  They  have  a  total  length  of  25  km  and  are  formed 
of  three-core  conductors,  each  of  about  80  sq.  mm  section. 
They  are  paper  insulated,  lead  covered  and  steel  armoured. 
The  outside  covering  is  tarred  hemp.  The  cables  are  being 
laid  in  100-m  lengths,  and  are  also  divided  for  purposes  of  test- 
ing into  four  sections  by  three  section  houses.  In  these  houses 
are  transformers,  static  dischargers,  oil  switch  and  measuring 
apparatus.  The  resistance  of  copper  is  17.5  ohms  maximum 
at  15  degs.  C.  per  kilometer  for  a  section  of  1  sq.  mm. 

The  power  station  has  been  increased  by  the  addition  of  one 
alternator  of  1000  kw,  direct  coupled  to  a  Dujardin  engine, 
identical  to  those  already  furnished  in  1900.  The  station  thus 
comprises  three  similar  units,  one  of  which  is  used  as  spare. 
In  this  connection  it  might  be  said  that  the  Orleans  Railway 
Company  at  first  contemplated  the  installation  of  a  steam  tur- 
bine set  when  additions  to  the  power  house  became  necessary. 
The  decision  in  favor  of  engines  was  based  principally  upon  the 
desire  to  maintain  the  homogeneity  of  plant  so  that,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  minor  improvements  in  the  engine,  the 
generating  units  are  identical. 

The  boiler  installation  has  been  increased  by  the  addition  of 
four  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers,  each  of  a  heating  surface  of 
260  sq.  m  (2800  sq.  ft.),  this  being  an  increase  over  the  eight 
boilers  originally  installed,  which  have  a  heating  surface  of 
186  sq.  m.  Two  Green  economizers  with  224  tubes  have  been 
added.  The  Meldrum  stokers  supplied  for  the  first  pjant  have 
been  withdrawn  and  their  place  has  been  taken  by  Bennis 
mechanical  stokers,  built  in  Bolton,  England,  and  which  are 


GENERAL  VIEW 
OLD  SWI 


OF  GENERATING  STATION— ON  THE  LEFT  IS  A  CORNER  OF 
f CHBOARD  GALLERY,  NOW  BEING  DEMOLISHED  TO 
MAKE  ROOM  FOR  NEW  1000-KW  GROUP 


now  used  for  both  the  old  and  the  new  boilers.  Coal  and  ash 
conveyors  are  also  used. 

The  stoking  and  conveying  apparatus  is  driven  from  two 
semi-enclosed  direct-current  motors,  one  of  10  hp  and  the  other 
of  20  hp.  One  motor  operates  the  coal  collecting  and  dis- 
tributing mechanism  and  mechanical  stokers,  the  other  motor 
being  reserved  for  the  ash  conveyor  and  elevator.  The  stokers 
are  guaranteed  to  produce  5500  lbs.  of  steam  per  hour  per 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


boiler  (heating  surface  2800  sq.  ft.),  at  a  temperature  of  536 
degs.  F.,  and  at  a  steam  pressure  of  185  lbs.  per  sq.  in.,  with 
the  use  of  not  more  than  924  lbs.  of  combustible,  composed  of 
a  mixture  of  50  per  cent  of  cinders  (removed  from  the  smoke- 
boxes  of  locomotives),  and  50  per  cent  of  coal  of  a  calorific 
value  of  7500  calories  or  13,500  British  trade  units  per  pound. 
This  figure  amounts  approximately  to  a  production  of  13.2  lbs. 
of  steam  per  kilogram,  or  2.2  lbs.  of  the  above  combustible. 
With  the  above  conditions  remaining  the  same,  but  by  forcing 
the  fire,  this  vaporization  can  be  increased  to  6600  lbs.  of  steam 
per  boiler  per  hour.  The  above  being  guaranteed,  the  actual 
performance  can  be  taken  to  be  15  or  20  per  cent  above  these 
figures. 

Another  chimney  of  50  m  height  has  also  been  built. 

As  regards  the  actual  operation  of  the  plant  during  the  years 
1900  and  1904,  it  may  be  said  that  the  service  has  been  main- 
tained without  any  interruption  from  any  cause.  In  view  of 
the  cost  of  the  first  installation  and  the  necessity  for  keeping 
a  large  percentage  of  reserve  both  in  generating  and  traction 
machinery,  the  cost  of  operation  and  maintenance  can  scarcely 
be  expected  to  compare  very  favorably  with  that  of  the  steam 
service  conducted  by  the  Orleans  Company.  Thus,  the  electric 
machines  have  been  making  an  average  of  30,000  km  (18,600 
miles)  yearly,  whereas  the  average  for  a  steam  locomotive  on 
this  railway  is  over  43,000  km  (26,660  miles).  Similarly  the 
two  employees  have  made  something  like  17,000  km  (10,500 


BREAKING    UP    OLD    TRACK    WITH    SLEDGE    HAMMERS  AND 
WEDGES  IN  LONDON 

miles)  yearly,  against  an  average  of  over  50,000  km  (31,000 
miles)  for  the  engineer  and  fireman  on  a  steam  locomotive. 
It  is  anticipated,  however,  that  with  the  increase  of  length  of 
electric  lines  in  service,  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  increase 
of  rolling  stock  and  generating  plant,  that  more  favorable  re- 
sults will  be  secured. 

The  present  extension  constitutes  a  very  prominent  piece  o£ 
railway  engineering  as  far  as  France  is  concerned.    The  Paris- 


Orleans  Railway  was  the  first  of  the  larger  steam  railways  of 
France  to  convert  any  part  of  its  existing  line  to  electric  trac- 
tion, and  it  is  certain  that  the  management  looks  upon  the  sys- 
tem with  favor,  inasmuch,  as  previously  stated,  the  company 
contemplates  a  further  extension  of  13  km  to  Bretigny,  when 
the  transmission  will  be  raised  to  11,000  volts.  The  generators, 
it  may  be  added,  will  have  to  be  rewound  for  this  voltage,  but 
no  trouble  is  anticipated  from  this  score. 

It  might  be  stated  that,  although  this  paper  is  not  at  liberty 
to  publish  any  of  the  actual  operating  costs  of  the  first  installa- 
tion, the  Orleans  Railway  Company  has  expressed  a  willing- 
ness to  communicate  the  same  to  representatives  of  such  rail- 
way companies  as  may  be  interested,  in  the  way  this  class  of 
information  is  usually  exchanged. 

 ♦♦♦  


CONVERSION  OF  THE  BRIXTON  CABLE  LINE  IN  LONDON 
TO  ELECTRICITY 


The  march  of  progress  in  the  electrification  of  the  surface 
lines  of  London  to  electricity  was  marked  during  the  last  few 
months  by  the  conversion  of  the  Brixton  &  Streatham  cable 


JACKING  UP  OLD  TRACK— RAIL  LIFTER  IN  FOREGROUND 

line  to  electric  power.  On  March  2,  this  year,  the  London 
County  Council  officially  notified  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  Ltd., 
that  they  had  been  awarded  the  contract  for  this  change.  In 
view  of  the  importance  of  this  thoroughfare,  it  was  stipulated 
that  the  work  must  be  finished  by  July  1.  When  one  considers 
the  difficulty  of  tearing  up  18,000  ft.  of  double  cable  line  which 
has  been  well  laid  and  also  allows  for  inevitable  delays  in  de- 
livery of  material  and  the  short  notice  given,  it  will  be  con- 
ceded that  the  task  of  completion  within  the  specified  time  was 
one  calling  for  wide  experience  and  first-class  organization. 

I.  Fisher,  who  had  already  constructed  some  30  miles  of  con- 
duit in  South  London  for  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  broke 
ground  on  April  6.  For  the  breaking  up  of  the  old  cable  road 
some  interesting  devices  were  adopted  by  Mr.  Fisher.  In  lift- 
ing the  wheel-rail,  Barrett  jacks  were  used,  as  on  the  first  Toot- 
ing track,  but  in  order  to  save  time  in  starting  the  operation, 
a  jaw  was  fitted  around  the  head  of  the  rail,  and  this  jaw  was 
raised  by  two  jacks  mounted  on  iron  wheels.  In  this  manner 
the  necessity  of  breaking  up  the  roadway  at  each  fresh  start 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


was  obviated.  To  avoid  the  tedious  process  of  unbolting  the 
slot  rail  from  the  yokes,  wedges  of  varying  thickness  were 
driven  into  the  slot,  whereby  the  slot  rails  were  forced  apart, 
carrying  the  shoulders  of  the  yoke  with  them.  The  concrete 
enclosing  the  old  cable  tube  was  found  to  be  very  hard  and 
difficult  to  remove,  but  after  the  first  ten  days  it  was  discovered 
that  by  driving  the  wedges  (four  men  to  a  wedge)  a  certain 
distance  back  on  either  side  of  the  tube,  a  seam  was  opened  up. 
The  finding  of  this  seam  enabled  the  concrete  to  be  taken  out 
in  large  blocks. 

During  the  first  week  the  number  of  men  employed  was  in- 
creased daily  until  some  1600  men  were  at  work,  and  such 


TRENCH  WITH  YOKES  IN  AND  SLOT  RAIL 


progress  had  been  made  that  on  May  18  a  car  was  run  over  the 
double  line  from  Kennington  Oate  to  Water  Lane,  a  distance 
of  i-}4  miles.  On  this  section  the  roadway  under  the  Brixton 
Railway  bridge  was  lowered  8  ins.  from  building  line  to  build- 
ing line.  The  Board  of  Trade  inspection  took  place  on  May 
20,  five  weeks  before  time. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  two  weeks  before  commencing 
work  a  schedule  of  daily  progress  was  made  out,  in  which  the 
date  for  the  completion  of  tearing  up  was  given  as  June  2. 
This  part  of  the  work  was  actually  finished  on  that  date.  The 
average  of  progress  by  all  the  gangs  was  1000  ft.  of  single 
track  per  day. 

The  work  was  completed  on  June  13,  and  the  first  car  ran 
to  the  terminus  on  the  fifteenth.  The  Board  of  Trade  inspec- 
tion was  held  on  June  18,  and  the  line  was  thrown  open  for 
traffic  on  June  19,  seventeen  days  ahead  of  the  stipulated  date. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  could  the  manufacturers  have  de- 
livered material  earlier  the  whole  work  would  have  been  com- 
pleted by  June  1. 

Maurice  Fitzmaurice,  engineer  to  the  Council,  made  several 
alterations  in  the  original  construction  of  the  track  as  carried 
out  on  the  first  Tooting  line.    The  rail  length  was  increased 


from  30  ft.  to  45  ft.  On  the  Tooting  line  the  rails  were  laid 
with  "Dicker"  joints  without  any  provision  for  anchoring.  On 
this  road  the  anchor  rail  joints  were  used;  the  rails  were  also 
anchored  between  joints.  The  position  of  the  sumps  was  also 
changed  from  the  margin  to  the  center  of  the  track,  and  the 
sumps  were  spaced  140  ft.  instead  of  180  ft.,  as  formerly.  The 
conduit  tubes  discharge  directly  into  the  sumps.  The  difficul- 
ties found  in  keeping  clear  the  pipe  connections  from  tubes  to 
sumps  are  so  avoided.  At  insulator  pockets  paving  plates  were 
inserted,  carried  between  yoke  and  stirrup  support  in  panel. 
For  slot  switches  in  the  special  work  Hadfield's  design  was 
adopted.  The  castings  were  supplied  by  the  Anderson  Foundry 
Company,  Ltd. ;  the  tie-rods  by  Bayliss,  Jones  &  Bayliss,  Ltd., 
and  the  cement  by  the  Associated  Portland  Cement  Maun- 
facturers,  Ltd. 

The  whole  of  the  work  was  executed  under  the  supervision 
of  A.  N.  Connett,  chief  engineer  to  the  contractors. 

 ♦♦♦  

NEW  LARGE  POWER  PLANT  AT  NEW  ORLEANS 

As  a  supplement  to  the  description  of  the  various  existing 
power  plants  of  the  New  Orleans  Railways  Company,  given  in 
issue  of  Street  Railway  Journal  of  June  18,  1904,  an  en- 
graving is  presented  herewith  of  the  new  central  station,  on 


BONDING  CONDUCTOR  RAILS 


which  construction  has  just  been  commenced.  It  will  be  known 
as  the  "Main  Station,"  and  will  be  located  on  the  square 
bounded  by  Market,  Water,  South  Peter  and  Richard  Streets. 

Within  the  past  year  a  new  engine  room,  known  as  the  An- 
nex Station,  and  described  in  the  previous  issue  mentioned, 
has  been  built  by  the  company.  This  engine  room  forms  a 
portion  of  the  new  central  station,  which  will  have  an  ultimate 
capacity  of  60,000  hp.  When  completed  it  will  be  twice  as 
large  in  capacity  as  the  combined  size  of  all  lighting  and  rail- 
road power  houses  now  operating  in  New  Orleans,  and  which 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


183 


are,  with  their  total  of  30,000  hp,  barely  sufficient  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  rapidly  increasing  business  of  the  Railways 
Company. 

On  the  square  where  this  central  station  is  to  be  erected 
there  now  stands  the  new  Annex  engine  house,  referred  to 
above  and  shown  on  the  right  hand  side  of  engraving,  just 
beyond  the  middle,  or  off-set,  panel ;  the  old  engine  house  of 
the  City  Railroad  Company,  and  that  of  the  Edison  Company; 
two  boiler  houses  extending  through  the  center  of  the  square, 
and  four  large  underground  storage  tanks  for  fuel  oil.  There 


1500-kw  units  will  be  installed  at  once,  followed  later  by  larger 
sizes  of  about  5000  kw  capacity  each.  The  installation  will  be 
of  the  latest  modern  character,  with  high-pressure  water-tube 
boilers,  mechanical  stokers,  superheaters,  high  vacuum  con- 
densers, and  corresponding  auxiliary  and  switchboard  equip- 
ment throughout.  The  use  of  a  double-deck  boiler  house  and 
steam  turbines  permits  the  most  advantageous  utilization  of 
the  property  owned  by  the  company,  and  economizes  on  founda- 
tions and  piling.  The  design  is  of  a  sectional  character,  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  making  of  progressive  installations  at 


is  also  an  unoccupied  area  on  which  machinery  can  be  unloaded 
and  stored.  The  plans  contemplate  the  demolition  of  the  pres- 
ent boiler  houses  and  the  erection  of  a  new  one  measuring 
115  ft.  x  250  ft.,  and  running  across  the  square  in  a  direction 
transverse  to  the  present  old  boiler  houses  and  parallel  to  the 
new  Annex  engine  room.  The  new  boiler  house  will  be  double 
deck,  as  shown. 

The  new  engine  room  will  be  enlarged  from  70  ft.  x  100  ft. 
to  95  ft.  x  250  ft.,  or  to  more  than  treble  the  present  area,  and 
will  contain  an  equivalent  of  60,000  ihp  capacity  when  com- 
pleted. The  entire  equipment  will  not  be  installed  at  once,  but 
from  time  to  time,  as  the  needs  of  the  system  require. 

The  new  generating  units  will  be  turbo-alternators.  Three 


minimum  cost.  The  distribution  of  energy  from  the  station 
will  be  by  alternating  current,  except  in  the  case  of  the  three 
large  direct-current  railway  units  mentioned. 

The  immediate  installation  will  be  in  the  neighborhood  of 
8000  hp.  This  is  in  addition  to  the  10,000  hp  capacity  in  Annex 
Station,  recently  installed  in  three  vertical  cross-compound 
condensing  engine  units,  direct  coupled  to  575-volt  direct-cur- 
rent generators,  used  for  railway  purposes. 

The  consulting  engineers  for  the  New  Orleans  Railways 
Company  are  Sanderson  &  Porter,  of  New  York,  from  whose 
drawing  the  engraving  is  photograpbed.  The  work  of  con- 
structing and  equipping  the  new  station  is  also  being  done  by 
Sanderson  &  Porter  as  general  contractors, 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


A  LARGE  NEW  STEAM  TURBINE  POWER  PLANT  INSTALLA- 
TION FOR  DUBUQUE,  IOWA. 

Many  trial  installations  have  been  made  for  the  experimental 
use  of  the  steam  turbine  and  for  otherwise  determining  its  pos- 
sibilities, and  much  interest  has  been  shown  in  the  very  favor- 
able results  that  have  in  most  places  resulted.  The  proposed 
new  power  plant  described  in  the  accompanying  article  is,  how- 
ever, the  first  for  electric  railway  service,  at  least,  which  has 
been  planned  originally  for  the  exclusive  use  of  steam  turbines. 
This  plant  is  being  installed  at  Dubuque,  la.,  by  the  Union  Elec- 
tric Company,  for  the  combined  operation  of  their  electric  rail- 
way, power  and  lighting  circuits,  and  is  notable  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  Curtis  steam  turbines.  As  stated  in  a  recent, 
issue  (June  25,  page  956),  the  work  of  construction  upon  the 


buque,  in  close  proximity  to  the  Mississippi  water  front,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  advantages  of  an  abundant  supply  of  water 
for  condensing  purposes.  This  location  is  not  central  in  rela- 
tion to  the  power  consumption,  but  the  facility  of  electrical 
transmission  renders  the  matter  of  location  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  advantages  of  operating  condensing.  The 
foundation  requirement  was  of  less  importance  in  governing 
the  location,  as  on  all  available  sites  pile  foundations  would 
have  been  required.  A  special  condition  was  imposed  in  this 
position,  however,  in  that  provisions  had  to  be  made  for  the 
protection  of  the  in-take-pipe  connections  on  account  of  the 
destructive  action  of  this  waterway  during  freshets.  A  special 
bulkhead  was  installed  near  the  in-take,  which  provides  against 
obstructions  and  filling-up  at  the  intake,  and  also  serves  the 
purpose  of  protecting  the  shore  adjacent  to  the  station.  The 


CROSS-SECTION  OF  THE  NEW  STEAM  TURBINE  POWER  PLANT  BUILDING  OF  THE  UNION  ELECTRIC  COMPANY,  DUBUQUE, 

IOWA,  SHOWING  DETAILS  OF  CONSTRUCTION 


plant  has,  after  considerable  delay,  now  been  begun  and  is  pro- 
gressing rapidly.  Many  special  features  have  been  incorporated 
in  the  design,  which  will  make  the  plant  one  of  the  most  modern 
and  up  to  date  to  be  found  in  this  country,  and  for  various  rea- 
sons its  operation  will  be  watched  with  interest  by  those  inter- 
ested in  modern  power-plant  construction. 

This  company  has,  up  to  this  time,  operated  its  railway  ser- 
vice by  two  independent  power  plants,  but  is  now  arranging 
for  a  new  single-generating  plant,  to  be  located  at  a  point  con- 
venient to  the  river,  for  condensing  water,  from  which  the 
power  will  be  transmitted.  This  work  is  the  natural  outcome  of 
the  remarkable  development  which  this  company  has  exper- 
ienced in  its  electric  railway  service,  as  has  been  the  case  in 
most  other  cities,  and  in  taking  this  advance  step  it  was  the  de- 
sire of  the  company  to  install  a  plant  which  would  be  as  nearly 
complete  as  possible,  and  involve  the  very  latest  practice  in 
every  detail.  As  a  result,  the  plant  will  be  found  a  model,  and 
is  particularly  interesting  for  the  originality  of  its  design,  which 
is  naturally  of  a  special  nature  to  provide  for  the  exclusive  use 
of  turbines. 

The  new  plant  is  located  at  the  foot  of  Eighth  Street,  in  Du- 


top  level  of  the  masonry  is  some  distance  above  the  original 
level  of  the  river  bank,  and  will  protect  the  plant  in  periods  of 
abnormally  high  water  that  are  prevalent  at  this  point  in  the 
spring. 

THE  POWER  HOUSE  BUILDING 
The  design  of  the  power  house  is  remarkable  in  many  re- 
spects. The  noticeable  feature  in  which  it  is  differentiated 
from  power  houses  designed  for  reciprocating  engines,  appears 
in  the  small  floor  area  and  greatly  reduced  head  room  required 
for  the  turbo-generator  room.  The  total  clear  height  provided 
above  the  floor  in  this  section  is  only  22  ft.  9  ins.,  which  is  11  ft. 
less  than  that  required  in  the  boiler  room.  The  provision  of  a 
14-ft.  basement,  beneath  the  turbines,  which  is  partly  open  to 
the  main  turbine  room,  is  another  feature  of  interest,  which  is 
characteristic  of  Curtis  turbine  installations ;  the  ease  of  access 
thus  provided  to  the  condensers  is  of  great  importance.  The 
arrangement  of  the  framing  carrying  the  elevated  coal  bunkers 
in  the  boiler  room  is  also  novel  in  this  plant,  and  the  founda- 
tion provisions  for  the  turbo-generator  units  are  remarkable  for 
their  lightness. 

An  important  feature  of  the  building  construction  was  the 


1 86 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


use  of  concrete  piles  for  the  foundation,  450  piles  of  this  inter- 
esting new  type  having  been  installed  by  the  Raymond  Con- 
crete Pile  Company,  of  Chicago,  111.  The  piles,  as  used,  are 
all  of  the  tapering  wedge  type,  20  ins.  in  diameter  at  the  butt 
and  6  ins.  in  diameter  at  the  point.  This  type  of  pile  is  said  to 
give,  by  virtue  of  its  shape,  very  great  carrying  capacity,  es- 
timated to  be  equal  to  that  of  three  ordinary  wooden  piles  of 
the  same  length.  It  is  important  to  note  here  that  these  piles, 
as  installed  for  the  stack  foundation,  were  designed  to  carry 
loads  from  60,000  to  70,000  lbs.  each ;  this  is  an  unusually  heavy 
load  per  pile,  but  it  has  been  found  that  this  type  is  easily  ca- 


pable of  sustaining  it.  An  important  advantage  of  the  concrete 
pile  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  will  never  rot  out,  whether  in  dry 
or  in  wet  soil,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  tends  to  grow  stronger 
with  age.  The  location  of  the  water  line  in  the  soil  may  also 
be  disregarded  in  the  use  of  the  concrete  pile,  as  the  upper  part 
may  project  as  far  above  the  water  level  as  desired,  without  fear 
of  deterioration,  as  is  the  case  with  wooden  piles. 

In  construction  of  the  concrete  piles  a  taper  core  of  shape 
similar  to  that  of  the  finished  pile  is  encased  with  a  sheet-iron 
shell  and  driven  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  of  driving  the  or- 
dinary wooden  pile,  by  the  use  of  the  usual  steam  pile-driver. 
The  core  is  then,  by  means  of  a  patent  process  of  the  Raymond 
Company,  collapsed,  or  slightly  reduced  in  size,  which  allows  it 
to  be  withdrawn  from  the  shell,  so  that  the  interior  may  be 
filled  with  the  concrete  at  leisure.  The  shell  remains  in  the 
ground  and  forms  a  perfect  mould  for  the  concrete,  which  is 
afterward  introduced  and  tamped  solid  as  it  is  filled  in. 

The  use  of  the  concrete  pile  is  a  comparative  novelty  in 
power-plant  construction,  but  it  appeals  to  the  engineer  as  a 
step  in  advance  over  the  former  method  of  using  piles.  The 
greater  carrying  capacity  of  this  concrete  pile  results  from  its 
tapering  or  wedge  shape,  which  provides  a  considerably  greater 
bearing  surface.  This  feature  makes  the  driving  somewhat 
more  difficult,  although  in  ordinary  soils  no  trouble  is  experi- 
enced. In  this  installation,  it  was  found  that  for  the  last  4  ft. 
of  the  driving  of  each  pile,  the  penetrations  that  were  ob- 
tained were  only  from  3-16  in.  to  %  in.  per  blow  of  a  No.  2 
steam  hammer.  All  of  the  piles  used  there  were  struck  from 
650  to  700  blows,  and  some  of  them  as  high  as  800  and  900 
blows,  the  number  of  blows  required  depending  upon  the  char- 


acter of  the  soil  at  the  point  of  driving.  In  spite  of  the  greater 
difficulty  of  driving,  however,  from  eighteen  to  twenty  piles 
were  driven  per  day  by  a  single  hammer ;  the  soil  encountered 
was  a  very  firm  mixture  of  clay  and  sand,  with  clay  predomi- 
nating. It  may  be  added  that  the  reason  why  greater  penetra- 
tions are  not  obtained  at  each  blow  with  this  pile  toward  the  end 
of  the  drive,  as  is  the  case  with  the  wooden  pile,  is  that  in  driv- 
ing the  core  for  the  concrete  piles  its  wedge  shape  offers  a 
continuous  obstruction  to  its  peneration  into  the  earth ;  in  the 
case  of  the  ordinary  wooden  pile,  after  the  hole  is  once  well 
started,  the  comparatively  straight  outline  of  the  pile  permits 
it  to  follow  the  hole  already  made,  which 
places  the  resistance  offered  to  driving  en- 
tirely at  the  point. 

The  architectural  features,  as  well  as  the 
details  of  construction  of  the  building,  are 
clearly  shown  in  the  outside  elevation  draw- 
ings and  the  building  cross  section.  The 
building  is  plain,  architecturally,  yet  the  ap- 
pearance is  indicative  of  the  substantial  char- 
acter of  its  design.  A  symmetrical  arrange- 
ment of  arched  windows  was  obtained,  and 
also  an  attractive  cornice  design  presents  a 
pleasing  effect.  The  most  noticeable  feature 
of  the  building  is  the  arrangement  of  the  flat 
roof  over  the  turbo-generator  room  and  the 
higher  inclined  roof,  with  lantern,  over  the 
boiler  room.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the 
circulating  pumps,  used  in  connection  with 
the  circulating  system  for  the  condensers,  are 
located  in  a  separate  pump  house,  built  on 
the  basement  level  just  outside  the  east  end 
of  the  building. 

The  power  house  is  a  substantial  building 
of  brick,  with  a  steel  frame,  concrete  floors 
and  fireproof  tile  roof,  occupying  a  ground 
area  of  114  ft.  x  96  ft.  It  is  divided  into  two 
sections  by  a  division  wall,  the  boiler  room 
being  46  ft.  wide  between  walls  and  the 
turbo-generator   room   45    ft.    inside.  The 


VIEW  OF  THE  PILE  FOUNDATION  FOR  THE  STACK,  SHOWING 
THE  CONCRETE  PILES  IN  PLACE  AND  THE  STACK  ANCHOR 
BOLTS  LOCATED  READY  FOR  FILLING  IN  THE 
CONCRETE  FOUNDATION  BODY 


generator  room  has  a  free  height  under  roof  trusses  of  22  ft. 
9  ins.,  while  the  boiler  room  has  a  similar  clear  height  of  33  ft. 
9  ins.  The  turbine  room  has  a  14- ft.  basement  on  the  south 
side,  which  contains  the  condenser  equipment.  Easy  access  is 
given  to  this  portion  by  conveniently  located  stairways,  as 
shown.    The  basement  under  the  opposite  side  of  the  room, 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  DUBUOUE  POWER  PLANT    FOUNDATIONS  AFTER 
THE   INSTALLATION   OF  THE   RAYMOND   CONCRETE  PILES- 
SECTIONS  OF  THE  SHEET-IRON  SHELLS,  USED 
IN  DRIVING,  APPEAR  IN  FOREGROUND 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


187 


which  provides  for  the  wiring  connections  to  and  from  the 
switchboard,  is  8  ft.  high.  In  the  boiler  room  a  10-ft.  base- 
ment has  been  provided,  which  gives  convenient  access  for  the 
handling  of  ashes,  the  care  of  the  blow-off  and  other  auxiliary 
piping.  The  floors  are  of  granolithic  composition  throughout, 
providing  for  maximum  cleanliness  and  absolute  fireproof  quali- 
ties. The  general  building  contract  was  undertaken  by  Wither- 
spoon,  Englar  &  Company,  Chicago,  111.,  the  structural  steel 
work  being  installed  by  the  Morava  Construction  Company, 
also  of  Chicago. 

The  turbo-generator  room  roof  is  carried  upon  substantial 
roof  trusses  of  eight  panels  each,  which  are  6  ft.  in  height  at  the 
division  wall  end,  sloping  to  a  height  of  4  ft.  at  the  opposite 
end  for  roof  drainage.  The  boiler-room  roof  and  lantern  are 
carried  by  a  roof  structure  consisting  of  composite  trusses  of 
the  type  shown  in  the  cross  section;  this  construction  was  re- 
quired for  carrying  the  weight  of  the  elevated  coal  bunkers  at 
the  south  side.    The  lower  cords  of  the  trusses  on  the  south 


^Purlins. 


coal  and  ash-handling  equipment,  together  with  the  elevated 
coal  and  ash  storage.  This  equipment  involves  many  interest- 
ing features,  representing  the  latest  and  most  approved 
methods.  Coal  is  delivered  to  the  handling  system  by  dis- 
charging directly  from  the  railroad  cars  into  a  receiving  hop- 
per underneath  the  side  track  running  along  outside  the  boiler- 
room  wall.  The  hopper  is  arranged  so  that  by  the  use  of  hop- 
per coal  cars  coal  may  be  discharged  into  the  system  without 
handling.  The  receiving  hopper  beneath  the  side  track  de- 
livers the  coal  into  the  handling  system  through  a  self-con- 
tained coal-crusher  mechanism,  which  reduces  all  large  lumps 
of  coal  into  cubes  of  suitable  size  for  use  in  the  automatic 
stoker,  after  which  it  delivers  on  to  a  cross-line  belt  conveyor 
for  delivery  over  to  the  longitudinal  bucket  conveyor.  The 
bucket  conveyor,  which  is  of  the  McCaslin  overlapping  gravity 
bucket  type,  surrounds  the  boiler  room,  passing  beneath  the 
floor  in  front  of  the  boiler  ash  pits  and  above  the  coal  bunkers 
next  to  the  roof,  like  an  endless  belt,  as  shown  in  the  engraving. 


SECTION,  WITH  BRICK  WORK  REMOVED., 


PART  LONGITUDINAL  AND  CROSS-SECTIONS  OF  THE  BOILiiR  ROOM  OF  THE  DUBUQUE  POWER  PLANT,  TO  SHOW 
ARRANGEMENT  OF  COAL  AND  ASH  STORAGE  BINS,  AND  DETAILS  OF  MECHANICAL  HANDLING  SYSTEM 


side,  which  carry  the  coal  pockets,  are  heavily  reinforced  with 
plate  girders  of  30-in.  web;  these  are  assisted  in  carrying  the 
load  by  floor  supports  in  the  form  of  steel  posts  located  between 
the  boilers  and  in  line  with  the  boiler  fronts.  They  support  the 
plate  girders  at  points  18  ft.  from  the  outside  boiler-room  wall. 
This  special  construction  is  clearly  shown  in  the  longitudinal 
and  cross  sections  of  the  boiler  room.  It  will  be  further  noticed 
that  a  concrete  division  wall  is  constructed  between  the  two 
king-post  trusses  along  the  center  line  of  the  boiler  room,  which 
serves  to  retain  the  coal  entering  the  bunkers.  In  this  way 
the  roof  truss  space  at  the  south  side  may  be  entirely  filled 
with  coal,  while  the  truss  space  at  the  opposite  side  and  over 
the  boilers  is  left  free  for  light  and  ventilation. 

The  roofs  are  constructed  of  tile,  the  well-known  form  of 
book  tile,  laid  upon  inverted  T-bars  for  purlins,  being  used. 
The  roof  is  carried  by  7-in.  15-lb.  I-beams,  arranged  longitudin- 
ally, one  over  each  vertical  member  of  the  trusses  ;  the  T-shaped 
purlins  are  laid  crosswise  upon  these  and  properly  spaced  to 
carry  the  book  tiles.  The  usual  felt,  tar  and  gravel  roof  cover- 
ing is  laid  above  the  tiles  over  the  turbine  room  for  waterproof- 
ing, slate  being  used  over  the  tile  on  the  boiler-room  roof.  This 
type  of  roof  is  not  only  water  and  weather-proof,  but  is  also 
absolutely  fireproof  and  condensation  proof. 

COAL   AND  ASH-HANDLING  SYSTEM 

The  above-mentioned  special  longitudinal  and  cross-section 
drawings  of  the  boiler  room  show  also  the  arrangement  of  the 


The  arrangement  of  this  apparatus,  both  in  the  basement  and 
above  the  bunkers,  is  clearly  shown  in  the  sectional  drawings. 

For  the  removal  of  ashes  from  the  boiler  ash  pits,  a  special 
movable  apron  hopper  is  provided  to  run  on  a  pair  of  rails  above 
the  bucket  conveyor  in  the  basement,  so  that  by  moving  it  along 
in  front  of  any  ash  pit  door  the  ashes  may  be  raked  out  from 
within,  and  thereby  delivered  on  to  the  conveyor  without  danger 
of  overloading  the  buckets  or  of  spilling  the  ashes  on  to  the 
working  parts  of  the  conveyor  chain.  This  apron  hopper  is 
very  conveniently  arranged  for  this  work,  and  can  be  easily 
moved  for  handling  ashes  out  of  any  pit.  The  conveyor  carries 
the  ashes  overhead  to  the  upper  part  of  the  building  in  the 
same  manner  in  which  coal  is  handled,  from  which  it  may  be 
dumped  into  the  ash  storage  pocket  at  one  end  of  the  boiler 
room.  This  entirely  obviates  any  manual  handling  of  the  ashes 
and  ensures  the  greatest  possible  rap'dity  in  removal.  The  ele- 
vated ash  pocket  is  provided  with  off-bearing  chutes,  one  pro- 
jecting through  the  end  of  the  boiler  room  and  the  other 
through  the  side  wall  over  the  side  track;  in  this  way  the  ashes 
may  be  clumped,  either  into  railroad  cars  or  into  carts  brought 
alongside  the  end  of  the  power  house,  for  removal. 

Inasmuch  as  the  stoker  equipment  was  designed  for  burning 
the  cheaper  grades  of  coal,  special  provision  was  necessary  for 
the  prevention  of  spontaneous  combustion  in  the  bunkers,  to 
which  the  lower  grades  of  the  Western  coals  arc  liable  when 
stored  for  any  length  of  time..    An  arrangement  has  been  made 


1 88 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


whereby  coal  thus  affected  may  be  drawn  off  from  any  bunker 
when  signs  of  heating  are  noted,  and  directed  into  the  lower 
leg  of  the  conveyor  system  in  the  basement,  and  thence  recon- 
veyed  and  elevated  again  to  the  same  or  to  a  different  coal 
bunker,  as  desired.  This  is  accomplished  by  special  chutes, 
which  may  be  inserted  through  holes  provided  in  the  boiler 
room  floor  between  the  boiler  fronts,  as  indicated  in  the 
boiler-room  longitudinal  section;  the  down  spout  is  swung  over 
in  line  with  this  chute,  and  the  coal  permitted  to  pass  through 
and  enter  the  conveyor  in  the  ash  room  below,  whence  it  is  ele- 
vated.   It  has  been  demonstrated  that  spontaneous  combustion 


amount  of  coal  delivered  from  the  receiving  hopper  through 
the  crusher,  and  in  turn  into  the  conveyors,  is  regulated.  The 
cross-line  conveyor  is  operated  from  the  coal  crusher  mechan- 
ism. The  conveyor  driving  mechanism  for  operating  the  main 
line  McCaslin  conveyor  is  of  the  self-contained,  direct-con- 
nected type,  located  in  the  loop  at  the  point  indicated  on  the 
drawing.  The  starting  and  speed  regulating  controller,  also 
provided  for  this  motor,  enables  the  speed  of  the  conveyor  sys- 
tem to  be  changed,  and  will  operate  at  from  35  lineal  ft.  to 
about  45  lineal  ft.  per  minute. 

The  coal-crusher  mechanism  being  installed  at  this  plant  is  of 


SECTION  A-A 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  INTAKE  CONSTRUCTION  UPON  THE  RIVER  FRONT  TO  PROTECT  THE  CONDENSER  CIRCULATION 

SUPPLY   PIPES  AND   ENSURE  AN   UNINTERRUPTED  SUPPLY 


in  coal  piles  always  occurs  at  the  bottom. and  near  the  center, 
namely,  at  the  point  of  greatest  pressure ;  in  the  case  of  a 
bunker  of  the  shape  used  here  it  usually  occurs  near  the  en- 
trance to  the  down  spout.  In  this  way,  by  drawing  off  a  few 
tons  from  the  lower  part  of  the  bunker,  when  heating  occurs, 
combustion  may  be  easily  and  successfully  prevented ;  this  is  a 
valuable  provision,  as  it  has  always  been  found  that  pouring 
water  on  the  coal  in  such  a  case  only  increases  the  liability  of 
heating. 

The  capacity  of  the  coal  crushing  and  coal  and  ash  conveying 
equipment  being  installed  will  be  from  40  tons  to  45  tons  per 
hour.  The  coal  crusher  mechanism  is  operated  by  General 
Electric  three-phase  variable-speed  induction  motor,  provided 
with  a  starting  and  speed-regulating  controller,  by  which  the 


the  well-known  McCaslin  single-roll  type,  provided  with  a 
swinging  corrugated  counterweighted  baffle  plate,  with  adjust- 
ing screws  for  regulating  the  size  of  cubes  to  be  crushed  and 
counterweighted  sufficiently  only  to  hold  the  baffle  plate  in  posi- 
tion for  crushing  the  kind  of  coal  to  be  used.  In  case  a  car 
link  or  other  foreign  substance  is  contained  in  the  coal,  this 
swinging  baffle  plate  will  move  backward  and  permit  the 
coupling  link  or  other  foreign  substance  to  pass  down  through 
the  crusher  without  damaging  same.  This  is  a  most  important 
feature,  since  it  is  very  necessary  that  the  coal-crusher  mechan- 
ism shall  be  capable  of  continuous  duty  as  much  so  as  the  coal 
and  ash  handling  equipment. 

The  coal  and  ashes  are  discharged  from  the  upper  horizontal 
run  of  the  conveyor  into  the  elevated  coal  and  ash  bunkers  by 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


means  of  a  movable  tripper  supported  on  a  trackway  provided 
for  it.  This  tripper  may  be  shifted  over  any  bunker  and  set 
into  operation  from  either  end  of  the  upper  run,  so  that  coal 
and  ashes  can  be  delivered  at  any  point  or  points  along  the 
trackway.  This  entire  coal  and  ash  handling  equipment,  in- 
cluding the  coal  crusher,  was  furnished  by  John  A.  Mead  & 
Company,  of  New  York. 

BOILERS 

The  present  boiler  equipment  that  is  being  provided  consists 
of  four  Babcock  &  Wilcox  horizontal  water-tube  boilers  of  400 
rated  horse-power  capacity  each.  As  will  be  noted  from  the 
plan,  however,  space  is  provided  for  another  battery  of  two 
additional  boilers,  which  will  be  installed  when  needed.  These 
boilers  are  of  the  new  all  wrought-steel  construction  recently 
developed  by  this  company  for  high-pressure  work,  and  are  de- 
signed for  a  working  pressure  of  200  lbs.  per  square  inch. 
Each  boiler  is  equipped  with  a  Babcock  &  Wilcox  superheater, 
which  will  give  150  degs.  F.  of  superheat  to  the  steam  deliv- 
ered. The  furnaces  are  equipped  with  the  well-known  Babcock 
&  Wilcox  chain-grate  stokers,  which  are  to  be  driven  by  Krie- 
bel  vertical  engines.  These  engines  are  belted  to  the  counter- 
shaft above  the  boiler  fronts,  which  operate  the  stokers,  so  that  - 
either  one  may  be  used  as  desired.  Coal  is  delivered  from  the 
coal  bunkers  directly  into  the  hoppers  of  the  stokers  by  con- 
veniently arranged  swinging  chutes,  as  shown  in  the  longitudi- 
nal view  of  the  boiler  room.    These  chutes  are  provided  with 


Core  for  %  bolts 


(  10-2^"  Bolts. 
J  20'6"long. 
^Threaded  ends 
upset. 


SECTION  H-H 


DETAILS  OF  THE  FOUNDATION  FOR,  AND  THE  PRINCIPAL  FEATURES  OF  CONSTRUCTION  OF,  THE  200-FT.  SELF-SUPPORTING 

STEEL  STACK  AT  THE  DUBUOUE  POWER  PLANT 


swiveling  connections  to  the  bunker  outlets,  being  hinged  so 
that  they  will  operate  at  any  convenient  angle.  They  may  thus 
be  arranged  to  deliver  into  any  part  of  the  stoker  hoppers,  or 
into  the  special  chutes  for  delivery  to  the  conveyor  system  in 
the  basement,  if  necessary.  Valves  are  provided  at  the  bunker 
outlets  for  admitting  the  coal  to  the  chute,  which  are  operated 
by  chains  running  to  the  floor,  as  shown. 

THE  STACK 

The  stack  provided  is  of  interesting  construction  in  that  it 
is  of  the  self-supporting  steel  type,  200  ft.  high,  with  a  solid 


fire-brick  lining  extending  the  entire  height,  and  also  in  that 
it  has  an  admirable  arrangement  of  reinforcing  around  the  flue 
openings.  The  details  of  the  stack,  as  well  as  also  of  the 
foundation,  are  presented  in  the  accompanying  drawings.  As 
may  be  noted,  it  has  a  clear  opening  of  11  ft.  throughout;  the 
lining  is  of  radial  blocks  of  fire-brick.  Fifty-eight  of  the  Ray- 
mond concrete  piles  are  used  for  the  support  of  the  stack;  the 
foundation  rests  upon  the  piles  at  a  depth  of  12  ft.  6  ins.  below 
grade  level,  extending  to  5  ft.  6  ins.  above  grade.  Upon  this 
the  stack  rests  directly,  being  held  down  by  sixteen  2j^-in. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.. 


bolts,  which  are  20  ft.  6  ins.  long,  extending  to  the  bottom  of 
the  foundation.  Special  bolt  connections  for  anchoring  the 
stack  to  the  foundation  are  provided,  as  shown  in  the  detail 
view;  these  connections  are  very  heavily  constructed  of  struc- 
tural shapes,  and  riveted  to  the  lower  portion  of  the  stack,  as  in- 
dicated. The  details  of  the  reinforcement  around  the  flue  open- 
ings are  also  made  clear  in  the  detail  view.  Another  interest- 
ing feature  of  the  stack  is  the  special  cap  construction,  which  is 
also  clearly  shown  in  an  additional  view.  This  stack  is  being 
erected  by  S.  Freeman  &  Sons  Manufacturing  Company,  Ra- 
cine, Wis. 

BOILER  AUXILIARIES 
The  boilers  are  fed  by  two  horizontal  duplex  feed  pumps 
furnished  by  the  International  Steam  Pump  Company.  These 


ticularly  in  view  of  the  use  of  a  vacuum  heater  in  connection 
with  a  turbine  plant.  Both  wet  and  dry  vacuum  pumps  are 
used  in  connection  with  the  condenser,  the  wet  vacuum  pump 
being  of  the  centrifugal  type,  removing  the  water  directly  from 
the  bottom  of  the  condenser  and  discharging  through  an  8-in. 
pipe  into  the  water-sealed  inlets  of  the  vacuum  feed-water 
heater.  The  use  of  a  centrifugal  pump  in  this  connection  is 
the  most  recent  practice  of  the  General  Electric  Company,  who 
are  the  first  to  adapt  this  form  of  pump  to  this  service.  The 
only  difference  in  the  pump  and  condenser  connections  at  this 
point  is  the  introduction  of  a  check  valve,  to  prevent  breaking 
the  vacuum  when  the  wet  pump  is  stopped.  There  is  no  regu- 
lating device  of  any  kind  to  govern  the  admission  of  the  hot- 
well  water  into  the  feed-water  heater,  the  accumulation  and 


Water  to  Boiler  Itoom 
Basement 


Steam  from  Main 
Steam  Header 


PLAN 


TTT  Reducing  Valve  200/! 


31eeder3  from  Throttles  and  1  Drips  from 
Exhauet  Elbows  at  Engines  Discharge 
through  Exhaust  Trap  to  Cesspool. 


Steam  Tiat 


30  Condenser  Discharge 


llain  Exhaust  to 
Atmosphere 

Jti  Condenser  Supply 


SIHE  ELEVATION 

DETAILS  OF,  AND  ARRANGEMENT  OF  APPARATUS  IN,  THE  PUMP  HOUSE  OUTSIDE  THE  EAST  END 
OP  THE  POWER  HOUSE,  CONTAINING  THE  CENTRIFUGAL  CIRCULATING  PUMPS 
FOR  THE  CONDENSING  SYSTEM 


pumps  arc  of  the  pressure  pattern,  having  separate  removable 
valve  chambers  and  plungers,  instead  of  pistons.  They  have 
12-in.  steam  cylinders  and  yYz-'m.  water  cylinders,  with  a  com- 
mon stroke  of  10  ins.  The  feed  water  is  heated  by  a  large 
Webster  vacuum  feed-water  heater  and  purifier  of  4000  hp  ca- 
pacity, which  was  furnished,  together  with  the  necessary  auxil- 
iaries, by  Warren  Webster  &  Company,  Camden,  N.  J.  It  is 
important  to  note  that  in  this  plant  the  approved  method  of 
reserving  the  exhaust  steam  from  the  auxiliary  engines  for  the 
heating  of  feed  water  has  been  adopted. 

The  feed-water  heating  system  of  this  plant  embodies  some 
new  and  interesting  features,  and  in  many  points  may  be  right- 
fully considered  an  advanced  step  in  power-plant  practice,  par- 


flow  being  considered  at  all 
times  to  be  in  proportion  to 
the  demands  for  feed-water. 

As  there  is  always  more  or 
less  loss  from  cylinder  drips, 
leakage,  blowing  off  the  safety 
valve,  etc.,  provision  must  be 
made  for  the  introduction  of 
'make-up"  feed-water;  this  is 
accomplished  in  a  unique  man- 
ner. Within  the  vacuum  heater 
there  are  two  floats,  located  at 
different  levels,  the  higher  one 
being  connected  by  a  series  of 
levers  and  chains  to  a  single- 
seated,  piston-balanced,  water- 
regulating  valve.  This  valve 
is  connected  to  the  circulating 
water  eduction  pipe  from  the 
condenser,  and  also  to  the 
smaller  inlet  on  the  top  of  each 
condenser,  which  is  in  communication  with  the  exhaust  side. 
In  this  way,  when  "make-up"  feed-water  is  required,  the  water 
level  in  the  feed-water  heater  falls  to  the  upper  float,  which 
opens  the  "make-up"  feed  valve,  admitting  the  warm  circulating 
water  directly  into  the  condenser;  this  increases  the  condensing 
effect,  and  at  the  same  time  saves  a  portion  of  the  heat  which 
would  otherwise  be  lost  in  the  circulating  water.  From  this  point 
"make-up"  feed-water  takes  the  same  course  as  the  other 
hot-well  water,  and  is  handled  by  the  centrifugal  pumps.  If  at 
any  time  the  turbines  should  be  running  non-condensing,  the 
feed  supply  to  the  vacuum  heater  is  taken  from  the  city  mains 
through  the  single-seated,  piston-balanced  regulating  valve, 
controlled  by  the  second  float  within  the  heater,  which  operates 


192 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


193 


from  the  lowest  water  level.  The  whole  water  supply  system 
is  thus  entirely  automatic. 

The  style  of  heater  used  is  the  Webster  star-vacuum  feed- 
water  heater  and  receiver,  Class  C,  manufactured  by  Warren 
Webster  &  Company,  Camden,  N.  J.  It  is  a  special  type  of 
heater,  with  a  very  large  receiver,  and  is  especially  fitted  with 
the  Webster  self-cleaning  oil  separator  for  freeing  the  exhaust 
steam  of  oil  in  order  to  deliver  the  feed-v/ater  pure.  The  size 
of  the  heater  is  nominally  4000  boiler-hp.  It  is  built  entirely  of 
cast  iron,  fitted  with  perforated  copper  heating 
trays,  all  of  the  parts  in  contact  with  the  steam 
or  water  being  made  of  either  cast-iron,  copper 
or  brass.  The  filter  is  of  the  upward  filtration 
type,  in  whi.ch  the  water,  after  being  heated, 
flows  first  to  a  receiving  compartment  below 
the  filtering  material,  where  the  heavier  im- 
purities are  deposited,  the  water  rising  in  an 
upward  direction  through  the  filtering  material. 
The  special  Webster  vacuum  line  attachment 
is  provided  for  operation  in  connection  with 
the  heater,  when  the  supply  of  exhaust  steam 
is  insufficient  to  heat  the  feed-water  to  the  boil- 
ing point  or,  what  is  equivalent  to  the  same 
thing,  to  maintain  atmospheric  steam  pressure 
within  the  heater.  This  device  automatically 
removes  the  air  and  gases  from  the  heater, 
which  are  given  off  from  the  feed-water,  and 
maintains  within  the  heater  a  pressure  below 
that  of  the  atmosphere,  which  gives  a  partial 
condensing  effect  on  the  auxiliaries. 

TURBINES 

The  turbine  equipment  consists  of  four  500- 
kw  four-stage  Curtis  turbines,  which  are  de- 
signed to  operate  at  200-lbs.  steam  pressure, 
with  150  degs.  F.  superheat.  These  turbines  in- 
volve the  latest  improvements  which  have  been 
embraced  in  the  Curtis  turbine  design,  the 
most  novel  of  the  many  improvements  involv- 
ing the  use  of  water  for  lubrication  of  the  step- 
bearing  instead  of  oil,  which  was  employed 
formerly.  The  lower  surface  of  the  step- 
bearing  is,  in  these  turbines,  made  of  wood. 
Oil  is  used  for  the  lubrication  of  the  upper 
bearings,  which  is  fed  from  a  small  reservoir 
mounted  at  the  top  of  the  generator,  through 
sight-feed  oilers.  The  amount  of  oil  required 
by  the  upper  bearing  will  not  exceed  gal. 
per  minute  per  turbine.  A  pressure  oiling  sys- 
tem is  to  be  installed  for  this  service  and  other 
lubrication. 

Each  of  these  turbines  will  also  be  provided 
with  a  brake  that  can  be  conveniently  operated 
from  the  outside,  and  can  be  used  to  take  the 
whole  weight  of  the  revolving  part  in  case  the 
step-bearing  should  fail.  Another  more  important  function  of 
this  brake  is  to  stop  the  machine  when  it  is  desired  to  do  so,  as 
these  turbines  will  revolve  for  several  hours  after  steam  has 
been  shut  off  unless  load  is  placed  upon  it  or  the  brake  is  ap- 
plied. 

CONDENSERS 

The  condensing  equipment  consists  of  four  Worthington  sur- 
face condensers,  fitted  with  brass  time  heads  and  hot  wells  and 
coolers,  each  condenser  having  2000  sq.  ft.  of  cooling  surface. 
The  condenser  equipment  is  supplied  with  cooling  water  from 
the  Mississippi  River  by  two  14-in.  Worthington  steam-driven 
volute  circulating  pumps,  located  in  the  pump  house  at  the  east 
end  of  the  power  house;  these  volute  pumps  are'each  direct 
connected  to  vertical  engines  built  by  the  New  York  Safety 
Steam  Power  Company.    The  hot  water  of  condensation  is  re- 


moved from  the  hot  wells  by  four  i-in.  volute  hot-well  drainage 
pumps,  direct  driven  by  3-hp  induction  motors.  These  drain- 
age pumps  deliver  the  condensation  to  the  Webster  open  heater 
for  returning  directly  to  the  boilers.  Make-up  water  for  the 
boilers  is  ordinarily  to  be  taken  from  the  circulating  system, 
this  being  regulated  by  the  float  in  the  heater;  arrangements  are 
also  made  for  the  use  of  city  water  for  this  purpose. 

Two  rotative,  dry-vacuum  pumps  are  provided  for  the  re- 
moval of  air  and  other  gases,  this  pump  being  of  the  recipro- 


EX.TERIOR  DRAWINGS,  SHOWING  OUTLINE  OF  THE  NEW  TYPE  OF  FOUR- 
STAGE  CURTIS  TURBINE,  TO  BE  INSTALLED  AT  THE 
DUBUQUE  TURBINE  POWER  PLANT 


eating  type,  with  8-in.  steam  cylinders,  16-in.  vacuum  cylinders 
and  12-in.  stroke.  The  steam  cylinders  of  these  pumps  are 
fitted  with  Corliss  valve  gears  for  highest  economy  of  oper- 
ation, and  a  novelty  is  introduced  in  the  placing  of  the  vacuum 
cylinders  vertically,  the  steam  cylinders  being  located  horizon- 
tally, and  the  connecting  rods  of  the  two  cylinders  being 
attached  to  a  common  crank-pin. 

The  condenser  arrangement  at  this  station  is  somewhat  novel. 
The  volute  drainage  pumps  for  the  removal  of  the  water  of 
condensation  from  the  hot  wells  are  located  below  the  level  of 
the  hot  wells,  so  as  to  receive  their  suction  by  gravity.  In  this 
way  the  pump  always  runs  a  little  ahead  of  the  water,  and  there 
is  no  necessity  of  floats,  valves  or  other  automatic  devices. 
Furthermore,  there  is  also  no  possibility  of  air  binding,  as  in 
reciprocating  pumps,  as  used  for  this  purpose.    An  important 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


194 

advantage  is  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  novel  type  of  dry 
vacuum  pumps  with  vertical  vacuum  cylinders  and  horizontal 
steam  cylinders,  as  it  not  only  saves  considerable  room,  but  per- 
mits freer  access  to  the  valve  gear  mechanism.  This  entire 
condensing  equipment,  as  well  as  also  the  boiler  feed  pumps, 
were  furnished  by  the  International  Steam  Pump  Company,  of 
New  York. 

ELECTRICAL  EQUIPMENT 

This  company  operates,  in  addition  to  the  street  railway  sys- 
tem, commercial  lighting  and  an  arc  street  lighting  system,  the 
feeders  for  the  various  circuits  being  operated  at  high  voltage 
upon  the  three-phase  alternating  system.  The  turbo-generators 
deliver  60-cycle  three-phase  alternating  current  at  2300  volts. 
There  will  be  two  sets  of  bus-bars  on  the  switchboard,  one  for 
the  lighting  load  and  the  other  for  the  railway  system,  the  con- 
nections being  so  arranged  that  any  one  of  the  turbo-generators 
may  be  thrown  onto  either  bus.  The  commercial  lighting  cir- 
cuit feeders  will  be  operated  at  2300  volts  upon  single-phase 
circuits,  while  the  arc  street  lighting  circuits  are  to  be  operated 
upon  the  constant-current  system  by  the  use  of  General  Elec- 
tric "tub"  transformers;  this  system  involves  the  operation  of 
400  General  Electric  series  alternating  enclosed  arc  lamps  dis- 
tributed throughout  the  city. 

The  600-volt  power  circuit  for  the  street  railway  system  is 
supplied  through  four  300-kw  rotary  converters  operated  from 
the  street  railway  bus-bars.  The  current  for  operating  these 
rotaries  is  stepped  down  by  330-kw  air-blast  transformers  of 
the  new  three-phase  type  recently  developed  by  the  General 
Electric  Company ;  the  direct-current  sides  of  the  rotary  con- 
verters are  all  arranged  for  two  sets  of  bus  bars,  so  that  the 
direct-current  may  be  carried  independent  of  the  grounded  rail- 
way circuit  when  required.  The  exciter  equipment  for  the 
turbo-alternators  consists  of  a  33-kw  General  Electric  marine- 
type  steam  generating  set,  and  a  30-kw  motor  generator  set, 
either  of  which  has  sufficient  capacity  for  the  excitation  of  the 
entire  installation.  All  of  the  electrical  apparatus,  including 
the  Curtis  turbo-generator  units,  rotaries,  transformers  and 
blowers,  exciter  sets,  cable,  etc.,  and  the  switchboard  equip- 
ment, was  supplied  by  the  General  Electric  Company. 

It  may  be  here  stated  that  the  street  railway  system  of  the 
Union  Electric  Company  in  Dubuque  provides  for  the  opera- 
tion normally  of  twenty  cars,  the  entire  single-track  length  of 
the  system  being  18  miles.  Owing  to  the  short  distances  of 
current  transmission  no  sub-stations  are  required,  the  rotaries 
being  located  in  the  turbine  room  of  the  power  plant.  The 
entire  rolling  stock  equipment  is  practically  new,  all  cars  being 
equipped  with  General  Electric  type  sixty-seven  three-turn  mo- 
tors. Other  improvements  have  been  recently  made  upon  the 
street  railway  system  in  the  form  of  reconstruction  of  the  track 
system.  The  girder  rails  formerly  used  are  being  replaced  by 
60-ft.  72-lb.  T-rails  of  high  section  in  the  paved  street  portions 
of  the  city,  and  the  A.  S.  C.  E.  standard  section  of  T-rail  of 
the  same  weight  in  the  unpaved  streets ;  these  changes  involve 
11  miles  of  the  most  important  lines  of  the  city. 

This  journal  is  indebted  to  both  L.  D.  Mathes,  general  man- 
ager of  the  Union  Electric  Company,  and  to  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company  for  the  information  furnished  regarding  this  in- 
teresting installation. 



The  first  annual  outing  of  the  Cleveland  Consolidated  Street 
Railway  Employees'  Benefit  Association  was  held  at  Manhattan 
Beach  Park  a  couple  of  weeks  ago.  The  programme  of  athletic 
events  at  the  park  was  started  at  2  o'clock,  and  it  was  almost 
dark  before  it  was  completed.  Through  the  generosity  of  the 
street  railway  company,  two  employees  who  sold  1043  and  1000 
picnic  tickets  respectively,  will  receive  free  transportation  to 
the  World's  Fair.  The  surprise  of  the  day  was  the  donation  by 
George  Mulhearn,  former  superintendent  of  the  Cleveland 
Electric  Railway,  of  ice  cream  for  all  present. 


THE  TRAMWAY  SYSTEM  OF  SYDNEY,  NEW  SOUTH  WALES 


Sydney,  the  capital  of  New  South  Wales,  is  the  largest  city 
in  Australia.  This  pre-eminence  has  been  enjoyed  only  in 
recent  years,  during  which  the  city  has  had  a  very  rapid 
growth.  The  population  of  the  city  during  the  last  three 
decades  is  shown  by  the  following  table : 

1881   225,000 

1891   383,000 

.  1002   508,510 

The  tramway  situation  in  the  city  is  unique  in  that  the  sys- 
tem is  owned  not  by  a  private  company  or  by  the  city,  but  by 
the  government  of  New  South  Wales,  which  also  owns  the 
steam  railroad  lines  within  the  province.  The  affairs  are 
governed  by  three  commissioners,  who  are  government  officials, 
viz.:  Charles  Oliver,  chief  commissioner;  David  Kirkcaldie 
and  W.  D.  Fehon. 

The  first  street  railway  line  in  Sydney  was  put  in  operation 
in  1861,  but  owing  to  several  causes  was  not  a  success.  In 
1879  animal  power  was  abandoned  for  steam  dummies  on  the 
short  system  then  in  operation.  The  next  few  years  witnessed 
a  gradual  extension  of  the  tramway  system.  In  1884,  27.5  miles 
were  in  operation,  practically  all  by  steam  power.  In  1891,  the 
equipment  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  system  with  cable 
was  very  seriously  considered,  and  one  or  two  short  cable  lines 
were  installed,  but  the  conversion  of  the  greater  part  of  the  sys- 
tem Was  abandoned  in  favor  of  a  trial  of  electric  power.  The 
first  electric  section  was  2.25  miles  in  length,  and  was  put  in 
operation  in  1893.  Since  that  time  the  development  of  the  elec- 
tric system  and  the  substitution  of  this  power  for  steam  has 
been  rapid. 

The  real  commencement  of  the  present  electrical  era  came 
in  1899,  with  the  opening  of  the  George  Street  electric  line, 
which  introduced  electric  traction  into  the  heart  of  the  city. 
The  officials  of  the  Sydney  tramway  system  have  made  a  num- 
ber of  visits  to  America,  and  the  construction  has  followed 
largely  American  practice. 

GRADES  AND  CURVES 
The  city  is  located  on  a  series  of  hills,  and  grades  of  5  and 
10  per  cent  are  frequent;  there  is  one  grade  of  12.5  per  cent. 
The  sharpest  curve  on  the  main  line  has  a  radius  of  66  ft.,  but 
on  terminal  loops  there  are  curves  of  46  ft.  radius.  The  fact 
that  many  of  the  lines  pass  from  the  city  to  the  summits  of  the 
adjoining  hills  has  made  the  subject  of  current  distribution  a 
serious  one,  owing  to  the  heavy  loads  at  the  ends  of  the  lines. 
Thus,  on  the  North  Shore  system,  the  Mosman  line  rises  290 
ft.  in  4620  ft.,  and  the  Neutral  Bay  line  has  a  grade  of  nearly 
10  per  cent  for  a  distance  of  nearly  half  a  mile. 

TRACK  CONSTRUCTION 

Standard  gage  is  used,  and  the  track  is  laid  with  from  60-lb. 
to  83-lb.  rails.  The  standard  rail  in  the  center  of  the  city  is  a 
grooved  rail,  weighing  83  lbs.  per  yard,  and  6  ins.  in  height. 
A  great  deal  of  the  track,  however,  is  laid  with  the  T-rail,  60 
lbs.  to  80  lbs.  in  weight,  and  with  42-lb.  guard  rail,  as  shown  in 
the  cut  herewith.  Where  the  grooved  rail  is  used,  wood  pave- 
ment, which  is  very  popular  in  Australia,  is  employed,  but  the 
T-rail  is  laid  principally  in  macadam  streets,  with  bluestone 
ballast.  A  local  wood,  called  iron-bark,  is  used  largely  for  ties, 
and  has  proved  very  durable.  The  ties  are  4^2  ins.  x  9  ins.  x 
8  ins.,  and  thirteen  of  them  are  laid  to  a  30-ft.  rail  length.  The 
cost  of  track  construction  in  Sydney  for  grooved  rail  in  wood 
pavements  has  been  about  £5,000  per  mile  of  single  track,  and 
for  T-rail  in  macadam  streets,  about  £3,000  per  mile  of  single 
track.    Both  copper  and  plastic  bonds  are  used. 

A  considerable  number  of  joints  have  been  welded  during  the 
past  year  by  the  Goldschmidt  thermit  process. 

COUNTER-WEIGHT  CONSTRUCTION 

On  the  Balmain  division  a  counter-weight  is  used  for  a  short 
distance,  owing  to  the  12^2  per  cent  grade  that  exists  on  that 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


*95 


division.  As  the  line  is  single  track,  the  installation  is  a  par- 
ticularly interesting  one.  As  in  several  American  installations 
of  this  kind,  a  shallow  conduit  is  laid  under  the  track,  with  a 
center  slot,  through  which  the  trolley  car  can  grip  the  counter- 
weight cable.  The  latter  is  led  around  a  6-ft.  horizontal  sheave 
at  the  top  of  the  incline,  and  its  end  is  attached  to  a  10-ton 
counter-weight,  which  travels  on  a  subway  track  having  a  2-ft. 
6-in.  gage.  At  the  bottom  end  of  the  subway  is  a  hydraulic 
buffer,  with  a  cylinder  10  ins.  in  diameter  and  a  stroke  of  3  ft. 
6  ins.  to  cushion  the  blow  of  the  counter-weight  when  it  reaches 
the  bottom  of  the  incline.  The  cable  is  car- 
ried in  the  conduit  on  15-in.  and  12-in.  carrier 
sheaves  located  30  ft.  apart. 

POWER  STATION 
The  power  station  is  located  in  a  part  of  the 
city  known  as  Ultimo,  on  the  bay,  and  its 
ground  dimensions  are  318  ft.  x  186  ft.  It  is 
a  brick  structure,  with  three  brick  chimneys 
of  a  height  of  227  ft.  and  an  internal  diameter 
of  11  ft.  There  are  at  present  thirty-two  Bab- 
cock  &  Wilcox  boilers,  with  sixteen  others  in 
course  of  installation.  The  boiler  house  is  in 
two  stories,  with  sixteen  boilers  at  present  on 
each  story.  Each  boiler  has  a  heating  surface 
of  2852  sq.  ft.,  and  is  equipped  with  automatic 


pump.  There  are  three  such  pumps  in  the  pump-room,  two 
for  service  and  one  as  reserve.  They  are  driven  by  shunt- 
wound  motors  of  the  General  Electric  make.  The  feed-pump 
is  operated  by  steam.  Electric  feed  pumps  were  originally  in- 
stalled, but  are  not  now  generally  used.  The  auxiliaries  for 
the  vertical  engines  consist  of  three  compound  duplex-plunger 
feed-pumps,  made  by  the  Worthington  Pump  Company,  Lim- 
ited ;  three  Worthington  vertical  compound  beam  air  pumps 
for  the  main  engines;  three  Worthington  compound  horizontal 
circulating  pumps ;  two  combined  air  and  circulating  pumps 


Street  Ry.Jonrnal 

SECTION  OF  T  RAIL  AND  GUARD 


Street  Ry.Jo 

SECTION  OF  GIRDER  RAIL 


Street  Ry.Jonrnal 

MAP  OF  SYDNEY,  SHOWING  THE  STREET  RAILWAY  SYSTEM 


chain-grate  stokers.  The  cost  of  coal  is  from  3s.  to  4s.  6d.  per 
ton  at  the  pit's  mouth,  and  as  it  is  hauled  to  the  station  over 
the  State  railways  it  is  obtained  at  a  minimum  of  cost. 

The  engine  room  measures  275  ft.  x  99  ft.,  and  contains  four 
horizontal  cross-compound  condensing  Allis-Chalmers  engines. 
The  cylinder  dimensions  of  these  engines  are  26  ins.  and  48  ins. 
x  48  ins.  stroke,  and  at  100  r.  p.  m.  they  are  .rated  at  1250  hp. 
Each  engine  is  directly  connected  to  a  850-kw  General  Electric 
generator.  The  alternating-current  equipment  consists  of 
three  cross-compound  vertical  condensing  engines,  with  cylin- 
der dimensions  32  ins.  and  64  ins.  x  60  ins.  stroke,  rated  at 
2850  hp  and  each  driving  a  1500-kw  three-phase  6600-volt  25- 
cycle  G.  E.  alternator.  In  addition,  there  are  two  standard 
exciter  engines. 

To  each  pair  of  horizontal  engines  is  fitted  a  Wheeler  surface 
condenser  supplied  with  condensing  water  by  a  centrifugal 


for  the  exciter  engines ;  and  a  stoker  engine.  The  feed  pumps 
have  each  two  high-pressure  cylinders  9  ins.  in  diameter,  two 
low-pressure  cylinders  14  ins.  in  diameter,  and  four  single- 
acting  outside-packed  plungers  73%  ins.  in  diameter,  all  of  10-in. 
stroke,  and  running  at  thirty  double  strokes  per  minute  to  de- 
liver 150,000  lbs.  of  water  each  per  hour.  The  circulating 
pumps  have  two  high-pressure  steam  cylinders  of  12  ins.  diam- 
eter, two  low-pressure  cylinders  of  17  ins.  diameter  and  four 
single-acting  motor  cylinders  of  22  ins.  diameter,  with  a  com- 
mon stroke  of  16  ins.  And  two  of  the  trio  are  capable  of  sup- 
plying three  main-engine  condensers.  The  exhaust  from  all 
the  auxiliaries  is  conveyed  to  two  feed-water  heaters,  each  of 
1500  sq.  ft.  heating  surface.  These  are  situated  beneath  the 
floor  of  the  upper  boiler  room. 

Above  the  upper  tier  of  boilers  are  a  pair  of  coal  bunkers 
of  a  total  capacity  of  2500  tons  of  coal,  sufficient  to  supply  all 


1 


196 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


demands  for  at  least  ten  days.  The  coal  is  dumped  from  the 
trucks  through  a  crusher,  which  reduces  it  to  a  3-in.  gage,  on 
to  a  bucket  elevator  576  ft.  long,  carrying  288  buckets,  with  a 
total  capacity  of  14,400  lbs.  of  coal.  The  crusher  is  driven  by 
an  enclosed  motor  of  20  hp,  and  the  elevator  by  a  motor  of 
15  hp.  The  normal  speed  at  which  this  works  is  twenty  buckets 
per  minute,  but  it  is  capable  of  a  great  increase  on  this  30-ton 
an  hour  rate.  The  coal  is  delivered  to  any  part  of  the  bunkers 
by  automatic  dump  blocks,  whence  it  is  carried  by  chutes  to 
the  automatic  chain-grate  stokers.  The  conveyor  also  handles 
the  ashes. 

Lubrication  is  carried  out  by  means  of  an  oil  pump  in  the 
basement  and  a  tank  on  the  roof  of  the  engine  room,  through 
a  complete  gravity  system. 

All  parts  of  the  added  portion  of  the  engine  room  can  be 
reached  by  a  traveling  crane  with  a  single  span  of  96  ft.  This 
crane  is  operated  by  three  independent  motors  of  30  hp  for 
main  hoist,  with  a  speed  of  10  ft.  per  minute  at  full  load;  5  hp 
for  trolley  traveling,  with  a  speed  of  100  ft.  per  minute,  and 
50  hp  for  bridge  traveling,  with  a  speed  of  150  ft.    The  limit 


SECTION  OF  '1  RACK  IN  PAVED  STREET 

of  the  crane's  weight-lifting  capacity  is  35  tons.  The  older 
portion  of  the  room  is  similarly  provided  for. 

The  direct-current  and  alternating-current  switchboard  were 
supplied  by  the  General  Electric  Company. 

The  station  is  piped  with  compressed  air  at  80  lbs.  pressure, 
supplied  by  a  Christensen  compressor. 

SUB-STATIONS 

There  are  at  present  five  sub-stations  erected  and  in  active 
work,  and  a  sixth  has  been  completed  and  is  now  being 
equipped.  Each  of  the  five  stations  contains  two  450-kw  shunt- 
wound  rotary  converters,  and  two  battery  boosters,  each  capable 
of  boosting  a  current  of  1000  amps.  Each  sub-station  is 
equipped  with  two  A.  F.  A.  batteries,  supplied  and  erected  by 
Messrs.  Noyes  Brothers,  of  Sydney  and  Melbourne.  Each  bat- 
tery consists  of  280  cells,  with  a  capacity  of  500-ampere-hours 
at  a  one-hour  rate  of  discharge.  There  is  also  a  similar  storage 
battery  at  the  Ultimo  power  station. 

Each  sub-station  is  also  equipped  with  six  air-blast  175-kw 
transformers,  with  G.  E.  switchboards.  The  return  boosters, 
which  following  the  English  practice  are  used  in  Sydney,  were 
supplied  by  the  Allgemeine  Elektricitats-Gesellschaft.  In  ad- 
dition there  are  several  feeder  boosters,  some  of  the  General 
Electric  and  some  of  the  Westinghouse  make. 

TURBINE  EXTENSION 

Large  as  the  present  plant  is,  the  company  has  recently  given 
a  contract  for  the  installation  of  a  1875-kw  Parsons  turbo-gen- 
erator, with  an  additional  equipment  of  sixteen  Babcock  & 
Wilcox  boilers,  with  chain-grate  stokers,  Parsons  condenser 
and  air  pump,  Worthington  circulating  pump,  and  Worthington 
feed  pump.  The  Parsons  turbine  will  be  the  largest  in  Aus- 
tralia. The  generator  will  be  a  two-pole  machine  running  at 
1500  r.  p.  m.  and  delivering  current  at  6600  volts  and  25  cycles. 
OVERHEAD  SYSTEM 

The  overhead  trolley  system  is  employed,  and  side  poles, 
center  poles  and  span  construction  are  all  used.  In  the  main 
streets  of  the  city,  the  lines  are  equipped  with  Mannesmann 
steel  poles.  The  wooden  poles  are  of  iron-bark.  The  trolley 
wire  is  of  186,000  circ.  mils,  and  both  figure  8  and  circular  wire 
are  used.  The  feeder  cables  were  supplied  by  the  W.  T.  Hen- 
ley Telegraph  Works,  and  the  British  Insulated  &  Helsby 
Cables,  Limited,  of  Prescot,  England. 


ROLLING  STOCK 
The  company  has  four  types  of  cars,  viz. :  the  double-truck 
combination  car,  double-truck  closed  car,  single-truck  closed 
car  and  single-truck  open  car.  A  few  of  the  cars  were  sup- 
plied by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company ;  the  others  were  built  locally. 
Both  maximum  traction  and  standard  four-wheeled  trucks  are 
used.  As  a  rule,  the  cars  are  run  in  trains  of  two  motor  cars 
each.  Electric  couplings  are  used  between  the  two  cars  and 
the  two  motors  on  each  car  are  controlled  by  a  four-motor  con- 
troller.   Ordinarily,  the  cars  are  kept  permanently  coupled. 

The  rolling  stock  consists  of  584  motor  cars,  96  trail  cars, 
33  &r'P  cars  and  4°  trail  cable  cars,  96  steam  dummies  and 
123  steam  trail  cars.  The  motor  cars  are  equipped  as  follows: 
200  cars  with  G.  E.-67  motors,  280  cars  with  G.  E.-1000  mo- 
tors, 64  cars  with  Westinghouse  No.  68  motors,  21  cars  with 
Westinghouse  No.  49  motors,  15  cars  with  Westinghouse  No. 
56  motors,  4  cars  with  Dick,  Kerr  &  Company  35-hp  motors. 
Both  motor  cars  and  trail  cars  are  equipped  with  air  brakes. 
Three  hundred  and  fifty  cars  have  the  Westinghouse  Traction 
Brake  Company's  axle-driven  compressors  and  230  are  pro- 
vided with  the  Christensen  motor-driven  com- 
A— —  pressors.  One  Westinghouse  magnetic  brake  is 
also  used. 

OPERATION 
The  average  speed  in  the  city  is  8  miles  an 
hour  and  in  the  suburbs  12  miles.    On  the  prin- 
cipal thoroughfares  the  cars  are  run  on  a  head- 
way of  thirty  seconds,  and  the  cars  stop  on  the 
near  side  of  the  crossing.    The  lines  are  divided  into  penny 
sections,  with  an  average  length  of  2  miles  in  the  city.  The 
longest  run  is  \\)A  miles,  the  fare  for  this  distance  being  6d. 

The  company  has  5000  employees.  The  conductors'  wages 
average  7s.  and  the  motormen's  8s.  3d.  per  day.  The  scale  of 
wages  is  as  follows :  Conductors,  6s.  6d.  per  day  for  the  first 
two  years'  service ;  7s.  per  day  after  two  years'  and  up  to  four 
years'  service ;  7s.  6d.  per  day  after  four  years'  service.  Motor- 
men,  7s.  6:1.  per  day  for  first  year's  service  ;  8s.  per  day  after  one 
year's  service  and  up  to  three  years'  service;  8s.  6d.  per  day 
after  three  years'  service.  Signalmen,  8s.  per  day  for  first 
year's  service ;  8s.  6d  per  day  after  one  year's  and  up  to  two 
years'  service ;  9s.  per  day  after  two  years'  service.  Starters 
and  ticket  examiners,  8s.  6d.  per  day  for  first  year's  service; 
9s.  per  day  after  one  year's  service.  Working  hours  are  forty- 
eight  per  week,  with  pay  for  overtime.  The  drivers  are  all 
locally-trained  men,  recruited  chiefly  from  the  old  steam  and 
cable  trams. 

The  wages  paid  during  the  financial  year  1902-3  were  thus 
distributed:  Maintenance  branch,  £105,983;  electric  branch, 
£145,606;  traffic  branch,  £263,603;  total,  £515,192.  In  this  re- 
turn  wages  paid  for   new   work  are  included,  amounting  to 

The  following  are  the  statistics  for  the  last  two  years:  ' 

1 90 1 -2  1902-3 

Length  of  line  (street  covered)   86m.  79ch.  98m.  6och. 

No.  of  passengers   102,662,843  123, 167.58 r 

Total  earnings    £591,697  £700,493 

Working  expenses    £512,472  £610.252 

Cost  of  construction  and  equipment ...  .  £2,629,009  £3,082.603 

Measured  as  single  track  the  system  comprises  148  miles 
without  sidings,  crossovers,  etc.,  or  172  miles  when  they  are 
included. 

The  total  cost  of  construction  was  £1,741,677,  working  out 
at  a  shade  over  £17,663  per  tram  mile.  Adding  £1,340,926  for 
power  houses,  sub-stations,  plant,  machinery,  workshops,  fur- 
niture and  rolling  stock,  a  total  of  £3,082,603  is  obtained,  giv- 
ing a  cost  per  mile  for  construction  and  equipment  of  a  little 
over  £31,215. 

OFFICIALS 

The  tramways  are  under  the  general  charge  of  the  New 
South  Wales  Railway  Commissioners,  as  already  mentioned. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


197 


The  following  are  those  who  have  special  charge  of  the  tram- 
ways:  John  Kneeshaw  is  traffic  superintendent,  G.  R.  Cow- 
dery  engineer  of  way,  O.  W.  Brain  electrical  engineer,  and  W. 
Thow  chief  mechanical  engineer. 



SOME  QUALIFICATIONS  OF  THE  RAILWAY  ACCOUNTANT 

BY  W.  B.  BROCKWAY. 

Nothing  can  be  thoroughly  explained  or  understood  without 
having  in  mind  the  force  that  controls  or  directs  it.  No  system 
of  accounting,  nor  the  scope  of  its  methods,  can  be  clearly  un- 
derstood without  taking  into  consideration  the  personality  01 
the  head  of  the  accounting  department.  And,  it  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, no  system  of  any  kind,  be  it  ever  so  perfectly 
planned,  can  be  depended  upon  unless  it  has  a  properly  quali- 
fied directing  head. 

Very  much  has  been  written  about  system,  the  need  of  it 
and  what  it  can  accomplish ;  but  very  little  has  been  said 
about  the  human  element  in  it.  Certainly  "Messages  to  Garcia" 
have  appeared,  but  they  are  in  general  terms  and  do  not  special- 
ize. The  intention  of  this  article  is  to  give  briefly  suggestions 
upon  some  of  the  requirements  necessary  to  make  an  account- 
tant  all  he  should  be  as  the  head  of  a  very  important  depart- 
ment of  electric  railroad  practice. 

Beyond  the  fact  that  he  should  have  ability  and  understand 
his  particular  work,  and  be  accurate  in  his  work — require- 
ments which  it  is  assumed  he  fills,  else  he  would  not  be  so  sit- 
uated— there  are  at  least  four  other  elements  necessary  to  make 
bis  work  well  rounded.  They  are  honesty,  individuality,  tact 
and  imagination.  Two  of  these  are  not  usually  considered 
prerequisites,  but  this  article,  it  is  hoped,  will  show  their  im- 
portance. 

The  first  of  these,  honesty,  is  always  considered,  but  always 
from  a  dollars  and  cents  point  of  view,  which  is,  of  course,  im- 
portant ;  but  that  does  not  comprise  all.  It  should  mean  fair- 
ness and  the  ability  and  the  desire  so  to  regulate  the  acts  of 
his  department  that  it  be  fair  to  all  concerned.  Honesty  also 
includes  stability  and  that  steadiness  in  belief  and  action  which 
gives  the  impression  of  security.  Honesty  in  the  accountant 
not  only  means  that  the  company's  money  is  safe  so  far  as  it 
concerns  him,  but  that  his  work  will  bear  the  stamp  of  sin- 
cerity.   Honesty  is  of  prime  importance. 

Individuality  means  standing  upright  on  one's  own  feet,  not 
blindly  following  the  ideas  and  work  of  others.  No  machine 
was  ever  made,  nor  system  of  accounting  planned,  that  is,  in- 
vented, without  in  some  way  showing  the  personality  of  the 
maker.  This  is  so  true  that  it  is  frequently  possible  to  identify 
the  maker  by  the  workmanship. 

No  system  of  accounting  can  be  placed  in  a  man's  hands 
without  sooner  or  later  showing  marks  of  his  own  particular 
treatment.  It  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  eventually  become 
an  expression  of  himself.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  if  he 
is  positive  in  action,  so  will  his  work  probably  be.  If  he  i: 
changeable  and  drifting,  his  work  will  bear  the  earmarks  of  it. 
A  strong  individuality  inspires  confidence  in  the  strength,  re- 
sourcefulness and  ability  of  the  possessor  to  do  without  pre- 
cedent if  necessary.  Individuality  is  so  necessary  to  the  ac- 
counting of  a  corporation  that  it  should  be  fostered  when 
found,  and  not  be  lost  amid  red  tape  or  custom. 

Tact  is  patience,  waiting,  understanding  ccr.ditions  and 
bringing  them  about.  Tact  is  so  important  that  native  or  ac- 
quired ability  will  be  largely  or  wholly  neutralized  without  it. 
Tact  in  handling  men,  in  explanation,  in  contac^  with  the  pub- 
lic, in  hundreds  of  ways,  is  needed  in  the  make-up  of  a  man 
almost  as  much  as  a  just  cause.  Tact  will  succeed  often  when 
force  or  the  authority  to  force  will  fail.  There  is  no  gain- 
saying its  importance. 

The  last  of  the  four  requisite  qualifications  in  the  successful 
accountant  is  imagination.    At  first  glance,  imagination  may 


be  thought  as  outside  the  "dry  work  of  business,"  but  a  little 
thought  will  show  that  it  is  not.  In  its  last  analysis,  imagina- 
tion is  simply  the  momentary  translation  in  the  mind  of  ideas 
into  realities  to  judge  effects.  An  accountant  most  certainly 
needs  this  talent,  for  it  permits  him  to  plan  a  system,  the  same 
as  an  architect  plans  a  house,  with  it  complete  in  his  mind, 
while  he  is  arranging  the  details  to  bring  about  the  complete 
system.  Imagination  may  be  intuition  or  it  may  not;  be  that 
as  it  may,  a  man  endowed  with  it  makes  fewer  failures  than 
one  who  is  so  practical  that  he  can  not  place  himself  in  the 
future  or  in  the  past  as  regards  figures  or  the  realities  for 
which  they  stand. 

Some  of  these  enumerated  requirements  are  such  that  when 
obtained  they  establish  the  standing  of  this  officer  in  the  com- 
munity. Especially  is  this  true  of  the  smaller  companies  where 
he  meets  the  public  constantly,  and  the  public  understands  the 
company  through  its  contact  with  the  representatives  of  the 
company.  Therefore,  his  standing,  his  reputation,  is  no  small 
matter. 

The  work  of  an  accountant  has  reached  a  plane  where  some- 
th  ing  more  than  bookkeeping  is  required  of  him.  He  should, 
as  a  part  of  the  term  "ability,"  understand  the  operation  of  a 
railroad,  not  as  an  ex-operating  man,  perhaps,  but  certainly  he 
should  have  a  grasp  of  the  theory  of  operation.  The  operating 
manager  and  he  should  work  so  together,  and  he  should  be 
acquainted  with  the  operating  conditions  in  such  a  real  way 
that  he  would  understand  the  viewpoint  of  the  manager  as 
well  as  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  under  which  the  men 
work  from  whom  he  receives  information.  He  ought  also  to 
see  the  construction  of  the  property,  to  understand  it,  or  at 
least  to  know  the  theory  upon  which  it  is  planned. 

The  legal  department  is  another  fruitful  field  for  him  to  un- 
derstand ;  of  course,  not  as  a  lawyer,  but  to  know  its  routine 
and  its  relation  to  the  rest  of  the  organization.  Nor  is  it  too 
much  for  him  to  know  the  theory  of  banking,  as  many  of  Ids 
duties  bring  him  into  close  touch  with  it. 

In  other  words,  the  successful  accountant  is  a  well-rounded 
man.  Remove  from  him  the  word  "bookkeeper"  (who  is  a 
recorder  only),  and  find  him  with  the  proper  qualifications,  he 
becomes  an  important  officer  of  the  company.  His  understand- 
ing of  causes,  through  his  experience  with  them,  will  make 
the  work  of  his  department  clearer  and  more  to  the  point. 

He  is  essentially  a  quizzical  officer;  he  it  is,  of  all  the  of- 
ficers most  called  upon  to  continually  ask  "Why  ?"  and  "What 
for?"  the  replies  to  which  will  make  his  analysis  of  accounts 
and  causes  and  effects  of  the  utmost  value  to  the  operating 
manager  or  the  president. 

The  position  and  work  of  an  accountant  are  peculiar.  His 
point  of  contact  with  every  department  is  the  same.  Nothing 
can  be  done  by  any  department  without  in  some  way  reaching 
the  accounting  department.  Everything  done,  each  additional 
expense  and  every  saving  affect  the  books  of  the  company. 
The  whole  effort  of  the  organization  focuses  upon  this  depart- 
ment, and  from  it  comes  the  story  of  the  effort.  Therefore, 
the  officer  at  its  head  needs  all  the  training  and  level-headed- 
ness  possible. 

He  is  a  "bookkeeper"  no  longer;  his  work  is  larger  and 
very  important.  This  is  being  more  and  more  recognized,  and 
where  this  is  so,  there  is  being  attracted  a  higher  class  of  men 
to  the  work,  which  cannot  but  result  in  a  clearer  understand- 
ing of  conditions,  with  the  resultant  benefits  to  all  concerned. 

A  very  eloquent  example  of  how  intelligent  accounting  may 
assist  toward  success  is  given  in  a  history  of  the  Carnegie  Steel 
( lompany.  It  shows  how  the  details  worked  out  by  the  account- 
ant permitted  the  operating  manager  to  make  quick  and  accu- 
rate changes  in  both  manufacturing  and  selling  plans.  This  illus- 
trates a  case  where  the  accountant  was  more  than  bookkeeper 
and  had  a  direct  influence  upon  the  success  of  the  company. 

Very  many  successful  presidents  and  managers  of  to-day 


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[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


have  been  such  accountants  as  described  herein.  They  have 
not  been  content  to  keep  books  only,  but  have  filled  their  office 
to  all  its  important  limits,  and  in  a  postive  way.  Their  pre- 
ferment came  as  the  recognition  of  their  grasp  of  causes  and 
effects. 

A  future  is  open  in  this  department  to  men  who  will  see  the 
work  and  know  what  they  see;  who  will  understand  and  act 
upon  the  certainty  that  honesty,  individuality,  tact  and  imag- 
ination are  as  much  a  part  of  their  equipment  as  the  knowledge 
of  the  difference  between  a  debit  and  a  credit. 



REPORT  ON  THE  CONTROL  OF  TRANSFER  TRAFFIC* 

I.  AND  II, — INTRODUCTION 
The  subjects  to  be  discussed  in  this  paper  are  not  entirely 
Lovered  by  its  title.    At  the  London  meeting  the  following  ad- 
ditional questions  were  considered: 

I.  What  is  the  fare  on  your  system?  (a)  For  continuous  trips, 
(b)  When  transfers  are  given. 

II.  Has  the  introduction  of  transfers  fulfilled  your  expecta- 
tions? You  are  requested  to  give  the  basis  of  your  opinion  by 
citing  the  evidence. 

The  object  of  these  questions  was  to  find,  by  comparing  the 
experiences  of  the  managers  of  various  large  companies, 
whether  the  introduction  of  transfers  had  proved  financially 
beneficial.  Considering  the  large  number  of  members  who 
were  expected  to  reply  to  the  questions,  the  answers  have  been 
comparatively  few.  Opinions  have  been  received  from  forty- 
two  railways  giving  transfers  and  two  who  do  not.  From  so 
few  answers  it  is  difficult  to  form  many  definite  conclusions. 
In  doing  so,  however,  the  replies  received  at  the  London  meet- 
ing in  1902  and  the  exhaustive  data  on  German  conditions 
from  the  archives  of  the  Deutscher  Vereins  will  be  found  of 
value. 

The  opinion  of  all  the  railways  operating  under  similar  con- 
ditions is  practically -unanimous  on  the  following  dicta: 

The  adoption  of  transfers  has  fulfilled  expectations  when  the 
fare  can  be  regulated  in  accordance  to  the  value  of  additional 
service  rendered;  (a)  when  the  additional  cost  does  not  exceed 
the  gain  in  income,  and  (b)  when  a  transfer  system  can  be 
regulated  in  accordance  with  the  local  conditions. 

These  general  opinions  are  more  clearly  defined  by  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  That  the  issue  of  transfers  has  caused  very  little  ad- 
ditional expense  in  the  case  of  companies  using  tickets  as  fare 
receipts,  while  it  proved  very  difficult  to  companies  not  using 
fare  tickets.  ( For  an  exception  see  answer  to  following  ques- 
tion, III.) 

2.  That  special  difficulties  in  the  issue  and  control  of  trans- 
fers exist  only  on  very  large  systems  with  many  crossings,  as 
the  transfers  must  be  so  printed  as  to  be  easily  understood  by 
conductors  and  passengers. 

With  this  introduction,  Questions  III.  and  V.  can  be  an- 
swered more  exactly. 

III.  — FARES  CHARGED  WITH  AND  WITHOUT  TRANSFERS 
A.    Railways  issuing  tickets  as  fare  receipts  for  all  trips 

have  found  the  introduction  of  transfers  advantageous  when 
fares  could  be  regulated  in  harmony  with  the  service  rendered. 
Railways  in  this  class  have  incurred  no  appreciable  additional 
expense  on  account  of  transfers.  The  application  of  this  ex- 
perience to  the  different  groups  of  railways  gives  the  following 
facts : 

1.  Railways  using  the  zone  rate  system  charge  according 
to  the  service  rendered,  and  are  therefore  not  obliged  to  charge 
anything  additional. 

2.  Large  systems  having  few  long  through  routes  and  the 
uniform-fare  system  have  had  unfavorable  results  until  they 
made  an  additional  charge  for  transfers. 

*  Report  on  Question  2,  to  be  presented  at  the  September  (1904)  meeting  at 
Vienna  of  the  International  Tramway  and  Light  Railway  Association. 


3.  On  extensive  systems  having  numerous  through  lines 
and  low  uniform  fares,  the  earnings  have  decreased,  even  when 
an  additional  fare  is  charged.  On  such  lines  the  necessity  of 
transfer  passengers  paying  additional  fare,  even  though  the 
total  ride  is  short,  is  the  only  offset  the  railway  can  obtain  for 
long  through  trips. 

4.  Large  railway  systems  having  high  uniform  fares  may 
be  benefited  by  the  issue  of  transfers,  without  having  recourse 
to  the  additional  charge.  On  extensive  systems  which  form  a 
combination  of  long  and  short  lines  having  no  zone  fares,  the 
cars  could  be  divided  into  two  classes,  and  free  transfers  could 
be  given  to  passengers  paying  the  first-class  fare,  and  not  to 
the  second-class  passengers. 

5.  Systems  of  medium  size  and  charging  uniform  fares 
incur  no  loss,  although  giving  as  many  as  three  transfers  with- 
out extra  charge.  Companies  of  this  type  have  presented  the 
most  favorable  reports.  The  transfers  on  such  lines  amount 
to  as  much  as  50  per  cent  of  the  total  traffic. 

It  should  be  also  stated  that  the  fare-ticket  systems  of  the 
different  railways  were  in  no  wise  changed  by  the  introduction 
of  transfers,  and  the  number  of  additional  employees  required 
must  have  been  very  few,  as  none  of  the  reporting  companies 
mentioned  this  detail.  ( For  exceptions  see  answer  to  A-3 
above.) 

The  use  of  different  classes  of  cars  has  had  no  effect  on  the 
foregoing  results. 

B — Railways  Not  Giving  Fare  Tickets  for  Direct  Trip. — 
All  of  the  railways  which  reported  unfavorably,  despite  reason- 
ably high  fares,  belong  to  this  class.  They  have  not  always 
derived  an  advantage  from  transfer  traffic,  and  many  of  them 
have  introduced  transfers  very  unwillingly.  While  nearly  all 
of  these  lines  carried  a  heavier  traffic  in  consequence  of  the 
introduction  of  transfers,  they  found  that,  in  general,  the  old 
methods  of  control  were  inadequate.  On  small  systems  the 
passengers  may  be  said  to  exercise  a  certain  inspection  over 
the  conductor,  but  on  large  lines  using  the  register  system  no 
method  has  proved  satisfactory.  A  general  statement  of  the 
financial  results  cannot  be  made,  as  very  few  railways  pre- 
sented detailed  statements.  The  loss  through  cheating  is  esti- 
mated to  be  very  high,  but  no  details  are  given  as  to  what  ex- 
tent this  loss  is  offset  by  the  increased  income  caused  by  the 
introduction  of  transfers. 

IV.— TRAFFIC  CONTROL  METHODS  ON  LINES  USING  FARE 
RECEIPTS 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  for  success  that  aside  from  the 
personal  character  of  the  fare  receipts,  the  passenger  should 
be  prevented :  ( 1 )  From  using  the  ticket  for  the  return  trip ; 

(2)  from  using  any  but  the  shortest  route  to  his  destination; 

(3)  from  using  his  time,  after  receiving  a  transfer,  for  the 
transaction  of  personal  business,  and  thus  actually  getting  two 
trips  for  one  fare. 

The  first  use  can  be  prevented  by  ordinary  traffic  rules,  and 
the  second  and  third  by  prescribing  the  route  the  passenger 
should  take  and  the  transfer  stations  where  he  can  make  con- 
nections, also  by  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  time  limit  on 
the  ticket  for  making  connections. 

The  information  to  be  given  to  the  passenger  by  the  con- 
ductor of  the  first  car  should  cover  the  following:  (1)  The 
route  already  taken  and  those  to  be  taken;  (2)  the  length  of 
time  the  ticket  holds  good. 

In  accordance  with  the  above,  the  following  information  is 
found  on  the  tickets  of  most  railways:  (a)  Time  of  day,  (b) 
date  (or  its  equivalent) ,  (c)  entrance  zone,  (d)  transfer  points, 
(e)  destination. 

The  marking  is  done  mostly  by  punching  or  by  using  colored 
pencils  (the  latter  being  preferred  where  the  saving  in  time  is 
important)  ;  not  so  frequently  by  stamps,  which  are  used  prin- 
cipally for  marking  the  time,  and  occasionally  for  indicating 
the  route  to  be  followed  by  the  passenger. 


\ 


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STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


199 


Suppose  we  now  consider  each  of  the  five  foregoing  points  in 
detail : 

A,  or  Time  of  Day. — Unfortunately  the  replies  on  this  point 
are  not  very  complete.  Of  the  railways  rendering  reports, 
most  of  them  fail  to  tell  from  what  time  or  to  what  time  the 
ticket  remains  uncanceled.  Besides  this,  as  nothing  was  sa.d 
in  most  cases  whether  passengers  were  permitted  to  leave  the 
car  during  the  time  period  marked  on  their  tickets,  nothing 
more  definite  can  be  stated  than  the  fact  that  all  replies  are  in 
favor  of  the  shortest  possible  time  interval  and  of  requiring 
passengers  to  use  the  nearest  connection  to  their  destination. 
The  different  companies  have  figured  out  an  average  time  in- 
terval good  throughout  their  systems.  This  is  made  up  of  the 
longest  possible  time  to  make  a  trip,  wait  for  car  and  time  lost 
in  permitting  crowded  cars  to  go  by  unboarded.  These  points 
are  based,  of  course,  on  the  size  of  the  system,  on  the  number 
of  times  a  passenger  may  leave  the  car  during  the  time  marked 
on  his  card,  the  schedule  and,  finally,  upon  the  personal  ob- 
servation of  the  railway  manager.  The  time  a  ticket  is  good 
varies  from  twenty  minutes  to  one  hour,  but  it  should  be  noted 
that  a  twenty-minute  interval  simply  refers  to  possible  time 
required  for  transferring. 

What  time  should  be  noted  by  the  first  conductor?  (a)  The 
time  of  reaching  the  first  transfer  point,  (b)  the  time  his  car 
leaves  the  station,  or  (c)  the  time  the  passenger  enters  the  car? 

It  is  plain  that  the  best  method  is  to  mark  the  time  of  reach- 
ing the  first  transfer  point,  especially  on  lines  giving  but  one 
transfer.  This  makes  it  unnecessary  to  fix  a  uniform  time 
limit  which  would  be  too  long  for  the  short  trips,  and  simply 
requires  the  conductor  to  mark  the  time  of  reaching  the  proper 
transfer  point  which  his  experience  on  the  line  enables  him 
to  do  with  exactness.  If  the  second  conductor  also  knows  this 
time  he  will  be  more  certain  of  knowing  that  the  passenger 
transferred  at  the  nearest  point.  If  some  other  system  is  used, 
the  conductor  cannot  figure  out  the  matter  so  exactly,  and  there 
is  nothing  left  for  the  railway  to  do  but  to  lengthen  the  period 
for  which  the  ticket  holds  good,  and  thereby  lose  control  over 
its  traffic.  It  is  a  fact  that  on  lines  where  a  universal  time  in- 
terval is  granted,  there  are  few  quarrels  between  conductor 
and  passengers,  which  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the 
railway's  case  rests  on  very  uncertain  grounds,  as  the  passenger 
can  allege  that  the  cars  were  too  crowded,  or  that  they  refused 
to  stop.  In  instances  of  this  kind  the  conductors  more  fre- 
quently believe  the  passenger  than  is  good  for  the  treasury  of 
the  railway  company.  As  a  result,  the  company  only  exercises 
a  superficial  control,  which  is  effective  only  in  very  flagrant 
cases. 

Even  for  railways  giving  more  than  one  transfer,  the  better 
method  appears  to  be  to  mark  the  time  of  arrival  at  the  first 
transfer  point,  because  it  gives  control  over  at  least  that  por- 
tion of  the  trip. 

What  should  be  the  time  when  a  ticket  expires?  (a)  the 
time  of  the  last  transfer?  or  (b)  the  end  of  the  trip? 

On  this  point  also  the  answers  are  not  very  clear.  Here, 
too,  it  is  probably  better  to  make  the  time  limit  for  the  last 
transfer  and  not  for  the  end  of  the  trip,  for  the  shorter  the  time 
interval  the  more  certain  the  control. 

The  time  of  day  is  marked  on  the  tickets  in  intervals 
of  one-twe^th,  one-quarter,  one-third  or  one-half  hour.  If 
the  division  is  made  in  one-twelfth-hour  intervals,  it  apppears 
only  once  on  the  fare-ticket.  In  the  other  cases  it  is  repeated 
every  hour. 

As  a  substitute  for  marking  the  time  of  day,  the  large  rail- 
ways which  have  very  few  crossings  generally  use  a  series  of 
numbers  for  each  conductor,  so  that  all  the  fare-tickets  on  one 
car  are  of  the  same  series. 

B — Marking  the  Date. — The  indication  of  the  date  is  not 
considered  very  important  by  some  lines  who  have  good  con- 
trol over  their  time  intervals.    The  object  in  such  case  is  to 


save  the  conductor  the  trouble  of  stamping  the  date  or  to  save 
space  in  printing  the  tickets.  Marking  may  be  saved  by  a 
regular  or  irregular  change  in  the  color  of  the  tickets,  or  of 
the  pencils  for  marking  them,  and  through  changes  in  the 
series  letters.  Space  may  be  saved  in  printing  by  eliminating 
the  thirty-one  days  of  the  month  and  substituting  numbers  1 
to  11,  in  which  case  number  11  could  be  used  both  for  the  21st 
and  the  31st,  number  6  for  the  16th  and  26th.  Another  method 
is  to  use  the  initial  letters  of  the  days  of  the  week.  In  one  case 
the  conductors  used  a  different  punch  for  every  day  in  the 
week.  All  of  these  methods  may  be  considered  satisfactory,  as 
it  is  not  likely  that  the  passenger  will  return  for  the  sake  of 
saving  a  single  fare  after  a  certain  number  of  days,  exactly  at 
the  same  time  and  place,  to  continue  the  trip  to  the  point  for 
which  he  had  purchased  a  ticket  several  days  before.  For  the 
same  reason,  it  has  been  considered  satisfactory  in  printing 
the  time  of  the  day  to  refer  only  to  the  numbers  1  to  12. 

C — Entrance  Zone. — The  marking  of  the  entrance  zone,  or 
the  point  where  the  passenger  boards  the  car,  as  well  as  the 
transfer  points  and  the  destination,  serve  to  fix  the  route.  This 
is  also  done  on  lines  having  a  single  fare,  in  which  case  special 
provision  is  made  for  the  transfer  business. 

The  zones  are  usually  denoted  in  one  of  three  ways:  (a)  By 
names  of  streets  and  places,  (b)  by  number  or  letters,  (c)  by 
a  schematic  symbol.  Method  "a"  is  used  most  frequently,  and 
is  equally  clear  to  conductor  and  passenger,  but  on  large  sys- 
tems space  does  not  always  permit  this  method  to  be  used,  and 
numbers  or  letters  are  used  instead,  which  are  not  always  un- 
derstood by  the  passengers.  The  symbolic  method  is  now  be- 
coming popular,  as  it  possesses  nearly  all  the  advantages  of  the 
others,  but  cannot  be  always  used  for  very  large,  complicated 
systems. 

D — The  Marking  of  the  Transfer  Points. — This  was  for- 
merly considered  superfluous  by  many  companies,  but  it  is  now 
almost  universal.  The  passenger  should  be  permitted  to  leave 
the  car  only  at  the  transfer  point  for  which  his  ticket  is  marked, 
to  prevent  him  from  attending  to  other  affairs  before  using  it. 
It  should  be  noted  that  while  considerable  care  is  taken  to  see 
that  the  passenger  gets  on  at  the  right  place,  no  effort  is  made 
to  see  whether  he  leaves  the  car  ahead  of  time,  although  the 
latter  evil  is  as  bad  as  the  former.  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
most  passengers  are  not  aware  that  they  can  do  this  so  easily. 

E — The  Marking  of  the  Destination. — It  is  essential  that  this 
be  done  by  the  first  conductor  wherever  it  is  likely  that  the 
passenger  will  attempt  a  return  trip  on  the  same  ticket.  In 
such  cases  the  direction  of  travel  can  be  noted  by  different 
colors,  unless  this  is  plain  from  other  markings.  The  marking 
of  the  destination  for  a  going  and  return  trip  is  also  necessary, 
but  few  lines  do  this.  Tickets  are  canceled  in  all  cases  im- 
mediately after  the  last  transfer  by  tearing  or  punching. 

V.— METHODS  OF  CONTROL  ON  LINES  USING  NO  FARE 
RECEIPT 

As  stated  before,  railways  using  fare  receipt  tickets  have 
experienced  little  additional  trouble  due  to  the  introduction 
of  transfers,  but  this  did  not  prove  to  be  the  case  with  com- 
panies not  using  fare-tickets,  and  this  accounts  for  the  fact 
that  railways  of  the  latter  character  give  but  one  transfer.  The 
very  small  lines  are  the  most  favorably  situated,  as  the  man- 
agers of  such  roads  can  give  close  attention  to  their  employees 
and  the  passengers  also  exercise  a  kind  of  control  over  the 
actions  of  the  conductors.  It  does  not  seem  to  make  any  dif- 
ference whether  such  companies  employ  conductors  or  use 
fare  boxes.  Where  fare  boxes  arc  used  the  motorman  gives 
out  the  fare  receipts.  Frequently  the  passenger  receives  no 
information  at  all,  except  that  the  street  names  may  be  called 
out. 

When  transferring  from  a  car  with  a  conductor  to  one  with- 
out one,  two  things  arc  given:  the  regular  fare  receipt  and  a 
check-slip.    The  latter  is  deposited  by  the  passenger  into  the 


200 


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[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


fare-box  of  the  second  car.  Originally  a  number  of  the  larger 
railways  used  the  quite  effective  method  of  having  inspectors 
at  connecting  points,  whose  business  it  was  to  see  that  only 
legitimately  transferred  passengers  took  the  second  car,  giving 
either  a  verbal  order  or  printed  slips  to  the  conductor  of  the 
latter  car.  This  method  was  found  to  be  too  expensive,  and, 
to-day,  employees  of  this  character  are  stationed  only  at  the 
most  important  crossings,  and  besides  attend  to  other  duties. 
In  some  cases  transfer  tickets  are  handed  to  passengers,  but 
the  register  method  is  retained  for  straight  trips.  The  lack 
of  control  in  such  cases  is  due  to  the  simultaneous  use  of  both 
methods.  Unfortunately,  only  two  companies  using  this  sys- 
tem have  rendered  reports. 

VI. — GENERAL — DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  UNLIMITED  AND 
LIMITED  TRANSFER  TRAFFIC 

Hitherto  nothing  has  been  said  as  to  whether  transfers 
should  be  given  at  all  crossings  or  not.  No  inquiry  was  made 
in  Question  V.  on  this  matter,  but  it  is  learned  from  other 
sources  that  the  replies  of  most  of  the  railways  are  based  on 
the  unlimited,  or  almost  unlimited,  issue  of  transfers.  The 
opinions  expressed  in  these  replies  should  hold,  however,  for 
limited  transfers  as  well,  when  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  the  ma- 
jority of  railways  which  voluntarily  introduced  transfers  at  a 
few  crossings  increased  the  number  when  their  favorable  ex- 
perience justified  such  action.  Not  infrequently  a  limited 
transfer  system  has  been  introduced  to  distract  attention  from 
districts  where  the  rates  of  fare  were  somewhat  high.  The 
question  whether  giving  transfers  at  some  crossings  would  not 
increase  the  public's  demand  for  more,  may  be  answered  in  the 
negative.  There  are  numerous  instances  of  this  kind  in  cities 
where  transfers  have  been  given  for  a  long  time  past.  It  may 
be  stated  also  that  some  companies  do  not  give  transfers  after 
certain  late  hours  or  on  Sundays,  it  being  usually  claimed  in 
the  latter  case  that  the  employees  and  operating  equipment 
would  be  overworked.  More  rarely  is  this  action  justified  by 
the  statement  that  the  peculiar  holiday  feature  of  Sunday 
riding  makes  transfers  unprofitable. 

Transfers  to  Other  Systems. — In  transferring  to  the  lines 
of  another  company  the  same  practice  is  general  as  on  the  lines 
of  the  same  company.  Transferring  to  other  systems  is  not  so 
frequent  in  Germany  as  in  France.  Where  such  traffic  is  car- 
ried on  it  is  usually  due  to  some  clause  in  the  franchise  of  one 
or  both  companies.  Sometimes  both  lines  are  benefited  by  such 
an  arrangement,  although  not  equally  so. 

Tnterurban  lines  rarely  give  transfers,  because  of  the  greater 
difficulty  of  making  connections  and  the  fact  that  they  charge 
fares  according  to  zones. 

Results  of  Transfer  Traffic. — Those  railways  which  did  not 
introduce  transfers  simultaneously  with  the  electrification  of 
their  lines,  have  been  in  position  to  observe  the  results  of  giv- 
ing transfers.  The  results  are  frequently  a  heavy  increase  in 
business,  especially  at  the  traffic  centers.  In  one  case  the  in- 
crease in  one  district  proved  so  great  that  regular  passenger 
traffic  was  delayed,  and  the  company  therefore  charged  5  pfg. 
(1.25  cents)  extra  for  transfers.  Such  abnormal  increase, 
which  is  an  obstruction  to  regular  passengers  riding  to  the 
heart  of  the  city,  can  lie  be  used  as  a  reason  for  not  giving 
transfers  where  the  company  charges  a  single  fare. 

Most  of  the  railways  use  the  same  ticket  for  straight  and 
transfer  trips,  the  ticket  being  specially  marked  when  a  trans- 
fer is  wanted.  Special  fare  tickets  for  both  kinds  of  traffic  are 
given  out  by  some  lines  which  desire  to  make  a  more  careful 
study  of  the  traffic  ratio. 

Another  method  is  to  give  the  passenger  a  transfer  slip 
with  his  ticket,  the  former  being  good  only  when  presented 
with  the  latter.  This  scheme  is  used  on  large  systems,  as  it 
permits  great  flexibility  without  increasing  the  size  of  the  reg- 
ular ticket,  and  also  permits  the  counting  of  transfer  passen- 
gers.   While  this  method  does  not  eliminate  cheating  entirely, 


yet  it  is  considered  as  indispensable  by  many  companies. 

A  fourth  method  is  to  give  an  extra  fare-ticket  covering  the 
cost  of  the  transfer. 



QUESTION  BOX  FOR  THE  ACCOUNTANTS'  ST.  LOUIS  CON- 
VENTION 


As  already  announced  in  these  columns,  the  Street  Railway 
Accountants'  Association  of  America  is  planning  to  have  a 
"question  box"  at  its  St.  Louis  convention  next  October.  Sec- 
retary W.  B.  Brockway,  of  the  association,  is  sending  to  the 
members  of  the  association  the  list  of  questions,  and  has  re- 
quested replies  before  Sept.  I.  In  explanation  of  the  question 
box,  Secretary  Brockway's  circular  says: 

"Since  its  organization,  this  association  has  endeavored  to 
make  no  move  nor  establish  any  customs  except  those  that 
would  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  association  as  a  whole.  There- 
fore, the  present  effort  toward  enlarging  the  opportunity  of 
the  members  to  ask  questions  and  to  obtain  answers  to  them  is 
based  primarily  upon  that  endeavor. 

"In  accordance  with  the  circular  No.  27,  issued  May  20, 
1904,  giving  the  opportunity  to  ask  questions,  those  printed 
herewith  have  been  received.  They  are  now  sent  out  to  all  the 
members  for  their  replies.  Each  member  is  expected  to  answer 
as  many  of  the  questions  as  he  can,  the  idea  being  to  make  the 
replies  as  comprehensive  and  valuable  as  possible. 

"Each  member  is  requested  to  give  his  answer  in  the  form 
of  a  letter,  and  to  identify  the  reply  to  a  question  by  quoting 
the  number  printed  opposite  the  questions  herein.  The  letter 
should  be  addressed  to  the  secretary.  It  is  proposed  to  publish 
the  name  of  the  company  making  reply,  but  this  will  be  with- 
held upon  request. 

"Attention  is  drawn  to  the  fact  that  replies  must  be  returned 
before  Sept.  1,  1904.  This  is  imperative  to  the  success  of  the 
plan." 

The  questions  follow : 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Is  it  proper  to  register  transfers?  And  what  amount  of 
checking  is  necessary  to  insure  their  proper  use?  No  doubt 
the  subject  is  old,  but  we  want  the  latest  light  upon  it. 

2.  In  a  city  of  27,000  people,  where  car  tickets  are  sold  six 
for  25  cents,  what  percentage  of  the  total  receipts  should  be 
cash  ? 

3.  To  what  extent  does  your  company  issue  advertising 
mileage  in  subsidizing  newspapers,  after  paying  cash  for  au- 
thorized insertions? 

4.  Please  explain  a  system  which  could  be  made  standard, 
as  to  the  manner  of  getting  the  correct  and  actual  monthly 
operating  expenses,  to  be  shown  on  its  monthly  report? 

Is  it  not  the  practice  of  some  street  railways  to  arrive  at  their 
operating  expenses  by  classifying  the  bills  according  to  ,the 
standard  classification,  charging  them  direct  to  the  operating 
and  construction  accounts,  and  using  the  totals  of  the  operating 
account  columns  in  compiling  the  operating  expenses  for  the 
month,  without  considering  inventories,  shop  clerks'  or  store- 
keepers' reports  ? 

5.  What  are  your  average  per  cents  of  cost  for  maintenance 
of  accounts  Nos.  6  and  7  for  nine  months  ending  June  30,  1904? 

6.  How  can  the  ticket  accounts  be  arranged  to  show  each 
day  the  exact  amount  of  the  different  kinds  of  tickets  in  the 
hands  of  the  public  not  yet  used  ? 

7.  Is  it  always  fair  to  consider  new  paving  as  a  construction 
charge?  It  brings  additional  expense  for  maintenance.  Does 
it  add  to  the  earning  capacity  or  value  of  the  road? 

8.  When  bills  are  approved  and  passed  for  payment  by 
voucher,  what  records  can  be  kept  which  will  make  it  con- 
venient for  the  accounting  department  to  find  out  quickly  if 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


201 


the  bill  is  a  duplicate  of  another  bill  which  has  been  passed 
and  paid? 

9.  What  method  is  used  in  issuing  transfers  to  conductors  ? 

10.  Do  members  generally  use  a  work  order  system  for  their 
expense  and  construction  accounts?  We  have  started  this  in 
one  department  and  I  have  a  few  questions  to  ask  before  adopt- 
ing in  other  departments. 

11.  Is  it  customary  to  use  total  mileage  (i.  e.,  work  car, 
special  car  and  snow  plow  added  to  regular  passenger-car  mile- 
age) in  figuring  income  per  car-mile  and  expense  per  car-mile? 

12.  Is  it  of  sufficient  benefit  as  a  record  to  pay  for  the  extra 
work  necessary  to  keep  a  separate  ledger  account  with  regular 
vouchers  ? 

13.  In  the  case  of  a  company  reconstructing  tracks  during 
operation,  and  using  motor  cars  for  hauling  material,  is  it  not 
proper  to  charge  reconstruction  with  the  current  consumed 
and  credit  power  house  expenses  ? 

14.  Should  the  property  of  a  street  railway  company — its 
tracks,  for  instance — stand  on  its  books  forever  at  its  original 
cost?  Or  should  the  account  representing  its  cost  be  reduced 
from  year  to  year,  or  month  to  month,  by  reason  of  wear? 

15.  Should  accruals  of  rental  under  a  lease  be  treated  as  a 
liability  of  the  lessee  and  appear  on  a  balance  sheet  as  a  liability 
prior  to  the  date  such  payment  is  due? 

16.  What  should  be  the  dividing  line  between  "Main- 
tenance" and  "Betterments?" 

17.  When  a  piece  of  track,  or  a  car,  is  renewed,  should  the 
cost  of  the  old  track  or  car  be  charged  to  expense,  or  against 
income  ?  Would  it  not  be  better  to  make  such  a  charge  from 
month  to  month,  or  year  to  year,  estimating  the  amount  from 
time  the  company  begins  to  use  the  track  or  car,  so  as  to  have 
it  off  the  books  when  it  is  worn  out? 

18.  What  is  the  best  method  of  computing  the  effect  upon 
net  earnings,  of  an  increase  in  free  transfer  privileges? 

19.  If  land  or  other  property  of  a  street  railway  company 
increases  in  value,  should  the  appreciation  be  shown  on  the 
books  ? 

20.  Should  dividends  be  charged  against  the  net  income  for 
the  year  and  the  balance  of  net  income  be  transferred  to  sur- 
plus, or  should  the  net  income  be  added  to  surplus  and  the  divi- 
dends charged  against  the  total  ? 

21.  What  is  the  usual  percentage  of  passes,  and  of  trans- 
fers, to  total  passengers,  or  to  total  cash  fares? 

Ours  are  to  total  passengers :  Passes,  0.77  per  cent ;  trans- 
fers, 0.79  per  cent ;  to  cash  fares :  Passes,  0.829  per  cent ;  trans- 
fers, 0.844  per  cent. 

22.  Is  there  any  way  whereby  a  correct  balance  sheet  can 
be  prepared,  showing  receipts  and  expenses  incident  to  operat- 
ing a  pleasure  park?  Many  managers  when  asked  if  it  pays 
to  operate  a  pleasure  park  in  connection  with  an  electric  rail- 
way line  reply  "Yes."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  few  of  them  know 
surely  whether  it  does  or  not.  Please  give  your  experience  in 
handling  this  matter.  Do  you  attempt  to  arrive  definitely  at 
the  increased  receipts  and  expenses  properly  attributable  to 
the  park  ? 

23.  In  your  daily,  weekly  and  monthly  reports,  to  what  ex- 
tent do  you  make  statement  of  weather  conditions?  Of  special 
events,  as  fairs,  fete  days,  parades,  special  picnics,  excursions, 
etc.,  which  would  make  sudden  changes  in  receipts  or  ex- 
penses ? 


[t  is  announced  that  the  employees  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  Company  are  to  have  a  band.  The  company  has  secured 
I  be  services  of  W.  S.  Mygrant,  a  prominent  Brooklyn  band- 
master, who  organized  the  Firemen's  Band  in  New  York.  Ap- 
plications for  membership  in  the  band  will  be  received  from 
all  the  members  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Employees' 
Mutual  Benefit  Association.  Instruments  will  be  furnished  to 
all  those  who  do  not  own  them  already. 


THE  VIENNA  CONVENTION 


The  biennial  convention  of  the  International  Tramway  & 
Light  Railway  Association,  as  stated,  will  be  held  in  Vienna, 
Sept.  4  to  8.  The  titles  of  the  papers  to  be  presented  at  the 
meeting  were  published  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  for 
Sept.  19,  1903,  but  for  the  convenience  of  those  who  do  not 
wish  to  refer  back  to  that  issue,  are  given  below : 

1.  "Renewal  Accounts,"  by  M.  Haselmann,  manager  of  the  So- 
ciete des  Chemins  de  fer  Vicinaux,  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

2.  "Transfer  Tickets,"  by  a  committee  consisting  of  J.  Grialou, 
manager  of  the  Compagnie  des  Omnibus  et  Tramways,  of  Lyons; 
A.  Janssen,  secretary  of  the  Societe  des  Tramways  Bruxellois,  of 
Brussels;  E.  Lavalard.  manager  of  the  CompagnL-  Generate  des 
Omnibus,  of  Paris;  von  Pirch,  manager  of  the  Tramways  de 
Barmen-Elberfeld,  and  H.  Vcllguth,  secretary  of  Verein  Deutscher 
Strassen-  und  Kleinbahn  Verwaltungen,  of  Berlin. 

3.  "Economy  in  the  Consumption  of  Current  by  Cars,"  by  M. 
Scholtes,  manager  of  the  Nuremberg-Furth  Tramways. 

4.  "Brakes,"  by  M.  Petit,  chief  engineer  of  the  Societe  Nationalc 
des  Chemins  de  fer  Vicinaux,  of  Brussels. 

5.  "Protection  of  the  Trolley  Wire  Against  Accidental  Contact 
with  Telephone  and  Other  Aerial  Wires,"  by  M.  Pavie,  general 
manager  of  the  Compagnie  Generale  Francaise  de  Tramways,  of 
Paris. 

6.  "Operation  of  Trail  Cars  in  City  Service,"  by  M.  Klitzing, 
manager  of  the  Magdebourg  Tramways. 

7.  "Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Electric  Traction  on  In- 
terurban Railways,"  by  M.  H.  Luithlen,  Chief  Commissioner  of 
Inspection  of  the  Austrian  State  Railways,  of  Vienna. 

8.  "Character  of  Current  for  Interurban  Lines,"  by  M.  Pforr, 
chief  engineer  of  the  Union  Elektricitats  Gesellschaft,  of  Berlin. 

9.  "Track  Construction  for  Interurban  Steam  Lines,  by  M.  C. 
de  Burlet,  General  manager  of  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Chemins 
de  fer  Vicinaux,  of  Brussels. 

10.  "Legislation  on  Tramways  and  Interurban  Roads  in  Dif- 
ferent Countries  in  Europe,"  by  R.  H.  Scotter,  of  London. 

11.  "Standard  Form  of  Operating  Report,"  by  M.  Ff.  Geron, 
manager  of  the  Societe  des  Tramways  de  Cologne  (in  liquidation), 
of  Brussels. 

12.  "Control  of  Electrical  Installations  and  Maintenance  of 
Trolley  Wires,"  by  M.  G.  Pedriali,  chief  electrical  engineer  of  the 
Societe  des  Tramways  Bruxellois,  of  Brussels. 

13.  "Use  of  Motor  Cars  and  Locomotives  on  Railway  and 
Tramway  Lines,"  by  M.  E.  A.  Ziffer,  president  of  the  Bukowina 
Railway  Company. 


FIVE-CAR  ELEVATED  TRAINS  FOR  BOSTON 

The  Massachusetts  Railroad  Commission's  recent  order  in 
regard  to  platform  extensions  at  the  elevated  stations  in  Bos- 
ton marks  a  notable  prospective  increase  in  the  carrying  ca- 
pacity of  the  system.  Five-car  trains  will  be  handled  instead 
of  the  four-car  trains  now  operating  upon  the  elevated  and 
subway  lines,  although  the  order  of  the  commission  docs  not 
include  the  subway  platforms  as  suitable  for  extension.  The 
method  of  handling  the  longer  trains  at  the  underground  sta- 
tions has  not  yet  been  made  public,  so  that  it  will  be  interesting 
to  keep  an  eye  out  for  the  solution  of  this  rather  perplexing 
problem. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  these  platform  extensions,  coupled  with 
the  new  type  of  cars  adopted  by  the  road,  and  recently  de- 
scribed in  our  columns,  will  increase  the  traffic  capacity  of  the 
elevated  division  by  at  least  25  or  30  per  cent.  Although  the 
work  is  largely  a  carrying  through  of  original  designs  to  a 
logical  completion,  it  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  the 
sometimes  hypercritical  Boston  public  appreciated  the  advan- 
tage of  the  increased  facilities. 



A  recent  cable  despatch  reports  that  Major-General  Von 
Budde,  Prussian  Minister  of  Public  Works,  has  invited  the 
Allgemeine  Companv  and  tin'  Siemens-Halske  Company,  who 
participated  in  the  recent  high-speed  experiments,  to  a  con- 
ference at  the  end  of  August  concerning  the  proposed  Berlin- 
Hamburg  Electric  Railway,  with  a  projected  schedule  of  100 
miles  an  hour. 


202 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


THE  NEW  TYPE  OF  ELEVATED  CAR  WITHOUT  PLATFORMS, 
BOSTON  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


Brief  mention  was  made  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal 
for  July  9  of  a  new  type  of  elevated  car,  of  wdiich  twenty-four 
have  recently  been  built  and  will  soon  go  into  service  upon  the 


EXTERIOR  END  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  NEW  TYPE  OF  CARS 
FOR  THE  BOSTON  ELEVATED  LINES,  SHOWING 
ARRANGEMENT  OF  PLATFORM  DETAILS 


difficulty  with  this  type  of  car  has  been  experienced,  in  that  the 
opening  and  closing  of  these  gates  is  accomplished  only  after 
much  pushing  and  discomfort  on  the  part  of  passengers  and 
delay  to  the  train  at  the  station.    Such  delays  seriously  impair 


^Copper 

Flushing 


PART  SIDE  ELEVATION  OF  CAR 


elevated  and  underground  lines  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way Company.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  radical  de- 
partures embodied  in  this  new  car  construction  involves  the 
abandonment    of    the  usual 


the  capacity  of  the  road,  as  they  reduce  the  number  of  trains 
which  it  is  possible  to  operate  in  a  given  period.  Still  further, 
the  end  doors  of  the  cars  constitute  a  restricted  point  which 


37-6/4  ■ 
46-6%  Oyer  a//  Length 


type  of  open  platform  in 
favor  of  including  the  plat- 
form space  within  the  car 
body,  the  introduction  of 
pneumatic  door  opening  and 
closing  devices,  and  other  fa- 
cilities which  will  greatly  as- 
sist in  the  rapid  loading  and 
unloading  of  passengers.  This 
is  one  of  the  most  important 
changes  in  car  construction 
that  has  appeared  for  this 
class  of  service,  rivaling  only 
the  new  design  of  car  adopted 
upon  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road for  suburban  service  out 
of  Chicago,  in  its  wide  de- 
parture from  former  stand- 
ards of  design.  The  accom- 
panying engravings  a  n  d 
drawings  illustrate  this  inter- 
esting new  car,  and  indicate 
at  a  glance  the  many  advan- 
tages to  be  gained  by  this  new 
construction. 

The  cars  which  are  at 
present  in  use  upon  the  Bos- 
ton elevated  lines,  except  as 

to  a  door  midway  of  the  side,  are  of  the  so-called  Man- 
hattan type,  with  the  usual  open-end  platforms,  enclosed 
by  gates  of  the  "swing-back"  type,  controlled  by  levers 
which  are  operated  by  the  brakemen  standing  on  the  ends  of 
both  platforms.    During  the  hours  of  heaviest  traffic  the  usual 


Air  r.v/inder 


PART  PLAN  OF  CAR,  SHOWING 

OF 


P/Ston 


E/ast/c  Str/her 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  ENCLOSED    PLATFORM  DETAILS  AND 
FOLDING  MOTORMAN'S  CAB 

impedes  the  easy  access  and  egress  of  passengers,  as  is  found 
to  be  the  case  upon  all  cars  of  this  type. 

The  new  cars  have  therefore  been  constructed  without  any 
open  platforms,  the  space  occupied  by  the  end  platform  being 
taken  into  the  car  and  the  access  provided  by  sliding  doors  at 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


203 


the  ends  instead  of  the  former  gates.  In  order  to  remove  all 
risks  of  passing  from  one  car  to  another,  an  end  door  has  been 
provided  solely  for  the  use  of  the  brakeman.  It  is  thought 
that  these  and  the  other  interesting  changes  which  have  been 


they  end  abruptly  adjacent  to  the  platform.  As  may  be  seen, 
the  platform  floor  is  not  changed  materially,  but  resembles  that 
used  upon  the  usual  types  of  car.  A  great  increase  of  speed 
in  handling  passengers  will  result  from  thus  avoiding  the  usual 


incorporated  in  the  new  design  will  tend  to  overcome  at  least 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  are  experienced  with  the  present 
type  of  car.    The  new  departure  will  be  of  more  than  usual  in- 


INTERIOR  END  VIEW  OF  CAR  WITH  END  DOOR  SHUT 
MOTORMAN'S   CAB    COMPARTMENT  CLOSED 

terest  to  the  operating  officials  of  all  roads  handling  traffic  of 
a  similar  nature. 

The  removal  of  the  end  bulkheads  and  doors  facing  the  plat- 
forms from  the  ends  of  the  cars  produces  a  novel  effect,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  end  inside  view  of  the  car ;  the  side  seats 
are  merely  carried  up  to  the  end  of  the  body  of  the  car,  where 


end  door,  which  is  left  out  in  much  the  same  manner  as  is  the 
case  in  the  new  Illinois  Central  side-door  suburban  cars,  which 
were  described  in  the  April  30,  1904,  issue  (page  661).  This 


AND  VIEW  ACROSS  ENCLOSED  PLATFORM,  SHOWING 

LARGE  SIDE  DOOR  OPENING 

valuable  provision  causes  the  entrance  and  egress  capacity  at 
each  end  of  the  car  to  be  dependent  only  upon  the  width  of  the 
sliding  side  doors,  as  the  platform  is  thus  contained  in  the  body 
of  the  car.  The  side  doors  are  made  very  wide,  so  that  passen- 
gers may  enter  two  abreast,  and  when  inside  they  are  not  con- 
fronted by  another  narrow  entrance  door.   This  method  of  en- 


204 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


closiag  the  entire  floor  of  the  car  will  effect  an  important  pro- 
tection for  the  guards  as  well  as  passengers  in  winter  weather. 

As  above  stated,  the  sliding  side  doors  at  the  ends  of  the 
cars  are  operated  by  means  of  compressed  air  cylinders,  which 
are  to  be  controlled  by  the  guards  standing  across  the  two 
platforms  in  end-door  openings,  in  a  manner  similar  to  that 
which  is  usual  upon  the  cars  with  the  open-end  platforms. 
These  door-operating  air  cylinders  are  arranged  in  the  side 
walls  of  the  cars,  with  their  piston  rods  attached  directly  to  the 
sliding  doors,  and  they  are  operated  by  means  of  air  valves 
which  admit  compressed  air  to  either  end  of  the  cylinder  at 
will.  The  doors  will  be  normally  held  in  their  closed  position 
by  means  of  a  spring  latch,  which  may  be  released  for  opening 


Sco/e  3/8  /n  =  /fr. 

EXTERIOR  END  ELEVATION  OF  CAR 

the  doors  by  means  of  foot  levers  convenient  for  the  guards. 
The  details  of  the  cylinders,  foot  levers,  air  valves,  etc.,  are 
well  shown  in  the  plan  drawing  of  the  car,  and  also  in  view  in 
the  half-tone  engravings. 

Another  decided  novelty  lies  in  the  provision  against  the 
shock  of  the  quick  closing  of  the  side  doors.  The  door  in 
closing  comes  to  a  stop,  at  the  end  of  the  air-cylinder's  piston 
travel,  some  little  distance  from  the  door  frame ;  this  open 
space,  which  is  provided  to  prevent  catching  the  clothes  or 
hands  of  passengers  in  closing,  is  filled  in  by  an  elastic  striker 
consisting  of  a  pneumatic  cushion,  I  11-16  ins.  in  diameter, 
which  will  permit  of  the  easy  removal  of  any  clothing  that  may 
happen  to  be  caught  in  this  way,  and  would  not  cause  injury 
to  a  passenger's  arm  or  limb  if  caught  thus  in  closing. 

To  open  the  door  the  brakeman  steps  on  the  foot  lever  which 
unlocks  the  spring  latch  ;  then  by  operating  the  four-way  air 
valve,  he  releases  the  air  from  the  back  of  the  cylinder  and 
admits  it  at  the  front,  forcing  the  door  open.  The  valve  is 
held  in  this  position  for  a  moment,  after  which  it  is  placed  in 
mid  position,  which  lets  the  air  exhaust  from  the  cylinder  into 
the  atmosphere.  In  closing  the  door  the  shock  is  taken  up  by 
the  above-mentioned  rubber  cushion  at  the  back  of  the  door; 


a  weather-proof  fit  is  made  between  the  door  and  the  frame  by 
means  of  the  elastic  striker. 

A  number  of  other  advantages  are  gained  by  the  doing  away 
with  the  present  platform,  among  them  being  an  increase  in 
the  interior  carrying  capacity  of  the  car,  greater  comfort  for 
the  guards  by  being  less  exposed  to  the  weather,  and  also 
in  that  they  can  make  their  station  announcements  from 
one  place,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  cross  both  platforms. 
Furthermore,  the  interesting  arrangement  of  the  folding  mo- 
torman's  cab  is  worthy  of  special  attention.  It  is  arranged  to 
provide  an  enclosure  upon  the  platform  which  will  accommo- 
date the  master  controller,  air-brake  apparatus,  etc.,  and  give 
ample  room  for  the  motorman.  When  not  in  use,  this  com- 
partment .folds  up  into  a  very  compact  space  in  the  car  end 
beyond  the  platform ;  its  position,  when  open,  is  shown  in 
dotted  lines  in  the  plan  drawing. 

Acknowledgement  is  due  to  C.  S.  Sergeant,  vice-president  of 
the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company,  for  the  information 
and  illustrations  which  show  very  clearly  these  interesting 
features  of  car  construction.  The  cars  were  built  by  the  St. 
Louis  Car  Company,  the  order  embracing  twenty-four  cars  of 
this  new  type.  The  trucks  are  of  a  new  design  of  all-steel  con- 
struction and  unusually  heavy,  being  supplied  by  the  Taylor 
Electric  Truck  Company,  Troy,  N.  Y.  The  new  General  Elec- 
tric-69  motors  will  be  used,  and  the  National  Electric  Com- 
pany's Christensen  system  of  air  braking  which  is  standard 
upon  this  road. 



THE  PROPOSED  TRACK  ASSOCIATION 

Although  not  much  has  been  said  lately  about  the  proposed 
organization  of  track  and  way  men,  it  must  not  be  thought 
that  the  matter  has  been  dropped,  nor  that  the  movement  has 
met  with  any  lack  of  interest.  F.  G.  Simmons,  of  Milwaukee, 
who  has  taken  upon  himself  the  work  of  crystallizing  the  senti- 
ment of  electric  railway  track  men  regarding  the  movement, 
has  received  over  100  replies  from  those  directly  interested  in 
the  subject  of  an  electric  railway  track  and  maintenance  of 
way  association;  all  of  which  have  been  favorable,  but  which 
differ  very  greatly  in  the  ideas  expressed  as  to  the  best  way  of 
carrying  out  such  an  organization.  As  the  readers  of  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  for  the  past  six  months  know,  one 
plan  proposed  which  has  found  considerable  indorsement,  in- 
volves the  reorganization  of  the  American  Street  Railway  As- 
sociation, so  that  all  the  allied  associations  covering  different 
departments  of  electric  railway  work  will  become  branches  or 
sections  of  the  parent  body.  Another  plan  proposed  has  been 
to  enlarge  the  scope  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Association,  so  as  to  include  track  work  as  well  as 
maintenance  of  rolling  stock  and  power  houses.  These  two 
plans,  together  with  the  original  idea  of  forming  an  entirely 
separate  association  for  the  track  men,  make  up  the  three 
schemes  which  have  found  the  most  favor.  The  carrying  out 
of  the  first  one  outlined  is  dependent  upon  the  action  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association.  That  the  American 
Street  Railway  Association  will  take  such  action  at  its  next 
meeting  is  rather  doubtful,  as  the  distractions  of  the  exposition 
are  likely  to  cause  the  sessions  of  that  organization  to  be  very 
brief,  and  to  take  up  only  the  regular  programme.  It  would 
seem  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  for  the  track  men  to  go  to  the 
St.  Louis  convention  prepared  to  take  whatever  action  seems 
best  at  the  time,  but  in  any  event,  to  form  some  kind  of  an 
organization.  If  it  is  decided  that  the  track  men  can  be  ac- 
commodated in  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and  Elec- 
trical Association,  well  and  good;  or  if  one  of  the  other  two 
plans  find  the  most  favor,  well  and  good.  Something  should 
be  done,  and  no  doubt  will  be  done,  by  the  track  men  to  enable 
them  to  discuss  their  problems  at  conventions  yearly  to  a 
greater  extent  than  has  heretofore  been  possible. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


205 


NEW  ROLLING  STOCK  AND  TRACK  EQUIPMENT  FOR  THE 
EVANSVILLE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

The  Evansville  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Evansville, 
Ind.,  has  recently  added  several  new  equipments  to  its  rolling 
stock,  to  take  care  of  increased  traffic,  part  of  which  has  been 
occasioned  by  the  growing  popularity  of  Oak  Summit  Park, 
conducted  by  the  company. 

Of  the  new  equipments,  four  are  of  the  Brill  semi-convertible 
type,  with  28-ft.  bodies,  seating  forty  passengers.  These  are 
equipped  with  four  G.  E.-67  motors,  Christensen  AA-i  com- 
pressors, Hunter  fenders  and  Brill-27  double  trucks.  There 
have  also  been  added  to  the  equipment  four  single-truck  cars, 
seating  thirty-two  passengers.  A  description  of  these  cars  ap- 
pears on  page  212  of  this  issue. 

A.  H.  Mann,  master  mechanic  of  the  system,  is  doing  some 
novel  work  splicing  cars  at  the  shops.  The  company  has  on 
hand  several  five-bench  open  mule  cars,  which  in  their  present 
condition  are  worthless.  Two  of  these  are  used  to  make  a  car 
measuring  27  ft.  6  ins.  over  all.  The  method  used  is  to  take  the 
sills  and  floors  off  the  old  cars  and  construct  a  completely  new 
bottom  framing  and  floor.  The  tops,  seats,  etc.,  of  the  small 
cars  are  then  set  over  on  the  new  farming  and  spliced  in  an 
effective  manner. 

The  company  has  found  it  necessary  to  make  some  exten- 
sions of  track  in  different  portions  of  the  city.    This  has  all 


been  laid  with 


70-lb.  T-rails. 


ELECTRICAL  MEASURING  INSTRUMENTS 


The  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  has 
recently  brought  out  a  line  of  portable  measuring  instruments, 
of  which  several  are  illustrated  herewith.  In  principle,  these 
instruments  operate  on  the  mutual  attraction  between  two  sys- 
tems of  movable  and  stationary  coils  arranged  in  inductive 
relation  to  each  other,  the  two  systems  of  coils  being  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  neutralize  the  mutual  induction  and  the  effect  pro- 
duced by  any  external  field.  The  readings  are  thus  equally 
accurate  with  direct  and  alternating  currents,  and  there  is  no 


AMMETER 

necessity  for  reversing  the  readings  on  direct  currents  as  with 
ordinary  standards.  The  controlling  force  is  very  large,  ren- 
dering negligible  any  friction  effects. 

The  voltmeter  dial  illustrated  shows  the  general  form  used 
in  the  different  instruments.  The  scale  is  accurately  graduated 
upon  a  5-in.  circle,  all  the  divisions  being  uniform  and  thus 
equally  legible  over  the  entire  range.    Ry  means  of  the  vernier, 


tenths  of  a  division  may  be  read,  giving  a  range  of  2000  read- 
able divisions.  The  sight  wire  is  shown  in  a  square  frame 
which  is  attached  to  the 
movable  system. 

The  voltmeter  and  am- 
meter dials  are  similar. 
The  inner  graduations 
are  so  spa;ed  that  their 
value  is  proportional  to 
the  square  root  of  the 
deflection,  allowing  read- 
ings to  be  taken  direct, 
w  i  t  h  o  u  t  calculation. 
When  readings  of  frac- 
tional parts  of  divisions 
are  required,  the  outside 
scale  with  the  vernier 
may  be  used,  and  the  cor- 
responding value  of  the 

reading  on  the  inner  scale  determined  from  the  table  of  square 
roots  furnished  with  each  instrument.    In  the  wattmeter  there 


VOLTMETER  DIAL 


WATTMETER 

is  but  one  set  of  graduations,  similar  to  those  shown  on  the 
outer  circle  of  the  voltmeter  scale. 

The  resistance  or  multiplier  is  used  in  the  potential  circuit 


VOLT  MET  Et 


of  the  voltmeter  and  wattmeter.  The  potential  coils  of  the  in- 
struments are  adjusted  to  a  uniform  resistance  of  100  ohms, 
and  the  external  resistance  is  subdivided  so  as  to  give  total 
values  of  tooo  ohms  or  multiples  thereof. 


2o6 


STREE1   RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


STEEL-TIRED  CAR-WHEEL  LATHE 


The  steel-tired  car-wheel  lathe  illustrated  in  the  accompany- 
ing engraving  is  especially  designed  for  truing  up  electric 
railway  car  wheels,  a  number  of  these  machines  having  been 
furnished  to  the  street  railways  in  Boston  and  New  York.  The 
great  problem  in  work  of  this  character  is  the  holding  of  the 
wheels  rigid  under  the  cut.  Ample  power  is  supplied  to  the 
machine  by  15-hp  motor,  which  drives  through  worm  gearing, 
giving  all  the  power  at  the  tools  that  modern  tool  steels  will 
stand.  The  lathe  is  provided  with  a  device  for  chucking  the 
journals,  which  insures  the  tread  of  the  wheel  being  concentric 
with  the  journal,  and  a  very  strong  rigid  chuck  holds  the  in- 
side of  the  tire,  absolutely  preventing  the  springing  of  the  axles 
and  allowing  the  full  power  of  the  lathe  to  be  used  at  the  tools. 
A  special  arrangement  for  electric  railway  wheels  is  provided, 
by  which  dogs,  engaging  the  teeth  of  the  gear  in  which  the 
motor  pinion  meshes,  help  to  drive  the  wheels.  This  also  does 
away  with  the  necessity  of  removing  the  gear  from  the  wheels. 

The  makers,  the  Niles-Bement-Pond  Company,  recommend 
the  following  procedure  in  turning  wheels :  The  steel  for  the 
tools  should  be  of  sufficient  size  to  prevent  springing  or  break- 
ing. Large  tools  also  have  the  advantage  of  carrying  off  rapidly 
the  heat  generated  at  the  cutting  edge.    The  most  desirable  size 


ting  in  another  pair  should  not  consume  more  than  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  minutes,  with  wheels  convenient  to  the  lathe. 
The  lathe  under  the  aforesaid  conditions,  with  an  experienced 
operator,  should  turn  from  five  to  seven  pairs  of  average 
wheels  in  ten  hours,  this  having  been  done  for  years  in  several 
places.  The  lathe  should  be  set  so  that- wheels  can  be  easily 
rolled  in,  doing  away  with  the  necessity  of  any  crane  or  hoist. 
There  should  also  be  a  pit  for  the  operator  to  stand  in  for  his 
convenience.  The  lathe  to  be  properly  equipped  should  have 
twelve  R.  H.  and  twelve  L.  H.  roughing  tools  to  provide  for 
grinding,  dressing,  etc.  Also  two  R.  H.  and  two  L.  H.  of  each 
kind  of  flange  tools ;  also  two  sets  of  scraper  blades  and  twenty- 
four  cold  chisels  made  of  1%  steel,  dressed  narrow  and  blunt, 
and  a  5-lb.  hammer  to  take  out  flat  spots,  and  a  good,  strong, 
ambitious,  hustling  operator. 


♦♦♦ 


DINING  CAR  SERVICE  ON  THE  GRAND  RAPIDS,  GRAND 
HAVEN  &  MUSKEGON  (ELECTRIC)  RAILWAY 


A  very  popular  innovation  has  been  inaugurated  by  the 
Grand  Rapids,  Grand  Haven  &  Muskegon  Railway,  of  which 
T.  L.  Hackett  is  general  passenger  and  freight  agent.  On  July 
25  the  company's  first  dining  car  left  Grand  Haven.  The 
Grand  Haven  interurban  management  has  for  some  time  been 
thinking  of  experimenting  with  the  system, 
and  as  it  has  proven  so  successful  it  will 
probably  be  maintained  the  balance  of  the 
season.  The  Goodrich  boats  from  Chicago 
have  from  40  to  100  passengers  every  morn- 
ing for  the  Interurban  going  to  Grand  Rapids, 
and  the  limited  car  generally  leaves  so 
soon  after  the  steamers  arrive  that  these  peo- 
ple have  no  opportunity  to  get  breakfast. 
Consequently  the  dining  car  system  was  pro- 
posed. The  cars  are  generally  so  crowded 
that  lunches  will  be  served  the  passengers  in 
their  seats.  The  run  from  Grand  Haven  to 
Grand  Rapids,  34  miles,  is  made  in  one  hour 
and  twenty  minutes.  A  combination  car  is 
used  on  this  train,  in  which  baggage  is  car- 
ried.   <hM  

LAKE  SHORE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MAKES 
TRAFFIC  ARRANGEMENT  WITH 
STEAM  ROADS 


STEEL-TIRED  CAR-WHEEL  LATHE 

of  tool  steel  has  been  found  to  be  3  ins.  x  ij4  ins.,  and  none  but 
the  best  grades  of  self-hardening  steel  should  be  used.  First, 
the  ordinary  round  nose  tool,  with  just  clearance  enough  to  cut 
free,  is  started  next  to  the  flange,  using  a  %-in.  to  a  y2-in.  feed, 
or  whatever  the  tool  will  stand.  This  operation  should  take 
from  twenty-four  to  forty-five  minutes,  according  to  depth  of 
cut  and  hardness  of  tire,  etc.  Then  the  outer  edge  of  the  tire 
should  be  rounded ;  next,  scrapers  should  be  applied  which  will 
make  the  wheel  perfectly  smooth  with  one  or  two  revolutions 
of  the  lathe.  This  consumes  about  five  or  six  minutes,  and  the 
tread  is  finished.  The  top  of  the  flange  can  now  be  cut  down 
to  the  proper  height  through  the  flat  nose  tool,  this  taking  on 
an  average  from  three  to  six  turns  of  the  lathe. 

Next,  the  outside  of  the  flange  should  be  roughed  to  some- 
thing near  shape  with  the  same  kind  of  a  tool  used  on  the 
tread  of  the  wheel.  The  outside  of  the  flange  should  then  be 
finished  with  a  flange  tool  filed  to  the  exact  gage  of  one-half  the 
flange.  The  back  of  the  flange  should  then  be  roughed  out 
the  same  as  before  and  finished  with  the  flange  tool  of  required 
shape.  The  flange  tool  should  be  of  the  best  grade  tool  steel, 
tempered  hard,  and  should  be  kept  in  shape  by  grinding  on  the 
top.    The  actual  time  in  taking  out  a  pair  of  wheels  and  put- 


The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Com- 
pany has  completed  arrangements  with 
Western  steam  roads  by  which  it  can  ticket  passengers 
from  any  point  on  the  electric  line  to  any  of  the  important 
cities  of  the  West.  The  arrangement  is  of  importance  be- 
cause the  electric  fare  is  less  than  the  steam  road.  In  the  case 
of  the  through  passengers  the  electric  road  carries  them  to  its 
terminus  and  then  turns  them  over  to  the  steam  road.  The 
steam  road  gets  its  full  fare ;  the  electric  road  also  gets  its  full 
fare,  but  the  passenger  has  the  advantage  of  a  rate  lower  than 
the  prevailing  rate  from  his  home  town.  For  instance,  the 
Lake  Shore  Electric  is  turning  over  to  its  steam  road  con- 
nection in  Toledo  a  lot  of  passengers  who  are  not  from  Toledo 
territory,  who  ordinarily  should  take  the  steam  road  at  other 
points.  The  traction  line  gets  a  long  haul  from  them  and  the 
steam  roads  get  business  without  cost  in  developing  the  trade. 



The  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company  has  resumed  the 
touring  car  service,  which  proved  so  successful  last  summer. 
This  year  there  will  be  five  different  tours  throughout  the  city, 
each  taking  two  hours  to  cover.  Instead  of  requiring  all  pas- 
sengers to  board  the  car  at  the  Public  Square,  as  was  done  last 
year,  stops  will  be  made  at  the  leading  hotels  and  at  the  inter- 
section of  important  lines. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


207 


MOTOR-DRIVEN  AIR  COMPRESSORS  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


The  use  of  compressed  air  for  special  purposes,  such  as 
braking,  cleaning  and  the  operation  of  small  tools,  has  come 
into  such  wide  application  that  compressors  have  been  built 
especially  to  meet  each  requirement.  For  such  work  a  central 
plant  with  an  expensive  piping  system  for  distribution  is  too 
expensive  and  inflexible.  The 
Christensen  air  compressors 
meet  these  requirements  admir- 
ably, because  they  are  compact, 
automatic,  motor-driven  and,  if 
need  be,  portable.  These  com- 
pressors are  shown  in  operation 
in  the  exhibit  of  the  National 
Electric  Company  in  the  Elec- 
tricity Building  at  the  World's 
Fair.  The  portable  type,  shown 
in  the  illustration,  is  largely  used 
for  cleaning  generators,  railway 
motors  and  sub-station  sets ;  it  is 
a  well-known  fact  that  with  its 
use  the  life  Of  the  machine  is 
prolonged  one-third.  The  outfit 
consists  of  a  4-hp  motor  directly 
geared  to  a  6^ -in.  x  3-in.  com- 
pressor, giving  20  cu.  ft.  of  free 

air  per  minute  at  90  lbs.  pressure,  running  at  175  r.  p.  m. ;  two 
16-in.  x  45-in.  reservoirs;  a  controller,  and  50  ft.  of  hose,  with 
a  flat  nozzle,  all  mounted  upon  a  substantial  four-wheel  truck. 

A  stationary  consolidated  single-stage  compressor  of  75  cu. 
ft.  capacity  is  alongside.  This  is  used  for  shop  purposes,  clean- 
ing cars,  or  for  hoists,  jacks  and  pneumatic  tools.  The*motors 
are  especially  designed  and  built  by  the  National  Electric  Com- 
pany for  this  work,  and  are  made  for  any  standard  voltage. 
The  base  of  the  motor  forms  the  top  of  the  compressor,  and 
the  gear,  keyed  on  the  crank  shaft,  is  enclosed  in  a  suitable 


used  on  the  World's  Fair  Intramural  Electric  Road,  Boston 
Elevated,  South  Side  Alley  "L,"  Chicago,  and  others.  These 
equipments  can  be  operated  on  any  number  of  cars,  and  are 
controlled  and  the  air  applied  from  any  part  of  the  train. 
Where  there  is  one  car  it  is  as  readily  operative  for  a  single 
unit.  The  motor  and  compressor  combined  consist  of  a  series 
wound  motor  and  duplex  single-acting  compressor,  provided 


PORTABLE  MOTOR  COMPRESSOR  FOR  STATIONS,  SHOWN  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


cast  iron  casing,  which  entirely  encloses  the  interior  of  the 
compressor.  The  space  in  the  compressor  base  is  partly  filled 
with  oil  through  an  oil-filling  elbow,  and  insures  a  very 
thorough  lubrication  of  all  moving  parts.  The  oil  chamber  in 
the  pump  base  communicates  with  the  gear  case,  which  carries 
oil  up  to  the  pinion  on  the  armature  shaft.  Seamless  cold- 
drawn  steel  suction  and  discharge  valves  are  arranged  in  the 
cylinder  head,  each  working  independently  of  the  other,  with 
access  to  either.  No  springs  are  used  with  these  valves,  they 
being  seated  by  gravity,  and  are  interchangeable. 

The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  exhibit  of  a  three- 
car  multiple-unit  air-brake  equipment,  which  is  the  same  as 


EXHIBIT  OF  THREE-CAR,  MULTIPLE-UNIT  AIR-BRAKE   EQUIPMENT  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


with  two  pistons.  The  connecting  rods  are  operated  by  a  steel 
crank  shaft,  with  the  cranks  set  at  such  an  angle  as  to  give 
the  best  balance  to  the  moving  parts.  The  crank  shaft  is  ex- 
tended at  one  end  to  receive  a  double  helical  gear  which  meshes 
with  the  pinion  of  the  armature  shaft  directly  above.  The 
compressor  is  started  by  closing  a  switch.  Current  then  passes 
through  the  switch,  through  the  fuse,  through  the  governor, 
which  is  automatically  closed  by  the  current,  through  the  mo- 
tor, and  from  thence  to  the  ground,  thus  operating  the  motor 
compressor  which  accumulates  air  pressure  in  the  main  reser- 
voir. The  pressure  finds  its  way  up  to  the 
engineer's  valve,  and  by  placing  the  engi- 
neer's valve  handle  in  "application  position" 
an  unobstructed  passage  is  afforded  for  com- 
pressed air  to  pass  from  the  main  reservoir 
into  the  train  pipe  and  brake  cylinder.  The 
brakes  are  thereby  applied  with  a  force  at  all 
times  under  the  control  of  the  operator,  who 
may  increase  or  decrease  the  force  by  mov- 
ing the  handle  to  the  right  or  left,  thereby 
letting  compressed  air  into  or  out  of  the  brake 
cylinder. 

There  is  also  in  the  exhibit  a  practice,  or 
school  equipment,  mounted  on  a  car  under- 
framing,  which  under-framing  is  open  to 
view,  and  shows  brake  levers,  cylinder,  pull 
rods  and  the  operation;  in  fact,  of  every  part 
of  the  air-brake  apparatus;  thus  making  it 
plain  and  simple  for  the  instruction  of 
new  motormen,  or  students  in  any  capacity. 
Besides  a  complete  display  of  air-brake  apparatus,  the  Na- 
tional Electric  Company  has  a  400-kw  engine  type  generator, 
250  volts,  120  r.  p.  m.,  1600  amps.;  a  type  M.  B.  150-kw  550- 
volt,  273-amp.,  625  r.  p.  m.  generator,  driven  by  a  20-hp  220- 
volt;  a  60-hp  500-volt  motor-generating  set,  and  a  2300-volt 
150-kw  40-amp.  three-phase,  60-cycle,  720-r.  p.  m.  alternator, 
driven  by  a  24-hp  220-volt  motor.  In  addition  to  the  above, 
there  are  samples  of  armature  coils  and  field  coils,  and  a  work- 
man shows  the  method  of  the  company  for  winding  and  as- 
sembling armatures  and  fields.  In  the  Palace  of  Machinery 
the  National  Electric  Company  has  a  1500-kw  6600-volt  alter- 
nator, which  furnishes  power  to  operate  the  Cascade  pumps. 


208 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


ECONOMIZERS  FOR  RAILWAY  POWER  PLANTS 


The  type  of  economizer  described  and  illustrated  herewith 
is  the  product  of  the  B.  F.  Sturtevant  Company,  of  Boston, 
Mass.,  and  has  been  installed  in  numerous  power  plants 
throughout  the  world.  It  is  built  in  many  sizes  to  meet  the 
needs  of  different  power  plants.  To  make  this  flexibility  pos- 
sible the  sections  of  this  economizer  contain  an  odd  as  well  as 
an  even  number  of  pipes,  from  four  to  twelve  inclusive  ;  thus 


STANDARD  ECONOMIZER  FOR  BOILERS  OF  350-111'  AND  ABOVE 

four  widths  more  are  obtained  than  is  possible  by  the  use  of 
sections  containing"  only  an  even  number  of  pipes.  The  piping 
arrangement  is  very  important  and  divides  economizers  into 
two  general  classes. 

A  straight  pipe  economizer  has  all  pipes  arranged  in  straight 
rows  running  lengthwise  of  the  economizer,  with  free  inter- 
vening spaces.  The  hot  gases  in  passing  through  these  free 
spaces  do  not  necessarily  envelop  the  whole  of  each  pipe — that 
is,  between  any  two  pipes  laterally  there  are  inert  gases  which 
have  but  little  heat  to  deliver  while  the  heat-laden  gases  pass 
quickly  through  the  free  longitudinal  spaces,  carrying  away  a 
considerable  amount  of  heat  that  might  be  more  efficiently 
utilized  for  heating  the  water  in  the  pipes. 

To  utilize  the  maximum  amount  of  heat  in  the  gases  the 
pipes  of  this  economizer  were  designed  to  set  staggered.  The 
several  sections  are  so  arranged  that  the  pipes  of  any  one  sec- 
tion stand  longitudinally  opposite  the  spaces  between  the  pipes 
of  the  adjoining  sections.  Two  sizes,  similar  in  design,  are 
constructed  to  meet  all  conditions — the  standard  and  the  pony 
types.  The  standard  economizer,  which  is  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying cut,  is  installed  in  conjunction  with  boilers  of 
almost  any  capacity,  but  is  more  practical  for  boiler  capacities 
of  350  hp  and  over.  The  pony  type  is  more  commonly  used 
with  plants  of  from  50  to  500  hp  capacity. 

Patterns  are  carried  to  build  this  economizer  with  all  its  im- 
provements as  a  straight  pipe  economizer;  this  is  done  to  ful- 
fill certain  specifications  which  specify  this  type  more  from 
custom  than  from  merits  of  design  or  economy.  Although  this 
type  may  be  furnished,  yet  its  use  is  not  recommended,  par- 
ticularly as  the  saving  effected  is  less. 


The  Sturtevant  economizer  is  constructed  with  as  few  joints 
as  is  consistent  with  good  design.  To  make  the  deteriorating 
effect  resulting  from  the  many  joints  as  little  as  possible,  each 
section  is  fitted  into  its  wall  box  or  branch  pipe  with  tapered 
iron  to  iron  joints.  All  pipes  are  cast  on  end  and  made  of 
tough  gray  iron.  Both  ends  are  tapered  and  the  pipes  forced 
into  the  headers  by  hydraulic  pressure,  insuring  perfectly  tight 
joints.  Any  pipe  can  be  easily  removed  and  another  put  into 
its  place  without  disturbing  the  other  pipes,  sections  or  en- 
closing walls,  as  the  joints  are  made  taper  iron  to  iron  without 
any  packing  or  cement. 

All  caps  have  taper  ground  iron  to  iron  joints  and  can  be 
easily  removed  for  cleaning.  The  caps  directly  over  the  pipes 
in  the  top  headers  are  tapered,  so  that  the  greater  the  pressure 
in  the  economizer  the  more  firmly  the  caps  will  set  themselves. 
All  the  other  caps  are  held  in  place  by  through  bolts,  which 
clamp  them  tightly  to  the  headers.  The  bolts  do  not  come  into 
contact  with  the  water,  and  therefore  are  not  subject  to  de- 
teriorating effects  from  rust  and  corrosion. 

The  headers  are  made  of  the  best  cast  iron  and  designed 
with  due  regard  to  strength  and  durability.  The  bearing  parts 
are  properly  machined  and  finished  to  gages,  that  the  taper 
joints  may  be  perfectly  tight  and  the  headers  exact  duplicates. 
As  a  substitute  for  the  manifold  header,  with  its  branch  pipes 
and  numerous  pipe  joints  subject  to  leakage  and  the  necessary 
repairing,  a  special  wall  box  was  designed.  This  wall  box,  as 
its  name  implies,  is  placed  in  the  front  side  wall  of  the  econo- 
mizer forming  a  part  of  the  wall.  The  whole  weight  of  the 
economizer,  instead  of  being  unevenly  distributed  on  the  foun- 
dations, is  thus  evenly  distributed  throughout  the  wall  box 
surface.  It  is  evident  that  with  this  arrangement  perfect  rig- 
idity is  assured. 

The  economizers  are  all  provided  with  relief  valves,  which 
may  be  set  at  the  desired  steam  pressure  as  a  safeguard  against 
using  too  much  pressure  in  the  economizers.  By  means  of  the 
blow-off  valves  the  soft  deposits  may  be  blown  out,  or  the 
economizers  may  be  emptied,  as  desired.    Cast-iron  soot-pit 


STANDARD  ECONOMIZER  WITH  1500-HP  BOILERS 


doors  are  provided  as  a  means  of  cleaning  out  the  soot  cham- 
ber. Before  leaving  the  works  each  economizer  is  tested  by 
hydraulic  pressure  to  350  lbs.  per  square  inch,  and  when  erected 
to  250  lbs.  pressure. 

The  cleaning  mechanism  of  this  economizer  consists  of  an 
interchangeable  bevel-edge  triple-staggered  scraper,  with  lifter 
rods  and  guides  operated  by  an  improved  pulley  motion  and 
positive  reversing  wheel.  The  cast-iron  scraper  bars  with 
tapered  slots  which  receive  the  tapered  lugs  on  the  scrapers 
cause  the  scrapers  to  scrape  pipes  on  the  upward  movement 
and  clear  them  on  the  downward  movement.   The  guards  keep 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


209 


sciaper  lugs  in  the  slots.  The  scrapers,  scraper  bars  and 
guards  are  easily  removed  and  replaced  if  necessary. 

The  foundations  are  usually  of  brick,  but  sometimes  of  struc- 
tural steel ;  in  either  case  they  must  be  strong  and  rigid.  The 
form  of  wall  box  previously  mentioned  assures  perfect  rigidity. 
With  brick  foundations  a  chamber  is  formed  under  the  econo- 
mizer in  which  soot  accumulates.  The  inlet  and  outlet  flues 
may  be  of  brick  or  sheet  iron.  When  of  iron  it  is  customary 
to  build  the  side  casings  of  iron  sheets,  placed  about  an  inch 
apart,  which  are  filled  in  with  a  non-conducting  material. 


center  piece  of  art  glass.  The  lower  sash,  which  arc  filled 
with  plate  glass,  drop  into  pockets  covered  by  flaps. 

Particular  attention  is  called  to  the  lighting  of  this  car,  as  it 
is  of  unusual  beauty  and  efficiency.  In  the  center  of  each  com- 
partment is  an  arc  light  of  the  car  builder's  design.  Besides 
the  arc  lights  in  each  compartment  and  in  the  vestibule,  there 


THE  PRIVATE  CAR  "MABEL"  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


The  accompanying  illustrations  show  the  interior  and  ex- 
terior appearance  of  the  private  car  "Mabel,"  recently  built  by 
the  St.  Louis  Car  Company  for  the  Lewis  Publishing  Company, 
publishers  of  the  "Woman's  Magazine."  This  car  is  to  be  used 
during  the  World's  Fair  period  to  entertain  visitors  and  friends. 
It  is  made  of  a  gage  to  operate  over  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Com- 
pany's tracks.  The  length  of  this  car  over  all  is  45  ft.,  and  the 
body  alone  43  ft.  8  ins.  The  width  over  all  is  8  ft.  4  ins.  The 
height  from  the  bottom  of  the  sill  to  the  top  of  the  roof  is  9  ft. 
3  ins.,  and  from  the  rail  to  the  top  of  the  roof  12  ft.  4  ins.  The 
bottom  construction  is  of  combined  steel  and  wood.  The  in- 
terior of  the  car  is  divided  into  a  buffet  and  smoking  compart- 
ment and  a  parlor  compartment,  all  compartments  being  divided 
by  the  center  vestibule,  which  forms  the  entrance.  The  buffet 
compartment  has  a  sink  and  combination  table  and  refrigerator, 
with  a  locker  on  top.  There  is  also  a  china,  glass  and  linen 
locker.  The  toilet  room  has  a  washstand  and  a  locker.  The 
entrance  to  the  toilet  room  is  from  the  center  vestibule  only. 

The  ceiling  in  the  buffet  is  pea  green ;  the  chairs  are  of  cane. 
The  portiere  and  carpet  are  in  harmony  with  the  ceiling.  The 
parlor  compartment  is  very  beautifully  furnished,  and  has  in 
the  center  a  handsomely  carved  and  upholstered  settee.  The 
upholstery  is  in  light  yellow  fabrics,  to  match  the  ceiling,  cur- 
tains, portieres  and  other  furniture.  A  handsome  desk  is  lo- 
cated near  the  vestibule  entrance.    The  inside  finish  of  the 


it.. 


finV       -  - 
m 


INTERIOR  OF  PRIVATE  CAR 

is  a  row  of  frosted  incandescent  lamps  in  handsome  short 
pendants  along  each  side  of  the  deck  sill.  This  distribution  of 
incandescent  lamps  gives  a  uniform  light  in  all  parts  of  the 
car,  and  the  use  of  frosted  bulbs  avoids  all  painful  glare.  The 
car  is  mounted  on  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company's  short  wheel 
base  No.  47  truck. 


NEW  STATIONARY  LAMP  GUARD 

The  stationary  lamp  guard,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration,  is  manufactured  by  Porter  &  Berg,  of  Chicago, 


THE  PRIVATE  CAR  "MABEL"  COMPLETELY  EOUIPPED 


STATIONARY  LAMP  GUARD 


entire  car  is  of  the  finest  African  mahogany,  with  neat  and  and  although  it  has  but  recently  been  put  on  the  market,  they 

artistic  marquetry  designs.  The  roof  is  of  the  Empire  type.  The  report  a  rapidly  increasing  demand  for  this  article  among  elec- 

ventilator  lights  are  Colonial  pattern,  with  opalesent  iridescent  trie  railways. 

glass.    The  Upper  sash,  which  arc  also  of  the  Colonial  pattern,  The  guard  consists  of  a  strong  wire  cage,  heavily  tinned  to 

arc  stationary,  and  arc  tilled  witli  beveled  plate  glass,  with  a  prevent  rusting,  mounted  on  a  brass  plate,  and  a  wall  plate. 


2IO 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


which  is  provided  with  four  screws  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
manently attaching  it  to  the  wall  or  the  ceiling  over  the  lamp 
socket.  The  cage  can  he  attached  or  removed  from  the  wall 
plate  by  the  means  of  a  bayonet-locking  device.  The  guard  is 
made  for  use  with  16-cp  lamps  only,  and  will  fit  over  any  wall 
socket  or  receptacle. 

There  are  a  number  of  places  in  car  shops,  car  pits,  car  houses 
and  stations  where  a  guard  of  this  kind  may  be  used  to  good 
advantage,  as  they  not  only  prevent  the  breaking  of  lamps,  but 
also  their  being  stolen  or  removed  from  their  proper  place. 


A  REMARKABLE  COMBINATION  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  AND 
CONVERTIBLE  CAR  FOR  CITY  SERVICE 


A  remarkable  type  of  car  has  just  been  finished  at  the  shops 
of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  for  the  Montreal  Street  Railway 


space  between  passing  cars — a  most  valuable  feature  in  con- 
nection with  lines  operating  on  narrow  streets.  It  also  prevents 
passengers  entering  or  leaving  the  car  on  that  side,  which 
many  are  prone  to  do  when  there  is  only  a  guard  rail. 

The  short  summers  of  Montreal,  with  cool  evenings,  and 
rapid  changes  of  temperature  during  spring  and  fall,  limit 
the  usefulness  of  the  ordinary  type  of  open  car,  while,  with  the 
new  arrangement,  complete  provision  is  made  for  weather 
changes,  and  the  expense  of  keeping  a  set  of  summers  cars, 
which  can  only  be  used  for  a  few  months  of  each  year,  is 
avoided. 

The  window  system  of  both  sides  of  the  car  is  identical.  The 
lower  sashes  have  trunnions  at  the  corners,  which  move  in 
all  metal  runways,  one  to  each  post,  and  on  being  raised  this 
sash  carries  the  upper  sash  with  it  into  pockets  in  the  side 
roofs.    On  the,  right  side  of  the  car,  in  addition  to  the  sashes 


R^et  Ry  Journal 

PLAN  AND  TWO  SIDE  ELEVATIONS  OF  COMBINATION  SEMI-  CONVERTIBLE  AND  CONVERTIBLE  CAR 


Company.  It  combines  the  well-known  patented  convertible 
and  semi-convertible  systems  of  the  builder,  and  is  unusually 
interesting,  not  only  because  of  its  being  the  first  to  have  one 
side  convertible  and  the  other  semi-convertible,  but  also  be- 
cause it  is  particularly  suited  to  the  operating  conditions  of 
Montreal — conditions  which  are  duplicated  in  many  of  our 
large  cities.  Loops  at  the  terminals  provide  for  the  cars  run- 
ning in  one  direction,  therefore  the  entrances  are  permitted  to 
be  all  on  one  side,  having  one  side  closed  and  solidly  paneled. 
This  arrangement  carries  with  it  the  advantage  of  not  requir- 
ing a  running  board  on  one  side,  and  thereby  increasing  the 


sliding  into  the  roof  pockets,  flexible  metal  panels  are  arranged 
to  slide  into  the  same  pockets,  so  that  in  a  few  minutes  this 
side  of  the  car  may  be  made  entirely  open.  A  running  board 
of  the  usual  type  is  furnished,  which  with  the  platform  steps 
gives  entrance  at  any  point  along  the  side.  Six  years'  use  in 
cold  climates  have  proved  very  conclusively  that  these  flexible 
panels  are  as  efficient  non-conductors  of  heat  and  cold  as  the. 
paneled  walls  of  the  ordinary  type  of  car.  By  staggering  the 
side  posts  the  seats  on  the  semi-convertible  side  are  brought 
between  posts,  with  the  ends  against  the  side  line,  thus  adding 
several  inches  to  the  width  of  the  aisle. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


211 


The  window  sill  for  the  semi-convertible  side  is  provided 
with  arm  rests  of  the  builder's  type,  as  the  top  of  the  sills  are 


INTERIOR  OF  COMBINATION  CONVERTIBLE  AND  SEMI- 
CONVERTIBLE  CAR 

24^  ins.  from  the  floor,  too  low  to  be  reached  by  the  elbows 
of  adult  passengers.  The  seats  are  34  ins.  long,  and  the  aisle 
20]/2  ins.  wide,  the  width  of  the  car  over  the  posts  being  7  ft. 


using  grab  handles  on  the  posts  of  the  convertible  side,  the 
brackets  which  close  the  space  between  the  seat  back  and  the 
posts  are  formed  to  serve  that  purpose. 

The  sides  of  the  vestibule  opposite  the  entrance  are  fur- 
nished with  extra  large  windows,  both  sashes  of  which  drop 
into  pockets  in  the  wainscoating.  The  three  sashes  in  the  end 
of  the  vestibule  are  composed  of  single  lights,  and  also  have 
pockets  into  which  they  may  be  dropped.  Curtains  at  the  con- 
vertible side  may  be  drawn  completely  to  the  floor,  so  that  in 
case  of  a  light  shower  which  promises  to  be  of  short  duration, 
ample  protection  is  furnished  without  drawing  down  panels 
and  sashes.  The  interior  is  handsomely  finished  in  cherry, 
with  ceilings  of  decorated  birch.  "Dumpit"  sand  boxes,  angle- 
iron  bumpers,  "Dedenda"  gongs,  radial  draw  bars,  ratchet 
brake  handles,  round  corner  seat  end  panels  and  other  of  the 
builder's  specialties  are  included  in  the  furnishing  of  the  car, 
which  is  mounted  on  Brill  No.  27-G  trucks. 

The  construction  throughout  is  very  substantial,  including 
double-corner  posts  at  each  side,  3^4  ins-  thick.  The  side  posts 
of  the  convertible  side  are  3^  ins.  thick.,  and  on  the  semi- 
convertible  side,  3^4  ins.  The  sweep  of  the  posts  is  1^4  i'ls- 
Sill  plates  8  ins.  x  y%  in.  are  used  on  the  outside  of  the  side 
sills.  The  size  of  the  side  sills  is  4^4  ins.  x  7  ins.,  and  of  the 
end  sills,  5*4  ins.  x  7  ins.  The  length  over  the  end  panels  is 
28  ft.  4  ins.,  and  over  the  vestibules,  38  ft.  4  ins.  The  width 
over  the  sills  and  the  panels  is  7  ft.  7J/2  ins.,  and  over  the  posts 


VIEW  OF  COMBINATION  CAR,  ILLUSTRATING  THE  FULL  CONVERTIBLE  FEATURE 


10  ins.  Single  seats  are  used  at  the  corners  of  the  convertible  at  belt,  7  ft.  10  ins.  Other  dimensions  are  given  in  the  illus- 
side  and  longitudinal  double  seats  at  the  opposite  side.    The     tration.  v 

total  seating  capacity  of  the  car  is  thirty-eight.    Instead  of         The  J.  G.  Brill  Company  is  building  a  car  for  Cleveland 


APPEARANCE  OF  THE  COMBINATION  CAR,  SHOWING  THE    SEM  [-CONVERTIBLE  FEATURE 


212 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


similar  to  the  one  described,  but  with  a  center  vestibule.  It  is 
confidently  believed  that  the  type  formed  by  the  combination 
of  these  thoroughly  tried  systems  will  be  generally  accepted 
as  one  most  suitable  for  city  where  the  cars  may  be  run  in  one 
direction.  Reports  of  the  operation  of  the  car  in  Montreal 
and  Cleveland  will  receive  wide-spread  attention. 

 *+•  

SEMI- CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  EVANSVILLE,  IND. 

The  Evansville  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Evansville, 
I  in!.,  has  lately  put  on  its  lines  four  semi-convertible  single- 
truck  cars  of  the  Brill  type,  built  by  the  C.  C.  Kuhlman  Car 
Company,  Collinwood,  Ohio.  The  railway  company  operates 
a  city  and  suburban  system,  with  more  than  30  miles  of  track- 
age and  about  one  hundred  cars.  The  company  controls  a 
popular  amusement  park  in  the  suburbs,  and  the  lines  reach 
three  other  parks,  which  attract  large  crowds  during  the  season. 
Evansville  is  the  second  city  in  size  in  the  State,  and  is  the 
commercial  center  of  Southwestern  Indiana. 

The  cars  are  vestibuled  at  both  ends,  with  entrances  at  one 
side,  an  unusual  style  of  vestibule  for  cars  of  this  length.  All 


SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR  USED  IN  EVANSVILLE,  IND. 


the  sashes  in  the  vestibules  are  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets, 
while  the  windows  in  the  side  of  the  car  are  raised  into  pockets 
in  the  side  roofs  when  not  in  use.  The  car  is  seated  for  thirty- 
two  passengers,  the  seats  being  34  ins.  long  and  of  the  step-over 
type.  The  interior  is  finished  in  Mexican  mahogany,  and  the 
ceilings  are  three-ply  birch  veneer,  neatly  decorated.  The 
two  windows  opened  at  the  rear  of  the  car,  shown  in  the 
picture,  give  an  idea  of  the  lowness  of  the  sides.  The  large 
windows  not  only  give  an  open  appearance  to  the  car  in  warm 
weather,  when  the  windows  are  raised  into  the  roof  pockets, 
but  also  make  it  very  bright  and  attractive  in  winter. 

The  general  dimensions  of  the  cars  are  as  follows:  Length 
over  bodies,  20  ft.  8  ins.,  and  over  crown  pieces,  30  ft.  1  in. 
Erom  end  panel  over  crown  pieces,  4  ft.  y2  in. ;  width  over  sills, 
7  ft.  gy2  ins.,  and  over  post  at  belt,  8  ft.;  thickness  of  corner 
posts,  3%  ins.,  and  side,  2^  ins.;  sweep  of  posts,  l)4  ins.  The 
side  sills  are  3)4  ins.  x  5  ins.,  and  the  wheel  pieces,  4%  ins.  x 
5  ins.,  plated  with  6-in.  x  3^-in.  angle  iron.  The  end  sills  are 
3-)4  ins.  x  6^8  ins.  The  cars  are  equipped  with  No.  21-E  trucks, 
angle-iron  bumpers,  radial  draw  bars,  conductor  gongs  and 
other  Brill  specialt'es.  The  trucks  have  a  wheel  base  of  7  ft., 
33-in.  wheels  and  4-in.  axles. 

—  

ADVERTISING  ON  THE  NEW  HAMPSHIRE  TRACTION  COM- 
PANY'S SYSTEM 

The  New  Hampshire  Traction  Company  is  issuing  a  number 
of  attractive  circulars  to  stimulate  traffic,  including  a  small 
semi-weekly  bulletin,  which  is  issued  on  Wednesdays  and  Sat- 
urdays. The  bulletin  contains  short  sketches  of  street  railway 
life,  programmes  of  the  entertainments  at  the  park  theatre,  etc. 
A  feature  of  Children's  Day  at  the  park,  on  July  26,  was  the 
distribution  of  free  tickets  to  the  merry-go-round  to  the  first 
1000  children  entering  the  park  on  that  day.  This  department 
of  the  company's  business  is  in  charge  of  E.  P.  Hulse. 


OHIO  SINK  HOLE  FILLED  AT  LAST; 

C.  A.  Alderman,  chief  engineer  of  the  Great  Northern  Con- 
struction Company,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  has  succeeded  in  fill- 
ing the  sink  hole  on  the  line  of  the  Urbana,  Bellefontaine  & 
Northern  Railway.  This  hole  has  been  giving  the  company  an 
immense  amount  of  trouble  during  the  past  year,  and  the 
progress  of  the  work  has  been  referred  to  in  these  columns  on 
several  occasions.  Mr.  Alderman  states  that  the  company  is 
now  running  cars  over  the  place,  and  the  work  seems  to  be 
standing  up  all  right,  and  he  hopes  there  will  be  no  further 
trouble  with  it.  The  line  crosses  a  marsh  which  is  about  1600 
ft.  long  and  about  250  ft.  of  track  sunk.  Soundings  in  this  por- 
tion showed  18  ft.  of  peet  bog,  while  the  balance  ranged  from 
that  to  10  ft.  of  peet  bog.  Last  fall,  when  the  road  was  built, 
the  company  dumped  about  1000  yards  of  gravel  and  broken 
stone  at  this  point,  but  apparently  no  impression  was  made. 
Some  work  was  done  this  spring,  but  it  was  ineffectual  on  ac- 
count of  rainy  weather,  which  turned  the  marsh  into  a  pond. 
Lately  a  determined  effort  was  made  to  fill  up  the  place,  and  it 
seems  to  have  been  effectual.  Over  9  acres  of  brush  were  put 
in  for  a  foundation,  and  6000  yards  of  gravel  and  stone  were 
filled  in.  The  filling  has  resulted  in  an  extensive  upheaval  of 
earth  all  around  the  place.  The  Big  Four  (steam)  tracks, 
which  parallel  the  tracks  of  the  electric  line,  were  laid  fifty 
years  ago  under  similar  conditions,  and  it  required  several 
years  to  get  the  road  into  shape  at  this  point. 


VERTICAL  CAR  BORER 


An  improved  machine  especially  adapted  for  heavy  wood 
boring  in  car  shops,  made  by  the  J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan  Company, 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  cut.  The 
capacity  of  the  machine  for  boring  large  holes  has  been  greatly 
increased,  and  every  convenience  has  been  incorporated  to 
do  the  boring  easily  and  quickly.  The  spindles  are  of  im- 
proved construction.  The  outside  boring  cones  have  angular 
adjustment  of  45  degs.  inside  and  60  degs.  outside.  Material 
14  ins.  square  can  be  bored;  the  spindles  will  travel  13  ins.  and 
the  vertical  movement  of  end  spindle  frames  is  8  ins.  The  out- 
side spindles  can  he  instantly  locked  at  any  angle  desired;  there 
is  no  strain,  and  short  bits  can  be  used  with  facility. 


FIVE-SPINDLE  VERTICAL  CAR  BORER 


The  table  is  a  steel  traveling  carriage  of  any  length  desired, 
is  provided  with  necessary  stops,  and  has  a  device  for  firmly 
clamping  the  stock.  It  has  rack  and  pinion  feed  under  instant 
control  of  the  operator,  and  has  connections  for  making  fine 
adjustments.  When  desired  a  stationary  table  9*4  ft-  long, 
with  nine  rolls,  can  be  furnished. 

A  supplemental  under-boring  spindle  especially  useful  for 
under-boring  can  be  furnished,  boring  independently  or  at  the 
same  time  as  the  upper  spindle,  and  short  bits  can  be  used  to 
advantage.  This  improvement  will  prove  very  beneficial  to  all 
those  who  have  this  class  of  work  to  do. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


213 


LONDON  LETTER 


[From  Our  Regular  Correspondent.] 
Perhaps  the  most  important  event  which  has  taken  place  in 
tramway  circles  during  the  past  month  has  been  the  struggle  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  question  of  granting  compulsory 
powers  to  the  Tyneside  Tramways  Company  for  parts  of  the  lines 
of  the  Newcastle  Corporation.    This  has,  of  course,  brought  up 
the  whole  subject  of  whether  companies  operating  urban  lines 
outside  the  boundaries  of  the  city  will  be  permitted  to  run  cars 
into  the  center  of  adjacent  cities.    One  or  two  examples  of  this 
kind  have  already  fortunately  been  made,  notably  that  of  the 
Liverpool   Corporation  with  the  South   Lancashire  Tramways 
Company.    The  present  struggle  has  been  brought  up  by  the  at- 
tempt of  the  Tyneside  Tramways  Company  to  compel  the  New- 
castle Corporation  to  allow  it  to  run  certain  of  its  cars  into  the 
center  of  Newcastle,  which  would  appear  to  all  who  look  at  this 
question  from  a  business  point  of  view,  and  not  from  one  of  close 
municipalism,  to  be  a  most  sensible  proposition.     Meetings  of 
municipal  tramway  managers  have  been  held  in  many  of  the 
cities,  and  a  general  meeting  has  been  held  in  London  with  the 
purpose  of  devising  means  to  defeat  the  bill  in  Parliament.  A 
most  vigorous  discussion  took  place  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
which  resulted  in  the  House  deciding  to  send  the  bill  back  to 
the  select  committee,  which  virtually  means  a  victory  for  the 
municipalities  for  the  present.    It  would  appear  as  if  the  Board 
of  Trade  was  in  favor  of  compulsory  powers  being  granted  com- 
panies for  running  on  corporation  systems,  and  it  would  seem 
that  there  would  be  little  doubt  that  in  future  a  bill  of  a  similar 
character  will  be  passed.    While  the  writer  does  not  wish  to  de- 
tract in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  magnificent  work  which 
municipalities  have  done  in   Great  Britain  in  building  up  the 
splendid  system  of  tramways  which  nearly  every  municipality  in 
Great   Britain   now   owns,   a   large  tendency  has  developed  to 
pursue   a   "dog   in   the   manger"   policy.    Instead  of  trying  to 
accommodate  the  public  by  making  a  sensible  business  arrange- 
ment with  outside  companies  who  own  running  powers  in  the 
vicinity  by  which  their  cars  could  be  run  interconnecting,  they 
have  pursued  a  most  exclusive  policy,  and  in  almost  every  case 
have  prevented  that  inter-communication  which  is  absolutely  es- 
sential to  the  success  of  tramway  development.    Perhaps  one  of 
the  most  unfortunate  causes  of  such  a  bitter  struggle  between 
company  and  municipality  is  that  most  of  the  companies  are  con- 
trolled by  one  gigantic  monopoly,  whose  policy  has  certainly  not 
endeared  it  to  the  municipalities.     If  the  company,  instead  ot 
using  sledge-hammer  blows  to  force  itself  into  the  territories  of 
municipalities,  would  endeavor  to  appease  the  municipalities,  and 
show  them  how  their  own  receipts  could  be  increased  by  enter- 
ing into  arrangements  with  them,  just  as  in  the  case  of  the  Liver- 
pool and  South  Lancashire  Tramways  Company,  an  amicable 
system  of  working  could  readily  be  arrived  at. 

After  all,  it  is  a  question  of  business  management,  and  one 
must  never  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  tramways  are  put  down  for 
the  use  of  the  public,  and  not  for  the  aggrandizement  of  municipal 
officials.  One  cannot  stop  the  wheels  of  progress,  and  it  will 
most  assuredly  come  in  future  years  that  a  man  when  he  boards 
a  tramway  car  outside  a  large  city  will  not  be  compelled  to 
change  his  car  when  he  comes  to  the  municipal  boundary.  It 
behooves  municipal  authorities  to  put  off  a  certain  amount  of 
their  exclusive  policy,  take  a  wider  view  of  the  situation,  and 
commence  business  negotiations  with  the  outlying  tramway  com- 
panies, or  else  they  will  undoubtedly  find  themselves  in  a  position 
some  day  when  these  tramway  companies  will  obtain  compulsory 
powers  which  will  prove  very  unpleasant  for  them. 

It  has  been  broadly  hinted  for  some  time  that  the  working  of 
the  electrified  portion  of  the  London  County  Council  Tramways, 
in  the  southern  area  of  London,  has  resulted  in  a  deficit,  and  the 
report  recently  presented  to  the  committee  amply  bears  out  this 
surmise.  It  appears  that  there  is  a  deficit  of  £8,283,  while  on  the 
northern  system,  which  is  still  operated  by  horses  and  under 
company  management,  there  is  a  profit  of  £27,657.  London 
County  Council  officials  explain  naturally  enough  that  most  of 
this  deficit  has  been  caused  by  the  disruption  of  traffic  owing  to 
the  conversion  of  the  system  to  electricity.  Too  great  stress  need 
not  be  put  upon  these  results,  however,  although  the  whole  tram- 
way industry  of  Great  Britain  is  much  interested  in  them.  Next 
year's  report  ought  to  show  clearly  whether  the  Council  can  make 
a  substantial  profit  or  not  on  the  electrified  portions.  It  would 
appear  also  in  view  of  this  deficit  and  the  already  large  capital 
involved  in  the  tramways,  that  no  further  conversion  of  any  mag- 
nitude will  take  place  at  present,  the  Council  being  now  willing 
to  rest  on  its  oars  and  await  results,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  prac- 
tice such  economies  as  are  possible.    Such  work  as  it  intends 


doing  in  the  near  future  will  be  in  the  way  of  connections  from 
one  point  to  another,  so  that  the  system  already  electrified  may 
be  complete  in  itself. 

The  ninth  annual  convention  of  the  Incorporated  Municipal 
Electrical  Association  was  this  year  held  in  the  Midlands,  Derby, 
Nottingham  and  Sheffield  having  been  selected  as  the  cities  in 
which  the  meeting  would  be  held,  T.  P.  Wilmshurst,  the  presi- 
dent of  the  association,  being  electrical  engineer  for  the  Derby 
Corporation,  and  that  city  being  elected  as  the  official  place  of 
meeting.    Six  papers  were  provided,  the  most  important  of  which, 
from  a  tramway  point  of  view,  being  that  of  C.  E.  C.  Shawfield, 
of  Wolverhampton  on  surface  contact  tramways,  published  in  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  for  July  9.    This  paper  elicited  an  im- 
portant discussion,  and  brought  out  some  valuable  information 
from  Mr.  Wetmore,  of  the  Lorain  Company,  who  made  the  Wol- 
verhampton installation.    In  the  afternoon  the  mayor  and  cor- 
poration of  Derby  invited  the  delegates  to  an  excursion  by  special 
train  to  Rowsley,  from  which  point  brakes  were  provided  to  take 
the  members  of  the  party  either  to  Chatsworth  or  Haddon  Hall, 
both  parties  uniting  again  at  Matlock  Bath,  wher    suitable  re- 
freshments were  1  rovided.    The  second  day  of  the  meeting  was 
held  at  Nottingham,  S.  L.  Pearce,  of  Manchester,  reading  an  im- 
portant paper  on  polyphase  sub-stations,  which,  however,  was 
much  of  a  description  of  the  work  coming  under  his  own  im- 
mediate supervision.    The  paper  was  much  criticised  by  other 
speakers.    The  Bristol  switchboard  fire  was  the  subject  of  the 
next  paper,  and  it  would  appear  as  if  there  were  as  much  uncer- 
tainty as  ever  as  to  what  really  caused  the  fire.    The  delegates 
were  invited  in  the  afternoon  to  visit  the  electric  power  house 
and  the  tramways  department  car  sheds,  and  Mr.  Madgen,  man- 
aging director  of  the  Brush  Electrical  Engineering  Company, 
invited  a  large  party  of  the  delegates  to  visit  its  works  at  Lough- 
borough, where  a  very  pleasant  afternoon  was  spent  in  inspect- 
ing a  large  amount  of  work  which  the  Brush  Company  has  at 
present  on  hand  for  various  corporations  and  tramway  companies. 
The  manufacture  of  steam  turbines  seemed  to  attract  visitors 
most,  as  this  company  has  already  on  hand  quite  a  number  of 
steam  turbines  which  it  is  manufacturing  under  a  special  license 
from  Mr.  Parsons.    Considerable  interest  was  also  shown  in  the 
new  engines  which  the  Brush  Company  had  recently  developed, 
and  the  car  building  department  and  the  manufacture  of  Brush 
trucks  also  attracted  great  attention.    After  tea,  provided  in  one 
of  the  spacious  rooms  of  the  office,  the  party  was  conducted  back 
to  Nottingham  in  ample  time  to  dress  for  the  annual  dinner  in 
the  evening.    This  dinner  was  held  in  Nottingham,  but  from  a 
social  point  of  view  did  not  appear  to  be  much  of  a  success,  and 
the  smoking  concert  after  the  dinner  collapsed  entirely. 

The  third  day  of  the  convention  was  held  in  Sheffield,  and 
"Boiler  Economies"  were  indulged  in,  after  which  there  was  a 
councillors'  debate  upon  the  financial  aspect  of  electric  lighting 
installations.  Most  of  the  members  afterward  accepted  Messrs. 
Hadfield's  kind  invitation  to  visit  their  works,  who,  as  usual,  pro- 
vided a  most  handsome  entertainment  for  the  delegates.  About 
two  hours  were  consumed  in  walking  about  the  extensive  works, 
the  visit  commencing  with  the  inspection  of  a  41^-in.  Krupp  gun, 
which  afterward  fired  two  projectiles  through  hard-face  armored 
plate.  The  inevitable  photograph  was  afterward  taken,  and  after 
seeing  the  usual  work  of  tramway  points  and  crossings,  and  all 
the  varied  manufactures  for  which  Hadfields  are  famous,  the  dele- 
gates gathered  in  the  tea  room  and  were  entertained  to  a  most 
sumptuous  tea.  Mr.  Hadfield  himself  was  present  on  this  occa- 
sion, and  welcomed  the  visitors  to  the  works.  He  stated  that 
though  it  had  been  necessary  some  years  ago  to  send  to  America 
for  the  class  of  work  they  were  now  making,  they  were  now.  and 
had  been  for  some  years,  in  a  position  which  made  it  totally  un- 
necessary to  send  to  America  for  any  work  connected  with  tram- 
way construction,  and  that  they  were  ready  to  undertake  any- 
thing that  any  engineer  connected  with  tramway  construction 
work  could  possibly  specify. 

The  annual  general  meeting  of  the  association  was  held  the  fol- 
lowing day  at  Derby,  when  the  new  officers  were  duly  elected,  as 
follows:  Officers  for  1005 — President,  F.  A.  Newington,  Edin- 
burgh; vice-presidents,  R.  A.  Chattock.  Birmingham,  and  S.  E. 
Fedden,  Sheffield. 

The  Maidstone  Tramways  have  just  been  successfully  com- 
pleted by  Messrs.  Dick,  Kerr  &  Company,  Ltd.  The  contract  in- 
cluded the  permanent  way,  overhead  equipment,  cars,  car  shed 
and  an  addition  to  the  switchboard.  The  route  length  of  the  per- 
manent way  is  just  over  2  miles,  and  is  of  single  track,  with  pass- 
ing places  throughout.  The  gage  of  the  line  is  3  ft.  6  ins.  'flic 
form  of  construction  adopted  is  as  follows:  The  portion  of  the 
track  within  the  town  proper  is  paved  with  9-in,  x  3-in.  hard  wood 
blocks,  and  for  a  pari  of  the  length,  where  the  gradient  approaches 
1  in  15,  the  track  has  been  paved  with  S-in.  x  4-in,  granite  setts. 


214 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


The  remainder  of  the  track,  amounting  to  about  a  mile  in  the 
outlying  portion  of  the  town,  where  the  traffic  is  slight,  has  been 
paved  with  a  serration  of  granite  on  either  side  of  the  rails,  with 
macadam  filling  in  between,  this  form  of  construction  lending  it- 
self particularly  well  to  roads  subjected  to  light  traffic,  and  is  of 
course  particularly  favorable  upon  grounds  of  economy.  In  con- 
nection with  the  granite  serration  and  macadam  paving,  the  con- 
crete bed  has  been  put  in  to  the  full  width  of  the  tramway  forma- 
tion to  provide  for  paving  the  track  throughout  at  a  later  date, 
should  the  corporation  decide  to  do  so. 

The  rails  used  are  the  British  standard  No.  2  section,  weighing 
95  lbs.  per  yard.  The  joints  are  of  the  Dicker  type,  fixed  by  6-in. 
bolts,  fitted  with  the  Eureka  lock.  Tie-bars  are  spaced  at  6-ft. 
centers,  and  are  of  the  patent  rolled  weldless  type.  The  track  has 
been  bonded  throughout  with  4/0  Neptune  bonds. 

The  car  shed  has  been  built  to  accommodate  six  double-deck 
cars.  The  main  shed  proper  contains  pit  accommodation  for  four 
cars. 

The  overhead  equipment  is  on  the  span  wire  system  for  a  pres- 
sure of  500  volts,  and  is  of  a  particularly  neat  and  rigid  construc- 
tion. Each  of  the  six  cars  has  a  seating  capacity  of  forty-eight 
persons,  twenty-two  inside  and  twenty-six  outside,  and  is  sup- 
plied with  a  complete  electrical  equipment.  The  motors  are 
Dick,  Kerr's  standard  25-B  type. 

The  Exeter  City  Council  has  accepted  the  tender  of  Dick,  Kerr 
&  Company,  of  London,  for  practically  the  whole  of  the  work 
in  connection  with  its  tramways  which  it  anticipates  commencing 
immediately.  A  large  number  of  tenders  were  sent  in,  but  Dick, 
Kerr  &  Company  appear  to  have  carried  off  the  whole  of  the 
work,  including  construction  of  the  track,  overhead  equipment, 
the  conduits  for  underground  cables,  which  will,  of  course,  be 
sub-let,  and  the  supply  of  twelve  electric  cars.  The  price  for  the 
track  construction  is  £29,227;  for  the  overhead  equipment, 
£6,341;  for  the  underground  cables,  £2,897,  and  for  the  electric 
cars,  £6,933,  the  total  for  the  whole  order  being  £42,055  17s.  9d. 

The  Nottingham  City  Council  has  decided  to  seek  Parliamen- 
tary powers  to  carry  out  a  further  large  extension  of  the  city's 
electric  tramway  system,  upon  which,  up  to  the  present,  over 
£600,000  have  been  spent.  The  extension  is  to  meet  the  needs 
of  a  district  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  which  is  becoming 
increasingly  populous,  and  it  is  estimated  to  cost  £110,000.  The 
lines  will  involve  the  demolition  of  much  old  and  insanitary  prop- 
erty, which  has  long  been  condenmed. 

Hearing  that  several  railway  companies  were  having  directly 
driven  petrol  cars  designed  for  their  branch  and  suburban  services, 
the  corporation  of  Perth  determined  to  try  a  tramway  car  built 
on  similar  lines  before  facing  such  an  expenditure  as  electricity 
would  need.  It  was  therefore  decided  to  get  a  tramway  car  from 
Messrs.  Stirlings,  Limited,  of  Granton  Harbour,  Edinburgh,  driven 
direct  from  a  petrol  engine.  This  vehicle  is  built  for  the  narrow 
gage  (3  ft.  6  ins.)  of  the  Perth  lines,  and  seats  forty  passengers, 
eighteen  inside  and  twenty-two  out.  The  engine  is  the  same  as 
is  used  in  Messrs.  Stirlings'  omnibuses  and  lorries  of  the  larger 
type,  being  a  four-cylinder  one  of  20-brake  hp.  As  the  Perth  lines 
have  a  number  of  bad  curves,  the  speed  limit  will  be  10  miles  an 
hour.  Powerful  hand  brakes  are  provided,  acting  on  all  the 
wheels.  The  car  is  well  finished,  and  looks  very  neat.  The  roof 
is  of  the  double-deck  type,  and  gives  plenty  of  room  inside.  Cur- 
tains are  fitted,  and  stained  glass  used  in  the  upper  windows. 
Passengers  can  communicate  with  the  guard  and  driver  from  their 
seats.  The  exterior  is  painted  in  pale  yellow,  with  deep  red 
panels  and  gold  lettering,  "Perth  Corporation  Tramways." 

The  full  service  of  electric  trains  to>  be  run  on  the  37  miles  of 
railway  in  the  neighborhood  of  Newcastle,  upon  the  conversion 
of  which  from  steam  to  electric  traction  the  North-Eastern  Rail- 
way Company  has  been  engaged  for  the  past  eighteen  months, 
was  commenced  last  month.  Sir  George  Gibb,  the  general  man- 
ager of  the  North-Eastern,  has  thus  made  good  the  promise  he 
gave  when  the  first  section  of  these  lines  was  opened  for  electric 
working  in  April  last — namely,  that  the  whole  work  should  be 
completed  by  June  30.  In  the  time  tables  of  the  company  for 
July  to  September,  which  have  just  been  published,  four  and  one- 
half  pages  are  taken  up  with  the  announcements  of  the  electric 
trains.  There  is  to  be  a  circular  service  running  every  half  hour 
between  Newcastle  (Central)  and  Newcastle  (New  Bridge  Street), 
via  Wallsend,  Tynemouth  and  Monkseaton,  in  addition  to  the 
local  services  between  the  Central  Station,  Newcastle,  and  Monk- 
seaton, and  between  Benton  and  New  Bridge  Street,  Newcastle. 
Then  hourly  trains  are  to  be  run  by  electricity  between  Newcastle 
(Central)  and  Tynemouth  over  the  Riverside  branch,  and,  further, 
there  is  to  be  a  service  of  express  electric  trains  between  New- 
castle and  Monkseaton,  Whitley  Bay  and  Tynemouth,  via  Back- 
worth,  covering  the  journey  to  the  coast  in  twenty  minutes. 
Doubtless  the  trains  will  be  made  more  frequent  when  the  initial 


difficulties  of  starting  the  new  system  of  working  have  been  over- 
come; but  it  is  highly  creditable  to  the  railway  company  and  to 
the  electrical  contractors,  the  British  Thomson-Houston  Com- 
pany, of  Rugby,  that  they  have  been  able  to  bring  the  whole  of 
the  electrified  lines  into  use  within  so  short  a  time  after  the  con- 
version was  decided  upon. 

A  contract  has  just  been  entered  into  between  the  Count  Ramon 
de  Berenguer,  of  Gerona,  Spain,  and  W.  T.  McCaskey,  York 
House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand,  London,  England,  under  the 
terms  of  which  a  company  with  the  title  of  Sociedad  Hidro-Elec- 
trica  Del  Ter  is  to  be  formed,  to  develop  a  water-power  of  1500 
hp  on  the  River  Ter,  Province  of  Gerona,  Spain,  and  to  distribute 
the  force  for  lighting  and  other  industrial  purposes  to  Gerona, 
the  capital  of  the  province,  San  Feliu  de  Guixols,  Palamos  and 
other  towns  in  the  vicinity.  The  capital  of  the  company  is  to  be 
3,000,000  pesetas,  being  1,500,000  pesetas  of  series  "A,"  or  pre- 
ferred shares,  and  1,500,000  pesetas  of  series  "B,"  or  common 
shares.  All  the  machinery,  apparatus  and  supplies  will  be  pur- 
chased bv  W.  T.  McCaskey,  York  House,  London. 

A.  C.  S. 



PARIS  LETTER 


(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent.) 

The  great  cutting  made  in  front  of  the  Paris  Opera  House  to 
provide  the  Opera  station  for  the  Paris  Metropolitan  Railway 
has  at  last,  after  about  a  year  of  obstruction,  been  covered,  and 
the  interior  works  for  the  new  station  are  well  advanced.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  this  station  comprises  some  three  levels, 
each  level  for  a  separate  line  running  E.-W.,  N.-W.  to  S.-E.  and 
NE.-SW.  The  top  story  only  is  as  yet  completed,  being  for  the 
new  No.  3  line  (Courcelles-Opera).  The  earth  was  transported 
by  tunnels  as  far  as  the  Ouest  Railway  station  of  St.  Lazare,  and 
there  placed  on  the  ordinary  cars.  The  heavy  traffic  on  the  streets 
under  which  this  line  runs  made  necessary  this  manner  of  dis- 
posing of  the  displaced  material.  Over  300,000  tons  of  earth  and 
limestone  were  in  this  way  removed  in  ten  months,  and  Paris 
was  ignorant  of  the  work  in  hand. 

The  Metropolitan  Railway  Company  is  still  looking  for  a  re- 
liable insulator  for  its  third  rail.  The  present  insulator  has  given 
rise  to  many  slight  accidents,  especially  during  the  fall  of  1903. 
The  insulator  consists  of  ambroine,  the  thickness  and  quantity  of 
which  is  too  small  for  the  current,  especially  when  exposed  to  the 
weather  on  the  exterior  lines.  The  third  rail  is  rather  heavy, 
about  100  lbs.  per  yard  (50  kg  per  meter).  It  is  said  that  the  cur- 
rent losses  from  defective  insulators  amounts  to  several  hundred 
kilowatts. 

The  order  for  motor  and  trail-cars  for  the  Underground  Elec- 
tric Railways  Company,  of  London  (District  Railway,  Mr. 
Yerkes'  group),  was  placed  in  France  entirely  on  the  question  of 
price.  The  joinery  work  is  considerably  cheaper  in  France  than 
in  England,  even  when  taking  the  transportation  charges  into 
account. 

It  appears  that  accidents  to  workmen  are  quite  numerous  on 
the  new  third-rail  extension  of  the  Paris-Orleans  Railway.  Every 
day  on  the  average  a  man  is  severely  shocked,  and  this  is 
undoubtedly  due  to  the  negligence  of  the  men  alone,  as  is  clearly 
proved.  The  new  locomotives  have  been  run  as  high  as  100  kms 
per  hour,  with  satisfactory  results. 

The  immense  facilities  which  Italy  offers  for  exploitation  of 
small  rivers  and  mountain  falls,  of  which  there  is  an  abundance 
everywhere,  have  long  been  pointed  out  in  these  columns.  A  new 
company  has  just  been  formed  to  undertake  the  harnessing  of 
the  river  Adda,  in  the  state  of  Trezzo,  for  industrial  uses.  The 
capital  is  some  2,000,000  lire  ($400,000),  and  is  subscribed  in  great 
part  by  the  Milan  Edison  Company  and  the  Crespi  family. 

The  Ouest  Railway  Company  seems  inclined  to  consider  the 
electric  traction  for  the  St.  Germain  line,  12  miles  from  Paris. 
There  are  many  interests  yet  to  be  reconciled  before  the  scheme 
will  make  much  headway. 

Some  statements  have  been  made  to  the  effect  that  the  trans- 
former of  2000  kw  now  at  Niagara  is  the  largest  in  the  world.  It 
would  appear  that  this  is  not  the  case.  There  is  now  in  course 
of  erection  for  the  Societe  Electro-chimique  de  la  Romanche  at 
Livet,  near  Grenoble,  six  transformers,  each  of  2500  kw  output. 
They  are  built  by  Brown-Boveri  &  Cie.,  of  Baden,  and  are  oil  insu- 
lated, water  cooled.  Three  of  them  are  destined  to  raise  the  genera- 
tor voltage  of  3500  volts  to  32,500  volts,  and  the  other  three,  in- 
stalled at  Grenoble,  reduce  32,500  volts  to  5000  volts. 

Tests  are  still  being  carried  out  by  the  city  authorities  on  a 
new  form  of  paving,  consisting  of  the  usual  (Travers)  asphalt, 
in  which  is  mixed  a  composition,  mostly  of  powdered  granite. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


215 


The  new  paving  is  said  to  be  non-slipping,  very  resistant  to  wear, 
and  supports  an  intense  traffic.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  be- 
come standard  in  place  of  the  deplorable  wood  blocks,  which  give 
such  poor  results  along  the  main  arteries  of  traffic,  especially 
where  railways  run. 

The  general  situation  in  France  for  electrical  matters  is  im- 
proving fast,  and  now  would  appear  to  be  a  fitting  time  for  Amer- 
ican representation.  The  needs  of  the  market  should  be  studied, 
and  supply  material  should  be  able  to  make  a  good  showing  wheri 
properly  pushed.  M.  V. 

—  

NOTES  FROM  GERMANY 


[From  Our  Regular  German  Correspondent.] 
Within  recent  years  German  street  railway  companies  have 
not  been  annoyed  as  much  as  they  formerly  were  by  the  impor- 
tunities of  the  inventors  of  impracticable  life-saving  devices,  such 
as  fenders  and  wheel  guards.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  great 
majority  of  such  inventors  is  composed  of  non-technical  men, 
probably  because  no  other  mechanical  contrivance  is  so  familiar 
to  the  general  public  as  a  street  car.  These  laymen  inventors 
usually  expect  that  they  will  make  a  large  fortune  by  some  single 
invention,  and  as  they  fail  to  realize  the  practical  difficulties  in 
the  way,  their  efforts  go  no  further  than  wasting  considerable 
money  and  condemning  the  railways  for  refusing  to  adopt  their 
"positively  life-saving"  apparatus.  There  are,  unfortunately,  no 
statistics  available  relative  to  the  useful  life  of  fender  patents,  but 
it  is  known  that  to-day  there  are  at  least  a  thousand  of  them  in 
existence,  and  very  few  of  their  inventors  have  ever  recovered 
their  expenses.  Statistics  are  available,  however,  regarding  the 
life  of  all  patents  issued  in  Germany,  from  which  it  is  plain  that 
only  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  patents  issued  attain  commercial 
success. 

The  average  age  of  all  German  patents  since  the  founding  of 
the  Patent  Office  is  only  4.7  years.  Of  the  106,682  applications 
granted  between  1889  and  1903  inclusive,.  31,466,  or  30.6  per  cent, 
had  not  expired.  Of  these,  14,217  were  in  their  first  to  third 
year,  10,561  in  their  fourth  to  sixth  year,  3482  in  their  seventh 
to  ninth  year,  2085  in  their  tenth  to  twelfth  year,  and  1121  in 
their  thirteenth  to  fifteenth  year,  the  latter  year  involving  the 
expiration  of  the  patent.  In  1903  the  annual  fees  required  in 
Germany  were  paid  for  only  138  of  the  patents  issued  in  1889,  and 
of  this  number  29  must  be  classified  under  "Dyestuffs"  and  10 
under  "Electrotechnic."  No  other  classification  had  more  than 
6,  and  in  40  classes  every  patent  had  been  permitted  to  go  by 
default  before  the  fifteenth  year!  In  all,  patent  fees  for  the  fif- 
teenth year  were  paid  on  1340  patents.  As  50,780  applications 
had  been  granted  by  the  end  of  1889,  it  is  evident  that  only  2.6 
per  cent  attained  the  maximum  legal  life.  Despite  the  innum- 
erable fender  patents,  not  more  than  ten  of  those  over  five  years 
old  were  considered  worthy  of  further  protection.  Would-be 
fender  inventors  may  well  draw  a  lesson  from  these  figures. 

The  report  for  1903  on  the  electric  railways  of  Saxony  has 
recently  been  issued  by  the  officials  of  that  kingdom,  and  shows 
that  while  there  were  no  important  extensions  there  was  an  in- 
crease in  cars,  passengers  and  revenue,  and  a  decrease  in  acci- 
dents. The  length  of  all  street  railways  and  cable  railways  is 
given  as  408.4  km  (245  miles),  an  increase  of  9  km  (5.4  miles) 
over  1902.  The  rolling  stock  comprised  1081  motor  cars  and  519 
trailers,  the  first  covering  45,600,000  car-km  (27,360,000  car- 
miles),  and  the  latter  9,000,000  car-km  (5,400,000  car-miles).  The 
number  of  passengers  carried  was  167,400,000,  against  154,000,000 
in  1902.  The  lines  of  Dresden  and  vicinity,  embracing  130  km 
(78  miles),  carried  77,000,000  passengers,  and  those  in  and  about 
Leipzig  69,000,000  on  lines  covering  112  km  (67.2  miles.)  The 
accidents  numbered  330,  or  23  less  than  in  1902.  Of  these,  273 
were  injured  and  16  killed  in  228  collisions.  Carelessness  in  en- 
tering and  leaving  cars  caused  injuries  to  87  passengers.  The 
ratio  of  passengers  carried  to  passengers  injured  was  1,000,000 
to  1.63. 

The  use  of  self-contained  motor  cars  on  light  railways,  instead 
of  the  customary  steam-drawn  trains,  is  meeting  with  increasing 
favor.  While  this  will  open  up  a  very  promising  field  for  electric 
traction,  the  supporters  of  the  latter  must  reckon  with  the  com- 
petition of  steam  and  gasoline  motor  cars  which  have  been  de- 
veloped recently  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency.  In  this  connection 
the  figures  which  some  railways  have  published  relative  to  motor 
car  operation  deserve  the  serious  attention  of  the  makers  of  elec- 
tric railway  apparatus.  A  Hungarian  light  railway  gives  the  fol- 
lowing data  obtained  in  1903: 

The  motor  cars  consisted  of  two  steam  cars  (de  Dion-Bouton) 
and  one  gasoline  car  (Daimler.)    The  performance  of  each  car 


was  as  follows:  Speed,  when  traveling  alone  40  km  (24  miles) 
an  hour;  with  three  trailers  weighing  six  tons,  30  km  (78  miles) 
an  hour;  with  freight  cars  weighing  26.4  tons,  15  km  (9  miles)  an 
hour.  The  three  cars  traveled  93,189  car-km  (55,914  car-miles) 
in  1903,  carried  140,350  passengers  and  brought  in  a  revenue  of 
71,695  kroner  ($17,386.)  The  operating  expenses  with  steam  cars 
proved  to  be  21.29  heller  per  km  (8.6  cents  per  mile.)  The  cost 
of  power  (exclusive  of  lighting)  was  7  heller  per  km  (2.8  cents  per 
mile),  and  of  repairs  4.4  heller  (1.8  cents.)  The  operating  ex- 
penses when  using  the  gasoline  car  were  22.05  heller  per  km  (8.9 
cents  per  mile),  power  costing  9.8  heller  per  km  (3.95  cents  per 
mile),  and  repairs  4.5  heller  (1.8  cents.)  It  is  expected  that  the 
cost  of  gasoline  can  be  brought  down  to  5.7  heller  (2.4  cents.) 

This  line  operates  through  a  sparsely  settled  district  and  under 
the  old  conditions  freight  and  passengers  were  carried  on  the 
same  train,  the  service  being  slow  and  unsatisfactory.  Since  the 
introduction  of  the  motor  cars,  transportation  costs  have  been 
reduced  58  per  cent,  fare  per  passenger  has  been  reduced  43  per 
cent,  increase  in  gross  earnings  80  per  cent,  decrease  in  operating 
expenses  30  per  cent.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  a 
locomotive  covered  annually  only  30,000  km  (18,000  miles),  while 
a  motor  car  can  cover  twice  as  much  in  the  same  period.  It  has 
been  found  that  the  life  of  the  track  is  longer  under  motor-car 
operation,  despite  the  greater  mileage.  Even  if  motor  cars  do 
not  give  as  good  returns  as  locomotives,  they  should  be  preferred, 
owing  to  the  more  frequent  service  that  they  can  give.  With 
these  facts  before  them,  why  should  the  electrical  companies 
hesitate  to  enter  such  a  promising  field? 

Here  and  there  are  found  electric  cars  which  have  been  espe- 
cially designed  for  service  on  light  railways.  One  of  these  cars, 
which  appears  to  be  giving  satisfaction,  is  made  up  as  follows: 
The  car  consists  of  two  similar  self-contained  single-truck  cars, 
connected  by  a  middle  platform.  Each  truck  has  a  wheel  base 
of  4  m  (13  ft.)  As  the  middle  platform  is  swiveled  to  the  end 
platforms  of  the  single-truck  cars,  the  entire  car  can  pass  around 
curves.  The  wheels  are  1  m  (39.37  ins.)  in  dia.  The  total  length 
of  the  car  between  buffers  is  18.9m  (62  ft.),  width  3.12  m  (10  ft.  3 
ins.),  and  height  above  rails  3.8  m  (12  ft.  6  ins.)  The  height 
of  the  car  body  interior  is  2.5  m  (8  ft.).  The  motorman's  vesti- 
bules, which  are  separated  by  sliding  doors  from  the  rest  of  the 
car,  have  each  standing-room  for  five  passengers.  Each  of  the 
two  regular  compartments  seats  forty  passengers,  and  the  middle 
platform  offers  standing-room  for  eight  more. 

The  battery  equipment  consists  of  148  cells,  placed  in  air-tight, 
hard-rubber  receptacles  under  the  seats.  The  capacity  of  this 
equipment  is  430  amp-hours,  discharging  at  140  amp,  and  365 
volts.  The  batteries  are  charged  at  480  volts  from  the  power 
supply  of  the  Dresden  railway  system.  The  operating  equipment 
consists  of  four  flexibly-supported  four-pole  series  motors,  each 
giving  27  hp  at  360  volts.  The  motors  are  coupled  in  pairs,  and 
may  be  operated  either  series-parallel  or  straight  series.  The 
braking  equipments,  besides  a  hand  brake,  include  magnetic 
brakes,  four  of  which,  when,  short-circuited  through  their  sole- 
noid, give  a  braking  effort  varying  from  2000-2400  kg  (4000-4800 
lbs.),  distributed  over  sixteen  brake-shoes.  TwO'  regulation 
stoves  are  used  for  heating.  The  speed  of  this  car  is  45  km  (27 
miles)  an  hour;  its  weight,  without  passengers,  44  tons. 

It  may  be  said  of  Berlin  that  it  is  very  slow  in  deciding  impor- 
tant transportation  questions,  refusing  permission  to  those  who 
desire  to  build  new  lines,  while  at  the  same  time  doing  nothing 
on  its  own  account. 

The  traffic  from  east  to  west  is  well  developed,  due  to  the 
early  introduction  of  railways  covering  the  necessary  avenues  of 
travel,  which  fortunately  were  wide  enough  to  permit  the  effi- 
cient handling  of  heavy  traffic.  In  this  direction  cars  (frequently 
including  a  trailer)  run  on  25  seconds'  headway  for  about  4  km 
(2.4  miles)  before  diverging  to  other  routes,  but  still  maintaining 
very  short  headways  on  the  principal  streets.  For  this  reason 
omnibus  traffic  is  not  so  large  in  this  district  as  in  others. 

Traveling  north,  however,  presents  very  different  conditions. 
Friedrich  Strasse,  the  most  frequented  thoroughfare,  is  so  nar- 
row as  to  make  impracticable  the  construction  of  a  street  railway. 
Although  there  are  several  lines  on  parallel  streets,  they  are 
obliged  to  take  such  long  detours  to  avoid  the  great  avenue 
known  as  "Untcr  den  Linden"  (which  may  be  crossed  only  at 
one  point)  that  the  public  generally  prefers  either  to  walk  or  to 
ride  on  the  omnibuses,  which  are  not  hampered  by  street  railway 
restrictions.  The  omnibuses  long  ago  proved  utterly  unable  to 
cope  with  this  traffic,  and  as  a  consequence  several  attempts  have 
been  made  by  private  companies  to  secure  a  franchise  for  an 
underground  railway  for  this  section,  but  the  municipality  refused 
permission  because  the  city  of  Berlin  contemplated  building  the 
subway  itself  some  time  in  the  future.  At  last,  matters  have 
reached  this  stage:    The  city's  building   commissioner,  Herr 


2l6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


Krause,  has  finally  completed  his  subway  plans,  which  have  been 
approved  by  the  city's  transportation  committee.  This  action  is 
expected  to  bring  matters  to  a  head,  as  there  is  little  doubt  of 
the  approval  of  the  higher  State  and  city  authorities.  It  appears 
from  the  accepted  plans  that  the  new  subway  will  run  from  north 
to  south  and  be  8.04  km  (4.8  miles)  long.  An  early  design 
called  for  curves  of  60  m  (197  ft.)  radius,  but  it  was  determined 
later  to  have  no  curves  of  less  than  125  m  (410  ft.)  radius,  owing 
to  the  decreased  life  of  equipment  caused  by  such  short  curves 
as  are  used  in  the  first  Berlin  and  Paris  subways,  and  also  on 
the  Berlin  elevated  railway.  The  cost  of  the  new  subway  is 
placed  at  49,000,000  marks  ($12,250,000),  to  be  secured  by  a  special 
lean.  In  addition,  1,500,000  marks  ($375,000)  are  to  be  set  aside 
for  renewal  and  reserve  funds,  and  3,500,000  marks  ($875,000)  tor 
purchasing  condemned  property.  The  present  private  elevated 
and  underground  lines  are  so  arranged  as  to  offer  no  hindrance 
to  the  building  of  the  new  line. 

After  considerable  argument,  it  has  been  decided  to  have  two 
classes  of  cars,  following  the  method  of  the  elevated  line.  On 
the  latter,  15  per  cent  of  the  passengers  pay  the  higher  class  fare, 
which  is  50  per  cent  more  than  the  lower  class  fare.  This  dis- 
tinction has  been  found  to  prove  a  valuable  source  of  additional 
income.  The  fares  will  follow  the  schedule  of  the  Berliner  Stadt- 
bahn  (steam),  namely,  10  pfg.  {2%  cents)  up  to  five  stations;  for 
the  remaining  stations,  twelve  or  thirteen  in  all,  the  fare  will  be 
20  pfg.  (5  cents).  As  noted  before,  passengers  in  the  higher  class 
coaches  will  pay  50  per  cent  additional. 

 ♦  »♦  

HADFIELD'S  ST£EL  FOUNDRY  AT  SHEFFIELD,  ENGLAND 


Reference  has  been  made  in  the  London  letter  in  this  issue  to 
the  visit  of  the  Incorporated  Municipal  Electrical  Association  to 
Hadfield's  Steel  Foundry  Company,  Limited,  in  Sheffield,  and  as 
it  possesses  one  of  the  largest  steel  foundries  in  the  world,  perhaps 
the  following  facts  will  be  found  interesting : 

The  company  now  owns  two  steel  works,  having  a  total  area 
of  80  acres,  and  employing  about  4000  men.  The  original  works, 
known  as  the  Hecla  Works,  were  established  by  the  late  Robert 
Hadfield,  at  Attercliffe.  The  new  works,  at  Tinsley,  were  opened 
in  August,  1897.  The  steel  foundry  at  Tinsley  is  the  largest  in 
the  world,  being  1020  ft.  long  and  covering  6  acres.  There  are 
twenty  overhead  electric  travelers,  of  a  capacity  up  to  20  tons, 
and  thirteen  electrical  jib  cranes.  Other  pneumatic  and  electric 
appliances  are  in  use  in  this  foundry.  The  annealing  shops  are 
in  three  separate  buildings,  and  cover  an  area  of  50,000  sq.  ft. 
There  are  twenty-three  annealing  furnaces  with  overhead  electric 
cranes.  The  fettling  sbops  are  in  two  separate  buildings,  and 
have  an  area  of  45,000  sq.  ft.;  these  are  filled  with  electrical  cranes, 
and  also  other  electrical  machinery.  The  grinding  shop  is  a  part 
of  the  fettling  department.  It  has  fifteen  sets  of  emery  stones, 
which  are  all  connected  up  to  dust  exhausters  to  keep  the  atmos- 
phere pure. 

In  the  smithing  department  there  are  some  very  large  ham- 
mers, there  being  a  special  hammer  for  fitting  wheels  on  to  axles 
by  Hadfield's  fast  method.  The  smithing  shop  and  colliery  tub 
department  cover  an  area  of  46,000  sq.  ft.  All  tools  in  the  pattern 
shop  are  electrically  driven.  The  building  covers  an  area  of  96,000 
sq.  ft.  on  one  floor.  The  woodworking  machinery  is  also  of  the 
most  modern  description.  The  pattern  store  is  an  important  de- 
partment, as  large  numbers  of  patterns  are  required  for  the  varied 
work  carried  on  in  the  steel  foundry.  There  are  twelve  buildings 
in  all  for  storing  patterns,  the  floor  area  being  35,000  sq,  ft. 

In  the  track  construction  department  switches  and  crossings 
for  railway  and  tramway  permanent  way  which  have  been  made 
in  the  foundry  are  put  together  as  they  would  be  laid  on  the 
ground  for  actual  work.  There  is  a  power  plant  for  bending  rolls 
and  punching  and  sawing  machinery.  The  lay  out  floor,  which 
is  boarded  throughout,  covers  an  area  of  about  5  acres. 

The  machine  shops  are  all  of  large  size,  covering  an  area  of 
about  3  acres.  They  are  fitted  with  a  large  number  of  electrically- 
driven  machine  tools.  There  are  nine  overhead  electric  travelers. 
The  buildings  are  435  ft.  long,  and  there  are  ten  bays  in  all. 

The  power  station,  having  a  total  of  2100  hp,  has  5  units.  The 
dynamos  are  all  driven  by  cross-compound  Corliss  engines.  The 
engines  all  exhaust  into  a  central  condensing  plant,  water  from 
the  River  Don  being  used.  Current  is  supplied  from  this  station 
to  work  the  225  motors,  varying  from  l/2,  hp  up  to  150  hp. 

Hadfield's  Steel  Foundry  Company,  Limited,  produces  castings 
and  forgings  for  all  branches  of  engineering  work.  The  manage- 
ment has  always  made  a  point  of  providing  special  steel  for  dif- 
ferent classes  of  work,  according  to  the  mechanical  properties 
needed  for  the  working  conditions,    This  system  has  necessi- 


tated an  extensive  laboratory  and  scientific  staff,  both  for  chemical 
and  physical  tests.  This  is  a  special  feature  to  which  the  chair- 
man and  managing  director,  R.  A.  Hadfield,  has  always  given 
particular  attention.  Out  of  this  have  grown  several  special 
grades  of  steel  which  are  now  well  known  in  the  engineering 
trade.  The  most  prominent  and  best  known  among  engineers 
is  Hadfield's  "Era"  manganese  steel.  This  steel  is  very  largely 
used  for  special  permanent  way  work,  for  tramways,  railways  and 
dock  work.  It  combines,  in  a  manner  not  possessed  by  any 
other  materials,  the  two  qualities  of  hardness  and  toughness. 
The  material  is  so  hard  that  no  steel  tool  will  cut  it;  at  the  same 
time  it  is  so  tough  that  pieces  l/2  in.  thick  can  be  bent  nearly 
double  cold  without  cracking.  These  qualities  make  it  specially 
suitable,  therefore,  for  lailway  switches  and  crossings,  and  the 
company  has  introduced  a  system  of  producing  these  parts  in 
one  casting  to  take  the  place  of  the  ordinary  steel  built  up  points 
and  crossings  generally  in  use. 



SPECIAL  TROLLEY  CARS  IN  BOSTON 


The  Boston  &  Northern  and  the  Old  Colony  Street  Railways, 
which  operate  some  900  miles  of  electric  lines  north  and  south 
of  Boston,  have  arranged  to  conduct  a  series  of  special  car  excur- 
sions this  summer  to  all  the  principal  seashore  resorts  and  other 
places  of  historic  interest  radiating  from  the  city  of  Boston. 
These  trips  will  be  run  only  in  pleasant  weather,  and  at  the  lead- 
ing places  guides  will  meet  the  party  and  conduct  them  to  places 
of  interest,  if  so  desired.  Meals  and  other  accommodations  will 
be  arranged  for  at  the  request  of  the  passenger,  and  round  trip 
tickets  will  be  sold  including  meals  at  different  hotels. 

As  the  companies  are  making  an  experiment  and  wish  to  find 
out  whether  or  not  the  increased  facilities  for  travel  in  this  man- 
ner will  be  appreciated,  only  weekly  trips  will  be  run  by  the 
specials,  beginning  Aug.  2.  It  is  quite  likely  that  the  patronage 
will  necessitate  the  making  more  frequent  trips,  and  the  personally 
conducted  trolley  trip  in  New  England  is  probably  destined  to 
become  a  feature  of  travel  during  the  pleasant  summer  weather. 
While  some  of  the  trips  are  within  a  radius  of  25  miles  of  Boston, 
others  are  planned  to  run  around  Cape  Ann  and  through  to 
Newport,  the  latter  being  a  distance  of  80  miles  from  the  Hub, 
and  in  all  cases  the  specials  will  be  run  through  without  change, 
being  the  longest  trip  in  New  England  by  trolley  without  change. 
The  trips  will  be  under  the  personal  supervision  of  R.  H.  Derrah, 
the  trolley  excursion  expert. 


PROPOSED  POLYPHASE  RAILWAY  IN  DENMARK 


A  short  reference  was  published  in  the  Paris  letter  of  July  2  to 
a  long  electric  railway  proposed  between  Frederikesund  and 
Nestred.  Further  particulars  of  this  line  are  now  available.  The 
total  length  is  96.23  km.,  and  the  Ganz  three-phase  system  will 
be  used.  The  cost  of  electrical  equipment,  including  overhead 
line,  power  station,  sub-stations,  fourteen  double-truck  motor 
cars,  and  six  electric  trail  cars,  is  $8,017  per  km.  of  track.  A  ser- 
vice of  about  9000  train-km  per  track-km  per  year  is  contem- 
plated, the  passenger  trains  to  run  at  50  km  per  hour  and  the 
freight  trains  at  30  km.  The  company  will  be  known  as  the 
Sjaelland  Middle  Railway. 

♦  ♦♦ 

NEW  CARS  FOR  NEW  YORK  ELEVATED 


The  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  ordered  one 
hundred  new  "trailer"  cars  for  its  elevated  lines  at  a  cost  of 
$350,000.  In  a  short  time  a  car  will  be  added  to  each  train  on 
the  Third  Avenue  line  which  runs  through  the  "rush"  hours, 
making  seven-car  trains  instead  of  six,  as  at  present.  The  plat- 
form of  the  City  Hall  station  is  being  lengthened  to  accommo- 
date the  longer  trains,  and  the  extra  cars  will  be  put  into  service 
as  soon  as  this  work  is  finished. 

Of  the  one  hundred  new  "trailers"  ordered,  fifty  will  be  made 
by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company  and  fifty  by  the  Wason  Manufac- 
turing Company,  although  the  trucks  for  the  cars  built  by  the 
latter  company  will  be  manufactured  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany. These  trucks  were  especially  designed  by  Frank  Hedley, 
general  superintendent  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany. 


August  6,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


217 


THE  ELECTRIC  SLEEPING-CAR  SITUATION 


Joseph  W.  Selvage,  general  manager  of  the  Holland  Palace 
Car  Company,  of  Indianapolis,  has  been  going  over  the  various 
roads  between  Indianapolis  and  Zanesville  with  a  view  to  placing 
in  operation  the  long-talked-of  interurban  sleeping  car  service 
through  Central  Ohio  and  Indiana.  He  has  conferred  with  the 
operating  departments  of  the  various  roads,  and  this  week  will 
go  to  Boston  to  take  up  the  matter  with  the  Tucker- Anthony  and 
Appleyard  interests  which  control  several  of  the  Ohio  roads  that 
would  be  traversed.  It  is  understood  that  the  Holland  Com- 
pany's proposition  is  to  own  and  operate  the  cars  and  furnish  a 
porter  and  charge  the  various  roads  a  certain  amount  for  their 
use.  The  distance  from  Zanesville  to  Indianapolis  is  about  235 
miles,  and  the  large  cities  en  route  are  Newark,  Columbus, 
Springfield,  Dayton  and  Richmond.  As  has  already  been  pointed 
out  by  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  a  great  many  steam  roads 
operate  sleeping  cars  over  even  shorter  routes  than  this,  and  they 
are  patronized  because  traveling  men  are  willing  to  make  an  all- 
night  trip  in  preference  to  spending  a  good  share  of  the  day  on 
such  a  run.  It  makes  no  particular  difference  if  the  electric  car 
takes  an  hour  or  two  longer  for  the  run,  and  the  lower  fare  and 
absence  of  smoke  are  points  which  would  be  greatly  in  favor  of 
the  electric  sleepers.  It  has  been  stated  repeatedly  that  the  trial 
of  the  project  over  this  route  has  been  held  up  on  account  of  a 
low  undergrade  crossing  at  Richmond,  Ind.,  but  it  is  understood 
on  good  authority  that  the  managers  of  some  of  the  roads  con- 
cerned are  fearful  that  the  extreme  weight  and  high  power  of 
the  Holland  cars  now  ready  for  operation  might  prove  too  great 
a  strain  for  existing  bridges  and  power  stations,  which  were  de- 
signed for  much  lighter  cars  and  motors. 


EARNINGS  OF  THE  INDIANA  TRACTION  ROADS 


It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  Indiana  traction  roads  have 
done  a  good  business  during  the  first  six  months  of  the  year,  and 
all  have  met  their  semi-annual  interest  payments,  amounting  to 
a  third  of  a  million  dollars,  on  bond  issues.  The  past  six  months 
were  the  most  unfavorable  that  Indiana  traction  roads  have  had, 
and  when  the  companies  operating  them  were  floating  capitaliza- 
tion and  figuring  expenses  on  the  basis  of  last  year's  business, 
which  was  a  record-breaker,  they  had  an  unusually  heavy  task. 
One  of  the  largest,  the  Indiana  Union  Traction  Company,  on  the 
ground  of  necessity,  cut  its  guaranteed  dividend  on  common  stock. 

It  is  said  that  a  number  of  Indiana  traction  roads  the  first  of 
this  year,  though  doing  a  larger  business  to  the  mile  than  they 
did  in  1902,  and  a  great  deal  more  in  the  aggregate,  ran  a  very 
close  race  with  obligations,  including  operating  expenses  and 
fixed  charges.  The  business  at  present,  however,  is  very  prosper- 
ous and  profitable.  Other  traction  companies  are  showing  a 
good  margin  between  these  two  items,  and  when  the  aggregate 
gross  income  and  the  aggregate  operating  expenses  and  fixed 
charges,  including  interest,  taxes  and  other  items,  of  all  of  the 
roads  of  the  State  are  cast,  it  is  found  that  there  is  a  margin  on  the 
right  side  of  the  ledger. 

The  seven  roads  entering  Indianapolis  (excluding  the  Plainfield 
line)  are  doing  a  business  which,  if  the  present  ratios  are  main- 
tained, will  give  an  aggregate  of  $2,325,000  or  $2,500,000  gross 
earnings  in  1904.  Against  these  estimates  there  must  be  checked 
up  operating  expenses  estimated  at  50  per  cent  of  the  gross  earn- 
ings and  fixed  charges  aggregating  $636,000,  making  a  total  of 
$1,798,500.  Some  of  the  smaller  companies  that  are  moderately 
capitalized  will  make  good  margins  on  operations  this  year.  The 
Indianapolis  &  Martinsville  Rapid  Transit  Company  and  the  In- 
dianapolis &  Eastern  Railway  Company  are  reported  to  be  making 
upward  of  10  per  cent. 

Floods  during  the  month  of  March  washed  out  much  track  and 
otherwise  hindered  operation  and  made  additional  expense.  The 
cool,  late  spring  retarded  park  gatherings,  etc.,  and  yet  all  the 
roads  came  through  the  first  six  months  as  money  makers,  and 
the  last  half  of  the  year  promises  exceedingly  well.  Traction 
men  are  expecting  a  general  improvement  and  an  increase  in  the 
traction  business  this  fall.  The  national  and  State  compaign,  the 
State  Fair  and  a  large  number  of  conventions  yet  to  be  held  will 
no  doubt  confirm  their  expectations.  The  fixed  charges  have 
rested  heavily  on  some  of  the  companies,  as  they  have  been  pay- 
ing interest  on  bonds  covering  mileage  that  was  not  open  for 
traffic  until  late  in  the  spring  or  summer.  Some  of  these  exten- 
sions will  not  only  add  to  the  business  of  their  own  mileage,  but 
will  give  connections  with  other  lines,  from  which  they  will  secure 
a  great  deal  of  through  travel  and  transfers. 


RAILWAY  EMBEZZLER  GETS  HIS  DESERTS 


George  B.  Ray,  alias  Ford  M.  Kinney,  alias  Philips,  alias  John 
Purdy,  who  was  arrested  June  22,  at  Fort  Lee,  N.  J.,  charged 
by  the  New  Jersey  &  Hudson  River  Railway  &  Ferry  Company 
with  embezzlement,  was  tried  on  July  20  and  21  before  Judge 
Zabriskie.  Several  inspectors,  whom  the  company  had  secured 
from  Drummond's  Detective  Agency,  of  New  York,  testified  that 
they  had  been  on  Purdy's  car  when  he  neglected  to  register  fares 
collected.  As  a  result  of  their  testimony  the  accused  conductor 
was  found  guilty  as  charged,  and  was  sentenced  July  25  for  four 
months  in  the  Hackensack  Jail.  This  was  the  prisoner's  first 
conviction.  He  was  arrested  four  years  ago,  charged  with  grand 
larceny  in  Pine  Island,  N.  Y.,  but  was  not  prosecuted  as  he 
settled  the  matter  out  of  court  and  the  prosecuting  witness  did 
not  appear. 



PROGRESS  OF  OHIO  INTERCHANGEABLE  COUPON  BOOK 


The  plan  adopted  by  the  different  roads  of  the  Ohio  Interurban 
Railway  Association  for  an  interchangeable  coupon  book,  good 
on  all  the  roads,  has  been  held  up  for  nearly  three  months  through 
the  inability  of  the  officials  of  the  association  to  find  a  bonding 
house  that  would  go  on  the  bonds  of  the  various  roads.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  the  agreement  between  the  various  roads  re- 
quired that  each  road  put  up  a  bond  of  $10,000  to  ensure  the 
carrying  out  of  the  agreement.  The  bonding  houses  had  never 
heard  of  a  proposition  of  this  kind  and  declined  to  make  any 
kind  of  a  deal  that  the  officers  of  the  association  deemed  satis- 
factory. It'  is  understood  that  this  difficulty  has  now  been  sur- 
mounted and  the  bonds  placed,  so  that  the  books  will  be  issued  in 
the  near  future  and  the  plan  will  become  operative  on  the  vari- 
ous roads  within  a  month  or  six  weeks. 



FIGHT  OVER  UNION  TRACTION  LEASES  IN  CHICAGO 


About  a  year  ago  a  new  lease  was  made  between  the  Chicago 
Union  Traction  Company  and  the  underlying  companies,  whose 
property  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  operates  under 
lease.  This  new  lease  was  drawn  up  because  of  the  financial 
straits  in  which  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  found 
itself  after  the  receivers  were  appointed,  which  made  it  impos- 
sible for  the  company  to  carry  out  the  terms  of  the  lease.  The 
minority  stockholders  of  the  underlying  companies,  who  did  not 
like  the  terms  of  the  new  lease,  brought  suit  to  have  the  new 
lease  declared  illegal.  This  suit  recently  occupied  sixteen  days 
before  Judge  Mack,  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cook  County.  At 
the  close  of  the  trial  the  Judge  issued  a  temporary  injunction 
forbidding  the  officers  of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company 
to  perform  any  official  act  under  the  new  lease  until  he  could 
render  a  decision  as  to  the  legality  of  the  lease.  The  new  lease 
reduced  the  rentals  paid  to  the  underlying  companies. 



PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  F.  L.  MARKHAM.  for  several  years  with  George  S. 
Hastings  &  Company,  Cleveland,  has  become  identified  with  the 
J.  G.  Brill  Company  and  will  travel  in  the  South. 

MR.  E.  W.  LAWSON,  for  some  time  assistant  electrical  engi- 
neer of  the  Canton-Akron  and  Canton-New  Philadelphia  sys- 
tems at  Canton,  Ohio,  has  resigned  to  accept  a  position  in  the 
electrical  department  of  the  Public  Service  Corporation  at  Jersey 
City,  N.  J. 

MR.  W.  E.  IRWIN,  who  for  five  years  has  been  connected 
with  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company's  interests  in  Southern 
California,  recently  appointed  city  passenger  agent,  has  accepted 
an  offer  of  the  management  of  the  Albuquerque  (N.  M.)  Street 
Railway  Company. 

MR.  FRANK  E.  LONAS.  of  the  firm  of  Lonas,  Clendenin  & 
McCord,  New  York,  sailed  July  21  on  the  French  liner  "La 
Savoie"  for  Paris.  He  goes  abroad  in  the  interests  of  the  firm  on 
railway  business,  to  close  pending  negotiations  for  the  securities 
of  two  steam  and  two  electric  railways,  which  the  linn  has  under 
contract  to  finance  and  build.  While  abroad,  he  will  go  to  Ber- 
lin and  London,  and  make  permanent  financial  connections  for 
the  disposition  of  the  securities  of  the  larger  propositions  in  rail- 
ways which  the  firm  accept  for  financing.  Mr.  G.  Otto  Elterich, 
representing  the  firm,  left  on  July  16,  and  will  carry  forward  the 
European  business  of  the  firm  abroad.  Mr.  Lonas  expects  to 
be  gone  about  six  to  ten  weeks. 


2l8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  6. 


TABLE  OF  OPERATING  STATISTICS 


Notice. — These  statistics  will  be  carefully  revised  from  month  to  month,  upon  information  received  from  the  companies  direct,  or  from  official  sources 
The  table  should  be  used  In  connection  with  our  Financial  Supplement  "  American  Street  Railway  Investments,"  which  contains  the  annual  operating 
reports  to  the  ends  of  the  various  financial  years.    Similar  statistics  in  regard  to  roads  not  reporting  are  solicited  by  the  editors.  *  Including  taxes, 

t  Deficit. 


Company 


AKRON,  O. 
Northern  Ohio 
Light  Co  


Tr.  & 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 
United  Traction  Co. 


BINGHAMTON,  N.  Y. 
Binghamton  Ky.  Co.. 


CHICAGO,  ILL. 
Chicago  &  Milwaukee 
Elec.  By.  Co  


Period 


Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  R.  R.  Co  ... 


Northwestern  Elevated 
H.  R.  Co  ._  


South  Side 
B.  R.  Co  


Elevated 


1  m.,  June 
1 08 
0  "  "  '0-1 
6  "     "  '03 


3  m.,  June  '04 
  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
12 "  "  '04 
12 03 


1  m.,  June  '04 

1    "  '  '03 

6   ■'  "  '04 

6  "  "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
1 03 

(i  "  "  <M 

0  "  "  '03 


I  m.,  June  '04 
I   "     "  '03 

IS  "  "  '04 
(i   "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 


CINCINNATI,  O. 
Cincinnati,  Newport  & 
Covington    Light  & 
Traction  Co  


CLEVELAND.  O. 
Cleveland,  Painesville 
&  Eastern  R.  R.  Co. 


Cleveland  &  Southwest- 
ern Traction  Co  


1  m.,  May  '04 

1   "     "  '03 

5   "     "  *04 

3   "     "  '03 


m.,  June  '04 
>,      u  ,03 

"      "  '04 

0   "      "  '03 


1  m.,  Tune  '04 

,,  ,n:1 

"     "  '04 

'     "  '03 


DETROIT,  MICH. 

Detroit  United  Ry. 


DULUTH,  MINN. 
Duluth  Street  Ry.  Co, 


EAST  ST.  LOUIS,  ILL 
East  St.  Louis  &  Su- 
burban Ky,  Co..  


FORT  WORTH,  TEX. 
Northern  Texas  Trac- 
tion Co  


GREENSBCRG,  PA. 
Pittsburg,  McKees- 
port  &  Greensburg 
Ry.  Co  


1  m.,  June  '04 
1 03 
0  "  "  '04 
ii  "      "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
1  •'  "  '03 
0  "  •'  '04 
0  "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 

1   "      "  '03 

Ii  "     "  '04 

6   "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
1  •'  "  '03 
6  "  "  '04 
0  "     "  '03 


6  m.,  June  *04 
-    .  ,03 

12  "  Dec.  '03 
12  "     "  '02 


31 

oW 


80,504 
.7,97 
397,086 
388,982 


444,530 
431,523 


24,065 
23  674 
241,787 
226,702 


40,838 
22,483 
Kill,  250 
93,721 


166.384 
167.419 
1,063,328 
1,037,81 


102,333 
99.H56 
651,147 
626  454 


122.107 
127,897 
798,744 
786,714 


107,061 
100,891 
500,522 
469,14] 


22,364 
19,765 
91.760 
91,404 


rv  X 


43,274 
43,736 
228,261 
210,793 


249,660 
316,080 


11,374 
11,022 
130,8-<8 
126,600 


15,136 
7,743 
72,587 
39,847 


*64,424 

*59,688 
301,919 
279,888 


13,045 
11,48' 
60,465 
55,910 


44,132 
40,542 
204.753 
196,846 


411,34 
384,935 
2,085,319 
2,034,188 


53,377 
59,013 
292  745 
294,391 


116,108 
85,288 
594,218 
471,233 


47,214 
40,889 
258,93 
206,939 


68,645 
55.967 
124,534 
99,308 


24.C04 
22,835 
144'475 
120.880 


*  240,737 

*  222,797 

*  134551 5 
*12174«8 


26,258 
29,513 
168,953 
173  532 


51,682 
40,317 
292,097 
237,39' 


26,029 
19,293 
147,974 
112,430 


38,551 
32,935 
70,455 
57,520 


37,230 
34,234 
168.825 
167,189 


194,876 
115,443 


13,291 
12,653 
119  899 
100,102 


25,702 
14  740 
90,003 
53,874 


42,637 
41.203 
198,573 
189,853 


9,319 
8.278 
34,296 
35,494 


19.528 
17,707 
60,278 
75,966 


170.610 
162,138 
739,804 
816,700 


27,119 

29,500 
123,792 
120,859 


64,420 
44,971 
302,121 
233,831, 


21.184 
21,596 
110,761 
94,510 


30,094 
23,032 
54,079 
41,788 


P.S 


23,16 
23,259 
135,702 
133,024 


80,710 
76,916 


77,872 
68,100 


21,354 
20,997 
105,772 
105,328 


6,830 
6,566 


90.075 
82,822 
533  444 
490,765 


16,517 
15,519 

98,878 
91,512 


o  <!  o  c 


14.064 
10.975 
33,125 
34,164 


114,166 
38,527 


33  02S 
32,002 


21 ,282 
20,206 
92,801 
82,725 


2,489 
1,712 


10,029 
9,018 
60,54 
54,125 


80.535 
79,316 
206,360 
325,935 


10,002 
13,981 
24,914 
29,347 


11,156 
1  ,578 
50,414 
40,385 


Company 


HAMILTON,  O.  1  m.,  May  '04 

Cincinnati,  Davton  &  1   "     "  '03 
Toledo  Traction  Co.  12  "     "  '04 

12 "     "  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 

HANCOCK,  MICH.         1 03 

Houghton  County  St.  12  "  "  '04 

Ry.  Co  12  "  "  '03 


LONDON,  ONT. 
London  St.  Ry.  Co 


MILWAUKEE,  WIS. 
Milwaukee  El.  By.  & 
Lt.  Co  


1  m.,  June '04 
1    "      '•  '03 


1  m. 
1  " 


MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN 
Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Co  _.  


MONTREAL,  QUE. 
Montreal  St.  By.  Co  .. 


NORFOLK,  YA. 
Norfolk    Railway  & 
Light  Co  


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
American  Railways. 


SAN  ERANCISCO.CAL. 
United    Railroads  of 
San  Francisco  


1  m.,  June  '01 

1    "     "  '03 

6  *'     "  '04 

6  "     "  '03 


1  m .,  June  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
9  "  "  '04 
9   "     "  '03 


I  m.,  June  '04 

1    "  '  "  '03 

6  "     "  '04 

6  "      "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 

 03 

"  "  '04 
12  "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
1 03 


16,441 
16,111 
188,518 
182,167 


19  235 
16  224 


265,906 
249,684 
1,538,674 
1  436,676 


370.141 
347,745 
2,059,262 
1,918,653 


12,100 
10,778 


128  433 
121,334 
801,383 
734,114 


173.638 
108,745 
985,875 
922,372 


2,166 
1,860 


137.474  75,286 

128,350  72,134 

737,291  443.505 

02,562  424,44 


SAVANNAH,  GA. 
Savannah  Electric  Co. 


SEATTLE,  WASH. 
Seattle  Electric  Co. 


TERRE  HAUTE,  IND 
Terre  Haute  Elec.  Co 


TOLEDO,  O. 
Toledo  Rys.  &  Lt.  Co. 


1  m., 
1  " 

12  " 
12  " 


May  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 
1  "     "  '03 

12  04 

12 "     "  '03 


1  m.,  May  '04 

  '03 

12  "  "  '04 
12  "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 


232  610 
209.3' 
1,761,917 
1,571,941 


65,167 
55,026 
298,688 
271,612 


131,308 
118,734 
1,407,370 
4,244,7" 


524,013 
488,113 


45,481 
42,940 
530,608 
498,262 


131,589 
121,580 
1,149,936 
993,652 


36,192 
33,260 
181.241 
1 70,605 


196  503 
178  999 
1,073,387 
996,281 


74,892 
60,890 
435,441 
365,318 


101 ,022  26,295 
87,797  24,198 

611,981  175,37 

78.289  164,66 


197,848 
181.79' 
2,213,898 
1.994,711 


46,637 
36,970 
517,124 
396,996 


148,635 
141,545 
825.858 
772,178 


25,895 
2.3,616 
305  562 
290,471 


133,593 
132,853 
1.548,91 
1,421,523 


31 ,227 
21,864 
340,158 
275,248 


28,915 
21,826 
117,447 
94,947 


17 

16,460 
108,537 
107,574 


19,580 
19,324 
225,105 
207,792 


64,256 
58,945 
664,981 
573,188 


15,410 
15,106 
170,966 
121,748 


'6,941  71.694 

•1,806  69,739 

*  456,964 

*  401 ,205  370,973 


10.878 
9,631 
123.130 
115,298 


23,486 
26,648 
273,068 
279,977 


10,250 
6,533 
102,338 
77,779 


41,642 
41,135 
250  349 
242,070 


:  c  «;•, 
.  S3-; 
'  I  ai 
C 


t  3,907 
5.102 
6,022 

24,008 


1,455 
3,097 
20,988 
28,2' 3 


4,968 
3,586 


62,2.38 
56,217 
293  786 
278,115 


121.611 
118  109 
637,946 
630,963 


74,727 
63.600 
436,610 
413,622 


11,227 
5.366 
8  910 
t  12,627 


8,708 
9,692 
101,975 
92,494 


40,770 
32,297 
391,913 
193,210 


5,161 
8,572 
68,628 
43,969 


30,052 
28.604 
118,545 
128,903 


INDEXED 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  AUGUST  13,  1904. 


No.  7. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the  i    «  ir"KA\  f^^^ 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

—  iU-     AUG  15  1904 

Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 


London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Lieber's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Tracks  Around  Car  Houses 

Just  why  so  many  companies  persist  in  constructing  tracks 
aiound  car  shops  and  in  the  yards, of  wornout  rails  and  switches, 
which  rightfully  should  be  thrown  in  the  scrap  pile,  is  a  puzzle. 
Probably  the  head  of  that  department  is  forced  to  do  it  by  the 
refusal  of  superiors  to  grant  anything  better.  If  so,  these 
superiors  should  be  appealed  to  and  shown  wherein  they  are 
causing  needless  delays  by  derailed  cars,  subjecting  all  the  car 
house  men  to  unnecessary  worry  and  damaging,  more  or  less, 
the  equipment.  But  whatever  may  be  the  cause,  it  is  a  fact 
that  on  many 'lines  the  track  construction  about  the  shops  is 
far  the  worst  on  (lie  system.    It  is  true  bad  track  about  the 


shop  does  not  endanger  life  as  it  would  on  the  main  line,  but 
the  delays  it  occasions  and  the  amount  of  extra  time  caused 
by  it  directly  are  sufficient  reasons  why  it  should  be  avoided. 

Increasing  the  Width  of  Cars 

While  the  length  of  interurban  cars  has  been  gradually  in- 
creased, until  now  they  approach  that  of  steam  coaches,  the 
width  has  for  quite  a  period  remained  at  a  limit  of  about  8  ft. 
6  ins.  over  side  sills. 

In  the  case  of  cars  that  are  to  enter  cities  over  an  already 
constructed  road,  this  width  is  usually  the  maximum  possible 
because  of  the  proximity  of  the  double  tracks.  But  where  cars 
are  constructed  for  a  new  line  throughout,  there  is  very  little 
necessity  of  such  a  limit.  A  car  8  ft.  6  ins.  wide  over  sills 
leaves,  after  5  ins.  have  been  deducted  on  each  side  for  posts 
and  inside  finish,  but  92  ins.  for  seats  and  center  aisle.  A 
minimum  width  of  aisle  is  about  20  ins.,  leaving  36  ins.  for  the 
width  of  each  seat.  The  cushions,  however,  are  necessarily  an 
inch  or  two  narrower  than  this.  While  two  people  can  occupy 
a  seat  of  this  width,  much  more  comfort  would  be  experienced 
were  the  seats  but  a  few  inches  longer.  For  short  runs  the 
seats  as  made  are  probably  satisfactory,  but  when  the  passenger 
sits  on  the  end  of  the  seat  or  boxed  up  against  the  window  for 
two  hours  or  more,  he  above  all  would  appreciate  a  steam- 
coach  type  of  seat,  with  the  6  ins.  or  8  ins.  additional  space. 

The  only  way  possible  to  get  this  additional  length  of  seat  is 
to  increase  the  width  of  the  car.  It  is  most  probable  that  on 
electric  lines  intended  to  compete  with  steam  roads,  the  cars 
will  soon  be  built  more  in  accordance  with  steam-coach  con- 
struction by  having  their  width  increased  considerably,  always 
excepting  the  cars  which  must  pass  over  city  double  tracks 
with  limited  clearance  room. 

The  Small  Power  Station 

We  hear  so  much  in  these  days  of  5000-kw  units  and  stations 
generating  25,000  kw  or  50,000,  that  it  sometimes  seems  be- , 
neath  the  dignity  of  a  street  railway  engineer  to  consider 
plants  of  which  the  capacity  is  measured  by  beggarly  hundreds 
of  kilowatts.  Yet  in  actual  every-day  work,  it  is  a  fact  that 
most  roads  even  now  are  of  rather  small  extent,  and  the  in- 
dividual stations  needed  for  supplying  them  are  by  no  means 
of  record-breaking  size.  How  about  generating  units  of  merely 
a  few  hundred  kilowatts,  and  their  economical  use?  Such 
small  stations  form  really  a  special  department  of  study,  and 
are  conspicuously  difficult  to  operate  at  any  decent  economy, 
but  as  the  mainstays  of  many  actual  enterprises  they  are  emi- 
nently worth  considering.  As  a  class,  they  suffer  not  only 
from  small  capacity,  but  from  low  and  very  variable  load  fac- 
tors. Recent  experience  has  made  it  increasingly  evident  that 
the  control  of  load  factor  is  of  even  greater  importance  in 
economy  than  has  generally  been  supposed.  It  is  certainly  a 
fact  that  a  small  station  well  loaded  can  perform  wonderfully 
well  in  turning  out  cheap  power,  and  much  recent  practice  has 
been  based  on  transmission  to  small  sub-stations  of  which  the 
efficiency  can  be  fairly  well  held  up  even  at  moderate  loads, 
and  by  grouping  which,  as  parts  of  a  transmission  system,  the 


street  Railway  journal 


[Vol.  XXI V.    \\>.  7. 


load  factor  at  the  real  generating  station  may  be  held  up.  But 
this  is  not  enough,  for  many  electric  roads  must  still  rely  upon 
small  stations  in  which  there  is  great  room  for  improvement. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  one  in  considering  the  subject  in 
its  later  aspects  is  the  acute  need  for  working  out  the  direct- 
current  turbo-generator  to  a  thoroughly  successful  result. 
Something  has  been  done  in  this  direction  already,  but  still 
there  is  some  hesitancy  in  putting  out  machines  of  this  charac- 
ter. The  one  most  noteworthy  feature  of  economy  in  the  steam 
turbine  is  its  very  admirable  showing  at  low  loads,  due  to  the 
very  small  constant  losses  in  all  parts  of  the  generating  set. 
This  property  would  be  of  extreme  value  in  small  stations  for 
railway  working,  if  the  usual  alternating  current  could  be 
directly  utilized,  or  if  the  machines  could  be  made  to  give 
direct  current.  The  alternating-current  railway  motors,  al- 
though we  hear  much  of  contracts  taken  and  orders  being  about 
to  be  filled,  are  still,  in  a  measure,  upon  waiting  orders.  If  they 
fulfil  the  hopes  of  their  inventors  the  small  station  problem 
will  be  much  easier  of  solution.  But  however  the  alternating- 
current  railway  motor  may  turn  out,  the  possession  of  a  direct- 
current  turbo-generator  is  of  immediate  importance.  We  hear 
of  such  machines  in  successful  work  abroad,  and  it  is  well 
known  that  American  makers  have  been  experimenting  with 
them.  There  is,  of  course,  no  doubt  that  the  question  of  com- 
mutation is  a  very  serious  one  in  this  case,  on  account  of  the 
very  high  peripheral  speed.  Nevertheless,  much  has  been 
learned  about  commutation  in  the  last  ten  years,  and  the  task 
is  clearly  one  which  must  be  undertaken.  It  is  strictly  "up  to" 
the  manufacturers  to  produce  a  turbine  set  to  give  direct  cur- 
rent at  railway  voltages,  and  they  should  promptly  settle  down 
to  business  and  do  it.  The  art  needs  small  turbo-generators 
really  more  than  it  does  big  ones,  for  in  working  on  a  large 
scale  the  load  factor  can  be  kept  well  up,  and  big  modern  en- 
gines with  superheated  steam  can  give  the  turbines  a  verv 
hard  rub  indeed.  On  a  small  scale  the  latter  has  by  all  means 
the  best  of  the  situation,  but  cannot  fully  utilize  its  advantage 
until  it  can  grind  out  direct  current. 

The  other  horn  of  the  dilemma  in  small  stations  appears  to 
be  the  gas  engine.  From  the  standpoint  of  pure  thermo- 
dynamics, this  has  altogether  the  advantage  of  its  competitors, 
but  as  a  matter  of  practice  it  loses  from  rather  high  losses  at 
moderate  output.  Recent  gas  engines  make  a  far  better  show- 
ing in  this  particular,  and  also  govern  much  better  than  the 
earlier  forms.  In  fact,  their  partial  load  performance  is  rela- 
tively not  much  worse  than  that  of  steam  engines.  But  at 
present  the  working  combination  is  rather  apt  to  be  gas  engine 
and  storage  battery.  Of  course,  batteries  are  often  used  to 
steady  the  load  factor,  and  often  do  so  effectively,  but  at  some 
considerable  cost.  The  equation  of  competition  before  us  is  the 
small  turbo-generator  as  against  the  gas  engine  and  its  bat- 
tery, and  data  are  not  yet  full  enough  to  settle  the  matter.  As 
a  steady  load  proposition,  the  gas  engine  in  moderate  sizes  has 
the  best  of  the  game,  but  can  it  hold  its  place  when,  or  if,  it 
must  be  coupled  with  a  battery  which  necessarily  loses  some 
energy  and  adds  to  the  costs  of  installation  and  of  repairs  ? 
Right  here  is  where  data  are  needed  on  both  gas  engines  and 
direct-current  turbo-generator  sets,  and  they  are  not  yet  forth- 
coming. Either  equipment  can  probably  do  much  better  in  a 
small  station  than  can  that  usually  employed.  And  as  to  the 
facts  required,  they  should  be  not  carefully  arranged  test  runs, 
but  every-day  results,  running  over  a  considerable  time.  When 
the  total  power  bills  of  a  year  are  footed  up  and  reduced  to  an 
average  for  the  output  metered,  one  can  get  a  really  definite 
idea  of  what  energy  costs.    Tests  are  all  well  enough  in  their 


way,  and  certainly  give  useful  information,  but  where  irregu- 
lar loads  and  repair  costs  are  to  be  properly  taken  into  the 
reckoning,  the  results  of  a  year  or  two  should  be  taken.  We 
hope  that  the  experience  of  the  near  future  will  bring  out  the 
facts  of  the  case  and  put  them  on  record. 

The  Rolling  Stock  Improvements  Upon  the  Brooklyn  Elevated 
Lines 

The  extensive  improvements  to  elevated  rolling  stock  which 
have  been  instituted  by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
involving  the  reconstruction  and  re-equipment  of  all  its  ele- 
vated motor  and  trailer  cars,  as  described  in  this  issue,  involve 
one  of  the  most  important  and  interesting  mechanical  problems 
that  has  ever,  up  to  this  time,  occurred  in  the  transportation 
field.  This  work  involves  in  its  inception  a  most  interesting 
history  of  a  change  from  steam  to  electric  traction,  and  of  the 
development  of  traffic  conditions  in  this  important  borough  of 
Greater  New  York.  Electricity  as  a  motive  power  was  resorted 
to  in  1898  upon  the  Brooklyn  elevated  lines,  in  the  hope  of  re- 
lieving the  traffic  conditions  which  were  even  then  becoming 
congested  under  conditions  of  steam  operation,  and  the  result 
has  been  a  remarkable  demonstration  of  the  wonderful  value  of 
rapid  transit  in  building  up  suburban  properties  and  in  develop- 
ing urban  traffic,  as  well  as  also  in  strengthening  the  financial 
condition  of  the  operating  company. 

This  company  has  been  a  pioneer  in  the  introduction  of  elec- 
tric traction  for  both  elevated  and  surface  transportation,  and 
has  figured  prominently  in  the  determination  of  service  re- 
quirements. Little  was  known  in  1898  of  the  requirements, 
either  as  to  electrical  equipment  or  the  rolling  stock,  of  the 
heavy  and  exacting  operating  conditions  that  were  to  come.  It 
is  safe  to  say  that,  at  the  time,  the  best  equipment  available  was 
installed.  Experts  in  the  electric  railway  field  were  employed 
and  the  plans  for  the  new  motive  power  were  laid  with  the 
greatest  possible  care.  The  efficiency  of  their  work  was  at- 
tested by  the  remarkable  development  of  traffic  in  this  borough 
of  New  York  City,  thousands  of  home-seekers  flocking 
from  the  crowded  Manhattan  Island  to  the  suburban  homes 
that  were  rendered  accessible  by  this  means  of  rapid  transit. 
In  fact,  the  elevated  lines  electrically  operated  were  found  to 
be  overcrowded,  from  the  new  traffic  created,  almost  before 
they  were  completely  changed  over.  This  rapid  growth  has 
subjected  the  company  to  the  most  trying  conditions  of  opera- 
tion that  may  be  imagined. 

Shortly  after  the  electrical  operation  was  initiated  a  serious 
set-back  came  in  the  form  of  a  disastrous  fire  in  one  of  the 
power  plants  of  the  company,  which  necessitated  the  return  to 
steam  motive  power  temporarily  upon  most  of  the  elevated 
lines.  Not  until  the  large  new  central  power  plant  of  the  sys- 
tem was  completed  last  year  has  the  company  been  in  position 
to  resume  electrical  operation  in  full ;  at  that  time  however  the 
new  motive  power  was  again  resorted  to,  and  active  steps  were 
taken  to  the  further  equipment  of  the  remaining  elevated  lines 
not  previously  changed  over.  The  steam  passenger  coaches 
have  mostly  been  re-equipped  for  the  electrical  service,  the 
heavier  and  stronger  cars  of  the  group  being  equipped  as  mo- 
tor cars  and  the  others  as  electric  trail  cars.  Owing,  however, 
to  the  different  dates  of  application  of  the  electrical  equip- 
ments and  resultant  non-uniformity  of  details,  much  trouble 
was  experienced  in  the  maintenance  of  the  new  electrical  sys- 
tem. These  conditions  were  made  even  more  difficult  by  the 
lack  of  adequate  repair  shop  facilities  in  which  to  properly  care 
for  the  equipment,  and  a  period  of  financial  stringency  prohibit- 
ing the  building  of  additional  shops  for  the  purpose. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


22i 


The  situation  has  been  commendably  dealt  with  by  the  com- 
pany. The  new  administration  readily  appreciated  the  state  of 
affairs  and  the  requirements  to  put  the  equipment  in  condition 
for  reliable  and  satisfactory  service.  A  careful  study  of  the 
subject  was  instituted,  which  resulted  in  a  complete  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  mechanical  department  and  in  decisions  authorizing 
the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money,  not  only  for  the  entire 
reconstruction  and  re-equipping  of  the  motor  and  trail  cars, 
but  also  for  the  provision  of  greatly  increased  shop  facilities. 
Large  numbers  of  new  cars  have  also  been  ordered  and  the 
greatly  desired  additional  service  facilities  have  been  made 
available.  Under  the  able  management  of  R.  C.  Taylor, 
mechanical  engineer,  and  W.  G.  Gove,  assistant  mechanical 
engineer,  changes  have  been  made  and  reforms  instituted  which 
are  of  great  importance  and  warrant  careful  study.  The  more 
important  of  the  reconstruction  changes  to  the  rolling  stock  are 
discussed  in  the  accompanying  article  in  this  issue,  while  the 
details  of  the  new  system  of  the  fireproofing  of  wiring,  and 
other  interesting  changes  of  car  detail,  will  be  described  in  a 
later  article. 

The  changes  in  car  construction  are  numerous,  and  some  of 
them  very  radical.  The  most  important  are  to  be  noted  in  the 
changes  in  wiring  and  its  most  thorough  fireproofing  to  pre- 
vent fire  catching  in  the  car  under-framing  from  possible  short- 
circuits  or  other  wire  troubles.  The  introduction  of  many 
standard  features  of  equipment,  by  which  repair  work  is  sim- 
plified, is  a  commendable  innovation ;  for  instance,  it  will  be 
made  possible  to  interchange  motor  trucks  on  cars  of  similar 
designs.  Safety  features  have  been  adopted,  among  which 
should  be  noted  the  brake  cord  extending  through  the  cars  by 
which  emergency  applications  may  be  instantly  made  by  any 
one  in  case  of  impending  danger.  Of  no  little  importance  are 
the  provisions  that  are  being  made  for  the  comfort  of  passen- 
gers ;  the  larger  platforms,  new  seat  construction  and  profuse 
lighting  equipment  will  all  tend  to  make  the  service  more  satis- 
factory and  attractive  to  the  passengers. 

Locomotive  Improvements  in  Germany 

Ever  since  the  Zossen  tests  of  electric  high-speed  traction, 
German  steam  engineers  have  been  spurred  to  unusual  efforts, 
and  our  readers  may  remember  a  recent  series  of  trial  runs 
with  various  engines  over  the  Zossen-Marienfelde  tracks,  a 
trial  remarkable  in  nothing  from  the  American  point  of  view, 
save  the  mediocre  speed  results.  Nevertheless,  German  railway 
engineers  have  been  driving  steadily  along  in  many  lines,  and  a 
recent  consular  report  (No.  2016)  gives  an  interesting  resume 
of  the  experiments  conducted  during  the  past  half  dozen  years 
on  the  Prussian  State  railways  to  determine  the  usefulness  of 
superheated  steam.  Of  course,  the  value  of  superheating  in 
general  is  well  recognized,  and  although  the  subject  has  been 
much  neglected  here,  the  growing  use  of  turbines  is  driving  it 
into  practical  prominence.  But  superheating  on  locomotives 
is  a  different  matter,  for  it  implies  working  without  condensa- 
tion, and  generally  in  simple  engines.  The  common  view  here 
has  been  that  superheating  is  a  sort  of  scientific  refinement,  re- 
sulting in  dubious  savings  and  leading  to  all  sorts  of  practical 
difficulties  with  the  lubrication,  and  on  a  locomotive  such  trou- 
bles would  be  especially  serious.  It  is  therefore  interesting  to 
know  that  not  only  have  the  German  experiments  shown  excel- 
lent results  in  economy,  but  that  the  locomotives  have  given 
entirely  satisfactory  results  in  every-day  work  on  the  railways. 

The  facts  are  briefly  as  follows:  Six  years  ago  the  Prussian 
Government  caused  to  be  initiated  a  study  of  superheating  in 
locomotives.    It  was  begun  on  a  small  scale  with  two  engines 


fitted  with  Schmidt  superheaters,  which  are  still  in  use,  giving 
excellent  service.  More  engines  were  soon  ordered,  and  at 
present  about  fifty  arc  in  regular  service.  The  Schmidt  super- 
heater is  located  in  the  smoke  box,  and  the  furnace  gases  enter 
it  through  a  special  flue,  and  are  brought  directly  against  the 
superheating  pipes  through  which  the  steam  is  led.  As  com- 
pared with  ordinary  engines,  those  thus  equipped  have  been 
found  to  use  15  per  cent  to  20  per  cent  less  water,  and  ma- 
terially less  coal,  the  saving  in  this  latter  particular  being  vari- 
ously estimated  at  from  5  per  cent  to  15  per  cent.  Superheat- 
ing also  renders  it  somewhat  easier  to  force  the  output  of  the 
engine,  which  is  of  some  importance  in  dealing  with  orders. 
A  more  interesting  comparison  is  with  the  four-cylinder  com- 
pound engines,  used  to  some  extent  on  the  Prussian  lines.  It 
is  well  known  that  compound  locomotives  have  shown  good 
results  in  economy  of  fuel,  saving  something  like  10  per  cent 
to  15  per  cent,  and  sometimes  more,  but  the  added  complica- 
tion of  the  compound  type  has  been  feared  and  has  prevented 
its  more  general  introduction.  As  a  result  of  the  tests  with 
superheaters,  it  appears  that  simple  engines  so  operated  com- 
pare favorably  with  compound  engines  without  superheaters. 
In  one  series  of  tests  lasting  a  year,  two  superheater  engines 
and  two  compound  engines  were  used  on  the  same  runs  on  alter- 
nate days,  with  the  result  that  one  of  the  superheaters  showed 
a  fuel  saving  of  6  per  cent  over  its  rival,  and  the  other  of  10 
per  cent,  besides  enabling  an  auxiliary  engine  used  to  help 
the  compound  over  some  stiff  grades  to  be  dispensed  with. 
The  superheater  locomotives  had  beside  the  advantage  of  being 
cheaper  and  simpler.  The  superheating  in  these  cases  was 
considerable,  giving  the  steam  a  final  temperature  of  300  degs. 
C.  to  350  degs.  C. 

Several  other  forms  of  superheater  have  been  tried  in  course 
of  the  tests,  and  some  of  them  have  done  excellently  well,  but 
the  results  from  that  already  described  are  typical.  Another 
series  of  tests,  not  yet  concluded,  was  directed  at  the  use  of 
superheated  steam  in  the  compound  engines.  The  upshot  of 
the  whole  matter  is  that  the  results  of  these  practical  trials  of 
superheating  have  been  highly  satisfactory.  Apparently  the 
difficulties  of  lubrication  have  been  overcome.  All  these  facts 
tend  to  give  the  steam  locomotive  a  better  record  for  economy 
than  it  has  had  in  the  past.  What,  if  any,  will  be  the  bearing 
of  these  various  improvements  on  the  adoption  of  electric  loco- 
motives on  a  large  scale  remains  to  be  seen.  We  hardly  think 
that  they  will  alter  the  situation  materially.  The  question  in 
its  essence  is  the  use  of  a  stationary  prime  mover  as  against  a 
moving  one  compelled  to  carry  its  coal  and  water,  and  where 
very  high  output  is  required  the  former  has  a  manifest  advan- 
tage. For  that  matter,  the  use  of  superheating  in  power  sta- 
tions is  important  if  the  highest  economy  is  to  be  reached,  and 
it  is  at  least  as  easy  as  superheating  on  a  locomotive.  It  will 
unquestionably  come  into  use  in  this  country  now  that  the  steam 
turbines  have  set  the  pace.  The  central  power  station  has  a 
vast  advantage  in  cost  of  power  production,  and  in  numerous 
cases  the  electric  locomotive  would  be  chosen  even  without 
reference  to  saving  in  cost  of  power.  Near  terminals,  in 
suburban  service,  and  in  special  work,  as  in  tunnels  and  the 
like,  the  electric  locomotive  can  well  afford  to  stand  upon  its 
obvious  merits.  For  extreme  high-speed  service  where  very 
high  output  is  required,  it  has  already  demonstrated  its  value, 
but  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  it  will  be  pushed  rapidly 
into  the  rough  and  tumble  of  miscellaneous  railway  work.  The 
steam  locomotive  is  a  remarkably  effective  machine,  even  now, 
and  its  improvement  is  highly  desirable  as  part  of  the  general 
advance  of  transportation. 


222 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


EXTENSIVE  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  ELEVATED  CAR  EQUIP- 
MENTS-BROOKLYN RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


In  line  with  the  general  policy  of  improvement  now  in  force 
upon  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company's  lines,  important 
changes  are  being  made  in  the  equipment  of  cars  for  their  ele- 
vated lines,  in  order  to  bring  them  up  to  a  standard  commen- 
surate with  the  present  state  of  the  traffic  handled.  This  com- 
pany has,  like  so  many  of  the  other  railroads  which  have 
changed  from  steam  to  electric  traction,  experienced  the  abnor- 
mally rapid  growth  of  traffic  which  has  resulted  from  this 
efficient  and  desirable  system  of  transportation,  and  it  has  been 
almost  impossible  to  keep  the  standards  of  car  equipment  up 


TYPICAL  VIEW  OF  ONE  OF  THE  RECONSTRUCTED  ELEVATED  MUIOR  CARS 
SHOWING  DETAILS  OF  STANDARD  PLATFORMS,  ETC.— BROOKLYN 
RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


to  the  high  grade  which  is  required  by  the 
ever  increasing  conditions  imposed  by  the 
enormous  traffic  now  handled.  As  electric 
railroading  has  grown  in  importance  and  its 
efficiency  and  reliability  have  become  estab- 
lished, heavier  cars,  longer  trains  and  more 
rapid  schedules  have  been  placed  in  force, 
with  the  inevitable  result  that  the  operating 
conditions  have  grown  away  from  the  former 
standards  of  car  equipment. 

The  mechanical  department  of  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  has  been  greatly  ham- 
pered for  some  time  past  in  the  operation  of 
its  elevated  service,  owing  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  different  classes  of  rolling  stock  which 
were  bequeathed  to  it  by  the  former  com- 
panies, of  which  the  present  company  is  a 
combination.  The  elevated  lines  of  the  com- 
pany comprise  a  union  of  the  old  Kings 
County  Elevated  and  the  Brooklyn  Union 
Elevated    Railroads;    together    with    them  are 


The  mechanical  department  has  for  some  time  past  had  ex- 
tensive changes  under  consideration,  and  more  than  a  year  ago 
equipped  the  old  Thirty-Ninth  Street  depot  of  the  defunct 
South  Brooklyn  Railroad  &  Terminal  Company  for  the  repair 
and  rebuilding  of  this  equipment.  Careful  plans  have  been 
prepared  for  the  handling  of  this  work,  which  comprises  the 
strengthening  and  standardizing  of  all  possible  features  of  the 
car  equipment,  and  this  work  has  now  been  under  way  for 
sufficient  time  for  the  remarkable  benefits  to  become  thoroughly 
appreciated.  Over  100  cars  have  now  been  put  through  the 
shop  and  turned  out  re-equipped  according  to  the  new  stand- 
ards. This  shop,  which  is  at  Thirty-Ninth  Street  and  Second 
Avenue,  Brooklyn  (having  been  described  upon  page  954  of 
the  issue  for  Dec.  13,  1902),  has  eight  longi- 
tudinal tracks,  each  475  ft.  long,  which  gives 
a  capacity  for  working  upon  seventy  cars  at 
one  time.  Two  tracks  are  equipped  with  pits 
for  access  to  the  running  gear  and  under  parts 
Of  the  cars.  This  new  shop  installation  em- 
braces also  a  large  and  well-appointed  wood- 
working shop,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  a  ma- 
chine shop.  At  the  present  time  over  500 
men  are  employed  at  this  shop. 

It  has  been  planned  in  the  work  of  recon- 
struction to  standardize  all  parts  of  the  equip- 
ment of  cars  as  is  possible  without  too  seri- 
ously changing  the  construction  of  any  car. 
The  interior  finish  of  various  cars  differ 
widely,  and  it  is  not  intended  to  carry  the. 
work  of  reconstruction  so  as  to  remodel 
features  of  this  nature,  but  the  details 
and  arrangements  of  platform  equipments, 


OPPOSITE  SIDE  OF  CAR,  SHOWING  ADDITIONAL  INTERESTING  DETAILS  OF 
THE  RECONSTRUCTION  WORK 


associated 

several  surface  lines,  including  the  Brighton  Beach  Railroad, 
the  Sea  Beach  Railroad,  the  Culver  line,  etc.  These  systems 
were  all  formerly  operated  by  steam,  and  in  the  change  to  elec- 
tric traction  practically  all  of  the  steam-line  passenger  coaches 
have  been  retained,  either  as  trailers  or  re-equipped  with  mo- 
tors for  electric  operation,  the  result  of  which  has  been  to 
bring  a  conglomerate  mass  of  equipment  of  a  number  of  dif- 
ferent types,  requiring  unusually  heavy  work  of  maintenance 
and  imposing  the  greatest  possible  difficulty  in  repairs.  The 
former  rolling-stock  equipment  of  the  elevated  lines,  which  is 
under  reconstruction,  involves  fifteen  different  types  of  cars, 
including  cars  from  the  Bradley,  Gilbert,  Jewett,  Brill  and 
Pullman  shops  for  the  old  Brooklyn  Union  Elevated,  and  from 
the  Harlan  &  Hollingsworth,  the  Wason  and  Pullman  shops 
for  the  Kings  County  line.  These  cars  are  dated  upon  various 
different  orders,  as  far  back  as  1884. 


brake  apparatus,  motor,  heater  and  lighting  wiring,  air 
piping,  cab  equipment,  and  other  features  of  car  equipment, 
which  are  distinct  from  the  actual  construction  of  the  car,  are 
to  be  standardized  very  carefully.  The  location  of  apparatus 
is  being  provided  for  with  the  utmost  care  for  ease  of  access 
for  the  repair  men,  and  many  new  provisions  are  being  made 
for  the  comfort  and  safety  of  passengers. 

CAR  BODY  REPAIRS 

The  first  work  that  is  done  to  a  car,  after  stripping  out  all 
of  the  former  equipment,  is  to  strengthen  the  under-framing 
and  body- framing  in  all  parts  which  have  become  weakened, 
or  upon  which  heavy  strains  are  brought  by  the  character  of 
the  service  operated  under.  Many  of  the  coaches  were  of  very 
light  construction,  having  been  intended  only  for  trail  work 
in  connection  with  the  former  steam  locomotive  service,  and 
were  entirely  unsuited  to  withstand  the  shocks  and  strains  due 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


223 


to  electric  traction.  These  cars  are  being  carefully  strength- 
ened, and  in  some  the  under-framing  is  being  practically  re- 
built ;  upon  others  undergoing  heavy  reconstruction,  the  side 
doors,  which  are  no  longer  in  regular  use,  are  being  removed 
and  replaced  by  standard  window  construction,  which  has 
served  to  greatly  strengthen  the  car  body.  The  principal 
change  in  body  construction,  however,  may  be  noted  by  refer- 
ence to  the  accompanying  drawings,  showing  new  platform 


particular  platform  illustrated  is  for  one  of  the  reconstructed 
elevated  trail  cars,  but  the  general  features,  such  as  the  ar- 
rangement of  draft  rigging,  air  piping,  safety  chains,  jumpers, 
steps,  etc.,  conform  to  the  new  standard  arrangement  which 
will  be  adhered  to  in  all  new  work.  In  all  cars  upon  which 
new  platforms  are  built,  a  novel  and  interesting  system  of  re- 
inforced framing  will  be  used,  as  shown.  The  extension  sills, 
extending  from  the  body  bolster  out  to  carry  the  weight  of  the 


DETAIL    DRAWING    OF    THE    FRAMING    AND  GENERAL   FEATURES    OF   CONSTRUCTION    OF   THE    NEW  STANDARD 
PLATFORM    DESIGN    ADOPTED    FOR    RECONSTRUCTED    ELEVATED  CARS— BROOKLYN  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


arrangements.  Practically  all  of  the  cars  have  been  refitted 
with  new  draft  rigging  and  larger  and  stronger  platforms,  and 
this  very  interesting  work  may  be  studied  by  reference  to  the 
numerous  detail  drawings. 

NEW  PLATFORM  EQUIPMENTS 
A  standard  platform  arrangement  has  been  designed  for  all 
of  the  cars  of  the  system,  and  this  will  be  conformed  to  as 
closely  as  possible  in  all  of  the  reconstructed  cars.  The  first 
drawing  presented  herewith  illustrates  the  construction  of  the 
platform  and  framing  used  in  this  standard  arrangement.  This 


platform,  are  built  of  oak  reinforced  by  heavy  channels,  one 
upon  each  side  of  the  beam,  as  shown  in  the  end  view.  There 
are  four  of  these  sills  embodying  this  construction,  which  pro- 
vide a  very  solid  and  strong  platform  framing.  The  details  of 
this  construction  as  related  to  the  car  under-framing  and  also 
the  new  buffer  beam  are  well  shown  in  the  drawing. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  elevated  car  construction  upon 
the  Brooklyn  lines  is  the  use  of  steps  and  folding  sections  of 
platform  over  them,  this  arrangement  being  necessary  to  pro- 
vide for  passengers  not  only  at  the  regular  elevated  line  sta- 


224 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


tions,  but  also  at  the  numerous  surface  stations  upon  the 
suburban  divisions,  with  which  nearly  all  of  the  elevated  lines 
connect  in  the  suburbs ;  all  of  the  elevated  lines  operating  to 
the  ocean  resorts  are  run  upon  the  surface  over  private  rights 
of  way  in  the  suburbs,  where  passengers  are  received  at  depots 
of  the  usual  type  met  in  steam  railroad  practice,  so  that  steps 
upon  car  platforms  are  necessary.  An  important  improvement 
in  the  new  step  construction  is  that  of  enclosing  the  steps  at 
the  rear  of  the  treads  by  risers  which  enclose  them  and  serve 
to  prevent  slipping;  this  is  clearly  shown  in  the  accompanying 


end;  the  type  18-Van  Dorn  automatic  coupler  is  also  being  ap- 
plied on  all  trailing  cars.  Details  of  this  draft  rigging  are  very 
clearly  shown  in  the  standard  drawing  of  platform  arrange- 
ment for  trail  cars,  as  well  as  also  the  additional  drawings  of 
motor-car  platforms.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  distance  of 
projection  of  the  coupler  head  beyond  the  buffer  beam  has 
been  reduced  to  \l/2  ins.,  which  thus  results  in  reducing  the 
total  distance  between  platforms  of  cars,  when  coupled  up,  to 
3  ins.  The  principle  of  the  new  Van  Dorn  automatic  coupler 
is  believed  to  be  generally  very  well  understood,  their  standard 


Section  A- A 
Showing  cut  'in  — 
Buffer  for  Safety 
Rod. 


Upset  fo/^' 


S% "Springs -Compressed  toS 


Longitudinal  Section. 


DETAILS  OF  STANDARD  PLATFORM  CONSTRUCTION  FOR    TYPICAL  ELEVATED  MOTOR  CAR,  SHOWING  DRAFT  RIGGING 
AT  MOTOR-TRUCK  END,  AND  ALSO  DETAIL  OF  DRAFT-  RIGGING  AT  TRAIL-TRUCK  END 


photographs  of  reconstructed  cars.  The  folding  section  of  the 
platform  above  the  steps  is  heavily  hinged  by  strap  hinges,  as 
shown,  and  provided  with  hand  holes  for  facility  in  lifting  to 
the  folded  position.  A  spring  catch  is  provided  in  the  form 
of  a  latch  in  order  to  hold  the  platform  up  against  the  end  of 
the  car,  out  of  the  way,  when  operating  upon  the  surface. 

Probably  the  most  important  change  in  the  platform  equip- 
ment lies  in  the  new  type  of  automatic  couplers  and  draft  rig- 
ging which  is  being  applied.  The  new  type  of  automatic 
couplers  and  draw-bar  attachments  of  the  W.  T.  Van  Dorn 
Company,  Chicago,  111.,  have  been  adopted  as  standard  for  the 
entire  elevated  equipment  in  Brooklyn.  Upon  all  the  motor 
cars  the  No.  4-A  type  of  the  Van  Dorn  coupler  is  used  on  the 
motor-truck  end,  while  the  No.  18  type  is  used  upon  the  trailer 


type  of  head  being  used,  embracing  the  use  of  the  spring  latch 
and  special  solid  link. 

Another  new  feature  which  is  worthy  of  special  attention  is 
the  arrangement  of  safety  chains  and  their  connections  to  the 
car  under-framing.  The  style  and  size  of  chains  now  in  use 
are  shown  upon  the  end  view.  Upon  the  left  hand  side  of  each 
car  end  is  located  the  hook  of  the  chain,  which  consists  of  a 
heavy  drop-forged  steel  hook  fastened  to  the  pull-rod  by  means 
of  two  chain  links.  The  loose  portion  of  the  chain  is  always 
located  upon  the  right  hand  side  of  the  car  end,  this  chain  con- 
sisting of  eleven  links  fastened  to  the  pull-rod,  as  shown.  An 
important  improvement  is  introduced  in  this  connection  in  the 
fastening  of  all  pull-rods  to  the  body  bolster  of  the  car  instead 
of  merely  clamping  the  safety  chains  to  the  buffer-beam  as 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


225 


was  formerly  done,  and  which  may  be  said  to  be  very  common 
practice.  With  this  new  construction,  the  pull-rod  extends 
through  the  body  bolster,  and  is  bolted  thereto  at  the  opposite 
side  by  means  of  a  special  spring  block,  as  shown  in  the  draw- 
ings. This  spring  block  consists  of  a  pocket  casting,  bolted  to 
the  body  bolster,  and  a  cap,  between  which  is  located  a  heavy 
helical  spring.  In  case  of  a  pull  coming  upon  the  safety  chains 
the  strain  is  transmitted  to  the  body  bolster  easily  and  without 
shock  through  this  spring  block,  which  serves  to  greatly  modify 
the  shock  and  relieve  the  car  body  of  the  jar. 

Among  other  features,  a  new  standard  arrangement  of  air- 
hose  connections  may  be  noted  upon  the  drawings.  Instead 
of  locating  the  air  hose  side  by  side,  below  the  sector  bar,  as 
was  formerly  the  practice,  they  are  now  arranged  one  above 
the  other,  the  reservoir  line  being  located  above  and  the  train 
line  below.    This  serves  to  reduce  the  tendency  toward  pulling 


volves  a  combination  of  the  scheme  illustrated  in  the  previous 
drawing  with  the  heavier  draft-rigging  construction,  shown 
here.  This  is  a  result  of  a  new  standard  which  has  been 
adopted  by  this  company,  which  provides  for  equipping  each 
motor  car  with  two  motors  only,  both  of  which  are  located  upon 
the  same  truck,  at  one  end  of  the  car ;  this  makes  one  end  of 
each  motor  car  a  trailer  in  effect,  while  the  truck  at  the  other 
end  furnishes  the  motive  power.  This  drawing  shows  the 
standard  platform  arrangement  and  the  arrangement  of  the 
draft  rigging  adopted  for  the  motor  end  of  the  elevated  motor 
cars,  and  also  shows  a  detail  of  the  draft  rigging  for  the  trailer 
end  of  the  motor  car.  As  may  be  noted  from  the  latter  detail 
drawing,  the  draft  rigging  is  of  the  same  general  type  as  used 
upon  the  trail  cars  before  illustrated,  a  special  curved  draw- 
bar, adapted  from  an  80-lb.  T-rail,  being  used  here,  together 
with  the  usual  spring  buffer  connection  at  the  body  bolster. 


LONGITUDINAL  SECTIONS  THROUGH  MOTOR-END  PLATFORMS  OF  RECONSTRUCTED  BRILL  AND  BRADLEY  ELEVATED  CARS, 
SHOWING  DIFFERENCES  OF  DETAIL  OF  DRAFT  RIGGING,   PULL-ROD  CONNECTIONS,  ETC. 


the  hose  in  two  upon  sharp  curves  and  upon  double  reverse 
curves,  of  which  some  very  severe  cases  are  met  upon  the  ele- 
vated lines  in  Brooklyn ;  a  separation  of  platform  center  lines 
of  over  35  ins.  is  permitted,  and  without  increase  of  length  of 
the  air  hose,  thus  providing  for  the  most  extreme  conditions 
to  be  met  upon  reverse  curves.  The  jumper  connections  are 
arranged  in  new  standard  locations,  a  4-point  and  a  7-point 
coupling  being  arranged  at  either  side  of  the  car,  as  shown. 
An  interesting  feature  has  also  been  incorporated  in  the  new 
design  of  these  jumper  boxes.  The  covers  are  being  replaced 
by  new  ones,  upon  which  the  figure  4  or  7,  as  the  case  may  be, 
is  molded  upon  the  cover,  so  as  to  project  and  be  readily  dis- 
tinguishable by  feeling  with  the  hand  at  night  time.  This, 
while  not  a  factor  of  great  magnitude,  is  one  which  it  is  thought 
will  add  materially  to  the  convenience  of  the  workman  for 
making  these  connections  at  night.  The  jumpers  will  be  held 
in  position  by  special  twist-link  safety  chains  of  a  small  size, 
one  of  which  is  provided  alongside  of  each  jumper  coupling, 
as  shown. 

PI. AT F( ) R M   STANDAK 1  »S 
The  following  drawings  illustrate  the  standard  platform  ar- 
rangement which  is  being  applied  to  all  motor  cars.    This  in- 


The  other  details  at  the  trail  end  of  the  car  correspond  with 
those  to  be  noticed  upon  the  motor  ends. 

The  principal  feature  of  the  draft  rigging  at  the  motor  end 
of  the  elevated  motor  cars  is  to  be  noted  in  the  new  form  of 
draft  rigging  used,  consisting  of  a  heavy  draw-bar  of  flat  iron 
8-in.  x  iy2-'m.  in  section,  which  extends  from  the  king-bolt  at 
the  body  bolster  forward  nearly  to  the  buffer  beam,  where, 
upon  the  underside,  is  bolted  the  spring  buffer  casting;  this 
casting  carries  the  Van  Dorn  automatic  coupler  direct  through 
the  spring  draft  connections,  as  shown.  A  special  feature  of 
construction  is  to  be  noted  here,  in  that  in  addition  to  the  spe- 
cial sector  bar  below  the  buffer  beam  for  supporting  the 
coupler,  two  draw-bar  supports  are  also  provided,  one  imme- 
diately above  the  coupler  casting  and  the  other  just  below  the 
end  sill  of  the  car  body,  the  latter  serving  specially  to  prevent 
buckling  of  the  main  draw-bar  in  case  of  the  heavy  pressure 
due  to  shocks  in  coupling. 

An  interesting  feature  will  be  noted  in  this  drawing  also  in 
the  splicing  of  the  center  sills  of  the  car  carrying  the  platform. 
The  platforms  of  all  of  these  cars  are  being  considerably  ex- 
tended, and  in  most  cases  call  for  splicing  out  the  sills;  this  is 
being  done  in  a  very  interesting  manner,  as  shown,    The  con- 


226 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


nections  of  the  buffer  beam  to  the  end  sills  are  also  here  shown  ; 
this  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter  upon  the  reconstruction, 
however,  as  the  buffer  beams  are  not  called  upon  to  receive 
any  pull  strains,  as  would  be  the  case  if  the  safety  chains  were 
attached  directly  to  them.  They  are  strengthened,  however, 
for  the  compression  shocks  due  to  buffing.  The  other  features 
of  construction  conform  to  the  standards  as  illustrated  in  the 


not  be  used  on  account  of  lack  of  space,  and  a  special  type  of 
spring  block  was  designed,  and  has  been  applied  as  here 
illustrated. 

An  interesting  feature  is  to  be  noted  in  this  connection  in 
all  of  these  drawings  in  the  methods  of  reinforcing  the  center 
and  side  sills  of  the  reconstructed  cars.  On  all  new  sills  in- 
stalled, or  the  projecting  sills  required  to  carry  the  new  plat- 


DETAIL  DRAWING  OF  ONE  OF  THE  REBUILT  MOTOR  TRUCKS,    SHOWING  CHANGES  IN  MOTOR  SUSPENSION,  TRUCK-FRAME 

BRACING,   BRAKE-SHOE   SUSPENSION,  BRAKE  RIGGING,  ETC. 


standard  platform  drawing  of  the  trail  cars,  namely,  the  4- 
point  and  7-point  couplers,  the  safety  chain  pull-rod  connec- 
tions and  all  other  details. 

In  another  drawing  is  shown  longitudinal  section  details  of 
the  draft-rigging  connections  upon  the  reconstructed  Bradley 
and  Brill  cars.  These  differ  considerably  from  the  motor-end 
draft  rigging  shown  in  the  above  drawing,  especial  provision 
being  required  for  strengthening  the  body  bolster  and  other 
parts.  The  draft-bar,  its  supports  and  the  spring-draft  connec- 
tion for  the  coupler  are  all  of  the  standard  type,  but  the  style 
of  connection  with  the  king  bolt  at  the  body  bolster  varies  in 
each  case.  In  the  Bradley  car  a  heavy  bracket  has  been  bolted 
in  between  the  front  side  of  the  body  bolster  and  the  center 
sills  to  strengthen  this  portion  of  the  under-framing  against 
the  shocks  transmitted  to  the  car  body  in  starting  the  motors ; 
this  has  been  found  a  very  wise  precaution,  and  is  being  ex- 
tended to  all  cars  where  it  can  be  used  to  advantage.  In  the 
detail  of  the  Brill  car  may  be  seen  a  somewhat  different  ar- 
rangement of  platform  details,  and  also  of  the  safety  chain  pull- 
rod,  although  the  general  features  of  the  draft  rigging  are  of 
the  standard  type.  In  this  car  the  standard  form  of  spring 
block  used  for  securing  the  pull-rods  to  the  body  bolster  could 


DETAILS  OF 
INSERTED 


 J 

THE   CAST-STEEL   REINFORCING  BRACKET 
TO  STRENGTHEN  THE  UPPER  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  TRUCK  FRAME 


forms,  reinforced  wood  construction  is  made  use  of,  as  shown. 
In  some  instances  I-beams  are  used,  with  wood  plates  fitted  in 
on  each  side,  while  in  others  wooden  beams  are  reinforced  by 
a  channel  on  either  side,  or  in  other  cases,  where  space  is  lim- 
ited, by  two  angles,  one  on  either  side,  so  as  to  entirely  enclose 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


227 


the  wooden  beam.  This  construction  conforms  to  the  very 
latest  practice  in  heavy  railroad  car  construction,  and  serves 
to  very  greatly  strengthen  the  car  construction. 

'1RUCK  RECONSTRUCTION 
Changes  of  equal  importance  have  also  been  made  on  the 
various  types  of  trucks  which  were  in  use  upon  the  system,  in 
order  to  fit  them  to  withstand  the  severe  service  imposed  by 
the  exacting  schedules  now  in  force ;  as  the  schedules  have 
been  cut  down  and  the  speeds  operated  under  increased,  the 
lighter  trucks  formerly  used  have  proven  less  and  less  able 


was  much  lighter;  they  have  given  excellent  satisfaction  in 
service,  but  with  the  heavier  motors  that  are  now  being  ap- 
plied, it  has  been  found  advisable  to  strengthen  them  for  the 
heavier  weights  and  tractive  forces  in  starting.  In  this  par- 
ticular truck,  the  body  bolster  was  formerly  carried  upon  the 
spring  plank  support  between  two  8-in.  channel  guides,  which 
channel  irons  were  merely  bolted  to  the  side  frames  by  angle 
plates.  This  construction  proved  inadequate  to  withstand  the 
severe  strains  in  accelerating,  and  it  was  strengthened  by  the 
insertion  of  cast-steel  reinforcing  brackets,  as  shown.  These 


t,*ed  Point  on 
'-.Cylinder 


Lerei — A'J 


lerer-l:3.5>. 


Trail  Truck. 

Total  shoe  pressure  on  trail  truck  =  20, 812  lbs.  or 
89. 98  %  of  total  weight  of  No.  2  end. 
Total  weight  of  No.  2  end  =  23, 150  lbs. 


Motor  Truck. 

Total  shoe  pressure  on  motor  truck  =  37.184  lbs  or 
100.04  %  of  total  weight  of  No.  I  end. 
Total  weight  of  No./  end  =  37,/70/t>$. 


DIAGRAM  OF 


BRAKE-SHOE  PRESSURES  AND  TENSIONS    IMPOSED  UPON  MEMBERS  OF  BRAKE-RIGGING,  UPON  ONE  OF 
THE  STANDARD   RECONSTRUCTED  MOTOR  CARS 


to  withstand  the  heavy  service.  The  best  of  the  trucks  in  use 
have  been  retained,  however,  and  are  being  strengthened  in  all 
of  the  weaker  points,  so  as  to  withstand  the  shocks  of  starting 
the  motors,  etc.  Many  of  the  odd  trucks  that  came  into  use 
upon  the  system  have  been  discarded,  and  replaced  by  new 
and  stronger  ones.  The  "Brooklyn  Heights  standard"  truck, 
built  by  the  Peckham  Manufacturing  Company,  which  was  ap- 
plied a  year  or  so  age  to  the  120  Kings  County  and  Brooklyn 


DETAILS    OF   THE   NEW    STANDARD  SELF-LUBRICATING 
CENTER-PLATE  (BODY  HALF),  ADOPTED  TO  PERMIT 
INTERCHANGE  ABILITY  OF  I RUCKS 

Union  Elevated  steam  coaches  in  equipping  them  as  motor 
cars,  have  been  retained  in  that  service  with  very  few  changes. 
The  old  steam  coach  trucks,  which  they  replaced,  are  being 
re-equipped  for  use  under  trail  cars,  and  have,  fortunately, 
enabled,  by  their  uniformity  of  design,  a  standard  type  of 
trailer  truck  to  be  worked  out  and  adhered  to. 

The  accompanying  drawing  is  typical  of  this  truck  recon- 
struction work,  this  one  illustrating  the  changes  that  were  made 
upon  a  type  of  truck  built  by  J.  G.  Brill  &  Company,  which  was 
placed  in  service  upon  the  road  in  1901.  These  trucks  were  de- 
signed for  a  much  lighter  service  and  slower  speed  than  is  now 
in  force,  as  at  that  time  the  traffic  handled  upon  the  elevated 


brackets  are  shown  in  heavy  lines  to  indicate  the  construction 
and  relative  locations.  The  channels  are  now  bolted  to  massive 
lugs,  which  extend  12  ins.  out  from  the  bracket  casting,  the 
bracket  castings  being  secured  to  the  side  frame  of  the  truck 
by  five  Ji-in.  bolts.  The  bracket  castings  are  heavily  ribbed, 
to  provide  ample  stiffness,  and,  by  virtue  of  their  extremely 
heavy  construction  and  rigid  connections  to  the  side  frame 
and  the  channels,  render  the  top  members  of  the  truck  practi- 
cally as  rigid  as  if  forged  solid  in  one  piece. 

Another  important  feature  of  the  truck  reconstruction  work 
lies  in  the  equipping  of  all  the  Brill  and  Peckham  motor  and 
Peckham  trailer  trucks  of  the  elevated  cars  with  the  Taylor 
"non-chattering"  brake-rigging  system,  by  means  of  which  the 
disagreeable  vibration  in  heavy  braking  is  averted.  This  sys- 
tem was  patented  by  R.  C.  Taylor,  mechanical  engineer  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  some  time  before  his  con- 
nection with  this  road.  As  applied  to  the  reconstructed  Brill 
trucks,  it  consists  of  the  provision  of  lugs  extending  out  from 
the  steel  reinforcing  bracket,  over  the  wheels  from  which  the 
brake  shoes  are  swung  flexibly,  yet  rigid  against  vertical  mo- 
tion ;  this  serves  to  bring  the  pull  upon  the  brake  shoe  directly 
upon  the  upper  members  of  the  truck  frame,  and  cannot  result 
in  torsion  or  buckling  of  the  side  frames,  while  the  vertical 
rigidity  prevents  the  chattering. 

The  brake  rigging  has  also  been  considerably  changed,  guides 
being  provided  to  hold  the  brake  shoes  upon  the  wheel  faces ; 
this  will  prevent  the  shoes  from  tending  to  slip  off  of  the  wheel 
under  heavy  braking  strains,  unless  flange  brake  shoes  are 
used,  when  guides  will  be  unnecessary.  An  important  change 
has  also  been  made  in  the  releasing  spring  for  pulling  the  brake 
shoes  off  of  the  wheels  when  the  brakes  are  released.  Spring 
pressure  is  provided  by  a  spring  attached  to  the  brake  pull-rod 
over  the  forward  wheel,  the  other  end  of  which  is  secured  to 
a  bracket  near  the  bolster:  by  means  of  an  adjusting  bolt  the 
tension  upon  the  spring  may  be  regulated  at  will,  and  by  virtue 
of  the  strength  of  the  springs  there  is  no  possibility  of  the 
brake  shoes  dragging  upon  the  wheels,  as  so  often  is  the  case. 

The  brake-shoe  pressure  and  the  various  tensions  brought 
upon  the  various  portions  of  the  braking  system,  as  applied 
to  the  reconstructed  cars,  is  indicated  in  the  accompanying 
diagram  of  brake  leverages.  One  truck  of  each  car  is  a  motor 
truck,  the  other  being  a  trail  truck,    As  may  be  noted  from  the 


228 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


diagram,  the  trail  trucks  are  equipped  for  a  total  brake-shoe 
pressure  of  practically  90  per  cent  of  the  total  weight  of  the 
half  of  the  car  coming  over  it,  while  the  motor  truck  is 
equipped  for  total  shoe  pressures  of  100  per  cent  of  the  total 
weight  which  it  will  carry.  The  various  brake-lever  pressures 
and  lever  ratios  are  indicated  upon  the  drawing. 

The  Gibbs  type  of  motor  suspension  is  being  applied  to  all 
of  the  reconstructed  motor  trucks.  The  outlines  of  this  con- 
struction is  shown  in  the  truck  drawing.  The  side  bars  of 
the  Gibbs  suspension  frame  could  not  be  installed  without  de- 
pressing slightly  at  the  middle,  in  order  to  clear  the  lower  cross 
frame  of  the  truck;  for  this  reason  the  side  bars  are  offset 
xl/2  ins.  at  the  middle,  in  order  to  clear  the  truck.  The  details 
of  this  suspension  do  not  differ  otherwise,  however,  from  the 
well-known  construction  which  it  embodies.  An  important 
safety  precaution  is  provided  in  this  connection  to  prevent  the 
motor  from  dropping  in  case  the  suspension  should  for  any 
reason  fail;  this  consists  of  a  projecting  plate  or  bracket  bolted 
to  the  8-in.  cross  channels  and  bent  up  so  as  to  come  under  the 
lug  upon  the  top  of  the  motor  frame.  In  this  way,  if  the  sus- 
pension should  fail,  the  motor  would  merely  drop  ij4  ins.  or 
2  ins.,  and  thereafter  ride  rigidly  upon  the  truck  frame.  In 
this  way  such  an  accident  would  not  prevent  the  car  from 
being  operated  to  a  considerable  extent  under  its  own  power, 
although  this  device  is  not  intended  for  regular  operation. 

A  commendable  step  has  been  taken,  in  connection  with  the 
reconstruction  of  the  trucks,  toward  their  interchangeability  by 
the  provision  of  standard  center-plate  bearings.  All  center 
plates  will  be  of  the  same  dimensions,  and  will  be  exactly  inter- 
changeable, which  will  make  it  possible  for  the  motor  truck  of 
any  motor  car  to  be  removed  and  placed  under  any  other  mo- 
tor car.  This  is  a  valuable  provision,  as  it  will  enable  cars  to 
be  kept  in  service,  where  they  otherwise  might  be  held  in  the 
shop  by  work  required  upon  the  motor  truck;  in  case  of  a  car 
being  in  running  order  with  the  exception  of  its  motor  truck, 
any  truck  having  suitable  motors  for  this  car  that  may  be 
available  can  be  placed  beneath  it,  connected  up  and  the  car 
placed  in  commission  again  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  An 
important  feature  of  this  standard  center  plate,  which  is  being 
introduced  upon  all  the  cars,  is  the  provision  of  an  adequate 
oil  well  in  connection  with  the  lower  or  truck  side  of  the  bear- 
ing, which  may  lie  filled  after  the  upper  plate  is  in  place,  and 
will,  by  means  of  the  oil  grooves  provided,  keep  the  bearing 
lubricated  for  an  indefinite  time.  This  is  an  important  feature, 
and  one  to  which  too  little  attention  is  generally  given. 

FIREPROOF  J  NT,  AND  ELECTRICAL  EQUIPMENT 

The  interesting  details  of  the  fireproofing  of  all  wiring  and 
electrical  apparatus,  as  well  as  also  the  important  changes  in 
arrangement  of  apparatus,  motorman's-cab  details,  interior  de- 
tails of  car,  etc.,  will  be  referred  to  in  full  in  an  article  which 
will  appear  in  the  following  issue  of  this  journal. 



HOT  WATER  VERSUS  ELECTRIC  HEATERS 

BY  R.  P.  GORHAM 

The  silent  contention  between  hot  water  and  electric  heat 
for  electric  cars  continues  without  either  system  gaining  a 
marked  advantage  over  its  opponent.  It  cannot  be  said  that 
there  is  a  distinct  field  for  either  of  the  two,  except  that  the 
smaller  city  cars  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  more  likely  to  be 
found  equipped  with  electric  heaters  than  interurban  cars,  while 
on  the  latter  hot-water  heating  is  frequently  found.  In  view 
of  this  difference  in  practice,  it  may  be  well  to  point  out  some 
of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  system. 

The  questions  of  weight,  space,  attention  required  to  operate 
and  attending  dirt  are  much  against  the  hot-water  system. 
The  heater  itself,  with  the  expansion  drum,  necessary  pipes 
and  the  water  in  them,  adds,  approximately,  2  per  cent  to  5  per 


cent  to  the  weight  of  the  car.  Except  when  the  heater  is  placed 
in  the  vestibule,  it  usually  takes  up  the  space  of  at  least  two 
persons.  With  a  car  seating  forty-eight  passengers  the  heater 
will  under  these  circumstances  occupy  4  per  cent  of  the  total 
useful  space  in  the  car,  or,  to  state  it  another  way,  were  the 
heater  removed  this  space  could  be  utilized  and  the  passenger 
capacity  of  the  car  increased  4  per  cent  with  the  same  current 
consumption,  not  considering  the  decrease  of  weight  of  the 
car  when  the  heater  is  removed.  Were  the  heater  and  accom- 
panying apparatus  removed,  however,  the  car  would  be  light- 
ened say  3  per  cent.  This  should  cause  a  corresponding  de- 
crease in  the  current  used. 

Considering  the  4  per  cent  increase  in  the  carrying  capacity 
of  the  car,  together  with  the  3  per  cent  reduction  of  current 
that  would  take  place  were  the  heater  removed,  it  is  readily 
seen  that  the  weight  and  space  taken  by  the  heater  are  directly 
responsible  for  7  per  cent  of  the  total  consumption  of  current. 
It  might  be  argued  by  some  that  the  possible  lightening  of  a 
car  and  trucks  by  the  removal  of  the  heater  might  not  be  as 
much  as  4  per  cent.  However,  it  is  only  fair  in  an  argument 
of  this  kind  to  assume  that  the  weight  of  car  is  proportional  to 
the  space  available  in  the  car,  and  for  that  matter,  if  we  are  to 
come  down  to  fine  points  of  argument,  the  heater  weighs  more 
than  the  passengers  it  displaces,  and  therefore  the  weight  of 
car  to  a  given  amount  of  interior  space  might  reasonably  be 
less  without  the  heater  than  with  it.  A  heavier  car  body  and 
truck  is  needed  to  carry  a  heater  than  to  carry  the  two  passen- 
gers, which  we  are  assuming  take  the  same  room  as  the  heater. 

The  labor  required  in  building  the  fires  and  watching  them 
in  the  car  house  is  by  no  means  a  small  item,  and  when  on  the 
road  the  care  of  the  heater,  usually  delegated  to  the  conductor, 
causes  him  much  inconvenience.  In  addition,  the  occasional 
burning  out  of  the  coils  or  the  freezing  up,  with  the  accom- 
panying bursting  of  pipes,  increases  considerably  the  cost  of 
maintenance. 

But  the  electric  heater  has  its  drawbacks,  too.  When  prop- 
erly installed  with  all  wires  in  metal  conduits,  as  is  required 
by  the  new  rules  for  car  wiring,  published  in  the  Street  Rail- 
way Journal  of  July  16,  danger  of  fire  is  almost  eliminated. 
But  the  methods  most  commonly  used  in  wiring  heaters  are 
far  from  what  they  should  be,  and  always  carry  with  them 
more  or  less  danger  of  fire.  Then,  too,  when  the  car  is  in  the 
storage  barn  the  heaters  are  often  negligently  left  on,  adding 
another  element  of  danger.  Electric  heaters  may  or  may  not  be 
the  direct  cause  of  the  numerous  mysterious  fires  for  which 
they  are  blamed,  but  the  fact  remains  that  with  many  master 
mechanics  danger  of  fire  is  all  that  prevents  their  adoption. 

The  cost  of  the  current  consumed,  however,  is  the  argument 
commonly  made  against  them.  On  long  interurban  lines  this 
applies  less  to  the  operating  power  house  expenses  than  to  the 
additional  expense  of  increasing  the  capacity  of  generating 
plants  and  transmission  lines.  But  it  is  a  question  worthy  at 
least  of  some  consideration  whether  or  not  the  7  per  cent  in- 
crease of  current  used  throughout  the  year  to  carry  the  hot- 
water  heater  around  would  not,  if  applied  directly,  be  sufficient 
to  heat  the  car  for  the  six  months  of  the  year  during  which 
heat  is  desirable. 

The  heater  is  most  needed  in  wet  weather.  With  some  forms 
of  electric  heaters  it  is  in  such  weather  that  they  are  most  un- 
reliable. Water  dripping  from  shoes  or  clothing  coming  in 
contact  with  the  hot  wires  may  cause  them  to  break,  necessi- 
tating the  help  of  the  repair  man  before  the  heater  can  again 
be  put  in  service.  On  interurban  cars  where  many  heaters  are 
wired  in  parallel,  the  breaking  of  one  or  two  circuits  does  not 
materially  affect  the  temperature  of  the  car.  With  small  city 
cars,  however,  having  probably  but  two  circuits,  the  inconven- 
ience is  very  noticeable. 

In  the  selection  of  heaters  for  interurban  lines  with  long 
runs,  a  point  in  favor  of  the  hot-wafer  heater  is  that  it  is  in- 


August 


13.  I904-] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


229 


dependent  of  current.  If  for  some  reason  current  be  shut  off 
in  cold  weather,  the  car  may  lie  on  an  isolated  section  of  the 
track  for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  with  a  hot-water  system  the  occupants  of  the  car  will  not 
suffer  as  they  would  if  the  car  were  heated  electrically. 

In  what  has  been  said  it  is  not  intended  to  draw  any  final 
conclusions  one  way  or  another  as  to  the  two  classes  of  heater, 
but  to  point  to  some  of  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
both.  Some  of  the  points  mentioned  are  frequently  overlooked 
in  considering  the  question. 

 ♦♦♦  ■ 

NEW  STORAGE-BATTERY  PLANT  OF  THE  NORTHWESTERN 
ELEVATED  RAILROAD,  CHICAGO 

The  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad  Company,  of  Chicago, 
has  recently  completed  a  storage-battery  plant  at  the  present 
northern  terminus  of  its  line  in  the  terminal  yards  at  Wilson 
Avenue.  This  plant  is  interesting,  because  it  is  an  example  of 
good  substantial  construction  for  a  storage-battery  station 
ratber  than  because  of  any  remarkable  features. 

BUILDING 

Fig.  1  is  from  a  photograph  of  the  street  side  of  the  plant,  and 
Fig.  2  is  a  cross  section  of  the  battery  room.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  windows  on  the  south  or  street  side  are  placed  high. 
In  the  construction  of  the  company's  buildings  and  yards  it 
has  been  the  policy  to  guard  against  intruders  as  far  as  possible 
by  the  use  of  a  high  board  fence.  The  high  windows  on  the 
street  side  of  the  battery  room  carry  out  this  general  policy. 
The  entire  plant  is  one  story,  but  the  booster  and  switchboard 
room  is  higher  than  the  battery  room.  The  battery  room,  Fig. 
4,  has  a  floor  of  brick  laid  in  asphalt,  which  is  4  ins.  thick,  and 
has  a  foundation  of  8  ins.  of  concrete.  The  roof  and  posts  sup- 
porting it  are  of  wood.  At  both  ends  of  the  plant  are  double 
doors  for  use  in  moving  machinery  or  battery  tanks  in  and  out. 
The  building  is  heated  by  hot-water  radiators,  the  hot-water 
heater  being  located  in  one  corner  of  the  booster  room.  All 
iron  work  in  the  building  is  coated  with  Barber  Asphalt  Com- 


FIG.  2.— LONGITUDINAL  SECTION   OF  BATTERY  HOUSE 


battery  circuit  is  mechanically  connected  with  tbe  circuit 
breaker  in  the  motor  circuit,  as  usual,  to  prevent  the  booster 
running  away  should  the  circuit  breaker  of  the  booster  motor 
open.  By  this  mechanical  connection  the  opening  of  the  motor 
circuit  breaker  opens  the  battery  circuit  breaker  also.  The 
booster  is  rated  to  carry  2175  amps,  for  one  hour.    The  voltage 


FIG.  1.— STORAGE  BATTERY   SUB-STATION  FROM  STREET 


at  full  load  is  90,  and  the  speed  of  the  motor  and  booster  500 
r.  p.  m. 

Besides  the  two  switchboard  panels  for  controlling  the  bat- 
tery, booster  and  booster  motor,  there  are  two  feeder  panels. 
These  two  feeder  panels  are  used  because  there  are  two  distinct 
feeders  running  from  the  power  station  to  this  portion  of  the 
road.  One  of  these  feeders  is  for  supplying  trains  on  the  ex- 
press tracks  on  this  section  of  the  road.  The  other  is  for  sup- 
plying trains  on  the  local  tracks.  The  battery  can  be  connected 
to  one  or  both  of  these  feeders  during  charge  or  discharge.  It 
is  customary  during  the  charge  of  the  battery  to  connect  it  to 
the  feeder  supplying  the  express  tracks  only.  As  express  trains 
are  not  in  operation  during  the  time  that  the  battery  is  being 
charged,  this  gives  the  battery  a  feeder  running  directly  from 


pany's  "Tite  Kote"  paint.  Other  details  of  the  building  can  be 
seen  from  the  plans  before  mentioned. 

ELECTR I CAL  APPARATUS 
The  battery  consists  of  258  chloride  cells,  rated  for  a  maxi- 
mum discharge  of  2720  amps,  at  the  one-hour  rate.  They  are 
connected  to  the  line  through  a  compound-wound  booster, 
Fig.  3.  The  switchboard  connections  of  the  plant  are  shown 
in  Fig.  5.  In  this  diagram  it  will  be  seen  that  the  battery  can 
be  connected  directly  to  the  bus-bars  which  lead  directly  to  the 
line,  or  it  can  he  connected  to  the  bus-bars  through  the  arma- 
ture and  series  coils  of  the  booster,    The  circuit  breaker  in  the 


the  power  station  which  is  free  from  fluctuations  in  voltage, 
due  to  a  varying  load.  During  the  rush  hours  the  battery  dis- 
charges into  both  local  and  express  track  feeders,  thus  helping 
to  carry  tbe  maximum  peak  load  of  the  northern  section  of 
the  line,  which  reaches  as  far  south  on  the  Belmont  Avenue, 
making  this  section  extend  over  about  il/2  miles  of  four-track 
road.  The  power  station  is  at  Fullerton  and  Southport  Ave- 
nues, about  2]A  miles  from  this  sub-station.  Although  this 
battery  plant  is  at  what  is  now  the  northern  terminus  of  the 
road,  it  probably  will  not  lie  so  long,  as  an  extension  is  contem- 
plated to  Ravenswood,  and  it  is  also  expected  to  operate  trains 


230 

over  the  tracks  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad 
from  this  point  to  Evanston. 

WATER  SUPPLY 
It  was  at  first  intended  to  get  a  supply  of  distilled  water  for 
replenishing  the  electrolyte  of  the  battery  from  a  still  located 
on  the  premises  and  heated  by  gas.    A  number  of  tests  were 


FIG.  3.— COMPOUND  WOUND  BOOSTER 


made  on  the  cost  of  operating  this  still.  In  one  of  these  tests, 
which  is  a  fair  average  of  all,  the  gas  burner  took  60.2  cu.  ft. 
of  gas  per  hour.  The  city  water  required  for  condensing  was 
60  gals,  per  hour.  It  yielded  3^4  ga's-  distilled  water  per  hour. 
This,  at  the  price  paid  for  gas  of  90  cents  per  1000  cu.  ft.,  and 
with  city  water  for  condensing  at  1  cent  per  100  gals.,  would 
bring  the  cost  to  1.6  cents  per  gallon.  This  was  so  high  that 
the  still  was  moved  to  the  power  station,  where  steam  from  the 
boilers  could  be  used  at  a  cost  for  production  of  distilled  water 
of  about  y2  cent  a  gallon.  This  is  a  sufficient  saving,  so  that  it 
pays  to  haul  the  water  in  barrels  from  the  power  station  to  the 
battery  plant  rather  than  maintain  the  still  at  the  battery  plant 
and  operate  it  by  gas. 

ROUTINE   BATTERY   OPERATING  INSTRUCTIONS 
The  following  instructions,  whch  are  given  to  those  in  charge 
of  the  battery  plant,  give  a  good  idea  of  the  way  in  which  the 
battery  is  cared  for  and  what  the  company  considers  the  best 
practice  in  this  respect : 

RATING 

Amps. 

Maximum  discharge  rate   2720 

Normal  discharge  rate   680 

Maximum  charge  rate    950 

Normal  charge  rate    680 

Floating. — When  floating,  the  voltage  should  be  so  adjusted 
that  the  specific  gravity  of  the  pilot  cell  will  remain  in  the 
neighborhood  of  5  points  below  the  maximum  reached  at  the 
last  weekly  overcharge,  as  noted  in  chalk  on  the  outside  of  the 
pilot  cell  tank  (see  paragraph  on  pilot  cell  readings).  The 
battery  must  not  be  allowed  to  gas  or  "boil,"  either  of  which 
is  an  indication  of  too  high  a  voltage.  Except  on  the  weekly 
overcharge,  the  specific  gravity  should  never  get  above  this 
point,  and  should  it  show  a  tendency  to  do  so,  decrease  the 
voltage  across  the  battery.  The  proper  adjustment  can  also  be 
checked  by  the  voltage  across  the  battery.  This  should  average 
540  volts — that  is,  on  discharge  the  voltage  will  go  below  this 
point,  and  on  charge  it  will  go  above,  but  the  average  should 
be  kept  at  this  point,  being  checked  on  the  Bristol  recording 
voltmeter  chart.  This  adjustment  is  made  by  means  of  the 
booster  rheostat. 

Discharge. — The  discharge  current  must  not  be  allowed  to 
exceed  2720  amps,  in  regular  service.  The  circuit  breaker, 
however,  may  lie  set  at  4080  amps,  in  order  to  take  care  of  such 
very  infrequent  discharges  as  may  be  only  momentarily  in  ex- 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 

cess  of  this  figure.  The  voltage  across  the  battery  must  never 
be  allowed  to  fall  below  440  volts,  and  must  only  go  that  low 
when  there  is  a  discharge  of  at  least  680  amps.  If  the  dis- 
charge is  less  the  voltage  must  not  go  so  low.  The  specific 
gravity  of  the  pilot  cell  should  never  be  allowed  to  fall  more 
than  30  points  during  discharge,  and  in  general  25  points  is 
recommended  as  a  safer  figure. 

Ordinary  Charge. — Where  a  regular  discharge  is  taken  out 
of  the  battery,  charge  up  as  soon  as  practical,  preferably  at  the 
normal  rate.  The  cliarge  should  be  continued  until  the  gravity 
of  the  pilot  cell  reaches  a  point  5  points  below  the  maximum 
reached  on  the  last  preceding  weekly  overcharge. 

Weekly  Overcharge. — On  Sunday  morning  the  battery  must 
be  given  an  overcharge,  this  being  similar  to  the  ordinary 
charge,  except  that  it  is  continued  longer.  When  the  battery 
begins  to  "gas"  take  specific  gravity  readings  of  the  pilot  cell 
at  fifteen-minute  intervals;  continue  the  charge  until  those 
readings  show  no  increase  in  gravity  for  three-quarters  of  an 
hour,  when  the  current  should  be  cut  off,  the  battery  being  full. 

Thunder  Storms. — On  account  of  danger  from  lightning  and 
burning  out,  it  is  advisable  during  severe  thunder  storms  to 
keep  the  Weston  voltmeter  cut  out  of  circuit  by  keeping  its 
switch  on  the  off  point,  except  when  readings  are  being  taken. 
If  it  is  possible  to  adjust  the  bus  to  the  battery  floating  voltage 
— that  is,  540  volts,  the  battery  should  be  floated  directly  on 
the  system  without  the  booster,  and  in  case  it  is  advisable,  as 
far  as  practical,  to  keep  the  booster  out  of  service  at  such  times. 


FIG.  4.-INTERIOR  OF  BATTERY  ROOM. 


Pilot  Cell  Readings. — While  the  battery  is  on  the  system, 
read  and  record  once  every  hour  the  specific  gravity  of  cell 
No.  169.  Read  and  record  once  every  day  the  average  electro- 
lyte temperature  of  this  cell,  and  also  the  temperature  of  the 
room.  It  is  of  assistance  to  chalk  on  the  outside  of  the  pilot 
cell  tank  each  week  the  maximum  gravity  reached  after  the 
weekly  overcharge,  this  reading  being  used  as  a  standard  for 
operating  the  battery  during  the  following  week.  Read  and 
record  at  the  end  of  each  charge  and  the  end  of  each  dis- 
charge the  pilot  cell  gravity.  The  proper  height  of  the  elec- 
trolyte of  the  pilot  cell  should  be  marked  in  any  convenient 
manner,  and  then  enough  water  put  into  this  cell  each  day  in 
order  to  keep  the  electrolyte  at  this  constant  height. 

Weekly  Readings. — A  complete  individual  cell  specific  grav- 
ity reading  of  the  entire  battery  should  be  taken  at  noon  on 
Sunday.  A  second  complete  individual  cell  specific  gravity 
reading  should  be  taken  after  the  weekly  overcharge  is  com- 
pleted and  before  any  discharge  is  taken  out. 

Bristol  Voltmeter. — The  Bristol  voltmeter  should  be  checked 
and,  if  necessary,  adjusted  once  a  week.    This  is  done  as  fol- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


lows :  With  the  battery  off  the  circuit,  read  the  battery  voltage 
on  the  Weston  voltmeter;  then  by  means  of  the  slide  in  the 
meter  resistance  box  adjust  the  latter  so  that  it  agrees  with 
the  Weston, 

Responsibility. — The  senior  operator  will  be  held  responsible 
for  the  condition  of  cells  No.  I  to  No.  130.  The  junior  operator 
will  be  held  responsible  for  cells  No.  130  to  No.  258. 

Replacing  Evaporation. — Keep  the  plates  covered  with  elec- 
trolyte and  use  oidy  approved  water  in  filling  up.  Do  not  use 
acid. 

Inspection. — At  the  end  of  the  weekly  overcharge,  when  the 
cells  begin  to  gas,  look  over  all  the  cells  for  gassing",  and  note 
any  which  are  behind  the  rest  of  the  battery.  As  soon  as  con- 
venient, inspect  these  cells  for  trouble.    Once  a  week  inspect 


cells.  In  case  of  trouble  being  shown  by  any  of  the  above  indi- 
cations, look  at  once  for  short  circuits  and  remove  the  same  i  f 
found.  In  case  of  any  trouble  that  you  cannot  discover  and 
remedy,  report  at  once  to  R.  B.  Stearns,  superintendent. 

Forms  are  provided  upon  which  the  battery  attendants  make 
regular  reports  from  the  charge  and  discharge  at  the  battery. 

The  foregoing  particulars  are  given  through  the  courtesy  of 
E.  C.  Noe,  general  superintendent,  and  R.  B.  Stearns,  superin- 
tendent, of  the  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad  Company. 

♦  ♦♦ 


Indiana  interurban  railroads  have  reached  the  point  of  car- 
rying pianos  when  occasion  requires.  The  Roberts  Park  M.  E. 
Church  Choral  Society  chartered  a  special  car  over  the  In- 
dianapolis &  Northwestern  Traction  Line  for  Lafayette  and 


^1 

Booster  Motor 1 


Switchboard  (back) 


Voltmeter  Switch 
Laln-ls 
I>t.  t  Bus 
Pt.  2  Battery 
Pt.  3  Das  and  Booster 
Ft.  i  Battery  and 

Booster 
Pt.  5  Off 


Switchboard  (front) 


■*  1  +  Bus 

-12  Ground  (-Bus) 


Voltmeter  connections  not  shown  in  diagr; 
Pt.  1  Bus 
Pt  2  Battery 
Pt.  3  Bus  and  Booster 
Ft.  1  Battery  and  Booster 
Pt.  5  OH' 


Generator  Panel 


Size  of  Cables  and  Wires  B.  &  S. 


Length  in  Feet 


Battery  Room 


1 

f  Bus  

3- 1. 000. 000 

8-3 

Battery  

3  1.0110.000 

1 

Booster  Armature  — 

.3-1,000.000 

Booster  Seiies  Field. 

3-1,000.000 

0 

Booster  Equalizer  

7-8 

Booster  Shunt  Field. 

t  S  B.  &  S. 

H-IO 

Motor  Armature  

800.000 

U 

Motor  Field  

*  S  B.  &  S. 

12 

Ground  (-Bus) 

3-1,000,000 

Copper  leads  frcm  s\\ 

Ul.bo-ld. 

Cable  hits  for  leads 


FIG.  5.— DIAGRAM  SHOWING   BOOSTER  AND  BATTERY  CONNECTIONS 


all  cells  for  color  or  for  short  circuits  between  the  lugs.  Cells 
giving  indications  of  trouble  should  be  attended  to  at  once. 
Until  board  separators  are  installed,  in  addition  to  the  above, 
all  the  cells  should  be  inspected  with  a  submerged  inspection 
lamp  once  a  week.  Look  between  the  plates  and  remove  any- 
thing collecting  between  them  with  a  thin  stick  or  probe.  Do 
not  use  metal  for  this  probe. 

Indications  of  Trouble. — The  following  are  the  chief  indica- 
tions of  trouble  in  cells: 

r.    Lack  of  gassing  on  weekly  overcharge. 

2.  Drop  in  the  specific  gravity  reading  relative  to  the  rest 
of  the  cells. 

3.  Lower  charging  voltage  than  the  rest  of  the  cells. 

4.  The  color  of  the  positives  markedly  lighter,  or  of  the 
negatives  markedly  whiter  or  darker  than  the  neighboring 


return.  Among  the  special  features  of  the  equipment  was  a 
piano.  As  the  party  of  seventy  voices  went  through  the  coun- 
try it  made  music.  Stops  were  made  at  the  stations  and  great 
crowds  assembled  to  hear  the  singing. 

That  electric  railway  companies  throughout  the  country  are 
gradually  recognizing  the  advantage  of  calling  the  public's  at- 
tention to  attractive  localities  reached  by  their  lines,  is  evi- 
denced by  the  beautiful  guide  book  on  the  Great  Blue  Hill  and 
Reservation,  which  has  been  prepared  by  the  Mine  Mill  Street 
Railway  Company,  of  Canton  Junction,  Mass.  This  booklet 
is  sold  at  the  nominal  price  of  10  cents,  contains  an  extended 
description,  with  panoramic  views  of  these  famous  public 
grounds,  historical  sketches  of  the  district,  car  schedules  and 
other  valuable  data  to  the  traveler. 


2T,2 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


BODY  FRAMING  OF  MODERN  INTERURBAN  CARS 


BY  EDWARD  C.  BOYNTON 


The  general  design  of  the  frame  of  an  interurban  car  of  to- 
day is  very  unlike  that  of  a  car  built  four  or  five  years  ago. 
The  changes  in  the  design  have  been  many,  and,  though  spread 
out,  as  they  were,  over  the  above  length  of  time,  have  been 


FIG.  1.— HALF  SECTION  AND  END  ELEVATION  OF 
OLD-STYLE  CAR  , 

very  rapid.  They  have  all  been  in  one  direction — toward  the 
design  of  the  standard  steam  railway  coach. 

If  the  specifications  covering  the  body-framing  of  a  Pullman 
car,  a  steam  railway  coach  and  an  interurban  car  of  to-day 
were  placed  side  by  side  almost  the  only  difference  to  be  seen 
is  found  in  detail  dimensions,  the  Pullman  being  the  heaviest 
and  the  others  in  the  order  given.  The  general  design  is  the 
same. 

For  the  purpose  of  comparison,  Fig.  1  is  given,  showing  a 
half  section  and  end  view  of  an  old  style  car.  It  will  be  no- 
ticed that  the  sides  of  the  car  contain  pockets  into  which  the 
window  drops.  There  are  light  posts  between  the  windows, 
extending  from  side  sill  to  side  plate,  and  formed  to  fit  the 
pocket  and  the  outside  curve  of  the  "sinker"  panel.  Little  or 
no  framing  is  to  be  seen,  there  being  only  a  single  longitudinal 
rib  between  the  sill  and  the  belt  rail  or  sash  rest. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  go  further  into  the  frame  details  of  this 
type  of  car,  for  all  are  more  or  less  familiar  with  it. 

In  all  modern  frame  design  the  strictest  attention  is  given 
to  the  strength  of  the  side  frame  from  the  sill  to  the  belt  rail. 
The  object  is  to  give  the  frame  great  strength  to  withstand 
vertical  strain  and  end  blows,  and,  in  fact,  it  has  become  a  part 
of  the  side  sill.  It  stiffens  the  car  and  gives  a  solid  foundation 
to  carry  the  upper  sides  and  the  roof,  and  in  collisions  will 
effectually  prevent  the  car  from  turning  into  kindling  wood. 

There  are  several  designs  in  use  for  side  framing  which 
differ  slightly,  one  of  which  is  shown  in  Fig.  2. 


In  one  design  more 
commonly  used,  the  ^4- 
in.  iron  rod  just  below 
the  belt  rail  is  replaced 
by  a  flat  steel  truss  l/2 
in.  x  2y2  ins.,  which  is 
bent  downward  from 
the  bolster  center  and 
passes  through  the  side 
sill  near  its  end,  and  is 
secured  by  a  nut  and 
a  suitable  forged  iron 
anchor  beneath  the  sill. 
Another  difference  is  in 
the  diagonal  bracing. 
Letter  X  bracing  is  fre- 
quently used  instead  of 
single  braces,  leaning 
toward  the  center  from 
each  end,  as  shown. 
The  blocking  or  filling 
between  braces  is  not 
shown,  but  is  now  gen- 
erally used.  It  consists 
of  blocks  or  pieces  of 
yellow  pine  the  same 
thickness  as  the  braces 
and  cut  carefully  to  fit 
the  spaces  between 
braces.  These  blocks 
are  screwed  and  glued 
to  ribs  and  posts,  and 
both  blocks  and  trusses 
are  gained  around 
posts.  The  whole  side 
frame  of  the  car  prac- 
tically becomes  one 
large  plank  on  edge, 
but  is  stronger. 

All  corner,  side  and 
door  posts  are  made  of 
white  ash.  Every  sec- 
ond side  post  from  the 
corner  is  made  double, 
with  a  small  panel  be- 
tween both  inside  and 
outside.  Every  alter- 
nate post  is  single,  and 
run  up  back  of  the  top 
sash  of  the  side  win- 
dows. The  reason  for 
this  is  that  the  windows 
are  in  pairs.  The  top 
sash  is  stationary,  usu- 
ally glazed  with  cathe- 
dral glass,  and  covers 
both  lower  sash.  Each 
post  has  a  ^4-in.  iron 
rod  running  full  length 
from  sill  to  side  plate, 
with  a  nut  and  washer 
on  each  end. 

The  upper  ends  of  all 
braces, .  and  also  the 
truss  plank,  are  secured 
by  bolts  passing  down 
through  the  side  sill, 
with  nut  and  washer 
beneath,  as  shown  in 


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August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


233 


Fig  2.  All  side  ribs,  belt  rails  and  plates 
are  made  of  long-leaf  yellow  pine  in  one 
piece.  The  outside  sheathing  is  j/j-in.  x  2- 
in.  poplar,  matched  and  molded. 

This  type  of  car  usually  has  the  steam 
railway  coach  type  of  roof,  with  the  hood 
covering  the  vestibules  at  both  ends.  It  is 
a  monitor  deck  type,  with  the  monitor  roof 
projecting  over  the  deck  lights.  Fig.  3 
shows  the  roof  and  side  frame  in  cross 
section.  Carlines  and  roof  framing  are 
made  of  ash,  the  former-  spaced  about  10 
ins.  apart.  At  every  side  post  is  a  steel  car- 
line  y2  in  x  ij/2  ins.,  forged  in  one  contin- 
uous piece,  to  conform  to  shape  of  car  roof, 
from  side  plate  to  side  plate,  with  a  foot  on 
each  end  securely  bolted  to  plates.  Side 
plates  are  yellow  pine,  2l/2  ins.  x  5  ins.,  laid 
flat,  strengthened  by  a  letter  board  of  white 
ash,  1  J/2  ins.  x  7  ins.,  gained  over  posts  and 
side  plates,  and  securely  screwed  to  the  same.  Side  posts  are 
2%-in.  x  4-in.  ash  ;  corner  posts,  4-in.  x  4^-in.  ash.  Deck 


FIG.  4— FRAMING  OF  MODERN  CAR 

sills  are  2%-m.  x  4^-in.  yellow  pine,  and  deck  plates  are  2-in. 
x  3j/2-in.  of  the  same  material.  The  roof  sheathing  is  J^-in.  x 
3-in.  matched  yellow  poplar. 

Fig.  4  is  a  photo-engraving  of  the  framing  of  one  of  the 
latest  types  of  these  cars  built  during  the  present  year. 


THE  CLEVELAND  TOURING-CAR  SERVICE 


FIG.  3.— SECTIONAL  VIEW 


The  success  of  the  "sight-seeing"  or  touring-car  service, 
which  has  for  the  past  few  seasons  been  operated  upon  the 
lines  of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  has  led  to 
its  development  upon  an  extended  scale.  This  season  the  ser- 
vice has  been  considerably  extended,  and  it  is  being  very  thor- 
oughly and  extensively  advertised.  One  large  car  is  operated 
for  this  purpose  daily  throughout  the  week,  and  ^xtra  cars  are 
added  for  Sundays  and  holidays,  the  intention  being  to  provide 
adequate  service  for  the  demand  at  all  times ;  the  car  operating 
daily  makes  five  trips  per  day,  each  of  which  trips  passes  over 
different  lines  and  through  partially,  if  not  wholly,  distiTict 
territory.  The  service  is  giving  the  best  of  satisfaction  and  is 
being  very  liberally  patronized. 

The  advertising  methods  consist  of  issuing  locally  of  de- 
scriptive pamphlets,  advertising  blotters,  placards,  etc.  The 
pamphlets  are  neatly  arranged,  describing  the  service  from  the 
times  of  trips  and  places  of  starting  to  details  of  each  of  the 
five  trips,  and  the  fact  that  points  of  interest  are  called  en 
route.  The  pamphlet  refers  to  service  in  general  as  follows : 
"Delightful  two-hour  25-cent  trips  about  Cleveland,  metropolis 
of  Ohio.  Best  and  cheapest  way  of  seeing  the  'Forest  City.' 
Passing  and  showing  magnificent  parks,  boulevards,  business 
centers,  beautiful  residence  and  manufacturing  districts,  world- 
famous  Euclid  Avenue,  the  Garfield  tomb,  Euclid  Heights  and 
Governor  Herrick's  home,  'Forest  Hill.'  Summer  palace  of 
John  D.  Rockefeller,  East  End,  West  and  South  Sides,  'Glen- 
mere,'  home  of  late  Senator  Hanna ;  suburbs,  Lakewood,  South 
Brooklyn,  Windermere,  Glenville,  East  Cleveland  and  Collin- 
wood." 

Blotters  are  issued  in  six  different  colors  and  styles  of  print- 
ing, which  refer  briefly  to  the  service,  and  also  small  cardboard 
placards,  \%  ins.  x  2%  ins.  in  size,  which  are  striped  in  various 
ways  with  green  and  pink,  so  as  to  resemble  railroad  tickets ; 
these  are  distributed  in  quantities  from  15,000  to  25,000  per 
month,  and  have  proven  very  effective.  In  addition,  placards 
11  ins.  x  21  ins.  in  size  are  placed  in  the  racks  of  the  city  and 
suburban  cars  of  the  company.  This  new  department  is  in  the 
charge  of  J.  W.  Butler,  manager  of  the  touring  car  service, 
and  from  whom  this  information  was  obtained. 


234 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


THE  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  PLANS  IN  THE  CENTER  OF 
NEW  YORK 


There  is  every  indication  that  a  new  era  for  electric  rail- 
roading in  the  United  States  has  been  started  by  the  recent 
purchases  of  electric  lines  in  Central  New  York  by  the  Vander- 
bilt  interests  controlling  the  New  York  Central  Railroad.  It  has 
become  evident  that  this  most  important  trunk  line  has  arrived 
at  a  point  where  the  superior  economy  of  the  electric  system  of 
propulsion  for  short-haul  passenger  and  express  business  has 
become  recognized,  and  it  seems  extremely  probable  that  within 
the  next  two  or  three  years  a  considerable  part  of  the  short- 
haul  passenger  business  of  the  New  York  Central,  between 
New  York  and  Buffalo,  will  be  turned  over  to  electric  lines 
controlled  and  operated  by  these  interests. 

As  has  already  been  announced  in  these  columns,  the  Van- 
derbilts  have  acquired  a  controlling  interest  in  the  electric  rail- 
way properties  heretofore  owned  by  the  Andrews-Stanley  syn- 
dicate, of  Cleveland,  and  it  is  understood  on  the  best  of  author- 
ity that  negotiations  are  on  for  the  purchase  of  other  lines 
now  operating  in  the  district  traversed  by  the  Central  system. 

In  an  interview  with  Horace  E.  Andrews,  of  Cleveland,  who 
is  now  actively  engaged  with  the  Vanderbilt  interests  in 
furthering  these  plans,  the  Street  Railway  Journal  obtained 

a  number  of  interesting  state- 
ments relative  to  the  situa- 
tion. As  has  been  generally 
known,  the  Andrews-Stanley 
interests  some  time  ago 
bought  and  consolidated  sev- 
eral roads  in  Central  New 
York,  a  n  d  by  extending 
these  roads  formed  the  Utica 
&  Mohawk  Valley  Railway, 
operating  about  118  miles  of 
road  in  Utica  and  Rome,  and 
between  Little  Falls  and 
Rome.  It  also  owned  the 
Oneida  Street  Railway,  op- 
erating a  short  line  west  from 
Oneida,  midway  between  Rome  and  Syracuse.  Recently  the 
syndicate  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  owners  of  the 
Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Company  for  the  control  of  the  city 
system  in  that  city,  and  it  was  generally  understood  that  the 
syndicate  intended  extending  its  interurban  line  from  Rome  to 
Syracuse.  In  connection  with  lines  operating  between  Roch- 
ester and  Buffalo  and  between  Fonda  and  Albany,  and  other 
lines  contemplated,  it  was  apparent  to  the  Vanderbilt  interests 
that  there  would  soon  be  a  chain  of  electrics  paralleling  its  en- 
tire main  line,  and  it  was  here  that  it  decided  to  take  a  hand 
in  the  traction  game.  By  the  purchase  of  51  per  cent  of  the 
stock  of  the  Andrews-Stanley  properties,  including  the  Syra- 
cuse Rapid  Transit  Company,  the  Vanderbilt  interests  secured 
control  of  the  key  to  the  traction  situation  in  Central  New 
York,  and  at  the  same  time  the  co-operation  of  these  aggressive 
traction  operators.  Now  it  appears  to  be  the  intention  of  the 
New  York  Central  interests  to  extend  the  traction  system  en- 
tirely across  New  York  State.  This  will  be  done  by  acquiring 
existing  traction  properties  where  it  is  deemed  desirable,  and  by 
electrifying  portions  of  the  West  Shore  Railroad,  which  paral- 
lels the  New  York  Central  across  New  York,  and  which  is  also 
owned  by  the  Vanderbilt  interests.  The  first  step  in  this  work 
will  be  to  electrify  that  portion  of  the  West  Shore  between 
Utica  and  Syracuse,  and  this  will  be  done  immediately.  It  is 
also  the  intention  to  electrify  the  Auburn  branch  of  the  New 
York  Central,  operating  between  Syracuse  and  Rochester,  over 
a  longer  route  than  that  of  the  main  lines  of  the  New  York 
Central  and  West  Shore  roads  between  these  points.  From 
Rochester  to  Buffalo  will  be  filled  either  by  purchasing  existing 


H.  E.  ANDREW'S 


lines  covering  portions  of  this  distance  or  by  electrifying  the 
branch  of  the  New  York  Central  from  Rochester  to  Niagara 
Falls  and  Buffalo.  Mr.  Andrews  states  that  this  point  has  not 
been  decided  upon.  Mr.  Andrews  also  denies  that  the  Central 
interests  have  obtained  control  of  the  International  Traction 
Company  of  Buffalo,  with  its  suburban  lines,  as  has  been  stated 
in  press  reports.  As  to  the  situation  east  from  Little  Falls, 
Mr.  Andrews  declined  to  make  any  statement.  It  is  under- 
stood from  the  best  of  authority,  however,  that  the  negotiations 
of  the  New  York  Central  and  Delaware  &  Hudson  roads  for  a 
joint  ownership  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company's  system 
will  be  consummated  in  the  near  future.  This  would  give  the 
syndicate  lines  connecting  Schenectady  with  Saratoga,  Troy 
and  Albany,  and  an  entrance  to  Albany,  which  is  important. 
From  Albany  south  to  Hudson  is  the  Albany  &  Hudson  third- 
rail  line,  which  is  controlled  by  A.  M.  Young,  of  New  York, 
who  is  associated  with  Mr.  Andrews  in  other  properties.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  Central's  plans  for  a  trans-State  electric 
line  are  well  advanced.  There  have  been  rumors  that  other 
New  York  Central  branch  lines,  including  the  line  from  Syra- 
cuse to  Oswego  and  the  branch  from  Rome  to  Ogdensburg  and 
Massena  Springs,  are  to  be  electrified,  but  Mr.  Andrews  de- 
clined to  make  any  statement  on  these  points.  Judging  from 
the  general  policy  of  using  the  electric  lines  as  feeders,  this 
may  be  carried  out. 

As  to  the  present  plans  for  operation,  the  present  line  from 
Little  Falls  to  Utica  will  be  utilized  for  the  through  line,  and 
the  through  electric  cars  will  then  take  the  tracks  of  the  West 
Shore  to  Syracuse,  and  the  Auburn  branch  from  Syracuse  to 
Rochester.  The  system  to  be  used  in  the  electrification  of  the 
steam  lines  has  not  been  decided  upon,  and  there  are  many 
points  to  be  considered  before  it  can  be  settled.  At  the  present 
time  engineers  of  both  the  Westinghouse  and  General  Electric 
companies  are  at  work  on  the  problem.  It  has  been  practically 
decided  that  the  steam  tracks  will  not  be  equipped  with  over- 
head trolley,  because  it  is  the  intention  to  continue  the  use  of 
steam  locomotives  for  freight  traffic,  and  it  is  pointed  out  that 
the  trolley  would  endanger  the  lives  of  brakemen  on  the  tops 
of  cars.  It  is  also  claimed  that  the  sulphuric  fumes  from  the 
locomotives  would  injure,  if  not  destroy,  the  overhead  line. 
A  form  of  side  contact  trolley  is  being  considered,  as  is  also 
the  third-rail  system.  The  advantages  of  the  alternating-cur- 
rent system  of  motors  and  transmission  are  being  considered 
on  account  of  the  superior  economies  claimed  for  it,  but  it  is 
feared  that  the  adoption  of  this  system  might  render  it  difficult 
to  enter  the  centers  of  cities.  The  work  of  electrification  is  to 
start  as  soon  as  the  problems  can  be  worked  out,  and  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  the  equipment  will  be  a  step  in  advance  of  anything 
yet  brought  out  in  this  country.  Both  tracks  of  the  West  Shore 
are  to  be  equipped,  and  the  short-haul  passenger  and  package 
express  will  be  taken  care  of  on  the  electric  division  of  the  sys- 
tem, leaving  the  four  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central  for  fast 
passenger  and  freight  traffic. 

The  financial  end  of  the  scheme  will  provide  for  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  three  existing  traction  properties  into  a  single 
company,  or  it  is  possible  that  one  of  the  companies  may  absorb 
the  others.  The  new  company  will  operate  its  own  property 
and  will  utilize  the  tracks  of  the  West  Shore  under  a  traffic 
arrangement.  What  the  capital  of  the  new  company  will  be 
has  not  been  determined. 

Relative  to  the  question  of  obtaining  power,  Mr.  Andrews 
admits  that  the  syndicate  is  interested  in  securing  large  quanti- 
ties of  power,  but  he  declined  to  admit  that  the  syndicate  was 
interested  in  the  Niagara,  Lockport  &  Ontario  Power  Com- 
pany, as  has  been  repeatedly  stated.  He  said  that  the  present 
plant  at  Trenton  Falls  would  be  utilized  to  operate  the  West 
Shore  as  far  west  as  Syracuse,  and  that  the  power  supply  for 
the  section  from  Syracuse  to  Buffalo  would  be  obtained  from 
another  source. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


235 


The  Niagara,  Lockport  &  Ontario  Power  Company  referred 
to  has  recently  voted  to  mortgage  its  property  for  $24,000,000, 
and  will  issue  long-term,  low-rate  bonds  for  that  amount.  A 
modified  certificate  of  incorporation  has  been  filed  at  Albany, 
covering  the  execution  of  the  mortgage,  the  issuance  of  the 
bonds  and  asking  for  authority  to  enable  it  to  transmit  electric 
power  to  the  various  cities  of  the  State  as  far  east  as  Utica. 

Mr.  Andrews  denies  that  any  steps  are  being  taken  by  the 
Vanderbilt  interests  to  absorb  electric  lines  along  the  routes 
of  their  lines  through  Northern  Ohio.  There  have  been  nu- 
merous reports  that  negotiations  were  on  for  the  purchase  of 
the  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ashtabula  Railway,  the  Cleveland, 
Painesville  &  Eastern,  Lake  Shore  Electric  and  other  roads  in 
this  in.trict,  but  such  statements  have  also  been  denied  by  the 
officials  of  these  companies.  This  district  is  not  as  thickly 
settled  as  is  Central  New  York,  and  the  business  which  these 
roads  have  acquired  has  been  very  largely  new  business,  which 
has  been  developed  through  their  own  efforts,  hence  they  have 
not  cut  into  the  business  of  the  steam  roads  as  have  the  Central 
New  York  lines. 


Mr.  Andrews  has  long  figured  as  a  great  street  railway 
operator  through  his  connection  with  the  street  railway  sys- 
tems in  Cleveland.  In  the  early  70's  Samuel  Andrews,  Mr. 
Andrews'  father,  and  Joseph  Stanley,  father  of  John  Stanley, 
Mr.  Andrews'  present  associate  in  business,  built  the  Broadway 
&  Newburg  Street  Railway,  a  horse-car  line  from  the  center  of 
Cleveland  to  the  neighboring  village  of  Newburg.  After  leav- 
ing school  both  young  men  entered  the  employ  of  the  company. 
In  1891  Joseph  Stanley  died  and  Samuel  Andrews  retired,  at 
which  time  Mr.  Andrews  became  president  and  John  J.  Stanley 
general  manager  of  the  company.  In  February,  1893,  the 
Broadway  &  Newburg  Company  was  consolidated  with  the  East 
Cleveland  Railway,  and  in  April,  1893,  the  two  properties  were 
consolidated  with  the  Brooklyn  Street  Railway  and  the  South 
Side  Street  Railway,  of  which  Tom  L.  Johnson  was  the  head, 
forming  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway.  For  a  year  Mr. 
Andrews  was  vice-president  of  the  company,  and  then,  in  1894, 
his  friends  assumed  control  and  he  was  elected  president,  with 
J.  J.  Stanley  as  general  manager.  In  1899  Henry  Everett  and 
his  friends  regained  control  and  Mr.  Andrews  continued  as  a 
director.  In  1902  Mr.  Andrews  headed  the  syndicate  which 
purchased  the  control  from  the  embarrassed  Everett-Moore 
syndicate,  and  Mr.  Andrews  again  became  president,  with  Mr. 
Stanley  general  manager.  In  July,  1903,  Mr.  Andrews  effected 
the  merger  of  the  Cleveland  City  Railway  Company  with  the 
Cleveland  Electric  Railway,  and  at  present  he  is  at  the  head 
of  the  consolidated  company  which  owns  and  operates  all  the 
lines  in  Cleveland. 

In  the  spring  of  1901  Messrs.  Andrews  and  Stanley  became 
interested  in  properties  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  buying  the  control  of 
the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Railway,  the  Utica  Belt  Line,  the  Deer- 
field  &  Utica  and  the  Utica  Suburban  Railway.  Later  the  syn- 
dicate formed  the  Little  Falls  &  Herkimer  Railway,  the  Herki- 
mer, Mohawk,  Illion  &  Frankfort  Electric  Railway  and  the 
Frankfort  &  Utica  Railway.  By  building  connecting  links  and 
consolidating  the  various  properties,  they  formed,  in  November, 
1901,  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company,  which 
embraces  the  city  lines  in  Rome  and  Utica  and  a  magnificent 
double-track  interurban  line  from  Rome  to  Little  Falls,  Mr. 
Andrews  being  president  of  the  company.  The  syndicate  also 
owns  the  Onida  Railway,  of  Onida,  and  the  Rome  City  Street 
Railway,  of  Rome.  Recently  the  Andrews-Stanley  interests 
obtained  control  of  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
operating  70  miles  of  city  and  interurban  road  in  and  around 
Syracuse,  and  at  a  recent  meeting  of  the  stockholders  Mr. 
Andrews  was  elected  president  of  the  company.  Mr.  Andrews 
is  a  director  of  the  Albany  &  Hudson  Railway,  of  Albany,  and 
of  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Cleveland, 


and  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  refinancing  this  property 
after  the  Everett-Moore  embarrassment.  It  is  generally  under- 
stood that  Mr.  Andrews  will  be  the  active  head  of  the  work 
which  is  to  be  carried  on  by  the  New  York  Central  interests, 
and  it  has  been  reported  that  he  will  be  elected  a  vice-president 
of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad. 

—  

MAKING  A  ROAD  ATTRACTIVE 

The  Dayton  &  Troy  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  has  started  on  an  interesting  campaign  to  improve  the 
appearance  of  its  right  of  way.  Harrie  P.  Clegg,  general  man- 
ager of  the  company,  has  established  a  Welfare  Department, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  stimulate  interest  in  this  direction  among 
farmers  and  property-owners  along  the  line  of  the  company's 
private  right  of  way.  The  owners  of  unsightly  sheds,  rubbish 
piles,  etc.,  are  appealed  to  to  clean  up,  and  where  this  is  im- 
possible the  company  proposes  to  screen  the  places  by  planting 
quick-growing  trees  and  shrubbery.  The  company  encourages 
this  work  by  setting  an  example  in  beautifying  its  stations,  of 
which  there  is  one  in  each  town.  Prizes  are  offered  to  the  em- 
ployees who  have  the  cleanest  and  best  appearing  stations. 
The  interest  of  school  children  has  been  enlisted  in  the  work 
of  beautifying  their  homes  and  the  school  yards,  and  the  com- 
pany furnishes  all  materials,  plants,  trees,  shrubs,  etc.,  to  people 
located  directly  on  the  road.  A  spirit  of  rivalry  has  been 
started  in  the  schools  along  the  line  through  the  offer  of  a  free 
picnic  to  the  school  whose  yard  and  building  presents  the  best 
appearance — cleanliness,  beauty  and  practicability  being  the 
points  considered.  The  picnics  are  held  at  Midway  Park,  the 
company's  outing  resort,  and  the  company  furnishes  transporta- 
tion, refreshments  and  an  entertainment.  The  company  started 
this  work  only  a  short  time  ago,  and  already  many  beneficial 
results  have  been  noted.  While  it  is  likely  to  prove  somewhat 
expensive  at  the  start  off,  the  improvements  are  of  a  per- 
manent nature  and  will  add  greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of  the 
road,  and  its  receipts  from  pleasure  seekers  will  increase  pro- 
portionately. 

 ♦♦♦  

CURTIS  TRUCKS  FOR  BOSTON  ELEVATED  RAILWAY 

The  twenty-four  new  elevated  cars  recently  ordered  by  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company,  and  described  in  the  last 
issue  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  are  to  be  mounted  on 
Curtis  trucks,  furnished  by  the  F.  B.  Tait  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, and  not  on  Taylor  trucks,  as  stated  in  that  article.  The 
error  occurred  from  the  fact  that  a  number  of  Taylor  trucks 
have  recently  been  purchased  by  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway 
Company  for  its  surface  cars,  but  the  new  elevated  cars  are  to 
be  mounted  on  Curtis  trucks. 



.    TEST  OF  ARNOLD  SINGLE-PHASE  MOTOR 

A  trial  run  was  made  Aug.  3  on  the  Lansing,  St.  Johns  &  St. 
Louis  Railroad  in  Michigan  with  the  Arnold  electro-pneumatic 
motor.  This  system  was  described  in  the  issue  of  this  paper 
for  Jan.  4,  1904,  and,  as  stated  in  that  article,  the  motor  was 
destroyed  by  fire  on  Dec.  18,  1903.  Since  that  time  Mr.  Arnold 
has  rebuilt  the  machine.  The  run  Aug.  3  was  made  between 
DeWitt  and  Lansing,  a  distance  of  8  miles,  and  at  one  time  a 
speed  of  25  miles  an  hour  was  obtained.  The  trolley  voltage 
was  about  6000,  and  was  carried  the  entire  length  of  the  line, 
a  distance  of  20  miles. 

♦  ♦♦ 

With  the  completion  of  the  lines  to  Newport  Beach  and 
Glendale,  official  statistics  have  just  been  compiled  showing 
that  the  Huntington  interurban  railways  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia now  comprise  a  total  of  307.28  miles  of  single  track, 
nearly  all  being  constructed  and  equipped  in  less  than  two  years. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


STREET  RAILWAY  ADVERTISING 


BY  R.  T.  GUNN 


To  strike  the  "medium"  and  not  spend  too  much,  but  yet 
enough,  is  often  a  matter  of  fine  calculation  for  the  street  rail- 
way company. 

It  is  a  fact  that  those  companies  operating  amusement  re- 
sorts or  parks  have  to  "put  up"  more  than  is  just.  The  resorts, 
as  a  rule,  have  the  concessions  leased  by  the  railway  company, 
and  the  advertising  of  the  resort  naturally  should  be  done  by 
the  lessee  and  not  by  the  railway  company.  It  actually  works 
out  that  if  the  railway  company  gets  the  business  it  should,  it 


SIDE  POST  OF  OPEN  CAR  WITH 
CURTAINS      DRAWN  DOWN, 
SHOWING  DISTRIBUTING 
BOX 


'OCEAN   VIEW" — TYPICAL  CUT  FROM 
CIRCULAR 


on  account  of  the  summer  resorts  and  winter  lighting,  the  sys- 
tem is  working  out  satisfactorily  and  the  expenditure  is  justi- 
fied. The  manager  has  pursued  the  policy  of  keeping  in  good 
humor  with  the  daily  papers,  letting  them  know  that  in  cases  of 
accident  or  matters  which  are  legitimate  news,  they  could  pro- 
cure the  facts  by  simply  asking  for  them.  And  while  the  public 
is  apparently  slow  to  recognize  anything  but  the  worst  possible 
side  of  all  questions,  where  corporations  are  concerned,  still 
it  is  easy  to  discern  a  much  better  feeling  and  attitude  toward 
the  company  than  formerly  existed.  And  in  the  long  run  public 
opinion  is  exceedingly  reliable. 

The  best  method  of  advertising  we  have  is  a  publication  of 
our  own.  This  is  a  little  folder  called  "Street  Railway  Chat," 
named  by  the  public,  the  company  offering  a 
prize  for  the  best  name  offered  by  one  of  its 
passengers.  This  publication  is  issued  semi- 
weekly,  and  folds  so  that  it  fits  a  holder  3  ins. 
wide.  This  holder  is  screwed  to  the  posts  of 
car  and  is  placed  so  that  it  is  only  a  few  inches 
above  the  seat,  and  cannot  fail  to  attract  the 
passenger's  attention.  The  value'  of  this  pub- 
lication lies  largely  in  the  method  of  distribu- 
tion. It  is  placed  directly  in  the  hands  of  the 
street  railway  passengers,  the  very  persons 
we  wish  to  reach.  We  issue  it  on  Wednesday 
and  Sunday  mornings,  the  publication  being 
placed  in  the  boxes  the  night  before  while  all 
cars  are  in  the  barns. 

The  cost  of  getting  out  this  publication  is 


THINGS  HUMOROUS. 

DMUmcly  Interruption. 

'■ii.ni.  buck  id  bia  chair,  be  went  tu 
tump. 

I'rt-tf  nllt  be  I'p^bn  putt  lull  up.  tlieuir 

villi  demoniac  energy  His  whole  frame 
l>uok,  and  be  weaved  back  and  forth, 
lis  banda  biuying  up  and  down,  and  to 
ind  fro.  and  his  features  Working  coo- 
nisi. fly 

lu  ureat  alarm  his  wife  ran  to  bis  side. 
:rasped  him  bv  Ihe  shoulder  and  shook 


•■What   is  liit 


dear?"  she 


■rossly  replied   Sly  11 


ni  a  difficult  ooneerl 


CASINO 

Week  of  July  18. 

Matinees.  Wednesday 
and  Friday. 

The  Tomkin's  Comedy  Co. 
WHAT  AILED  PORTER  ? 


I  Don't  Think 


that  bee 
ho 


ather  for 


•  had 
veral 


The, 


days  that  summer 
and  that  there  are 
hot  days  coming 
are  nearly  three  months 
more  of  fan  weather,  and 
now  is  the  time  you  can 
least  afford  to  be  without 
this   "life  saving"  device. 

The  fever  days  are  near 
at  hand,  and  it  is  cheaper 
to  buy  an  electric  fan  than 
to  take  a  trip  to  the  moun- 


"Yea,"  answered  Mr  StormiDgton 
Barnes:  "the  .litftreni*  i«  that  Shut? 
Hpdire  inorali/eK  arnl  the  modern  dra- 
matist demoralizes  " 


Ida — And  has  the  young  man  been 
oitiiQii  to  see  you  long,  enough  to  wear 
tut  your  patience? 

Bell — Patience'/  Why  "he  1ms  been 
:omiuK  to  nee  aie  Ioiik  i  noujrli  to  wear 
mi  three  sofas. 


BASE  BALL. 


Norfolk  vs.  Orange  Athletic  Club 

LAFAYETTE  FIELD. 

Game  tailed  i.M  p.  m.    Admission  25c. 


$1 


$1 


"What's  become  of  Miss  Tirjftlei 
used  to  be  a  sonbrette?" 
"She's  in  the  chorus  now  " 
"I'shaw— in  she  us  old  at  that  ?" 


Children,  -  -  •  SO  Cents 

Excursion  leaves  Norfolk*  Western  i 
Thursday,  July  il,  at  Ha,  m.  Hundred 
revlalt  "Urcioa  Green"  and  go  bacb  " 
borne"  (or  a  delightful  day 


Arc  You  Cooking 

your  dinner  on  a  coal  stove? 
Needless  to  say  you  are  warm, 
and  no  doubt  you  suppose 
everybody  else  is  warm. 
There  you  are  mistaken! 
There  are  thousands  of  wom- 
en right  here  in  Norfolk  that 
are  cooking  their  dinners  and 
are  just  as  cool  as  need  be. 
You  wonder  how  it  is  possi- 
ble,   It  is  the  easiest  thing 


in  the 
with 


■rid.    They  cook 


GAS! 


FOLK.  SAMPLE   PAGES   FROM   TRAFFIC  CIRCULAR 


must  "go  after"  it,  as  it  is  apparent  to  the  lessee  that  when  the 
street  railway  company  enjoys  a  good  traffic  the  lessee  will 
have  good  results,  and  when  the  road  hauls  few  passengers  he 
will  lose  money.  Under  these  conditions  the  lessee  naturally 
takes  a  waiting  position,  and  does  just  what  he  is  compelled  to 
do  by  contract  and  no  more,  and  advertises  only  when  he  sees 
direct  results. 

The  problem  of  finding  out  the  best  methods  of  spending 
money  for  advertising  is  a  difficult  one,  for  usually  the  direct 
result  is  not  apparent  at  all,  and  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
just  what  the  indirect  result  really  is. 

I  have  been  struck  by  the  fact  that  in  the  large  cities  little 
or  no  advertising  is  done  by  the  street  railway  companies,  as 
they  depend  on  regular  travel.  In  Norfolk,  while  the  daily 
travel  is  exceptionally  good  for  a  city  of  its  size,  the  travel  has 
been  augmented  very  materially  by  systematic  advertising. 
Favorable  and  complimentary  notices  in  the  local  papers  on 
the  way  crowds  are  handled  on  all  and  special  occasions  tend  to 
bring  the  road  into  good  repute  with  its  patrons,  and  while 
considerable  money  is  being  spent  for  newspaper  advertising 


divided  between  the  railway,  lighting  and  gas  departments,  the 
railway  using  the  major  part  in  summer  time,  the  lighting  de- 
partment using  more  in  winter  time. 

A  cut  is  used  on  the  front  page,  the  folder  being  placed  in 
the  box  in  such  a  manner  that  the  brass  holder  makes  a  frame 
for  the  picture.  Theater  cuts  are  used  in  winter  time  and  cuts 
of  summer  resort  or  features  to  wnich  particular  attention  is 
called  in  summer  time. 

While  it  costs  a  considerable  amount  to  equip  the  cars  with 
sufficient  holders,  'die  results  have  been  exceedingly  gratifying. 
To  show  the  popularity  of  this  publication  it  may  be  well  to 
state  that  numerous  offers  have  been  made  for  advertising 
space  by  local  business  houses.  These  offers  have  been  refused 
in  every  instance,  as  it  has  been  deemed  best  to  keep  it  strictly 
a  street  railway  publication.  As  a  means  of  keeping  in  touch 
with  its  patrons,  the  company  finds  this  a  good  medium.  The 
reading  matter  is  gotten  up  with  a  view  to  calling  especial  at- 
tention to  advertisements,  and  is  really  an  advertisement  in 
itself.  Announcements  and  attention  to  changes  in  schedule 
or  service,  and  anything  in  the  nature  of  improvements  to  car 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


237 


equipment,  or  any  part  of  the  business,  are  also  exploited. 

Illustrating  the  fact  that  the  patrons  appreciate  the  little 
publication  since  its  advent,  passengers  are  frequently  noticed 
to  take  the  folder  from  the  rack,  peruse  it  and  carefully  return 
it.  Few,  if  any,  are  thrown  upon  the  floor  of  the  cars.  Such 
as  are  carried  away  are  taken  in  the  pockets  of  the  passengers. 


STREET  RAILWAY  EXHIBITS  AT  THE  WORLD'S  FAIR 


The  large  number  of  exhibits  of  street  railway  interest  at 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  has  prevented  the  inclusion 


and  the  "insulating"  joint.  This  latter  is  used  in  connection 
with  electric  signaling  apparatus  to  effectually  insulate  a  sec- 
tion of  the  track.  Fibre  and  wood  blocks  form  the  insulating 
material.  On  the  rear  wall  of  the  exhibit  space  are  shown 
framed  drawings  of  the  products  of  the  company. 
EXHIBIT  OF  THE  McGUIRE-CUMMINGS  MANUFACTURING 
COMPANY 

Occupying  a  space  150  ft.  in  length,  centrally  located  in  the 
Transportation  Building,  are  the  several  exhibits  of  the  Mc- 
Guire-Cummings  Manufacturing  Company.  One  of  these  that 
attracts  immediate  attention  is  the  new  double-truck  pneumatic 
sprinkler.    The  peculiar  feature  of  this  is  that  it  is  constructed 


nitE 


rxsulatop. 


giSWater  S'  New  York.   —  117  Lake  S<-  Chicago 
Factories.    Schenectady  London.Eng. 


McGUIRE-CUMMINGS    MANUFACTURING    COMPANY'S  EXHIBIT 


EXHIBIT  OF  THE   MICA  INSULATING  COMPANY 


EXHIBIT  OF  WEBER  RAIT.  JOINTS 


of  descriptions  of  all  of  them  in  any  one  or  several  issues  of 
this  paper.  In  this  issue  particulars  are  given  of  four  exhibits 
which  have  not  been  previously  mentioned. 

EXHIBIT  OF  WEBER  RAIL  JOINTS 

This  exhibit  is  located  in  section  4  of  the  Transportation 
Building.  Surrounded  by  a  neat  brass  railing  are  shown  the 
several  rail  joints  manufactured  by  this  company.  Neatly 
plated  small  sections  aid  materially  in  giving  a  clear  idea  of 
their  structure.  A  feature  of  all  these  joints  is  the  underlying 
plate,  which  gives  a  flat  surface  on  the  tie  and  prevents  the 
ends  of  the  rails  battering  them.  Another  desirable  feature  is 
the  wood  filler,  which,  it  is  claimed,  absorbs  the  vibration  and 
lessens  the  liability  of  the  nut  working  loose. 

Four  different  types  of  joints  are  shown  :  the  "standard" 
joint,  taking  the  place  of  the  ordinary  angle  bar;  the  "step" 
joint,  connecting  rails  of  different  sizes;  the  "girder"  joint, 


II  APT  MAN   HIGH-POTENTIAL  OIL  CIRCUIT  BREAKERS 


with  four  sprinkling  heads,  two  on  each  end  of  the  car.  As 
all  of  these  can  be  used  independently,  the  regulation  of  flow 
may  be  varied  considerably.  Each  head,  moreover,  is  pro- 
vided with  a  device  for  governing  the  amount  and  direction  of 
flow.  By  means  of  this  device  the  water  may  be  so  thrown  as 
to  flush  out  the  car  tracks.  A  portion  of  the  cylindrical  tank 
serves  as  an  air  reservoir,  in  which  pressure  is  maintained 
automatically  by  means  of  a  Christensen  compressor  at  ap- 
proximately 80  lbs.  This,  however,  is  reduced  considerably 
before  passing  into  the  water  reservoir. 

The  snow  sweeper,  forming  part  of  the  exhibit,  has,  in 
addition  to  the  revolving  brooms,  heavy  side  plows,  by 
means  of  which  the  width  of  the  swept  area  may  be  varied 
at  will. 

The  two  types  of  car  fender  put  on  the  market  by  this  com- 
pany are  also  shown.    One  of  these,  the  "Royal  Flush"  fender, 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


used  extensively  in  Chicago,  may,  when  not  in  use,  be  folded 
up  against  the  dash.  The  other  style,  known  as  the  "Cushion 
Sliding  Fender,"  may,  when  not  in  service,  be  pushed  under 
the  car  with  little  trouble. 

Several  styles  of  trucks  are  shown.  These  include  type  39-A, 
for  interurban  and  heavy  city  service ;  type  35,  an  extra  heavy 
truck  for  interurban,  elevated  and  underground  service ;  and 
their  solid  steel  Columbian  single  truck. 

EXHIBIT  OF  THE  MICA  INSULATOR  COMPANY 

Forming  a  portion  of  the  display  made  by  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  in  the  eastern  section  of  the  Mines  and  Metallurgy 
Building  is  the  exhibit  of  the  Mica  Insulator  Company.  Placed 
as  it  is,  surrounded  by  the  various  grades  of  mica  in  its  natural 
form,  this  exhibit  shows  well  the  uses  to  which  the  raw  products 
can  be  adapted.  The  micanite  samples  displayed  include  almost 
all  forms  of  insulators  used  in  the  electrical  industry.  In- 
sulators for  brush  holders,  armature  slots,  bushings,  commuta- 
tor cones  and  tubing  molded  of  micanite  are  shown.  Samples 
of  the  various  grades  of  "Empire"  insulating  cloth  are  also 
included  in  the  exhibit. 

HARTMAN  CIRCUIT  BREAKERS 

The  Hartman  circuit  breakers,  while  not  forming  an  exhibit 
by  themselves,  are  incorporated  as  a  part  of  several  switch- 
board equipments.  Two  breakers  are  found  on  the  switchboard 
controlling  the  apparatus  of  the  Wesco  Supply  Company  ex- 
hibit. One  of  these,  rated  at  3300  volts  and  40  amps.,  has  the 
automatic  feature,  and  is  used  to  control  a  90-kw  220-volt  syn- 
chronous motor.  Installed  between  the  Exposition  high-ten- 
sion mains  and  the  step-down  transformers  of  the  Bullock 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  exhibit  is  a  6600-volt  Hart- 
man  circuit  breaker.  This  is  of  the  style  known  as  type  3-B, 
having  a  100-amp.  capacity. 

MOTOR-DRIVEN  DISC  FAN 


A  very  striking  illustration  of  progress  made  in  the  line  of 
direct-connected  disc  fans  and  motors  is  illustrated  in  the  ac- 
companying cut.  showing  the  American  Blower  Company's 


MOTOR-DRIVEN  DISC  FAN 

modification  of  its  "A  B  C"  fan,  which  has  been  in  such  gen- 
eral use  for  a  long  time.  Previous  to  the  working  out  of  this 
design,  the  custom  has  been  to  attach  a  motor  to  the  arms  of  a 
disc  fan,  but  the  excessive  weight  of  the  motor,  overhung  in 
this  way,  has  often  been  an  objectionable  feature.  In  this 
combination  the  motor  is  placed  on  a  substantial  base,  there 
being  no  bearings  except  those  in  the  motor.  This  makes  by 
far  the  most  rigid  form  of  construction  and,  at  the  same  time, 
most  compact,  the  total  width  of  the  outfit  being  no  greater 
than  with  the  overhung  type. 


Before  shipment  the  motor  is  run  under  load  and  tested  for 
temperature,  commutation  and  regulation,  each  and  every  part 
having  previously  been  submitted  to  a  thorough  and  rigid  sys- 
tem of  tests  and  inspection  while  under  construction.  The 
series  wound  multipolar  form  is  used,  except  for  the  very  small 
machines,  which  are  made  bipolar. 

Free  ventilation  is  made  possible  by  the  general  design,  in- 
suring cool  running  under  heavy  load,  long  life  and  low  cost 
of  maintenance.  The  bearings  are  self-oiling  and  run  for  weeks 
without  renewal  of  the  lubricant.  The  machine  requires  a 
minimum  of  care  and  attention  during  operation.  Each  motor 
is  furnished  with  an  automatic  release  switch  and  a  fireproof 
rheostat  with  marble  front  and  carefully  finished  and  fitted 
working  parts. 

The  high  efficiency  of  both  the  "A  B  C"  fan  and  the  West- 
inghouse  motor  makes  these  outfits  unusually  desirable  for 
cooling  and  ventilating,  and  many  of  them  have  already  been 
shipped  from  the  works  of  the  American  Blower  Company, 
Detroit,  Mich. 

 — 

FIREPROOF  INSULATED  WIRE 


In  the  general  trend  of  modern  engineering  toward  fire- 
proofing,  electrical  insulators,  especially  for  wires,  have  been 
to  a  great  extent  neglected,  not  so  much  because  of  lack  of 
effort  in  this  direction  as  on  account  of  the  difficulties  that 
surround  the  subject.  Asbestos  is  an  excellent  though  not  the 
only  material  for  this  purpose,  but  its  thickness,  frailness,  un- 
evenness  and  cost  has  precluded  its  general  use. 

It  is  to  supply  this  gap  that  the  Teter-Heany  Developing 
Company,  of  York,  Pa.,  has  devised  its  fireproof  insulated  wire. 
By  an  ingenious  device,  asbestos,  in  its  fibrous  form,  is  applied 
directly  to  the  wire,  and  then  is  treated  with  a  special  cement 
that,  on  pressure  and  heat,  yields  a  firm,  hard,  even,  thin  in- 


FIREPROOF  INSULATED  WIRE 


sulation  that  is  efficient  in  every  respect.  The  accompanying 
cut  illustrates  the  structure  of  this  insulation.  This  shows  first 
the  application  of  an  adhesive  substance,  then  the  fibres  of 
asbestos,  then  the  cement,  and  finally  shows  the  insulation 
formed  into  a  homogeneous  whole  by  means  of  heat  and 
pressure. 

This  is  said  to  form  an  insulation  that  is  hard,  firm  and 
durable;  that  weathering  cannot  harm;  that  will  not  crack, 
peel  off  or  break  under  bending  or  twisting;  and  that  will  with- 
stand temperatures  above  red  heat  without  being  destroyed. 
The  advantages  claimed  over  ordinary  asbestos  covering  are 
the  following:  The  total  thickness  of  insulation  is  but  .011  in., 
and  .009  in.  may  be  obtained  if  desired.  This  is  the  same  as 
double  cotton-covered  insulation,  and  in  its  use  old  forms  can 
be  employed  without  alteration.  While  asbestos  insulation  is 
ordinarily  very  uneven,  this  insulation  varies  on  the  average 
about  .003  in.  Asbestos,  while  it  will  not  burn,  will  crumble 
under  heat,  and  so  become  useless  for  insulating  purposes. 
This  insulation  protects  the  asbestos  so  that  it  will  stand  much 
higher  temperatures  without  crumbling.  A  coil  in  possession 
of  Mr.  Heany  has  been  heated  red-hot  several  hundred  times, 
at  times  for  hours,  yet  the  coil  retains  its  insulation  unim- 
paired. Temperatures  of  this  degree  are  rarely  met  with  in 
practice,  and  no  effect  whatever  is  observed  at  temperatures 
that  usually  cause  coils  to  burn  out. 

This  means  that  coils  wound  with  this  wire,  armatures,  fields, 
arc  lamp  and  transformer  coils,  etc.,  are  practically  indestructi- 
ble.   There  is  a  wide  field  for  this  wire  for  use  in  motors  and 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


239 


generator  coils,  especially  for  electric  apparatus  subjected  to 
heavy  overloads,  and  in  fact  wherever  a  high  degree  of  heat 
is  met  with  and  must  be  resisted. 

The  insulation  has  been  thoroughly  tested,  both  in  the  labora- 
tory and  in  practice,  with  very  satisfactory  results.  Other 
forms  of  fireproof  wire  for  house,  line  and  telephone  work  are 
also  manufactured  by  the  company. 

 ♦   


A  FINE  PRIVATE  CAR  FOR  THE  UNITED  TRACTION  COM- 
PANY, READING,  PA. 


The  United  Traction  Company,  of  Reading,  has  recently  re- 
ceived the  handsome  parlor  car  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustrations,  from  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  The  car  is  in- 
tended to  be  used  by  the  directors  during  inspection  tours  over 
the  various  branches  of  the  extensive  system  owned  and  con- 
trolled by  the  company.  The  window  arrangement  is  the 
builder's  well-known  semi-convertible  system,  having  pockets 
in  the  side  roofs  for  the  sashes,  which  allow  the  walls  between 
the  posts  to  be  but  2  ins.  thick,  increasing  the  interior  width 
73^2  ins.  There  are  many  semi-convertible  cars  of  this  type  in 
use  on  the  company's  lines,  and  it  is  highly  complimentary  to 
the  builders  that  the  directors  in  choosing  a  car  for  their  own 
use  should  wish  one  of  the  same  type. 

The  car  is  provided  with  twenty-one  wicker  chairs  and  has 
a  movable  sideboard  in  one  corner.  Mahogany  rubbed  to  an 
egg-shell  gloss  and  richly  ornamented  with  inlaid  marquetry 
constitutes  the  finish.  The  ceilings  are  tinted  light  green  and 
decorated  with  gold.  The  Royal  Wilton  carpet  which  covers 
the  floor  and  the  silk  window  draperies  of  Louis  XVI.  design, 
are  of  dark  green  and  harmonize  with  the  woodwork  and  ceil- 
ing, and,  all  in  all,  the  car  presents  a  most  attractive  appearance. 

The  illustration  of  the  exterior  of  the  car  shows  that  the 
windows  may  be  held  at  various  heights,  five  window  stops 


belt,  8  ft.  6  ins.;  sweep  of  posts,  i)4  bis.  The  distance  from 
center  to  center  of  the  side  posts  is  2^4  ins. ;  thickness  of  the 
corner  posts,  3^4  ins.,  and  of  the  side  posts,  ins.  The  side 
sills  are  4  ins.  x  7.V4  ins.,  with  12-in.  x  %-in.  sill  plates  on  the 
inside.    The  end  sills  are  5J4  ins.  x  6J4  ins. 




GAS  ENGINE  FOR  ELMIRA 

The  Elmira  Water,  Light  &  Railroad  Company,  of  Elmira, 
N.  Y..  has  ordered  a  [400-hp  Crossley  gas  engine  from  the 


INTERIOR  OF  PARLOR  CAR 


manufacturers,  the  Power  &  Mining  Machinery  Company,  of 
Cudahy,  Wis.  The  engine  will  operate  by  natural  gas  from  a 
supply  which  the  Elmira  Water,  Light  &  Railroad  Company 
owns,  and  will  be  direct  connected  to  a  750-kw  General  Electric 


SEMI-CONVERTIBLE   PRIVATE   CAR   FOR  READING 


being  provided  in  the  sash  runways  for  that  purpose.  For 
summer  service  the  draperies  will  be  removed,  and  with  the 
sashes  all  raised  into  the  roof  pockets,  the  car  w  ill  he  made 
as  open  and  airy  as  desirable  for  the  speed  of  which  the  trucks 
are  capable. 

The  trucks  are  Brill  No.  27-G,  riding  steadily  at  35  miles  an 
hour,  although  the  motors  are  outside  hung.  The  windows  in 
the  vestibules  are  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets  in  the  wains- 
coating.  The  lining  of  the  vestibules  and  the  doors  and  sashes 
of  the  car  arc  of  solid  mahogany.  The  bumpers,  channel  iron 
draw-bars,  brake  handles,  gongs  and  other  furnishings  are  of 
the  builder's  manufacture.  The  length  of  the  car  over  end 
panels  is  30  ft.  8  ins.,  and  over  the  vestibules,  40  ft.  8  ins.  The 
platforms  are  5  ft.  from  the  end  panels  over  the  vestibules.  The 
width  over  the  sills  is  8  ft.  2'A  ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at  the 


60-cycle,  three-phase  alternator.  This  alternator  will  be  run 
in  parallel  with  other  alternators.  The  engine  will  he  tested 
next  week  at  the  works  of  the  manufacturing  company  at 
Cudahy.  and  will  probably  he  installed  and  in  operation  in 
Elmira  by  next  October,  ft  is  of  the  four-cylinder  type,  with 
cylinders  32  ins.  in  diameter  by  36-in.  stroke.  The  trial  of  this 
engine  in  operating  alternators  in  parallel  w  ill  In'  watched  with 
a  great  deal  of  interest,  but  no  trouble  is  anticipated  by  the 
manufacturers.  About  three  months  ago  a  plant  of  four  750- 
hp  engines  of  similar  type  and  direct  connected  to  25-cycle 
alternators  was  put  in  operation  in  the  power  station  of  the 
Velardena  Mining  &  Smelting  Company  in  Mexico.  This  plant 
is  used  to  distribute  power  at  high  voltage  to  six  miles,  and  no 
trouble  has  been  experienced  in  operating  these  machines  in 
parallel. 


240 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


A  NEW  FIELD  TESTING  INSTRUMENT 

While  there  are  a  number  of  instruments  at  present  on  the 
market  that  are  used  for  testing  and  locating  defective  field 
windings  and  armature  faults,  the  need  has  been  strongly  felt 
for  a  simple  instrument  especially  designed  and  adapted  for 
this  purpose,  that  is  quick  and  accurate  and  so  simple  that  any 
unskilled  person  can  use  it  properly.  To  meet  this  condition 
F.  M.  DuBois  and  J.  B.  West,  both  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  have 
designed  and  perfected  an  instrument  that  is  said  to  give  per- 


I  )   1  1  1  1  ifoj  1  1   I.I  J  1  l 

II  I  I  'I  I  |Vw/|  1  1  1  1  1  1  r 


DIAGRAM  OF  TESTING  INSTRUMENT 

feet  satisfaction  and  quick  results.  The  instrument  will  with- 
stand rough  usage  and  is  not  influenced  by  stray  magnetic 
fields,  is  self-contained  and  does  not  require  another  field  wind- 
ing for  comparison.  The  reading  attained  on  the  scale  of  this 
instrument  is  direct  and  not  in  any  technical  term,  but  is  simply 
a  means  for  identification. 

The  instrument  may  be  connected  into  a  regulation  five-light 
550-volt  lamp  circuit  in  car  or  shop  by  a  flexible  cord  and  a 
lamp  plug.  If  no  light  circuit  is  available,  two  dry  batteries 
will  do.  When  the  receiver  is  placed  to  the  ear  a  loud  pulsating 
sound  will  be  heard,  but  upon  connecting  a  field  winding  to  the 
binding  posts  J  and  K  and  the  switch  E  on  the  contact  D,  the 


i 


FIELD  TESTING  INSTRUMENT 


sound  will  moderate  to  a  certain  intensity  and  remain  constant. 
The  pointer  is  now  moved  along  the  scale  until  a  point  is 
reached  where  the  sound  will  perfectly  balance — that  is,  there 
will  be  no  variation  in  intensity  when  the  switch  E  is  alter- 
nately shifted  into  connection  with  the  contacts  C  and  D. 

If  the  field  winding  is  new  and  in  standard  condition,  the 
reading  attained  will  be  the  value  of  this  type  of  field  winding. 
Readings  may  be  obtained  in  this  manner  of  any  number  of 
different  types  of  fields.  If,  when  testing  other  field  windings, 
the  sound  in  the  receiver  is  not  as  loud  on  contact  D  as  on  C, 
when  the  pointer  is  set  to  standard  reading  on  the  scale,  the 
field  is  short-circuited.  To  find  the  degree  of  short  circuit  the 
pointer  is  moved  down  the  scale  until  the  sound  again  balances 
on  both  sides  of  the  switch  C  and  D.    The  reading  thus  ob- 


tained will  be  the  proportion  of  short  circuit  in  the  field  wind- 
ing. To  test  coils  of  higher  resistance  the  range  of  the  scale 
is  increased  by  pushing  the  switch  blade  F  onto  the  contact  G. 

In  connection  with  this  instrument  there  is  a  device  for  test- 
ing commutators  for  open  or  short  circuits.  Its  value  can  be 
readily  appreciated  by  electric  railway  men,  as  it  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  many  armatures  have  become  burned  out  from 
the  solder  short-circuiting  the  bars  in  the  back  of  the  com- 
mutator or  from  copper  being  drawn  across  the  mica  when 
the  commutator  is  being  trued  up  in  the  lathe. 



THE  LYNCHBURG  TROLLEY  EAR 

For  the  last  eight  months  the  Lynchburg  (Va.)  Traction  & 
Light  Company  has  been  using,  with  very  satisfactory  results, 
the  new  type  of  trolley  ear  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion. This  ear  is  adapted  for  both  round  and  grooved  wire, 
and  can  be  employed  with  any  of  the  hangers  now  in  use.  This 
device  is  the  joint  invention  of  S.  H.  Cochran  and  A.  E.  Ander- 
son, both  of  Lynchburg,  Va. 

The  cap  of  this  ear  is  provided  with  a  depending  post  having 
a  wedge-shaped  slot  cut  through  it  near  its  lower  end.  As 
shown  in  Fig.  2,  the  lower  end  of  this  post  is  cut  away  and  pro- 


FIGS.  1,  2  AND  3.— NEW  TROLLEY  EAR 


vided  with  a  rounded  shoulder,  and  the  extreme  lower  end  is 
also  cut  away  to  provide  a  shoulder  and  a  downwardly  project- 
ing lip.  The  ear  is  substantially  U-shaped  in  cross-section, 
and  upon  its  lower  face  is  straight  from  end  to  end,  but  the 
inner  bottom  face  of  the  ear  is  convex,  as  indicated  by  the 
dotted  lines  in  Fig  1.  The  ear  is  provided  with  an  arm  ex- 
tending upward  and  terminating  in  a  tubular-shaped  portion, 
which  is  provided  with  a  beveled  bearing  face.  The  bottom  of 
the  bore  of  the  tubular  division  is  rounded  to  form  the  seat 
shown  in  the  sectional  view,  Fig.  2.  Both  the  tubular  exten- 
sion and  the  post  are  furnished  with  slots  arranged  to  coincide 
and  permit  the  insertion  of  the  key  shown  in  Fig.  1.  This  key 
is  provided  with  a  set  of  perforations,  through  any  of  which 
the  key  can  be  locked  by  the  insertion  of  a  cotter-pin.  Fig.  2 
also  shows  a  wedging  piece  formed  in  substantially  the  same 
arc  as  the  convex  face  of  the  ear.  This  wedging  piece  is  pro- 
vided in  its  upper  edge  with  a  notch  in  which  the  shoulder  of 
the  post  is  adapted  to  be  seated  when  the  parts  are  assembled 
for  locking. 

In  using  the  construction  shown  in  Fig.  1,  the  trolley  wire 
is  deflected  and  placed  within  the  ear.  After  the  wire 
is  in  the  ear,  the  wedging  piece  is  placed  therein,  with  its 
curved  face  resting  upon  the  upper  face  of  the  wire.  The  ear 
is  then  pushed  upward  and  the  tubular  extension  passes  over 
the  post  until  the  shoulder  of  the  latter  engages  with  the  notch 
in  the  wedging  piece,  the  lip  of  the  post  bearing  upon  the  outer 
face  of  the  wedging  piece,  and  thereby  holding  it  firmly  in 
position.  The  key  is  then  inserted  and  locked  as  described. 
Should  the  key,  for  any  reason,  come  out  of  the  post,  the  ear 
would  fall  to  the  ground  and  leave  the  trolley  wire  free  from 
anv  obstruction.  Actual  tests  have  shown  that  the  ear  can 
be  removed  from  and  replaced  on  the  wire  in  two  minutes. 

Fig.  3  is  a  modified  form  of  construction  adapted  for  grooved 
or  figure  8  wire. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


241 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 

Wall  Street,  Aug.  10,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

A  sharp  advance  in  sterling  exchange  has  been  the  only  im- 
portant incident  of  the  past  two  weeks.  From  4-Sy%  demand  bills 
rose  to  4-88}i,  the  highest  figure  reached  during  the  present  year. 
At  this  price  it  was  thought  in  some  quarters  that  houses  having 
special  facilities  for  quick  transportation  and  profitable  employment 
for  the  metal  abroad  might  be  able  to  ship  gold  to  London.  On 
this  supposition  $2,500,000  was  actually  taken  by  the  City  Bank  last 
Friday.  But  it  turned  out  afterward,  apparently,  that  the  intend- 
ing shipp'ers  had  misjudged  the  probable  extent  of  the  rise  in  the 
market,  and  the  export  order  was  accordingly  cancelled.  Whether 
exchange  will  eventually  go  high  enough  on  this  movement  to 
make  gold  withdrawals  profitable,  is  a  matter  about  which  expert 
opinion  is  divided.  A  million  and  a  half  gold  was  taken  last  week 
for  Cuba,  and  more  will  probably  follow,  the  reason  being  the 
credits  which  lie  here  at  the  disposal  of  the  Cuban  government 
from  the  recent  sale  of  their  bonds.  These  gold  enlistments,  actual 
and  possible,  form  the  only  important  demand  upon  present  money 
market  resources.  Loans  have  ceased  to  expand,  owing  to  the 
quieting  down  of  speculation  and  the  absence  of  any  new  syndicate 
undertakings.  So  far  from  these  being  any  of  the  customary  signs 
that  currency  is  about  to  be  called  away  to  the  crop  sections,  the 
movement  toward  this  city  continues  in  scarcely  diminished  quan- 
tity. It  was  estimated  that  last  week  alone  the  local  banks  gained 
over  $4,000,000  from  this  source.  Surplus  reserve  has  reached  the 
$56,000,000  mark — by  far  the  highest  point  of  recent  years.  That 
with  this  enormous  stock  of  idle  capital,  there  will  be  much  of  a 
change  in  the  market  conditions  for  a  long  while  ahead,  is  not  ex- 
pected. Call  money  is  offered  and  lending  freely  at  1  per  cent 
and  even  lower.  For  sixty-day  advances  2  per  cent  is  the  ruling 
rate,  for  four  months  3  per  cent,  and  for  periods  of  from  five  to 
eight  months  3^2  per  cent. 

The  Stock  Harket 

The  local  traction  shares,  or,  it  may  be  said  with  more  truth,  the 
Metropolitan  issues,  have  been  the  center  of  interest  in  the  market 
of  the  past  week.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  advanced  from 
ii8!4  to  125%,  and  Metropolitan  Securities  from  87%  to  94^4,  on 
heavy  transactions,  and  this  at  a  time  when  the  general  trading 
was  rather  quiet  and  prices  were  moving  very  little.  It  is  evident, 
of  course,  that  these  stocks  have  been  accumulated  for  something- 
more  than  speculative  reasons;  what  the  real  purpose  is,  remains 
at  this  writing  in  the  dark.  The  view  most  generally  entertained 
is  that  the  rise  in  the  Metropolitan  issues  and  in  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  on  the  curb  foreshadows  the  announcement  of 
closer  relations  between  the  two  properties.  That  there  will  be 
an  actual  amalgamation  of  the  companies  is  something  which  Wall 
Street  doubts,  because  the  idea  is  too  big.  It  is  more  within 
bounds  to  believe  that  the  companies  will  be  operated  under  some 
harmonious  arrangement,  which  will  benefit  the  Metropolitan 
earnings  enough  to  make  the  7  per  cent  dividend  guarantee  surer 
than  it  is  at  present.  This  has  been  the  main  opinion  behind  the 
advance  in  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  stock  this  week.  If  there 
is  something  more  in  the  "deal"  than  this,  it  is  a  difficult  subject 
for  the  imagination.  Some  active  speculative  buying  has  been  at- 
tracted to  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  on  the  notion  that  this  property 
will  sooner  or  later  be  taken  into  the  fold,  but  the  stock  has  hardly 
responded  as  much  as  might  be  expected.  Manhattan  has  been 
inactive. 

The  stock  market  generally  has  displayed  a  decidedly  stronger 
inclination  to  advance  than  to  decline.  While  the  severe  wheat 
damage  in  the  Northwest,  causing  a  violent  advance  in  the  price 
cf  wheat  options,  has  been  a  check  to  active  operations  for  the 
rise,  the  behavior  of  the  market  in  the  face  of  the  bad  news  has 
been  of  a  sort  to  materially  increase  confidence  in  the  strength 
of  the  underlying  market  position.  The  government  report  on  cot- 
ton, showing  the  largest  acreage  and  almost  the  highest  condition 
on  record  for  the  season  of  the  year,  has  brought  the  Southern 
and  the  Southwestern  shares  more  prominently  before  speculative 
attention,  and  it  is  here  that  the  chief  gains  of  the  last  ten  days 
have  occurred.  Except  for  some  of  the  industrial  specialties,  the 
rest  of  the  list  has  been  quiet  and  not  greatly  disposed  to  move 
higher. 


Philadelphia 

Business  has  been  very  dull  on  the  Philadelphia  Exchange  dur- 
ing the  last  two  weeks.  Prices  have  changed  very  little ;  where 
they  have  moved  it  has  been  downward.  Philadelphia  Company 
common  has  been  particularly  heavy,  at  a  decline  from  39  to  38^2, 
the  preferred  selling  at  45^4.  Union  Traction  reacted  from  54K 
to  53H>  tnen  hardened  to  54.  Philadelphia  Traction  eased  off 
from  98%  to  98^.  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  sold  at  13  for  100 
shares,  12^4  for  175,  and  12^  for  50.  Railways  General  appeared 
to  be  under  liquidation,  200  shares  going  at  1%  and  500  later  at  1. 
On  the  other  hand,  Philadelphia  Electric  was  firm,  stiffening  up 
from  63-16  to  65-16.  Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  held 
its  own  at  67%.  American  Railways  moved  up  from  47  to  47^, 
100  shares  changing  hands  at  the  higher  figure.  Afterward  an  odd 
lot  sold  at  4754. 

Chicago 

In  a  statement  made  by  Judge  Grosscup,  the  attorneys  of  the 
Union  Traction  Company  were  told  that  he  could  not  accept  that 
part  of  the  decree  on  the  ninety-nine-year  decision  prepared  by 
them,  which  would  give  the  company  ninety-nine-year  rights  on 
extensions  of  street  railway  lines  made  after  the  adoption  of  the 
cities  and  villages  act  of  1875.  The  city's  lawyers  were  elated  at 
this  statement,  which  disposes,  so  far  as  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court  is  concerned,  of  the  sweeping  claims  made  by  the  company 
as  regards  the  effect  of  the  decision.  "We  shall  get  at  the  decree 
by  a  process  of  exclusion,"  said  Judge  Grosscup.  "We  have  no 
doubt  but  as  much  of  this  decree  as  it  intended  to  include  grants 
made  after  1875,  that  have  no  relation  whatever,  that  are  not  over- 
lapping or  anything  of  that  nature,  cannot  be  sustained.  When 
you  take  into  consideration  that  in  a  majority  of  these  ordinances 
a  twenty-year  limitation  is  in  terms  inserted,  it  would  take  a 
good  deal  of  judicial  imagination  to  find  that  the  City  Council 
intentionally  extended  the  right  of  occupancy  under  the  told 
charter." 

The  corporation  attorneys  claim  that  Judge  Grosscup's  oral  rul- 
ing removes  80  per  cent  of  the  Union  Traction  lines  from  the 
operations  of  the  ninety-nine-year  act.  The  market  for  the  city 
surface  line  securities  has  paid  little  attention  to  this  controversy, 
unless  the  utter  unwillingness  to  trade  in  any  of  the  shares  con- 
cerned be  considered  a  mark  of  attention.  There  have  been  no 
sales  of  either  City  Railway  or  Union  Traction  during  the  fort- 
night. Odd  lots  of  North  Chicago  went  at  71  and  72,  and  250 
shares  of  West  Chicago  at  43 T 4 •  Liquidations  commonly  asso- 
ciated with  the  recent  issue  of  new  securities,  forced  South  Side 
Elevated  shares  down  from  goJ/2  to  89.  In  all,  600  shares  changed 
hands.  Metropolitan  common  sold  in  twenty-share  lots  between 
20  and  2oy2,  odd  lots  of  Northwestern  common  at  is5-i  and  i6J/2, 
the  preferred  at  49,  and  50  Lake  Street  receipts  at  3^2. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

Boston  Elevated,  ex-dividend,  sold  as  low  as  148^2  ten  days  ago, 
but  recovered,  subsequently,  to  150.  The  demand  for  this  stock 
from  investors  continues  to  be  very  constant.  West  End  issues 
were  steady,  the  common  at  91  to  91^?,  and  the  preferred  at  ill  to 
iiiJ4-  On  the  other  hand,  the  Massachusetts  Electrics  seemed  to 
be  pressed  for  sale  at  every  favorable  opportunity.  The  common 
sold  as  low  as  Vjx/t,  and  as  high  as  17M.  ending  at  171A.  The 
preferred  lost  a  point  from  70  to  69.  One  hundred  shares  of 
Georgia  Electric  common  sold  from  42J/2  to  43,  and  an  odd  lot 
of  the  preferred  at  81  y2.  There  were  no  transactions  in  the  stock 
of  the  Baltimore  United  Railways  during  the  entire  two  weeks' 
period — a  fair  reflection  of  the  prevailing  dullness.  The  income 
bonds  fluctuated  between  46}^  and  47K.  while  the  general  mort- 
gage 4s  were  very  strong  around  93.  A  fair  demand  continued 
for  the  other  traction  bonds,  Anacostia  &  Potomac  5s  selling  up 
from  IOIJ4  to  ioi?j<,  North  Baltimore  Traction  5s  selling  at  120, 
Baltimore  Traction  5s  at  101^,  Norfolk  Street  Railway  5s  at  106, 
Atlanta  Street  Railway  5s  at  106,  Augusta  Street  Railway  5s  at 
102,  Charleston  Consolidated  Street  Railway  5s  at  85^,  and 
Macon  Street  Railway  5s  from  89^  to  89.  On  the  New  York  curb 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  reached  yesterday  a  new  high  record 
at  134%,  following  the  reports  of  a  deal  with  the  Metropolitan. 
Five  hundred  St.  Louis  Transit  sold  at  iol/2  down  to  10,  and  200 
American  Light  and  Traction  common  between  5154  and  51^. 
Nassau  Electric  bonds  were  very  strong,  rising  from  82^  to  84^, 


242 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


as  were  all  the  other  securities  of  the  Brooklyn  system  dealt  in  on 
the  Stock  Exchange.  Washington  Railway  4s  were  active,  advanc- 
ing to  79  and  easing  later  to  78%.  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  in  the 
board  room  was  taken  in  hand  and  bid  up  sharply,  apparently  by 
the  same  interests  who  have  been  behind  the  recent  advance  in  the 
other  Canadian  properties. 

Very  little  activity  at  Cincinnati  last  week.  Cincinnati  Street 
Railway  sold  up  from  142  to  142^2,  Detroit  United  advanced  to 
65,  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  ranged  from  2034  to  21 and  Cin- 
cinnati. Covington  &  Newport  preferred  sold  at  89,  all  small 
transactions.  A  block  of  Indianapolis  Street  Railway  4s  sold  at 
8534.  and  a  small  lot  of  Dayton  &  Northern  Traction  Company's 
5s  brought  103. 

Two  small  lots  of  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  at  20H  and  a  small 
lot  of  Cleveland  Electric  at  72^  were  the  only  transactions  at 
Cleveland  last  week. 

At  Columbus  there  were  a  number  of  transactions  in  Columbus 
Railway  &  Light,  at  a  range  from  35  to  37.  There  was  a  strong 
demand  for  Columbus  Railway  common,  but  offerings  were  few. 
Columbus,  Buckeye  Lake  &  Newark  preferred  and  Columbus, 
Delaware  &  Marion  preferred  are  reported  to  be  in  good  demand  ; 
the  latter  sold  at  90,  ex-dividend. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
last  week: 

Closing  Bid 
July  26   Aug.  9 


American  Railways                                                                        47  4714 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                            al2  al2 

Boston  Elevated                                                                            152%  149 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                               50%  52% 

Chicago  City                                                                            170  170 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                4%  4% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                             —  — 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                          71%  71 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                          66%  66% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                     108%  109 

Detroit  United                                                                               61%  64 

lnterborough  Rapid  Transit                                                         133  134% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)                                                   —  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                 3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                       150%  150 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos  (cummon)                                         17%  17% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos  (preferred)                                         70  69 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                   19%  18% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                  54  52% 

.Metropolitan  Street                                                                      115  123% 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                 86%  88% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                   9%  9 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                               29  a.30% 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                          73  74 

North   American                                                                             87%  85% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                 13%  13% 

Philadelphia  Company   (common)                                                 39  38% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                             13  12% 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     9S%  9S% 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                       10%  9% 

South   Side   Elevated   (Chicago)                                                   91%  88 

Third  Avenue                                                                               117%  124% 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                               95  ^7% 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                      54  53% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                         54  53% 

West  End  (common)                                                                     91  91 

West  Enu  (preferred)                                                                   Ill  111 


a  Asked. 
Iron  and  5teel 

According  to  the  latest  and  most  trustworthy  estimates,  pig 
iron  productions  fell  off  during  the  month  of  July  210,000  tons. 
In  spite  of  this,  stocks  on  hand  increased  46.322  tons,  showing 
that  consumption  has  declined  even  more  rapidly.  In  the  face  of 
this  showing  it  certainly  cannot  be  said  that  there  has  been  any 
turn  for  the  better  in  the  steel  and  iron  industry.  Quotations  are 
as  follows:  Bessemer  pig,  $12.65;  Bessemer  steel,  $23;  steel  rails, 
$28. 

Metals. 

Metal  quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:  Cop- 
per. T2%  to  12%  cents;  tin.  27  cents;  lead.  4^  cents,  and  spelter, 
45-16  cents. 


TOLEDO,  PORT  CLINTON  &  LAKESIDE  SOON  TO  BE 
OPENED 


Within  the  next  thirty  days  the  Toledo,  Port  Clinton  &  Lake- 
side Railway  will  be  operating  cars  between  Toledo  and  Port 
Clinton.  The  road  is  practically  completed  between  Genoa  and 
Port.  Clinton.  This  week  the  company  perfected  a  traffic  agree- 
ment with  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  whereby  its  cars  will 
operate  over  that  road  to  Toledo.  The  agreement  is  on  a  car 
mileage  basis,  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  taking  the  cars  at  Genoa 
and  operating  them  to  the  Toledo  city  limits  as  their  own  cars,  and 
paying  the  other  company  two  cents  per  car  mile  for  the  use  of 
the  cars.  All  fares  collected  while  on  the  Lake  Shore  Electric 
Company's  tracks  will  belong  to  that  company  and  the  through 
fares  will  be  divided  in  proportion  to  the  mileage.  The  Lake 
Shore  Electric  pays  the  crews  while  the  cars  are  on  its  tracks. 
1  he  cars  will  operate  between  the  regular  Lake  Shore  Electric 
cars,  which  will  give  half-hourly  headway  between  Genoa  and 
Toledo,  in  addition  to  three  Lake  Shore  Electric  limiteds.  The 
new  road  opens  up  a  new  territory,  touching  Elmore,  Port  Clin- 
ton and  Lakeside.  This  district  is  famous  for  its  small  fruit 
farms,  and  the  fruit  business  promises  to  be  very  heavy.  A  great 
deal  of  summer  traffic  is  assured  for  the  road,  as  there  are  a  large 
number  of  pleasure  resorts  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  and  on 
the  islands  which  are  accessible  by  this  route. 


ADVERSE  REPORT  ON  PORT  CHESTER  GRANT 


The  Aldermanic  Committee  on  Railroads,  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen  of  New  York,  has  reported  to  the  full  board  against  the 
granting  of  a  franchise  to  the  New  York  &  Port  Chester  Railroad 
Company  to  cross  streets  in  the  Bronx.  The  adverse  report,  the 
committee  explains,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  unable  to  obtain 
any  information  as  to  the  financial  status  or  reliability  of  the  com- 
pany. After  the  reading  of  the  report,  the  chairman  moved  that  it 
be  made  a  special  order  for  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  Aug.  30. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  the  franchise  of 
the  New  York.  Westchester  &  Boston  Railroad  Company  to  cross 
streets  in  the  Bronx  for  the  construction  of  an  electric  railway, 
running  to  points  in  Westchester  County,  was  granted,  with  the 
general  understanding  that  the  franchise  of  the  Port  Chester  Com- 
pany would  be  favorably  acted  upon.  In  fact,  it  is  said,  sufficient 
votes  to  grant  the  Westchester  Company's  application  were  ob- 
tained only  through  that  promise,  direct  or  implied. 

♦  ♦♦  

THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  MIAMI  &  ERIE  CANAL 

COMPANY 

As  a  result  of  an  investigation  into  the  affairs  of  the  Miami  & 
Erie  Canal  Transportation  Company,  the  financially  embarrassed 
concern  that  proposed  to  operate  "electric  mules"  along  the  Miami 
&  Erie  Canal  in  Ohio,  it  is  announced  that  the  bondholders  will 
effect  a  reorganization  of  the  company  and  pay  its  debts.  The 
investigation  was  held  before  a  referee  in  Cleveland  last  week,  and 
was  the  result  of  a  suit  to  discover  the  names  of  the  stockholders 
of  the  company  in  order  that  they  might  be  held  responsible  for 
the  debts  of  the  company.  The  investigation  was  brought  to  a 
close  at  the  end  of  last  week,  through  the  announcement  that  the 
Cleveland  and  Cincinnati  interests  had  agreed  upon  a  plan  for  the 
1  eorganization  of  the  company.  It  is  understood  that  the  plan  is 
to  place  a  new  mortgage  on  the  property  at  about  the  wrecking 
value  of  the  tracks  and  other  property,  which  value  is  variously 
estimated  at  between  $250,000  and  $400,000.  The  debts  of  the  com- 
pany will  be  paid  in  full,  and  the  balance  will  be  used  to  complete 
the  line  into  Dayton  and  put  the  canal  in  shape  for  operation. 
While  it  is  now  pretty  generally  admitted  that  little  money  can  be 
made  operating  the  road  as  a  canal-boat  line,  it  is  believed  that 
operating  expenses  and  interest  on  the  new  money  can  be  made. 
The  present  bondholders  would  then  have  to  wait  for  their  inter- 
est until  the  company  could  obtain  additional  rights  from  the 
Legislature.  It  is  believed  that  despite  the  political  capital  made 
out  of  the  issue,  the  State  will  sooner  or  later  see  the  folly  of 
maintaining  the  canal  system  at  large  expense  when  it  can  secure 
a  fair  rental  for  its  banks  for  electric  railway  purposes. 

The  question  of  whether  the  company  will  be  reorganized  or  a 
new  one  formed  is  yet  to  be  settled.  If  the  stockholders  will  sub- 
mit to  an  assessment  there  will  be  no  reorganization.  It  is  un- 
derstood that  the  claims  against  the  canal  company  are  about 
$100,000,  and  that  the  Cleveland  interests  have  agreed  to  pay  60 
per  cent  of  these  and  the  Cincinnati  interests  40  per  cent. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


ROCK  ISLAND  AND  ELECTRICITY 

It  is  stated  that  the  Rock  Island  Railroad  is  seriously  conside-- 
ing  the  equipment  of  some  of  its  short  suburban  lines  with  elec- 
tricity. One  report  is  to  the  effect  that  estimates  already  made 
include  mileage  out  of  Davenport,  Des  Moines,  Omaha  and  Kansas 
City.  It  is  claimed  that  representatives  of  the  Westinghouse 
Company  have  been  over  the  system  recently  securing  data  to  be 
used  in  making  up  estimates  of  the  probable  expense  of  installa- 
tion, and  that  they  are  now  actually  engaged  in  this  work.  From 
one  source  comes  the  statement  that  electric  service  is  contem- 
plated out  of  Davenport  to  Muscatine  and  possibly  east  and  west 
on  the  main  line ;  out  of  Des  Moines  to  Winterset  and  to  Newton 
and  possibly  between  Kansas  City  and  St.  Joseph. 


RECEIVERS  REPORT  ON  CHICAGO  UNION  TRACTION  COM- 
PANY 

John  C.  Fetzer,  the  managing  receiver  of  the  Chicago  Union 
Traction  Company,  has  submitted  a  report  for  the  year  ending- 
June  30.  1904.  the  first  full  fiscal  year  since  the  property  came 
into  the  hands  of  Judge  Grosscup.  This  report  makes  it  possible 
to  give  a  detailed  comparison  as  between  operations  under  the 
court's  charge  and  prior  thereto.  It  is  accompanied  by  a  letter 
from  the  receivers  to  Judge  Grosscup,  showing  that  his  adminis- 
tration has  resulted  in  permanent  improvements  and  in  a  large 
increase  of  public  service  rendered,  with  a  less  average  cost  per 
passenger  carried.    The  statement  to  the  court  is  as  follows: 

July  30,  1904. 

The  Hon.  Peter  S.  Grosscup,  Circuit  Judge  United  States  Court, 
Chicago. 

My  Dear  Sir. — I  desire  to  call  your  attention  to  a  comparison 
of  the  statement  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904  (the  first  full 
year  under  your  receivers),  with  year  ending  June  30,  1902  (last 
full  year  prior  to  the  receivership): 

1902— Paid  rentals  of    $2,884,679 

W  hich  caused  a  deficit    247,527 

Net  earnings    $2,637,151 

1904— Rentals   $1,843,078 

Surplus   ,   265,388 

1904— Net  earnings    2,10S,4C7 

Apparent  deficit    $528,684 

Your  management  have,  however,  improved  "Way  and  Equip- 
ment" over  1902  in  a  sum  greater  than  this,  as  follows: 

1901             1902  1904 

Way                                                             $198,928         $274,575  $609,59!) 

Ecpjipment                                                     351,937          499,047  741,251 

$550,866         $773,623  $1,350,851 

Thus  you  show  net  earnings  of  $265,388  after  improving  system 
$577,228  more  than  1902,  and  $799,984  more  than  1901 — items  for- 
merly largely  charged  to  capital  account.  Your  receivers  having 
no  authority  to  charge  it  to  such  account,  it  has  to  appear  under 
operating  expenses.  Further,  you  ordered  the  service  improved 
wherever  possible,  and  with  same  track  mileage  the  car  mileage 
has  been  increased — 1904,  33.275,288  miles;  1902,  30,732,051  miles, 
an  increase  of  2,543,237  miles,  or  8  per  cent. 

The  100  new  cars  were  not  received  until  last  half  of  year,  and 
with  additional  100  now  ordered  and  expected  soon,  a  much 
greater  improvement  will  be  shown  in  the  coming  year.  This 
improved  service  and  your  liberal  transfer  policy  has  increased 
the  per  cent  of  transfer  passengers  to  revenue  passengers  from 
40.98  in  1902  to  62.63  in  1904,  yet  your  car  earnings  per  car-mile 
are  maintained,  being  25.46  in  1902,  25.82  in  1904.  Your  expenses 
per  car-mile  have,  however,  increased  from  14.87  in  1902  to  18.36 
in  1904,  largely  caused  in  the  increase  of  wages  paid  your  motor- 
men  and  conductors: 
Conductors : 

1902   $907,700.85         2.95  per  car  mile 

3904   1,132,226.30         3.40  per  car  mile 

Motormen : 

3902   $723,260.70         2.35  per  car  mile 

1904   919,346.00         2.76  per  car  mile 

And  while  the  total  passengers  carried  have  increased,  the 
average  car  earnings  per  total  passenger  have  decreased  from  3.54 
cents  in  1902  to  3.06  cents  in  1904.  and  operating  expenses  in- 
c  icascd  per  passenger  from  2.07  cents  in  1902  to  2.18  cents  in  1904. 

Your  system  is  carrying  more  passengers  with  better  service 


at  less  cost  to  average  passenger  than  ever  before.  In  showing 
comparison  of  per  cent  operating  expense,  I  have  added  showing 
after  deducting  the  $577,228  spent  in  betterments: 

1902  1904 

Per  Cent  Per  Cent 

Operating  expenses  and  taxes  to  car  earnings                 66.26  74.49 

Operating  expenses  and  taxes  to  gross  income                65.28  -  73.32 


Under  Operating  Expenses,  item  "Transportation"  has 
creased  $925,000.    This  is  caused: 

INCREASE  IN  WAGES 

Men  in  power  plant  ■.   $34,0(10 

Conductors    225.000 

Motormen   196,000 

Other  employees    30,000 


m- 


INCREASE  IN  POWER  USED 

In  1902  we  hired  power  

In  1902  we  sold  power  


$127,0110 
155,000 


in  1904  we  hired  power   $228,000 

In  1904  we  sold  power   21.000 


Increase  in  fuel 


$485,000 


$28,000 


$207,000 
66,000 


INCREASE  OPERATING  CABLES. 

To  keep  old  system  in  the  best  possible  condition  

Supplies  car  service  and  street  cleaning  


$301,000 

$42,000 
97,000 

$925,000 


Your  claim  department  shows  a  reduction: 


1902— C.  U.  T.  Company   $540,075 

W.  C.  Street  Railroad   85,023 

N.  C.  Street  Railroad   80,837 


1904 


$711,955 
.173.1(11 


$138,851 


Saving   

Or  19.51  per  cent. 

This  department  was  recently  examined  by  two  expert  "claim- 
men,"  unacquainted  with  the  department  officers  or  with  each 
other,  and  in  their  joint  report  they  praise  the  department  highly 
for  its  thoroughness  in  investigation,  detail  in  accounting  and 
judgment  and  zeal  shown  in  its  operatio  .    Respectfully  submitted, 

James  H.  Eckels, 
Marshall  E.  Sampsell. 
John  C.  Fetzer. 

The  "Chicago  Economist"  says  that  by  comparing  this  report 
with  the  year  ending  June  30,  1902,  and  the  year  now  reported  on, 
which  is  the  first  full  year  under  the  receivership,  it  will  be  seen  that 
gross  earnings  increased  $765,348.  or  over  10  per  cent.  The  total 
increase  in  operating  expenses  was  $1,538,496.  but  $577,228  of  tins 
was  in  maintenance  charges,  many  items  formerly  charged  to 
capital  account  being  charged  to  operation  under  the  receivership. 
The  increase  in  cost  of  conducting  transportation  was  largely  111 
the  item  of  wages,  which  in  the  several  accounts  directly  under 
that  heading  shows  an  increase  of  $500,000  in  the  two  years.  The 
increase  in  general  expenses  was  merely  nominal. 

The  report  of  earnings  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904,  with 
full  comparisons,  is  rs  follows: 

Earnings,  etc.,  Increases,  Year 

Year  Ending  June  30,  1904 

Ending  June  Over  Over 

30.  1904  1903  1902 

Passenger    $8,556,533  $230,684  $755,45S 

Other    33,934  2,480  9,890 


Gross    $S,590,467 

Expenses : 

Maintenance  way   $609,600 

Maintenance  equipment    741,252 

Transportation    3,718.746 

General    1,039,618 


Total    $6,109,216 

Net  earnings    2.481,251 

Other  income    137,018 


$2,618,270 


Total  income   

Charges : 

Rental    *$1,S43,07S 

Other    509,802 


$233,164 

$240,765 
216,741 
402.515 
t92,9S5 

$767,036 

t533.872 
f6,154 

t$540,026 

t$l,038,473 
tl31.137 


Total    $2,352,881 

Surplus    165,389 

Statistics : 

Car  miles    33.275.2SS 


:  $1,109,61(1 

629,584 

1 ,890,74 1 


$765,348 

$335,021 
242,201 
924.747 
36.521 

$1.53S,496 
t773,14S 
19,668 

t$753,480 

t$1 .041,601 
1224,796 

$1,266,397 
512,917 

2.543.237 


244 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


Passengers: 

Revenue                                          171,823,673  4,804,244  15,695,775 

Free                                                    944,923  84,936  133,475 

Transfer                                          108,204,739  24,525,864  43,889,018 


Total                                       280,082,335  29,415,034  59,718,268 

Per  cent  transfer                                      62.63  12.79  21.65 

Per  Car-Mile:                                     Cents  Cents  Cents 

Car  earnings                                           25.82  t-81  .36 

Operating  expenses                                    18.36  1.34  3.49 


Net    7.46  t3.15  t3.13 

Per  Revenue  Passenger: 

Car  earnings   5.00  0.00  t-01 

Operating  expenses    3.56  .36  .63 


Net    1.44  t-36  t-64 


*  Contains  no  charge  for  dividends  accrued  on  outstanding  West  and  North 
Chicago  stock  for  the  period  subsequent  to  Sept.  1,  1903,  when  the  modified 
leases  were  adopted,  except  that  part  of  the  payments  of  Oct.  15  and  Nov.  15 
that  applies  to  the  period  after  Sept.  1. 

t  Decrease. 

Thus  on  the  side  of  increased  public  service  rendered,  the 
court's  administration  makes  a  fine  showing,  and  there  is  also  a 
public  benefit  in  the  half  million  dollars  of  increased  wages  paid 
by  the  system  as  compared  with  1902.  Additional  power,  as 
shown  in  the  letter,  has  been  secured,  improving  the  service,  at  a 
cost  of  $300,000.  Under  the  receivership  of  late  all  earnings  have 
gone  back  into  the  property,  improving  tracks,  making  first  pay- 
ment on  cars  and  the  like. 



CALL  FOR  MEMBERSHIP  IN  THE  MANUFACTURERS'  ASSO- 
CIATION 


R.  W.  Meade,  of  621  Broadway,  New  York,  secretary  of  the 
manufacturers'  committee  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Asso- 
ciation, has  just  issued  a  circular  which  has  been  sent  to  all  ex- 
hibitors at  the  last  convention  at  Saratoga.  This  circular  explains 
the  purpose  of  the  committee,  suggests  membership  in  the  pro- 
posed association  and  requests  suggestions  as  to  future  work. 
The  circular  follows: 

"At  an  informal  meeting  of  manufacturers  of  street  railway  ma- 
terial, held  at  the  Saratoga  convention  of  the  American  Street 
Railway  Association,  September,  1903,  a  committee  of  five  was 
appointed  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  an  association  of  manu- 
facturers whose  province  it  would  be  to  take  care  of  the  exhibits 
at  the  annual  conventions,  thus  relieving  the  association  of  that 
duty,  and  to  assume  other  functions  naturally  pertaining  to  such 
a  body  if  permanently  organized.  The  contemplated  change  in 
the  policy  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  in  the 
matter  of  selected  sites  for  its  conventions,  under  which  the  invi- 
tation of  the  local  street  railway  company  is  no  longer  essential, 
makes  the  desirability  of  such  an  organization  specially  apparent 
and  affords  an  opening  for  the  manufacturers  themselves  to  take 
charge  of  the  exhibits,  and  to  take  over  certain  features  of  the 
entertainment  programme  which  have  heretofore  been  in  the 
hands  of  the  local  street  railway  company  as  host,  and  which  have 
become  somewhat  burdensome. 

"The  committee  thus  appointed  held  a  series  of  meetings, 
adopted  a  name  and  plan  for  permanent  organiation,  all  of  which 
was  submitted  to  the  executive  committee  of  the  American  Street 
Railway  Association  at  its  meeting  held  Feb.  29,  in  New  York 
City.  The  report  was  approved  by  the  executive  committee  of 
the  American  Street  Railway  Association,  and  a  sub-committee 
was  appointed  to  act  in  connection  with  the  manufacturers'  com- 
mittee. It  is  recognized  that  the  best  results  can  only  be  obtained 
by  working  in  complete  harmony  with  the  American  Street  Rail- 
way Association,  and  no  step  has  therefore  been  taken  without 
their  approval. 

"Having  thus  explained  its  inception  and  aims,  the  manufactur- 
ers' committee  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  now 
solicits  your  membership  and  co-operation.  At  the  forthcoming 
convention  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  on  Oct.  12  and  13,  there 
will  be  no  provision  for  exhibits,  but  an  excellent  opportunity 
will  be  afforded  by  the  exercise  of  other  functions  no  less  im- 
portant to  demonstrate  the  value  to  the  association  of  this  new 
auxiliary  and  lay  the  foundation  for  permanent  success. 

"No  rental  of  space  for  exhibits  being  included  this  year,  the 
membership  dues  have  been  fixed  at  $30,  which  amount,  it  is  esti- 
mated, will  provide  ample  funds  for  the  purpose  of  this  year's 
work  and  all  necessary  preparations  for  the  convention  of  1905. 
An  application  for  membership  is  herewith  enclosed,  which  you 
are  requested  to  sign  and  return  promptly  in  the  enclosed  stamped 
and  addressed  envelope. 

"Any  further  information  desired  will  gladly  be  given,  and  the 
committee  will  welcome  any  suggestions  relating  to  the  interests 
of  the  manufacturers  at  these  conventions." 


INTERNATIONAL  RAILWAY  CONGRESS  AT  WASHINGTON 


The  programme  of  papers  to  be  presented  at  the  International 
Railway  Congress  to  be  held  in  Washington  May  3  to  13,  1905, 
shows  that  the  subject  of  electric  traction  is  to  be  discussed.  Those 
assigned  from  the  different  countries  are :  America,  W.  D.  Young, 
electrical  engineer,  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  Baltimore,  Md. ; 
France,  Paul  Du  Bois,  engineer  of  the  Central  Service  Motive 
Power  of  the  Orleans  Railway,  Paris ;  Great  Britain  and  Belgium, 
Ernest  Gerard,  chief  of  the  cabinet  of  the  Belgian  Minister  of 
Railways,  Brussels ;  Other  Countries,  Victor  Tremontani,  chief 
inspector  of  the  Electrical  Section  of  the  Mediterranean  Railway 
of  Italy,  Milan. 

The  International  Railway  Congress  is  composed  of  prominent 
officials  of  the  steam  railroad  companies  of  different  countries,  and 
held  its  last  session  in  Paris  in  1900.  Permanent  offices  are  main- 
tained at  11  Rue  de  Louvain,  Brussels,  in  charge  of  Secretary 
Louis  Weissenbruch.  The  chairman  of  the  American  section  is 
Stuyvesant  Fish,  and  the  headquarters  are  at  24  Park  Place,  New 
York. 

 ♦♦♦  

MEXICAN  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  PROJECT 


An  electric  railway  is  planned  to  be  constructed  between  the 
Rosa  Amarilla  mining  property,  located  in  the  Autlan  District, 
State  of  Jalisco,  Mexico,  to  Navidad,  a  port  on  the  Pacific  Coast. 
The  necessary  energy  to  operate  the  system  will  be  derived  from 
water  power  plants  to  be  built  along  the  Cirslapa  and  Santa  Maria 
Rivers.  The  cost  of  the  construction  and  equipment  of  the  road 
is  estimated  at  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  dollars  (gold). 
Mr.  M.  D.  Watson,  who  is  primarily  interested  in  the  Rosa 
Amarilla  mines,  is  understood  to  have  been  completed  the  financial 
arrangements.    Surveys  are  already  under  way. 



EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  MEETING  OF  OHIO  INTERURBAN 
ASSOCIATION 


The  members  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Ohio  Interurban 
Railway  Association  held  their  monthly  meeting  Aug.  5,  and  en- 
joyed a  delightful  trip  to  Cedar  Springs  on  the  line  of  the  Day- 
ton &  Western  Railway.  Howard  W.  Fravel,  superintendent 
of  the  Dayton  &  Western,  acted  as  host,  and  the  trip  was  made  in 
the  company's  private  parlor  car  "A".  An  excellent  dinner  was 
served  at  Cedar  Springs  Hotel,  which  is  one  of  the  finest  park 
hotels  in  Ohio,  and  after  an  enjoyable  meal  the  members  went 
into  executive  session  in  one  of  the  parlors  of  the  hotel.  It  was 
decided  to  postpone  the  meeting  of  the  association  scheduled  for 
September,  this  being  done  at  the  request  of  a  number  of  managers 
of  lines  which  cater  to  fair  business,  which  is  at  its  height  about 
the  date  selected  for  the  meeting.  In  consequence,  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Ohio  Association  will  be  held  the  last  Thursday  in 
October,  the  place  of  meeting  to  be  decided  upon  later.  The  com- 
mittees appointed  to  look  after  various  matters  have  not  been  idle 
during  the  summer  months,  and  one  of  the  most  important  sub- 
jects that  will  be  discussed  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  association 
will  be  the  adoption  of  a  uniform  book  of  rules  governing  the 
operation  of  interurban  cars.  The  committee  appointed  to  formu- 
late a  set  of  rules  has  completed  its  work,  and  proofs  of  the  pro- 
posed book  are  in  the  hands  of  a  printer,  and  will  be  forwarded  to 
the  members  of  the  association  for  their  criticism,  with  a  view  to 
adopting  the  standard  rules  at  the  next  meeting. 

A  committee  of  three,  composed  of  President  Harrie  P.  Clegg, 
Vice-President  Edward  C.  Spring,  and  Member  of  the  Executive 
Committee  F.  J.  J.  Sloat  was  appointed  to  represent  the  associa- 
tion at  the  annual  convention  of  the  American  Street  Railway  As- 
sociation at  St.  Louis  in  October. 

A  circular  letter  has  been  prepared  by  the  executive  committee 
outlining  the  work  that  has  been  accomplished  thus  far  by  the 
association,  together  with  the  work  that  will  be  taken  up  during 
the  next  few  months.  The  officers  of  the  Ohio  Association  have 
decided  upon  an  aggressive  policy  for  the  winter  campaign,  and  it 
is  intended  that  a  number  of  important  problems  for  the  mutual 
benefit  of  all  interurban  roads  in  the  Central  West  shall  be  worked 
as  soon  as  possible.  To  this  end  J.  H.  Merrill,  of  Lima,  Ohio, 
secretary  of  the  association,  is  making  a  determined  effort  to  build 
up  the  membership  and  secure  the  co-operation  of  all  the  com- 
panies in  this  district.  Managers  of  interurban  properties  in  Ohio, 
Michigan,  Indiana,  Kentucky  and  adjoining  States,  who  are  inter- 
ested in  a  movement  that  promises  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  all 
concerned,  are  requested  to  correspond  with  Mr.  Merrill  before 
the  next  meeting  of  the  association,  so  that  they  may  receive  an 
outline  of  the  work  proposed. 


August  13,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


245 


ENGINEERING  FIRM  IN  KANSAS  CITY 

An  engineering  firm  has  been  organized  under  the  name  of 
Cudworth,  Axtell  &  Company,  with  headquarters  at  616  Kansas 
City  Life  Building,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  to  do  general  engineering 
work,  but  street  railway  engineering  and  development  will  be 
made  a  specialty.  Mr.  Cudworth  is  well  known  in  electrical  en- 
gineering circles,  having  been  for  three  years  connected  with  the 
Manhattan  Railway  Company,  of  New  York.  He  was  originally 
in  charge  of  the  foundation  work  of  the  Seventy-Fourth  Street 
Station,  and  after  the  completion  of  that  station  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  construction  of  the  subway  conduits  and  of  the 
sub-station  construction  and  equipment  of  the  Manhattan  Com- 
pany. He  severed  his  connection  with  the  Manhattan  Railway 
in  March,  1903,  and  became  connected  with  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis, 
and  for  that  firm  has  had  charge  of  the  construction  and  equip- 
ment of  the  Missouri  River  power  station  of  the  Metropolitan 
St-eet  Railway  Company,  of  Kansas  City.  Mr.  Cudworth  has 
contributed  several  articles  to  the  columns  of  this  paper.  Mr. 
Axtell  is  a  native  of  Kansas  City,  and  has  an  extensive  experience 
in  steam  railroad,  water  and  sewer  work.  He  will  have  charge 
of  the  State  and  municipal  engineering  of  the  firm,  while  Mr. 
Cudworth  will  take  more  direct  charge  of  the  railway  work. 


NEW  HAVEN  EMPLOYEES  ACCEPT  COMPANY'S  PROPOSAL 

The  employees  of  the  Consolidated  Railway  Company,  of  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  voted  Aug.  7  to  accept  the  proposition  of  the 
company  made  in  response  to  the  demands  of  the  men 
for  an  increase  in  wages,  recognition  of  the  union,  and 
new  regulations  regarding  extra  men  and  pay  for  over- 
time work.  By  the  terms  of  the  reply  of  the  company,  which 
the  men  have  accepted,  all  regular  men  who  have  worked  a 
year  will  receive  21  cents  an  hour,  in  place  of  20  cents.  The  men 
asked  for  22V2  cents  an  hour.  Men  who  have  served  less  than  a 
year  are  to  get  20^2  cents,  instead  of  20  cents,  hereafter.  Over- 
time work  is  to  be  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  25  cents  an  hour.  This 
applies  to  extra  men,  as  well  as  old  employees,  and  is  considered  a 
concession,  although  the  men  asked  for  30  cents  an  hour.  The 
request  for  recognition  of  the  union  was  refused. 



NICARAGUAN  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  PROJECT 

Considerable  equipment,  etc.,  will  shortly  be  purchased  in  this 
market  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of  electric  lines  in  Nicara- 
gua, Central  America.  A  strong  group  of  Pittsburgers 
are  primarily  interested  in  the  scheme.  The  United  States 
&  Nicaragua  Company  was  recently  incorporated  under 
the  laws  of  the  State  of  Maine,  with  a  capital  of  $1,000,- 
000,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  over  the  concessions  granted 
to  James  Deitrick,  of  the  Nicaraguan  Government.  M.  K. 
Salsbury,  a  prominent  Pittsburg  capitalist,  is  president  of 
the  concern.  William  L.  Abbott,  president  of  the  Iron  City 
Trust  Company,  is  vice-president.  William  M.  Rees,  of  James 
Rees  &  Sons  Company,  is  secretary  and  treasurer.  Two 
subsidiary  companies  have  just  been  formed,  viz.:  the  Great  Cen- 
tral Railway  Company,  capital,  $10,000,000,  and  the  American 
Mining  Company,  capital,  $15,000,000.  Robert  Pitcairn,  as- 
sistant to  the  president  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  is  president 
of  the  first-named  company:  Alexander  R.  Peacock,  one  of 
the  Carnegie  partners,  is  vice-president,  and  Mr.  Rees  is  secretary 
and  treasurer.  The  American  Mining  Company's  head  executive 
officer  is  Thomas  B.  Riter,  of  the  Riter-Conley  Company. 
Mr.  Salsbury  is  vice-president,  while  Mr.  Rees  is  secretary  and 
treasurer.  James  Deitrick  is  managing  director  of  all  three 
companies.  The  Great  Central  Railway  will  build  several  elec- 
tric lines  running  from  the  Coco  River  in  Northern  Nicaragua, 
several  miles  into  the  interior,  where  the  American  Mining  Com- 
pany is  to  conduct  very  extensive  mining  operations.  Some  idea 
of  the  vastness  of  the  enterprise,  the  necessary  capital  for  which 
is  all  assured,  will  be  appreciated  when  it  is  stated  that  the  min- 
ing concessions  cover  practically  all  Northern  Nicaragua  from  the 
Atlantic  to  Pacific  Coasts,  and  represent  an  area  40,000,000 
acres  in  extent.  The  Central  Company  plans  to  build  some  200 
miles  of  steam  road  from  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Coco 
River  to  the  Pacific  Coast.  A  number  of  spurs  will  be  constructed 
to  the  American  Mining  Company's  mines.  These  spurs  will  be 
all  electrically  operated.  There  is  said  to  be  an  abundance  of 
water  power  in  the  territory.  It  is  estimated  that  fully  $3,000,000 
will  be  extended  in  electrical  equipment,  etc.  The  various  com- 
panies, whose  headquarters  are  in  the  Farmers'  Bank  Building, 
Pittsburg,  Pa.,  have  taken  offices  in  the  Park  Row  Building,  New 
York,  with  a  view  to  facilitate  the  placing  of  contracts  for  mate- 
rial, etc.  Mr.  Deitrick  is  in  charge.  He  will  remain  here  until 
October. 


HONORARY  DEGREES  IN  ENGINEERING 


The  editorial  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  for  July  16,  en- 
titled the  "Engineer  Gets  Left,"  has  attracted  wide  attention  in 
the  scientific  press.  A  correspondent  in  "Science,"  for  July  29, 
has  the  following  to  say: 

"For  several  years  our  technical  press  have  called  attention  after 
each  commencement  season  to  the  disproportionately  small  num- 
ber of  engineers  among  those  whose  attainments  receive  the  sanc- 
tion of  academic  approval  in  the  form  of  honorary  degrees.  The 
Street  Railway  Journal,  the  exponent  in  America  of  the  most 
progressive  branch  of  electrical  engineering,  calls  attention  to 
this  unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs  in  its  issue  of  July  16. 

"The  value  of  education  is  to  a  very  great  extent  realized  in 
service,  and  there  is  no  better  indication  of  true  appreciation  of  the 
ends  of  education  on  the  part  of  our  institutions  which  are  devoted 
mainly  to  the  beginnings  of  it,  than  the  conferring  of  honorary  de- 
grees wisely.  Our  universities,  to  the  extent  that  they  stand  for 
research,  have  an  end  in  themselves,  and  academic  honors  are 
promptly  bestowed  upon  those  who  contribute  to  the  advance- 
ment of  learning.  Our  colleges  and  technical  schools,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  teaching,  and  they  have  no 
end  in  themselves.  No  college  teacher  can  draw  much  inspira- 
tion from  the  meager  attainments  of  his  untried  graduates.  The 
fruit  of  his  labor  is  extra-academic,  and  the  effectiveness  of  his 
labor  depends  upon  his  being  sufficiently  a  man  of  the  world  to 
know  these  fruits  and  to  draw  his  inspiration  from  them.  If  the 
granting  of  honorary  degrees  by  our  colleges  to  men  outside  of 
academic  life  has  any  reason  to  be,  and  surely  it  has,  it  is  because 
such  academic  recognition  is  an  expressiV-i  of  appreciation  on  the 
part  of  the  personnel  of  the  college  of  the  things  in  which  alone 
the  results  of  their  labors  take  on  the  garb  of  reality.  As  an 
expression  of  this  kind  of  appreciation  the  function  of  the  college 
in  the  granting  of  honorary  degrees  contributes  vastly  more  to 
the  credit  of  the  college  when  wisely  performed  than  to  the  sum 
of  honor  that  rests  upon  those  who  do  the  world's  work  and  carry 
its  heavy  dignities. 

"Quite  the  most  absurd  notion  respecting  this  conferring  of 
honorary  degrees  is  the  more  or  less  confused  idea  of  many  a 
circumscribed  academician  that  it  is  the  making  rather  than  the 
marking  of  a  distinction ;  and  growing  out  of  this  pitifully  foolish 
idea  is  the  exaggerated  dread  of  the  prostitution  of  this  really 
vital  function  of  our  academic  institutions. 

"It  is  a  general  impression,  and  perhaps  it  is  true,  that  the  num- 
ber of  engineers  is  disproportionately  small  among  those  who,  at 
each  commencement  season,  receive  honorary  degrees.  If  it  is 
true,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  of  our  larger  schools  of  engineer- 
ing may  consider  it.  In  any  case  it  would  be  appropriate  for  our 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Engineering  Education  to  look  into 
the  matter." 

 ♦♦♦  

INTERURBAN'S  RIGHT  IN  INDIANA  PUBLIC  STREETS 


It  is  apparent  that  every  phase  of  the  question  involving  the 
right  of  interurban  lines  to  use  public  highways  in  Indiana  will 
be  tested  in  the  courts,  and  additional  legislation  will  probably 
result  from  the  agitation.  The  latest  move  upon  the  part  of  a 
steam  railroad  in  its  opposition  to  electric  lines  is  an  injunction 
suit  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  to  prevent  the  In- 
dianapolis &  Cincinnati  Traction  Company  from  crossing  the 
railroad  tracks  in  Morgan  Street,  in  Rushville.  The  complaint 
alleges  that  as  the  interurban  company  is  incorporated  as  a  road 
for  the  carrying  of  passengers  and  freight  from  one  place  to  an- 
other, it  enters  directly  into  competition  with  the  steam  roads, 
and  is  not  entitled  or  allowed,  under  the  law,  to  use  a  highway 
as  a  right  of  way,  because  such  use  is  inconsistent  with  the  ease- 
ment on  any  street  or  highway.  It  is  further  averred  that  before 
the  interurban  company  could  ask  for  a  right  of  way  across  the 
Pennsylvania  tracks  it  should  have  been  assessed  and  paid  dam- 
ages to  the  railroad  company.  It  is  also  charged  that  the  inter- 
urban company  in  question  has  adopted  new  method  of  electric 
power  which  will  give  it  great  speed,  and  will  run  night  and  day, 
with  no  provision  for  safety,  and  that  it  will  be  of  great  danger 
to  passengers  and  employees  of  the  plaintiff. 

It  is  agreed  by  lawyers  and  interurban  men  that  the  settlement 
of  this  question  may  have  far-reaching  effects  on  the  electric  trac- 
tion business  in  Indiana,  and  if  the  law  is  not  adequate  to  deal 
with  such  cases  the  incoming  Legislature  will  make  it  so.  The 
citizens  of  Rushville  are  in  sympathy  with  the  interurban  line, 
and  while  the  suit  may  retard  the  construction  of  the  crossing  for 
a  time,  they  feel  quite  sure  it  will  be  made  in  due  time. 


246 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


THE  TOLEDO,  BOWLING  GREEN  &  SOUTHERN  LEASED 


The  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Traction  Company, 
operating  an  interurban  line  from  Toledo  to  Findlay,  with  the  city 
lines  and  lighting  plant  in  Findlay,  has  been  leased  to  the  Toledo 
Urban  &  Interurban  Company.  The  lease  is  on  a  basis  of  a  slid- 
ing scale  guaranteed  dividend  on  the  stock  of  the  company. 

The  Toledo  Urban  &  Interurban  Company  was  incorporated 
several  months  ago  with  $10,000  capital  stock.  This  has  since  been 
increased  to  $1,000,000,  and  it  is  proposed  to  authorize  a  bond 
issue  of  $1,000,000.  The  new  company  will  take  possession  of  the 
road  about  Jan.  1.  It  will  pay  the  floating  debt  of  the  company, 
and  will  probably  make  some  extensions. 

The  Toledo  Urban  &  Interurban  Railway  has  under  construction 
a  line  from  Toledo  to  Perrysburg,  which  will  provide  a  shorter  en- 
trance to  Toledo  for  the  cars  of  the  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  & 
Southern,  which  now  operate  over  the  tracks  of  the  Maumee 
Valley  Railway  &  Light  Company  from  Perrysburg  to  the  Toledo 
city  limits.  The  new  route  will  shorten  the  time  between  Toledo 
and  Findlay  to  two  hours  in  place  of  three  hours  and  ten  minutes, 
as  at  present.  The  new  company  has  a  private  right  of  way  into 
Toledo  for  a  distance  of  2^  miles.  Last  week  it  completed  a 
traffic  arrangement  with  the  Toledo  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
whereby  cars  will  operate  to  the  center  of  the  city  by  the  way  of 
the  South  Street  and  Broadway  lines  of  that  company.  The  ar- 
rangement provides  that  the  interurban  company  collects  the  city 
fare  and  pays  the  city  company  three  cents  for  each  passenger 
brought  into  the  city.  The  Interurban  Company  is  building  an 
extensive  bridge  across  the  Maumee  River,  and  it  is  planning  to 
build  an  expensive  overgrade  bridge  over  the  tracks  of  three  steam 
lines  at  East  Toledo.  This  will  be  one  of  the  largest  structures  of 
the  kind  ever  built. 

*♦♦ 

ELECTRIC  TRACTION  FOR  MONTEREY  a 


The  Monterey  Electric  Street  Railway,  Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany, Limited,  which  was  incorporated  last  week  under  the  laws 
of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  by  Philadelphia  capitalists,  has  this 
week  acquired  the  existing  horse  car  lines  and  the  Mackin  &  Dil- 
lon concession  in  and  around  Monterey,  the  Pittsburg  of,  and  one 
of  the  principal  cities  in,  Mexico,  and  will  commence  practically 
immediately  to  electrically  convert  the  lines,  which  will  entail 
an  expenditure  of  between  $1,500,000  and  $2,000,000,  gold. 

Edward  F.  Walker,  whose  offices  are  in  the  Drexel  Building, 
Philadelphia,  is  now  on  his  way  from  the  southern  republic, 
where  he  has  just  concluded  negotiations  for  the  acquisition  of 
the  properties  on  behalf  of  the  company.  About  $500,000  gold 
is  understood  to  have  changed  hands  in  the  various  transac- 
tions. The  Ferrocarriles  de  Monterey  y  Topo-Chico  have  been 
purchased.  This  concern  was  formerly  controlled  by  the  Slayden 
family,  the  president  being  ex-Congressman  S.  W.  Slayden.  of 
the  financial  house  of  S.  W.  Slayden  &  Company,  of  50  Broad- 
way, New  York.  The  system  is  15  miles  long.  It  runs  from 
Monterey  to  Topo-Chico.  Included  in  the  purchase  of  the  Slay- 
den system  is  a  long  lease  of  the  park,  baths  and  pavilion  at  Topo- 
Chico  Springs.  A  hotel  of  large  size  will  be  built  by  the  new 
interests,  the  bath  house  accommodations  will  be  enlarged,  new 
pavilions  will  be  constructed  and  other  up-to-date  improvements 
will  be  brought  about. 

The  Ferrocarriles  Urbano  de  Monterey  "Empresa  Mexicana," 
S.  A.,  has  also  been  bought.  This  system's  operations  are  at 
present  confined  to  Monterey  itself.  F.  Belden,  the  presi- 
dent of  one  of  the  big  British-Mexican  financial  institutions,  was 
the  prime  factor  in  the  Empresa  Company.  The  road  is  about 
T4  miles  in  length.  The  concession  held  by  the  American  con- 
tracting firm  of  Mackin  &  Dillon,  of  Monterey,  which  as  pre- 
viously stated  has  passed  into  the  control  of  the  new  company, 
permits  of  the  construction  of  some  15  miles  of  line  in  the  city 
proper  and  to  one  of  the  principal  suburbs.  The  Monterey  Elec- 
tric Street  Railway  Light  &  Power  Company  expects  to  construct, 
in  the  first  instance,  some  25  miles  of  lines,  but.  ultimately,  it 
intends  to  build  and  operate  fully  double  that  mileage. 

While  it  is  not  yet  definitely  determined  upon,  it  can  be 
said  that  there  is  an  extreme  probability  of  Mackin  &  Dillon 
securing  the  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  new  system. 
George  D.  Howell,  of  Philadelphia,  is  now  in  Monterey  for  the 
purpose  of  preparing  the  specifications,  etc.  C.  W.  Reece,  of 
Philadelphia,  is  also  on  the  spot.  It  is  anticipated  that  part 
of  the  new  system  will  be  in  operation  by  March  next. 

 +++  

The  Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  has 
established  permanent  schedule,  with  hourly  headway  between 
Columbus  and  Lancaster. 


EXTENSIONS  IN  WEST  CHESTER,  PA. 

In  a  short  news  item  which  appeared  in  the  last  issue,  a  con- 
fusion was  made  between  the  West  Chester  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, of  West  Chester,  Pa.,  and  the  West  Chester,  Kennett  &  Wil- 
mington Railway,  of  the  same  place,  and  which  was  recently 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  The  West  Chester  Street  Rail- 
way Company  is  in  a  very  prosperous  condition,  and  this  is  the 
company  which  is  making  the  extensions  mentioned. 

The  West  Chester  Street  Railway  Company  owns  the  street 
railway  lines  in  West  Chester,  Coatesville  and  Downingtown,  and 
the  lighting  plants  at  Coatesville  and  Downingtown,  and  is  now 
completing  its  extension  from  Lenape  on  the  Western  &  Northern 
Railroad  to  Kennett,  and  a  power  plant  at  Lenape. 

 ♦♦♦  

OHIOANS  INTERESTED  IN  UTAH  PROJECT 

Barney  Mahler,  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Everett- 
Moore  syndicate,  together  with  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  capitalists,  will 
build  an  electric  railway  from  Ogden,  Utah,  through  Salt  Lake 
City  to  Payson.  The  Utah  people  interested  are  Senator  Smoot, 
Jesse  Knight,  C.  E.  Loose,  George  Havercamp  and.  S.  R.  Thur- 
man.  The  section  of  the  road  between  Salt  Lake  City  and  Payson, 
a  distance  of  60  miles,  will  be  built  first.  Some  of  the  larger  towns 
between  these  points  are  Lehigh,  American,  Pleasant  Grove,  Provo 
City,  Springville,  Spanish  Fort  and  Payson.  Salt  Lake  City  has 
55,000  inhabitants ;  Provo  City,  6,500 ;  Springville,  3,400,  and  the 
other  towns  about  3,000.  Ogden  is  37  miles  from  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  has  a  population  of  16,500,  and  is  a  great  railroad  center. 
Eighty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  Utah  lies  in  this  valley,  one 
of  the  most  fertile  in  the  country,  and  considered  one  of  the  best 
traction  fields  undeveloped.  Very  liberal  franchises  have  been 
obtained  in  the  towns,  some  of  them  being  for  100  years.  One  of 
the  features  of  the  proposition  is  the  plan  to  erect  a  large  power 
station  at  a  large  coal-mining  property  some  distance  from  the 
line,  which  will  be  acquired  by  the  company.  The  organization  of 
the  company  is  now  being  worked  out. 



WESTINGHOUSE  COMPANY  GETS  NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN 
&  HARTFORD  TURBINE  CONTRACT 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  Company  has 
closed  a  contract  with  the  Westinghouse  Company  for  two  1000- 
hp  Parsons  turbines,  to  be  installed  in  the  Warren  power  house  of 
the  railroad,  from  which  the  Warren  &  Bristol  electric  line  is 
operated.  The  power  house  at  Warrtn  is  to  be  enlarged  to  ac- 
commodate the  new  units. 

 ♦♦♦  

WESTINGHOUSE  BUREAU  OF  STANDARDS 

The  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  has 
established  at  its  East  Pittsburg  works  a  department  of  stand- 
ards which  is  at  the  service  of  all  purchasers  of  its  measuring  in- 
struments. As  ordinarily  sold,  all  direct  connection  between  the 
manufacturer  of  electrical  instruments  and  the  instruments  them- 
selves ceases  when  they  are  shipped  to  their  purchasers.  With 
the  Westinghouse  plan  an  active  interest  is  maintained  in  the 
instruments  for  the  entire  period  covered  by  the  period  of  free 
calibration  (five  years),  and  at  intervals  of  greater  or  less  fre- 
quency during  this  time  the  manufacturer  reassumes  a  respon- 
sibility for  the  accuracy  of  the  instrument  by  checking  its  per- 
formance and  certifying  to  its  accuracy. 

To  encourage  periodical  checking,  the  Westinghouse  Company 
guarantees  that  there  shall  be  no  delay  in  the  examination  of  in- 
struments by  its  department  of  standards,  and  that  they  shall  be 
promptly  checked  and  restored  to  their  owners.  Unless  repairs 
are  necessary,  there  will  thus  only  be  a  very  few  days  in  which 
the  owner  will  be  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  standards,  and  it  will 
ordinarily  be  possible  for  him  to  send  them  away  and  get  them 
back  without  any  inconvenience  because  of  their  absence. 

In  addition  to  the  benefits  derived  from  having  instruments 
checked  continuously  by  the  same  standardizing  department,  there 
is  a  general  advantage  in  having  the  same  service  as  nearly  uni- 
versal as  possible,  particularly  if  that  service  gives  a  higher  degree 
of  security  in  the  trueness  of  electrical  measurements  than  can 
be  gained  by  patronizing  various  establishments.  It  must  be 
acknowledged  that  if  perfect  instruments  could  be  furnished  to  all 
users  and  their  accuracy  maintained  continuously  by  reference  to 
a  single  set  of  standards  of  undoubted  reliability,  an  ideal  con- 
dition would  prevail  uniformly  throughout  the  electrical  field.  It 
is  this  condition  that  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company  is  endeavoring  to  produce  so  far  as  perfection  may  be  . 
attained  under  commercial  conditions. 


August  13,  1904.]  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  247 


STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  JULY  20,  1904 

765.660.  Tongue  Switch;  Edward  B.  Entwistle,  Johnstown, 
Pa.  App.  filed  May  28,  19x13.  Relates  to  means  for  holding 
down  the  movable  point  or  tongue  to  its  seat. 

765.661.  Railway  Track  Structure;  George  M.  Ervin,  Johns- 
town, Pa.  App.  filed  March  18,  1903.  Provides  means  for  fast- 
ening in  place  the  renewable  wear  portions  or  plates,  so  that  the 
plates  may  be  readily  removed  and  replaced. 

765.662.  Tongue  Switch;  George  M.  Ervin,  Johnstown,  Pa. 
App.  filed  April  2,  1903.  Relates  to  the  bearing  for  the  tongue 
pin  or  pivot. 

765.663.  Plate  Fastening  for  Railway  Track  Structures; 
George  M.  Ervin,  Johnstown,  Pa.  App.  filed  Oct.  22,  1903.  A 
hollow,  link-shaped  key  of  spring  material  is  driven  between  two 
parallel  walls  and  being  compressed  binds  the  parts  together. 

765,669.  Tongue  Switch;  Patrick  Lavelle,  Johnstown,  Pa. 
App.  filed  Oct.  22,  1903.  Relates  to  the  bearing  for  the  bed  por- 
tion of  the  tongue  in  the  body  portion  of  the  tongue  switch 
structure. 

765,718.  Railway  Switch;  Robert  S.  Sheeley,  Galesburg,  111. 
App.  filed  Jan.  2,  1904.  Aims  to  prevent  accidents.  Mechanism 
connected  with  the  ordinary  switching  apparatus  is  operated  by 
the  weight  of  a  train  to  positively  close  the  switch  in  case  it  is 
left  open. 

765.742.  Track  Sander  for  Motor  Cars;  William  Lintern,  West- 
park,  Ohio.  App.  filed  Dec.  23,  1903.  A  push  button  in  the 
controller  handle  operates  a  valve  in  a  compressed  air  pipe  which 
connects  with  and  operates  a  sand  trap. 

765.743.  Means  for  Operating  Pneumatic  Valves;  William 
Lintern,  Westpark,  Ohio.  App.  filed  March  28,  1904.  See 
patent  765,742. 

765,764.  Street  Railway  Rail;  Wilhelm  Bertling,  Berlin,  Ger- 
many. App.  filed  April  29,  1903.  The  rail  is  made  up  of  an 
upper  and  a  lower  part  bolted  together. 

765,781.  Device  for  Removing  Sleet,  Ice,  etc.,  from  Electrical 
Conductors;  Don  M.  Miles,  Aurora,  111.  App.  filed  Nov.  19,  1903. 
A  circular  plate  is  mounted  so  as  to  rotate  about  a  vertical  axis 
in  spring-pressed  contact  with  the  third  rail  or  conductor. 

765,797.  Railroad;  Alexander  J.  Smithson,  Portland,  Ore. 
App.  filed  Oct.  21,  1903.    A  double-headed  reversible  rail. 


PATENT  NO.  765,661 


765,813.  Car  Fender;  Fred  E.  Caton,  San  Jose,  Cal.  App. 
filed  Oct.  27,  1903.  Comprises  an  apron  or  scoop  and  a  net  frame 
which  acts  as  a  trigger  to  release  the  apron.  Invention  relates  to 
means  for  supporting  the  apron. 

765,850.  Trolley;  Walter  O.  Miller,  Louisville,  Ky.  App.  filed 
Feb.  10,  1903.  The  trolley  wheel  is  supported  in  a  head  which  is 
in  turn  pivotally  mounted  in  the  end  of  the  pole.  The  axis  of  the 
wheel  support  is  transverse  to  the  axis  of  the  wheel. 

765,852.  Trolley;  Jacob  M.  Olinger,  Vienna  Crossroads,  Ohio. 
App.  filed  May  12,  1904.  Relates  to  the  mounting  and  centering 
of  the  wheel  upon  the  journal  pin. 

765,917.  Hanger  for  Overhead  Conductors;  Sidney  H.  Coch- 
ran and  Austin  E.  Anderson,  Lynchburg,  Va.  App.  filed  March 
24,  1904.  The  hanger  is  so  constructed  as  to  provide  a  straight 
under-run  for  the  trolley  wheel,  thereby  preventing  sliding  move- 
ment of  the  wire  in  the  hanger. 


765,974.  Trolley  Wire  Clip;  Albert  E.  Haladay,  New  Haven, 
Conn.  App.  filed  Dec.  30,  1903.  A  compression  clip  made  in 
two  halves,  each  half  having  a  gripping  flange  for  the  trolley  wire 
and  devices  for  locking  the  halves  together  when  in  place. 

765,979.  Vehicle  Lighting  Apparatus;  John  A.  Little,  St. 
Louis,  Mo.  App.  filed  Nov.  9,  1903.  Relates  to  the  manner  of 
mounting  and  supporting  a  train  of  gearing  for  driving  a  dynamo. 

765,989.  Car  Truck;  Edgar  Peckham,  Kingston,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  April  8,  1902.  Especially  adapted  for  high-speed  service  on 
a  roadbed  having  sharp  curves,  and  where  it  is  desired  to  use 
long  cars  which  are  comparatively  narrow. 

766,048.  Car  Body  Stake;  Arthur  Lipschutz,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 
App.  filed  May  13,  1904.  Relates  to  a  stake  which  is  of  trough 
shape  in  transverse  section  and  on  the  surface  of  which  is  a  rib 
of  less  width  than  the  width  of  the  trough. 

766,102.  Frictional  Spring  Dampener;  Edward  Denegre,  Chi- 
cago, 111.  App.  filed  Dec.  5,  1903.  Provides  a  frictional  spring 
dampener  which,  while  arranged  to  co-operate  with,  is  indepen- 
dent of  and  disassociated  from  the  springs  themselves. 

766,113.  Side  Bearing  for  Street  Cars;  John  E.  Norwood,  Bal- 
timore, Md.  App.  filed  April  14,  1902.  Details  of  a  bearing  of 
the  roller  type  applied  to  a  "Brill"  truck. 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED   AUG.  2,  1904 

766,177.  Trolley;  Orin  Funkhouser,  New  Brighton,  Pa.  App. 
filed  June  23,  1903.  Upwardly-extending  arms  pivoted  upon  the 
trolley  harp,  having  small  wheels  journaled  in  their  upper  ends 
and  to-  the  lower  ends  of  which  are  secured  the  trolley  rope, 
whereby  the  arms  may  be  disengaged  from  their  normal  position 
so  that  the  trolley  wheel  may  be  reversed. 

766,195.  Wheel  Fender;  Johann  Ortner,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  App. 
filed  Nov.  7,  1903.  The  fender  is  pivoted  to  the  frame  of  the  car 
and  has  an  arm  extending  behind  the  pivot,  and  a  weighted  lever 
fulcrumed  at  its  rear  end  on  the  car  and  connected  to  the  arm, 
and  acting  to  lower  the  arm  and  lift  the  front  end  of  the  fender. 

766,327  Controller;  Fred  B.  Corey,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  Feb.  4,  1903.  Comprises  a  reversing  switch  having  a  plu- 
rality of  semi-cylindrical  members  mounted  so  as  to  embrace  the 
operating  shaft  of  the  reversing  switch,  each  of  said  semi-cylindri- 
cal units  being  made  up  of  insulating  material  molded  into  the 
proper  shape,  having  the  connecting  members  of  the  contact 
segments  molded  into  the  insulating  material. 

766,335.  Electric  Railway;  Philip  Farnsworth,  Schenectady,  N. 
Y.  App.  filed  Feb.  21,  1901.  The  conductor  which  supplied  cur- 
rent to  the  car  motors  is  divided  into  sections  normally  discon- 
nected from  the  feeder,  but  which  are  adapted  to  be  connected 
thereto  by  electro-magnetic  switches  as  the  car  proceeds  along  the 
way.  The  novelty  consists  in  employing  electro-magnetic  means 
for  positively  opening  the  switches  which  connect  the  conductor 
sections  with  the  feeder,  so  they  cannot  remain  closed  by  residual 
magnetism  or  leakage  currents,  or  become  accidentally  closed 
thereby. 

766,348.  Undercarriage  for  Tram  or  Railway  Car  or  Wagons; 
Peter  Herbert.  North  Sidney,  New  South  Wales,  Australia. 
App.  filed  Oct.  7,  1903.  Consists  of  a  skeleton  turntable  upon 
which  the  under  frame  rests,  anti-friction  bearing  rollers  between 
the  turntable  and  the  under  frame,  peripheral  rollers  around  the 
turntable  and  anti-friction  supporting  roller  below  the  turn- 
table and  axletree  and  wheels  carried  by  the  turntable  and  sup- 
porting it. 

766,351.  Reversing  Switch;  George  H.  Hill,  Schenectady,  N. 
Y.  App.  filed  March  11,  1903.  Consists  of  a  reversing  switch 
cylinder  built  up  of  a  plurality  of  identical  units,  each  unit  com- 
prising a  disk  of  molded  insulating  material,  having  an  opening 
through  which  the  shaft  upon  which  the  unit  is  mounted  is 
adapted  to  pass,  and  carrying  a  pair  of  conducting  elements  em- 
bedded in  the  insulating  material,  each  conducting  element  carry- 
ing a  contact  segment,  which  may  be  replaceable. 

766,378.  Hand  Strap  for  Cars;  Joseph  S.  Paxton,  New  York. 
App.  filed  Oct.  10,  1903.  A  panel  for  the  reception  of  advertis- 
ing matter  is  interposed  between  the  upper  part  of  the  strap, 
which  is  adapted  for  attachment  of  a  support,  and  the  lower  part 
which  is  adapted  to  be  grasped  by  the  hand. 

766,381  Electric  Railway  and  Controlling  Device  Therefor; 
William  B.  Potter,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  March  3,  1898. 
Means  for  returning  to  the  distributing  system  of  an  electric  rail- 
way the  energy  absorbed  by  the  application  of  the  brakes,  con- 
sisting in  connecting  motor  armatures  in  series  when  it  is  desired 
to  return  energy,  so  that  their  electro-motive  forces  act  to  sup- 
ply current  to  the  line  at  a  voltage  in  excess  of  that  impressed 
thereon  by  the  main  generator.  It  also  consists  in  converging 
the  ordinary  motors  actually  employed  for  traction  work  into 
separately  excited  generators  when  it  is  desired  that  they  should 
return  energy.  Their  voltage  is  thus  made  independent  of  their 
out-put. 


248 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  7. 


766,399.  Current-Collecting  Device  for  Electric  Railway  Sys- 
tems; Abraham  A.  Shobe  and  William  Embley,  Jerseyville,  111. 
App.  filed  Sep.  26,  1903.  Provides  a  current  collector  for  an  un- 
derground conductor  in  which  the  movable  conducting  members 
are  held  at  all  times  firmly  in  engagement  with  the  stationary 
conductors  without  regard  to  irregularities  in  the  road  bed  or 
variations  in  position  of  the  conductors. 

766,428.  Car  Fender;  Franz  Csanitz,  Vienna,  Austria-Hungary. 
App.  filed  March  26,  1904.    Details  of  construction. 

766,625.  Third  Rail  System;  Thomas  Jenkins,  New  York,  N. 
Y.  App.  filed  April  6,  1904.  Provides  a  protecting  cover  for  the 
rail  and  a  support  for  the  contact-shoe,  which  will  permit  the 
shoe  to  be  moved  into  and  out  of  the  cover  and  co-act  with  the 
rail. 

766,650.  Electric  Trolley;  George  Ondo,  Delancey,  Pa.  App. 
filed  March  10,  1904.  Details. 

766,692.  Hanger  Cut  Out  for  Trolley  Wires;  Geo.  Hall,  Man- 
chester, England.  Details. 



PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  CALVIN  W.  RICE  was  married  on  Aug.  6,  at  Winchester, 
Mass.,  to  Miss  Ellen  M.  Weibezahn. 

MR.  C.  A.  GILLES,  assistant  treasurer  of  the  San  Juan  Light 
&  Transit  Company,  of  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico,  which  is  controlled 
by  J.  G.  White  &  Co.,  is  now  on  a  visit  to  the  States. 

MR.  JOHN  MILLIGAN  has  been  appointed  superintendent  of 
transportation  of  the  Dayton,  Springfield  &  Urbana  Railway,  with 
headquarters  at  Springfield,  Ohio.  He  has  been  with  the  company 
for  several  years,  starting  as  a  conductor. 

MR.  T.  H.  BOYD,  for  several  years  superintendent  of  the  car 
repair  and  paint  shops  of  the  Knoxville  Traction  Company,  of 
Knoxville,  Tenn.,  has  been  promoted  to  be  master  mechanic  of  the 
traction  company.  Mr.  Boyd  has  been  with  the  traction  company 
since  October,  1895. 

HERR  BARON  WOLFGANG  FERSTEL,  building  adviser 
(Baurat)  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Railway  Ministry  in  Vienna, 
has  been  appointed  delegate  of  the  Vienna  Elektrotechnischer 
Verein  to  the  International  Elctrical  Congress  to  be  held  at  St. 
Louis  in  September. 

MR.  A.  W.  McLIMONT,  who  superintended  the  construction 
of  the  Lima-Chorillos  Electric  Traction  System,  which  Peruvian 
road — the  first  of  its  kind  in  that  part  of  the  world — was  de- 
scribed in  the  Street  Railway  journal,  June  4,  will  arrive  in 
New  York  next  week. 

MR.  C.  M.  RENTHER  has  resigned  from  the  electric  depart- 
ment of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  to  become  chief  electrician  and 
master  mechanic  of  the  Camden  (N.  J.)  &  Trenton  Railway  Com- 
pany. He  succeeds  Mr.  John  Hyde,  who  resigned  to  take  up  the 
electrical  contracting  business. 

MR.  GEORGE  H.  BINKLEY,  engineer  of  the  railway  de- 
partment of  Kohler  Brothers,  Chicago,  has  resigned  to  take  the 
management  of  the  business  of  the  Hadley  Derrick  Company,  In- 
dianapolis. This  is  a  new  concern  which  will  make  a  new  portable 
derrick  for  agricultural  and  railway  purposes.  Mr.  Binkley's  office 
will  be  in  the  Talbott  building.  Indianapolis. 

MR.  ELLIS  BARTHOLOMEW,  of  Toledo,  has  resigned  as 
president  and  director  of  the  Toledo,  Columbus,  Springfield  &  Cin- 
cinnati Railway  Company,  and  Mr.  E.  C.  Schinness  has  been 
elected  in  his  place.  Mr.  Bartholomew  was  the  original  promoter 
of  the  company,  which  proposes  to  build  a  line  from  Toledo 
to  Columbus  and  Cincinnati. 

MR.  W.  S.  CHESLEY,  who  has  been  selling  steam  and  elec- 
tric machinery  for  several  years,  and  who  was  until  recently  con- 
nected with  the  foreign  department  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric 
&  Manufacturing  Company,  is  now  with  the  Power  &  Mining 
Machinery  Company,  the  latter  company  being  the  successors  of 
the  Loomis-Pettibone  Gas  Machinery  Company  and  the  Holt- 
hoff  Mining  Machinery  Company. 

MR.  F.  S.  SAGE  has  resigned  his  position  as  auditor  of  the 
Indiana  Union  Traction  Company,  and  that  office  has  been  abol- 
ished, the  duties  being  assumed  by  the  comptroller.  During  his 
connection  with  the  company,  Mr.  Sage  introduced  many  import- 
ant improvements  in  the  accounting  department,  and  when  he  re- 
signed he  was  the  recipient  of  many  high  commendations  for  his 
services  by  the  officers  of  the  company. 

MR.  E.  H.  McHENRY,  fourth  vice-president  of  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  Company,  has  been 


elected  first  vice-president  of  the  Consolidated  Railway  Com- 
pany, the  organization  into  which  the  electric  street  railway  prop- 
erties in  Connecticut  owned  by  the  New  Haven  road  have  re- 
cently been  merged.  Mr.  McHenry  was  formerly  chief  engineer 
of  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railroad,  and  now  has  charge  of  all  of  the 
electric  railway  divisions  of  the  New  Haven  road. 

MR.  CYRUS  ROBINSON,  vice-president  of  the  Power  & 
Mining  Machinery  Company,  New  York,  has  recently  returned 
from  Europe.  While  there  Mr.  Robinson  took  the  opportunity 
to  carefully  investigate  the  recent  excellent  practice  upon  the 
Continent  and  elsewhere  in  the  gas  producer  and  gas  engine  field, 
with  a  view  of  furthering  the  interests  of  the  American  Crossley 
gas  engine,  of  which  his  company  are  the  American  manufac- 
turers. 

MR.  W.  W.  HERRICK,  of  Cleveland,  claim  adjuster  for  the 
American  Steel  &  Wire  Company,  died  in  Cleveland  last  week. 
For  five  years,  from  1895  to  1900,  Mr.  Herrick  was  in  charge  of 
the  claim  department  of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway,  which  de- 
partment he  organized  and  brought  up  to  a  high  state  of  efficiency. 
During  his  connection  with  the  American  Steel  &  Wire  Company, 
Mr.  Herrick  was  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  worthy  bene- 
ficial and  pension  system  now  in  vogue  for  the  relief  of  employees 
of  that  Company. 

MR.  G.  R.  MITCHELL,  of  Bradford,  Pa.,  has  succeeded  Mr. 
J.  A.  Barry  as  general  manager  of  the  New  Jersey  &  Pennsylvania 
Traction  Company's  lines,  with  headquarters  in  this  city.  Mr. 
Mitchell  has  had  considerable  experience  in  the  electric  railway 
field,  dating  back  to  the  old  Thomson-Houston  days,  when  he  was 
an  electrical  engineer.  He  has  been  connected  with  the  Bradforu- 
Rock  City-Olean  line  for  some  time  past.  Upon  the  eve  of  his 
departure  from  Bradford  the  employees  of  the  road  presented  him 
with  a  handsome  gold  watch  and  chain.  Mr.  Barry,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, becomes  connected  with  the  Indiana  Northern  Trac- 
tion Company. 

MR.  J.  A.  BARRY,  the  retiring  general  manager  of  the  New 
Jersey  &  Pennsylvania  Traction  Company,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  was 
recently  presented  with  a  magnificent  watch  charm,  containing  the 
emblems  of  the  Masonic  order  upon  one  side,  and  cross  of  rubies 
surmounted  by  a  crown  of  diamonds  upon  the  other,  by  the  em- 
ployees of  the  company.  Mr.  Frank  S.  Katzenbach,  Mayor  of 
Trenton,  made  the  presentation  speech.  Mr.  Barry's  acknowledge- 
ment was  heartily  received.  Mr.  Jilson  J.  Coleman,  president  of 
the  Indiana  Northern  Traction  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Barry  is  to 
be  general  manager,  made  a  speech  in  which  he  stated  his  reasons 
for  tendering  Mr.  Barry  the  position  in  Indiana. 

MR.  CHARLES  REMELIUS,  formerly  of  the  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company,  has  been  appointed  master  mechanic  of  surface 
divisions  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  succeeding 
Mr.  A.  J.  Wilson,  who  recently  resigned,  owing  to  ill  health. 
Mr.  Remelius  has  had  a  long  and  thorough  experience  in  street 
railway  mechanical  work.  He  began  with  the  Cleveland  City  Rail- 
way nearly  sixteen  years  ago  when  its  lines  were  changed  from 
horse  to  electric  traction.  He  left  Cleveland  in  the  early  nineties 
to  go  to  Detroit  with  the  Johnson  interests.  Since  this  he  has 
held  the  position  o'f  chief  engineer  and  master  mechanic  of  the 
Indianapolis  Traction  &  Terminal  Company,  and  later  was  con- 
nected with  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company.  Mr.  Remelius  will, 
in  his  new  work,  have  charge  of  the  mechanical  department  of  sur- 
face lines  only,  this  change  involving  a  new  departure  of  the  com- 
pany; the  work  of  both  the  surface  and  elevated  divisions  was 
formerly  carried  on  together,  but  hereafter  will  be  separated,  Mr. 
William  G.  Gove,  assistant  mechanical  engineer,  having  assumed 
direct  charge  of  the  work  upon  the  elevated  divisions. 

THE  DIRECTORS  OF  THE  BOSTON  &  WORCESTER 
STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY  had  as  guests  on  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  company's  property,  Aug.  3,  H.  H.  Vreeland,  president 
of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company,  of  New  Yorkf  F.  S. 
Gannon,  vice-president  of  that  company :  Frank  Hedley,  general 
superintendent  of  the  Interborongh  Rapid  Transit  Company,  of 
New  York ;  Henry  Sanderson,  president  of  the  New  York  Trans- 
oortation  Company ;  A.  T.  Potter,  vice-president  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Company;  R.  J.Todd,  general  manager  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Company ;  C.  S.  Sergeant,  vice-president  of  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  Company ;  Frederick  A.  Huntress,  general  manager  of  the 
Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway  Company,  and  Charles  C. 
Pierce  of  the  General  Electric  Company.  The  roadbed,  overhead 
work,  signal  system,  power  house  and  car  shops  were  all  inspected, 
and  the  visitors  congratulated  President  William  M.  Butler  and 
Mr.  James  F.  Shaw  upon  the  excellent  appearance  of  the  prop- 
erty. Messrs.  Vreeland,  Gannon,  Hedley  and  other  members  of 
the  party  are  making  a  study  of  street  railway  conditions  in  New 
England.  They  recently  went  over  the  system  of  the  Boston  Ele- 
vated Company. 


;  u-      AUG221904  S. 


^ Tent  off^ 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  AUGUST  20,  1904. 


No.  8 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 


Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Liebcr's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Durable  Interior  Finish 

A  matter  to  which  every  company  which  is  constructing  new 
cars  can  afford  to  give  much  serious  attention  is  the  durability 
of  the  interior  finishes  of  cars.  While  passengers  judge  of  a 
road  somewhat  by  the  exterior  appearance  of  cars,  the  interior 
finish  has  much  more  influence.  Furthermore,  it  is  usually 
much  easier  to  make  the  outside  of  a  car  look  like  new  than 
the  inside.  To  freshen  up  the  interior  of  a  car  is  a  difficult 
task,  and  it  is  very  desirable  to  select  at  the  outset  some  plain 
and  durable  style  of  interior  finish  which  can  be  freshened  up 


from  year  to  year  if  necessary.  Interior  finish  should  receive 
more  attention  than  it  has  in  the  past.  The  present  tendency 
toward  simplicity  of  interior  finish  is  in  the  right  direction,  as 
it  is  conducive  to  the  maintenance  of  the  interior  of  a  car  in 
good  condition. 

Clean  Rides  in  Hot  Weather 

This  is  the  season  of  the  year  when  the  traveler  most  appre- 
ciates the  superiority  of  interurban  electric  service  over  steam 
railroad  service,  for  it  is  the  season  during  which  the  smoke 
and  dirt  which  accompanies  the  average  steam  railroad  train 
is  most  offensive.  In  a  journey  on  a  steam  railroad  in  such 
weather  the  passenger  is  in  a  constant  dilemma  between  leav- 
ing the  windows  open  and  taking  the  dirt,  or  closing  them  and 
submitting  to  unbearable  heat.  Where  the  time  between  ter- 
minals compares  as  favorably  with  steam  railroad  time  as  it 
does  now  on  a  number  of  interurban  roads  giving  limited  ser- 
vice, there  is  no  room  for  a  question  as  to  which  the  public  will 
prefer,  nor  is  there  any  question  but  that  the  very  existence  of 
such  limited  service  will  create  traffic.  It  is  for  the  interurban 
manager  to  see  that  its  passengers  are  carried  in  every  way  as 
comfortably  as  possible.  Although  sprinkling  is  not  common 
on  interurban  roads  of  the  more  recent  type  which  do  not  fol- 
low the  highway,  nor  is  it  usually  necessary,  it  is  certainly 
money  well  spent  on  that  class  of  suburban  and  interurban 
roads  which  follow  the  highway  and  pass  through  small  towns 
at  frequent  intervals.  An  electric  train  of  one  car  usually 
leaves  its  dust  behind  it,  and  in  this  way  has  an  advantage  over 
a  long  train,  but  if  the  speed  is  slow  and  the  car  is  running 
along  a  very  dusty  highway,  there  will  be  a  decided  need  for 
sprinkling. 

Concrete  Bus-Bar  Compartments 

In  these  days  when  bus-bar  compartments  of  masonry  are 
in  such  common  use  owing  to  the  frequency  with  which  high- 
tension  electric  current  is  employed  in  electric  railway  work, 
the  question  of  the  material  for  such  bus-bar  compartments  and 
barriers  becomes  important.  Heretofore  bus-bar  compartments 
have  been  usually  made  of  brick,  but  concrete  has  such  advan- 
tages for  this  work  that  it  would  not  be  strange  were  it  to 
largely  take  the  place  of  brick  in  future  construction  work 
around  high-tension  switchboards.  Probably  the  most  notable 
example  of  its  use  in  this  county  at  present  is  in  the  great 
power  station  of  the  Kansas  City  Railway  &  Light  Company. 
An  inspection  of  the  bus-bar  compartments  and  barriers  in  this 
station,  which  are  made  of  concrete,  cannot  but  impress  one 
with  the  better  appearance  of  the  concrete  construction,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  fact  that,  if  well  constructed,  it  is  more  sub- 
stantial. A  concrete  wall  or  barrier  consists  of  one  piece 
where,  if  it  were  of  brick  work,  it  would  consist  of  many  pieces 
held  together  by  mortar  of  rather  uncertain  strength.  While 
thin  brick  walls,  if  placed  indoors  and  located  where  there  are 
no  strains  upon  them,  may  be  fairly  durable,  the  fact  remains 
that  as  usually  constructed  they  are  nowhere  near  as  substantial 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.   No.  8. 


as  well  mixed  concrete  would  be,  and  furthermore,  they  are 
likely  to  be  much  more  expensive  to  install  than  the  concrete. 
Concrete  barriers  can  be  made  in  sections,  and  forms  for  this 
purpose  can  be  provided  which  will  permit  of  their  very  rapid 
manufacture,  the  process  consisting  simply  of  mixing  the  con- 
crete and  tamping  it  into  the  form.  Those  parts  of  the  con- 
struction too  heavy  to  be  made  in  this  way  can,  of  course,  be 
constructed  in  place  after  the  usual  manner  of  concrete  walls 
and  with  a  considerable  saving  in  time  over  brick  masonry, 
which  calls  for  more  skilled  labor  than  the  concrete  work. 

Passenger  Solicitors  for  Interurban  Koads 

The  opportunities  for  creating  new  passenger  business  for 
interurban  roads  are  almost  unlimited,  and  there  are  com- 
paratively few  interurbans  worthy  of  the  name  but  would  find 
it  a  profitable  investment  to  maintain  a  man  who  could  devote 
his  time  exclusively  to  working  up  special  excursion  business. 
On  smaller  roads  the  duties  of  passenger  solicitor  might  be 
combined  with  that  of  freight  and  express  solicitor,  but  during 
the  summer  months  at  least,  a  live  solicitor  working  exclusively 
after  passenger  business  could  make  his  position  a  remunerative 
one  for  almost  any  road.  At  the  present  tune  a  great  majority 
of  the  roads  in  the  Central  West  have  passed  through  the  con- 
struction era  and  have  arrived  at  the  stage  of  development, 
and  they  are  awakening  to  the  fact  that  the  regular  passenger 
traffic  that  has  been  built  up  by  reason  of  the  frequent  service 
and  low  fares  of  the  electrics  does  not  represent  the  full  possi- 
bilities in  the  development  of  such  roads.  There  are  certain 
classes  of  short-haul  excursion  business  which  the  electric 
lines  are  particularly  adapted  to  handle.  The  excursion  busi- 
ness is  profitable  to  a  steam  road  only  when  it  can  attract  large 
numbers  of  people  on  a  single  train,  but  with  an  electric  road 
there  is  practically  as  much  velvet  in  handling  an  extra  car 
load  of  people  to  this  point  to-day  and  another  car  load  for 
another  point  to-morrow  as  in  handling  a  large  crowd  at  once 
to  a  single  point. 

The  methods  pursued  by  those  roads  which  are  catering  to 
special  excursion  business  are  numerous,  and  there  are  com- 
paratively few  roads  but  could  turn  nearly  all  these  schemes 
to  their  own  advantage  if  the  matter  was  given  the  personal 
attention  of  some  official  who  had  the  time  to  work  them  out. 
Frequently  it  would  be  found  of  advantage  to  co-operate  in 
such  work  with  connecting  lines  or  other  roads  in  a  vicinity, 
and  we  know  of  instances  where  two  or  more  roads  maintain  a 
passenger  solicitor  and  divide  the  expense. 

Mention  has  been  made  in  these  columns  recently  of  several 
Ohio  roads  that  have  formed  baseball  leagues  among  the  towns 
on  their  lines.  Each  town  is  represented  by  a  club  and  regular 
scheduled  games  are  played.  The  roads  do  not  attempt  to  sup- 
port the  clubs,  but  simply  organize  the  movement,  and  in  one 
or  two  cases  they  have  given  the  players  free  transportation. 
If  enough  interest  can  be  awakened,  it  is  possible  to  run  special 
cars  from  one  town  to  another  or,  if  desired,  the  increased 
traffic  caused  by  the  local  pride  in  the  home  team  can  be  handled 
on  regular  cars. 

In  this  issue  will  be  found  outlines  of  plans  being  worked  out 
by  several  other  Ohio  systems.  One  of  these  has  organized  a 
county  fair  circuit,  embracing  all  the  principal  towns  on  its 
system  as  well  as  points  on  a  connecting  line.  The  road  is 
very  likely  to  reap  a  rich  harvest  from  its  enterprise,  as  it  will 
not  only  handle  the  people  to  and  from  the  various  fairs,  but 
its  freight  receipts  will  be  increased  through  handling  horses 
and  the  baggage  of  those  who  follow  the  circuit.  A  circuit  of 
street  fairs  is  another  scheme  that  has  been  worked  out  to  ad- 


vantage. Almost  any  town  of  a  thousand  or  two  inhabitants 
will  support  an  old-time  country  or  street  fair  if  some  one  is 
enterprising  enough  to  start  the  game,  and  the  electric  road 
with  its  cheap  rates  and  frequent  service  will  practically  in- 
sure success  to  events  of  this  kind  if  they  are  properly  pushed 
and  advertised.  In  connection  with  advertising  such  events, 
they  should  be  brought  to  the  attention  of  people  in  the  neigh- 
boring large  cities,  since  many  city  people  who  formerly  lived 
in  the  country  would  be  attracted  if  their  interest  was 
awakened. 

The  roads  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  are  operating  special  excursions 
from  all  points  to  the  Masonic,  Knights  of  Pythias,  Odd  Fellows 
and  Soldiers'  homes  in  these  districts,  and  the  "personally  con- 
ducted" feature  has  been  added  to  good  advantage.  These 
roads  work  in  conjunction  with  one  another  on  these  excur- 
sions and  the  results  are  proving  very  satisfactory. 

The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway,  of  Cleveland,  has  long 
maintained  an  excursion  solicitor,  who  is  constantly  employed 
working  up  picnics  and  pleasure  trips  for  societies,  Sunday 
schools  and  other  organizations. 

Another  road  makes  a  specialty  of  working  up  family  re- 
unions. The  solicitor  goes  to  a  prominent  citizen,  secures  the 
names  of  his  relatives  and  near  friends,  corresponds  with 
them  and  gets  up  a  reunion  picnic.  Sometimes  they  get  a  car- 
load, sometimes  more.  Or  it  may  be  the  party  can  be  handled 
on  regular  cars.  The  point  is,  the  company's  representative 
furnishes  the  incentive. 

The  company  that  does  not  maintain  or  at  least  have  some 
connection  with  a  summer  park  misses  one  greatest  induce- 
ments for  excursion  business,  since,  as  has  been  outlined  in 
these  columns  many  times,  it  is  not  only  possible  thereby  to 
work  numerous  excursions  and  picnics,  but  a  great  many  roads 
are  enabled  to  make  the  excursion  business  profitable  in  winter 
as  well  as  summer  by  working  up  trolley  parties  and  suppers, 
dances,  theater  parties  and  skating  carnivals. 

The  Technical  Graduate 

Among  the  important  topics  to  be  considered  at  the  coming 
convention  of  the  New  York  Street  Railway  Association,  to  be 
held  at  Utica  in  September,  is  one  which  should  arouse  dis- 
cussion and  prove  fruitful  in  results.  A  paper  will  cover  the 
subject  of  the  relation  of  the  graduate  of  the  technical  school 
to  the  business  and  profession  of  electric  railway  operation. 
It  would  seem  that  this  matter  is  timely,  as  the  young  men 
from  the  colleges  are  being  accepted  for  service  in  railway 
work  in  increasing  numbers.  They  are  also  coming  to  realize 
more  and  more  how  attractive  this  field  is  for  their  activities. 
The  technical  schools  are  introducing  into  their  curricula  those 
subjects  which  fit  young  men  for  railway  work  in  particular, 
while  at  the  same  time  laying  stress  upon  the  branches  taught 
for  mental  discipline  and  general  culture.  In  addition,  the 
manufacturing  and  operating  companies  are  taking  a  hand  in 
the  educational  side  of  the  work  by  furnishing  apparatus  for 
exhibition  and  demonstration  in  the  colleges. 

For  many  reasons  the  operating  side  of  the  electric  railway 
business  has  been  the  last  to  demand  college-trained  men.  It 
is  well  recognized  by  engineers  and  manufacturers  that  men 
with  training  are  most  profitable  for  designing  electrical  ma- 
chinery, for  superintending  its  construction  and  for  placing  it 
upon  the  market.  It  is  only  logical  to  carry  this  still  further 
and  to  suppose  that  this  machinery  can  be  operated  with  good 
profit  by  men  who  have  had  the  discipline  of  a  thorough  educa- 
tion. The  men  who  have  brought  the  electric  railway  business 
to  its  present  successful  condition  have,  as  a  rule,  begun  their 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


careers  with  the  horse  and  cable  railways  When  the  addition 
of  electric  machinery  to  their  equipment  increased  the  possi- 
bilities of  their  business  they  were  quick  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  opportunity.  They  met  the  increased  difficulties  con- 
nected with  the  improved  facilities  in  a  remarkably  satisfactory 
manner,  calling  to  their  aid  the  necessary  technical  assistants. 
These  successful  leaders  will  soon  desire  to  yield  their  places 
to  younger  men  who  will  not  have  had  the  benefit  of  participa- 
tion in  the  gradual  evolution  of  the  industry.  The  young  men 
will  come  into  a  complicated  business,  which  is  becoming  more 
so  every  day  with  the  adoption  of  higher  speeds  and  more 
elaborate  machinery.  They  will  need  the  best  possible  train- 
ing for  their  future  work,  and  undoubtedly  a  part  of  this  must 
be  obtained  in  the  technical  school  if  economy  of  time  and 
energy  are  to  be  considered. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  of  the  technical  schools  that  they 
will  teach  business  foresight  and  common  sense  except  as  the 
necessity  for  acquiring  these  elements  of  manhood  can  be 
pointed  out  by  precept  and  example.  For  this  reason  some 
time  must  elapse  between  the  period  at  which  the  young  man 
leaves  school  and  that  at  which  he  is  ready  for  any  considerable 
responsibility.  This  time  can  be  spent  either  in  an  apprentice- 
ship course  with  manufacturing  companies  or  in  subordinate 
positions  with  operating  companies,  but  wherever  spent  the 
motive  must  be  the  same — to  cement  together  technical  train- 
ing and  business  sagacity. 

Concerning  Statistics 

The  practice  of  street  railways  in  collecting  and  using  statis- 
tics varies  widely  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Some 
companies  attach  little  value  to  figures  outside  the  lump  sums 
of  gross  earnings,  operating  expenses,  fixed  charges,  etc.,  while 
others  go  to  the  pains  of  analyzing  not  only  their  own,  but 
other  properties,  through  the  gathering  of  figures  based  upon 
units  of  output  like  the  kw-hour  and  of  transportation  service 
like  the  car  and  ton-mile  and  the  car-hour. 

Although  the  value  of  the  gathering  of  statistics  beyond  the 
simplest  figures  is  in  disrepute  in  more  than  one  manager's 
office  to-day,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  proper 
use  and  collection  of  this  kind  of  information  is  often  worth 
many  times  the  cost  of  obtaining  it,  and  that  any  fault  in  this 
direction  lies  in  the  abuse  of  statistics  rather  than  in  the  figures 
themselves.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  in  the  statement 
that  one  never  gets  more  out  of  mathematics  than  one  puts  in, 
so  that  the  value  of  calculated  results  depends  as  much  upon 
the  data  assumed  as  upon  the  accuracy  of  the  process.  As 
little  reason  exists  for  condemning  statistics  wholesale  as  can 
be  found  in  calling  a  chisel  worthless  because  its  edge  is  dull. 

On  large  systems  the  gathering  of  statistics  generally  falls  to 
the  employees  of  the  auditing  department.  If  these  employees 
are  ordinary  clerks,  possessed  of  little  technical  knowledge,  it 
goes  without  saying  that  certain  phases  of  the  company's  work 
are  almost  sure  to  be  neglected.  There  must  be  closer  harmony 
between  the  auditing  and  mechanical  departments  before  the 
important  problems  of  repair  cost,  depreciation  and  main- 
tenance can  be  successfully  analyzed.  It  is  a  question  if  it 
would  not  be  worth  while  to  maintain  a  statistical  department 
on  some  of  the  larger  systems  for  the  purpose  of  gathering, 
those  figures  which  lie  outside  the  sphere  of  every-day  account- 
ing. This  work  could  be  inaugurated  by  authorizing  a  single 
employee  with  technical  knowledge  and  a  taste  for  figures  to 
devote  his  entire  time  to  collecting  and  dissecting  data  upon 
energy  consumption,  schedules,  fuel  supply,  tests,  traffic,  acci- 


dents, etc.,  upon  a  unit  basis  as  well  as  in  toto.  Those  who 
have  had  occasion  to  quickly  obtain  figures  of  this  kind  from 
an  auditing  department — occupied  as  it  constantly  is  with 
figures  of  total  receipts  and  expenses — realize  the  convenience 
it  would  be  to  be  able  to  secure  the  desired  information  in  a 
few  seconds  by  referring  the  matter  to  a  specially  organized 
information  department. 

We  understand  that  a  department  of  statistics  is  in  operation 
upon  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad,  and  are  acquainted  with  at 
least  two  firms  of  engineers,  each  of  which  maintains  such  an 
organization,  independently  of  the  auditing  department  and  its 
library.  In  each  case  the  statistics  department  of  the  firm  is 
located  at  its  home  offices ;  it  handles  all  the  receipts,  expenses, 
records  of  fuel  consumption,  traffic  and  energy  output,  move- 
ment of  rolling  stock  and  business  per  capita,  per  mile  of  track, 
etc.,  which  are  sent  in  monthly  by  the  resident  managers  of 
the  different  properties  which  it  controls;  it  records  these 
figures  in  convenient  form,  and  by  plotting  them  diagrammati- 
cally  from  month  to  month  preserves  a  continuous  history  of 
all  the  important  physical  and  financial  quantities  which  appear 
in  operation.  The  department  also  collates  the  statistical  in- 
formation in  regard  to  outside  roads,  published  in  the  tech- 
nical press  and  elsewhere,  and  arranges  it  for  instantaneous 
reference.  It  is  a  matter  of  a  very  few  minutes  to  secure 
from  this  department  almost  any  analysis  of  operation  that  one 
desires,  and  the  constant  watch  which  the  department  keeps 
upon  the  operation  of  the  various  properties  controlled  goes  a 
long  way  toward  paying  for  the  expenses  of  maintaining  the 
department  itself.  Some  half  dozen  employees  are  required, 
all  told,  for  this  work.  Still  another  very  important  feature 
of  this  particular  organization  is  the  handling  of  new  proposi- 
tions by  the  statistics  department,  which  bases  its  preliminary 
recommendations  upon  the  gathered  records  and  experiences 
of  its  own  and  other  companies. 

The  instance  quoted  would  lead  us  into  a  discussion  of  the 
pros  and  cons  of  centralized  management  if  followed  to  its 
logical  conclusion,  which  is  aside  from  our  present  purpose. 
Enough  has  been  said,  however,  to  indicate  that  it  might  well 
pay  a  large  operating  road  to  pursue  the  statistics  question 
further,  even  though  it  be  done  on  a  much  smaller  scale  than 
that  of  the  two  firms  of  engineers  mentioned  above.  A  great 
deal  of  useful  information  can  be  obtained  at  the  cost  of  a 
couple  of  thousand  dollars  a  year ;  the  card  index  offers  a 
ready  solution  of  the  filing  problem,  and  a  single  active,  alert 
employee  would  be  the  means  of  keeping  the  executive  and 
operating  officials  in  close  touch  with  the  concrete  quantities 
which  make  up  the  daily  business  of  the  electric  railway. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  value  of  statistics  lies  in  the  power  of 
analysis  which  their  pursuit  confers.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  any 
abnormal  expense  or  increase  in  business  may  be  immediately 
detected  by  the  routine  work  of  the  statistician.  Lessons  drawn 
from  the  different  departments  may  be  co-ordinated,  and  many 
leaks  in  operation  discovered  by  a  persistent  study  of  operating 
figures.  The  legal  profession  of  to-day  bases  its  work  upon  a 
great  body  of  precedents  which  have  been  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation,  and  the  time  is  coming  when  the 
highest  economy  in  the  conduct  of  the  transportation  business 
will  depend  in  no  small  degree  upon  the  accumulated  experi- 
ence of  the  past  as  recorded  in  the  dissected  statistics  of 
analyzed  operation.  The  cost  of  gathering  statistics  on  large 
systems  weighs  but  little  against  their  potential  value,  and  the 
future  will  doubtless  witness  a  notable  expansion  of  this  sort 
of  quantitative  analysis. 


252 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  EQUIPMENT  OF 
THE  BROOKLYN  ELEVATED  CARS 


In  the  preceding  issue  of  this  journal  (page  222)  was  pre- 
sented a  description  of  the  important  reconstruction  work 


VIEW  OF  UNDER  SIDE  OF  A  TYPICAL  RECONSTRUCTED  ELEVATED  CAR  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  RAPID 
TRANSIT  COMPANY,  SHOWING  METHOD  OF  FIREPROOFING  OF  WIRING  AND  UNDERFRAMING, 
AND  ALSO  NEW  ARRANGEMENT  OF  APPARATUS 


which  is  under  way  upon  the  rolling 
stock  equipment  of  the  elevated  divi- 
sions of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company.  This  article  supplements 
the  discussion  of  car  body,  platform 
and  truck  reconstruction  given  there 
by  a  detailed  description  of  the  im- 
provements in  electrical  equipment 
and  the  important  fireproofing  of 
wiring,  which  were  there  omitted 
owing  to  lack  of  space. 

FIREPROOFING 
One  of  the  most  important  fea- 
tures of  the  reconstruction  work  is 
the  elaborate  provision  being  made 
for  the  fireproofing  of  the  underside 
of  the  car  body,  and  of  all  other 
parts  where  any  portion  of  the  wir- 
ing will  be  run.  One  of  the  most 
serious  troubles  that  has  been  ex- 
perienced in  heavy  traction  work  has 
been  that  resulting  from  fires  caused 
by  the  overheating  of  resistances, 
crosses  and  short  circuits  in  the 
wiring,  etc.  The  intention  is  to  re- 
duce the  possibility  of  fire  being 
transmitted  to  the  woodwork  of  the 
car  body  from  the  destructive  arcing 
by  covering  all  exposed  portions  of 
the  woodwork  by  suitable  fireproof 

sheathings,  which  will  tend  to  remove  the  conditions 
favorable  to  fires  under  such  circumstances  to  the  greatest 
possible  extent.  The  system  of  wiring  has  been  en- 
tirely redesigned,  so  as  to  make  the  wires  as  accessible  as 


possible  and  also  reduce  complications,  in  order  to  reduce  the 
liability  of  short  circuits,  etc. ;  then  by  lining  the  entire  under- 
side of  the  car  body  with  adequate  fireproof  covering,  it  is 
thought  that  even  in  case  of  dangerous  arcing,  due  to  wire 
troubles,  the  conditions  favorable  to  the  starting  of  a  fire  will 

be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

The  fireproofing  is  being 
effected  in  the  first  place  by 
sheathing  the  entire  under- 
side of  the  car  under-framing 
by  a  covering  of  %-in.  hard 
maple  flooring,  and  upon  this 
is  fastened  the  fireproof 
sheathing.  The  use  of  hard 
maple  in  this  connection  is 
important,  as  it  is  the  least 
inflammable  of  the  different 
kinds  of  wood  commercially 
available  in  this  country.  The 
fireproof  sheathing  used  is 
the  well-known  transite 
board,  manufactured  by  the 
H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Com- 
pany, New  York,  a  composi- 
tion based  upon  asbestos,  but 
which  is  much  stronger  me- 
chanically than  asbestos,  and 
is  not  subject  to  the  difficulty 
met  with  in  that  material  of 
absorbing  moisture ;  numer- 
ous tests  have  been  made 
upon  transite  board  in  which 
it  has  been  found  to  with- 
stand the  high  heat  of  re- 
verberatory    furnaces  used 


VIEW  OF  UNDER  SIDE  OF  THE  RECONSTRUCTED  CAR  FROM  THE  OPPOSITE  END,  SHOW- 
ING FIREPROOFING  COVERINGS  FOR  WIRE  LEADS  AND  UNDERFRAMING 
AND  METHOD  OF  MOUNTING  RESISTANCES 


for  the  melting  of  wrought  iron  and  steel.  It  is  being  ap- 
plied to  the  cars  in  sheets  in-  thick,  which  are  carefully 
lapped  so  that  no  portion  of  the  woodwork,  is  exposed  below. 
The  transite  board  is  fastened  to  the  sheathing  by  nails,  and, 


August  20,  1904.] 

as  an  additional  precaution,  each  of 
the  nails  are  afterward  carefully 
tested  electrically  in  order  to  see  that 
no  possible  contact  is  made  with  any 
portion  of  the  metal  framing  of  the 
car;  in  this  manner  no  nail  appearing 
on  the  lower  side  of  the  transite  board 
will  make  possible  a  ground  connec- 
tion in  case  of  accidental  contact  with 
any  part  of  the  wiring. 

The  new  arrangement  of  car  wiring 
to  be  used  upon  the  majority  of  cars 
under  reconstruction  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  car  plan.  This  plan 
applies  specifically  to  those  cars  which 
have  the  earlier  design  of  Westing- 
house  electro-pneumatic  multiple-unit 
control ;  the  style  of  wiring  which  is 
being  used  upon  all  new  cars  and 
those  formerly  equipped  with  the 
Sprague  system  of  control,  which  are 
now  being  equipped  with  the  new 
Westinghouse  unit  switch-group  sys- 
tem of  control,  will  differ  somewhat 
from  this  arrangement,  in  that  the 
length  of  the  group  of  leads  which  are 
now  carried  from  the  resistances  over 
to  the  controller  closet  at  one  end  of 
the  car  is  thereby  considerably  short- 
ened and  other  features  of  the  wiring- 
details  are  correspondingly  simplified. 
The  principal  features  of  the  new  ar- 
rangement of  this  wiring  will  be  evi- 
dent from  an  inspection  of  the  draw- 
ing. It  may  be  noticed  that  the  air- 
pump  governor  is,  in  the  new  arrange- 
ment, located  beneath  the  car,  which 
further  assists  in  keeping  the  wiring 
beneath  the  fireproofing.  The  locations 
of  the  cars'  electrical  equipment  have 
been  slightly  changed ;  the  battery 
box,  the  Christensen  air  compressor 
and  resistances  are  now  carefully  ar- 
ranged to  simplify  and  shorten  the 
wiring  as  much  as  possible. 

The  actual  fireproofing  of  the  wir- 
ing is  provided  by  forms  of  the  molded 
electrobestos,  specially  molded  by  the 
H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Company, 
which  are  provided  to  cover  the  wir- 
ing after  it  is  located  in  position. 
Representative  detail  drawings  of  this 
special  molded  conduit  are  presented 
here  to  give  an  idea  of  the  complete- 
ness of  the  study  that  has  been  given 
to  this  work;  special  forms  are  pro- 
vided to  take  care  of  the  wiring  in 
all  of  the  necessary  positions.  Form 
No.  161  covers  the  wiring  to  the  re- 
sistances at  the  sharp  bend  at  one  side 
of  the  car ;  forms  No.  56  and  62  cover 
these  wires  as  they  approach  the  re- 
sistances ;  other  representative  types 
of  this  special  work  are  also  shown  to 
give  an  idea  of  their  character. 

An  important  piece  of  special  work 
is  involved  in  the  special  metallic 
chutes  through  which  the  motor  wir- 
ing is  carried  up  into  the  controller 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  253 


254 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


closet;  these  are  made  of  galvanized  iron,  carefully  fitted 
through  the  car  floor  and  into  the  side  of  the  closet,  and 
are  lined  with  similar  fireproofing  for  the  reception  of 
wires.  These  were  planned  by  J.  L.  Crouse,  the  representa- 
tive of  the  Westinghouse  Company,  supervising  the  installation 
of  the  electrical  apparatus.  As  may  be  noted  from  the  detail 
drawing  of  the  chutes,  a  side  opening  is  made  beneath  the  car 
to  receive  the  eight  wires  coming  from  the  motors,  while  be- 


No  III 


DETAILS  OF  THE   SPECIAL  MOULDED   FORMS   OF  ELECTRO- 
IS  ESTOS  USED  FOR  SUPPORTING  THE  WIRES  BENEATH  THE 
CAR-BODY  AND  THEIR  FIREPROOF  INSULATION 

neath  this  is  another  chute  opening  endwise  to  receive  the 
twelve  leads  from  the  resistances  and  other  portions  of  the  car. 
This  greatly  simplifies  the  wiring  and  still  preserves  the  much- 
desired  fireproof  feature.  It  is  in  this  connection  that  a  no- 
ticeable saving  may  be  noted  from  the  new  arrangement  pro- 
vided for  the  location  of  the  two  motors  on  the  car  upon  one 
truck,  the  other  truck  operating  as  a  trailer;  in  this  case  the 
truck  carrying  two  motors  is  located  at  the  end  of  the  car  be- 
neath the  controller  closet,  and  thus  the  motor  leads  which 
would  otherwise  require  to  be  carried  to  the  opposite  end  of 
the  car,  are  rendered  entirely  unnecessary;  the  simplification 
of  wiring  thereby  secured  is  of  great  importance. 

The  work  of  fireproofing  of  the  car  wiring  has  also  been 
carried  into  the  controller  closet  and  the  motorman's  cab  as 
well  as  beneath  the  car.  The  controller  closets  are  carefully 
lined  with  the  fireproofing  board,  so  that  almost  no  combina- 
tion of  destructive  arcing  can  set  fire  to  the  woodwork.  An 
important  feature  has  been  introduced  in  connection  with  the 
rearrangement  of  the  wiring  in  the  installation  in  the  motor- 
man's  cab  at  one  end  of  each  car  of  a  power  and  lighting 
switchboard  to  control  all  the  circuits  used  upon  the  entire  car. 
This  is  a  very  convenient  feature,  as  it  brings  all  of  the 
switches  and  fuses  to  one  central  point,  where  they  may  be 
easily  gotten  at  and  attended  to.  Furthermore,  the  fire  risk  is 
greatly  reduced  by  centering  all  the  wiring  above  the  car  floor 
at  this  one  point,  where  it  may  be  easily  and  adequately  fire- 
proofed. 

THE  CAB  SWITCHBOARD 

The  additional  drawing  which  is  presented  to  show  this  new 
arrangement  of  the  motorman's  cab,  shows  also  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  switchboard  at  the  back  of  the  cab,  and  also  the 
provisions  for  fireproofing.  As  may  be  noted,  the  switchboard 
proper  consists  of  a  panel  of  Monson's  slate  24  ins.  high,  22 
ins.  wide  and  Ij4  his.  thick,  which  is  mounted  within  the 
switchboard  closet  by  a  special  frame  work  of  angle-iron.  This 
angle-iron  serves  also  to  provide  a  metal  guard  at  all  sides  to 


prevent  wires  from  coming  in  contact  with  the  woodwork. 
The  door  facing  the  switchboard  is  constructed  of  3-16-in. 
steel  plate,  and  the  door  frame  at  the  sides  is  heavily  covered 
by  strips  of  transite.  The  space  at  the  rear  of  the  switchboard 
is  lined  with  transite  board  for  further  protection,  although 
no  wires  are  carried  to  the  rear  of  the  switchboard,  all  con- 
nections being  made  at  the  front.  Thus,  in  event  of  a  fuse 
blowing,  or  even  a  possible  short-circuit  occurring  at  this 
point,  the  metallic  and  transite  board  protection  will  render  a 
fire  almost  impossible.  Similar  precautions  are  made  for  the 
fireproofing  of  the  wiring  connections  to  the  master  controller 
in  the  cab,  in  the  running  of  the  wires  to  the  controller  through 
iron  piping.  The  other  details  of  construction  of  the  cab  do 
not,  however,  differ  materially  from  former  construction,  the 
principal  change  being  that  of  providing  for  the  switchboard. 

The  importance  of  the  switchboard  as  used  in  this  connec- 
tion makes  its  illustration  of  interest.  The  accompanying 
drawing  shows  the  arrangement  of  switchboard  and  fuses  to 
provide  for  all  the  circuits  used  in  the  car.  As  may  be  noted, 
the  current  supplied  to  the  board  is  brought  in  at  the  lower  left 
hand  corner,  where  it  passes  first  through  a  large  50-amp.  en- 
closed fuse,  labeled  "main  heat  and  light  fuse."  This  delivers 
the  current  to  a  bus-bar  extending  across  the  top  of  the  board 
to  five  single-throw  switches,  as  shown.  The  first  of  these  sup- 
ply current  to  the  two  heater  circuits ;  the  third  to  the  Chris- 
tensen  air  compressor;  the  fourth  to  the  arc  headlight  con- 
nections, and  the  fifth  to  the  group  of  fuses  and  switches  which 
control  the  light  circuits.  The  lighting  is  divided  up  into  five 
circuits,  as  shown,  all  of  which  circuits  are  provided  with 


THE  NEW  SPECIAL  MOTOR-CAR  SWITCHBOARD,  LOCATED  IN 
THE  MOTORMAN'S  CAB,  F.OR  THE  CONTROL  OF  ALL  LIGHT, 
HEAT  AND  POWER  CIRCUITS  OF  THE  CAR 


separate  enclosed  fuses.  Three  of  these  circuits  operate  the 
interior  lighting  of  the  car,  while  the  other  two  supply -the 
platform  and  marker  lights.  The  latter  are  controlled  by  sin- 
gle-throw double-pole  switches,  as  shown ;  when  in  the  upper 
position  the  marker  lights  are  operated  while  their  lower  posi- 
tion connects  in  the  platform  lights.  The  switches  controlling 
the  storage  batteries,  required  to  supply  the  current  for  the 
operation  of  the  multiple-unit  controller  magnets,  are  located 
in  the  lower  central  portion  of  the  board;  two  batteries  are 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


255 


used  with  the  Westinghouse  control,  one  being  charged  while 
the  other  is  being  discharged.  To  provide  for  this,  each  battery 
has  a  double-pole,  double-throw  switch,  as  shown;  it  has  been 
conveniently  ai  ranged  so  that  when  these  switches  are  in  the 
upper  position  one  battery  is  being  charged  and  the  other  dis- 
charged, and  vice  versa  when  tbe  handles  are  in  their  lower 
positions.  As  may  be  noted,  all  the  wiring  from  the  board  is 
taken  care  of  upon  the  front  side,  no  wiring  connections  being 
made  at  the  rear ;  this  keeps  all  details  in  plain  sight  for  facility 


US 


All  Holes  In  Back  Of  Board  Are  To  Be  Filled  With  Chatterton  Insalatmq  Compound 
Cleats  Are  To  Be  Of  Sawed  White  Fiber 

Soft  Rubber  Washer  »lg"  Thick  


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  CONSTRUCTION  OF  AND  THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  SWITCH 
ING  APPARATUS  AND  FUSES  UPON  THE  NEW  CAB  SWITCHBOARD 


of  inspection  and  repair.  Furthermore,  it  may  be  noted  that 
there  is  only  one  negative  connection  made  upon  the  board, 
that  being  necessary  for  the  storage  battery  connections ;  this 
negative  wiring  is  carried  down  at  the  extreme  right  hand  side 
of  the  board  out  of  the  way. 

NEW  CAB  DETAILS 
A  very  important  change  in  cab  detail  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
new  style  of  folding  motorman's  seat  which  is  being  provided. 
This  ^eat  is  of  a  type  similar  to  that  which  has  been  adopted 
upon  other  elevated  lines  for  this  purpose,  although  it  differs 
considerably  in  construction.  As  may  be  noted  from  the  detail 
drawing,  the  seat  may  be  arranged  for  the  use  of  the  motorman 
at  a  height  of  31  ins.  above  the  floor,  or  may  he  tipped  down 
to  a  height  of  16  ins.  from  the  floor  for  the  use  of  passengers 
when  the  compartment  is  not  in  use  by  the  motorman.  If  the 
motorman  should  desire  to  stand  his  seat  may  be  dropped  down 


by  displacing  the  swinging  bracket  support.  The  motorman's 
seat  is  ioj4  ins.  x  14  ins.  in  size,  and  finished  in  cherry,  with- 
out a  cushion.  Its  location  permits  the  motorman  to  lean  out 
of  the  side  window  of  the  cab,  and  yet  is  such  as  to  give  a 
clear  view  through  the  front  window.  The  larger  main  seat, 
as  arranged  for  passengers,  is  20  ins.  x  24  ins.  in  size,  and 
finished  with  a  cushion  of  the  rattan-covered  type. 

The  mechanism  of  the  seat  may  be  readily  understood  from 
the  drawing.    The  motorman's  seat  is  hinged  to  the  underside 

of  the  large  passenger  seat,  the  for- 
mer being  used  as  a  leg  to  support 
the  latter  when  lowered  for  the  use 
of  passengers.  When  the  cab  is  oc- 
cupied by  the  motorman  the  pas- 
senger seat  is  raised  to  its  upper 
folded  position  and  locked  there  by 
means  of  a  special  locking  device 
provided  on  the  under  front  edge 
of  the  seat.  The  motorman's  seat 
may  be  then  lifted  and  held  up 
by  the  swinging  malleable  iron 
bracket,  as  shown.  This  bracket  is 
of  strong  construction,  the  mem- 
bers being  of  I-beam  shape  for  the 
maximum  rigidity.  This  interest- 
ing folding  seat  construction  was 
designed  by  F.  A.  Overfield,  gen- 
eral foreman  of  the  East  New 
York  shops  of  the  elevated  divi- 
sions. 

Another  feature  of  the  new  cab 
arrangement  is  the  provision  of  an 
electric  heater  for  the  comfort  of 
the  motorman,  and  also  auxiliary 
apparatus  which  is  of  great  value 
for  emergency  use.  The  electric 
heater  is  of  the  cab  panel  type  of 
heater,  supplied  by  the  Consoli- 
dated Car  Heating  &  Lighting 
Company,  and  sets  in  the  wood- 
work flush  with  the  surface.  It  is 
mounted  in  the  panel  in  the  rear 
side  of  the  cab  beneath  the  switch- 
board, as  indicated  in  the  cab  draw- 
ing, and  is  connected  in  one  of  the 
main  heater  circuits  of  the  car. 
The  heater  will  add  considerably 
to  the  comfort  of  the  motorman  in 
the  winter  operation,  but  this  ar- 
rangement has  the  additional  ad- 
vantage, however,  in  that  the  pro- 
vision of  heat  in  the  cab  will  be  of 
material  assistance  in  the  satisfac- 
tory operation  of  the  motorman's  air-brake  valve ;  these  valves 
are  often  found  to  give  trouble  when  the  lubricant  used  be- 
comes chilled  by  extreme  cold  weather,  and  this  provision  of 
heat  will  tend  to  prevent  troubles  of  such  a  nature. 

The  new  standard  auxiliary  equipment,  which  is  being  ap- 
plied to  the  cabs,  consists  of  a  wooden  slipper,  a  paddle-shaped 
device  of  hard  wood  for  lifting  the  third-rail  shoe  off  the  con- 
ductor rail  in  case  of  accident  or  necessity  of  repairs  to  the 
electrical  equipment  of  the  car,  a  separate  link  and  pin  for  the 
Van  Dorn  automatic  couplers,  and  an  emergency  third-rail- 
shoe  fuse  of  a  new  type,  which  can  be  quickly -and  easily  ap- 
plied in  case  of  blowing  of  the  regular  fuse,  thus  enabling  the 
train  to  proceed  without  delay.  The  slipper  is  found  invaluable 
in  an  emergency  case  of  any  sort,  when  it  is  desirable  to  lift 
the  shoes  out  of  contact  with  the  third  rail  for  positively  cut- 
ting off  the  current  supply;  this  may  be  done  by  means  of  the 


256 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


DETAILS  OF  THE  NEW  MOTORMAN'S  CAB  CONSTRUCTION,  WHICH  HAVE  BEEN  ADOPTED  TO  PROVIDE  FOR  THE  INSTALLATION 
OF  THE  CAB  SWITCHBOARD,  THE  CAB  HEATER  AND  THE  AUXILIARY  CAB  EQUIPMENT 


slipper  as  easily  as  a  trolley  wheel  may  be  pulled  off  of  the 
trolley  wire  in  surface  opeartion. 

The  separate  link  and  pin  of  the  couplers  is  illustrated  in 
position  at  the  front  side  of  the  cab  in  the  accompanying  draw- 
ing of  the  cab.  A  special  supporting  bracket  is  provided  to 
carry  it,  so  that  it  may  be  easily  and  surely  found  when  wanted. 
The  emergency  shoe  fuse  consists  of  two  special  connectors 
with  insulated  wooden  handles,  between  which  is  connected 
an  emergency  main  fuse;  in  case  of  the  main  shoe  fuse  blowing, 
this  extra  fuse  may  be  connected  in  by  clamping  the  special 


connectors  over  the  bolt  heads  upon  the  shoe-fuse  blocks.  This 
may  be  done  with  entire  safety  to  the  motorman,  and  also  very 
quickly,  and  will  enable  the  train  to  proceed  without  delay. 
Another  new  feature  to  be  noted  in  the  new  cab  is  the  change 
in  the  whistle  piping  and  valve.  A  separate  pipe  was  formerly 
run  from  the  main  air-brake  reservoir  beneath  the  car  to  either 
cab  for  the  operation  of  the  whistle,  it  being  thought  that  to 
take  air  from  the  reservoir  line  in  the  cab  would  tend  to  cause 
brake  applications.  This  has  been  found  erroneous,  however, 
and  the  whistles  are  now  connected  directly  to  the  reservoir 


DETAILS  OF  THE  COMBINATION  FOLDING  SEAT  FOR  THE  MOTORMAN'S  CAB,  ACCOMMODATING  THE  MOTORMAN  IN  ITS  RAISED 
POSITION,  AND  PASSENGERS  IN  ITS  LOWERED  POSITION,  WHEN  CAB  IS  NOT  IN  USE 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


257 


line  just  beneath  the  engineer's  brake  valve.  The  whistle 
valve  cord  has  also  been  arranged  more  conveniently  for  the 
motorman,  and  may  be  manipulated  without  taking  the  hand 
off  of  the  brake  valve. 

NEW  SHOE  SUPPORT 
In  this  connection  an  interesting  change  in  the  third-rail 
shoe  mounting  is  to  be  noted.  The  former  construction  pro- 
vided for  the  carrying  of  the  current  from  the  shoe  up  through 
a  heavy  stranded  cable  to  the  shoe-fuse  block,  for  the  delivery 
of  current  to  the  car.  The  new  construction,  as  shown  in  the 
accompanying  detailed  drawing,  provides  a  steel  casting  of 
considerably  different  design  from  that  formerly  used,  which 
is  bolted  to  the  wooden  supporting  bar  in  the  usual  manner  for 
carrying  the  shoe.  This  casting  has  a  lug  projecting  up  above 
the  supporting  bar,  which  has  a  binding  screw  provided  upon 
it  to  receive  an  end  of  the  shoe  fuse,  this  obviating  the  neces- 
sity of  carrying  a  stranded  conductor  from  the  shoe  up  to  the 
fuse  block. 

The  type  of  sleet  cutter  used  upon  this  system  for  removing 
ice  from  the  third  rail  in  winter  is  a  steel  brush,  which,  when 
in  use,  is  held  down  upon  the  conductor  rail  with  a  spring 
pressure  of  about  75  lbs.  The  type  of  brush  used  is  clearly 
shown  in  the  engraving.  The  brush  block  is  of  hard  maple, 
and  is  provided  with  sixteen  rows  of  wire  bristles,  each  row 


DRAWING  OF  THE  NEW  STANDARD  END  DETAIL  ARRANGEMENT 
WHICH  HAS  BEEN  ADOPTED  FOR  THE  ELEVATED  MOTOR  AND 
TRAIL  CARS  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  ELEVATED  LINES 


Brush 

DETAILS  OF  THE  NEW  STYLE  OF  SUPPORTING  FRAME  FOR 
THE    THIRD-RAIL    CONTACT-SHOE,    INVOLVING    THE  USE 
OF  A  SPECIAL  SHOE-SUPPORT  CASTING  AND  FUSE  BLOCK 


containing  twelve  sets.  Each  set  of  bristle 
consists  of  seven  No.  23  B.  &  S.  steel  ribbons 
}i  in.  wide.  The  brushes  are  operated  upon 
the  rail  so  that  the  bristles  brush  broad  side 
against  the  rail  surface.  The  brush  is  care- 
fully insulated  from  the  supporting  guide  bar 
by  the  hardwood  and  fibre  separators.  A  spe- 
cial eccentric  lifting  handle  is  provided  by 
which  the  brush  may  be  lifted  up  and  held 
out  of  position  when  it  is  not  in  use ;  by  mere- 
ly revolving  this  handle  from  vertical  to  hori- 
zontal, the  brush  is  dropped  upon  the  conduc- 
tor rail  and  held  there  by  the  spring  pressure. 
STANDARD  CAR  ENDS 
A  standard  car-end  arrangement  has  been 
adopted  for  all  motor  and  trail  cars,  this 
standard  applying  to  the  form  and  size  of 
platforms,  dimensions  of  hoods  and  arrange- 
ment of  all  apparatus,  including  the  headlight, 
markers,  gates,  steps,  air  hose,  safety  chains, 
etc.  A  drawing  is  presented  to  illustrate  this 
new  standard  arrangement.  The  hoods  upon 
the  various  cars  differ  slightly,  owing  to  the 
different  types  of  roof  construction  upon  the 
several  builds  of  cars,  but  the  markers  are  in 
all  cases  arranged  to  be  located  upon  the  front 
sloping  edges  of  the  hood  by  special  cast 
brackets,  as  shown,  the  handle  for  the  turn- 
ing of  which  projects  down  through  to  the 
underside  of  the  hood,  so  as  to  be  easily  op- 
erated from  the  platform.  In  addition  to  the 
ladder  provided  for  ease  of  access  to  the  top 
of  the  car  for  trolley-pole  repairs,  a  safety 
grating  has  been  provided  for  the  protection 
of  the  hood  in  case  the  trolley  pole  jumps 
from  the  trolley,  when  the  train  is  in  surface 
operation,  and  rebounds  from  the  span  wire 
upon  the  roof.  With  the  usual  hood  con- 
struction, a  trolley  pole  is,  in  such  a  case, 


258 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


liable  to  strike  hard  enough  to  break  through  a  roof,  but  here 
the  special  grate  is  provided  to  receive  the  blow  of  the  trolley 
wheel  in  such  a  case. 

The  other  features  of  the  end  construction  are  evident  from 
the  drawing.  For  all  new  work  the  new  type  of  side  gate,  built 
by  the  Pitt  Car  Gate  Company,  New  York,  is  being  installed. 
This  gate  provides  for  the  handling  of  large  crowds  upon  the 
platform  with  far  greater  ease,  and  without  the  inconvenience 
of  extreme  crowding  in  closing,  as  met  with  the  usual  styles  of 

platform  gates.  In  opening, 
this  gate  is  arranged  to  pass 
endways  and  simultaneously 
swing  around  backwards,  next 
to  the  stanchions,  thus  entirely 
avoiding  interference  with 
those  upon  the  platform.  An- 
other feature  is  the  provision 
of  the  signs  upon  the  end  win- 
dows,   forbidding  passengers 


DETAILS  OF  NEW  LONGITUDINAL  SEAT  CONSTRUCTION,  SHOW- 
ING NEW  ARRANGEMENT  OF  HEATERS  TO  ELIMINATE 
DANGER  TO  CLOTHING  OF  PASSENGERS 

standing  upon  the  front  or  rear  platforms  of  trains;  this  is  ap- 
plied upon  the  window  glass  by  the  sand-blast  principle,  in  the 
form  shown  upon  the  left  hand  end  window  upon  the  drawing. 
The  details  of  the  platform  construction  and  the  arrangement 
of  apparatus  beneath  have  been  referred  to  in  connection  with 
the  new  standard  platforms ;  this  drawing,  however,  shows  the 
entire  end  arrangement  in  assembly. 

INSIDE  DETAILS 

The  standard  inside  end  arrangement  provides  for  a  single 
sliding  door  of  the  type  generally  used  in  elevated  cars.  A 
novelty  is  here  introduced,  however,  in  the  form  of  a  new  type 
of  combined  latch  and  door  handle,  embodying  a  type  of  spring 
lock  which  catches  upon  closing  the  door,  but  is  easily  unlocked 
without  twisting  or  lifting  or  other  complication,  the  mere  act 
of  pulling  the  handle  to  open  the  door  unlatching  the  lock. 
This  is  the  same  type  of  door  lock  as  is  being  applied  on  the 
new  cars  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Subway  system  in  New  York 
City.  The  door  is  of  the  three-panel  type,  with  a  24-in.  x  30-in. 
glass.    End  windows  are  provided  in  all  cars. 

Another  drawing  shows  the  details  of  the  new  seat  con- 
struction. Spring  cushions  are  provided  throughout  for  the 
backs  and  seats,  the  covering  being  of  canvas-lined  rattan. 
This  rattan  is  painted  white  and  finished  with  two  coats  of 
varnish,  so  that  they  may  be  easily  washed  and  kept  in  a  sani- 
tary condition  with  the  least  amount  of  trouble.    The  use  of 


the  white  color  in  this  connection  results  in  a  very  bright  and 
attractive  appearance  of  the  cars.  This  effect  is  strengthened 
by  the  use  of  white  headlining  in  the  monitor  and  sides  of  the 
car  roofs,  which  is  also  painted  white  and  varnished,  and  as- 
sists greatly  in  the  diffusion  of  night  lighting  through  the  car. 

The  arrangement  of  the  heaters  under  the  car  seats  is  also 
indicated  in  the  above  seat  drawing.  The  heaters  used  are 
the  panel  type  of  the  Consolidated  Car  Heating  &  Lighting 
Company,  and  the  overhanging  portion  of  the  seat  is  protected 
from  overheating  by  the  use  of  a  lining  of  transite  board,  as 
shown ;  a  novel  feature  may  here  be  noticed  in  the  locating  of 
the  heater  panels  beneath  the  seats  at  a  distance  of  5^  ins. 
behind  the  seat  edge,  this  being  done  to  provide  an  air  space 
between  the  heaters  and  clothing,  at  all  times,  and  thus  pre- 
vent injury  to  passengers'  garments.  The  new  cars  are  being 
equipped  with  new  window  curtain  fixtures  of  the  Forsyth  ad- 
justable roller-tip  type,  supplied  by  the  Curtain  Supply  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  111. 

Another  interesting  detail  is  to  be  seen  in  the  new  arrange- 
ment of  wiring  moldings  along  the  sides  of  the  car  roof,  for 
carrying  the  advertising  placards.  Wiring  moldings  for  carry- 
ing the  lights  in  that  portion  of  the  car  are  milled  specially,  as 
shown  in  the  detail  sketch,  to  provide  for  holding  the  placards 
without  the  use  of  an  additional  molding.  This  greatly  sim- 
plifies the  interior  construction  of  the  car  and  adds  to  its  ap- 
pearance. It  should  also  be  noted  that  in  the  reconstructed 
cars  the  incandescent  lighting  is  being  arranged  upon  the  sin- 
gle-outlet plan,  all  fixtures  being  done  away  with.  This  intro- 
duces the  supreme  advantage  of  the  best  possible  distribution 
of  light  and  produces  an  effect  which  is  absolutely  impossible 
with  fixture  arrangements.  The  cars  are  profusely  lighted, 
five  circuits  of  five  16-cp  lamps  each  being  used  in  every  car. 

Important  safety  precautions  have  been  provided  for  emer- 
gency use.   While  there  is  little  danger  of  fire  being  communi- 


Pullman   C  ars 


Detail  of  Moulding.  A , 
For  Side  L/qhts  and  Wires. 

INTERESTING  NEW  TYPE  OF  LIGHT-WIRE  MOULDING  TO 
PROVIDE  FOR  THE  ADVERTISING  PLACARDS 


cated  from  the  electrical  apparatus  to  the  car  body,  still  it  is 
thought  advisable  to  provide  for  the  most  extreme  case  and 
be  on  the  safe  side,  and  accordingly  chemical  fire  extinguish- 
ers are  provided  in  every  motor  car  upon  the  system.  The  ex- 
tinguishers used  are  of  the  Fire  Underwriter  type,  furnished 
by  Knight  &  Thomas,  Boston,  Mass.,  and  are  neatly  finished  in 
polished  brass,  each  being  provided  with  a  specially  large  in- 
struction plate  for  directing  its  use  in  emergencies.  This  in- 
struction plate,  like  the  new  door  handles  for  the  car  doors,  all 
bear  the  new  monogram  of  the  company,  formed  of  the  three 
letters,  B,  R  and  T,  which  has  been  adopted.  The  extinguisher 
is  conveniently  mounted  upon  a  bracket  at  one  end  of  the  car, 
being  secured  in  position  merely  by  a  strap,  so  that  when 
needed  it  can  be  easily  taken  down.  Furthermore,  a  system  of 
inspection  has  been  instituted  for  the  periodical  examination 
and  testing  of  the  extinguishers,  in  order  that  they  may  always 
be  in  good  condition  for  immediate  use. 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


7 

259 


Another  provision  has  been  made  for  the  immediate  stopping 
of  a  train  in  case  of  any  danger.  Two  conductor's  valves  are 
inserted  in  the  train  line  of  the  air-brake  system,  one  at  each 
end  of  the  car  inside,  at  diagonally  opposite  corners;  cords  of 
bright  blue  color  are  extended  from  each  valve  along  the  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  car  beneath  the  ventilator  windows  and  out 
under  the  hood,  so  that  within  the  car  two  cords  are  easily 
available,  and  also  there  is  one  extending  out  upon  each  plat- 
form. By  the  pulling  of  one  of  these  cords  the  brakes  are  set 
under  emergency  application  and  will  bring  the  train  to  a  stop 
within  two  train  lengths.  This  action  is  facilitated  by  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  multiple-unit  control  system,  which,  it  will 


INSTRUCTION  CAR  ON  THE  NEW  YORK  SUBWAY 


The  officers  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Railway  Com- 
pany, of  New  York,  have  facing  them  a  problem,  in  connection 
with  the  operating  force  for  the  Subway,  which  is  probably 
without  parallel  in  the  history  of  railroading.  This  is  the  work 
of  organizing  and  training  a  body  of  some  3000  men  to  the 
use  of  the  train  apparatus,  so  that  when  the  Subway  is  opened 
the  train  force  will  be  ready  to  perform  their  duties  satisfac- 
torily and  safely.  The  situation  in  New  York  is  such  that  it 
would  probably  be  impossible  to  put  the  completed  portion  of 
the  Subway  in  operation  in  sections  as  is  usually  done  on  new 


INTERIOR  OF  INSTRUCTION  CAR, 


SHOWING  MASTER  CONTROLLER  IN  FOREGROUND  AT  RIGHT, 
VALVE  AT  LEFT 


AN  D  Ol'AK  I  ERED  TRIPLE 


be  remembered,  automatically  shuts  off  the  propulsion  current 
supply  to  the  motors  when  the  brakes  are  applied.  This  system 
of  safety-brake  cords  permits  a  passenger  to  stop  the  train  in 
case  of  impending  danger  without  waiting  to  communicate 
With  the  guard  or  motorman. 

This  journal  is  greatly  indebted  for  the  valuable  information 
embodied  in  this  article  to  R.  C.  Taylor,  mechanical  engineer, 
and  W.  G.  Gove,  assistant  mechanical  engineer,  who  have 
given  every  opportunity  for  the  examination  of  the  new  work 
of  reconstruction  ;  to  F.  W.  Butt,  chief  draughtsman,  for  val- 
uable assistance  in  arranging  the  drawings;  to  R.  A.  Bowers, 
superintendent  of  the  Thirty-Ninth  Street  Elevated  shops,  and 
to  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  for 
photographs  and  information. 


systems.  The  population  of  New  York  has  been  awaiting  a 
subway  for  so  long  that  any  attempt  at  the  beginning  to  intro- 
duce a  partial  service,  either  in  length  of  line  or  number  of 
trains,  would  only  produce  excessive  crowding  at  the  stations 
and  greater  consequent  evils  than  would  follow  the  putting  in 
operation  of  practically  the  complete  system.  The  Interbor- 
ough Company  has  decided,  therefore,  to  begin  without  delay 
the  breaking  in  of  the  entire  force  which  will  be  required  to 
operate  its  Subway  cars  next  October. 

Although  the  company  also  operates  the  Manhattan  Elevated 
Railway  in  New  York,  the  Subway  train  crews  and  those  on 
the  Elevated  train  service  will  be  kept  entirely  distinct.  The 
complications  which  would  be  introduced  by  attempting  to 
draft  any  portion  of  the  Subway  force  from  the  ranks  of  the 


260 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


present  elevated  railway  men,  even  temporarily,  would  be  con- 
siderable. Such  a  plan  would  involve  serious  changes  in  the 
runs,  seniority  rank  and  other  features  of  the  elevated  railway 
organization,  which  will  be  understood  by  every  practical  op- 
erating manager,  besides  depleting  the  efficiency  of  the  elevated 
train  service  at  a  time  when  the  best  judgment  would  dictate 
that  it  be  kept  to  its  highest  point,  in  order  not  to  overcrowd 
the  Subway  more  than  was  possible.  The  Interborough  Com- 
pany is  therefore  now  recruiting  its  large  force  of  motormen, 
conductors  and  guards,  and  is  giving  them  the  practical  in- 
struction in  the  operation  of  a  train  which  will  be  required  in 
the  performance  of  their  duties. 

To  accomplish  this  the  management  has  not  only  designed  a 
most  complete  set  of  instructions,  but  in  addition  has  provided 


and  one  devoted  to  a  series  of  questions  and  answers  as  to  how 
to  detect  causes  for  failure  of  train  movement  and  the  methods 
of  removing  them.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  said  that 
the  management  believes  in  instructing  the  motormen  so  that 
they  are  able  to  make  minor  repairs  to  both  the  air  and  elec- 
trical equipment  on  the  road.  This  is  because  the  volume  of 
train  movement  on  the  line  will  be  so  large  that  a  delay  of  even 
a  few  seconds,  not  to  say  of  the  longer  time  which  would  be 
required  if  inspectors  or  trouble-men  were  sent  for,  would  seri- 
ously interfere  with  the  successful  operation  of  the  line. 

The  course  of  instruction  followed  with  the  new  men  on  the 
Subway  is  as  follows:  The  school  car  instructor  first  gives 
each  of  the  motormen  a  lesson  to  learn  from  the  instruction 
book.    When  this  is  acquired  the  lesson  is  followed  by  various 


A  VIEW  FROM  OPPOSITE  END  OF  INSTRUCTION  CAR,  SHOWING   AUTOMATIC  COUPLER  AT  RIGHT  AND  ROW  OF  BRAKE  CYLIN- 
DERS ALONG  LEFT-HAND  SIDE  OF  CAR 


a  school  car  that  contains  all  of  the  mechanical  and  electrical 
apparatus  comprising  the  car  equipment. 

The  motormen  are  first  provided  with  an  electrical  and  auto- 
matic air-brake  instruction  book  that  contains  descriptions  and 
illustrations  of  the  principal  apparatus  on  the  motor  cars,  and 
also  a  list  of  questions  and  answers  pertaining  to  train  operation 
and  what  to  do  in  emergencies.  This  book,  which  is  probably 
the  first  of  its  kind  ever  published  devoted  to  multiple-unit 
train  operation  and  control,  contains  some  fifty-two  pages,  be- 
sides illustrations,  and  is  divided  into  three  sections,  viz:  air- 
brake instructions,  with  a  description  of  the  air-brake  ap- 
paratus ;  a  similar  section  devoted  to  the  electrical  equipment, 


object  lessons  on  the  school  car,  thus  affording  each  pupil  am- 
ple opportunity  to  obtain  sufficient  knowledge  of  the  apparatus 
before  the  final  examination  is  made  for  promotion  to  the  run- 
ning or  operating  lessons  on  the  trains.  The  successful  motor- 
man  who  passes  the  required  examinations  is  then  instructed 
by  an  assistant  instructor  in  the  actual  movement  of  trains,  and 
has  to  learn  the  road — that  is,  become  familiar  with  the  signal 
system,  grades,  curves  and  station  stops  before  he  is  allowed 
actually  to  operate  a  train. 

All  train  men  are  required  to  take  a  course  in  the  school  car 
pertaining  to  their  respective  positions  before  they  are  ad- 
mitted to  the  running  class,  which  means  that  they  must  be 


August  20,  1904.  J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


thoroughly  conversant  with  the  rules  and  regulations  and  pos- 
sess a  practical  knowledge  of  the  car  equipment  before  they 
are  admitted  to  the  next  course  or  actual  operation  of  the 
trains.  This  rigid  course  of  training  results  in  obtaining  an 
unusually  intelligent  class  of  men,  which  is  essential  in  the 
operation  of  a  railway  system.  For  motormen,  former  steam 
railroad  enginemen  are  preferred,  as  they  are,  of  course,  fa- 
miliar with  the  air  apparatus,  and  experience  has  shown  that 
they  learn  the  manipulation  of  the  electrical  apparatus  quickly. 

The  school  car,  of  which  several  views  are  presented  here- 
with, is  one  of  the  original  Subway  cars,  the  "August  Belmont," 
which  was  built  some  two  years  ago.  Not  being  a  standard  at 
present  on  either  the  Subway  or  Elevated  lines,  it  has  been  re- 
constructed for  this  purpose.  It  contains  a  complete  equipment 
of  all  the  apparatus  that  will  be  used  upon  the  standard  local 
and  express  trains  in  the  Subway.  A  sample  equipment  of  the 
electric  controller  system  is  installed  inside  of  the  car  within 
easy  access  for  examination  while  under  operation.  There  is 
also  at  one  side  a  complete  equipment  of  the  Westinghouse 
air-brake  apparatus,  five-car  equipments  being  arranged  in  the 
car  and  accurately  connected  up  so  that  they  may  be  manipu- 


MASTER  MECHANIC  DOYLE  INSTRUCTING  PROSPECTIVE  MO- 
TORMAN  ON  THE  OPERATION  OF  THE  MASTER  CONTROLLER 

lated  as  under  service  conditions.  The  air-brake  equipment 
consists  of  a  motor-driven  air  compressor,  a  pump  governor,  a 
main  reservoir,  a  main  reservoir  pipe,  motorman's  brake  valve, 
two  air  gages,  train  pipe  and  the  five-car  equipments,  which 
consist  of  auxiliary  reservoirs,  brake  cylinders,  triple  valves, 
conductors'  valves,  with  the  necessary  angle  cocks,  bleed  cocks, 
cut-out  cocks  and  hose  and  couplings. 

The  action  of  the  air-brake  equipment  is  made  plain  by  quar- 
tered working  models  of  the  Westinghouse  triple-valve,  so  ar- 
ranged as  to  indicate  in  the  open  model  the  actual  cycle  of 
events  in  a  brake  application,  as  well  as  various  framed  and 
colored  diagrams.    Numerous  air  gages  are  provided  to  show 


the  resulting  brake  cylinder  and  reservoir  pressures  for  various 
train  line  productions  in  braking. 

The  electrical  equipment  consists  of  a  complete  type  "M" 
control  system,  comprising  a  master  controller  and  the  neces- 
sary apparatus  accompanying  the  controller  equipment,  and 
also  the  necessary  contactors,  reverser,  rheostats,  circuit 
breaker,  main  switch  and  main  fuse  for  one  car.  The  action  of 
the  reverser  and  of  the  contactors  is  clearly  shown  by  the  com- 


EXTERIOR  OF  INSTRUCTION  CAR 


plete  mounting  of  controller  apparatus  upon  the  ceiling  of  the 
car,  so  that  they  may  be  approached  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
the  student  were  beneath  the  car;  the  equipment  is  mounted 
inside  of  the  car  in  the  same  relative  positions  which  they 
occupy  beneath  the  car,  and  are  equipped  with  their  regular 
outside  cases. 

In  addition,  this  car  has  an  open  switchboard  at  one  end, 
which  indicates  the  standard  arrangement  of  an  electrical 
switching  apparatus  with  which  each  motor  car  for  the  Subway 
is  to  be  provided.  At  this  board  all  lighting,  heat  and  power 
circuits  for  the  car  are  operated.  Two  knife  switches  control 
the  lighting  circuits,  while  two  additional  switches  operate  the 
heat  circuits  in  various  combinations.  The  main  motor-current 
switch  is  also  located  upon  this  board,  as  well  as  also  various 
fuses  for  that  and  the  other  circuits. 

As  some  of  the  repairs  have  to  be  made  on  the  road,  the 
student,  before  being  "passed,"  is  obliged  to  make  certain  re- 
pairs to  live  apparatus.  This  teaches  him  how  to  disconnect 
certain  portions  without  injury  and  gives  familiarity  with  the 
operating  conditions  as  they  will  be  found  in  emergency  work. 

When  it  is  considered  that  this  immense  system,  the  largest 
of  its  kind  in  the  world,  is  to  be  in  full  operation  within  one 
hour  and  thirty  minutes  after  the  departure  of  the  first  train, 
carrying  thousands  of  passengers  promptly  and  safely  to  their 
destinations,  one  can  best  appreciate  the  enormity  of  this  great 
undertaking  and  the  value  of  the  educational  process  now 
going  on. 

 — 

Two  masked  highwaymen  held  up  car  No.  204  on  the  new 
Portland  Heights  line,  in  Portland,  Ore.,  at  11:15  o'clock  a  few 
nights  ago,  and  secured  from  the  conductor  and  motorman 
more  than  $30  in  cash.  There  were  eight  passengers  on  the 
car  at  the  time,  but  they  were  not  molested.  One  of  the  bandits 
shot  twice  at  the  conductor,  who  made  an  ineffectual  attempt 
to  prevent  the  robbery,  but  the  bullets  did  not  take  effect.  The 
robbery  occurred  at  a  dark  point  on  the  curve  at  the  head  of 
Carter  Street. 


262 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.   No.  8. 


QUESTION  BOX  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STATE  STREET  RAIL- 
WAY ASSOCIATION 

One  of  the  features  of  the  Utica  convention  of  the  Street 

Railway  Association  of  the  State  of  New  York,  to  be  held  Sept. 
13-14,  is  a  "question  box."  Sixty-seven  questions  were  con- 
tributed by  members  of  the  association,  and  have  been  sent  in 
printed  form  by  the  editor  of  the  question  box  to  all  the  mem- 
bers and  a  few  others  outside  the  association.  In  answering 
the  questions,  the  association  has  suggested  that  the  reply 
should  not  merely  be  "Yes"  or  "No,"  but  the  reasons  also 
should  be  given,  illustrated  wherever  possible  by  examples 
from  actual  practice.  Photographs  and  line  drawings  neces- 
sary to  make  the  meaning  clear  will  be  very  acceptable.  It  is 
proposed  to  print  the  questions  and  answers  received  up  to  a 
short  time  before  the  meeting,  giving  an  opportunity  for  gen- 
eral discussion  on  the  topics  at  the  Utica  convention.  The 
questions  follow: 

CONSTRUCTION   AND  EQUIPMENT 

POWER  STATION  CONSTRUCTION 

1.  What  is  the  life  of  a  good  storage  battery  when  well 
taken  care  of?  Is  a  floating  battery  preferable  to  a  booster  in- 
stalled in  station?   How  much  attention  does  a  battery  require? 

2.  Is  the  specific  heat  of  superheated  steam  constant,  and  if 
not,  what  law  will  give  the  specific  heat  of  superheated  steam 
at  various  temperatures  and  pressures  ? 

3.  One  company  has  in  its  power  house  one  800-kw,  550- 
volt,  direct-current  generator  with  compound  fields.  In  the 
armature  there  are  800  coils  and  800  commutator  bars,  12  poles 
and  12  brush  holders.  Would  like  to  know  the  proper  con- 
nections to  make  to  balance  the  magnetic  circuits  of  this  ma- 
chine and  size  of  wire  necessary. 

TRACK  CONSTRUCTION 

4.  What  type  of  rail  has  given  the  best  satisfaction  for  city 
service  in  unimproved  streets,  and  what  troubles,  if  any,  have 
been  met  with  the  9-in.  girder  rail  ? 

5.  Cannot  a  limited  number  of  standard  rail  heads  be 
adopted  for  paved  streets? 

6.  What  rights  has  a  railroad  company  in  arranging  drain- 
age for  its  tracks  ?  Where  the  company  pays  for  paving  be- 
tween tracks  and  for  a  certain  distance  on  each  side,  can  it 
claim  any  jurisdiction  in  arranging  grades  for  drainage? 

7.  Which  is  the  better  material  for  paving — Medina  sand- 
stone or  granite  block? 

8.  What  type  of  rail  joint  has  proven  best  in  paved  streets  ? 

9.  What  is  the  best  method  for  detecting  broken  bonds?  Is 
the  electrical  drilling  machine  practicable? 

10.  What  is  the  best  type  of  bond — the  compressed  head  or 
the  pin  head? 

OVERHEAD  LINE  CONSTRUCTION 

11.  What  wood  is  best  adapted  to  stand  the  elements,  and 
what  paint;  how  many  coats,  and  how  often  should  same  be 
painted? 

12.  Which  is  the  better  hanger — the  mechanical  or  soldered 
clip  ? 

13.  What  is  the  best  method  of  spacing  d.  c.  lightning  ar- 
resters along  the  line? 

14.  How  many  lightning  arresters  to  the  mile  in  the  best 
practice  ?  Should  more  arresters  be  used  in  suburban  than 
city  lines? 

15.  Has  it  been  observed  that  the  presence  of  a  high- voltage 
transmission  line,  running  along  the  same  right  of  way  with 
the  trolley,  has  a  tendency  to  relieve  the  d.  c.  line  from  some 
of  the  lightning  disturbances  to  which  it  would  normally  be 
subject? 

POWER  TRANSMISSION  LINE  CONSTRUCTION 

16.  Information  is  requested  with  regard  to  the  use  of 
aluminum  for  a.  c.  high-tension  lines  and  for  d.  c.  trolley  feed- 


ers; also  for  use  bare  in  underground  conduit  as  an  auxiliary 
to  the  rail  return. 

17.  What  are  the  most  efficient  methods  of  jointing  the 
main  conductors  and  of  attaching  trolley  taps  to  the  main 

feeders  ? 

18.  What  are  the  principal  advantages  and  the  disadvan- 
tages in  the  general  use  of  aluminum  for  such  purposes? 

19.  What  is  the  maximum  distance  direct  current  can  be 
advantageously  transmitted  for  the  operation  of  interurban 
cars  ? 

SELECTION   OF   ROLLING  STOCK 

20.  Have  the  semi-convertible  cars  given  as  good  satisfac- 
tion for  summer  service  as  the  open  cars,  and  to  what  extent 
have  double-truck  cars  replaced  single-truck  for  strictly  city 
service  ? 

21.  Has  any  practical  type  of  power  brake  been  developed 
to  take  the  place  of  air  brakes  ? 

22.  What  is  the  difference  in  current  consumption  of  two 
and  four-motor  equipments? 

23.  What  is  the  best  method  of  determining  the  life  of  mo- 
tor parts  ? 

24.  What  type  of  snow  plow  has  given  the  best  satisfaction 
for  city  streets? 

25.  Are  electric  heaters  economical?  What  other  system 
is  more  efficient  and  convenient? 

26.  Have  any  experiments  been  made,  or  any  one  had  ex- 
perience with  hot-water  heaters,  and  if  so,  what  has  been  the 
difference  in  expense  between  them  and  electric  heaters? 

27.  Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  maintenance,  which  is 
preferable :  the  split  or  solid  gears  ? 

BLOCK  SIGNAL  SYSTEM 

28.  Which  is  more  reliable :  automatic  signals  or  those 
manipulated  by  hand? 

29.  Is  there  a  satisfactory  automatic  block-signal  system 
used  that  will  take  care  of  any  number  of  cars  passing  through 
the  same  block? 

30.  Are  telephonic  train  orders  satisfactory? 

OPERATION 

ACCIDENT  DEPARTMENT 

31.  Where  and  when  should  derailing  switches  be  used,  ex- 
cluding steam  railroad  crossings  ? 

32.  Give  experience  with  accidents  with  derailing  switches. 

33.  Have  you  used  the  premium  system  with  your  em- 
ployees for  avoiding  accidents;  if  so,  what  percentage  have  the 
accidents  been  reduced? 

34.  Has  not  the  practice  of  giving  premiums  to  conductors 
and  motormen  for  avoiding  accidents  made  them  careless  in 
reporting  slight  accidents? 

35.  What  is  the  best  method  of  training  employees  to  avoid 
accidents  ? 

CAR  HOUSES 

36.  What  is  the  best  design  for  a  car  house? 

EMPLOYEES 

37.  What  has  been  the  benefit,  if  any,  of  forming  an  asso- 
ciation among  employees? 

38.  Can  associations  of  employees  be  made  sufficiently  at- 
tractive to  take  the  place  of  union  organizations?  Can  a  suc- 
cessful benefit  fund  be  established  by  contributions  from  em- 
ployees alone  without  assistance  from  the  company?  If  so, 
would  not  such  a  fund  be  more  appreciated  by  the  men  than 
one  on  which  they  had  received  assistance?  Would  not  a 
written  examination  at  the  end  of  each  year  of  all  conductors 
and  motormen  employed  during  the  year,  somewhat  in  the 
nature  of  the  competitive  civil  service  examination,  be  the  best 
method  of  determining  seniority? 

39.  What  is  the  best  method  of  disciplining  employees  ? 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


263 


40.  Give  experience  of  the  merit  system  in  connection  with 
discipline  of  employees. 

41.  Does  the  merit  system  entail  extra  office  expense,  and 
to  what  extent  has  it  helped  discipline? 

42.  Do  all  roads  subject  their  intending  employees  to  a 
physical  examination  ? 

43.  What  benefit  or  check  has  resulted  in  the  securing  of 
bonds  from  employees? 

44.  Should  conductors  furnish  bonds,  and  if  so,  who  should 
pay  the  premium? 

FARES  ON  INTERURBAN  RAILWAYS 

45.  What  is  the  best  method  of  collecting  and  accounting 
interurban  fares? 

46.  Are  there  any  data  available  to  show  the  percentage  of 
tickets  used  to  tickets  sold,  and  what  is  a  fair  per  cent  of 
shrinkage  ? 

PARKS    AND    PLEASURE  RESORTS 

47.  Is  it  better  to  operate  all  attractions  at  parks  or  to  in- 
duce outsiders  to  put  them  in  on  a  percentage  basis  ?  Are  any 
pleasure  parks  self-sustaining,  or  can  they  be  made  so  ? 

48.  What  is  the  most  effective  method  of  advertising,  for 
the  least  expense? 

REPAIR  SHOPS 

49.  What  is  the  proper  test  to  give  equipment  before  leaving 
the  shop  for  service? 

50.  What  is  the  best  method  of  keeping  shop  records  of  cost 
of  maintenance ;  bodies,  trucks  and  motors  ? 

51.  Considerable  trouble  has  been  experienced  with  broken 
car  axles  from  crystallization,  especially  during  cold  weather. 
The  axles  break  either  at  the  end  of  the  key  way  or  at  the 
shoulder  next  to  the  journal  bearing.  We  would  like  to  know 
the  cause;  also,  if  salt  water  getting  into  a  small  check  will 
cause  it  to  spread  or  deepen.  From  the  appearance  of  some  of 
the  breaks,  those  are  the  indications.  Also  would  like  to  know 
which  grade  of  steel  is  considered  best  for  car  axles. 

52.  Which  is  productive  of  the  best  results — pit  work,  or 
overhauling  from  above  ? 

53.  Is  it  best  to  overhaul  equipment  by  mibage? 

SNOW  REMOVAL 

54.  What  amount  of  snow  can  the  city  authorities  demand 
removed  ? 

55.  What  is  the  best  form  of  organization  of  snow  fighting 
forces  ? 

TRAFFIC  DEVELOPMENT 

56.  Has  it  proven  beneficial  in  moderate  sized  cities  to 
largely  increase  the  number  of  cars  during  rush  hours,  over  the 
ordinary  times  of  day? 

57.  What  has  been  found  to  be  the  best  method  of  adver- 
tising to  develop  traffic? 

58.  What  has  been  the  experience  with  the  use  of  trailers 
as  regards  accidents,  and  have  they  proven  more  satisfactory 
than  the  use  of  larger  cars  with  no  trailers  ? 

59.  Does  not  the  use  of  trailers  increase  the  number  of  de- 
railments ? 

60.  Should  the  extra  list  be  a  revolving  one?  (i.  e.,  after 
an  extra  has  had  work,  should  he  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  list 
and  work  up  again?) 

WHEELS— CHILLED   IRON,   STEEL   TIRED,   FUSED  WHEELS 
AND    SOLID  STEEL 

61.  Would  not  the  trouble,  which  was  experienced  by  many 
roads  during  the  past  winter,  of  motors  dragging  on  the  ice,  be 
eliminated  by  the  use  of  36-in.  wheels? 

62.  What  are  the  relative  merits  of  steel  and  cast-iron 
wheels  ? 

63.  How  does  the  life  of  cast-iron  wheels  compare  witli 
steel-tired,  fused  and  solid  steel  wheels?  Is  not  the  cost  of 
maintenance  per  mile  in  favor  of  the  cast-iron  wheel? 


64.  Is  not  a  550-lb.  double-plate  cast-iron  wheel  as  safe  to 
run  under  our  modern  interurban  cars  as  the  steel-tired  wheels 
now  being  used? 

65.  What  is  the  principal  cause  of  wheels  being  flatted  on 
air-brake  interurban  cars? 

66.  What  are  the  causes,  all  of  them,  of  flat  wheels? 

67.  What  weight  and  model  of  chilled  car  wheels,  33  ins. 
in  diameter,  are  proper  and  safe  for  an  8-ton  single-truck  elec- 
tric car  for  city  service,  and  the  probable  life  of  the  same? 

 ■ 

OHIO  INTERURBANS  DEVELOP  THROUGH  TRAFFIC 


Several  of  the  roads  of  Northern  Ohio  have  adopted  plans 
for  stimulating  through  traffic  from  one  road  to  another  along 
lines  brought  out  and  discussed  at  recent  meetings  of  the  Ohio 
Interurban  Railway  Association.  This  is  effected  by  the  vari- 
ous roads  advertising  through  connections  and  by  one  company 
selling  through  tickets  to  any  point  on  a  connecting  line.  The 
Cleveland  &  Southwestern  Railway  by  this  arrangement  sells 
tickets  to  Toledo  or  points  on  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway, 
passengers  changing  cars  at  Norwalk.  Recently  the  Lake 
Shore  Electric  Railway  sold  tickets  at  Toledo  for  a  party  to 
Wooster,  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  Cleveland  &  Southwestern 
Traction  Company's  line,  being  a  distance  of  about  170  miles. 
The  Toledo  &  Western  Railway  and  the  Detroit,  Monroe  & 
Toledo  Short  Line  are  in  the  arrangement,  and  tickets  are  now 
being  sold  through  from  Cleveland  to  Detroit,  a  distance  of 
nearly  200  miles.  As  stated  in  these  columns  recently,  the 
Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  has  a  similar  arrangement  with 
the  Clover  Leaf  (steam)  road  for  business  to  St.  Louis,  and 
through  this  arrangement  the  other  roads  are  also  participating 
in  the  St.  Louis  business.  One  of  the  greatest  advantages  to 
the  passenger  is  the  through  checking  of  baggage,  which  re- 
lieves the  passengers  of  all  annoyance  at  points  of  transfer. 

The  arrangement  between  the  companies  is  a  simple  one. 
Each  road  supplies  the  others  with  its  tariff  sheets  and  time 
tables,  and  agrees  to  accept  the  tickets  issued  by  the  other  com- 
pany. The  round-trip  ticket  issued  is  made  up  of  various 
coupons,  and  is  precisely  similar  in  general  appearance  to  the 
coupon  strip  tickets  used  on  steam  roads.  It  contains  an 
agent's  stub,  which  is  detached  by  the  agent,  and  the  points  of 
starting  and  destination  are  left  blank  and  are  filled  in  by  the 
selling  agent.  Each  road  receives  its  regular  fare  and  settle- 
ments are  made  each  month.  The  tickets  are  now  on  sale  by 
all  the  agents  of  the  various  roads.  An  effort  will  be  made  to 
interest  other  roads  in  this  district,  as  the  managers  believe  it 
will  materially  improve  the  service  and  make  it  appeal  more 
strongly  to  the  public.  This  plan,  in  connection  with  the  inter- 
changeable coupon  books  which  will  soon  be  issued  by  a  num- 
ber of  Ohio  roads,  indicates  that  the  lines  in  this  district  are 
strongly  alive  to  the  possibilities  of  through  electric  traffic,  and 
that  the  physical  connection  of  roads  is  opening  up  a  new  and 
promising  source  of  revenue. 

A  step  in  advance  of  this  plan  for  building  up  through  traffic 
is  that  of  operating  through  fast  cars  over  two  or  more  roads. 
As  has  already  been  outlined  in  these  columns,  the  Western 
Ohio  Railway  and  the  Dayton  &  Troy  Electric  Railway  have 
in  operation  an  arrangement  for  through  limited  cars  between 
Lima  and  Dayton,  a  distance  of  about  80  miles.  There  are 
four  cars  each  way  every  day,  and  the  schedule  is  two  and 
one-half  hours,  the  cars  stopping  only  in  the  largest  towns. 
Each  company  furnishes  one  car,  and  the  crews  run  clear 
through,  the  crews  being  paid  by  each  company  in  proportion  to 
the  time  they  are  on  the  tracks  of  that  company.  The  agree- 
ment between  the  two  companies  provides  that  each  company 
shall  be  liable  for  accidents  while  the  car  is  on  its  track,  re- 
gardless of  whose  car  or  crew  it  may  be.  The  crews  are  sub- 
ject to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  company  on  whose 


264 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


tracks  they  are  running,  and  it  might  be  stated  that  the  rules 
of  the  two  companies  in  question  differ  in  a  number  of  points. 
The  service  has  only  been  in  operation  about  two  months,  and 
it  is  almost  too  early  to  determine  whether  it  will  materially 
swell  the  earnings  of  the  two  companies.  The  traffic  on  these 
cars  has  been  excellent  thus  far,  despite  the  fact  that  commer- 
cial travelers,  for  whose  requirements  the  service  was  mainly 
designed,  are  not  at  present  as  numerous  as  they  are  during 
other  seasons  of  the  year.  Baggage  is  carried  on  these  trains 
at  a  cost  of  25  cents  per  piece  for  the  entire  run  from  Lima  to 
Dayton.  Transferring  of  baggage  to  other  roads  in  Dayton  is 
made  free  of  charge.  The  freedom  from  the  necessity  of  trans- 
ferring baggage  at  Piqua,  the  connecting  point  of  the  two 
roads,  together  with  the  high-speed  service,  which  is  claimed 
to  be  the  fastest  trolley  service  in  the  world  for  the  distance, 
seem  bound  to  create  new  business.  When  this  service  was 
instituted  the  parallel  steam  road  threatened  that  if  it  was  not 
withdrawn  it  would  reduce  its  rates  to  below  that  of  the  elec- 
tric lines  and  install  additional  trains.  Thus  far  the  steam  road 
has  not  put  on  extra  trains,  but  it  has  reduced  its  fare  to  within 
5  cents  of  that  of  the  electrics.  On  the  other  hand,  the  steam 
road  has  so  altered  its  schedule  as  to  give  the  electrics  a  de- 
cided advantage  by  reason  of  their  frequent  service  and  time 
of  leaving  terminals.  The  schedules  over  the  two  routes  are 
practically  the  same,  but  if  allowance  is  made  for  the  fact  that 
the  electric  cars  take  passengers  from  the  center  of  one  city 
and  land  them  in  the  center  of  the  other  city,  the  electric 
service  has  an  advantage  in  time,  in  addition  to  the  freedom 
from  dust,  smoke  and  cinders. 

Of  late  there  has  been  considerable  talk  relative  to  the  prac- 
ticability of  operating  through  fast  service  over  the  four  electric 
roads  between  Erie,  Pa.,  and  Cleveland.  The  managers  of  the 
various  properties  were  in  favor  of  making  the  experiment, 
and  a  short  time  ago  a  number  of  gentlemen  made  a  trip  over 
the  properties  in  Henry  A.  Everett's  private  car  with  a  view 
to  inspecting  the  roads  and  considering  the  possibilities  of  the 
plan.  It  was  found  that  on  one  or  two  of  the  roads  the  bridge 
and  devil  strip  clearances  and  the  general  condition  of  the 
track  would  not  permit  of  the  use  of  cars  that  would  be  suit- 
able for  such  service.  It  was  understood,  however,  that  these 
physical  obstacles  were  to  be  cleared  up  so  that  the  question 
might  be  taken  up  later.  However,  there  was  another  obstacle 
— namely,  that  the  attorneys  for  the  Everett-Moore  syndicate 
had  rendered  an  opinion  that  in  case  of  accidents  the  liability 
would  follow  the  car.  In  other  words,  it  was  thought  that  if 
a  wreck  occurred  on  another  road  the  owner  of  the  car  would 
become  equally  liable  with  the  company  owning  the  road.  Some 
of  the  companies  concerned  were  unwilling  to  assume  such  a 
liability,  and  there  the  matter  stands. 

To  obviate  this  point,  Mr.  Everett  has  been  figuring  on  a  plan 
which  may  be  presented  to  the  various  roads.  He  suggests 
the  formation  of  a  car  trust  to  operate  the  special  cars,  the 
same  as  is  done  by  steam  roads.  Each  company  would  pay  in  a 
certain  amount  toward  the  purchase  of  cars  for  the  service. 
The  cars  would  then  be  mortgaged  under  a  special  bond  issue 
covering  them.  The  cars  would  be  operated  over  the  various 
roads  under  a  traffic  agreement,  and  the  earnings  of  the  cars 
would  apply  on  the  bond  issue  mentioned,  the  surplus  or  profits 
to  »be  divided  among  the  companies  interested.  Thus,  in  case 
of  accident,  the  car  trust  would  be  responsible.  This  is  a  mere 
outline  of  the  plan,  and  the  details  have  not  yet  been  figured 
out.  It  seems  probable,  however,  judging  from  the  interest  the 
roads  in  question  have  been  displaying,  that  some  arrangement 
for  through  traffic  will  be  worked  out  over  this  route,  or  at  any 
rate,  part  of  this  route. 

Some  of  the  roads  radiating  from  Dayton  are  also  selling 
through  tickets  to  points  on  other  roads.  The  Dayton  &  Troy 
Electric  Railway  and  the  Western  Ohio  Railway  are  selling 
tickets  to  all  points  on  both  lines,  and  they  are  advertising 
week-end  excursions  to  all  points  on  these  lines.    The  tickets 


are  sold  good  going  Saturday  or  Sunday  and  returning  Monday, 
and  give  very  low  rates  over  a  wide  territory.  The  Dayton  & 
Western  Railway  has  an  arrangement  with  connecting  lines 
in  Indiana  whereby  tickets  are  sold  through  from  Dayton  to 
Indianapolis  and  baggage  is  checked  through. 



QUESTION  BOX  OF  THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  MECHANICAL 
&  ELECTRICAL  ASSOCIATION 


The  American  Railway,  Mechanical  &  Electrical  Associa- 
tion, as  already  announced,  is  to  have  a  "question  box"  at  its 
St.  Louis  meeting.  The  questions  are  being  mailed  to  the  mem- 
bers, with  the  request  that  each  one  will  reply  to  those  in  which 
he  is  especially  interested,  indicating*  the  questions  referred  tc 
by  their  numbers  in  this  circular.  All  answers  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  the  secretary  by  Sept.  1.  Unless  instructed  to  the 
contrary,  the  names  of  those  making  replies  will  be  published. 
The  questions  appear  below: 

1.  What  is  a  "frequency  changer"  and  how  used? 

2.  Of  what  use  is  a  "power  factor"  on  a  circuit? 

3.  What  is  a  reasonable  life  for  brooms  on  snow  sweepers? 

4.  What  is  the  best  material  for  a  gear  case,  cast-iron,  steel 
or  wood  ? 

5.  Is  there  any  way  of  telling  when  a  car  axle  is  crystallized 
and  unsafe  ? 

6.  What  is  the  best  method  of  preventing  car-circuit  breakers 
getting  out  of  adjustment? 

7.  Can  satisfactory  results  be  obtained  by  using  a  25-cycle 
machine  for  lighting  purposes  ? 

8.  Which  is  the  best  material  for  car  axles,  common  steel, 
cold  rolled  steel  or  forged  iron? 

9.  What  is  the  best  water  and  heat-proof  insulation  and  paint 
to  use  in  winding  field  coils  ? 

10.  What  results  have  you  obtained  with  asbestos-covered 
wire  for  winding  fields  ?  Have  you  had  any  trouble  from 
moisture  ? 

11.  Which  is  the  better  pinion  for  length  of  service,  for  noise- 
less running,  and  for  wear  on  the  gear — machine  cut  or  hot 
pressed  ? 

12.  What  head-linings  for  cars,  other  than  veneered,  are  on 
the  market,  particularly  something  in  which  glue  is  not  used, 
and  which  are  both  water  and  fireproof? 

13.  Some  roads  have  motor  inspectors  out  on  the  street,  un- 
der the  mechanical  department.  Does  the  benefit  derived  war- 
rant the  expense  incurred,  and  in  what  way? 

14.  Which  is  preferable  for  lubricating  motor  bearings,  oil 
or  grease?    How  do  they  compare  for  cost? 

How  can  oil  be  substituted  for  grease  in  the  standard  grease 
boxes  of  the  Westinghouse  12-A,  G.  E.-67,  and  G.  E.-800 
motors  ? 

15.  What  are  the  relative  costs  of  journal  lubrication  with 
regular  grease,  the  Galena  system,  and  the  automatic  oil  lubri- 
cator ? 

16.  What  are  the  comparative  merits  of  steel-tired  and  cast- 
iron  wheels  for  interurban,  suburban  and  ordinary  city  service? 

17.  Is  it  economical  to  grind  cast-iron  chilled  car  wheels  with 
an  emery  grinder  before  they  are  put  under  a  car  ?  By  so  doing, 
is  their  life  lengthened  or  shortened? 

18.  What  has  been  your  experience  with  rolled-steel  wheels, 
as  regards  wear,  after  they  have  been  turned  down  once? 

Can  you  explain  why  the  flange  on  one  wheel  should  wear  to 
a  square  shoulder,  while  that  on  the  other  end  of  the  axle  re- 
tains its  shape  ? 

19.  What  is  the  exact  mode  of  procedure  in  winding  "fire- 
proof" fields  that  are  to  be  filled  with  whiting,  shellac,  or  other 
fire-resisting  insulations? 

20.  When  babbitt  metal  is  run  into  an  armature  shell,  in 
cooling  it  contracts  and  pulls  away  from  the  shell.  By  what 
means  could  the  babbitt  lining  be  made  to  fit  the  shell  tight? 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


265 


21.  Armature  bearing  shells  become  loose  in  the  motor  frame. 
How  can  this  be  corrected  in  old  motors,  and  could  not  street 
railway  motors  be  so  designed  as  to  prevent  it,  or  to  take  up 
the  wear? 

22.  How  can  flashing  or  burning  be  prevented  with  the  K-12 
controller  on  cars  equipped  with  four  G.  E.-iooo  motors,  22-62 
gearing,  600  volts  on  the  line  and  a  fast  schedule ;  or  any  equip- 
ment where  a  heavy  fast  schedule  has  to  be  maintained? 

23.  What  is  the  best  method  of  testing  an  armature  after  re- 
winding? 

In  using  the  Conant  instrument  for  testing  motor  fields, 
widely  different  readings  are  often  obtained  when  a  certain  coil 
is  tested  in  the  motor,  then  removed  and  tested  separately. 
How  can  such  errors  be  avoided,  and  by  what  method  can  weak 
fields  be  positively  located? 



THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  TEST  COMMISSION 


BY  CLOYD  MARSHALL 


The  work  of  the  Electric  Railway  Test  Commission  has  now 
progressed  to  such  a  point  that  it  is  possible  to  describe  some 
details  of  work  accomplished  following  the  recommendations 
of  the  engineering  committees.  As  previously  announced,  the 
plans  embrace  four  main  lines  of  investigation,  namely :  accel- 
eration, braking,  motor  rating  and  train  resistance.  In  carry- 
ing out  this, programme  experiments  are  being  performed  upon 
a  large  number  of  cars  supplied  by  the  different  companies  in- 
terested in  the  tests.  The  full  number  of  assistants,  seventeen 
in  all,  and  three  superintendents  are  conducting  at  the  same 
time  several  series  of  tests.  One  corps,  under  the  direction  of 
Prof.  H.  T.  Plumb,  and  with  the  co-operation  of  the  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company,  has  completed  a  successful  investigation  of 
one  of  the  storage  air-compressing  plants  installed  for  this 
company  by  the  Ingersoll-Sergeant  and  Westinghouse  Traction 
Brake  Company.  Measurements  were  made  to  determine  the 
energy  consumption  in  compressing  a  given  amount  of  air,  the 
efficiency  of  the  cooling  system,  the  thermodynamic  losses,  the 
amount  of  air  consumed  by  each  car  on  the  line  per  stop,  and 
the  various  losses  throughout  the  system  from  the  electric 
motor  to  the  air-brake  cylinders.  The  report  of  this  test  is  now 
being  prepared,  and  interesting  and  practical  conclusions  are 
sure  to  be  reached.  This  test  is  the  first  in  a  series,  the  pur- 
pose of  which  is  to  put  at  the  disposal  of  the  operating  railways 
of  the  country  all  information  obtainable  in  regard  to  the 
operation  of  air  brakes  for  electric  railways.  The  same  corps 
of  observers  is  now  making  an  exhaustive  series  of  measure- 
ments to  determine  the  amount  of  air  used  per  stop  under  dif- 
ferent conditions  of  track  and  service  by  different  motormen. 
They  are  also  determining  the  efficiency  of  a  motor-driven  com- 
pressor equipment  supplied  for  these  tests  by  the  National 
Electric  Company.  This  car  will  be  operated  in  regular  ser- 
vice exactly  similar  to  that  of  the  cars  furnished  with  the  stor- 
age outfit.  The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  has  also  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  commission  the  necessary  facilities  for  de- 
termining the  service  capacities  of  the  motors  used  by  them, 
and  these  tests  are  now  well  under  way. 

A  second  body  of  assistants  in  charge  of  Prof.  B.  V.  Swen- 
son  has  had  under  way  practically  all  summer  an  interesting 
and  practical  series  of  measurements  of  the  voltage  drop  and 
power  loss  in  steel  rails  carrying  alternating  current.  Through 
the  courtesy  of  the  Bullock  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, the  mechanical  and  electrical  department  of  the  Exposi- 
tion, the  Jessop  Steel  Company  and  the  Laclede  Gas  Light 
Company,  it  has  been  possible  to  test  rails,  bars  and  pipe  with 
frequencies  varying  between  10  and  60  cycles  per  second,  with 
currents  up  to  600  amps.    This  work  has  been  remarkably  suc- 


cessful, in  spite  of  enormous  difficulties  in  measuring  the  very 
small  drop  in  pressure  which  occurs  at  low  frequency  and 
small  current  density.  Through  the  unfailing  courtesy  of  the 
members  of  the  staff  of  the  National  Bureau  of  Standards,  the 
best  possible  facilities  in  the  way  of  calibration  and  the  loan 
of  special  apparatus  have  been  afforded.  A  neat  sign  giving 
the  details  of  the  tests  under  way  enables  the  visitors  to  the 
Bullock  space  in  the  Palace  of  Electricity  to  follow  the  progress 
of  the  work.  The  results  of  this  series  will  be  supplemented 
by  measurements  of  the  impedance  of  the  special  test  tracks. 
The  same  corps  of  assistants  has  been  determining  the  efficiency 
and  power  of  the  Hunt  storage-battery  locomotive  exhibited  by 
the  C.  W.  Hunt  Company  in  the  court  of  the  Palace  of  Elec- 
tricity. A  specially-constructed  oil  dynamometer  reading  up 
to  8000  lbs.  has  been  used  for  determining  the  draw-bar  pull 
upon  a  fixed  anchor  and  upon  loaded  cars. 

The  work  upon  the  test  track  is  in  charge  of  Prof.  H.  H. 
Norris,  who,  with  a  corps  of  assistants,  has  made  extensive 
preparations  for  a  number  of  special  car  tests.  The  Wesco 
Supply  Company  has  equipped  the  track  with  overhead  con- 
struction of  handsome  and  substantial  design.  The  steel  poles 
are  firmly  set  6  ft.  deep  in  concrete,  and  these  carry  substantial 
brackets,  ornamented  with  neat  and  unobtrusive  iron  scroll 
work.  A  cast-iron  cap  surmounts  the  whole.  The  trolley  wire 
and  bonds  for  the  track  were  supplied  by  the  American  Steel 
&  Wire  Company  through  its  St.  Louis  office.  The  latter 
company  has  also  manufactured  for  the  commission  a  special 
number  0000  duplex  lead-covered  cable  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
necting the  test  track  with  the  rotary  convertor  in  the  Bullock 
exhibit,  a  distance  of  nearly  3000  ft.  from  the  track. 

An  important  series  of  tests  is  now  being  conducted  upon 
these  tracks.  Experiments  are  being  made  upon  a  car  exhibited 
by  the  Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Company  and  the  St. 
Louis  Car  Company.  The  car  is  equipped  with  Westinghouse 
motors  of  50-hp  each,  and  also  with  hand  brake  and  with  the 
Westinghouse  magnetic  track  brake.  The  car  is  being  operated 
upon  a  series  of  regular  schedules  designed  to  duplicate  all 
service  conditions  under  which  it  would  be  used  in  practice. 
The  readings  which  are  being  taken  will  furnish  data  for  show- 
ing the  variation  in  the  motor  capacity  with  different  time- 
speed  curves,  the  efficiency  of  the  magnetic  brake  as  compared 
with  the  hand  brake,  the  energy  consumption  with  different 
rates  of  acceleration,  and  with  the  application  of  the  brakes  at 
different  speeds.  It  is  also  in  the  plans  for  this  work  to  de- 
termine the  adhesion  between  wheels  and  track,  with  different 
conditions  of  the  latter,  such  as  dry,  wet,  sandy  and  dusty. 
The  light  car  just  described,  which  is  designed  for  city  and 
suburban  service,  will  furnish  facilities  for  a  complete  set  of 
car  tests,  differing  only  in  details  from  those  which  would  be 
made  upon  any  car  to  determine  its  fitness  for  the  conditions 
under  which  it  is  designed  to  run. 

It  is  not  intended  by  the  commission  to  conduct  tests  upon 
train  resistance  upon  the  Exposition  grounds.  With  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Union  Traction  Company  of  Indiana,  these  tests 
will  begin  in  a  few  days,  or  as  soon  as  conditions  at  St.  Louis 
will  permit  the  separation  of  the  testing  corps  into  two  sections. 
In  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  engineering- 
committees,  the  power  consumption  in  single  cars  and  trains 
will  be  measured  at  different  speeds  up  to  the  limit  of  the  cars 
and  track.  In  addition  to  this  the  commission  has  prepared 
designs  for  the  apparatus  for  separating  the  components  of 
train  resistance  by  actual  measurement.  A  number  of  im- 
portant companies  have  volunteered  to  supply  apparatus  for 
these  tests,  which  will  be  conducted  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
others  now  under  way. 



The  Consolidated  Railway  Company,  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
has  just  ordered  thirty  new  cars. 


266 


STREET  RAILWAY  TOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


A  NEW  MATERIAL  FOR  THE  INSULATION  AND  FIRE- 
PROOFING  OF  ELECTRIC  CARS 


One  of  the  most  noticeable  developments  in  electric  railway 
work  during  the  past  two  or  three  years  is  the  growing  ten- 
dency toward  the  use  of  fireproof  insulation  on  cars.  This 
step  was  first  thought  necessary  in  underground  work,  but  is 
gradually  becoming  common  in  elevated  railway  service,  and 
is  now  being  adopted  on  surface  cars  as  protection  against 
explosions  and  fire  panics  constantly  being  reported,  and  also 
in  order  to  comply  as  nearly  as  practicable  to  the  recent  recom- 
mendations of  the  Board  of  Underwriters,  which  require  under- 
names to  be  covered  with  a  fireproof  insulating  material. 

A  new  material  for  this  purpose  has  recently  been  brought 
out  by  the  Keasbey  &  Mattison  Company,  in  two  different  com- 
positions, one  based  upon  asbestos  and  the  other  upon  mag- 
nesia. The  former,  which  has  been  named  asbestos  building 
lumber,  is  composed  of  asbestos  fibre,  each  fibre  being  coated 
with  a  cement,  and  these  coated  fibres  then  properly  united  by 
a  peculiar  process,  giving  the  resulting  material  a  fibre-like 
construction,  which  adds  incalculably  to  its  strength.  The 
other  material,  in  which  magnesium  silicate  is  used,  has  been 
termed  magnesia  building  lumber,  the  natural  fibres  of  mag- 
nesium silicate  being  felted  together  and  thoroughly  cemented 
by  the  use  of  an  artificially  created  magnesium  silicate,  crys- 
tallized within  and  around  the  natural  fireproof  fibres  employed 
in  making  the  felt.  Under  great  pressure,  both  materials  can 
be  molded  to  any  shape,  but  for  general  use  are  made  up  in 
boards  or  panels  of  standard  sizes,  which  may  be  sawed  or  cut 
to  meet  requirements.  The  materials  are  not  breakable  like 
slate,  nor  are  they  brittle,  being  capable  of  receiving  very 
severe  shocks  and  very  rough  treatment  without  breaking. 
They  partake  somewhat  of  the  nature  of  slate  or  stone,  how- 
ever, in  that  when  hammered  they  emit  a  sonorous  sound  like 
earthenware.  The  natural  color  of  the  asbestos  lumber  is  of  a 
slate  gray,  while  the  magnesia  lumber  is  of  a  very  light  gray, 
although  in  process  of  manufacture  they  can  be  made  any  color. 

A  number  of  important  tests  have  been  made  of  this  new 
material,  perhaps  the  most  important  by  Prof.  G.  F.  Sever,  of 
Columbia  University.  The  object  was  to  determine  the  prin- 
cipal characteristics  of  the  two  materials,  of  which  the  most 
important  are  as  follows :  the  electrical  resistance,  the  break- 
down voltage,  the  effect  produced  by  the  heat  of  an  arc,  the 
capacity  for  absorbing  moisture,  the  structural  strength,  and 
the  susceptibility  of  sawing  and  nailing.  The  material  was 
tested  in  three  thicknesses  for  both  materials,  viz :  }i-in., 
and  Yz-m. 

The  tests  for  electrical  resistance  were  made  at  550  volts, 
and  showed,  for  the  ^-in.  asbestos  lumber,  an  insulation  re- 
sistance per  inch  of  thickness  of  from  .97  megohms  up  to  2.3 
megohms;  for  the  %-in.,  from  .2  megohms  up  to  1.2  megohms, 
while  in  the  }4-in.  thickness  the  insulation  resistance  ranged 
from  .8  megohms  to  1.5  megohms  per  inch  of  thickness.  The 
magnesia  lumber  showed  even  more  favorable  results — that  is, 
for  the  J^-in.  thickness  from  1.3  megohms  up  to  8.7  megohms; 
in  the  %-in.  thickness,  from  1.05  megohms  up  to  4.1  megohms, 
and  in  the  j4-in.  thickness,  from  1.9  megohms  to  3.5  megohms, 
due  probably  to  the  greater  resisting  qualities  of  magnesium 
silicate  over  that  of  cement.  The  specimens  tested  were  6  ins. 
x  6  ins. 

The  break-down-voltage  test  was  made  upon  specimens  of 
both  materials  dried  five  hours  at  150  degs.  F.,  and  also  upon 
specimens  which  had  not  been  dried.  In  the  asbestos  lumber 
the  results  showed  break-down  voltages  ranging  from  7000  to 
21,000  volts  per  inch  of  thickness  of  the  material,  while,  when 
undried,  the  break-down  voltage  required  ranged  from  3700  up 
to  12,000  volts  per  inch  of  thickness.  In  the  magnesia  lumber 
the  difference  between  the  undried  and  dried  specimens  was 
practically  the  same.   In  the  thoroughly  dried  magnesia  lumber, 


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STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


267 


the  break-down  voltage  varied  from  9000  to  30,000  volts  per 
inch  of  thickness,  while,  when  undried,  it  ranged  from  4800  up 
to  15,000  volts  per  inch  of  thickness. 

In  the  heat  test  the  specimens  were  suhjected  to  the  heat  of 
a  500-watt  arc  light  for  a  period  of  twenty  seconds.  The  sur- 
face of  both  the  asbestos  and  magnesia  after  the  test  indicated 
a  destruction  of  the  fibrous  material,  which  rendered  that  por- 
tion where  the  arc  was  applied  brittle  and  easily  broken.  From 
this  it  would  appear  that  the  large  arcs  have  a  destructive 
effect  upon  the  materials,  although  when  subjected  to  a  small 
and  definite  arc,  there  are  no  radiating  cracks  from  the  point 
of  application.  The  results  of  these  tests  were  very  much  the 
same,  although  it  was  concluded  that  the  asbestos  was  some- 
what the  better  material  when  considered  as  a  fire  resistant. 

The  absorption  tests  tend  to  indicate  that  both  materials 
absorb  a  certain  amount  of  moisture,  the  magnesia  lumber 
showing  the  greater  tendency  in  this  direction  on  account  of 
its  structure.  The  highest  absorption  that  could  be  obtained 
with  the  asbestos  lumber  was  an  increase  in  weight  of  from 
16  per  cent  to  21  per  cent  after  soaking  in  water  for  forty-eight 
hours,  while  the  magnesia  lumber  absorptions  ranging  from  25 
per  cent  to  38  per  cent  were  obtained.  In  either  case,  however, 
the  material  proved  capable  of  being  dried  out  to  practically 
its  original  weight;  in  some  cases,  however,  in  the  magnesia 
lumber  there  was  a  showing  of  an  increase  after  such  treat- 
ment of  from  .1  per  cent  to  3  per  cent  increase  over  it 
in  weight.  From  this  it  would  again  appear  that  the  asbestos 
lumber,  while  not  so  high  in  insulation  resistance  as  com- 
pared with  magnesia  building  lumber  when  perfectly  dry,  is 
the  better  material  for  use  under  car  bodies,  and  in  other  places 
where  moisture  is  liable  to  be  present.  It  is  obvious,  of  course, 
that  to  prevent  absolutely  the  absorption  of  moisture  by  both 
of  these  materials,  it  is  quite  essential  that  they  be  painted 
with  moisture  repellant  paint,  but,  as  there  appears  to  be  no 
paint  which  is  absolutely  fireproof,  and  since  the  percentage 
of  moisture  absorption  is  so  small  and  is  attended  by  no  de- 
terioration in  the  material  after  drying,  it  can  be,  used  in  many 
cases  without  any  finish. 

The  magnesia  lumber  lends  itself  much  more  readily  to 
being  worked  with  ordinary  tools  such  as  saws,  drills,  etc.,  than 
does  the  asbestos ;  furthermore,  the  magnesia  lumber  permits 
the  driving  of  nails  through  it  with  great  facility.  Wire  nails 
can  be  readily  driven  in  the  asbestos  lumber  in  thicknesses  not 
over  in-»  as  shown  particularly  in  the  use  of  the  lumber 
"Century"  asbestos  shingle,  J^-in.  thick,  in  roofing  and  framing 
of  buildings,  their  most  recent  applications  being  the  roofs  of 
the  Hotel  Bingham  in  Philadelphia  and  the  Keasbey  &  Mat- 
tison  Company's  factory  buildings  at  Ambler,  Pa.  When  sub- 
jected to  a  vibratory  test  in  the  nature  of  rapid  hammering, 
the  asbestos  lumber  appeared  much  more  capable  of  with- 
standing heavy  blows  and  hard  usage.  The  magnesia  lum- 
ber proved  liable  to  split  if  a  series  of  blows  or  a  sudden  shock 
occurred  near  the  edge.  It  proved  very  difficult  to  damage  the 
asbestos  lumber  by  the  most  severe  treatment;  as  a  result  of  the 
tests,  it  was  seen  to  not  indent  easily,  and  under  the  treatment 
given  it  did  not  break.  Metal-working  tools  should  be  em- 
ployed in  cutting  or  sawing  the  asbestos  building  lumber,  under 
which  circumstances  the  material  is  readily  handled. 

As  a  result  of  these  tests,  Prof.  Sever  concluded  that  of 
the  two,  the  asbestos  lumber  possesses  better  mechanical  prop- 
erties than  the  magnesia,  although  the  latter  is  a  better  elec- 
trical insulator  than  the  asbestos,  when  dry.  The  asbestos  lum- 
ber, however,  stands  higher  as  a  heat-resisting  material  and  an 
arc-resisting  material  than  the  magnesia  lumber.  Both  of  these 
materials,  when  covered  by  a  paint  capable  of  preventing  the 
entrance  of  moisture,  and  which  is  not  in  itself  of  a  fire-con- 
ducting nature,  will  prove  acceptable  as  electrical  insulators. 
He  found  that  this  treatment  of  applying  the  firepoof  paint 
would  be  quite  essential  in  cases  where  potentials  of  over  500 


volts  are  to  be  placed  in  close  proximity  to  the  materials. 

A  series  of  fire  tests  of  the  asbestos  lumber  was  also  made  by 
Prof.  Ira  H.  Woolson,  E.  M.,  of  Columbia  University.  As  the 
result  of  these  and  of  other  fire  tests  which  their  Chicago 
laboratories  have  made,  the  National  and  New  York  Boards 
of  Fire  Underwriters  have  recently  signified  their  acceptance 
of  the  materials  for  use  under  their  specifications.  The  Boards 
have  also  declared  their  approval  of  the  use  of  this  material 
as  an  insulator,  etc.,  for  the  protection  of  car  bodies  against 
electric  arcs,  specifying  merely  that,  in  order  to  obtain  struc- 
tural strength  required  under  such  severe  conditions,  the  ma- 
terial be  used  in  the  ^4-in.  thickness. 

Important  tests  of  the  asbestos  lumber  for  strength  have  also 
been  made  by  Prof.  Woolson,  which  indicate  that  this  material 
compares  favorably  in  strength  with  ordinary  white  pine,  and 
results  are  such  as  to  warrant  its  use  in  places  where  it  would 
be  subjected  to  hard  usage. 

One  of  the  chief  uses  to  which  the  material  seems  well 
adapted  is  for  insulating  and  fireproofing  the  lower  parts  of 
the  cars.  The  New  York  City  Railway  Company  is  using  it 
for  this  purpose  on  a  large  order  of  new  double-truck  cars 
which  are  being  built.  The  under-framing  will  be  very  care- 
fully protected  in  this  way,  so  that  derangements  to  the  elec- 
trical apparatus  cannot  result  in  fire  in  the  car.  This  company 
is  also  putting  the  asbestos  lumber  to  an  important  use  for  the 
protection  of  its  circuit  breakers ;  the  breakers  are  housed  in 
compact  and  neatly  arranged  boxes,  built  entirely  of  this  ma- 
terial, and  conveniently  located  beneath  the  car.  The  use  of 
asbestos  lumber  permits  any  possible  destructive  arcing  to 
occur  at  that  point  without  damage  or  starting  a  fire  in  the 
car  framing. 

The  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  is  also  using  the 
asbestos  lumber  for  protecting  the  bases  of  the  third  rail  in 
the  subway,  where  the  rail  comes  within  3  ins.  of  the  metal 
structure,  the  object  being  to  prevent  any  arc  passing  over. 
The  lumber  for  this  purpose  is  painted  with  moisture-proof, 
insulating  paint,  and  is  clamped  on  to  the  base  of  the  rail. 
They  are  also  using  it  for  panels  in  oil-switch  and  bus-bar  com- 
partment doors  and  for  cable-flue  partitions  in  their  main 
power  station  and  sub-stations,  besides  using  it  on  their  new 
steel  cars  under  the  buffer  platforms  for  protection  and  special 
insulation  of  the  cable  coupling  and  the  motor  leads  under  the 
car,  and  also  for  protecting  and  boxing  the  car  switchboard 
in  the  motorman's  cab.  The  General  Electric  Company  is  using 
the  asbestos  building  lumber  extensively  for  finger  shields,  arc 
deflectors,  barriers,  panels,  hot-air  ovens,  linings  and  under- 
floorings.  The  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  just  de- 
cided to  install  the  asbestos  building  lumber  on  twenty  new 
cars  just  ordeied  for  the  bridge  service.  The  specifications  of 
these  twenty  cars  provide  that  the  underflooring  is  to  be  covered 
with  asbestos  building  lumber  of  not  less  than  %-in.  thickness, 
as  is  provided  in  the  specifications  of  the  cars  of  the  New  York 
City  Railway  Company.  The  Montreal  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany has  also  recently  specified  the  material  for  some  new 
cars  now  being  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  and  the  Niles 
Manufacturing  Company. 

That  its  uses  in  the  electrical  field  are  manifold  goes  without 
saying,  and  the  development  of  these  materials,  through 
several  years  of  experiment,  has  proven  an  important  de- 
parture upon  the  part  of  the  Keasbey  &  Mattison  Com- 
pany, which  is  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  perfection  of  so 
greatly  needed  a  material.  This  company  is  now  prepared  to 
furnish  either  the  asbestos  or  magnesia  lumber  in  standard 
sizes  of  board,  42  ins.  x  48  ins.,  and  in  special  lengths  up  to 
100  ins.,  in  any  thickness  up  to  i-in.  It  is  also  prepared 
to  furnish  the  materials  cut  to  any  shape.  The  firm  of  Wendell 
&  MacDuffie,  26  Cortlandt  Street,  New  York,  has  been  ap- 
pointed sole  agents  for  the  introduction  of  this  material  in  the 
electric  railway  and  general  electric  field. 


268 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


ONE  CAUSE  OF  THE  BURNING  OUT  OF  MOTORS 


BY  W.  G.  PRICE 


It  is  supposed  to  be  impossible  for  a  man  to  lift  himself  over 
a  hill  by  pulling  on  his  boot-straps,  yet  electric  motors  accom- 
plish very  nearly  a  similar  result  with  the  added  load  of  a 
street  car.  They  do  this  many  times  a  day  for  many  days  in 
the  year  before  they  fail,  and  the  designers  of  motors  deserve 
great  credit  for  having  produced  such  efficient  machines.  The 
motor  pushes  the  car  by  rolling  the  wheel  ahead  so  that  some 
part  of  the  truck  connected  to  the  wheel  is  pushed  by  it.  It 
was,  of  course,  the  intention  of  truck  designers  that  the  truck 
and  car  should  be  pushed  through  the  axle  journal  bearings, 
where  the  friction  and  resultant  loss  of  power  would  be  a  mini- 
mum, but  in  many  cars  this  result  is  not  accomplished. 

By  an  inspection  of  most  of  the  trucks  in  service  to-day  it 
will  be  found  that  when  the  motor  rolls  the  wheel  ahead  the 
journal  box  can  move  from  Y%  in.  to       in.  forward  in  the 


has  thus  to  furnish  120  units  of  force  where  100  units  should 
be  sufficient.  The  investor  in  street  railway  securities  has  not 
only  to  pay  for  the  extra  cost  of  the  plant  required  to  run  such 
cars,  but  also  for  the  coal  and  the  brake  shoes  and  car  wheel 
wear  and  burnt-out  motors.  When  the  car  is  stopped  by  the 
application  of  the  brakes  the  wheels  are  forced  apart  and  the 
shoes  will  then  be  found  to  be  perfectly  loose,  so  that  the  cause 
of  a  car  running  slow,  or  the  excessive  heating  of  the  motors 
on  long  grades  may  not  be  suspected. 

Of  course,  the  remedy  is  to  reduce  this  lost  motion  to  a  mini- 
mum by  a  better  construction  of  the  trucks.  By  machine  finish- 
ing the  sides  of  the  journal  bearings  and  the  inside  of  the  jour- 
nal boxes,  this  part  of  the  lost  motion  can  be  reduced  to  at 
least  1-32  in.  By  adopting  the  equalizer  bar  type  of  truck  the 
effect  of  lost  motion  .between  the  boxes  and  pedestals  will  be 
eliminated  as  the  boxes  are  held  a  fixed  distance  apart.  Trucks 
which  do  not  have  their  journal  boxes  connected  by  an  equal- 
izer bar  could  be  made  efficient  except  for  a  very  close  shoe  ad- 
justment by  machine  finishing  the  boxes  and  pedestals,  but  the 


NEW  PRIVATE  CAR  FOR  MILWAUKEE 


pedestal  jaws,  and  that  the  journal  bearing  can  move  from 
yi  in.  to  j4  in-  forward  inside  of  the  journal  box,  making  a 
total  movement  of  from  %  in.  to  %  in.,  and  owing  to  the  rapid 
wear  of  the  journal  boxes  and  pedestals  this  movement  is  be- 
coming greater.  If  we  had  no  brakes  on  these  cars  we  would 
care  nothing  about  this  movement,  as  there  would  be  no  loss 
of  power,  but  good  quick-acting  brakes  are  a  necessity.  To 
permit  a  brake  to  act  quickly  the  shoes  must  be  adjusted  close 
to  the  wheel,  and  if  we  get  down  in  the  pit  with  the  brakeman 
we  will  find  that  he  adjusts  the  shoes  to  not  over  ]/%  in.  from  the 
wheels,  and  in  many  cases  to  within  1-16  in.  of  the  wheels.  Of 
course,  previous  to  this  work  of  shoe  adjustment,  the  car  has 
been  stopped  by  the  application  of  the  brakes  so  that  the  wheels 
have  been  spread  apart  by  the  movement  of  the  journal  bear- 
ings in  the  boxes  and  of  the  boxes  in  the  pedestals. 

When  the  car  is  being  rapidly  accelerated,  or  when  it  is 
being  pushed  up  a  grade,  the  rear  wheels  in  each  truck  move 
forward,  owing  to  this  loss  of  motion,  until  these  wheels  press 
against  the  shoes,  and  then,  as  the  shoes  are  rigidly  connected, 
the  rear  wheels  move  the  shoes  until  the  forward  shoes  press 
against  the  forward  wheels.  Thus  the  motors  in  pushing  the 
car  act  also  to  brake  all  the  wheels  of  the  car.  The  coefficient 
of  friction  between  the  shoes  and  the  wheels  is  probably  not 
less  than  20  per  cent,  so  that  for  every  100  foot-pounds  of 
force  exerted  by  the  motors  to  push  the  car  along  20  foot- 
pounds are  consumed  in  brake-shoe  friction.   The  power  house 


rapid  wear  of  these  parts,  due  to  the  friction  between  them 
when  forced  together  by  the  application  of  the  brakes,  would 
soon  increase  the  lost  motion,  so  that  the  motor  would  then 
again  be  doing  the  aforesaid  difficult  stunt. 

 »+»  


JOHN  I.  BEGGS'  PRIVATE  CAR,  "MILWAUKEE" 


Mention  has  been  made  before  in  these  columns  of  the 
private  car  being  constructed  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
for  President  and  General  Manager  John  I.  Beggs,  of  the  Mil- 
waukee Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company.  This  car  has  now 
been  completed  and  is  on  exhibition  in  the  Transportation 
Building  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition.  It  is  undoubt- 
edly the  most  costly  private  car  ever  built  for  use  on  electric 
railways.  The  accompanying  engraving  is  from  a  photograph 
of  the  exterior  of  this  car.  The  interior  is  so  divided  into  com- 
partments that  photographs  giving  an  adequate  idea  of  the  in- 
terior cannot  be  obtained.  There  is  an  observation  compart- 
ment on  the  right  side  of  each  end  of  the  car,  the  left  side 
being  occupied  by  a  motorman's  cab.  Each  of  these  observa- 
tion rooms  has  an  upper  and  lower  berth,  and  a  typewriter  desk 
is  located  in  one  compartment.  These  observation  compart- 
ments are  finished  in  East  India  vermillion  wood,  with  mar- 
quetry inlay  lines.  The  dining  room,  which  is  situated  in  the 
center,  is  beautifully  finished  in  Philippine  rosewood,  with  mar- 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


269 


quetry  inlay  lines.  In  the  dining  room  is  a  sideboard  and  a 
fireplace.  The  table  is  circular,  with  chairs  of  special  design. 
A  double  refrigerator  extends  from  the  dining  room  into  the 
kitchen.  The  kitchen  is  finished  in  quarter-sawed  oak,  which 
is  provided  with  a  range  and  linen  lockers,  besides  the  refrig- 
erator above  mentioned.  Handsome  silver  lockers  are  provided 
in  the  dining  room.  Besides  the  observation  compartment, 
dining  room  and  kitchen,  there  are  two  other  compartments, 
one  of  which  is  finished  in  Hungarian  ash,  and  is  provided  with 
a  sofa,  upper  and  lower  berth,  dress- 
ing case  and  folding  washstand.  The 
finish  in  the  other  compartments  is  in 
prima  vera.  This  compartment  has  a 
writing  desk  and  folding  bed,  which 
folds  up  in  a  cabinet  under  a  book 
case.  The  toilet  room  is  finished  in 
zebra  wood.  The  passageways  are 
all  finished  in  vermillion.  The  ceil- 
ings are  full  empire,  decorated  to 
harmonize  with  the  finish  of  each 
room.  The  lower  window  sashes  are 
filled  with  polished  plate  glass  and 
arranged  to  drop  into  side  pockets. 
The  upper  sash  is  gothic  form,  with 
art  glass  that  is  stationary.  The 
ventilator    sashes    are    filled  with 

art  glass.  The  interior  lighting  is  by  incandescent  clusters, 
covered  with  Holophane  globes.  The  car  is  mounted  on  St. 
Louis  23-E  trucks,  with  four  G.E.-74  motors,  with  type  M  mul- 
tiple-unit control  and  Christensen  air  brakes.  Both  electric 
and  hot-water  heaters  are  provided,  the  hot-water  heater  being 
of  Peter  Smith  make.  The  car  is  made  of  the  maximum  dimen- 


AN  INTERESTING  EXPRESS  AND  FREIGHT  CAR  FOR  THE 
PUBLIC  SERVICE  CORPORATION  OF  NEW  JERSEY 


A  car  for  freight  and  express  service  has  lately  been  deliv- 
ered to  the  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey  by  the 
J.  G.  Brill  Company,  which  is  probably  the  most  thoroughly 
equipped  and  substantial  car  of  the  kind  ever  built  for  electric 
service.  The  numerous  manufacturing  interests  of  the  cities 
along  the  lines  of  this  extensive  railway  system  offer  an  ex- 


mss- 


INTEKIOR  OF  FREIGHT  CAR 

sions  which  would  permit  its  operations  over  Milwaukee  city 
streets.    These  dimensions  are  : 

Length  over  all    51  ft.  6  ins. 

Length  over  vestibule    50  ft.  6  ins. 

Width  over  all   '   8  ft.  6  ins. 

Width  over  sheathing    8  ft.  4l/2  ins. 

Height  from  under  side  of  sill  to  top  of 

roof    8  ft.  7^8  ins. 

Truck  centers    29  ft.  1  in. 

From  the  foregoing  description  it  will  be  seen  that  the  car  is 
such  that  its  owner  can  live  on  it  in  comfort  for  any  length  of 
time,  just  as  on  any  private  steam  railroad  palace. 

One  thing  which  neither  the  description  nor  the  illustration 
can  make  clear,  however,  is  the  beauty  of  the  various  woods 
used  for  the  interior  finish.  These  must  be  seen  to  be  appre- 
ciated. Undoubtedly  the  car  will  be  inspected  with  a  great  deal 
of  interest  at  St.  Louis  this  fall. 


SIDE  VIEW  OF  FREIGHT  CAR  FOR  PUBLIC  SERVICE  CORPORATION 


cedent  field  for  service  of  this  character.  Equipped  with  pow- 
erful wrought  steel  cranes  at  each  side  door,  heavy  pieces  of 
material  may  be  conveniently  handled.  There  are  four  2-in.  x 
i-in.  steel  frames,  bent  to  conform  to  the  cross  section  of  the 
car,  from  which  are  suspended  hooks,  holding  round-steel  bars 
or  rollers.  These  are  for  holding  long  pieces  of  material  that 
are  brought  into  the  car  through  the 
central  window  of  the  vestibules,  and 
iy2-h\.  steel  rollers  are  bracketed  to 
the  dash  outside  of  the  windows  to 
prevent  injury  to  the  sash  and  facili- 
tate the  handling  of  materials.  Two 
powerful  steel  hooks  are  located  on 
each  side  of  the  car,  which  may  lie 
swung  around  out  of  the  way,  or  re- 
moved ;  they  are  also  intended  for 
suspending  material.  All  parts  of  the 
car  which  are  liable  to  excessive  wear 
are  sheathed  with  steel,  and  the  slid- 
ing doors  are  protected,  when  drawn 
back,  by  %-in.  steel,  secured  to  heavy 
wrought  iron  uprights. 

The  framing  of  the  bottom  and 
side  consists  entirely  of  selected 
white  oak,  including  the  side  sills. 
The  side  sills  are  6  ins.  x  10 
ins.,  plated  on  the  outside  with  ^-in.  steel  for  their 
full  width  and  extended  their  full  length.  The  end  sills  are 
6  ins.  x  10  ins. ;  the  side  sills,  2y2  ins.  x  4  ins.,  and  the  center 
crossings,  6  ins.  x  8  ins.  Tie-rods  of  i%-'m.  wrought  iron  are 
located  at  each  crossing,  and  brought  through  the  sill  plates. 

The  flooring  consists  of  ij^-in.  tongued  and  grooved  white 
oak,  with  steel  plates  counter-sunk,  and  extending  from  door 
post  to  door  post.  The  truss  rods  are  iJ/2  ins.  in  diameter.  Top 
rails,  side  posts  and  side  post  bracing  are  composed  of  3-in.  x 
4-in.  white  oak,  and  corner  posts  4-in.  x  5-in.  The  end  door 
posts  have  %-in.  rods  extending  from  top  of  head  pieces  to 
under  side  of  end  sills,  and  side  posts  have  J^-in.  r0(,s-  These 
rods  are  let  into  the  posts.  There  are  ten  steel  carlins,  \lA  ins. 
x      in.,  one  to  each  side  post. 

Length  of  car  over  bumpers,  42  ft.  8  ins.,  and  over  corner 
posts,  32  ft.;  width  over  sills,  7  ft.  9  ins.;  width  over  trolley 
board,  11  ft.  1  in.;  width  over  platform  from  rail,  2  ft.  y/2  ins. 


270 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


A  NEW  NILES  SINGLE-AXLE  LATHE 


The  accompanying  engraving  illustrates  a  new  design  of 
single-axle  lathe  which  has  many  improvements  upon  it  that 
will  make  it  of  interest  to  railway  shop  managers,  not  only  as 
to  capacity  for  production,  but  also  as  to  economy  of  labor  in 
manipulation.    This  lathe  is  particularly  well  adapted  to  the 


driven  shafts  at  center  distances  under  which  belts  could  not 
be  operated.  This  not  only  saves  greatly  in  the  room  occupied 
by  the  machinery,  but  also  results  in  a  smoothness  and  quiet- 
ness of  operation  that  is  impossible  with  any  other  type  of 
drive. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  important  feature  of  the 
Morse  chain,  which  is  made  by  the  Morse  Chain  Company, 
Trumansburg,  N.  Y.,  is  the  rocker 
type  of  joints  incorporated  in  its  de- 
sign, which  results  in  rolling  instead 
of  sliding  friction  as  would  otherwise 
result.  One  of  the  most  important 
advantages  of  this  chain  is  its  ease 
of  lubrication  as  well  as  its  durability. 


DOUBLE  CYLINDER  "LIGHTNING" 
FLOORER 


THE  NEW  NILES  SINGLE-AXLE  LATHE  FOR  RAPID  MACHINING  OF  MOTOR  AXLES. 
MOTOR-DRIVEN  THROUGH  MORSE  CHAIN  DRIVE 


machining  of  axles  for  electric  railway  service,  whether  ele- 
vated, surface  or  interurban.  Where  very  heavy  axles  are 
used  and  must  be  handled  in  great  quantities  the  double  type 
of  axle  lathe  would  perhaps  be  preferable,  but  under  normal 
conditions  of  operation  this  lathe  is  equal  to  the  most  exacting 
requirements,  its  capacity  being  sufficient  to  provide  for  the 
turning  of  the  heaviest  locomotive  axles.  It  swings  12  ins. 
over  the  carriage,  and  has  a  maximum  capacity  between  cen- 
ters of  8  ft. 

As  may  be  noted  from  the  engraving,  this  lathe  is  provided 
with  a  simple,  single-speed  headstock,  which  is  provided  with 
a  permanently-mounted  double-equalizing  driver  for  facility  in 
the  mounting  of  the  axle.  Two  carriages  are  provided,  one 
right  hand  and  the  other  left  hand,  both  having  power  feed 
and  rapid  hand  traverse.  Brackets  are  also  provided  at  the 
rear  of  the  bed  on  which  formers  may  be  placed.  The  bed  is 
of  a  very  heavy  design,  strongly  braced  to  resist  torsional 
stresses,  and  is  provided  with  an  effectively  arranged  oil  pan 
for  facilitating  the  use  of  oil  in  rapid  cutting. 

An  economical  and  efficient  adjunct  of  this  lathe's  equipment 
may  be  noted  in  form  of  the  lifting  crane.  The  lifting  crane 
consists  of  a  jib  crane,  with  an  I-beam  shaped  section,  and  has 
a  radius  of  about  6  ft.,  which  is  sufficient  length  to  project  over 
the  middle  of  the  bed.  It  is  substantially  mounted  at  the  rear 
of  the  tailstock,  and  is  equipped  with  a  rapid-lifting  Harrington 
hoist,  by  which  axles  may  be  handled  into  and  out  of  the  lathe 
with  the  utmost  rapidity. 

The  motor  drive  is  an  admirable  example  of  the  application 
of  the  electric  motor  for  the  driving  of  machine  tools.  A  20-hp 
Westinghouse  direct-current  motor  is  used,  driving  the  tool 
through  a  Morse  silent  chain.  The  motor  is  arranged  for 
variable  speeds  by  the  well-known  system  of  field  control,  the 
range  made  available  at  the  motor  armature  being  from  375 
r.  p.  m.  to  1500  r.  p.  m. 

This  drive  is  an  excellent  example  of  the  applicability  of  the 
Morse  chain-drive  to  the  driving  of  machine  tools.  Most 
notable  of  all  is  the  especially  short  distance  between  sprocket 
centers — the  Morse  chain  permits  the  location  of  driving  and 


T  h  e  accompanying  illustration 
shows  an  improved  flooring  machine 
for  car  shops  recently  brought  out  by 
the  J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan  Company,  of 
Cincinnati.  It  was  patented  March 
20,  1900,  and  is  built  especially  for 
those  who  make  flooring,  ceiling, 
siding,  casing  and  other  work  of  that 
character  in  large  quantities.  The 
following  are  some  of  its  important 
points : 

It  works  four  sides  9  ins.  or  14  ins. 
wide  up  to  6  ins.  thick,  and  by  the  use  of  belt-tightening  ap- 
paratus 2-in.  stock  can  be  matched  to  advantage.  This  last 
device  is  a  decided  improvement  on  this  machine,  and  one 
easily  appreciated  by  all  woodworkers.  The  frame  is  massive, 
prevents  vibration  and  resists  all  strain,  and  the  machine  can 
be  run  at  a  very  high  rate  of  speed,  under  instant  control  of 
operator. 

The  feed  is  six  large  powerfully  driven  rolls,  with  expansion 


DOUBLE  CYLINDER  "LIGHTNING"  FLOORER 

gearing,  that  can  be  easily  raised  and  lowered,  and  the  feeding- 
out  one  is  provided  with  scrapers. 

The  matching  works  are  very  heavy,  and  cylinders  four- 
sided  and  slotted,  and  chip-breaking  lips  are  provided  to  work 
cross-grained  or  knotty  lumber.  Shaving  hoods  swing  outward 
to  give  access  to  knives.  Pressure  bars  have  easy  adjustments 
to  insure  easy  operation.  Taken  altogether,  this  machine  will 
be  found  to  possess  many  new  advantages,  and  is  in  fact  one 
of  the  most  successful  specialties  of  the  makers. 




James  F.  Shaw,  of  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway, 
recently  entertained  the  city  officials  of  Salem,  taking  them  on 
a  trolley  ride  from  Salem  to  Worcester,  a  distance  of  66  miles, 
without  a  change.  The  route  was  over  the  Boston  &  Northern 
Street  Railway,  from  Salem  to  Boston ;  thence  over  the  Boston 
elevated  surface  tracks  to  Chestnut  Hill ;  thence  over  the  Bos- 
ton &  Worcester  Street  Railway  to  Worcester,  where  the  trip 
was  completed  over  the  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway. 
The  return  trip  was  over  the  same  route,  a  total  of  132  miles. 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


271 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 

The  Money  Market 

Wall  Street,  Aug.  17,  1904. 
The  money  market  continues  dull  and  without  noteworthy  feat- 
ure. The  tone  is  called  firm,  but  rates  and  conditions  remain  prac- 
tically unchanged  from  those  prevailing  at  the  close  a  week  ago. 
The  influx  of  currency  from  the  interior,  and  the  arrival  of  new 
gold  from  Japan  and  from  the  Klondike  continues  to  increase  the 
cash  holdings  of  the  local  banks,  but  the  demand  for  funds,  both  on 
call  and  time  is  unusually  small,  despite  the  increased  activity  in  the 
securities  market.  Money  on  call  is  in  abundant  supply  at  %  and 
1  per  cent,  but  the  inquiry  is  only  moderate.  Time  money  is  prac- 
tically at  a  standstill.  The  demand  from  stock  commission  houses  is 
almost  nil.  Lenders,  however,  are  not  disposed  to  prune  their 
funds,  or  to  offer  with  any  degree  of  liberality,  owing  to  the  near 
approach  of  the  crop-moving  season,  when  it  is  expected  that  sub- 
stantially better  returns  will  be  obtained  in  all  classes  of  accommo- 
dations. Sixty-day  funds  are  quoted  at  2  per  cent,  ninety  days  at 
2J4  per  cent,  and  over  the  year  maturities  at  3*4  per  cent.  Com- 
mercial paper  is  moderately  active,  with  4  per  cent  the  minimum. 
Gold  continues  to  go  to  Cuba  in  payment  of  the  bonds  recently 
issued,  the  total  amount  to  date  being  $7,000,000.  The  sharp  de- 
cline of  about  40  points  in  the  rates  for  sterling  exchange,  however, 
puts  gold  exports  to  Europe  out  of  the  question,  at  least  for  the 
present.  The  foreign  money  markets  are  somewhat  easier,  rates  at 
all  the  leading  centers  being  slightly  lower  than  a  week  ago.  At 
London  call  money  ranges  at  between  2  and  2j4  per  cent,  while  the 
open  market  discount  rate  for  short  bills  is  2J4  per  cent.  At  Ber- 
lin the  rate  is  2%  per  cent,  while  at  Paris  1*4  per  cent  is  quoted. 

The  Stock  Harket 

The  past  week  has  witnessed  continuance  of  the  rise  in  stocks, 
with  somewhat  broader  trading  and  considerable  activity.  It  can- 
not be  said  as  yet  that  the  outside  public  are  taking  much  of  an 
interest  in  the  dealings ;  the  business  originating  in  commission 
houses  comes  mostly  from  the  semi-professional  traders.  For  the 
rest  the  operations  of  the  regular  professional  element  and  the  pools 
make  up  the  bulk  of  the  business  done.  The  fact  that  outside  pur- 
chases have  not  been  much  in  evidence  is  one  of  the  arguments 
commonly  heard  that  the  upward  movement  has  further  to  go,  be- 
cause there  has  been  as  yet  not  a  sufficient  opportunity  to  distribute 
the  holdings  of  the  insiders.  The  great  impulse  behind  the  advance 
is  still  the  magnificent  outlook  for  the  cotton  and  corn  crops.  The 
government  report  on  crops  published  a  week  ago  made  an  unex- 
pectedly good  showing,  the  condition  of  corn  being  estimated 
higher  on  the  first  of  August  than  on  the  first  of  July,  and  the  condi- 
tion of  spring  wheat  being  decidedly  above  what  the  recent  stories 
of  damage  in  the  Northwest  had  led  the  average  person  to  expect. 
In  a  general  way,  it  may  be  said  that  the  market,  which  had  previ- 
ously been  one  of  specialties,  took  on  its  character  of  a  general 
advance  immediately  on  the  announcements  of  the  crop  estimates. 
One  circumstance  which  has  prevented  complete  confidence  on  the 
part  of  a  speculative  community  is  the  reports  of  an  unsatisfactory 
situation  in  the  iron  trade.  Following  the  recent  cut  in  steel  billets 
made  by  the  Republic  Iron  &  Steel  Company  a  week  ago,  there 
have  come  all  sorts  of  stories  about  an  impending  struggle  be- 
tween the  steel-producing  interests,  and  fears  are  entertained  that 
further  price  cutting  and  other  evidences  of  an.  unpleasant  compe- 
tition may  soon  lie  witnessed.  The  practical  result  of  all  this  is  the 
renewal  of  bearish  feeling  toward  the  Steel  Corporation  securities, 
the  weakness  of  which  has  undoubtedly  retarded  the  upward  ten- 
dency in  the  general  share  list.  Should  events  in  this  quarter  prove 
less  serious  than  anticipated,  we  may  look  to  see  the  upward  move- 
ment go  on  with  the  usual  fluctuations  attending  every  speculation. 

Nothing  yet  has  been  definitely  announced  about  the  much-talked- 
of  traction  deal.  There  is,  however,  an  unusual  confidence  felt  that 
the  advance  in  the  Metropolitan  issues  is  anticipating  some  very  im- 
portant change  to  be  made  known  shortly  in  the  affairs  of  the 
property.  Thai  the  arrangement  contemplates  some  sort  of  an 
alliance  with  the  Interborough  Company  is  the  commonly  accepted 
version.  Interborough  stock  on  the  curb  is  up  nearly  ten  points 
from  where  it  was  selling  a  week  ago.  The  Metropolitan/  shares 
mi  the  Stock  Exchange  have  made  no  such  record  as  this.  Metro- 
politan sold  as  high  as  T2p/l,  and  Metropolitan  Securities  went  to 
'fiVi,  but  since  these  high  levels  were  reached  toward  the  end  of 


last  week  both  issues  have  felt  the  effect  of  very  heavy  realizing 
sales,  and  have  been  weaker  rather  than  stronger  than  the  general 
market.  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  developed  some  independent 
strength,  advancing  to  5454  011  Monday.  It  was  evidently 
moving,  however,  in  sympathy  with  the  general  course  of  prices, 
rather  than  with  the  special  operations  in  the  traction  group. 

Philadelphia 

Trading  in  the  Philadelphia  traction  list  has  not  been  up  to  the 
standard  of  activity  set  by  other  quarters  of  the  market.  Prices 
have  altered  very  little,  dealings  have  been  light.  Philadelphia 
Electric  sold  between  6J4  and  6jM?  all  the  week.  Union  Traction 
did  not  go  above  54^  nor  below  53%.  Nine  hundred  shares  of 
Rapid  Transit  changed  hands  at  the  one  figure  of  13.  Philadelphia 
Traction  did  not  vary  from  98-K  to  Fifty  shares  of  Reading 

Traction  were  taken  at  321/.  Altogether  it  was  a  very  stupid  mar- 
ket outside  of  two  stocks,  American  Railways  and  Philadelphia 
Company  common.  The  former,  after  selling  at  47^  for  340  shares, 
moved  up  on  odd  lots  to  49>}4.  There  was  a  very  marked  scarcity 
of  the  stock  for  sale.  Philadelphia  common  declined  from  39  to 
3854,  then  gained  a  point  to  3954.  The  preferred  sold  down  a 
point  from  45T4  to  44J4- 
Chicago 

There  were  no  outside  developments  of  interest  in  the  market  for 
traction  shares  during  the  week.  A  few  more  sales  were  recorded 
than  in  the  previous  weeks,  but  the  increase  was  hardly  noteworthy. 
South  Side  Elevated  continued  heavy  around  89.  Fifty  shares  of 
Northwestern  Elevated  common  were  taken  at  16V2,  and  50  of  the 
preferred  at  47J4-  West  Chicago  sold  at  43,  North  Chicago  at  70. 
and  Union  Traction  preferred  at  30.  One  hundred  Metropolitan 
Elevated  common  sold  at  i8}4,  and  25  shares  at  1834.  City  Railway 
sold  at  172J/2  to  175  for  35  shares,  and  30  shares  of  Metropolitan 
preferred  went  at  54. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

Trading  has  been  very  light  in  all  the  Boston  specialties  during 
the  week.  Elevated  shares  have  hung  idle  around  150.  Massachu- 
setts Electric  preferred  has  weakened  again  from  69^2  to  685.-2,  100 
shares  selling  at  the  latter  figure.  No  transactions  are  reported  in 
Massachusetts  common.  West  End  common  sold  at  91^4  and  later 
at  91,  and  the  preferred  at  112.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  Georgia 
Electric  common  changed  hands  at  44^2  to  45.  In  Baltimore  the 
United  Railway  generals  were  strong  at  an  advance  to  93M5.  The 
income  bonds  rose  from  47  to  48,  and  reacted  to  47^.  Six  hundred 
shares  of  the  stock  were  dealt  in  between  8%  and  8%.  The  only 
other  transactions  comprised  Charleston  Consolidated  5s  at  84*4  to 
85,  Atlanta  Street  Railway  5s  at  io6;4  and  Augusta  Street  Railway 
Ss  at  101.  On  the  New  York  curb,  the  heavy  dealings  and  sensa- 
tional rise  in  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  have  monopolized  in- 
terest. Between  133  and  139,  which  were  the  low  and  high  figures 
for  the  week  ending  Saturday,  13,000  shares  changed  hands.  On 
Monday  the  stock  advanced  to  143H  on  transactions  of  9000  shares, 
and  on  Tuesday  it  rose  to  144*4,  with  sales  of  4500  shares.  The 
mysterious  "deal"  which  has  already  been  alluded  to  in  a  previous 
paragraph,  was  the  motive  for  this  remarkable  movement.  Wash- 
ington Traction  issues  were  the  only  other  active  feature,  600  shares 
of  the  preferred  stock  being  dealt  in  between  65  and  66,  and  $148,000 
of  the  bonds  between  80%  and  83  ;4.  Nassau  Electric  4s  continued 
their  advance,  selling  on  the  curb  as  high  as  85  and  on  the  Stock 
Exchange  as  high  as  87.    New  Orleans  4j4s  sold  at  74?4- 

Cincinnati  Street  Railway  gained  strength  at  Cincinnati  last 
week  and  advanced  to  14254,  sales  about  260  shares,  all  small. 
Detroit  United  advanced  from  64*4  to  6554.  Cincinnati,  Newport 
&  Covington  preferred  sold  at  88V2  on  sales  of  240  shares.  Indian- 
apolis Street  Railway  preferred  sold  at  8554  on  several  sales  ag- 
gregating $_| 7,000  worth. 

Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  bonds  have  been  attracting  attention  in 
Cleveland  since  the  Andrews-Stanley  interests  acquired  control, 
and  several  large  blocks  were  bought  for  investment  purposes  last 
week  at  90  to  90J4,  with  inquiiy  for  more  at  these  figures.  More 
than  $400,000  of  the  underlying  bonds  of  the  Detroit  United  have 
been  sold* lately  to  investors,  and  there  have  been  private  sales  of 
Cleveland  &  Southwestern,  Cleveland  Electric  and  Toledo  &  West- 
ern bonds  in  rather  large  lots.  Announcement  is  made  that  Eastern 
interests  have  practically  completed  a  deal  to  purchase  $1,000,000 
Northern  Ohio  Traction  and  Light  4s  and  5s.    The  former  have 


272 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


been  selling  at  around  58  and  the  latter  around  72,  and  in  view  of 
the  earnings  of  the  road,  they  are  now  regarded  as  first-class  se- 
curities. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
last  week: 

Closing  Bid 
Aug.  9   Aug.  16 

American  Railways  '                              47%  49 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago   :                                    al2  al2 

Boston  Elevated                                                                            149  150 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                                  52%  53% 

Chicago  City                                                                            170  170 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                   4%  5% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                               —  30% 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                           71  70 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                             66%  66% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                       109  108y2 

Detroit  United                                                                                64  66 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                          134%  142% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)                                                      —  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                  3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                        150  151% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)                                          17%  17% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                         69  65% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                    18%  18% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                  52%  52% 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                        123%  123% 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                   88%  93% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                     9  9% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                                a30%  29 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                        74  74% 

North  American                                                                               85%  88 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                    13%  12% 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                   38%  39% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                             12%  12% 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     98%  98% 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                         9%  9% 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                       88  89 

Third  Avenue                                                                                124%  124 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                 97%  99 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                      53%  53% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                            53%  52 

West  End  (common)                                                                      91  91 

West  End  (preferred)                                                                    HI  Ul% 

a  Asked. 

Iron  and  Steel 

The  alleged  cutting  of  steel  billet  prices  has  furnished  the  chief 
topic  of  discussion  in  the  steel  trade  during  the  week.  It  is 
pointed  out,  however,  by  leading  authorities  that  the  market  for 
billets  has  in  reality  been  an  "open  market"  for  some  time  past,  that 
quotations  have  been  adjusted  on  a  sliding-scale  system,  declining 
with  the  quotations  for  pig  iron,  and  consequently  that  the  big 
consumers  have  all  along  been  obtaining  their  billets  for  much  less 
than  the  nominal  rate.  A  more  serious  possibility  confronting  the 
trade  is  a  dissolution  of  the  pools  in  structural  material  and  plates 
which  hitherto  have  been  fairly  successful  in  holding  prices  up  to  the 
published  schedules.  Quotations  are  as  follows  :  Bessemer  pig  iron 
$12.35,  Bessemer  steel  $23  (nominal),  steel  rails  $28  (nominal). 

Iletais. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:    Copper  12^ 
to  I2J4  cents,  tin  27  cents,  lead  4I/g  cents,  and  spelter  4  15-16  cents. 
 ■ 

CLEVELAND  &  SOUTHWESTERN  POWER  CHANGES 


INTERBOROUGH  RAPID  TRANSIT  REPORT  FOR  QUARTER 
ENDING  JUNE  30 


The  Cleveland  6k  Southwestern  Tcaction  Company  will  shortly 
abandon  its  old  power  station  at  Rockport,  and  the  entire  system 
of  135  miles  of  road  will  be  operated  from  the  main  station  of  the 
company  near  Carlisle.  This  station,  which  contains  two  1500-kw 
Westinghouse-Parsons  steam  turbines,  was  fully  described  in  a 
recent  issue  of  Street  Railway  Journal,  and  the  abandonment  of 
the  old  plant  is  in  line  with  the  distribution  plan  outlined  in  the 
article.  Two  300-kw  rotaries  have  been  installed  in  the  old  build- 
ing, and  the  old  equipment,  consisting  of  three  250-hp  Allis  & 
Slater  engines  with  three  300-kw  Westinghouse  &  Walker  gen- 
erators, will  probably  be  dismantled.  The  change  is  being  awaited 
with  considerable  interest  by  the  engineers  of  the  company,  as  it 
will  throw  the  full  load  of  the  system  onto  the  turbines,  and  will 
enable  them  to  make  some  interesting  efficiency  tests  which  have 
been  impossible  heretofore  because  the  old  station  was  cut  in  with 
the  new. 


The  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  filed  at  Albany 
its  report  for  the  quarter  ended  June  30,  which  shows  an  increase 
in  surplus  of  $211,112.  As  the  Interborough  began  operating  the 
Manhattan  Railway  under  lease  on  April  1,  19x53,  the  quarter  ended 
June  30  last  is  the  first  which  can  be  compared  with  a  correspond- 
ing quarter  in  the  previous  year.  The  earnings  for  the  fiscal  year 
ended  June  30,  1904,  made  up  by  combining  the  figures  of  the  last 
four  quarterly  reports,  show:  Gross  earnings,  $14,187,684;  oper- 
ating expenses,  $5,846,052;  net  earnings,  $8,341,632;  other  income, 
$341,504;  total  income,  $8,683,136;  fixed  charges,  $6,757,412;  sur- 
plus, $1,925,724.  This  surplus  is  equivalent  to  SJA  per  cent  on  the 
outstanding  stock  of  the  company. 

The  results  of  operation  for  the  quarter  ended  June  30  are 
shown  as  follows : 

1904  1903 

Gross  earnings    $3,746,101  $3,271,787 

Operating  expenses   1,532,213  1,302,089 

Net  earnings    $2,213,888  $1,969,698 

Other  income    81,768  90,187 

Total   $2,295,656  $2,059,885 

Fixed  charges    1,537,222  1,512,563 

Surplus    $758,434  $547,322 

The  general  balance  sheet  shows  cash  on  hand  $2,432,770,  and 
a  profit  and  loss  surplus  of  $1,773,048. 

A  dividend  of  2  per  cent  on  the  $35,000,000  capital  stock  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  was  paid  on  July  1. 



PROPOSED  PLAN  OF  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  BRISTOL 
COUNTY  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY  AND  THE 
MIDDLEBORO,  WAREHAM  &  BUZZARDS 
BAY  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


The  plan  of  reorganization  of  the  Bristol  County  Street  Railway 
and  the  Middleboro,  Wareham  &  Buzzards  Bay  Street  Railway 
provides  for  the  organization  of  a  securities  or  holding  trust  under 
the  name  of  the  Southeastern  Electric  Companies,  on  the  plan  of 
the  Massachusetts  Electric  Companies,  with  a  preferred  stock  and 
a  common  stock  and  having  as  assets  all  the  stock  of  the  Middle- 
boro, Wareham  &  Buzzards  Bay  and  Bristol  County  Railways,  and 
to  offer  to  creditors  of  the  Middleboro  Road  common  stock  of 
the  trust  in  exchange  for  claims  allowed  by  the  receivers  on  the 
basis  of  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar  and  to  creditors  of  the  Bristol 
County  Street  Railway  common  stock  on  the  basis  of  one  hundred 
cents  on  the  dollar.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  it  is  proposed  to 
ask  the  receivers  to  sell  the  Middleboro  and  Bristol  County  prop- 
erties subject  to  the  respective  mortgage  deeds  and  to  purchase 
said  properties  at  such  receivers'  sale  in  the  interest  of  the  holding 
trust  at  such  price  as  may  be  possible. 

It  will  be  necessary,  if  the  Middleboro  and  Bristol  County  Rail- 
ways are  acquired  by  purchase  at  the  receivers'  sale,  to  raise  ap- 
proximately $150,000  in  cash  to  settle  prior  claims  and  necessary 
expenses.  This  is  to  be  raised  by  a  sufficient  issue  of  preferred 
stock  of  the  trust,  which  shall  be  preferred  in  liquidation  up  to 
par  and  be  preferred  in  dividends  out  of  the  earnings  up  to  5  per 
cent.  The  amount  of  the  common  stock  of  the  holding  trust  dis- 
tributed in  exchange  for  claims  may  be  roughly  estimated  at  not 
exceeding  $700,000. 

Under  the  above  plan  a  creditor  has  the  alternative  to  take  such 
dividend  as  a  sale  of  the  roads  will  yield  him  or  to  join  with  other 
creditors  who  may  be  so  disposed  in  working  out  the  problem 
through  the  conservation  of  the  roads  themselves. 

It  is  reported,  after  investigation,  that  the  physical  condition 
of  the  roads  is  good.  The  Bristol  County  has  the  right  to  build 
through  Seekonk  to  the  Rhode  Island  line  and  is  now  so  operated 
as  to  run  its  cars  to  Pawtucket.  The  plans  above  set  forth  would 
probably  admit  of  running  through  cars  from  Pawtucket  through 
Attleboro,  Taunton  and  Middleboro  to  Buzzards  Bay,  a  total  dis- 
tance of  about  50  miles.  A  connecting  line  could  be  built  between 
Taunton  and  Middleboro,  a  distance  of  about  it  miles,  and  with  a 
power  house  to  operate  the  Middleboro  road,  the  increase  in  fares 
secured  by  the  receivers  and  the  joint  operation  of  the  roads  econ- 
omies could  be  worked  that  would  no  doubt  result  in  creating  a 
surplus. 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


273 


INDIANA  STATE  TAX  BOARD  ENCOURAGES  INTERURBANS 


The  Indiana  State  Tax  Board  has  concluded  to  reduce  the 
assessments  for  taxation  against  the  interurban  roads  operating 
in  the  State.  The  decrease  on  the  assessments  was  wholly  unex- 
pected by  the  interurban  corporations,  as  their  representatives 
had  only  asked  that  they  remain  the  same  as  for  last  year.  J.  L. 
Jones,  of  Philadelphia,  and  George  F.  McCulloch  and  others  ad- 
dressed the  members  of  the  board  and  stated  that  the  earnings 
would  have  to  be  large  this  year  if  they  covered  the  necessary 
improvements  on  account  of  the  flood  and  paid  the  operating  ex- 
penses and  fixed  charges.  They  impressed  the  board  with  the 
fact  that  the  interurban  business  was  in  its  infancy,  and  that  the 
State  of  Indiana  should  do  all  in  its  power  to  encourage  the 
building  of  more  railways  and  the  improvement  and  extension  of 
those  already  built.  The  board  voted  to  allow  the  assessment  on 
other  corporate  interests  remain  at  about  the  same  figure  for 
last  year,  including  railroad,  telegraph  and  telephone  lines,  pipe 
lines,  etc.,  but  will  decrease  the  assesment  on  express  companies 
and  interurban  lines. 

 ♦♦♦  

CHICAGO  TRACTION  MATTERS 


The  franchise  ordinance  which  the  Local  Transportation  Com- 
mittee of  the  Chicago  City  Council  has  drawn  up  for  the  Chica- 
go City  Railway  Company  has  been  published  in  pamphlet  form 
for  general  distribution  in  Chicago.  The  essential  features  of  this 
ordinance  were  given  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  July  30. 
The  directors  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company  have  taken 
no  action  on  this  ordinance,  many  of  them  being  out  of  the  city, 
and  President  Hamilton  being  in  Europe.  It  is  thought  that  a 
similar  ordinance  will  be  drawn  up  for  the  Chicago  Union  Trac- 
tion Company.  The  new  ordinance  cannot  be  voted  upon  by  the 
Council  before  fall.  There  is  a  possibility  that  it  may  be  submitted 
to  a  referendum  vote  of  the  people  at  the  November  election. 
Mayor  Harrison  has  expressed  himself  to  the  effect  that  unless  a 
petition  is  presented  asking  that  the  ordinance  be  submitted  to 
the  people  at  the  November  election,  he  will  consider  that  it  is 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  will  be  favorable  to  its  passage. 

Mayor  Harrison  has  since  issued  the  following  proclamation  re- 
garding the  ordinance: 

To  the  Citizens  of  Chicago :  I  believe  that  the  proposed  Chicago 
City  Railway  Ordinances  is  the  best  practical  solution  of  the  trac- 
tion question  in  the  present  circumstances.  It  solves  the  question 
of  immediate  improvement  of  the  service,  and  at  the  same  time, 
by  securing  a  waiver  of  the  ninety-nine  year  claim,  avoids  expen- 
sive and  protracted  litigation  and  opens  the  way  for  municipal 
ownership. 

In  accordance,  however,  with  my  repeated  pledges,  I  desire  to 
afford  an  ample  opportunity  for  an  expression  of  public  opinion  on 
the  proposed  Chicago  City  Railway  Company  Ordinance.  There- 
fore, if  a  referendum  is  desired  upon  the  proposition,  it  is  sug- 
gested that  those  who  object  to  the  passage  of  said  ordinance  imme- 
diately undertake  the  work  of  securing  the  signatures  necessary  to 
have  the  question  placed  on  the  ballot  at  the  November  election. 

On  Sept.  9,  the  time  expires  for  filing  the  petition  with  the  Board 
of  Election  Commissioners  in  order  to  have  the  proposition  sub- 
mitted to  vote  at  said  election  ;  but  if,  by  the  date  of  the  next 
Council  meeting,  Oct.  3,  it  appears  that  a  sufficient  number  have 
signed  such  petition  to  indicate  a  general  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  Chicago  for  its  submission,  I  shall  recommend  to  the 
City  Council  that  the  consideration  of  said  ordinance  be  deferred 
a  reasonable  time  for  securing  the  remainder  of  the  signatures 
necessary ;  and  if  the  remainder  of  the  necessary  signatures  are 
obtained  by  Oct.  20,  and  if  the  question  cannot  be  submitted  at  the 
November  election,  I  shall  then  recommend  the  deferring  of  the  or- 
dinance until  it  shall  have  been  voted  on  at  the  spring  municipal  elec- 
tion, 1905. 

Unless  a  petition  with  the  necessary  number  of  signatures  is  filed 
by  Oct.  20  next,  it  will  be  assumed  that  the  ordinance  meets  with 
public  approval,  and  will  be  called  up  for  passage  in  the  City 
Council.  Carter  H.  Harrison,  Mayor. 

The  preparation  of  a  plan  for  a  through  routing  of  elevated  cars 
has  been  referred  by  the  Local  Transportation  Committee  to 
Frank  Hedley,  general  superintendent  of  the  Tnterborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  of  New  York,  and  George  A.  Yuille,  general 
manager  of  the  Chicago  Engineering  &  Constructing  Company. 
Mr.  Yuille  has  already  done  much  valuable  expert  work  in  con- 
nection with  Chicago's  transportation  problem. 


THE  LOADING  OF  FREIGHT  IN  THE  STREETS 


An  interesting  and  important  interurban  question  has  been 
raised  at  Kokomo,  Ind.,  involving  the  right  of  interurban  companies 
to  load  and  unload  freight  upon  the  streets  of  a  city.  Dr.  J.  C. 
Thorn,  in  his  complaint  and  action  at  law  against  the  Indianapolis 
Northern  Traction  Company,  alleges  that  the  traction  company 
uses  the  street  in  front  of  his  house  for  loading  and  unloading 
freight,  and  he  challenges  the  right  of  the  company  to  do  this. 
The  company  claims  that  its  franchise  gives  it  a  right  to  such  use 
of  the  street,  but  the  city  officials-  are  inclined  to  oppose  their  in- 
terpretation of  the  franchise.  As  this  same  question  is  likely  to 
be  raised  in  other  Indiana  cities,  the  Kokomo  case  will  be  watched 
with  interest  by  traction  managers  and  property  owners. 

 — 

CLEVELAND  CROSS-TOWN  LINE  DEFEATED 

In  a  sensational  speech  before  the  City  Council  Monday  evening, 
Aug.  8,  Mayor  Tom  L.  Johnson,  of  Cleveland,  defeated  the  aims  of 
the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company  for  a  cross-town  line 
on  Woodland  Hills  Avenue  and  Doan  Street.  The  cross-town 
line,  which  is  badly  needed  by  citizens  of  the  south  and  east  ends 
of  the  city,  was  almost  unanimously  supported  by  the  residents  of 
the  streets  to  be  traversed.  The  company  only  asked  for  a  ten- 
year  grant,  and  there  was  every  indication  that  the  ordinance 
would  have  passed  had  it  not  been  for  the  Mayor's  statements. 
He  declared  that  in  the  petition  filed  by  the  Cleveland  Electric 
Railway  recently  to  restrain  the  Forest  City  Railway  Company, 
the  three-cent  fare  company,  from  taking  possession  of  Woodland 
Avenue  line  on  Sept.  8,  1904,  under  the  ordinance  granted  by  the 
city  some  time  ago,  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  claimed  that 
every  franchise  it  owns  had  been  extended  to  1914. 

The  company  based  its  claim  upon  the  fact  that  whenever 
the  city  obliged  the  company  to  issue  transfers  from  one  line  to 
another  or  intersecting  line,  the  grant  of  every  line  so  included 
was  lengthened  to  the  life  of  the  grant  that  expires  last,  even 
though  not  a  word  of  such  extension  was  mentioned  in  any  of 
the  franchises.  Mr.  Johnson  stated  that,  according  to  the  com- 
pany's claim,  even  where  the  city  gave  the  company  an  ex- 
tension of  but  a  few  blocks  of  track  and  then  required  the  com- 
pany to  give  transfers  to  and  from  the  extension,  the  life  of  the 
grants  of  all  the  connecting  lines  is  lengthened  to  the  life  of 
the  last  existing  grant.  The  city  claims  the  Woodland  Avenue 
grant  expires  in  1904.  The  company  has  claimed  that  with  the 
change  from  horse  power  to  electricity,  the  life  of  the  grant  was 
changed  to  the  expiiation  of  the  Lorane  Street  grant  in  1908. 
because  the  Woodland  line  was  connected  with  it.  Now  the  com- 
pany in  its  court  petition  further  claims  that  as  the  combined 
Woodland-Lorane  line  issues  transfers  to  the  Willson  Avenue 
cross-town  line,  the  life  of  the  Woodland-Lorane  franchise  is  ex- 
tended to  expire  in  1914,  when  the  Willson  Avenue  grant  ex- 
pires. 

The  Mayor  warned  the  Council  that  if  it  passed  the  Woodland 
Hills  Avenue  grant,  and  if  the  ordinance  provided  for  transfers  to 
intersecting  lines,  the  life  of  each  intersecting  line,  if  the  Cleveland 
Electric  Company's  claim  holds  good  in  law,  would  expire  with 
the  franchise  of  the  new  cross-town  line.  The  courts,  he  said, 
might  uphold  the  contention,  and  might  not,  but  he  urged  the 
Council  not  to  take  the  risk.   As  a  result  the  ordinance  was  tabled. 



CHIHUAHUA  ELECTRIC  TRACTION  PROJECT 


Chihuahua,  the  capital  city  of  the  State  of  Chihuahua,  Mexico, 
and  one  of  the  most  important  commercial  and  mining  centers  in 
the  Southern  Republic,  will,  it  is  expected,  shortly  start  an  up-to- 
date  electric  traction  system.  Advices  just  to  hand  state  that  S.  L. 
Pearce,  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  acting  on  behalf  of  American  capitalists, 
has  obtained  franchises  and  options  on  the  existing  horse  car  sys- 
tems which  operate  in  and  around  Chihuahua.  The  Campania 
Tranvia  de  Chihuahua  (the  Chihuahua  Tramway  Company), 
which  operates  slightly  over  6  miles  of  mule  lines,  and  is  controlled 
by  Enrique  C.  Creel,  the  Chihuahua  capitalist,  who  is  well  known  .n 
New  York,  will  be  converted  into  electric  traction  within  a  short 
space  of  time  if  present  plans  go  through.  The  Ferrocarril  Mineral, 
a  steam  system  operating  between  Chihuahua  and  Santa  Eulalia, 
has  also  granted  an  option  on  its  property  to  Mr.  Pearce.  The 
Mineral  road  is  about  15  miles  long.  Some  24,000  tons  of  ore  are 
carried  over  its  line  every  month.  It  is  also  intended  to  operate 
this  line  by  electrical  motive  power.  Mr.  Pearce,  who  at  the  mo- 
ment is  in  Chihuahua,  is  expected  to  pay  a  visit  to  New  York  about 
the  end  of  the  month 


274 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


AN  IMPORTANT  TAX  DECISION  IN  NEW  YORK  STATE 


The  Court  of  Appeals  at  Albany,  in  a  suit  against  the  Crosstown 
Street  Railway  Company,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  to  recover  certain 
moneys  from  the  company  in  the  way  of  taxes,  has  sustained 
the  contention  of  the  railway  company  that  the  sum  paid  by  it  to 
the  city  under  agreement  by  which  the  municipality  was  to  receive 
;:.  certain  percentage  of  the  company's  gross  earnings,  should  be 
deducted  from  the  city  tax  upon  the  company's  special  franchise 
as  assessed  by  the  State  Board  of  Tax  Commissioners. 

This  agreement  was  entered  into  in  January,  1892.  Under  it  the 
city  collected  $13,480.45  for  1900  and  1901,  the  year  preceding  the 
levying  of  the  special  franchise  tax.  The  tax  amounted  to  $44,- 
740.05,  and  this  is  the  sum  Comptroller  Heerwagen,  of  Buffalo, 
sued  for  in  behalf  of  the  city.  The  company  expressed  its  willing- 
ness to  pay  the  franchise  tax,  less  the  sum  paid  into  the  city  treas- 
ury under  what  is  known  as  the  "Milburn  agreement."  In  the 
Trial  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court  the  city  secured  the  full  amount. 
The  Appellate  Division  reversed  this  judgment.  The  Court  of 
Appeals  directs  that  the  judgment  of  the  Appellate  be  modified 
so  as  to  reduce  the  judgment  awarded  by  the  trial  court  by  de- 
ducting $13,430  and  interest. 

The  question  that  arose  on  trial  was  whether  this  payment  could 
be  considered  as  a  tax  and  therefore  deductible  from  the  amount 
of  the  franchise  tax  under  Sec.  46  of  the  Tax  law.  The  Court  of 
Appeals  holds  that  it  is  not  a  tax,  but  rather  in  the  nature  of  rent. 
Judge  Cullen  says  :  "It  seems  reasonable  that  the  holder  of  a  fran- 
chise burdened  by  an  annual  rent  or  charge  should  not  be  taxed  as 
highly  as  the  holder  of  a  similar  franchise  unencumbered." 

 ♦   

NOVEL  EXCURSIONS  BY  OHIO  ROADS 


The  interurban  roads  centering  at  Dayton  and  Springfield,  Ohio, 
are  working  up  a  great  deal  of  extra  business  by  means  of  spe- 
cial excursions  to  the  several  society  institutions  in  that  dis- 
trict. Last  week  the  Dayton  &  Western  Traction  Company,  in 
connection  with  the  Dayton  &  Xenia  Traction  Company,  had  a  per- 
sonally conducted  excursion  to  the  Soldiers'  Home  at  Xenia.  The 
excursion  was  composed  almost  exclusively  of  farmers  and  har- 
vesters between  Kingsville  and  New  Paris,  and  over  1000  people 
w  ere  handled.  Guides  conducted  the  excursionists  to  all  points  of 
interest  around  the  home  and  provided  other  conveniences  which 
tended  to  make  the  trip  an  enjoyable  one.  This  month,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Dayton,  Springfield  &  Urbana  Railway,  the 
Dayton  interurbans  will  have  excursions  of  Masons.  Odd  Fellows 
and  Knights  of  Pythias,  from  towns  as  far  as  Cincinnati  and  Rich- 
mond, Ind.  The  delegations  will  visit  the  home  of  the  respective 
orders  in  Springfield. 

 ♦♦♦  

PRESIDENT  CLARK  SAYS  LOS  ANGELES  SHOULD  NOT 
STAND  IN  HER  OWN  LIGHT 


E.  P.  Clark,  president  of  the  Los  Angeles-Pacific  Railroad  Com- 
pany, upon  his  return  to  Los  Angeles  from  a  recent  trip  East 
after  high-speed  rolling  stock  for  improved  service  over  all  lines 
of  his  company,  said  to  a  representative  of  the  Street  Railway 
Journal : 

"I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  broad-gaging  all  the  street  railway 
systems  of  Los  Angeles,  and  I  believe  in  time  it  will  be  done. 
Better  service  for  both  railroad  and  public  can  thus  be  obtained. 
While  in  the  East  (and  I  visited  all  the  larger  cities)  I  saw  no 
street  railway  that  could  even  compare  with  those  of  Los  Angeles. 
We  have  absolutely  the  best  here,  excepting  no  place  in  the  United 
States,  if  not  in  the  world.  Does  the  public  appreciate  that? 
For  every  move  that  Mr.  Huntington  or  anybody  else  makes  to 
improve,  enlarge  or  better  his  system  there  is  always  a  cry  from 
a  certain  class  of  citizens  that  the  city  is  being  robbed." 

"But  the  fear  is  that  broad-gage  tracks  will  mean  freight  cars," 
was  ventured. 

"Yes,  I  have  heard  that  cry  before,  and  that  is  another  point  I 
investigated  in  the  East.  I  found  that  every  street  railway  fran- 
chise in  the  city  of  New  York  carried  with  it  the  privilege  of 
carrying  freight,  baggage,  etc.,  to  suburban  points.  The  president 
of  one  of  the  companies  there  told  me  that  there  was  no  hue  and 
cry  ever  raised  about  it,  and  that  the  public  considers  it  a  great 
convenience.  Stand  anywhere  in  New  York,  and  about  every  hour 
or  so  an  express  car  will  come  quietly  along.  If  the  stuff  being- 
hauled  did  not  go  in  electric  express  cars,  it  would  probably  poke 
along,  blocking  up  the  thoroughfares. 

"Los  Angeles  cannot  afford  to  be  narrow-gage  on  anything;  it 
is  growing  too  fast  for  pinching  methods.  The  railroads  are  will- 
ing to  pay  for  what  they  get,  but  the  public  must  not  stand  in  its 
own  light." 


THAT  ST.  JOSEPH-DES  MOINES  LINE 


F.  S.  Mordaunt,  of  Mordaunt  &  Company,  of  Chicago,  111.,  has 
been  in  Iowa  most  of  the  summer,  promoting  a  new  line  of  rail- 
road from  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  to  Des  Moines,  la.  The  St.  Joseph, 
Albany  &  Des  Moines  Railroad  Company  has  been  incorporated 
under  the  laws  of  Missouri  to  construct  and  operate  the  line.  Mr. 
Mordaunt  claims  to  represent  New  York  capitalists  before  whom 
the  scheme  was  laid  by  him  and  Percival  Steele,  who  is  closely 
identified  with  the  Goulds.  Mr.  Mordaunt  states  that  the  New 
York  capitalists  will  furnish  the  capital  to  construct  and  equip  the 
road,  provided  terminals  can  be  obtained  in  Des  Moines  and  St. 
Joseph,  and  the  right  of  way  secured  between  St.  Joseph  and 
Des  Moines.  The  surveyors  are  now  in  the  field  and  have  sur- 
veyed the  line  from  St.  Joseph  as  far  north  as  Cresto'n,  la.  They 
will  reach  Des  Moines  some  time  during  the  latter  part  of  August. 
Surveyor  Terhune,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  engineers,  states  that 
the  route  so  far  surveyed  is  entirely  satisfactory,  and  that  they 
will  be  able  to  secure  a  1  per  cent  grade.  Mr.  Mordaunt  has  been 
visiting  the  cities  and  towns  which  will  likely  be  reached  by  the 
line,  and  has  been  endeavoring  to  interest  the  citizens  thereof  in 
the  project.  Mt.  Ayr,  Creston,  Arispe,  Winterset  and  Macksburg 
have  been  visited  and  the  matter  of  taxes  in  aid  of  the  road  and 
the  granting  of  franchises  and  right  of  way  have  been  presented 
to  the  business  men  of  the  respective  towns.  The  business  men 
and  citizens  of  all  the  towns  in  Iowa,  with  the  exception  of  Winter- 
set,  are  heartily  in  favor  of  the  project  and  will  aid  in  providing 
right  of  way  and  voting  taxes.  Mr.  Mordaunt  states  that  the  out- 
look for  the  construction  of  the  line  is  really  better  than  he  an- 
ticipated. The  line,  if  constructed,  will  reach  a  part  of  Iowa  which 
is  many  miles  distant  from  any  line  of  railway. 

 ♦♦♦  ■ 

EXTENSIONS  OF  THE  SOUTH  SIDE  ELEVATED  RAILROAD 

CHICAGO 


The  stockholders  of  the  South  Side  Elevated  Railroad  Com- 
pany held  a  special  meeting  Aug.  9,  at  which  they  voted  to  rescind 
the  action  taken  at  the  last  special  meeting,  when  an  increase  of 
$7,000,000  in  the  capital  stock  of  the  company  was  authorized.  In 
place  of  this  it  was  voted  to  authorize  an  issue  of  $8,000,000  in  4^ 
per  cent  bonds.  Of  this  amount  $3,000,000  will  be  issued  immedi- 
ately, of  which  $750,000  will  be  used  to  retire  a  like  amount  of 
present  outstanding  first  mortgage  bonds.  The  plans  for  exten- 
sions have  been  under  consideration  for  a  long  time,  so  that  they 
can  be  rapidly  carried  out.  The  present  track  mileage  of  the  road 
will  be  almost  doubled  by  the  construction  of  branches  to  Engle- 
vvood  ami  the  Stock  Yards,  and  a  third  track  between  Fortieth 
Street  and  the  downtown  district,  over  which  express  trains  can 
lie  run.  The  company  is  now  paying  4  per  cent  dividends  on  its 
capital  stock  of  $10,323,800,  and  earning  more  than  6  per  cent. 
Part  of  the  bond  issue  will  be  taken  by  the  Illinois  Trust  &  Sav- 
ings Bank. 



COUNTRY  FAIRS  ARE  BONANZAS  FOR  OHIO  ROADS 


The  management  of  the  Western  Ohio  Railway  Company  has 
been  largely  instrumental  in  the  successful  formation  of  a  fair 
association  known  as  the  Western  Ohio  Fair  Circuit.  A  fair  cir- 
cuit has  been  arranged  as  follows  :  Mercer  County  at  Celina,  Aug. 
15  to  19;  Darke  County.  Greenville,  Aug.  22  to  26;  New  Bremen 
Tri-County  Fair,  New  Bremen,  Aug.  30  to  Sept.  2 ;  Shelby  County, 
Sidney,  Sept.  6  to  9;  Allen  County,  Lima,  Sept.  15  to  17;  Miami 
County,  Piqua,  Sept.  19  to  23 ;  Auglaize  County,  Wapakoneta,  Sept. 
27  to  30,  and  Putnam  County,  Ottawa,  Oct.  4  to  8.  The  lines  of 
the  Western  Ohio  Company  touch  nearly  all  of  these  points.  It 
will  give  special  rates  and  extra  service  for  all  of  the  events,  and 
expects  to  derive  considerable  revenue  by  moving  goods  and  live 
stock  for  parties  who  follow  the  circuit.  The  Cleveland  &  South- 
western Traction  Company  will  have  fairs  at  Wooster.  Medina, 
Berea,  Wellington  and  Elyria  this  fall.  Through  the  Electric 
Package  Company  it  has  made  arrangements  with  a  number  of 
parties  to  move  their  goods  and  horses  to  the  fairs.  Nearly  all 
ot  the  Ohio  roads  are  making  special  efforts  to  cater  to  the  country 
fairs  this  year,  and  the  convenience  of  the  traction  lines  in  moving 
goods  and  people  is  giving  new  life  to  the  old-time  fairs.  Many 
of  the  roads  are  advertising  the  fairs  in  the  large  cities,  and  attract 
a  great  deal  of  business  from  people  who  formerly  lived  in  the 
country,  and  who,  when  their  attention  is  called  to  it,  are  easily  in- 
duced to  attend  the  attraction  in  their  native  village. 


1 


August  20,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


275 


LOOKING  OVER  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL'S  LINES  IN  CENTRAL 
NEW  YORK 


Several  steam  railroad  men  connected  with  the  Vanderbilt  inter- 
ests, and  electric  railway  men  connected  with  the  Stanley- Andrews 
syndicate,  made  a  trip  of  inspection,  Saturday,  Aug.  13,  over 
the  West  Shore  Railroad  between  Utica  and  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and 
the  Auburn  branch  of  the  New  York  Central,  which  operates  be- 
tween Syracuse  and  Rochester,  with  a  view  to  the  future  running 
of  electric  trains  over  those  lines,  as  outlined  in  the  interview  with 
Mr.  Andrews  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  last  week.  The 
party  included  General  Superintendent  A.  H.  Smith,  of  the  New 
York  Central ;  Assistant  Superintendent  Fripp ;  Engineer  C.  E. 
Lindsey ;  Horace  E.  Andrews,  of  Cleveland,  president  of  the  Utica 
and  Cleveland  Electric  Railways,  and  head  of  the  Andrews-Stan- 
ley syndicate ;  First  Vice-President  John  J.  Stanley,  of  Cleveland : 
C.  Loomis  Allen,  general  manager  of  the  Utica  Company ;  Attor- 
ney F.  J.  Kernan  and  others,  including  many  of  the  heaviest  stock- 
holders in  the  Utica  Company.  The  start  was  made  from  Utica 
at  7  a.  m.,  going  to  Fairport,  near  Rochester,  over  the  West  Shore, 
the  road  reported  to  be  slated  for  electrical  service  first.  From 
Fairport  to  Rochester  the  party  went  over  the  main  line.  From 
Rochester  the  party  took  the  Falls  road  to  Suspension  Bridge  and 
thence  to  Buffalo. 

■  +++  

TOLEDO  COUNCIL  TO  EXAMINE  TOLEDO  RAILWAY  & 
LIGHT  ACCOUNTS 


The  committee  on  street  railways,  of  the  Toledo  Council,  after 
spending  some  time  in  going  over  the  books  of  the  Toledo  Rail- 
ways &  Light  Company,  has  decided  to  ask  the  Council  for  au- 
thority to  employ  an  expert  accountant  to  check  up  the  books  and 
report  to  the  committee.  This  is  done  to  verify  the  statements  of 
the  company  tending  to  show  that  passengers  cannot  be  carried  for 
three  cents  with  any  profit. 

 *+*  

FIRST  SINGLE-PHASE  SYSTEM  IN  THE  EAST 


The  Philadelphia,  Lancaster  &  Karrisburg  Electric  Railway,  now 
under  construction  between  these  Pennsylvania  points,  will  be  the 
first  single-phase  system  to  be  built  in  the  East.  The  Tennis  Con- 
struction Company,  of  Philadelphia,  is  the  contractor.  C.  J.  Har- 
rington, of  New  York,  is  filling  the  order  for  the  overhead  mate- 
rial— 10,000  volt  Empire  type.  The  bonds  will  be  of  Chase-Shaw- 
mut  type.  Westinghouse  equipment  will  be  installed  in  the  power 
station.   The  road  will  be  about  40  miles  long. 

 ♦♦♦  

NEW  OFFICERS  FOR  NORTH  SHORE  ROAD,  OF  CALIFORNIA 


Important  changes  just  made  in  the  personnel  of  the  North  Shore 
Railroad,  of  California,  indicate  that  California  Northern  Railroad 
interests  have  become  interested  in  the  company  and  that  the 
Southern  Pacific  Company  also  is  interested.  It  is  denied,  how- 
ever, that  any  merger  of  the  companies  is  contemplated.  John 
Martin  is  succeeded  as  president  of  the  North  Shore  by  Arthur 
W.  Foster,  who  also  is  president  of  the  California  Northwestern. 
Other  executive  officers  have  all  resigned  with  the  exception  of 
H.  E.  Bothine,  who  remains  a  director.  Vice-President  E.  J. 
de  Sahla  is  succeeded  by  P.  N.  Lilienthal.  Second  Vice-President 
Richard  Hotaling  is  succeeded  by  A.  W.  Foster.  These  new  offi- 
cers and  E.  Scott,  J.  W.  Pew,  James  P.  Bell,  Wyatt  H.  Allen,  J.  E. 
Doolittle  and  H.  E.  Bothine  constitute  the  board  of  directors.  Mr. 
Foster  says  that  General  Manager  W.  M.  Rank,  General  Passenger 
and  Freight  Agent  G.  W.  Heintz  and  the  other  officials  of  the 
North  Shore  Railroad  are  not  to  be  disturbed  in  their  positions. 
  ♦♦♦  

PHILIPPINES  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  PROJECT 


The  construction  of  a  somewhat  extensive  electric  railway  sys- 
tem is  contemplated  in  the  province  of  Albay,  which  is  located  in 
the  southerly  portion  of  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands.  The  proposed 
route  for  the  line  will  be  from  Legaspi  through  Albay  (which  has 
a  population  of  about  15,000  people),  taking  in  the  towns  of  Daraga, 
Camaling,  Guinnbatan  and  Legao.  The  building  of  a  road  to 
Tabaco  is  also  projected. 

A.  U.  Betts,  formerly  governor  of  Albay,  is  now  on  his  waj  to  the 
United  States  in  connection  with  the  scheme,  in  all,  il  is  intended 
to  construct  some  50  miles  of  road. 


THE  THERMIT  PROCESS  IN  GREAT  BRITAIN 


The  English  patent  rights  of  the  Dr.  Hans  Goldschmidt's 
Alumino-Thermic  Process  have  been  sold  to  a  company  registered 
in  England  under  the  style  of  Thermit,  Limited,  which  will  de- 
velop and  operate  them  in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  new  com- 
pany has  taken  offices  at  11  and  12  Great  Tower  Street,  E.  C, 
and,  besides  selling  the  various  compounds  manufactured  by  this 
process,  is  open  to  tenders  for  rail-welding  contracts. 

 *<-,♦  

DES  MOINES  INTERURBAN  TO  BUILD  LONG  EXTENSION 


The  Des  Moines  Interurban  Railway  Company  have  definitely 
decided  to  construct  a  line  from  the  present  terminus  of  the  Flint 
Valley  line  through  the  town  of  Grimes,  to  Adel,  the  county  seat 
of  Dallas  County.  The  survey  has  already  been  made.  The  line 
will  be  about  nineteen  miles  in  length.  The  company  has  already 
purchased  fifty  acres  of  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Flint  Brick 
Works,  which  will  be  used  for  freight  terminals.  A  bridge  will  lie 
constructed  over  the  Des  Moines  River,  just  west  of  the  present 
terminus  of  the  Flint  Valley  line.  The  actual  work  of  construc- 
tion will  be  started  either  this  fall  or  next  spring.  It  is  the  in- 
tention to  make  connection  at  Adel  with  the  proposed  line  from 
Shelby,  via  Audubon,  Guthrie  Center,  and  Adel  to  Des  Moines. 


A  NEW  CONTROLLER  REGULATOR  FOR  ELECTRIC  RAIL- 
WAY OPERATION 


An  interesting  invention  has  recently  been  developed  and  pat- 
ented by  S.  W.  Williams,  Lapeer  City,  Mich.,  for  the  automatic 
control  of  the  operation  of  street  car  controllers  when  cars  are 
being  accelerated.  The  purpose  of  the  mechanism  is  to  so  limit 
the  operation  of  the  controller  handle  as  to  prevent  its  being 
thrown  around  from  the  series  starting  notches  into  the  parallel 
position  so  quickly  as  to  start  the  car  with  a  shock  or  jerking, 
and  yet  at  the  same  time  permit  the  propulsion  current  to  be 
thrown  off  the  motors  instantly.  This  has  been  accomplished 
by  an  interesting  mechanical  movement  interposed  between  the 
operating  handle  and  the  car  controller  staff,  by  which  the  han- 
dle is  so  restricted  in  its  forward  movement  by  an  arrangement  of 
ratchets  and  pawls  that  the  motorman  cannot  possibly  throw  the 
power  on  fully  at  once;  the  mechanism  permits  him  to  throw  the 
current  on  to  the  motors  a  notch  at  a  time,  a  considerable  delay 
between  notches  being  made  compulsory  by  the  mechanism  to 
permit  the  motors  to  accelerate  properly.  If,  however,  it  i^  found 
desirable  to  throw  off  the  current  instantly,  the  arrangement  of 
ratchets  is  such  as  to  permit  this  to  be  done  in  the  usual  manner. 
Additional  features  are  incorporated  in  the  regulator  which  per- 
mit the  controller  to  be  instantly  reversed  and  thrown  onto  the 
third  reverse  notch  in  case  of  impending  danger;  this  is  a  very 
valuable  provision,  as  in  emergency  stops  the  first  or  second 
notch  of  the  controller  is  not  sufficiently  effective.  An  addi- 
tional precaution  provided  for  in  this  mechanism  is  that  for  lock- 
ing the  controller  when  it  is  desired  to  leave  the  car  temporarily: 
this  is  very  simply  provided  for  in  connection  with  the  regulator 
mechanism. 

 ♦♦♦  

STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  AUG.  9,  1904 

[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.  | 

766,906.  Street  Car  Fender;  Ernest  H.  Schulze,  Kansas  City, 
Mo.  App.  filed  Dec.  23,  1903.  Consists  of  the  pivoted  pick-up  frame, 
a  cross-bar  carried  thereby  forward  of  the  pivotal  point,  a  swing- 
liar  suitably  supported,  a  rock-shaft  journaled  in  the  swing-bar 
and  having  arms  pivoted  to  the  cross-bar,  bars  secured  to  the  pick- 
up frame  and  pivoted  to  the  cross-bar,  and  a  connection  for  hold- 
ing the  pick-up  frame  elevated  and  the  swing-bar  at  its  forward 
limit  of  movement. 

766,935.  Controller  for  Trolley  Poles:  Herman  R.  De  Long  and 
Rector  Seymour,  Warren,  Pa.  App.  filed  May  25,  1904.  Automatii 
means  for  throwing  a  weight  into  action  to  draw  or  pull  the  pole 
downward  when  the  wheel  leaves  the  wire. 

766,952.    Electrical  Contact  Device  for  Intermittently  Establish- 
ing Circuits  on  Moving  Cars;  Jefferson  D.  Keen.  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
App.  filed  March  t8,  1904.    Provides  contact  pieces  located  exterior 
to  the  car  in  connection  with  pivoted  arms  carried  by  the  car  ami 
•  having  conductor  wires  mounted  therein  and  metallic  brushes  re 


276 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  8. 


movably  secured  in  said  arms  and  adapted  to  make  contact  with 
said  contact  pieces  in  the  travel  of  the  car. 

766,999.  Car  Fender  ;  Henry  W.  Howe,  Mexico.  App.  filed  Feb. 
24,  1904.  The  fender  is  mounted  upon  a  vertical  axis  in  such  a 
manner  that  when  a  person  is  struck  thereby  the  impact  will  cause 
the  fender  to  swing  latterally  and  shove  the  victim  of  the  accident  to 
one  side. 

767,000.  Fare  Indicator  and  Register  ;  James  H.  Johnson,  Dale. 
Ind.  App.  filed  Jan.  21,  1904.  Indicates  the  kind  and  number  of 
fares  for  each  trip  and  the  total  number  of  each  kind  of  fares  re- 
ceived; also  provides  for  indicating  the  outgoing  and  incoming 
trips  of  the  car. 

767,018.  Trolley  Stand;  Bruno  Stenvall,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  Nov.  10,  1903.  Means  for  exerting  a  constant  tension  upon 
the  trolley  pole  in  its  different  angular  positions,  consisting  of  a 
block,  a  trolley  pole  hinged  thereto,  a  lever  hinged  to  the  pole,  a 
lever  hinged  tckthe  block  and  first-named  lever,  and  a  spring  so 
connected  to  the  first-named  lever  as  to  exert  a  constant  tension 
on  the  pole  in  its  different  positions. 


PATENT  NO.  767,025 

767,025.  Trolley  Base  and  Pole  on  Arm  Therefor ;  Geo.  Volker, 
Albert  W.  Goerlitz  and  August  Goerlitz,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  App.  filed 
Oct.  16,  1903.  The  movable  support  to  which  the  trolley  arm  is 
pivoted  is  supported  between  two  sets  of  roller  bearings,  the  set 
which  sustains  the  weight  having  the  rollers  horizontal  and  the 
other  having  its  rollers  vertical  in  order  to  distribute  the  tension- 
ing strain  on  the  trolley  pole. 

767,144.  Railway  Switch  ;  William  E.  Grumbine,  Baltimore.  Md. 
App.  filed  May  5.  1904.  Comprises  a  vertically-movable  revolvable 
stem,  a  shoe  at  one  end  thereof  and  spring  wings  integral  with 
the  shoe. 

767,176.  Automatic  Switch  ;  William  D.  Sumpson,  Columbia, 
S.  C.  App.  filed  May  5,  1904.  The  device  comprises  a  shoe  having 
a  pivoted  toe-piece,  a  spring  for  normally  holding  the  toe-piece  in 
line  with  the  body  of  the  shoe,  and  means  under  the  control  of 
the  motorman  for  shifting  the  toe-piece  laterally  against  the  force 
of  the  spring. 

767,258.  Brake ;  Joseph  E.  Berry,  Carterville,  Mo.  App.  filed 
Oct.  29,  1903.  Provision  is  made  for  the  switching  in  of  a  storage 
battery  or  similar  source  of  electrical  energy  should  the  car  be 
cut  off  from  the  trolley  wire. 

 ♦♦♦ 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


MISS  CLARA  COGSWELL  has  been  appointed  auditor  of  the 
Springfield  &  Xenia  Traction  Company  and  the  Springfield,  Troy 
&  Piqua  Railway  Company,  with  offices  in  the  Bushnell  Building, 
Springfield,  Ohio. 

MR.  I.  N.  TOPLIFF,  a  well-known  manufacturer  of  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  and  a  director  of  the  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern  Rail- 
way, died  a  few  days  ago,  Mr.  Fred  S.  Borton  has  been  elected  a 
director  of  the  company  to  succeed  Mr.  Topliff. 

MR.  G.  S.  FIELDS,  who  has  long  been  connected  with  the  Ore- 
gon Water  Power  &  Railway  Company,  of  Portland,  Ore.,  has  been 
promoted  to  superintendent  of  transportation,  and  Mr.  W.  H. 
Tiffany  has  been  promoted  to  the  position  of  superintendent  of 
construction. 

MR.  A.  B.  HOGUE;  who  has  been  superintendent  of  the  Indian- 
apolis. Columbus  &  Southern  Traction  Company  since  its  begin- 
ning, has  resigned  from  the  company,  and  will  be  succeeded  as 
superintendent  by  Mr.  George  M.  Saylor,  who  has  been  interested 
in  the  road  for  some  time. 

MR.  E.  FILE  COX,  chief  engineer  of  the  Vincennes  &  New 
Albany  Interurban  Railway  Company,  of  Vincennes,  Ind.,  is  dead. 


Mr.  Cox  was  one  of  the  best-known  men  in  his  profession  in 
Southern  Indiana,  and  was  engaged  in  running  lines  through  Du- 
bois County  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  served  several  terms  as 
surveyor  of  Greene  County. 

MR.  GEORGE  F.  MARSHALL  has  resigned  as  treasurer  of 
the  Lowell,  Acton  &  Maynard  Street  Railway  Company,  of  May- 
nard,  Mass.,  and  Mr.  John  W.  Ogden  has  been  elected  as  his  suc- 
cessor. Mr.  Ogden  also  is  superintendent,  general  manager  and 
purchasing  agent  of  the  company,  and  holds  similar  positions  with 
the  Concord,  Maynard  &  Hudson  Street  Railway  Company. 

MR.  GEORGE  C.  CHADWICK  has  been  appointed  superin- 
tendent and  chief  engineer  of  the  Santa  Cruz  Electric  Railway, 
of  Santa  Cruz,  Cal.,  to  succeed  E.  S.  West,  who  resigns  on  account 
of  ill  health.  Mr.  Chadwick  was  in  the  employ  of  the  United  Rail- 
ways in  San  Francisco  for  seven  years.  He  also  was  chief  engi- 
neer of  the  San  Jose  &  Los  Gatos  Interurban  Railway  at  San 
Jose.  Mr.  Chadwick  is  to  have  entire  charge  of  the  operating 
department  and  maintenance. 

MR.  E.  U.  HARLAN,  formerly  general  manager  of  the  Ferro- 
carriles  de  Monterey  y  Topo-Chico,  of  Monterey,  Mexico,  of  which 
Mr.  S.  W.  Slayden,  of  T.  B.  Slayden  &  Co.,  50  Broadway,  New 
York,  was  president,  has  been  appointed  manager  of  the  recently 
incorporated  Monterey  Electric  Street  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Ltd.,  reference  as  to  whose  plans  for  the  construction  of 
an  up-to-date  electric  traction  system  in  Monterey  was  made  in  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  of  Aug.  13. 

MR.  EDWARD  F.  WALKER,  who  last  week  closed  the  deal 
for  the  acquisition  of  the  horse-car  lines,  etc.,  in  Monterey,  Mexico, 
on  behalf  of  the  Monterey  Electric  Street  Railway,  Light  &  Power 
Company,  Lid.,  which  will  electrically  convert  the  lines,  will  be  in 
New  York  the  first  part  of  next  week.  While  in  this  city  he  will 
make  his  headquarters  at  the  offices  of  T.  B  Slayden  &  Co.,  50 
Broadway.  As  part  of  the  lines,  for  the  construction  of  which 
a  concession  was  originally  granted  to  Mackin  &  Dillon,  of  Mon- 
terey, will  have  to  be  in  operation  by  December  next,  it  is  believed 
that  Mr.  Walker  has  decided  upon  the  letting  of  some  contracts  for 
material,  etc.,  while  here. 

HON.  WILLIAM  I.  BUCHANAN,  deputy  chairman  and  a  di- 
rector of  the  British  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  Limited,  and  also  a  director  of  the  other  Westinghouse 
interests  in  Europe,  arrived  in  this  country  on  Wednesday,  and 
will  remain  here  several  weeks  before  returning  to  London.  He 
reports  business  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  as  being  quiet. 
The  French  Westinghouse  Company's  board  has  been  lately  reor- 
ganized, four  new  directors  having  been  elected.  The  new  mem- 
bers are  among  the  most  prominent  and  well-known  business  men 
of  France.  The  new  chairman  of  the  French  company's  executive 
committee  is  one  of  these,  the  Marquis  de  Frondeville,  one  of  the 
most  widely  known  among  French  banking  officers. 

MR.  HARRY  S.  KEMP,  of  the  Standard  Electric  Company,  of 
Norwalk,  Va..  is  dead.  He  succumbed  to  typhoid  fever..  Mr.  Kemp 
lias  been  prominent  in  street  railway  work  for  some  years.  He  was 
at  one  time  connected  with  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y..  and  with  the  Staten  Island  Electric  Railway.  Later 
he  rebuilt  about  75  miles  of  railroad  for  the  Virginia  Passenger  & 
Power  Company  in  Richmond,  and  since  then  has  been  employed  by 
the  Standard  Company  as  superintendent  of  construction.  Here  his 
work  extended  to  all  branches  of  the  industry.  Mr.  Kemp  was 
;ibout  thirty-nine  years  old.  His  home  was  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  where 
his  father  and  brothers  reside.  He  was  married  about  two  years 
ago  to  Miss  Ray  Field,  of  Lynchburg,  who  survives  him. 

MR.  SAMUEL  A.  SPAULDING  has  been  appointed  to  the 
position  of  superintendent  of  power  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Tran- 
sit Company,  with  headquarters  at  168  Montague  Street,  Brook- 
lyn, to  succeed  Mr.  Franklin  E.  Morse,  who  died  July  15.  Mr. 
Spaulding  has  had  an  extended  experience  in  this  line,  having 
been  connected  with  the  electrical  engineering  department  of  the 
Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  for  seven  years,  and  is  thus 
familiar  with  the  work  and  operating  conditions  upon  the  system 
Mr.  Spaulding  was  born  in  Danvers,  Mass.,  and  is  thirty-two  years 
of  age.  He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  and  in  Dean  Acad- 
emy, and  in  1894  received  a  technical  degree  at  Tuffts  College. 
In  1896  he  entered  the  electrical  engineering  department  of  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company,  in  which  position  he  re- 
mained until  last  year,  when  he  was  offered  the  position  of  trans- 
mission engineer  in  the  new  electrical  department  of  the  New 
York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad.  This  latter  position  he 
has  resigned  to  return  to  Brooklyn,  in  order  to  take  charge  of  the 
power  generation  and  transmission  system  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid 
Transit  lines,  a  system  embracing  five  power  plants  generating  a 
total    f  over  50,000  kw,  and  seven  sub-stations. 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  AUGUST  27,  1904. 


No.  9 


Published  Eveky  Saturday  by  thb 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Lieber's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 

TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)   $6.50  per  annum 

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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 

EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 

114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 

Fender  Maintenance 

Ever  since  fenders  have  been  introduced  they  have  been  the 
bugbear  of  the  master  mechanic  who  has  had  them  to  main- 
tain. In  fact,  it  is  rare  to  find  a  master  mechanic  who  is  in  any 
way  enthusiastic  about  fenders,  because  he  is  apt  to  look  at 
fenders  as  simply  devices  which  cause  endless  trouble  in  main- 
tenance without  considering  their  value  in  preventing  acci- 
dents. Let  it  be  granted,  however,  that  fenders  are  a  nuisance 
as  far  as  maintenance  is  concerned  and  that  no  fender  is  in- 
fallible, and  we  have  still  left  enough  points  in  favor  of 
the  fender  to  make  it  worth  while  to  look  carefully  after  its 
condition.  Even  supposing  that  the  fender  is  of  such  crude  de- 
sign that  it  will  safely  pick  up  only  25  per  cent  of  the  persons 
who  would  otherwise  be  run  over  by  a  car,  it  is  manifestly 
short-sighted  policy  not  to  maintain  all  the  fenders  on  a  road 


at  their  highest  state  of  efficiency,  otherwise  much  of  the  in- 
vestment that  is  made  in  fenders  is  simply  going  to  waste  or  is 
serving  simply  the  purpose  of  conforming  with  some  municipal 
ordinance.  If  the  company  is  to  go  to  the  expense  of  equipping 
cars  on  its  system  with  fenders  it  is  certainly  worth  while  to  get 
the  most  benefit  out  of  them  that  is  obtainable,  even  if  the 
fenders  leave  many  things  to  be  desired.  That  fenders  are  ex- 
pensive to  maintain  on  account  of  collisions  with  wagons  and 
the  like,  is  granted ;  but  it  costs  practically  no  more  to  main- 
tain them  so  that  they  are  in  their  best  working  condition  than 
to  give  them  simply  the  attention  necessary  to  "keep  up  the 
bluff"  of  having  a  fender  on  the  car.  The  investment  in  fenders 
is  certainly  too  great  to  have  its  advantages  virtually  wiped 
out  by  careless  maintenance. 

The  Chicago  Franchise  Ordinance 

We  feel  that  it  would  be  unsafe  to  predict  with  assurance 
that  the  franchise  ordinance  for  the  Chicago  City  Railway 
Company  which  has  been  completed  by  the  local  transportation 
committee  of  the  Chicago  City  Council  is  to  accomplish  an 
early  settlement  of  the  franchise  question  in  Chicago  because 
there  have  been  so  many  "slips  'twixt  the  cup  and  the  lip"  in 
the  franchise  negotiations  which  have  been  going  on  in  that 
city.  Nevertheless,  the  fact  that  a  complete  ordinance  has  been 
drawn  up  indicates  that  franchise  matters  are  at  least  much 
nearer  a  settlement  than  they  have  ever  been  before,  because 
no  previous  local  transportation  committee  has  drawn  up  a 
complete  ordinance  with  the  idea  of  its  early  passage  by  the 
City  Council.  That  some  progress  has  been  made  can  now 
also  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  at  last  a  tangible  proposition 
for  the  settlement  of  the  question  has  been  drawn  up  which 
Mayor  Harrison  indorses.  Mayor  Harrison's  attitude  hereto- 
fore has  always  been  that  of  an  obstructionist,  and  it  is  encour- 
aging to  know  that  at  last  something  in  the  way  of  a  franchise 
ordinance  has  been  framed  that  meets  with  his  approval,  even 
though  that  ordinance  leaves  several  things  to  be  desired.  Al- 
though the  principal  features  of  this  ordinance  have  already 
been  mentioned  in  the  news  columns  of  this  paper,  a  brief  re- 
view of  it  here  may  be  of  interest  in  view  of  the  fact  that  since 
the  ordinance  was  published  there  are  many  indications  that 
public  opinion  in  Chicago  is  generally  favorable  to  it,  and  for 
that  reason  its  passage  by  the  City  Council  seems  probable. 
Furthermore,  if  this  ordinance  is  passed  by  the  Council  and 
accepted  by  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company,  operating  on 
the  south  side,  it  will  undoubtedly  mean  the  granting  of  a  fran- 
chise on  similar  terms  to  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Com 
pany,  operating  on  the  north  and  west  sides. 

The  theory  upon  which  the  framers  of  this  ordinance  started 
out  was  that  the  company  owns  franchises  on  various  streets 
expiring  at  different  times,  and  that  it  is  desirable  for  both 
company  and  city  to  commute  these  various  franchises  ex- 
piring at  different  times  into  one  blanket  franchise  expiring  at 
a  certain  time.  On  some  of  the  streets,  according  to  the  recent 
decision  of  Judge  Grosscup,  the  company  has  rights  under  the 


278 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


ninety-nine-year  act  until  1958.  On  others  the  franchises  have 
but  a  short  time  to  run.  By  some  process  of  averaging,  the 
framers  of  the  ordinance  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
average  life  of  the  company's  franchises  is  thirteen  years.  The 
ordi  nance  then  virtually  says  to  the  company,  "Since  you  are 
entitled  to  operate  on  the  streets  for  thirteen  years  under  your 
present  rights,  we  will  give  you  this  right  to  operate  for  thirteen 
years  more  in  consideration  of  the  payment  of  5  per  cent  of  the 
gross  receipts  each  year  for  the  thirteen  years."  This  at  first 
seems  like  a  rather  absurd  proposition,  since  it  asks  compensa- 
tion for  something  to  which  the  company  is  already  entitled. 
However,  the  city,  if  it  takes  the  property  or  has  any  one  else 
take  the  property  at  the  end  of  thirteen  years,  agrees  to  pay 
the  appraised  cash  value  of  the  physical  property  of  the  com- 
pany, which,  of  course,  would  leave  the  company  considerably 
better  off  at  the  end  of  the  franchise  term  than  if  no  provision 
of  this  kind  were  made.  And  it  was  further  evidently  the  idea 
of  the  city  authorities  that  "for  the  sake  of  peace  in  the  family" 
and  a  settlement  of  all  disputes  over  franchises,  the  company 
would  be  willing  to  exchange  its  present  franchises  for  a  thir- 
teen-year blanket  franchise,  even  if  it  did  have  to  pay  a  little  for 
rights  it  already  had.  After  the  expiration  of  thirteen  years 
the  city  can,  at  the  end  of  any  year,  purchase  the  company's 
property  at  an  appraised  valuation,  but  the  company  must  pay 
10  per  cent  of  its  gross  receipts  to  the  city  each  year  after  the 
thirteen  years  and  up  to  twenty  years.  At  the  end  of  twenty 
years  the  franchise  expires,  but  the  city  must  purchase  or 
cause  to  be  purchased  the  property  of  the  company  at  an  ap- 
praised valuation.  These  are  the  most  important  features  of 
the  ordinance.  To  be  sure,  there  are  several  thousand  other 
provisions  specifying  how  the  road,,  shall  be  constructed  and 
operated.  Much  in  the  ordinance  reads  more  like  a  set  of  speci- 
fications got  up  for  a  contractor  than  like  an  ordinance  grant- 
ing a  franchise.  However,  most  of  these  provisions  are  harm- 
less, as  they  specify  nothing  more  than  any  good  street  railway 
management  in  a  city  of  the  size  of  Chicago  would  provide  in 
any  event,  whether  required  by  ordinance  or  not. 

Testing  Car  Construction  in  Wrecks 

It  is  not  always  apparent,  or  to  be  more  correct,  we  should 
say  it  is  seldom  apparent,  when  a  car  is  new,  what  the  real 
quality  of  the  workmanship  is.  Of  course,  some  idea  can  be 
formed  of  the  finish,  but  beyond  that  there  is  no  way  of  telling 
what  the  real  strength  and  stiffness  and  ability  of  the  car  to 
stand  long  service  without  becoming  loose  jointed  may  be. 
It  occasionally  happens  that  wrecks  demonstrate  very  forcibly 
the  differences  in  car  construction.  Such  car  bodies  go  through 
collisions  or  other  wrecks  almost  intact  except  as  to  the  part 
actually  in  the  collision.  Sometimes  in  grade  crossing  accidents 
one  end  of  a  car  will  be  taken  away  and  the  rest  will  remain 
so  solid  that  scarcely  a  pane  of  glass  will  be  broken  at  the  rear 
end.  Other  cars  going  through  the  same  ordeal,  if  not  com- 
pletely wrecked,  will  be  so  loosened  in  the  joints  that  they  can 
never  be  put  in  good  shape  again.  Of  course,  much  of  the  dif- 
ference in  the  way  cars  behave  in  collisions  is  due  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  weight  of  construction.  Other  things  being  equal, 
a  heavy  car  will  always  go  through  a  wreck  the  best.  The  real, 
fine  art  of  car  building  lies  in  making  a  car  body  that  will  be 
strong  without  undue  weight.  It  is  useless  to  expect  to  be  able 
to  build  interurban  coaches  that  will  not  entirely  go  to  pieces 
in  a  wreck  unless  they  are  made  heavy,  and  it  would  be  unwise 
to  put  light  coaches  on  high-speed  service.  For  low-speed  ser- 
vice in  cities,  however,  there  is  a  great  opportunity  to  save 
weight  by  good  workmanship  and  good  designs. 


The  Compensated  Series  Motor 

The  important  announcement  of  the  development  of  a  suc- 
cessful single-phase  motor  by  the  General  Electric  Company  is 
published  in  this  issue,  together  with  an  extended  description 
of  the  principles,  design  and  construction  of  the  motor 
and  its  performance  during  test  runs  on  the  Ballston  division 
of  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company.  The  fact  that  the  Gen- 
eral Electric  Company  was  at  work  upon  a  single-phase  motor 
has  long  been  known,  but  the  type  of  motor  has  been  kept  a 
secret.  There  was  a  general  impression  that  the  company 
was  developing  the  repulsion  motor,  but  as  will  be  seen  from 
the  article  in  this  issue,  the  machine  is  not  of  the  repulsion, 
but  of  the  compensated  series  commutator  type.  In  fact,  the 
motor  is  very  similar  to  the  original  single-phase  Eickemeyer 
motor,  developed  and  improved  according  to  the  light  of  mod- 
ern experience  in  railway-motor  construction.  As  the  compen- 
sated motor  promises  to  be  largely  used  in  railway  work,  a  few 
words  in  regard  to  its  general  principles  can  well  be  given  here, 
leaving  a  more  extended  discussion  of  the  application  of  the 
motor  as  used  on  the  Schenectady  Railway  for  our  next  issue. 

The  compensated  motor  consists  of  an  ordinary  d.  c.  armature 
revolving  under  the  influence  of  a  field  developed  by  a  dis- 
tributed induction-motor  winding,  which  is  really  nothing  more 
or  less  than  a  d.  c.  winding  tapped  at  appropriate  points,  or  at 
least  gives  magnetic  distribution  equivalent  thereto.  This  form 
of  winding,  when  used  with  alternating  currents,  reduces  the 
reactance  of  the  system  to  a  reasonable  amount,  and  corre- 
spondingly raises  the  power  factor.  Furthermore,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  improves  commutation  from  a  d.  c.  standpoint. 

An  approach  to  the  same  device  has  been  employed  by 
Thompson  and  Ryan  in  their  generator  with  compensated  com- 
pounding coils,  and  somewhat  similar  magnetic  distribution  has 
been  secured  by  means  of  bushing  the  armature  tunnel  with  a 
thin  magnetic  tube,  or  what  is  the  same  thing,  throwing  an 
isthmus  across  the  pole  pieces.  Sparking  in  a  dynamo  or  mo- 
tor, or  any  device  using  a  commutator,  occurs  when  a  circuit  is 
opened  under  conditions  that  cause  the  current  to  change,  due 
to  such  action.  In  other  words,  if  there  is  no  difference  of 
potential  between  the  brush  and  the  bar  which  it  leaves,  there 
will  be  no  spark.  The  spark  is  purely  a  matter  of  degree  and 
can  be  controlled  either  by  making  the  resistance  of  the  bobbin 
and  its  leads  so  great  that  large  short-circuit  currents  are 
avoided,  or  by  keeping  the  short-circuit  currents  within  the 
limits  of  reasonable  sparklessness  by  controlling  the  flux  rate 
of  change  conditions  at  the  moment  of  commutation.  The  lat- 
ter method  is  that  employed  by  the  compensated  motor,  the 
winding  of  which  secures  other  advantages  from  an  a.  c.  stand- 
point also.  Immunity  from  transformer  action  is  secured  in 
this,  as  in  other  motors,  by  making  the  a.  c.  frequency  so  low 
and  the  speed  so  high  that  the  a.  c.  rate  of  flux  change 
is  insignificant  in  comparison.  In  the  case  of  a  field  with  the 
concentrated  winding,  if  we  may  adapt  an  old  term  to  fit  a  new 
condition,  the  bobbin  under  commutation  is  moderately  free 
from  flux  change,  and  any  transformer  action  is  more  serious. 
With  the  commutated  bobbin  under  controlled  and  moderately 
large  flux  change  conditions,  the  relatively  small  variation  of 
transformer  action  is  masked,  and  is  not  so  troublesome. 

From  a  commercial  viewpoint,  the  compensated  motor  is  un- 
usually attractive.  The  retention  of  so  many  features  now  fa- 
miliar to  the  railway  operator  is  a  strong  point  in  its  favor, 
and  the  service  it  gives  over  existing  d.  c.  lines  inspires  confi- 
dence to  try  the  a.  c.  experiments.  As  a  commercial  problem 
it  may  be  stated  that  any  device  that  is  handicapped  by  the 
necessity  of  combating  invested  capital  is  at  a  serious  disad- 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


279 


vantage.  Anything  that  requires  the  creation  of  a  large  scrap 
heap  of  existing  material  for  which  money  has  been  paid  will 
not  be  received  with  favor.  So  it  is  that  the  alternating-cur- 
rent railway  motor  which  can  operate  on  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c. 
current  may  be  received  with  open  arms,  in  many  places  where 
a.  c.  performance  alone  would  debar  it.  This  feature  has  been 
strengthened  in  the  equipment  under  consideration  by  the  ap- 
plication to  it  of  the  ordinary  series  parallel  controller,  which, 
by  the  new  slight  changes  effected  by  the  commutating  switch 
carried  on  the  front  platform,  can  be  used  on  both  a.  c.  and 
d.  c.  circuits. 

That  the  compensated  series  motor  will  replace  the  present 
d.  c.  form  for  city  service  may  well  be  doubted.  Its  added 
weight  and  consequently  somewhat  higher  cost  will  act  as 
one  reason,  while  the  somewhat  lower  acceleration  on  an 
a.  c.  circuit  is  another.  As  an  a.  c.  motor  it  is  essen- 
tially a  motor  for  long  runs,  but  as  such  its  future  is  most 
promising. 

Technical  Education  for  Railway  Men 

We  have  already  referred  editorially  to  this  topic  apropos 
of  the  coming  discussion  of  it  by  Prof.  Norris,  but  from  the  im- 
portance of  the  matter  it  is  worthy  of  no  little  serious  attention, 
and  we  cannot  refrain  from  recurring  to  it.  There  is  a  very 
broad  question  now  obtruding  itself  at  every  turn,  viz :  Are  the 
technical  schools  doing  the  right  thing  so  far  as  the  needs  of 
technical  industries  are  concerned?  Do  they  fit  a  young  man 
to  pursue  these  industries  to  the  best  advantage  ?  As  regards 
the  value  of  education  for  its  own  sake  and  for  the  higher  wel- 
fare of  the  individual,  we  have  no  doubt,  but  there  may  be, 
nevertheless,  doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  of  the  particular  line  of 
education  followed.  The  fact  is  that  success  in  a  specialized 
and  somewhat  technical  business  like  electric  railroading  re- 
quires a  clever  man  with  an  alert,  well-trained  mind,  and  in 
so  far  the  technical  school  can  aid  in  his  development,  but 
does  it  give  him  the  best  training  that  he  can  get  in  the  time 
available?  At  the  very  outset  one  must  realize  that  while 
there  is  always  room  at  the  top  in  a  certain  sense,  the  top  is  a 
location  not  over-commodious,  and  for  one  man  comfortably 
planted  there,  one  must  reckon  on  having  a  score  in  reponsible 
places  down  below.  A  battleship  cannot  be  fought  by  the  cap- 
tain on  the  bridge;  it  requires  the  intelligent  co-operation  of 
the  under  officers,  the  engineers  and  the  men  behind  the  guns. 
And  it  is  fundamentally  important  that  all  hands  should  know 
their  respective  duties. 

Now,  in  technical  education  is  there  not  a  certain  tendency 
to  train  men  for  the  duties  of  the  captain  at  the  expense  of 
good,  hard  drill  in  the  work  of  the  lieutenants  and  ensigns,  not 
to  mention  the  lower  grades?  We  have  a  certain  suspicion 
that  there  is  such  a  tendency  which  is  in  part  responsible  for 
the  doubts  expressed  by  some  captains  of  industry  as  to  the 
practical  value  of  technical  training.  We  do  not  believe  that 
any  man  in  charge  of  a  large  enterprise  seriously  would  prefer 
to  recruit  his  forces  from  the  ranks  of  the  meagerly  educated 
or  would  fail  to  recognize  the  value  of  specialized  study  in  his 
own  line.  What  he  sometimes  does  intimate  is  that  such  knowl- 
edge is  occasionally  acquired  at  the  cost  of  a  thorough  under- 
standing of  the  every-day  general  principles  that  make  a  man 
efficient  in  the  work,  so  to  speak,  of  a  line  officer.  The  fact  is 
that  the  time  which  the  average  intelligent  young  man  can 
devote  to  higher  education  is  limited,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
frequent  demand  for  an  abbreviated  college  course.  With  most 
students  the  question  is  not  how  much  they  would  wish  to  learn, 
but  how  much  they  are  able  to  learn  in  the  time  at  their  dis- 
posal.   Do  our  technical  schools  make  the  best  use  of  their 


time,  taking  into  account  the  average  capabilities  of  their  stu- 
dents and  the  nature  of  the  average  work  for  which  they  are 
being  trained  ?  On  this  point  we  must  own  that  we  do  not  feel 
entirely  at  ease.  One  cannot  take  a  young  man  at  eighteen 
and  turn  him  out  a  thoroughly  trained  engineer  at  twenty-two. 
In  these  days  of  extreme  specialization  the  graduate  is  merely 
at  best  put  in  line  to  work  out  his  real  professional  training 
intelligently. 

Frankly,  the  curriculum  of  the  ordinary  technical  school  is 
rather  between  hay  and  grass.  It  lacks  of  necessity  the  sort  of 
elaboration  that  would  be  possible  in  a  post-graduate  institu- 
tion, and  also  the  hard  practical  drill  in  fundamentals  that 
would  be  possible  were  fewer  advanced  studies  attempted.  The 
same  criticism  applies  in  no  small  measure  to  the  average 
American  college  which  tends  to  dabble  in  work  properly  be- 
longing to  a  university  in  the  larger  sense,  and  thereby  uses 
up  time  which  could  well  be  applied  to  a  broader  collegiate 
training.  The  consciousness  of  knowing  thoroughly  what  one 
knows,  and  of  being  ignorant  of  things  one  knows  imperfectly, 
is  very  valuable.  There  is  sometimes  a  certain  note  of  preten- 
tiousness in  technical  courses  that  is  greatly  to  be  regretted. 
It  is  a  serious  and  important  function  to  train  young  men  for 
practical  achievement  in  modern  industries,  and  there  is  a  de- 
mand for  men  so  trained  which  cannot  quite  be  met  by  the  sup- 
ply now  being  turned  out.  It  is  no  easy  matter  to  lay  out  such 
a  course  of  training,  for  instance,  as  would  fit  a  young  man  to 
enter  the  electric  railway  business,  but  it  does  seem  possible 
to  do  rather  better  for  him  than  is  usual  in  technical  education. 
We  hope  that  the  facts  which  are  being  collated  by  Prof.  Norris 
will  tend  to  throw  light  on  the  problems  before  us.  They  will 
at  least  point  out  some  of  the  weak  points  of  the  training  now 
generally  available,  which  is  the  next  thing  to  devising  a  rem- 
edy. The  errors  which  seem  sometimes  to  be  made  are  not  due 
to  lack  of  thoughtfulness  or  to  ignorance,  but  rather  to  a  real 
enthusiasm  that  finds  it  no  easy  task  to  call  a  halt  and  face  the 
limitations  that  actually  exist.  Education  in  this  country  has 
suffered  not  infrequently  from  over-enthusiasm — never  from 
lack  of  it.  The  common  school,  the  technical  school  and  the 
college  are  part  of  our  national  life,  and  if  they  sometimes  lack 
co-ordination  they  never  lack  support. 

Reinforced  Concrete  for  Car  Houses 

The  use  of  reinforced  concrete  has  of  late  been  steadily  com- 
ing into  favor  in  construction  work,  but  it  is  only  recently  that 
large  car  houses  have  been  designed  of  this  material.  It  has 
become  well  established  by  this  time  that  fireproof  qualities  are 
of  very  high  importance  in  this  class  of  building,  and  perhaps 
no  other  point  in  car  house  design  is  better  worth  securing  as 
long  as  the  building  is  laid  out  for  convenient  operation. 

Experience  has  shown  that  the  fire  risk,  which  is  inseparable 
from  the  use  of  wooden  and  steel  construction,  must  be  reduced, 
and  the  increasing  valuation  of  each  piece  of  modern  rolling 
stock  adds  emphasis  to  the  conclusion  that  money  spent  in  the 
elimination  of  fire  hazards  is  extremely  well  invested.  The 
concrete  car  house  appears  to  offer  a  solution  of  the  problem 
at  from  25  per  cent  to  30  per  cent  less  than  the  cost  of  modern 
steel  construction,  and  there  would  seem  to  be  no  reason  why 
such  a  construction  should  not  last  indefinitely  with  little  or  no 
sensible  depreciation.  The  new  car  house  which  is  to  be  built 
at  St.  Paul  of  reinforced  concrete  at  a  cost  of  from  $175,000 
to  $200,000,  with  a  capacity  of  180  45-ft.  cars,  and  which  is 
described  in  this  issue,  furnishes  a  good  illustration  of  the 
"concrete  tendency"  in  engineering  construction,  and  will  un- 
doubtedly constitute  one  of  the  most  interesting  street  railway 
exhibits  of  tbe  Twin  Cities. 


280 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


COMPENSATED  SINGLE-PHASE  MOTOR  OF  THE  GENERAL 
ELECTRIC  COMPANY 


The  fact  that  the  engineers  of  the  General  Electric  Company 
have  been  engaged  for  some  time  on  the  development  of  a  single- 
phase  railway  motor  has  been  generally  known,  but  the  details 
of  the  construction  of  the  motor  have  been  kept  entirely  from 
the  public  until  the  past  week.    A  public  test  of  a  car  equipped 


CAR  EOUIPPED  WITH  FOUR  50-HP  SINGLE-PHASE  MOTORS  ON  BALLSTON 
DIVISION  OF  SCHENECTADY  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


with  the  new  single-phase  motors  was  made,  however,  on  Aug. 
19  on  the  Ballston  Division  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  Com- 
pany. A  number  of  well-known  street  railway  managers  and 
several  representatives  of  the  technical  press  were  present 
during  the  run  which  was  made  from  the  works  of  the  General 
Electric  Company,  at  Schenectady,  to  Ballston  and  return. 

The  motor  is  of  the  compensating  commutator  type,  so  called 
on  account  of  the  field  winding,  which  fully  neutralizes  or  com- 
pensates for  the  armature  reaction,  and  the  armature  acts 
equally  well  with  direct  or  alternating  current. 

Both  the  compensating  motors  and  control  are  adapted  for 
operation  on  the  2000-volt  a.  c.  trolley  between  cities  and  the 
standard  600-volt  d.  c.  trolley  in  Schenectady.  This  ability  of 
the  compensated  motor  equipments  to  run  over  tracks  equipped 
with  either  a.  c.  or  d.  c.  trolley  makes  their  field  of  application 
very  broad,  as  the  cars  can  secure  all  the  benefit  of  running  over 
existing  city  tracks  without  in  any  way  sacrificing  their  run- 
ning qualities  upon  suburban  sections  equipped  with  a.  c.  trol- 
ley. The  alternating-current  motor,  with  its  inherent  advantages 
of  high-voltage  distribution,  is  eminently  adapted  to  replace  the 
steam  locomotive  on  either  high-speed  passenger  or  heavy 
freight-haulage  work,  and  as  the  compensated  type  of  motor  is 
perfectly  adapted  to  operate  on  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  trolley,  the 
alternating-current  motor  must  be  considered  a  large  factor  in 
future  suburban  railway  systems.  The  compensated  motor  is 
essentially  a  variable  speed  motor,  differing  in  this  respect  from 
the  multi-phase  induction  motor,  whose  constant-speed  charac- 
teristics proved  so  serious  a  handicap  to  its  successful  adoption 
in  railway  work.  The  speed-torque  characteristic  of  the  com- 
pensated motor  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  direct-current 
series  motor,  while  its  commutating  qualities  and  method  of 
control  prove  equally  satisfactory. 

On  the  Ballston  extension  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  ad- 
vantage is  taken  of  the  ability  of  the  compensated  motor  to 
operate  with  either  alternating  or  direct  current.  The  exten- 
sion is  15.5  miles  in  length,  including  3.9  miles  of  city  running 


in  Schenectady  over  tracks  equipped  with  d.  c.  trolley.  The 
interurban  section  is  double  track  on  private  right  of  way,  60 
ft.  wide,  laid  with  75-lb.  T-rail,  gravel  ballast  with  maximum 
grade  of  1.8  per  cent.  Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the 
high  speed  possibilities  of  the  road,  and  no  curve  exceeds  4}4 
degs. 

Center-pole  bracket  construction  is  used,  there  being  two 
brackets  supporting  the  two  600-volt  d.  c.  trolley  wires,  and  a 
cross-arm  supporting  the  two  2200-volt  a.  c. 
trolley  wires.  The  Ballston  extension  has  been 
operated  for  several  months  with  direct-cur- 
rent equipments,  and  their  operation  being  con- 
tinued in  part  necessitated  an  additional  set  of 
trolley  wires  for  the  a.  c.  equipments,  which 
would  not  interfere  with  the  d.  c.  trolleys.  The 
center  poles  are  34  ft.  long,  and  are  spaced 
100  ft.  apart,  the  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  trolley  wires 
being  No.  000  grooved  section  with  no  feeders 
for  the  a.  c.  trolley,  and  with  a  500,000  circ. 
mil  feeder  reinforcing  the  d.  c.  trolley.  The 
d.  c.  trolley  conforms  to  standard  bracket  con- 
struction and  presents  no  unusual  features, 
while  the  a.  c.  trolley  wire  is  suspended  from 
a  y%-'m.  steel  catenary.  The  a.  c.  trolley  is 
clipped  to  the  catenary  midway  between  poles, 
and  the  catenary  in  turn  is  hung  over  porcelain 
insulators  on  wooden  cross-arms,  the  whole 
forming  a  construction  of  great  flexibility, 
with  the  further  advantage  of  providing  excel- 
lent insulation  with  standard  porcelain  insula- 
tors and  eliminating  the  span  wires  adjacent 
to  the  trolley  wire,  thereby  preventing  the  pole 
catching  should  the  trolley-wheel  leave  the 
wire.  This  method  of  trolley  construction  is  well  adapted  to 
high-potential  high-speed  work  in  both  its  electrical  and  me- 
chanical features. 


OVERHEAD  CONSTRUCTION  ON  THE  BALLSTON  LINE,  SHOW- 
ING DIRECT-CURRENT  TROLLEY  WIRES  OVER  CENTER  OF 
TRACK,  AND  ALTERNATING-CURRENT  TROLLEY  WIRES 
ATTACHED  TO  CATENARY  HUNG  FROM  PORCELAIN  IN- 
SULATORS ON  SHORT  CROSS-ARMS  ON  INSIDE  OF  TRACK 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


The  company  befieves  that  2200  volts  can  be  used  as  a  stand- 
ard for  most  interurban  railways.  Where  a  higher  voltage  is 
required,  the  motors  will  be  built  for  3300  volts  or  5500  volts. 


COMPARATIVE  A.  C.  AND  D.  C.  RESISTANCE,  TROLLEY  AND  TRACK, 
PER  MILE  OF  CIKCUIT 


D.  C. 
Resistance 

A.  C.  Resis. 
25  Cycles 

_    .  AC. 
Rat'°  D.  C. 

ohms 

ohms 

.318 

.417 

i-3i 

One  trolley  and  double  track. . 

.167 

■259 

1-55 

Two  trolleys  and  double  track. 

.088 

•155 

1.76 

Double  track  alone  

.OI74 

.114 

6.55 

UNDER  CROSSING  OF  BALLSTON  LINE  WITH  BOSTON  &  MAINE 
CULVERT,  SHOWING  ALTERNATING  AND  DIRECT- 
CURRENT  TROLLEY  WIRES 


With  the  a.  c.  system  using  a  trolley  and  track  return,  there 
is  an  inductive  drop  in  the  trolley  and  rails,  with  an  additional 
loss  in  the  latter  case  due  to  eddy  currents  and  hysteresis. 
Measurements  made  upon  the  Ballston  line  indicate  an  ap- 
parent trolley  resistance  of  1.3  times  the  ohmic  resistance,  and 
a  rail  resistance  6.55  times  the  ohmic  resistance. 

The  resistance  of  the  a.  c.  trolley  wire  is  somewhat  reduced 
by  the  steel  catenary  in  parallel  with  it.    The  a.  c.  trolley  wires 


are  5  ft.  apart  and  16.5  ft.  above  track,  while  the  four  75-lb. 
track  rails  are  tied  together  every  1500  ft.  The  increased  re- 
sistance with  a.  c.  current  is  a  serious  factor  in  low-voltage  a.  c. 
city  systems,  but  since  the  compensated  motor  operates  per- 
fectly with  the  d.  c.  current  of  our  city  systems,  no  general 
necessity  exists  for  a  low-voltage  a.  c.  trolley. 

The  form  of  a.  c.  trolley  adopted  for  the  Ballston  line  is  well 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  steam  roads  where  the  local 
service  is  taken  care  of  electrically,  and  through  passenger 
and  freight  handled  by  steam  locomotives,  pending  a  complete 
change  to  electrical  operation.  The  trolley  wire  and  insulators 
being  off-center  are  not  exposed  to  the  gases  of  the  locomotive 


exhaust  with  consequent  deterioration,  and,  furthermore,  a 
catenary  construction  placed  off-center  can  be  hung  much  lower 
than  a  standard  center  wire  without  interfering  with  brake- 
men  on  freight  cars.  A  low-running  trolley  at  the  side  of  the 
car  is  also  preferable  in  main  line  operation,  as  it  conforms 
better  to  the  clearance  diagram  of  such  roads  without  calling  for 


NO.  27  TRUCK  EQUIPPED  WITH  TWO  G.  E.  A.  604  MOTORS 


too  great  a  change  in  height  of  the  trolley-wheel  or  bow.  The 
trolley  suspension  adopted  on  the  Ballston  line  therefore  affords 
valuable  experience  with  a  form  of  construction  adapted  to  the 
requirements  of  electrically-converted  steam-operated  lines. 

The  present  sub-station  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  is  tem- 
porarily located  at  Ballston  Lake.  This  sub-station  is  operated 
from  the  distributing  system  of  the  Hudson  River  Power  Com- 
pany, but  owing  to  the  fact  that  this  system  operates  at  40 
cycles  it  became  necessary  to  introduce  a  frequency  changing 
device,  and  an  inverted  converter  operated  from  the  sub-station 
d.  c.  bus-bars  afforded  the  most  ready  means  of  obtaining  25- 
cycle  current.  The  permanent  sub-station  will  be  erected  at 
Ballston  and  the  inverted  converter  will  be  replaced  by  a  motor- 


FRONT  AND  REAR  VIEWS  OF  G.  E.  A.  604  COMPENSATED  A.  C.  RAILWAY  MOTORS 


282 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


generator  set,  which  will  give  better  regulation  than  can  be 
obtained  from  an  inverted  rotary  converter.  The  sub-station 
feeds  directly  into  the  trolley  circuit  at  2200  volts,  with  no  out- 
side transformer  sub-stations. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  25-cycle  three-phase  generators  are 
almost  universally  used  to  supply  rotary  converters  in  existing 
interurban  railway  systems,  the  General  Electric  Company  has 
adapted  both  the  design  of  the  compensated  motor  and  the  a.  c. 
distributing  system  to  operate  from  existing  25-cycle  generating 
stations.    As  the  alternating-current  motor  is  single-phase,  a 


induction  motors,  etc.,  the  preferred  arrangement  to  balance 
the  load  at  each  sub-station  is  to  install  three-phase,  two-phase 
transformers  connected  two-phase  on  the  secondary  side  and 
feeding  separate  trolley  sections  from  the  two  phases.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  also  shown  in  the  lower  diagram  on  page 
284. 

The  car  equipped  with  the  compensated  motors  weighs  30.4 
tons  total  without  passengers,  and  is  geared  for  a  maximum 
speed  of  about  43  miles  per  hour  on  level.  The  car  manufac- 
tured by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  has  a  32-ft.  body,  is  43  ft. 


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Speed  Time  Curve  D.  C.  Running 


MOTOR  AND  SPEED  TIME  CURVES  A.  C.  AND  D.  C.  RUNNING 


single-phase  generating  and  distributing  system  commends  it- 
self on  account  of  its  simplicity.  The  step-down  transformers 
may  be  tied  together  on  the  low-tension  side  through  the  trol- 
ley, with  consequent  reduction  in  amount  of  copper  required. 
Each  sub-station  acts  as  a  reserve  to  the  adjacent  one  and  a 
transformer  may  be  cut  out  without  shutting  down  a  trolley 
section.  A  standard  sub-station  layout  is  shown  in  the  upper 
diagram  on  page  284,  showing  both  an  intermediate  and  ter- 
minal sub-station  fed  from  a  single-phase  source  of  power. 

When  it  is  desired  to  make  use  of  or  install  a  three-phase 
generator  to  take  care  of  the  operation  of  rotary  converters, 


over  all,  and  a  seating  capacity  of  forty-four  passengers.  The 
body  is  mounted  upon  Brill  No.  27  trucks,  having  6-ft.  wheel 
base,  each  truck  carrying  two  compensated  motors,  each  motor 
equivalent  to  a  50-hp  direct-current  motor,  standard  railway 
rating. 

The  General  Electric  a.  c.  compensated  motor  consists  of  an 
annular  laminated  iron  field  with  a  distributed  winding  similar 
to  that  of  an  induction  motor,  and  an  armature  and  commutator, 
both  similar  in  general  mechanical  construction  to  a  d.  c.  rail- 
way motor  armature.  The  brushes  are  of  standard  width  and 
size,  and  the  holders  are  permanently  fixed  at  the  neutral  posi- 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


283 


tion.  The  width  of  air-gap  adopted  is  about  twice  that  em- 
ployed with  stationary  induction  motors  of  corresponding  size. 
These  motors  are  wound  for  200  volts,  are  permanently  con- 
nected two  in  series,  and  are  fed  from  the  400-volt  secondary 
of  an  80-kw  air-blast  step-down  transformer  carried  on  the  car. 
The  distributed  character  of  the  field  winding  fully  compensates 
for  the  armature  reaction,  so  that  power  factors  are  relatively 


irrespective  of  the  load,  the  drop  in  an  a.  c.  railway  system  is 
accumulative  up  to  and  including  generator  and  engine  regula- 
tion. It  is  desirable,  therefore,  to  maintain  as  good  a  power 
factor  as  is  consistent  with  good  motor  design,  in  order  to  limit 
the  total  drop  of  the  system  to  a  reasonable  amount. 

A  set  of  motor  characteristics  is  shown  in  diagrams  on 
page  282  for  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  running,  respectively.    It  will 


Car  lA/'r/ng  for  rY-23  Cor? tro/ '/&r~S'  vyt/7  roiyr  & FA-6C4  Afe>£a/~^ 
for  A/ternot'ng  ona> D/rect  Current  Operofon 


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DIAGRAM  OF  CAR  WIRING 


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MOTOR  CONNECTIONS  FOR  FOUR  MOTORS  USED  IN  BOTH  A.  C.  AND 

D.  C.  SERVICE 


high  throughout  the  range  of  operation.  This  type  of  motor 
is  so  designed  that  at  the  free  running  speed  of  the  car,  which 
is  the  condition  most  frequently  met  with  in  suburban  work, 
the  power  factor  and  efficiency  are  nearly  at  their  maximum 
values.  A  high  power  factor  is  desirable,  as  it  reduces  the 
capacity  and  cost  of  the  generating  and  distributing  systems, 
and  more  especially  effects  a  material  improvement  in  the  regu- 
lation of  the  a.  c.  generators.  Unlike  a  d.  c.  system  which  has 
a  practically  constant  potential  at  the  sub-station  bus-bars, 


be  noted  that  the  speed-torque  characteristics  for 
a.  c.  running  are  equal  to  d.  c.  running  in  meeting 
the  requirements  of  railway  work.  Unlike  the  mul- 
tiphase induction  motor,  with  its  practically  con- 
stant speed  characteristic,  the  compensated  a.  c. 
motor  varies  its  speed  with  the  load,  and  is  thus 
better  adapted  to  operate  trains  over  an  irregular 
profile.  The  commutation  of  the  compensated  mo- 
tor is  equally  satisfactory  when  running  a.  c.  or 
d.  c,  and  this  good  commutation  is  secured  by  care- 
ful electrical  and  mechanical  design  without  re- 
sorting to  high  resistance  leads. 

The  controller  used  is  the  standard  K-28  direct- 
current  series  parallel  controller  employed  in  con- 
nection with  a  .commutating  switch  to  change 
field  connections,  cut-out  step-down  transformer, 
change-line  fuses,  etc.  The  time  required  to  oper- 
ate the  commutating  switch  is  but  a  few  seconds. 
The  scheme  of  connections  both  in  diagrammatic 
form  and  for  the  complete  car  wiring  is  shown  on 
this  page. 

The  commutating  switch  is  interlocked  with 
two  main  oil  switches,  one  being  in  the  high- 
tension  a.  c.  and  the  other  being  in  the  direct- 
current  circuit;  this  interlocking  is  so  arranged  that 
only  one  switch  can  be  closed  at  a  time  and  the  com- 
mutating switch  can  only  be  thrown  when  the  oil  switches 
are  in  the  off  position.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  a.  c.  trolley 
construction  is  off-center,  while  the  standard  city  and  suburban 
trolleys  are  directly  overhead,  it  has  been  necessary  to  provide 
double  sets  of  trolleys,  one  for  a.  c.  and  the  other  for  d.  c, 
hence  the  necessity  of  interlocking  the  oil  switches  and  com- 
mutating switch  to  prevent  trouble  should  both  trolley  poles 


284 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


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POWER  'DISTRIBUTION  SYSTEM  FOR  SINGLE-PHASE  RAILWAY,  THREE-PHASE  TRANSMISSION,  SINGLE  TRACK 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


285 


accidentally  be  up  at  the  same  time.  Where  center-wire  con- 
struction is  used  on  both  the  city  and  suburban  sections,  the 
a.  c.  and  d.  c.  trolley  wires  may  be  overlapped  for  a  short  dis- 
tance to  facilitate  changing  from  one  trolley  to  the  other. 

With  equipments  operating  with  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  power 
the  engineers  of  the  General  Electric  Company  have  considered 


difficulty  in  suitably  locating  the  proper  apparatus,  even  when 
equipped  for  d.  c.  running  only.  With  cars  equipped  for  both 
a.  c.  and  d.  c.  running,  using  series  parallel  controller,  there 
will  be  required  but  slightly  more  space  and  weight  than  for 
d.  c.  running  only.  Should,  however,  advantage  be  taken  of  the 
slightly  better  efficiency  of  a.  c.  potential  control,  such  cars 


SIDE  AND  END  VIEW'S  OF  80-KW  TRANSFORMER 


it  preferable  to  utilize  the  standard  series  parallel  controller 
in  order  to  minimize  weight  of  controlling  apparatus.  Such  a 
method  of  operation  will  not  give  quite  so  high  efficiency  when 
accelerating  with  alternating  current  as  could  be  obtained  with 
potential  control.  This  difference  in  efficiency,  however,  is 
very  small,  due  partly  to  the  infrequency  of  stops  occurring 


K-26  SERIES  PARALLEL  CONTROLLER 


C ( J M MUTATING  S W IT C H 


upon  those  sections  of  the  road  equipped  with  a.  c.  trolley,  but 
principally  due  to  the  flexible  character  of  the  speed-torque 
curve  of  the  a.  c.  motor,  which  gives  a  high  efficiency  of  ac- 
celeration with  series  parallel  control. 

With  modern  suburban  cars,  especially  those  equipped  with 
train  control,  air  brakes,  air  compressors,  etc.,  there  is  some 


must  be  operated  a.  c.  upon  both  suburban  and  city  sections 
or  the  installation  of  two  separate  controlling  systems  must  be 
considered,  necessitating  a  considerable  increase  in  weight  and 
difficulty  in  providing  room  for  the  necessary  apparatus. 

For  locomotive  or  other  service  where  no  necessity  exists 
for  operation  over  d.  c.  systems,  the  manufacturers  believe  that 
the  potential  method  of  control  may  offer  advantages 
sufficiently  great  to  warrant  its  adoption. 

The  80-kw  step-down  transformer  is  air  cooled, 
forced  draught  being  obtained  by  motion  of  the  car 
itself.  The  transformer  is  suspended  below  the  car 
floor  and  all  primary  leading  in  wires  are  carried  in 
brass  tubing  which  is  grounded.  Car  lighting  and 
heating  is  effected  from  the  d.  c.  trolley  in  the  stand- 
ard manner  and  from  the  a.  c.  trolley  from  the  sec- 
ondary of  the  transformer.  Trolley  poles  and  wheels 
are  of  standard  design,  the  a.  c.  trolley  pole  being 
somewhat  shorter,  as  this  wire  is  lower  than  the  d.  c. 
trolley.  The  base  of  the  a.  c.  trolley  is  treated  with 
vacuum  compound  and  further  insulated  from  the  car 
body  by  composition  insulators.  The  air  compressor 
for  the  brakes  and  whistle  is  operated  by  a  compen- 
sated motor  which  operates  from  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c. 
circuits. 

It  is  instructive  to  compare  the  performance  of  the 
compensated  motor  equipment  when  operated  with 
a.  c.  and  d.  c.  current.  A  set  of  speed-time  runs  is 
shown  in  the  diagrams  on  page  283,  taken  over  the 
same  stretch  of  track  with  a.  c.  current  and  repeated 
with  d.  c.  current.  The  d.  c.  speed-time  and  ampere- 
time  curves  are  typical  and  require  no  particular 
comment.  The  a.  c.  run,  taken  under  exactly 
similar  conditions  over  the  same  track,  illustrates 
what  can  be  expected  from  series  parallel  control 
with  compensated  motors.  The  rate  of  accelera- 
tion is  somewhat  lower  in  the  a.  c.  run,  hence  requiring 
the  application  of  power  up  to  and  moment  of  braking.  The 
shape  of  the  speed-time  curve  also  is  characteristic  of  alter- 
nating-current motor  work — that  is,  a  comparatively  short  time 
on  the  controller  with  a  large  amount  of  motor-curve  accelera- 
tion.   Tbe  short  period  of  fractional  voltage  running  of  alter- 


286 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


nating-current  motors  makes  the  method  of  their  control  of 
secondary  importance  and  largely  minimizes  the  economy  of 
potential  control  over  series  parallel  control. 

All  speed-time  runs  taken  on  the  Ballston  line  were  made 
over  a  distance  of  1.6  miles  on  tangent  level  track  at  an  average 
speed  of  32  m.  p.  h.,  or  a  schedule  speed  of  29.5  m.  p.  h.,  in- 
cluding fifteen-second  stops.  The  compensated  motor  equip- 
ment has  thus  demonstrated  its  ability  to  make  as  high  schedule 
speed  as  any  suburban  road  now  operating  direct-current  equip- 
ments under  like  conditions.  The  following  constants  apply  to 
both  sets  of  runs: 


COMPARATIVE  A.  C.  AND  D.  C.  RUNS 


D.  C. 

A.  C. 

1.6  miles 

1.6  miles 

31.55  tons 

31.55  tons 

180  seconds 

180  seconds 

Average  current  power  on  

229  amperes 

346  amperes 

Average  voltage  

606 

425 

Volt  amperes  lull  speed  on  level  

96 

no 

Volt  amp.  hrs.,per  ton  mile  of  given  run 

86.3 

125-5 

32  m.  p.  h. 

32  m.  p.  h. 

Schedule  speed,  including  15  sec.  stop 

29-5 

29-5 

The  lower  volt-ampere  hours  per  ton-mile  of  the  d.  c.  run 
is  partly  due  to  the  better  efficiency  and  power  factor  of  the 


CONCENTRIC  CYLINDER  OIL  SWITCH,  S.  P.  D.  T.,  200  Am  f  ERE, 
2000  VOLTS 


compensated  motor  when  run  d.  c,  and  partly  due  to  the  some- 
what higher  rate  of  acceleration,  permitting  some  coasting  and 
resulting  in  a  more  efficient  speed-time  curve.    The  difference 


A.  C,  D.  C.  AIR  COMPRESSOR 


in  volt-amperes  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  depends  upon  the  length  of  a 
given  run,  and  the  values  approach  each  other  more  nearly 
with  a  run  of  greater  length.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  com- 
pensated motors  run  the  car  at  practically  the  same  speed  with 


200  volts  per  motor  a.  c.  and  300  volts  d.  c.  This  uniform  speed 
is  obtained  by  series  paralleling  the  fields,  as  shown  in  diagram 
of  connections  on  page  283. 



THROUGH  ELECTRIC  SERVICE  BETWEEN  NEW  YORK  AND 
PHILADELPHIA 

The  through  electric  service  between  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia has  proved  so  popular  that  on  Aug.  4  the  Public  Ser- 
vice Corporation,  the  Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Railroad  Com- 
pany and  the  Camden  &  Trenton  Railroad  Company,  which 
together  operate  the  service,  announced  the  establishment  of 
an  hourly  headway  of  cars  between  New  York  and  Trenton, 
and  a  forty-two-minute  headway  between  Trenton  and  Cam- 
den. A  change  of  cars  is  necessary  at  Trenton,  as  the  gage 
of  the  track  between  Jersey  City  and  Trenton  is  4  ft.  8y2  ins., 
whereas  that  between  Trenton  and  Camden  is  5  ft:  This 
change  is  the  only  one  required.  In  addition  to  an  hourly 
service  between  New  York  and  Trenton,  and  which  commences 
at  6  a.  m.  and  extends  to  7  p.  m.,  intermediate  through  cars 
between  New  Brunswick  and  Trenton  are  run  on  the  inter- 
vening half-hour,  commencing  at  8:30  a.  m.  and  until  8  p.  m., 
after  which  there  is  an  hourly  service  between  these  two  cities. 
The  running  time,  including  the  ferry  across  the  Hudson  River, 
from  New  York  to  Trenton  is  five  and  one-half  hours;  from 
Trenton  to  Camden  is  three  hours. 

The  fare  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  one  way,  is  $1.10, 
as  compared  with  $2.50  on  the  steam  railroad.  The  round-trip 
is  $2,  as  compared  with  $4  on  the  steam  railroad. 

The  cars  operated  between  New  York  and  Trenton  are  the 
standard  double-truck  semi-convertible  cars  of  the  Public  Ser- 
vice Corporation.  They  are  equipped  with  four  No.  56  West- 
inghouse  motors,  and  eleven  cars  are  required  for  the  service. 
The  traffic,  as  stated,  has  been  very  gratifying,  and  it  is  un- 
derstood that  the  receipts  amount  to  about  $3.60  per  car-hour, 
or  35  cents  per  car-mile.  The  cars  between  Trenton  and  Cam- 
den are  somewhat  smaller,  and  seat  about  forty  passengers 
each.  The  population  served  on  the  Camden  &  Trenton  line, 
exclusive  of  the  population  of  the  Camden  &  Trenton,  is  about 
38,000,  and  the  cars  are  earning  about  $3.20  per  car-hour.  The 
traffic  is  so  large  that  the  Camden  &  Trenton  Company  has  re- 
cently ordered  ten  new  cars  from  the  Brill  Company  and  will 
establish  a  half-hour  service.  These  new  cars  will  seat  forty- 
eight  passengers  each,  and  will  be  equipped  with  four  G.  E.-57 
motors  and  K-14  controllers.  One  of  the  towns  on  this  divi- 
sion is  Florence,  where  a  large  tract  has  just  been  secured  by 
the  John  A.  Roeblings  Sons'  Company  for  the  establishment  of 
its  new  wire  works.    These  works  will  employ  about  2000  men. 



THERMIT  RAIL-WELDING  IN  H0LY0KE 

The  Holyoke  Street  Railway  Company  has  placed  an  order 
for  a  number  of  thermit  joints  with  the  Goldschmidt  Thermit 
Company,  of  New  York.  The  work  is  being  carried  out  by  the 
trackmen  of  the  Holyoke  Street  Railway  Company,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  company's  engineer,  George  Pallissier,  and 
on  the  first  day  twenty  joints  were  successfully  laid.  The 
Holyoke  company  was  the  first  in  the  United  States  to  place  a 
provisional  order  for  welding  joints  by  thermit,  and  160  joints 
will  be  laid  with  this  process. 

The  New  York  City  Railway  Company  has  welded  fifty  joints 
on  Lexington  Avenue  by  this  process,  and  is  continuing  the 
work  on  Madison  Avenue.  A  number  of  other  companies  are 
now  trying  the  process  on  a  small  scale.  If  it  had  been  possible 
for  the  manufacturers  to  have  completed  arrangements  for 
manufacturing  thermit  in  this  country  a  little  earlier  in  the 
season,  they  state  that  a  very  large  business  would  already  have 
developed. 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


287 


NEW  CAR  HOUSE  AND  SHOPS  FOR  THE  TWIN  CITY  RAPID 
TRANSIT  COMPANY 


The  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  which  controls  the 
street  railway  service  of  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis,  is  planning 
extensive  additions  to  its  facilities  for  handling  rolling  stock, 
and  work  will  shortly  commence  upon  a  new  car  house  in  the 
Midway  district  between  the  two  cities.  During  the  last  few 
years  the  business  of  the  company  has  increased  at  a  rate  which 
has  made  necessary  a  notable  enlargement  of  its  physical  plant, 
and  the  building  of  the  new  car  house  will  be  but  a  single  step 


convenience  comes  from  the  location  of  the  car  house  and  shops 
directly  on  the  line  of  the  shortest  and  quickest  interurban 
route  between  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul — the  University  Ave- 
nue line. 

Fig.  2  shows  the  general  layout  of  the  :iew  car  house  and 
shops,  which  will  occupy  a  lot  owned  by  the  company  on  Snell- 
ing  Avenue,  St.  Paul,  between  University  and  St.  Anthony 
Avenues.  The  area  of  this  lot  is  not  far  from  19  acres.  Be- 
sides the  car  house,  the  plans  of  the  company  include  the  fol- 
lowing building:  A  paint,  varnishing  and  upholstering  shop 
with  an  office,  300  ft.  x  125  ft. ;  a  coach  shop,  300  ft.  x  200  ft. ; 


REVISED  REAR  ELEVATION 


REVISED  FRONT  ELEVATION 


REVISED  CROSS  SECTION 

FIG.  1.— CROSS-SECTION  AND  ELEVATIONS— SNELLING  AVENUE  CAR  HOUSE— TWIN  CITY  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


treel  Ry.Journ 


toward  the  construction  of  some  of  the  most  extensive  car 
shops  in  the  West.  The  company  builds  its  own  cars,  having 
adopted  a  standard  car  45  ft.  2  ins.  in  length,  with  four  40-hp 
motors  per  equipment,  it  needs  all  the  modern  facilities  of  a 
standard  manufacturing  plant,  so  that  the  layout  of  shops  to 
be  completed  in  the  Midway  district  is  being  designed  with  all 
the  care  which  would  be  given  to  the  division  mechanical  head- 
quarters of  a  large  steam  railway  system. 

At  present  the  company's  principal  shops  are  located  at 
Thirty-First  Street  and  Nicollet  Avenue,  Minneapolis.  While 
this  point  has  the  advantage  of  being  located  outside  the  busi- 
ness center  of  the  city,  it  is  not  as  convenient  as  the  Midway 
location,  which  is  not  far  from  the  geographical  center  of  the 
entire  transit  system.  Then,  too,  the  Midway  shops  are  to  be 
built  in  a  suburban  section,  and  possess  a  strategic  position  in 
regard  to  the  execution  of  quick  repairs,  as  disabled  cars  will 
have  a  much  shorter  average  run  to  the  shops  than  the  present 
Thirty-First  Street  quarters  demand.    Still  another  point  of 


a  mill,  150  ft.  x  100  ft. ;  a  dry  kiln,  50  ft.  x  40  ft. ;  a  store  room, 
200  ft.  x  100  ft. ;  a  motor  repair  shop,  250  ft.  x  90  ft. ;  a  machine 
shop,  250  ft.  x  60  ft.  ;  a  truck,  frog  and  blacksmith  shop,  150  ft. 
x  100  ft. ;  a  foundry,  100  ft.  x  75  ft. ;  an  iron  house,  75  ft.  x 
25  ft.,  and  a  coal  house  of  the  same  dimensions.  Power  will 
be  supplied  by  a  plant  100  ft.  x  100  ft. ;  oil  will  be  stored  in  a 
fireproof  building  40  ft.  x  30  ft.,  and  there  will  be  a  transfer 
table  605  ft.  long  x  90  ft.  wide,  extending  through  the  center 
of  the  shop  layout,  so  that  cars  may  be  handled  with  a  maxi- 
mum of  convenience.  The  area  occupied  by  the  buildings  will 
be  about  4.8  acres,  while  the  addition  of  the  new  car  house, 
covering  3.2  acres,  brings  the  total  ground  covered  to  8  acres. 

The  design  of  the  car  house  is  a  radical  departure  from  ex- 
isting practice  through  the  use  of  reinforced  concrete  in  prac- 
tically every  detail  of  construction.  Foundations,  pit  floors, 
walls  and  roof  will  all  be  of  this  material.  Fig.  3  shows  the 
general  plan  of  the  car  house,  which  occupies  an  area  550  ft. 
long  x  266  ft.  7  ins.  wide,  slight  modifications  having  been  made 


288 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


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289 


in  the  dimensions  of  Fig.  2.  The 
capacity  of  the  car  house  is  180 
45-ft.  cars,  and  its  cost  is  estimated 
between  $175,000  and  $200,000.  The 
building  is  to  be  one  story  in 
height,  and  will  be  divided  into 
five  essentially  separate  divisions. 
There  are  to  be  three  car-storage 
halls,  each  about  520  ft.  long  x  39 
ft.  9  ins.  wide.  Each  of  these  halls 
is  to  be  supplied  with  transverse 
steel  shutters  near  its  middle  por- 
tion, so  that  six  compartments  may 
be  easily  placed  in  service  as  a  pre- 
caution against  fire.  Each  com- 
partment will  contain  three  parallel 
tracks  running  its  entire  length. 
Except  at  the  ends,  there  will  be  no 
communication  between  the  differ- 
ent compartments  and  the  adjoin- 
ing car  shops  save  through  a  door 
in  the  middle,  steel  shuttered,  10  ft. 
wide  and  8  ft.  high.  Dirt  floors 
will  be  used  in  these  compartments, 
except  that  there  will  be  a  cement 
floor  100  ft.  long  in  one,  for  the 
purpose  of  washing  cars.  This 
floor  will  be  pitched  to  drain  the 
water  used  in  car  washing  into  the 
sewer  connections  of  the  car  house. 
The  tracks  in  the  three  compart- 
ments will  be  spaced  12  ft.  apart  on 
centers,  and  there  will  be  two 
passageways  3  ft.  wide  each  be- 
tween the  fireproof  concrete  wall, 
separating  each  compartment  from 
its  neighbor  and  from  the  pit  room. 

The  pit  room  is  to  be  520  ft.  long 
by  about  104  ft.  10  ins.  wide.  It 
will  contain  six  parallel  tracks 
spaced  17  ft.  apart  on  centers,  each. 
The  floor  throughout  will  be  of  ce- 
ment, as  will  the  sides  of  the  pits 
and  the  steps  leading  into  them. 
This  floor  will  be  7  ins.  thick,  re- 
inforced by  steel  rods  or  other  ap- 
proved construction,  and  will  be 
supported  by  round  columns  of 
cast  iron  5  ins.  in  diameter.  The 
pits  will  be  4  ft.  2  ins.  deep,  and 
will  be  drained  to  4-in.  x  8-in.  gut- 
ters leading  to  the  sewer  connec- 
tions. The  foundations  of  the  floor 
supporting  columns  will  be  of  con- 
crete in  two  courses,  each  1  ft.  deep 
and  2  ft.  wide.  Fig.  4  illustrates 
the  pit  room  in  cross  section.  An 
electric  traveling  crane  will  serve 
this  room.  Access  can  be  had  to 
the  pits  by  four  sets  of  parallel 
stairways,  two  of  which  are  located 
at  the  center  and  one  at  each  end 
of  every  pit.  Three  pathways,  each 
6  ft.  wide,  are  provided  for  transit 
across  the  pit  room.  It  has  not 
been  settled  yet  whether  the  crane 
runway  will  be  supported  on  steel 
I-beams  or  reinforced  concrete. 

The  entire  length  of  the  building 


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STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


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on  the  University  Avenue  side  is 
to  be  devoted  to  offices,  shop  room, 
quarters  for  the  trainmen  and  store 
rooms.  Passing  down  University 
Avenue  from  Snelling  Avenue  one 
enters  an  office  30  ft.  x  32  ft.  2  ins. 
Adjoining  this  is  a  trainmen  s  room 
containing  lockers,  the  room  being 
106  ft.  3  ins.  long  x  39  ft.  wide.  A 
stairway  at  the  end  of  this  room 
leads  to  a  gallery  above.  Adjoin- 
ing the  trainmen's  room  is  a  hall  4 
ft.  wide,  connecting  with  a  wash 
and  toilet  room  31  ft.  9  ins.  x  19  ft. 
6  ins.  A  separate  toilet  and  wash 
room  is  located  on  the  other  side  of 
the  hall  for  the  exclusive  use  of  the 
employees  working  in  the  Snelling 
Avenue  half  of  the  pit  room.  Next 
comes  a  reading  room  39  ft.  square, 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


291 


and  after  this  a  bowling  alley  89  ft.  6  ins.  long  x  39  ft.  wide, 
for  the  use  of  trainmen.  Beyond  the  bowling  alley  comes  a 
small  shop  53  ft.  6  ins.  x  39  ft.,  connecting  with  a  store  room 
53  ft.  6  ins.  x  26  ft.  Four  small  rooms,  each  13  ft.  x  12  ft.,  are 
to  be  built  between  the  store  room  and  the  pit  room  for  the 
keeping  of  wood,  sawdust,  scrap  and  salt.  The  company's  cars 
are  heated  by  hot  water,  coal  being  used  for  fuel.  The  saw- 
dust is  used  in  sweeping  out  the  cars.  Next  to  the  store  room 
is  an  oil  room  17  ft.  6  ins.  x  39  ft.  Then  comes  a  toilet  room 
for  the  employees  in  the  east  half  of  the  pit  room,  this  being 
built  at  this  point  to  save  the  time  of  workmen,  who  would 
otherwise  be  obliged  to  walk  more  than  half  the  length  of  the 
car  house  to  the  toilet  room  adjoining  the  trainmen's  room. 
An  office  8  ft.  x  12  ft.  and  a  waiting  room  17  ft.  x  16  ft.  ad- 
join the  oil  room.  The  last  part  of  the  building  is  devoted  to 
an  assembly  hall  104  ft.  7  ins.  x  39  ft.  for  the  use  of  employees. 
Here  various  meetings  may  be  held,  concerts,  plays  and  other 
entertainments  given,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  room  will 
find  much  use  at  the  hands  of  the  employees. 

Power  and  light  for  the  car  house  will  be  brought  from  the 
power  plant  through  an  underground  passageway.  The  day- 
light illumination  will  be  through  skylights  set  in  galvanized 
iron  frames. 

Fig.  1  shows  two  elevations  and  a  longitudinal  section  of 
the  car  house.  Below  the  office  and  the  trainmen's  room  is  to 
be  a  basement  9  ft.  $l/2  ins.  deep,  containing  the  coal  supply 
for  the  hods  carried  on  the  cars.  Temperatures  of  25  degs.  to 
35  degs.  below  zero  are  not  uncommon  in  the  winter  season  of 
Minnesota,  and  the  supply  of  coal  to  the  company's  cars  pre- 
sents a  problem  of  considerable  magnitude.  Cars  stopping  on 
the  University  Avenue  side  can  thus  be  readily  supplied  with 
fresh  hods  of  fuel  at  the  conclusion  of  each  trip. 

The  roof  trusses  are  all  to  be  of  reinforced  concrete,  as 
shown  in  Fig.  4.  Special  attention  has  been  given  to  the  drain- 
age of  the  roof,  and  the  problem  of  fire  protection  kept  con- 
stantly in  mind  during  the  preparation  of  the  plans  by  the  com- 
pany's architect,  C.  F.  Ferrin.  The  writer's  acknowledgements 
are  due  to  Mr.  Ferrin  and  to  Willard  J.  Hield,  general  manager 
of  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  for  courtesies  ex- 
tended in  the  preparation  of  these  notes. 



STEEL-WHEEL  PRACTICE  UPON  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY 
SURFACE  LINES 

Much  interest  is  attached  to  the  experimental  use  of  steel 
wheels  under  surface  cars  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Com- 
pany in  New  York  City,  in  view  of  the  increased  wheel  troubles 
met  with  the  larger  cars,  the  faster  schedules  and  heavier  traffic, 
which  are  becoming  the  rule  in  electric  railway  operation.  The 
use  of  the  chilled  cast-iron  wheel  has  been  attended  with  more 
than  usual  difficulty  in  New  York,  and  has  made  the  wheel 
problem  one  of  the  most  difficult  that  is  encountered  in  the 
operation  of  the  road.  Steel  wheels  have  been  used  extensively, 
of  course,  in  interurban  service,  but  their  employment  in  city 
service  is  a  considerable  departure  from  ordinary  pactice.  For 
this  reason  the  experiment  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Com- 
pany will  be  watched  with  interest. 

This  company  operates  over  2000  electric  cars  daily  under 
the  most  severe  conditions  of  operation  that  are  to  be  found 
in  any  city  in  this  country.  Owing  to  the  density  of  traffic  in 
New  York,  the  number  of  stops  that  are  made  on  almost  every 
line  operated  average  nearly  twenty  to  the  mile,  which  is  equiv- 
alent to  practically  a  stop  at  every  block.  The  result  is  that 
the  wheels  are  subjected  to  almost  constant  braking,  and  also 
they  suffer  the  further  disadvantage  of  abnormal  slipping  re- 
sulting from  the  many  accelerations.  This  produces  not  only 
abnormal  wheel  wear,  but  also  excessive  heating  of  the  tread 
of  the  wheel.  Moreover,  owing  to  the  large  amount  of  special 
track  work,  the  wheels  are  subjected  to  unusually  rough  usage 


at  the  numerous  crossings,  the  whole  combining  to  impose  con- 
ditions which  have  proven  very  severe  for  the  chilled  cast- 
iron  wheel. 

Nearly  two  years  ago  it  was  decided  to  make  a  trial  of  the 
steel  wheel  in  hopes  of  bettering  the  wheel  conditions  upon  the 
system.  Two  maximum  traction  truck  cars  were  equipped  and 
put  in  operation  on  the  Third  and  Sixth  Avenue  Divisions.  The 
results  were  so  satisfactory  tbat  last  December  the  company 
decided  to  put  steel  wheels  on  fifty-six  cars  on  the  Twenty- 
Third  Street  Division.  All  of  these  cars  have  been  running 
ever  since.  The  style  of  steel  wheel  used  is  a  special  spoke 
wheel  of  cast-steel,  which  was  gotten  up  especially  for  this 
service  by  the  Taylor  Iron  &  Steel  Company.  The  wheels  are 
of  the  same  section  as  the  chilled  cast-iron  wheel,  but  have  a 
much  thicker  rim  to  provide  for  the  greater  wear  due  to  the 
softness  of  the  steel  as  compared  with  the  chilled  iron.  They 
are  cast  under  a  new  process  of  the  manufacturer,  and  were 
turned  out  of  the  foundry  practically  in  condition  for  service, 
requiring  no  machining. 

These  wheels  are,  as  applied  to  the  cars,  31  ins.  in  diameter, 
being  an  inch  larger  than  the  standard  wheel  size  of  this  com- 
pany. The  extra  1  in.  of  diameter  was  added  to  give  the  wheels 
a  greater  wearing  life;  the  rims  can  be  worn  down  to  27J/2  ins., 
a  reduction  of  3^  ins.  in  diameter,  before  the  wheel  will  be 
weakened  enough  to  require  its  removal.  This  provides  for  a 
large  amount  of  wear  and  consequent  long  life  of  the  wheel. 
A  greater  depth  of  wear  is  not  possible  on  the  New  York  lines, 
as  it  would  interfere  with  the  position  of  the  plow  on  the  under- 
ground conductors.  The  brake  shoes  used  with  the  steel  wheels 
are  the  Lappin  composition,  which  is  the  standard  on  the  New 
York  City  lines.  A  very  much  stronger  braking  effect  is  pro- 
duced than  is  possible  with  the  chilled  iron  wheel,  owing  to  the 
much  firmer  hold  upon  the  wheel.  This  reduces  the  tendency 
of  the  wheel  to  heat  up.  A  further  advantage  of  the  steel  wheel 
is  its  smaller  tendency  to  flats  and  the  property  of  rolling  out 
flats  when  caused. 

The  results  of  the  first  sixteen  wheels  put  in  service  are  such 
as  to  indicate  the  entire  adaptability  of  the  steel  wheel  to  sur- 
face car  conditions.  These  wheels  have  been  in  service  eighteen 
months,  and  are  not  yet  worn  out.  They  have  reached,  in 
several  cases,  mileages  as  high  as  50,000  miles  without  showing 
extreme  wear,  and  it  is  confidently  expected  that  they  will  run 
up  to  75,000  miles  before  removal.  A  notable  feature  of  the 
wear  upon  these  wheels  is  the  even  contour  of  the  tread,  there 
being  no  grooving  or  double-flanging  effect,  as  found  on  loco- 
motive steel  tires. 

Owing  to  the  above-mentioned  conditions,  the  wear  to  which 
the  wheels  are  subjected  is  more  severe  than  the  mileage  can 
possibly  indicate.  In  reality,  the  mileage  does  not  indicate  the 
service  to  which  they  have  been  subjected — the  large  number 
of  accelerations,  with  consequent  slippages,  cause  the  actual 
mileage  of  each  wheel,  it  is  thought,  to  run  from  10  per  cent 
to  25  per  cent  higher  than  the  car  mileage.  The  extreme  brak- 
ing conditions  also  tend  to  increase  the  wear  very  severely, 
and  the  results  of  the  steel  wheel  in  the  service  have  been  so 
gratifying  that  a  large  number  of  new  cars,  which  have  re- 
cently been  ordered,  are  being  equipped  with  steel-tired  wheels. 
This  new  order  involves  100  new  Brill  cars,  upon  which  the 
shrunk  steel-tired  wheel  will  be  used,  so  that  a  practical  trial 
of  all  three  kinds  of  steel  wheels  will  be  made.  The  steel-tired 
wheels  will  be  furnished  by  the  National  Car  Wheel  Company, 
of  Pittsburg,  Pa. 



A  new  wrinkle  in  three  cars  just  delivered  to  the  Lake  Shore 
Electric  Railway,  of  Cleveland,  by  the  Stephenson  Company  is 
a  speaking  tube  extending  from  the  motorman's  cab  to  the  rear 
platform  so  that  the  motorman  and  conductor  can  be  in  con- 
stant communication.  The  idea  was  originated  by  Warren 
Bicknell,  president  of  the  Lake  Shore  Company. 


292 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


TESTS  BY  THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  TEST  COMMISSION 

The  Electric  Railway  Test  Commission,  working  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  Department  of  Electricity  at  the  World's  Fair, 
after  several  weeks  spent  in  the  organization  of  the  tests,  the 
construction  of  special  instruments  required  in  the  work,  and 


THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  AND  TESTING  CORPS  OF  THE 
ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  TEST  COMMISSION 


in  preparation  in  general,  has  begun  the  actual  work  of  test- 
ing the  several  pieces  of  apparatus  submitted. 

The  corps  of  assistants,  headed  by  Prof.  H.  H.  Norris,  of 


THE  TEST  TRACK  ALONG  THE  NORTH  SIDE  OF  THE  TRANS- 
PORTATION BUILDING  ON  WHICH  MANY  OF  THE  CAR 
TESTS  WILL  BE  PERFORMED 


Cornell ;  Prof.  B.  V.  Swenson,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
and  Prof.  H.  T.  Plumb,  of  Purdue  University,  includes  several 
graduate  students  from  each  of  the  three  institutions. 

The  first  of  the  series  of  tests  to  be  made  was  the  determina- 


tion of  the  resistance  to  alternating  current  of  rails  of  standard 
section.  Tests  were  made  through  wide  ranges  of  both  cur- 
rents and  frequencies.  The  frequencies  varied  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  present  railway  alternating-current  practice,  the  va- 
riation being  from  10  cycles  to  60  cycles.  The  maximum  cur- 
rent used  was  from  600  amps.  down. 

These  tests  were  made  in  the  exhibit  space  of  the  Bullock 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  in  the  Palace  of  Elec- 
tricity. 

The  accompanying  reproductions  of  photographs  give  a 
general  idea  of  the  apparatus  used.  The  non-inductive  carbon 
resistance,  one  terminal  of  which  is  seen  connected  to  the  rail 
to  be  tested,  was  placed  in  series  with  the  rail.  The  heavy  bar 
connections  were  necessitated  by  the  large  currents  used. 

For  measuring  the  power  consumption  the  three-voltmeter 
method  was  employed.  The  voltages  were  measured  across  the 
terminals  of  the  non-inductive  resistance,  across  the  portions 
of  the  rail  to  be  tested,  and  the  total  across  both  the  non-in- 
ductive resistance  and  the  rail.  From  the  three  readings  so 
obtained  the  phase  position  of  the  current  with  respect  to  the 
e.  m.  fs.  were  readily  deduced,  and,  together  with  the  ammeter 
readings,  the  power  consumed  in  the  rail  was  easily  computed. 

In  connection  with  general  tests  on  air-brake  apparatus,  very 
complete  data  were  obtained  from  the  compressor  station  of 
the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  located  at  the  extremity  of  the 
Park  Avenue  line. 

It  will  probably  be  remembered  that  the  cars  of  the  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company  are  equipped  with  the  Westinghouse  storage 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  CAR  260O,  SHOWING  POSITION  OF  INSTRU- 
MENTS AND  OBSERVERS 


ST   LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  CAR,  WITH  TESTING  CORPS 

air-brake  system,  the  storage  tanks  on  the  cars  being  charged 
from  compressor  stations  located  at  convenient  points  on  the 
line. 

The  station  tested  was  equipped  with  two  Ingersoll-Sergeant 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


293 


compressors  driven  by  Westinghouse  motors.  The  test  con- 
tinued over  a  period  of  thirty-six  hours.  Readings  were  made 
to  determine  the  total  input  in  watts,  as  well  as  the  output 
measured  in  cubic  feet  of  free  air  compressed  to  300  lbs.  per 
square  inch. 

Another  test  on  air-brake  apparatus  was  made  on  car  No. 
2600  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company.  This  is  one  of  the 
450  new  cars  purchased  for  World's  Fair  traffic,  having  a  seat- 
ing capacity  for  forty-eight  persons,  the  car-body  measuring 
33  ft.  434  ins.  over  corner  posts. 


TESTING  TABLES  AND  INSTRUMENTS  USED  IN  THE  RAIL 

TESTS 


For  the  test,  the  car  was  specially  equipped  with  National 
Electric  Company  air-brake  apparatus  complete.  The  com- 
pressor used  was  the  A.  A.  I.  type,  being  controlled  by  an  auto- 
matic governor. 

The  instruments  were  so  arranged  that  the  observers  would 
occupy  the  four  forward  seats  on  one  side  of  the  car.  The  car 
was  operated  over  the  regular  Park  Avenue  run. 

In  general,  the  readings  obtained  were  those  required  to  com- 


THE  NON-INDUCTIVE  CARBON  RESISTANCE  USED  IN  THE 
RAIL  TESTS 


pute  the  total  watt  consumption  in  the  compressor  motor  and 
the  output  of  the  compressor.  Record  was  also  kept  of  the 
number  of  applications  of  the  brakes,  the  pressure  used  at  each 
application,  the  number  of  revolutions  of  the  crank-shaft  of  the 
compressor,  and  the  length  of  time  the  compressor  was  oper- 
ating. Personal  error  was  largely  eliminated  by  the  use  of 
automatic  recording  instruments.  A  recording  gage  connected 
to  the  train  line  registered  the  maximum  pressure  at  each  appli- 
cation. An  electrically  connected  counter  recorded  the  number 
of  revolutions  of  the  crank-shaft  of  the  compressor.  Reading 
signals  were  given  by  means  of  a  clock,  which  at  intervals  of 
five  seconds  operated  electric  bells. 


To  eliminate  errors  in  the  measurement  of  the  air  com- 
pressed, through  the  possibility  of  the  pump  operating  while  an 
application  of  the  brakes  was  being  made,  the  governor  con- 
nections were  somewhat  modified.  With  this  modification  the 
pump  could  not  be  started  as  long  as  there  was  any  pressure  in 
the  train  line,  and  if  the  pump  were  in  operation  when  the  ap- 
plication was  made  it  was  immediately  cut  out. 

During  the  test  the  National  Electric  Company  was  repre- 
sented by  Messrs.  Tolman  and  Metzler.  During  the  tests  on 
the  brake  apparatus  very  complete  data  were  obtained  on  the 
motor  consumption.  For  this  purpose  an  Armstrong  record- 
ing ammeter,  with  time  marker  registering  every  five  seconds, 
was  used.  Temperature  readings  of  the  motors  were  also  ob- 
tained at  the  end  of  each  run. 

Several  tests  will  be  made  on  an  Indiana  Union  Traction 
Company  car.  This  is  one  of  the  twenty  cars  recently  con- 
structed by  the  Cincinnati  Car  Company. 

In  the  group  showing  the  members  of  the  Electric  Railway 
Test  Commission,  Prof.  Goldsborough,  Chief  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Electricity,  is  in  the  second  row  from  the  front,  at  the 
right  of  the  center.  Prof.  Norris,  of  the  test  commission,  is  at 
his  side.  Prof.  Swenson,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  is 
seated  at  the  left  of  Prof.  Norris,  and  Mr.  Thurston,  of  the 
Westinghouse  Company,  stands  at  the  left  of  the  picture. 
 *♦*  

THE  APPLICATION  OF  ELECTRIC  TRACTION  TO  LIGHT 
RAILWAYS* 


BY  H.  LUITHLEN 
Chief  Inspector  of  the  Austrian  State  Railways. 

The  advantages  of  electric  traction  over  steam  for  light  rail- 
way service  can  be  classified  under  three  headings,  viz:  (1) 
those  which  appeal  to  the  traveling  public  and  which  lead  to 
an  increase  in  traffic,  and  consequently  to  an  increase  in  re- 
ceipts; (2)  those  resulting  from  a  centralization  of  the  motive 
power;  (3)  economies  in  first  cost,  maintenance  and  operating 
expenses.  It  is  proposed  to  examine  each  of  these  classifica- 
tions separately  and  point  out  as  well  the  disadvantages  of  elec- 
tric traction.  It  might  be  mentioned  in  this  connection,  how- 
ever, that  one  of  the  principal  advantages  of  electric  traction 
will  not  be  discussed,  viz.,  that  of  possessing  possibilities  for 
very  high  speeds.  This  forms  really  a  separate  subject,  so 
that  the  present  paper  will  be  confined  to>  a  consideration  of 
the  motive  power  as  it  can  be  applied  to  light  steam  railways 
as  they  are  operated  to-day. 

ADVANTAGES  TO  THE  PASSENGER 

Two  important  advantages  are  (a)  the  easy  division  of 
trains  into  a  large  number  of  units  so  that  trains  can  be  run 
at  frequent  headway,  and  (b)  the  maximum  speed  being  fixed, 
the  duration  of  the  trip  is  reduced  by  electric  power  on  account 
of  rapid  starting  and  stopping. 

A  short  headway  and  a  reduction  in  the  length  of  trip  are 
often  two  conditions  which  are  essential  to  successful  commer- 
cial results,  especially  on  short  suburban  lines.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  electricity  answers  this  demand  much  better  than 
steam,  thus,  for  example,  the  application  of  electricity  to  the 
Provincial  Tramways  of  Naples  was  followed  by  an  increase 
in  the  train  kilometers  of  140  per  cent,  although  the  increase  in 
expenses  was  only  20  per  cent.  Having  a  better  coefficient  of 
traction  they  can  also  be  stopped  more  quickly  than  steam 
trains.  This  is  true  even  when  an  electric  locomotive  is  used, 
because  the  coefficient  of  adhesion  on  the  rails  is  greater  than 
with  a  steam  locomotive,  owing  to  the  rotary  movement  of  the 
motors.  Cserhati  has  estimated  that  from  25  per  cent  to  30 
per  cent  of  the  weight  of  an  electric  locomotive  can  be  utilized 
as  draw-bar  pull,  whereas  the  coefficient  for  a  steam  locomotive 
is  only  about  16  per  cent.    Articles  in  the  technical  press  show 

*  Abstract  of  report  to  be  presented  at  the  September  OOfM)  meeting  at 
Vienna  of  the  International  Tramways  and  Light  Railways  Association. 


294 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


that  on  the  three  high-speed  lines,  Milan- Varese,  the  Berlin 
Elevated  Railway  and  the  Liverpool  &  Southport  Railway,  the 
braking  deceleration  was  respectively  0.35,  0.7  and  0.9  m  per 
second2,  while  on  the  Vienna  Metropolitan  line  it  reached  a 
maximum  of  only  0.25  m  per  second2,  with  an  average  of  0.17. 
It  should  be  stated  here  that  the  Vienna  Metropolitan  Railway 
operates,  as  a  rule,  trains  of  considerable  weight.  In  addition 
to  the  gain  in  running  time  from  this  cause,  electric  trains 
have  also  the  advantage  over  steam  on  lines  of  considerable 
length  that  no  stops  are  necessary  to  take  in  a  water  supply. 

Another  advantage  is  that  the  number  of  cars  per  train  can 
very  easily  be  arranged  by  the  multiple-unit  system  to  suit  the 
traffic  without  changing  the  number  of  trains.  This  advantage 
under  certain  conditions  is  of  very  great  importance.  Absence 
of  smoke  and  cinders  is  another  important  feature,  as  is  the 
possibility  of  easily  and  economically  lighting  the  cars  and 
stations,  conditions  which  undoubtedly  affect  the  volume  of 
traffic,  especially  in  case  of  two  parallel  lines,  one  operated  by 
electricity  and  the  other  by  steam.  Incidentally,  the  absence  of 
smoke  also  undoubtedly  increases  the  life  of  parts  of  the  per- 
manent equipment,  such  as  rails,  bridges,  etc.,  and  improves  the 
chances  of  getting  running  powers,  especially  in  the  suburbs 
of  large  cities. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  A  CENTRALIZATION  OF  MOTIVE  POWER 
These  are  especially  important  when  water  power  is  avail- 
able. The  economy  of  a  steam-power  station  over  individual 
units  increases,  of  course,  with  the  cost  of  coal.  On  the  Valtel- 
lina  Railway  the  cost  of  coal  with  steam  power  amounted  to 
235.6  centimes  per  1000  tonne  kilometers,  while  with  the  water- 
power  station  the  cost  is  only  65  centimes.  There  is  consider- 
able economy,  however,  even  where  steam  power  is  used,  owing 
to  the  use  of  refinements  in  steam  generation  and  consumption 
as  well  as  to  a  high-load  factor,  as  compared  with  the  consump- 
tion of  coal  in  the  ordinary  locomotive  boiler ;  also  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  using  an  inferior  quality  of  coal.  The  latter  point 
is  particularly  advantageous  where  coal  can  be  secured  near 
the  station.  For  instance,  in  Bohemia  lignite  of  a  sufficiently 
good  quality  to  burn  under  stationary  boilers  can  be  secured 
for  1.60  kr.  per  tonne,  whereas  the  poorest  quality  of  lignite 
suitable  for  use  in  locomotive  boilers  cannot  be  obtained  for 
less  than  4  kr.  per  tonne.  Another  advantage  of  the  centraliza- 
tion of  motive  power  is  that  the  capacity  of  the  steam  locomo- 
tive has  to  be  that  of  the  maximum  power  demand  which  is 
required  for  a  very  short  time  only,  whereas  the  load  on  the 
power  station  is  only  the  sum  of  the  average  loads  on  the  dif- 
ferent motors.  This  reduces  the  first  cost.  The  improvements 
during  recent  years  in  steam  turbines,  as  well  as  in  gas  engines, 
afford  the  hope  of  a  still  greater  economy  in  central  power 
generation.  The  ability  to  utilize  current  for  lighting  as  well 
as  for  miscellaneous  power  purposes,  should  not  be  overlooked. 
Lechner  cites  a  practical  instance  of  this  in  the  case  of  the 
Meckenbeurn-Tettnang  interurban  railway,  where  the  profit 
on  the  sale  of  current  from  the  railway  power  station  for  mis- 
cellaneous purposes  paid  from  1.1  per  cent  to  3.2  per  cent  on 
the  entire  capital  investment. 

Another  advantage  of  the  centralization  of  power  is  the  pos- 
sibility of  recovering  the  energy  lost  in  braking.  This  plan  is 
followed  on  several  rack  railways,  such  as  in  Barmen,  Trieste 
and  the  Jungfrau,  where  from  55  per  cent  to  60  per  cent  of 
power  is  recovered.  It  is  probable  that  on  ordinary  railways 
there  will  be  greater  progress  in  this  direction  in  the  more  or 
less  distant  future.* 

Having  mentioned  the  advantages  of  central  power  distribu- 
tion, it  is  only  right  to  refer  to  the  disadvantages.  The  total 
power  available  is  limited  by  the  capacity  of  the  station  and  by 
the  size  of  the  conductors,  so  that  there  is  a  lack  of  elasticity 
depending  upon  the  layout  of  the  line  and  the  copper  invest- 
ment. For  instance,  in  the  Munich-Griinwald  line  electricity 
is  depended  upon  for  ordinary  service,  but  on  Sundays  and 


holidays  steam  trains  are  also  run.  This  practice  saves  the 
necessity  of  installing  a  power  station  of  large  enough  capacity 
for  all  conditions.  For  this  reason  electric  traction  does  not 
seem  to  be  especially  adapted  for  heavy  irregular  traffic,  be- 
cause the  power  station  and  distribution  system  would  have  to 
be  of  such  a  large  size  that  it  would  not  be  working  at  a  high 
rate  of  efficiency  at  all  times.  It  seems,  therefore,  desirable  in 
many  cases  to  continue  the  hauling  of  freight  by  means  of 
steam  locomotives  even  if  electricity  should  be  utilized  for 
passenger  service. 

Again,  in  case  of  interruption  to  the  service,  there  might  be 
a  bunch  of  trains  on  one  section,  which  would  be  of  greater 
capacity  than  that  for  which  the  local  distributing  system  was 
designed,  resulting  in  great  inconvenience.  Thus,  the  annual 
report  of  the  Bergdorf-Thun  Electric  Railway  for  1902  shows 
a  number  of  interruptions  to  train  traffic,  one  of  them  of  six 
and  one-half  hours  duration.  These  interruptions  were  caused 
by  falls  of  the  poles  carrying  the  transmission  line,  breakages 
of  the  trolley  wire  and  defects  in  the  motor  cars.  On  the  Milan- 
Varese  line  a  storm  recently  interrupted  the  service  for  over  an 
hour.  There  are  also  other  possibilities  of  delay  due  to  a  cen- 
tral power  station  and  to  the  distributing  system,  and  the  sleet 
problem  has  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  worked  out  on  the  third- 
rail  roads. 

REDUCTION  IN  FIRST  COST  AND  OPERATING  EXPENSES 
The  cost  of  construction  is  in  favor  of  electricity  in  several 
items,  particularly  because  the  limiting  grade  is  higher  on  an 
electric  railroad.  This  not  only  often  permits  a  shorter  route, 
but  reduces  the  necessary  excavations  and  fills.  For  example, 
the  Tabor-Bechnyn  Railway  in  Bohemia  was  originally  de- 
signed for  steam  traction  with  a  maximum  grade  of  2^  per 
cent.  When  electricity  was  decided  upon  the  maximum  grade 
was  increased  to  3^  per  cent.  This  made  it  possible  to  lower 
the  grade  of  a  large  bridge  across  the  Luznitz  Valley  and  re- 
duced its  length  174  m.  As  the  electric  trains  are  shorter,  the 
station  platforms  may  also  be  shorter,  and  as  the  trains  can  be 
operated  from  either  end,  the  switch  yard  may  be  made  smaller 
and  many  sidings  can  be  omitted.  Stated  conversely,  the  elec- 
trification of  a  steam  road  permits  a  larger  traffic  with  the 
same  sidings.  For  instance,  the  St.  George  &  Commiers-La- 
mure  line  was  a  single-track  line,  with  a  number  of  grades 
reaching  as  high  as  2.7  per  cent,  and  with  steam  power  had 
reached  the  limit  of  its  capacity.  As  it  was  a  narrow  gage  line, 
heavier  locomotives  could  not  be  used,  but  the  substitution  of 
electricity  permitted  the  employment  of  electric  locomotives 
which  could  haul  much  longer  trains.  Another  economy  lies 
in  the  possibility  of  the  use  of  a  lighter  sub-structure  on  account 
of  the  smaller  weight  per  axle  and  the  absence  of  reciprocating 
machinery ;  thus,  on  the  Tabor-Bechnyn  line,  mentioned  above, 
21.75-kg  rail  was  used  instead  of  the  26-kg  rail,  estimated  upon 
with  steam  traction.  Finally,  electric  traction  does  not  require 
water  towers  or  coaling  depots.  On  the  other  hand,  an  electric 
system  requires  a  considerable  investment  for  the  power  station 
and  distributing  system. 

The  cost  of  track  and  car  maintenance  is  considerably  less 
for  an  electric  line  than  for  a  steam  line ;  for  instance,  on  the 
Meckenbeurn-Tettnang  line  the  cost  of  track  maintenance  is 
280  marks  per  kilometer  as  compared  with  an  average  of  from 
300  to  400  marks  for  steam.  The  other  maintenance  expenses, 
such  as  that  of  electric  equipment,  are  not  of  great  importance. 
Hecker  figures  that  in  the  case  of  city  tramways,  0.1  pf.  per  car- 
kilometer  is  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  the  overhead 
wire.  As  far  as  concerns  rolling  stock,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
the  cost  of  maintenance  for  an  electric  car  or  an  electric  loco- 
motive is  less  than  that  of  a  steam  locomotive.  Armstrong 
(Street  Railway  Journal,  Jan.  16,  1904)  estimates  that  in 
trains  weighing  250  tons,  the  cost  of  repairs  for  the  locomotive 
per  1000  ton-mile  is  25  cents  for  steam  locomotives  and  8  cents 
for  the  electric  locomotive,  about  one-third.    Cserhati  arrives 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


295 


at  the  same  result.  He  figures  steam  locomotive  maintenance 
at  9  heller  and  electric  at  3  heller.  He  also  claims,  with  reason, 
that  the  maintenance  of  the  trail  cars  ought  to  be  less  on  an 
electric  road,  owing  to  the  absence  of  gases  of  combustion. 

As  for  the  operating  expenses,  they  ought  to  be  less  with 
electricity,  as  the  dead  weight  is  less  and  the  operating  crew 
required  is  smaller.  On  the  other  hand,  the  operating  force  is 
increased  by  those  required  in  the  power  station  and  sub-sta- 
tions. The  operating  ratio  ought,  theoretically,  to  be  consider- 
able lower  for  electricity,  and  has  been  shown  to  be  so  on  the 
Manhattan  Elevated,  the  South  Side  Elevated,  the  Milan- 
Varese,  the  Liverpool  &  Birkenhead  and  on  other  converted 
steam  lines. 

Estimates  of  the  reduction  of  cost  on  single-phase  over  three- 
phase  construction  range  from  32  per  cent  (Blank's  figure)  to 
22  per  cent  (Lincoln's  estimate).  As  no  single-phase  line  of 
considerable  importance  has  been  put  in  operation,  it  is  im- 
possible as  yet  to  determine  whether  the  reduction  in  first  cost 
may  not  be  counterbalanced  by  an  increase  in  operating  ex- 
penses. 



STORING  COAL  IN  WORCESTER 

The  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway  Company  has 
evolved  a  method  of  storing  coal  which  is  very  ingenious,  in- 
expensive and  effective. 

The  storing  of  coal  is  a  problem  in  street  railway  power 
house  work  which  is  by  no  means  of  small  importance.  A 
small  quantity  of  coal  can,  of  course,  be  stored  in  the  housed 
bunker,  and  gives  no  trouble,  but  such  an  arrangement  re- 
quires to  be  continuously  replenished  and  affords  no  protection 
in  time  of  railroad  or  mine  labor  troubles.  The  problem  of 
storing  a  very  much  larger  quantity  requires  different  treat- 
ment, and  is  usually  solved  by  the  simple  expedient  of  dumping 
it  in  a  large  heap  on  the  ground  and  running  an  industrial  rail- 
road near  the  heap  and  loading  with  shovels.    This  method 


FIG.  1.— ENTRANCE  TO  TUNNEL 


further  takes  a  chance,  and  a  serious  chance,  of  spontaneous 
combustion. 

The  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway  Company  has 
constructed  an  enormous  bin,  which  is  little  more  than  a  fenced 
yard,  except  that  the  fence  is  made  unusually  substantial  and 
well  bolted,  and  of  2-in.  planking,  with  stays  of  appropriate 
strength.  The  1  in  is  about  300  ft.  long  and  100  ft.  wide  and  is 
capable  of  containing  roughly  about  15,000  tons. 


The  bottom  of  the  bin  is  traversed  by  a  tunnel  running  the 
full  length  of  the  bin  and  about  9  ft.  wide  and  8  ft.  high  at  its 
apex,  the  tunnel  being  pitch  roofed.  The  tunnel  is  made  of 
2-in.  planking,  mounted  on  8-in.  x  6-in.  timbers,  reinforced  by 
J4~in.  iron  plates,  securely  bolted  together.  It  contains  fifty- 
seven  steel  chutes  of  J^-in.  iron,  2  ft.  wide  and  15  ins.  deep. 


FIG.  2.— CRANE  FOR  HANDLING  COAL 

The  coal  is  unloaded  from  the  freight  cars  and  piled  on  top 
of  this  tunnel  by  an  electrically-driven  crane.  This  crane  is 
mounted  on  two  vertical  end  supports  running  on  rails,  the 
wheels  being  driven  by  a  system  of  shafting  and  double  gear- 
ing, thereby  enabling  the  crane  to  traverse  the  bin  longitudi- 
nally. The  transverse  motion  of  the  coal  bucket  is  obtained  by 
a  traversing  carriage  on  the  horizontal  members  of  the  frame. 


FIG.  3.— COAL  WEIGHING  AND  RECORDING  APPARATUS 


The  whole  operation  of  the  crane  is  managed  from  a  house 
located  on  the  top  of  one  of  the  vertical  stanchions  from  which 
any  part  of  the  coal  bin  or  the  cars  adjacent  thereto  can  be 
observed.  The  capacity  of  the  crane  is  such  that  it  is  able  to 
turn  over  the  entire  bin  in  five  or  six  days. 

Spontaneous  combustion  is  guarded  against  by  means  of  tak- 
ing the  temperature  of  the  pile  every  day.  Long  iron  tubes  are 
located  at  intervals  throughout  the  yard,  and  every  day  the 


296 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


temperature  at  the  base  of  these  tubes  is  taken  by  letting  down 
a  recording  thermometer.  This  temperature  is  not  allowed  to 
exceed  a  given  temperature,  and  when  this  point  is  exceeded 
the  crane  is  called  into  play  and  the  coal  in  that  particular  part 
of  the  yard  is  turned  over  and  given  access  to  the  air. 

The  tunnel  with  its  chutes  is,  of  course,  the  means  for  with- 
drawing the  coal  from  the  yard,  and  the  crane  piles  the  coal  up 
on  the  tunnel  as  the  occasion  demands.  Soft  coal  covers  one 
portion  of  the  tunnel  and  anthracite  screenings  at  the  other, 
and  a  mixture  of  the  two  is  used  in  the  boiler  room.  An  in- 
dustrial railroad  runs  the  entire  length  of  the  tunnel  and  the 
coal  passers  push  steel  cars  into  the  tunnel  to  the  appropriate 
chute,  fill  the  car  and  push  it  back  into  the  boiler  room,  being 
always  under  cover  the  entire  length  of  the  trip.  As  they  enter 
the  boiler  room  the  car  is  put  on  a  platform  scale,  where  it  is 
weighed  and  a  record  made  of  its  contents.  The  cars  are  also 
counted  by  the  ingenious  device  of  putting  in  service  an  old 
car  register  for  the  purpose.  Two  of  these  are  used,  one  for 
anthracite  screenings  and  one  for  soft  coal,  although  it  might 
be  suggested  that  a  double  register  giving  cash  fares  on  one 
side  and  transfers  on  the  other  might  perhaps  serve  the  same 
purpose. 

The  entrance  to  the  tunnel  is  shown  in  Fig.  1.  The  tunnel 
is  lighted  by  lamps  every  15  ft.,  and  the  first  two  of  these  can 
be  seen  in  the  picture.  The  tracks  of  the  industrial  railroad, 
igy2-'m.  gage,  can  also  be  seen. 

The  yard  and  crane  are  the  subject  of  Fig.  2,  and  give  an 
idea  of  the  immense  quantity  of  coal  that  can  be  stored,  the 
convenience  of  adjacent  cars,  and  the  flexibility  of  the  crane  in 
handling  this  large  pile  of  fuel. 

The  last  picture.  Fig.  3,  is  devoted  to  illustrating  the  plat- 
form scale  and  the  car  registers,  and  show  how  easy  it  is  to 
keep  track  of  the  amount  of  coal  burned  and  also  how  the  use- 
ful car  register  can  protect  the  street  railway  expenditures  as 
well  as  receipts. 



THE  VALUE  OF  SPECIAL  REPORTS 

BY  H.  S.  KNOWLTON 

The  preparation  and  submission  of  special  reports  constitutes 
a  large  portion  of  the  modern  consulting  engineer's  work,  and 
as  the  complexity  of  industrial  life  increases  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  the  demand  for  recorded  expert  opinion  will  in 
any  measure  abate.  There  is  little  need  at  this  time  of  proving 
the  value  of  special  reports  to  those  engaged  in  the  financing 
and  commercial  management  of  engineering  enterprises,  al- 
though much  might  be  said  about  the  importance  of  making 
sure  of  an  adviser's  qualifications  before  basing  costly  decisions 
upon  his  unchecked  recommendations.  An  instance  in  point 
occurred  a  year  or  so  ago  in  New  England,  when  the  entire 
design  and  construction  of  an  electric  railway  connecting  a 
prominent  manufacturing  city  with  several  outlying  farming 
towns  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  well-known  promoter  whose 
technical  ability  had  never  been  demonstrated.  Thanks  to  an 
able  civil  engineer  who  carried  out  the  actual  work  upon  the 
roadbed,  the  line  and  track  turned  out  to  be  examples  of  first- 
class  practice,  and  as  the  cars  and  motor  equipments  were  man- 
ufactured by  established  companies  of  long  experience,  no  fault 
of  consequence  could  be  found  with  the  rolling  stock.  The 
power  station,  however,  was  left  to  the  personal  supervision 
of  the  promoter,  and  the  result  was  an  abortion  in  design  and 
economy  of  equipment.  The  boilers  were  installed  beneath  a 
roadway  so  that  extension  in  a  symmetrical  direction  is  not 
feasible ;  the  boiler  room  floor  was  divided  into  two  sections 
18  ins.  different  in  height,  so  that  the  fireman  is  constantly 
obliged  to  climb  up  and  down  in  handling  coal  and  ashes;  the 
generators  and  engines  were  of  the  old  belted  single-cylinder 
type,  and  had  become  nearly  used  up  by  ten  years'  service  on 


one  of  the  first  electric  roads  built  in  Massachusetts ;  while  the 
switchboard  was  a  second-hand  wooden  framed  affair,  which 
offered  little  safety  from  the  standpoint  of  fire  risk.  If  memory 
serves  correctly,  the  switches  were  installed  to  fall  closed  in- 
stead of  open,  and  there  were  other  defects  galore. 

Although  it  is  true  that  the  cost  of  power  is  far  from  the 
most  important  item  in  the  operating  expenses  of  a  moderate 
speed  electric  railway,  it  is  also  true  that  the  entire  business 
is  carried  on  in  small  units  of  money.  The  aggregate  of  these 
units  decides  the  question  of  dividends  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
and  it  is  now  well  established  that  every  possible  reduction  in 
waste  is  worth  while.  Had  the  company  retained  the  services 
of  a  competent  engineer  it  would  have  been  spared  the  ineffi- 
cient design  which  turned  its  power  station  into  an  operating 
bungle  that  has  been  a  continual  thorn  in  the  flesh  since  the 
road  started.  Schedules  have  been  slow,  and  at  times  the  cars  ' 
have  been  unable  to  ascend  4  per  cent  or  5  per  cent  grades  be-' 
cause  the  antiquated  machinery  refused  to  hold  up  the  voltage, 
while  the  direct  cost  of  operation  in  the  power  house  is  not 
made  public  as  yet  by  the  management.  The  cost  of  obtaining 
the  proper  advice  at  the  outset  would  have  been  a  small  part 
of  the  total  construction  cost  of  the  power  house,  and  it  would 
have  amply  repaid  the  company  by  the  increased  economy  of 
operation  with  improved  equipment.  A  single  expert  report 
would  have  placed  the  company  in  possession  of  information 
enough  to  enable  it  to  go  ahead  with  confidence  that  economical 
and  reliable  operation  would  be  insured  as  long  as  the  proper 
attendance  could  be  had. 

Along  with  the  error  of  dispensing  with  expert  advice  goes 
the  all  too  common  practice  of  making  little  or  no  use  of  re- 
ports after  they  are  submitted.  Either  a  report  is  valuable  or 
it  is  not,  and  if  the  chief  end  of  the  consulting  engineer's  recom- 
mendations is  the  filling  of  a  dusty  pigeon  hole  or  drawer  in  a 
filing  cabinet,  there  is  little  reason  for  spending  money  in  this 
way.  Of  course,  circumstances  often  arise  where  the  manage- 
ment of  a  company,  a  firm  of  bankers  or  some  manufacturing 
partnership  desire  to  preserve  for  reference  the  recorded  opin- 
ion of  a  disinterested  expert,  but  in  almost  every  case  such  a 
report  is  filed  with  the  express  purpose  of  consulting  it  in  the 
near  future.  An  instance  of  this  failure  to  make  the  most  of 
reports  may  be  drawn  from  the  practice  of  a  large  telephone 
company  on  the  strength  of  its  being  typical  of  many  other 
corporate  interests  in  the  engineering  world. 

The  company  under  consideration  retained  an  engineer  for 
the  purpose  of  making  a  series  of  reports  upon  the  condition  of 
its  overhead  lines  at  points  where  those  lines  crossed  or  paral- 
leled the  high-tension  circuits  of  various  power  companies. 
The  voltages  on  the  power  lines  ran  all  the  way  from  6600  to 
20,000,  and  the  investigation  covered  several  weeks,  involving 
considerable  railroad  traveling,  hotel  and  livery  bills  of  con- 
sequence, stenographic  work,  etc.  Altogether,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  carefully  prepared  reports  cost  the  company  four  or 
five  hundred  dollars,  and  placed  it  in  possession  of  exact  in- 
formation as  to  the  present  condition  of  each  crossing,  the 
previous  conditions  and  the  responsibility  of  the  power  or  the 
telephone  company  for  the  situation.  In  many  cases  a  recom- 
mendation was  added  in  regard  to  methods  of  making  the 
crossing  safe,  and  the  reports  were  complete  with  sketches  of 
the  construction  in  force.  The  same  engineer  was  also  in- 
structed to  make  a  careful  examination  of  the  fire  risk  in  all 
the  larger  central  offices  of  the  company,  and  to  report  upon 
each  office  separately,  giving  an  account  of  the  existing  haz- 
ards, precautions  in  force  and  suggested  improvements  on  the 
score  of  safety.  This  was  done  with  the  same  thoroughness  as 
in  the  case  of  the  crossings.  Some  four  months  later  the  engi- 
neer who  had  performed  these  two  tasks  visited  one  of  the 
cities  which  had  occupied  a  large  share  of  attention  in  the 
preparation  of  the  reports,  and  as  far  as  could  be  ascertained, 
not  a  single  recommended  improvement  had  been  carried  out 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


297 


on  either  report !  It  is  difficult  to  explain  the  company's  inac- 
tion on  any  other  grounds  than  the  gambling  instinct  which 
leads  so  many  officials  to  take  risks  rather  than  spend  even  the 
moderate  sums  of  money  necessary  to  insure  safety.  The  par- 
ticular improvements  at  the  city  in  mind  were  inexpensive, 
as  far  as  the  fire  risk  of  the  company's  buildings  was  concerned. 
Many  of  the  high-tension  crossings  could  also  have  been  made 
safe  by  moderate  expenditures.  The  engineer  had  personal 
knowledge  that  his  reports  had  been  well  received  by  the  ex- 
ecutive and  technical  officials  of  the  telephone  company ;  his 
fee  was  cheerfully  paid,  and  the  connection  terminated  in  mu- 
tual good  feeling.  It  is  not  necessary  at  this  time  to  point  out 
the  danger  of  ignoring  the  fire  and  life  risks  involved,  but  it 
does  seem  worth  while  to  repeat  that  if  the  reports  were  worth 
what  they  cost  the  company  they  deserved  a  better  use  than 
pigeon-holing,  particularly  as  there  was  no  ground  for  dis- 
agreement upon  the  advisability  of  protecting  the  company's 
lines,  buildings,  employees  and  patrons.  Certainly  there  is  no 
sense  in  spending  money  for  expert  advice  if  that  advice  is  to 
be  permanently  side-tracked  as  far  as  making  use  of  it  goes 
when  perfect  agreement  exists  between  the  engineer  and  his 
client.  It  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  the  modern  engi- 
neer's report  finds  much  appreciation  in  many  quarters  of  the 
industrial  field,  ;md  as  time  goes  on  there  is  every  reason  to 
expect  a  wider  recognition  of  the  value  of  expert  advice. 

 ♦♦♦  ■ 

CORRESPONDENCE 
FREQUENT  STOPS  VS.  FAST  SCHEDULE 

Chicago,  Aug.  20,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

In  view  of  the  vast  amount  of  attention  which  is  paid  to  the 
subject  of  high  acceleration,  would  it  not  be  advisable  to  make 
a  great  effort  to  reduce  the  number  of  stops  in  electric  railway 
operation  ?  Perhaps  it  is  too  much  to  expect  at  present  that 
stops  can  be  omitted  at  any  intersecting  street  in  the  business 
centers  of  cities,  particularly  as  the  tracks  in  such  portions  of 
the  community  are  nearly  always  crossed  and  blockaded  by 
every  species  of  team,  from  an  Italian  push-cart  to  a  four-horse 
coal  wagon,  so  that  the  increase  in  speed  resulting  from  fewer 
stops  has  a  smaller  influence  upon  the  schedule  as  a  whole 
than  as  though  such  a  gain  were  secured  in  the  more 
sparsely  traveled  sections  of  the  town.  It  has  taken  consider- 
able time  and  patience  to  secure  the  public's  acceptance  of  the 
practice  of  making  stops  only  at  street  corners ;  but  now  that 
this  is  done  in  practically  every  city,  the  resulting  improvement 
in  schedule  speed  and  in  the  quality  of  service  rendered  has 
amply  demonstrated  the  far-sightedness  of  cutting  out  the  old 
horse-car  practice  of  making  stops  anywhere  along  the  route. 
People  have  grown  to  realize  that  much  faster  time  can  be 
made  by  stopping  only  at  designated  points,  and  are  for  the 
most  part  willing  to  walk  the  maximum  distance  of  half  a 
block  in  order  to  save  a  few  minutes  in  the  total  time  of  their 
journey. 

The  same  line  of  reasoning  applies  with  more  than  redoubled 
force  to  residential  and  suburban  lines,  and  it  is  gratifying  to 
note  that  the  "white-post"  idea  is  carried  out  to  its  logical  con- 
clusion in  many  systems  of  the  country.  Some  kind  of  marking 
is,  of  course,  an  absolute  necessity  at  designated  stopping 
points,  otherwise  a  great  deal  of  inconvenience  and  trouble  is 
sure  to  result.  It  is  a  waste  of  good  money,  however,  to  equip 
cars  with  four  38-hp  or  50-hp  motors,  capable  of  propelling 
them  at  speeds  of  from  35  miles  to  50  miles  per  hour,  and  then 
to  operate  them  over  a  route  which  is  mostly  made  up  of  purely 
acceleration  and  braking  runs  between  stops  close  together. 

This  phase  of  operation  is  well  illustrated  by  a  road  located 
in  a  large  city  of  the  Middle  West,  which  operates  a  line  ex- 
tending 5  miles  from  the  city  proper  to  a  residential  suburban 


section.  The  track  is  double  throughout  nearly  the  entire  dis- 
tance;  the  greater  part  of  the  route  is  unhampered  by  grades 
of  any  consequence ;  there  are  few  sharp  curves,  and  there  is 
so  little  travel  over  perhaps  a  third  of  the  route  that  it  practi- 
cally amounts  to  a  private  boulevard  right  of  way.  The  cars 
are  equipped  with  four  motors  each,  and  air  brakes  are  used 
throughout.  In  spite  of  these  favorable  conditions,  the  running 
time  is  nearly  half  an  hour  over  the  line  from  end  to  end,  and 
as  far  as  can  be  seen,  it  is  largely  due  to  the  practice  of  stop- 
ping at  every  street  corner,  coupled  with  the  fact  that  the  cars 
cannot  be  boarded  or  left  until  an  absolute  stop  has  been  at- 
tained— thanks  to  a  pair  of  gates  at  the  rear  end,  which  is  con- 
trolled by  a  handle  in  the  motorman's  vestibule.  These  gates 
are  never  opened  until  the  car  has  ceased  to  move,  and  arc- 
never  closed  until  -every  passenger  is  aboard  and  the  car  ready 
to  start — a  proceeding  which  is  most  commendable  on  the  score 
of  safety,  but  which  necessitates  a  nine-second  stop  about  every 
time  a  passenger  boards  the  car,  whether  that  person  be  an 
active  man  of  thirty-five  or  forty,  or  an  elderly  lady  of  ninety 
summers.  An  additional  delay  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the 
gates  swing  outward  in  opening,  which  results  in  a  certain 
hesitation  and  standing  back  on  the  part  of  groups  of  people 
who  do  not  wish  to  collide  with  the  gates,  and  who  therefore 
wait  until  both  the  car  and  gates  have  reached  a  peaceful  dead 
level  of  inaction  before  they  start  to  walk  toward  the  haven 
where  they  would  be.  This  point  is  brought  out  in  no  spirit  of 
criticism  of  the  company's  policy  toward  securing  the  greatest 
possible  safety,  although  it  is  hard  to  see  how  any  very  con- 
gested traffic  can  be  handled  expeditiously  with  the  gate  system 
mentioned.  Rather  is  it  intended  to  emphasize  the  importance 
of  speeding  up  the  schedule  in  other  possible  directions,  and 
this  can  be  most  readily  effected  by  cutting  out  some  of  the 
stops  at  street  corners  in  the  residence  districts  of  the  route. 
This  need  cause  no  special  inconvenience  to  citizens,  for  some 
of  the  blocks  are  scarcely  150  ft.  long.  Probably  a  good  deal  of 
opposition  would  be  encountered  at  first  if  the  plan  of  stopping 
at  points  from  300  ft.  to  500  ft.  apart  were  carried  into  effect, 
but  there  is  little  room  to  doubt  that  a  saving  of  20  per  cent  or 
25  per  cent  in  the  running  time  would  be  accomplished  by  this 
means,  and  it  ought  not  to  be  long  before  the  entire  community 
realized  the  improvement  in  service  gained.  It  is  impossible 
to  escape  the  conviction,  in  a  trip  over  the  line,  that  the  equip- 
ment is  not  being  worked  to  either  its  best  efficiency  or  to  its 
capacity,  in  terms  of  speed  attainable  and  investment,  and  a 
still  further  gain  would  be  that  of  decreased  power  consump- 
tion in  acceleration  and  lessened  wear  and  tear  of  equipment 
due  to  frequent  stops — this  being  chiefly  to  the  railway  com- 
pany's advantage.  Both  the  company  and  the  public  would  be 
the  gainers  if  a  reasonable  scheme  of  car  stops  was  inaugu- 
rated, and  the  expense  would  be  trifling  in  comparison  with  the 
mutual  economies  in  time  and  operating  expenses  which  would 
be  derived  from  a  properly  designated  series  of  stopping  points. 

R.  P.  Gorham. 

 ♦♦♦  

AMPR0VED  NEW   CAR  TERMINAL  AT  WILLOW  GROVE, 
PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 

The  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  is  making  exten- 
sive changes  in  its  terminal  facilities  at  its  Willow  Grove  Park, 
by  which  the  congestion  of  traffic  at  this  important  point  will 
be  greatly  relieved.  The  increase  of  traffic  which  the  beauties 
and  attractions  of  the  park  have  developed,  had  caused  the 
former  terminal  facilities  to  become  outgrown  and  entirely 
inadequate  for  the  large  and  growing  service.  It  was  formerly 
the  custom  to  operate  the  cars  on  the  two  lines  leading  from 
the  city  to  the  park,  over  a  loop  which  extended  around  a 
portion  of  the  park  ground,  and  over  a  circuitous  route  through 
Willow  Grove  village.  This  former  system  gave  access  to 
many  parts  of  the  park,  but  proved  an  inconvenient  method  of 


298 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


handling  the  traffic,  and  also  did  not  permit  of  rapid  handling 
of  cars,  as  is  so  desirable  for  park  service. 

The  new  terminal  system  provides  for  an  interesting  terminal 
station  arrangement,  in  which  the  arrival  and  departure  plat- 
forms are  entirely  separated,  and  both  of  which  are  approached 
by  an  underground  tunnelway  leading  under  the  Germantown 
and  Willow  Grove  pike  to  the  park  grounds,  so  that  there  will 
be  no  crossing  of  tracks,  with  its  attendant  dangers.  The 
ground  to  be  occupied  by  the  new  terminal  tracks,  as  well  as 
also  the  Germantown  roadway,  has  been  raised  about  4  ft., 
which  is  found  a  material  advantage  in  arranging  for  the  tun- 
nel entrance.  The  departure  platform  is  conveniently  arranged 
between  tracks,  while  the  terminal  platform  is  on  the  side  next 
to  the  music  pavilion  in  the  park.  The  departure  track  is'  of 
the  island  type,  with  the  cars  for  the  two  different  lines  leading 
out  from  opposite  sides.  A  large  number  of  storage  tracks  are 
provided  in  a  space  400  ft.  long  and  averaging  75  ft.  wide,  so 
that  a  large  number  of  cars  may  be  stored  there  in  anticipation 
of  the  large  crowds  leaving  at  night.  The  storage  tracks  at 
one  end  of  the  terminal  are  covered. 

The  improvements  include  further,  a  crossing  of  the  North 
East  Penn  Steam  Railroad  by  a  new  steel  bridge,  which  will 
eliminate  a  grade  crossing  and  do  away  with  delays  resulting 
at  that  point.  Also  several  changes  have  been  made  in  the 
turnpike  leading  to  the  park,  to  permit  of  the  tunnel  construc- 
tion, as  well  as  to  facilitate  access  to  the  park  for  carriages. 
The  tunnel  leading  to  the  arrival  and  island  departure  plat- 
forms is  36  ft.  wide,  and  is  divided  in  two  halves,  with  four 
approaches  on  the  east  end ;  no  steps  are  used,  the  approaches 
consisting  of  easy  inclines  leading  down  to  the  tunnel  level. 
The  tunnel  will  be  well  lighted  and  ventilated,  and  will,  by 
greatly  facilitating  access  to  the  park  from  the  cars,  cause  this 
resort  to  grow  even  greater  in  popularity. 

 ♦♦♦  

A  NEW  STYLE  OF  AUTO-COACH 

The  Citizens  Transit  Company,  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  is  about 
to  put  in  operation  an  auto-coach  of  a  new  design,  built  by  the 
American  Car  Company,  of  St.  Louis.  The  coach  has  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  forty,  and  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  ever  built. 


AUTO  COACH  FOR  THE  CITIZENS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


The  Citizens  Transit  Company  intends  to  operate  twenty-five 
or  thirty  of  these  coaches  from  Campus  Martius,  in  the  heart 
of  the  city,  over  the  bridge  to  Belle  Isle.  This  is  one  of  the  few 
sections  of  the  city  not  served  by  trolley  lines,  and  doubtless 
the  new  coaches  will  do  a  large  business  from  the  start.  As 
the  illustrations  show,  the  coach  is  excellently  planned  for  con- 
venience, compactness  and  strength.  The  stairway  to  the  roof 
is  neatly  arranged  and  occupies  little  space,  and  the  motor- 
man's  cab  is  also  compact.    All  the  windows,  including  those 


in  the  motorman's  cab,  are  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets.  The 
motors  are  supplied  by  a  storage  battery  placed  in  a  box  sus- 
pended under  the  coach. 

The  length  of  the  coach  body  is  14  ft.  6  ins.,  and  the  total 
length  over  the  crown  pieces,  20  ft.  6  ins. ;  from  the  end  panels 
over  crown  pieces  at  either  end,  3  ft.  The  width  over  the  sills, 
including  the  panels,  is  4  ft.  3%  ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at  the 


INTERIOR  OF  AUTO  COACH 


belt,  6  ft.  The  sweep  of  the  posts  is  9)4  ins. ;  distance  from 
center  to  center  of  posts,  3  ft.  6^4  ins.  The  side  sills  are  3%  x 
7  ins.,  and  the  end  sills,  3  ins.  x  3^4  ins.  The  corner  posts  are 
3^  ins.  thick,  and  the  side  posts,  2  ins.  The  steps  are  12  ins. 
from  tread  to  tread,  and  the  lower  step,  15  ins.  from  the  pave- 
ment. The  wheel  base  is  11  ft.  8  ins.,  and  the  wheels,  36  ins. 
in  diameter. 

 ♦♦♦  

A  NEW  FARE  RECEIPT  FOR  THE  VIENNA  TRAMWAYS 


The  fare  ticket  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is  an 
improved  form  which  has  just  been  adopted  on  several  of  the 
street  railway  lines  operated  by  the  Vienna  municipality. 

When  this  ticket  is  used  for  a  straight  trip  the  conductor 
punches  a  hole  above  the  line  "Stadtische  Strassenbahnen" 
("Municipal  Street  Railways"),  but  when  transfers  are  desired 
the  ticket  is  punched  below  this  line.  The  Roman  numerals  at 
the  top  of  the  slip  denote  the  zones  traversed  by  the  lines, 
whose  names  are  printed  in  the  middle  of  the  ticket.   It  will  be 


NEW  TRAMWAY  RECEIPT  USED  IN  VIENNA 


noted  that  the  right  and  left  sides  of  the  ticket  are  similar, 
each  including  the  week  days  and  the  hours  of  the  day.  This 
arrangement  permits  the  conductor  to  indicate  the  direction 
the  car  is  going,  and  thus  prevents  the  passenger  from  return- 
ing on  the  same  ticket.  When  a  transfer  is  given,  one  perfora- 
tion marks  the  line  and  entering  zone,  and  the  second  the  day 
and  hour  of  beginning  the  trip.  To  assist  the  conductor  the 
abbreviations  of  the  week  days  are  printed  in  different  colors, 
according  to  the  various  classes  of  the  fares  paid. 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


299 


SEPT.  15  CHOSEN  AS  ELECTRICITY  DAY  AT  THE  ST.  LOUIS 
WORLD'S  FAIR 


Electricity  Day  will  be  celebrated  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  Sept.  15.  This  date  occurs  during  the  session  of 
the  International  Electrical  Congress.  Prof.  W.  E.  Golds- 
borough,  chief  of  the  Department  of  Electricity,  as  chairman 
of  the  electricity  day  committee,  in  a  letter  to  all  the  exhibitors 
in  the  Palace  of  Electricity,  has  requested  that  on  this  day 
they  present  some  especially  novel  and  attractive  feature  in 
connection  with  their  exhibit. 

 ♦♦♦  


thickness  of  corner  posts,  3^4  ins.,  and  side  posts,  3^  ins.  The 
equipment  includes  a  number  of  the  manufacturer's  specialties, 
such  as  folding  gates,  "Dumpit"  sand  boxes,  "Dedenda"  gongs, 
ratchet  brake  handles,  round-corner  seat-end  panels  and  angle- 
iron  bumpers.  The  cars  are  mounted  on  "Eureka"  maximum- 
traction  trucks  having  4-ft.  wheel  base,  30-in.  and  20-in.  wheels, 
and  equipped  with  motors  of  50-hp  capacity.  The  weight  of  a 
single  car,  including  trucks,  is  21,500  lbs. 




AN  INTERESTING  ENGINE  LATHE  FOR  MOTOR-DRIVING 


V 


CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  THE  CAPITAL  TRACTION  COM- 
PANY, OF  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


The  Capital  Traction  Company,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  has 
lately  placed  on  the  line  running  to  Chevy  Chase  two  hand- 
some convertible  cars,  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  This 
railway  company  controls  a  large  amusement 
park  at  Chevy  Chase,  which  has  been  a  popu- 
lar resort  of  Washington  people  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  and  is  considered  one  of  the 
finest  parks  of  its  kind  in  the  country.  There 
is  a  large  population  north  of  the  city  through 
which  the  lines  extend,  and  the  cars  are  kept 
busy  both  summer  and  winter.  These  are 
the  first  convertible  cars  used  in  Washington, 
and  it  is  believed  that  they  will  prove  popular 
because  of  their  easy  conversion  and  the  pro- 
tection that  they  afford  in  rainy  and  unseason- 
able weather. 

The  cars  are  finished  in  cherry,  with  birch 
ceilings  neatly  decorated.  The  seats  are  of 
the  step-over  style,  and  are  35  ins.  long,  leav- 
ing the  aisles  20  ins.  wide ;  the  seating  ca- 
pacity of  the  car  is  forty-four.  Besides  the 
usual  grab-handles  on  the  outside  of  the 
posts,  handles  are  formed  by  the  brackets 
connecting  the  backs  of  the  seats  with 
the  posts,  which,  by  offering  a  convenient 
handle,  encourage  passengers  to  face  in  the  right  direc- 
tion when  leaving  the  car.  The  length  of  the  cars  over  end 
panels  is  28  ft.  4  ins.,  and  over  crown  pieces,  27  ft.  4  ins. ;  from 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  30-in.  "American" 
engine  lathe,  built  by  the  American  Tool  Works  Company, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  which  is  equipped  with  an  unusually  interest- 
ing new  design  of  headstock,  to  accommodate  the  constant- 
speed  method  of  motor-driving.  The  interesting  feature  of 
this  new  style  of  headstock  drive  is  that  it  provides  for  the  use 
of  a  constant-speed  motor — the  great  majority  of  motor-driven 


ENGINE  LATHE,  WITH  HEADSTOCK  FOR  CONSTANT  SPEED  MOTOR 


lathes  are  equipped  with  variable-speed  motors,  for  obtaining 
quick  speed  changes  and  consequent  rapid  production,  even 
though  at  much  greater  first  cost.   In  this  instance,  a  constant- 


CONVERTIBLE   CAR   USED  ON   CHEVY   CHASE   LINE   OF  THE    CAPITAL    TRACTION  COMPANY 


end  panels  over  crown  pieces,  4  ft.  6  ins.  The  width  over  the 
sills  and  the  panels  is  6  ft.  11%  ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at  the 
belt,  7  ft.  9  ins.  The  sweep  of  the  posts  is  5  ins.  The  side  and 
end  sills  are  4)4  ins.  x  7  ins.   The  sill  plates  are  7  ins.  x  Y%  ins. ; 


speed  motor,  either  direct  or  alternating  current,  may  be  used, 
and  the  various  speeds  to  the  spindle  are  obtained  mechanically 
through  the  all-geared  headstock. 

The  new  headstock  consists  essentially  of  the  patented  gear 


300 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


and  clutch  mechanism,  which  employs  a  minimum  amount  of 
gears  and  shafts  to  avoid  complication,  and  is  probably  one  of 
the  simplest  and  most  efficient  of  any  such  drive  yet  devised. 
Through  manipulation  of  levers  1  and  2,  shown  at  the  front 
of  head,  and  3,  shown  at  the  lower  right  hand  corner  of  the 
head,  sixteen  distinct  and  positive  speeds  may  be  delivered  to 
the  spindle  of  the  lathe,  all  in  geometrical  progression,  ranging 
from  3.8  r.  p.  m.  to  246  r.  p.  m.  Thus  a  wide  range  is  obtained 
entirely  through  mechanical  means,  sufficient  to  cover  all  ordi- 
nary work  of  this  size  of  lathe.  By  reason  of  the  simplicity  of 
construction,  all  gears  and  shafts  can  be  made  of  large  diame- 
ters, and  the  whole  is  neatly  encased  by  an  oil-tight  boxing, 
which  still  permits  all  parts  to  be  accessible  for  lubrication. 


ST.  LOUIS  CAR  COMPANY  IN  TRANSPORTATION  PARADE 


The  first  of  a  series  of  special  days,  devoted  to  the  different 
exhibit  departments  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  was 
celebrated  July  30.  This  was  "Transportation  Day,"  when  the 
exhibitors  in  the  Transportation  Building  combined  to  make 
the  day  memorable  in  the  history  of  the  Exposition.  Although 
all  details  were  arranged  within  a  period  of  two  weeks,  the  ad- 
vertising of  the  special  events  was  so  systematically  carried 
out  that  more  than  150,000  people  were  in  attendance. 

The  big  feature  of  the  day,  however,  was  the  land  transporta- 
tion parade  held  in  the  afternoon.  The  historical  exhibits  in 
the  Transportation  Building  were  utilized,  and  almost  every 


THE  ST.  LOUIS  CAR  COMPANY  IN  THE  TRANSPORTATION  PARADE,  WITH  THE  LARGE  GLOBE  IN  THE  FOREGROUND 


A  non-reversible  constant-speed  motor  may  be  used  for  driv- 
ing through  one  of  these  headstocks,  if  desired,  because  the 
reverse  is  obtained  mechanically,  by  means  of  the  rod  shown 
above  the  lathe,  out  of  the  way,  and  yet  very  convenient  to  the 
operator ;  this  makes  this  lathe  especially  adaptable  to  street 
railway  repair  shops,  where  500-volt  power  circuits  and  con- 
stant-speed motors  are  always  available.  The  superiority  of 
this  construction  is  that  the  motor  is  at  no  time  reversed,  but 
runs  at  continuous  constant  speed,  all  starting,  stopping  and 
reversing  of  the  machine  being  readily  accomplished  without 
interference  with  the  motor.  The  motor  is  in  this  arrangement 
of  driving  substantially  mounted  above  the  all-gear  headstock, 
where  it  is  convenient  of  access,  yet  out  of  the  way  of  oil 
and  chips. 


form  of  conveyance  was  to  be  seen  in  the  parade.  The  St. 
Louis  Car  Company,  which  is  one  of  the  large  exhibitors  in 
the  Transportation  Building,  had  more  than  3000  of  its  em- 
ployees in  the  line  of  march.  The  accompanying  reproduction 
from  a  photograph  made  during  the  parade  shows  their  forma- 
tion. The  men  were  divided  into  sections  corresponding  to  the 
department  of  the  shop  in  which  they  were  employed.  The 
officers  of  the  company  in  carriages  headed  that  portion  of  the 
parade  devoted  to  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company.  The  office  force 
followed  in  automobiles,  and  behind  these  was  drawn  an  im- , 
mense  globe,  representing  the  World,  and  showing  the  foreign 
cities  and  countries  where  the  products  of  the  St.  Louis  Car 
Company  are  in  use.  Next  were  the  different  workmen's  divi- 
sions, including  a  military  company  and  fire  department. 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


301 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 

Wall  Street,  August  24,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

The  money  market  has  had  another  very  dull  week,  especially  in 
the  time  loan  branch.  Lenders  are  inclined  to  think,  now  that  the 
autumn  is  so  near,  that  they  ought  to  be  asking  better  terms,  but 
they  are  discouraged  from  attempting  an  advance,  by  the  indiffer- 
ence of  borrowers,  even  at  the  recently  prevailing  quotations.  Six- 
ty-day loans  remain  at  2  per  cent,  ninety  days  at  2*4,  and  six 
months  at  3J4  per  cent.  Call  funds  are  offered  abundantly  at  1 
per  cent.  These  conditions  have  very  naturally  made  for  an  active 
demand  for  commercial  paper,  which  is  being  taken  freely  as 
offered.  The  first  transfer  of  currency  reported  this  season  was 
announced  yesterday ;  it  was  $200,000  consigned  to  New  Orleans. 
This,  together  with  the  fall  in  interior  exchange  at  the  Western 
cities,  indicates  that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  local  cash  holdings 
may  be  expected  to  decrease  rather  than  increase.  With  a 
$57,ooo,coo  surplus  reserve,  however,  it  will  obviously  be  a  good 
while  before  the  crop-moving  withdrawals  make  enough  of  an 
impression  upon  the  money  market  to  justify  an  advance  in  rates. 
The  gold  movements  to  Cuba  appears  to  be  over,  and  the  decline 
in  sterling  exchange  has  removed  any  immediate  possibility  of 
gold  exports  to  Europe.  Meanwhile,  new  gold  continues  to  ar- 
rive from  the  Alaskan  fields,  and  is  transferred  to  this  city  from 
the  Pacific  coast.  These  receipts  have  averaged  lately  between 
$1,500,000  and  $2,000,000.  As  an  offset  to  the  first  currency  de- 
mands from  the  interior,  these  new  gold  accessions  are  an  im- 
portant factor  to  consider. 

The  Stock  ilarket 

For  a  market  in  which  outside  interests  stand  at  a  minimum, 
stocks  have  been  remarkably  well  sustained  during  the  past  week. 
Business  has  fallen  off  considerably  and  the  professional  opera- 
tors have  supplied  most  of  the  activity.  On  one  or  two  occa- 
sions there  have  been  reactions  sharp  enough  to  show  that  the 
movement  is  by  no  means  all  one  way.  But  in  the  main  the  ten- 
dency of  prices  has  been  pretty  steadily  upward,  and  a  number  of 
prominent  stocks  have  reached  new  high  levels  for  the  year.  The 
attempt  to  create  a  wheat  scare,  although  it  has  been  accompanied 
by  violent  rises  in  the  wheat  options,  has  failed  to  make  much 
impression  upon  the  stock  list.  It  was  found  that  whenever  stocks 
were  offered  at  concessions  there  were  more  buyers  than  sellers, 
and  each  time  prices  have  rallied  more  easily  than  they  declined. 
The  market  has  been  sustained,  in  face  of  the  undoubted  damage 
to  the  wheat  crop,  by  the  excellent  accounts  which  continue  to 
come  in  regarding  the  conditions  of  cotton  and  corn.  Anybody  that 
takes  the  trouble  to  figure  out  crop  values  will  easily  discover 
that  the  increases  in  cotton  and  corn,  assuming  no  serious  damage 
occurs  between  now  and  harvest  time,  mean  much  more  to  the 
country  than  the  losses  in  wheat.  The  two  great  facts  upon  which 
the  current  market  solidly  rests  are,  first,  that  another  four  years' 
political  security  are  reasonably  well  assured,  and,  second,  that 
good  harvest  sold  at  high  prices  will  bring  increased  prosperity, 
and  in  due  time  provide  a  fresh  impulse  for  general  activity. 

The  market  for  the  traction  shares  reflects  the  opinion  that  ne- 
gotiations for  some  important  purpose  are  still  on  between  the 
rival  faction  interests,  but  that  announcement  of  what  has  been  ac- 
complished will  not  be  made  yet  awhile.  Acting  on  this  assump- 
tion there  has  been  some  heavy  profit-taking  in  Metropolitan  and 
Metropolitan  Securities  during  the  week,  causing  a  sharp  set-back 
in  prices.  At  the  low  figures  of  last  Saturday,  the  Securities  shares 
had  lost  over  two-thirds  of  their  previous  rise.  A  report  that  the 
Ryan  holdings  had  been  turned  over  to  the  Interborough  Com- 
pany, had  something  to  do  with  the  weakness  in  Metropolitan 
Securities,  it  being  supposed  that  this  would  remove  the  chief  in- 
centive to  operations  for  a  rise  in  these  shares.  This  story  is  not 
credited,  however,  in  well-informed  circles. 

Philadelphia 

Advances  have  been  the  rule  among  the  Philadelphia  special- 
ties during  the  week.  Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  was 
the  feature,  rising  from  6754  to  70,  the  highest  price  of  the  year. 
About  100  shares  changed  hands  at  the  high  figure.  Philadel- 
phia Traction  also  equalled  its  highest  of  the  season,  selling  at 
99.  Philadelphia  Company  common  on  active  trading  rose  from 
39J4  to  40,  the  preferred  going  at  44^3.    Philadelphia  Electric  was 


also  active  between  6*4  and  6I4.  No  particular  interest  was  shown 
in  Union  Traction,  which  merely  held  its  recent  gain,  selling  at 
54^  and  5454 •  One  hundred  shares  of  Rapid  Transit  were  taken 
at  13.  An  odd  lot  of  Fairmount  Park  Transportation  sold  at  16, 
four  points  down  from  the  last  previous  sale.  American  Rail- 
ways held  steady,  although  inactive,  at  49. 
Chicago 

About  the  only  thing  of  interest  in  local  traction  circles  during 
the  past  week  was  the  action  of  Mayor  Harrison  in  requesting 
Judge  Grosscup  to  use  his  influence  in  getting  the  Union  Trac- 
tion Company  to  accept  the  ordinance  adopted  by  the  Chicago 
City  Railway  for  the  renewal  of  franchises.  It  is  thought  in  City 
Hall  circles  that  Judge  Grosscup  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  bring 
about  a  settlement  at  the  earliest  moment.  It  is  understood  that 
the  South  Side  Elevated  will  soon  begin  active  preparations  for  the 
building  of  its  new  extensions.  The  funds  are  in  hand,  but  the 
preliminaries  will  take  up  a  large  amount  of  time  before  any  tang- 
ible results  will  appear.  Traffic  on  all  lines  is  good,  and  the  cur- 
rent month  bids  fair  to  make  a  good  showing  as  compared  with 
the  same  period  last  year  on  both  the  overhead,  as  well  as  the  sur- 
face properties. 

There  were  next  to  no  dealing  in  the  various  traction 
issues  during  the  week.  A  few  odd  lots  of  South  Side 
Elevated  sold  at  90,  fifty  shares  of  Metropolitan  common 
at  20,  and  and  one  hundred  Metropolitan  preferred  at  53.  Chi- 
cago &  Oak  Park  Elevated  stocks  were  traded  in  for  the  first 
time.  The  common  opened  with  a  sale  of  fifty  shares  at  7,  and 
declined  to  6J/4  on  a  sale  of  one  hundred  shares.  Fifty  shares  of 
the  preferred  were  reported  at  27,  after  which  eighty  shares  sold  at 
25,  and  fifty  shares  at  25^2. 
Other  Traction  Securities 

The  feature  of  the  Boston  dealings  was  the  violent  break  in 
Massachusetts  Electric  issues,  reflecting  the  uncertainty  as  to 
the  company's  ability  to  maintain  dividends  on  the  preferred  stock. 
The  preferred  shares  only  a  few  weeks  ago  were  selling  around  75. 
A  week  ago  they  were  quoted  at  6yl/2-  On  Friday  last  they  sold 
as  low  as  59*/+,  under  rather  heavy  liquidation,  recovering  on 
Monday,  however,  to  62^2.  The  common  stock  on  larger  dealings 
went  down  from  18  to  14^4,  rallying  subsequently  to  15.  For  some 
time  past  the  earnings  of  the  company  have  not  been  satisfactory 
from  the  shareholders'  standpoint.  Boston  Elevated  sold  between 
150  and  150^2,  West  End  common  at  91H,  the  preferred  at  112, 
and  Georgia  Electric  preferred  (50  shares)  at  83.  In  Baltimore 
the  week's  business  in  the  traction  group  was  rather  light.  One 
hundred  shares  of  United  Railways  sold  at  8^4,  and  another  one 
hundred  at  8%.  The  income  bonds  went  at  47%  and  47J4,  and  the 
4  per  cents  at  93*4  and  93Ms-  Lexington  Street  Railway  5s  sold 
at  100.  Norfolk  Street  Railway  5s  at  10654 ,  City  &  Suburban 
(Baltimore)  5s  at  113%,  and  North  Baltimore  Traction  5s  at  120. 
In  the  week  ending  Saturday  there  were  27,000  shares  of  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit  dealt  in  on  the  New  York  curb.  The  price 
was  run  up  from  13634  to  150,  which  established  the  record  on  the 
movement.  On  Monday  the  stock  reacted  to  147/4,  but  recov- 
ered yesterday  to  14834.  Nothing  of  a  confirmatory  nature  has 
yet  been  published  regarding  the  traction  "deal"  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  involved  in  this  rise.  Washington  Traction  common 
(140  shares)  changed  hands  at  15  and  15^.  The  preferred  sold 
up  to  70,  but  reacted  to  69*4,  200  shares  being  traded  in..  The 
bonds  of  the  company  made  a  new  high  figure  of  8334s-  This  was 
the  extent  of  the  week's  transactions  in  the  curb  market. 

Detroit  United  showed  a  gain  on  the  Cincinnati  market  last 
week  and  ranged  from  66^4  to  67^2,  sales  about  200  shares.  Cin- 
cinnati Street  Railway  was  stationary  at  141 J/2,  on  sales  of  about 
200  shares.  About  500  shares  of  Cincinnati,  Newport  &  Coving- 
ton preferred  sold  at  89,  an  advance  over  previous  figures.  Fif- 
teen thousand  dollars  worth  of  the  first  5  per  cent  bonds  of  this 
company  sold  at  iogj4-  A  block  of  Indianapolis  Street  Railway 
4s  sold  at  8534- 

Northern  Texas  Traction  made  a  new  high  mark  of  3634  at 
Cleveland  last  week.  This  stock  is  the  strongest  on  the  Cleveland 
traction  list  and  buyers  seemed  to  have  cleaned  up  the  market 
under  40.  There  were  several  small  dealings  in  Cleveland  Electric 
at  7134.  and  several  sales  of  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light 
were  made  at  13%  and  14.  A  small  lot  of  Northern  Ohio  4s  sold 
at  58^.  It  is  reported  that  the  Everett-Moore  syndicate  has  re- 
fused an  offer  of  60  for  its  entire  holdings  in  this  issue. 


302 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No. '9. 


Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
last  week : 

Closing  Bid 
Aug.  16   Aug.  23 


American  Railways                                                                         49  49 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                              a!2  al2 

Boston  Elevated                                                                           150  150 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                                  53%  53% 

Chicago  City                                                                            170  170 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                5%  4% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                             30%  30 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                      70  70 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                            66%  69% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                        108%  108% 

Detroit  United                                                                           66  66% 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                         1&%  147 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)                                                       —  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated  .•                                                              3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                       151%  155 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)                                         17%  15 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                        65%  63 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                   18%  19 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                  52%  52% 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                   123%  121% 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                  93%  90% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                                   9%  9% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)                                                29  29 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                      74%  73 

North  American                                                                             88  89 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                12%  13 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                  39%  39% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                            12%  13 

Philadelphia  Traction                                                                     98%  99 

St.  Louis  (common)                                                                         9%  11 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)                                                  89  89% 

Third  Avenue                                                                               124  122 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                99  98% 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                      53%  54% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)                                         52  54 

West  End  (common)                                                                      91  91% 

West  End  (preferred)                                                                    111%  m 


a  Asked. 

Iron  and  Steel 

In  its  weekly  report  of  iron  trade  conditions,  the  "Iron  Age"  de- 
scribes the  feeling  among  buyers  as  very  cautious,  owing  to  the 
cuts  which  have  already  been  made  on  wire  products  and  steel 
billets,  and  the  extravagant  stories  in  circulation  about  coming 
reductions  in  other  directions.  These  stories  have  some  basis  in 
the  fact  that  indirect  concessions  in  lines  like  structural  material, 
shapes  and  plates,  have  been  the  rule  for  some  time  past.  The 
whole  situation  is  extremely  unsettled,  a  great  deal  depending  upon 
whether  the  producing  interests  can  see  a  larger  consumption  ahead 
if  they  lower  prices.  Quotations  are  as  follows:  Bessemer  pig 
iron  $12.85,  Bessemer  steel  $23,  Steel  rails  $28. 

fletals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows  :  Copper  12^ 
cents,  lead  4%  cents,  tin  27J/&  cents,  and  spelter  4  15-16  cents. 

 ♦♦♦  

LEHIGH  VALLEY  TRACTION  REORGANIZATION 


The  plan  of  reorganization  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Traction  Com- 
pany, which  has  just  been  issued,  calls  for  the  formation  of  a  new 
company  to  take  over  the  properties  and  interests  heretofore  owned, 
managed  or  controlled  by  the  Lehigh  Valley  Traction  Company, 
which  new  company  is  to  issue  bonds  and  stocks  as  follows : 
$5,000,000  first  mortgage  thirty-year  gold  bonds,  part  of  which  are 
to  bear  4  per  cent  interest  and  part  5  per  cent ;  $7,500,000  consoli- 
dated thirty-year  gold  bonds,  bearing  4  per  cent,  or  not  more  than 
5  per  cent ;  $5,000,000  preferred  stock  and  $3,000,000  common  stock. 
Dividends  on  the  former  are  limited  to  5  per  cent.  No  distribution 
is  to  be  made  on  the  common  stock  when  there  is  any  arrearage 
on  the  preferred.  It  is  figured  that  earnings  of  the  new  company 
will  reach  $884,000  gross  and  $440,600  net,  leaving  a  balance  of 
$124,100,  or  equal  to  about  2J/2  per  cent  on  the  preferred  stock. 
The  preferred  and  common  stock  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Traction 
Company  and  the  common  stock  of  the  Allentown  &  Slatington 
Street  Railway  Company,  deposited  under  the  plans,  are  subject  to 
an  assessment  of  2  per  cent  of  their  face  value. 


PENNSYLVANIA  AFTER  ELECTRIC  PROPERTY? 


The  report  is  current  in  railroad  circles  that  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company  has  made  a  proposition  for  the  purchase  of  the 
property  of  the  Scioto  Valley  Traction  Company,  which  has  re- 
cently completed  lines  from  Columbus  to  Lancaster  and  Circleville, 
Ohio.  The  Lancaster  division  parallels  the  Hocking  Valley,  while 
the  Circleville  division  parallels  the  Norfolk  &  Western,  both  Penn- 
sylvania properties.  Although  the  new  traction  line  has  been  in 
operation  but  a  short  time,  it  is  apparent  that  it  has  seriously 
affected  the  traffic  on  both  roads.  Some  time  ago  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  Pennsylvania  proposed  to  electrify  the  Cincinnati 
&  Mahoning  Valley  division  from  Trinway  to  Lancaster,  and  es- 
tablish a  through  electric  system  between  Trinway,  Zanesville, 
Lancaster  and  Columbus. 

 >  

MORE  EQUIPMENT  FOR  MANILA  SYSTEM 

Further  orders  were  placed  last  week  for  various  equipment  by 
the  Manila  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company,  Ltd.,  for  its  electric 
traction  system  now  being  hastened  to  completion  by  the  contractors, 
J.  G.  White  &  Company,  Inc.,  ot  New  York.  The  orders 
to  which  reference  is  made  in  this  instance  call  for  power  house 
equipment  principally.  The  Goubert  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
New  York,  has  been  allotted  the  order  for  two  1500-hp  feed-water 
heaters.  The  Rand  Drill  Company  will  ship  two  large  air  compres- 
sors. The  Atha  Tool  Company,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  has  secured  a 
fair  sized  order  for  different  kinds  of  tools. 



FOREIGN  ELECTRICAL  ENGINEERS  IN  NEW  YORK 


The  programme  for  the  reception  and  entertainment  in  New 
York  City  of  the  electrical  engineers  from  abroad  attending  the 
International  Electrical  Congress  at  St.  Louis,  has  been  issued  by 
the  reception  committee  of  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical 
Engineers.  The  guests  of  the  Institute  will  be  comprised  chiefly 
in  two  main  bodies,  one  consisting  of  members  of  the  Institution  of 
Electrical  Engineers  of  England,  the  other  of  members  of  the  As- 
sociazione  Ellettrotecnica  Italiana.  The  members  of  the  British 
Society  will  land  in  Boston  about  Sept.  2,  those  of  the  Italian  Soci- 
ety in  New  York  about  Aug.  25.  The  latter  will  be  entertained 
on  a  special  programme  until  Sept.  I,  when  they  will  join  the  Eng- 
lish contingent  in  Boston.  The  entire  party  will  then  rendezvous 
in  New  York  Sept.  4.  On  that  day  they  are  invited  by  J.  G.  White 
on  a  special  trip  to  view  the  scenery  of  the  Hudson  River.  On 
Sept.  5  a  trip  will  be  made  through  the  subway  on  a  special  train. 
Visits  will  then  be  made  by  boat  to  the  different  power  stations  on 
the  Hudson  and  East  Rivers.  In  the  evening  a  banquet  will  be 
given  at  the  Waldorf-Astoria.  The  visitors  will  start  on  the  morn- 
ing of  Sept.  6  on  the  special  circular  tour,  already  mentioned  in 
these  pages,  visiting  first  Schenectady  and  then  Montreal. 

 ♦♦♦  

SLEEPING  CARS  ON  COLUMBUS,  NEWARK  &  ZANESVILLE 

RAILROAD 


J.  R.  Harrigan,  general  manager  of  the  Columbus,  Newark  & 
Zanesville  Electric  Railway  Company,  has  made  a  contract  with 
the  Holland  Palace  Car  Company,  of  Indianapolis,  for  the  use  of 
its  famous  palace  sleeping  cars  to  be  run  as  limited  cars  over  this 
road  between  Zanesville  and  Columbus,  a  distance  of  65  miles. 
The  cars  will  be  operated  and  maintained  by  the  railway  company, 
but  a  charge  of  25  cents  between  Newark  and  Columbus  and  35 
cents  between  Zanesville  and  Columbus  will  be  made,  in  addition 
to  the  regular  fare.  The  additional  fare  will  be  collected  by  the 
porter  of  the  car  and  will  go  to  the  Holland  Company  for  the  use 
of  the  car.  The  service  will  start  this  week,  and  at  first  only  one 
of  the  Holland  cars  will  be  used,  as  the  other  was  damaged  in  a 
fire  some  time  ago  and  will  not  be  out  of  the  shops  for  about  two 
weeks.  The  running  time  will  be  two  and  a  half  hours,  as  com- 
pared with  three  hours  for  the  regular  cars,  stops  being  made  only 
at  Newark  and  the  terminal  cities.  Each  car  will  make  two  round 
trips  a  day,  giving  four  limiteds  each  way  in  addition  to  regular 
hourly  headway.  Of  course,  the  sleeping  car  feature  of  these  cars 
will  not  be  available  until  arrangements  can  be  completed  for 
operating  the  cars  through  over  other  roads.  Mr.  Harrison  be- 
lieves the  present  arrangement  will  be  profitable  for  both  his  com- 
pany and  the  Holland  Company,  and  he  believes  that  the  other 
Columbus  roads  will  soon  be  anxious  to  follow  his  example. 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


303 


EXTENSIONS  TO  BUENOS  AIRES  SYSTEM 


La  Capital  Tramways  Company,  Ltd.,  which  operates  about  20 
miles  of  electric  traction  system  in  Buenos  Aires,  Argentine  Repub- 
lic, is  about  to  make  considerable  extensions.  Some  30  more  miles 
will  be  built.  The  president  of  the  company  is  Theo.  N.  Vail,  of 
the  Bell  Telephone  interests.  The  New  York  offices  are  in  the 
Havemeyer  Building.    H.  R.  Parrish  is  the  purchasing  agent. 




REPORT  OF  BROOKLYN  COMPANY  FOR  YEAR  ENDING 
TUNE  30,  1904. 


The  report  of  the  directors  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany to  the  stockholders  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904,  has  just 
been  made  public.  It  is  probably  the  most  complete  report  ever 
issued  by  the  company.  Besides  the  usual  statement  of  earnings, 
traffic  figures,  etc.,  detail  reference  is  made  to  the  many  improve- 
ments made  to  the  system  during  the  year.  Among  these  im- 
provements were  increases  in  power  plant  capacity ;  the  reconstruc- 
tion and  improvement  of  elevated  stations,  structures,  etc. ; 
additions  to  the  surface  tracks ;  terminal  improvements  and  car 
storage  facilities  at  Coney  Island  and  other  seaside  resorts ;  the 
thorough  overhauling  of  interlocking  installations  at  eight  different 
places ;  the  development  of  plans  for  a  new  general  office  building, 
and  the  making  of  the  contract  with  the  city  for  the  operation  of 
trolley  cars  across  the  new  Williamsburg  Bridge. 

The  surface  car  equipment  was  increased  by  200  new  surface  cars, 
26  gondolas,  13  box  cars,  7  express  cars,  8  ice  cars  and  1  derrick 
car.  The  work  of  rebuilding  and  fitting  elevated  steam  cars  for 
electric  operation  was  carried  forward  to  the  full  capacity  of  shop 
accommodations,  and  the  early  part  of  the  year  1905  should  see  this 
work  on  the  equipment  completed.  The  company  will  then  have 
270  closed  electric  standard  trail  cars  and  357  standard  motor  cars 
fully  equipped  with  the  multiple-unit  control  system.  There  are 
now  being  received  100  new  elevated  cars,  making  a  total  of  457 
motor  and  270  closed  trail  cars.  The  120  open  elevated  cars  pur- 
chased last  year  were  equipped  with  side  sections  and  ventilating 
apparatus  and  otherwise  fitted  for  winter  service.  The  new  central 
power  station  is  practically  completed,  and  eight  4000-hp  units  in 
that  plant  are  now  in  operation.  A  portion  of  the  block  adjoining 
this  station  has  been  equipped  with  machinery  for  handling  coal 
from  barges  and  transferring  the  same  to  the  receiving  bins  in  the 
plant.  The  construction  of  the  new  power  house  adjoining  the 
Kent  Avenue  station  has  been  commenced.  It  is  proposed  to  install 
here  two  turbine  units  of  5500-kw  capacity,  and  to  make  provision 
for  the  installation  of  additional  machinery  from  time  to  time,  ac- 
cording to  requirements.  The  capacity  of  the  sub-stations  was  also 
increased  and  a  new  station  was  erected  at  Parkville.  Track  im- 
provements made  during  the  year  extended  to  practically  all  the 
lines  and  included  3460  electrically  welded  joints.  The  important 
improvements  made  for  handling  the  crowds  at  Coney  Island  have 
already  been  referred  to  in  detail  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal. 

The  results  of  the  operations  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
system  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904,  were  as  follows  : 

Gross  earnings  from  operation  $14,738,709 

Operating  expenses    8,760,438 


Net  earnings  from  operation. 
Income  from  other  sources  . . 


$5,978,270 
211,852 


Total  income    $6,190,122 

Less  taxes  and  fixed  charges   4, S01, 214 


Net  income    $1,3SS,907 

Out  of  which  was  taken  for  betterments  and  additions  to  property..  383,706 


Surplus  for  the  year   $1,005,201 

Surplus  June  30,  1903   1,747,839 


Surplus  June  30,  1904   $2,753,041 

Of  this  amount  there  has  been  appropriated: 

For  discount  on  bonds  sold   $1,153,200.00 

For  old  accounts  adjusted   5,651.75  1,158,851 


Balance  surplus  June  30,  1904   $1,594,189 

Following  is  a  comparative  statement  of  the  gross  earnings  : 


Per  cent 

Per  cent 

1904  over 

1904  over 

Passenger : 

1904 

1903 

1903 

1902 

1902 

$9,284,157 

+  5.10 

$9,049,229 

+  7.83 

Elevated  and  bridge. 

4,671,917 

3,802,683 

+  22.86 

3,272,036 

+  42.79 

Freight,  mail  and  ex- 

press   

176,508 

75,658 

+133.29 

64,902 

+171.96 

132,655 

117,823 

+  12.59 

124,455 

+  6.59 

Total   

$14,738,709 

$13,280,321 

+  10.98 

$12,510,622 

+  17.81 

COMPARATIVE  SUMMARY  OF  OPERATIONS  FOR 
YEAR  ENDING  JUNE  30,  1904 
GROSS  EARNINGS 


1904  1903 

Passenger   $14,429,546  $13,086,840 

Freight,  mail  and  express            176,508  75,657 

Advertising                                   132,655  117,823 

Total     earnings  from 

operation   $14,738,709  $13,280,321 

OPERATING  EXPENSES 


Inc.  or  Dec. 
+  $1,342,706 
+  100,850 
+  14,832 


+  $1,458,3 


1904  1903  Inc.  or  Dec. 

Maintenance     of     way  and 

structure                                 $619,848  $495,188  +  $124,659 

Maintenance  of  equipment...    1,217,924  812,600  +  405,323 

Operation  of  power  plant            1,535,930  1,680,751  —  144,820 

Operation  of  cars — trainmen's 

wages                                    2,677,443  2,542,214  +  135,229 

Operation  of  cars — other  ex- 
penses                                1,181,789  908,310  +  273,478 

Damages  and  legal  expenses.      987,759  956,730  +  31,029 

General  expenses                          539,745  535,286  +  4,459 

Total  operating  expenses.  $8,760,438  $7,931,080  +  $829,359 

Net  earnings  from  oper- 
ation                            $5,978,270  $5,349,241  +  $629,028 

INCOME  FROM  OTHER  SOURCES 


Per 
cent 
10.26 
133.29 
12.59 


10.98 


Per 
cent 

25.17 
49.88 
8.62 

5.31 

30.11 
3.24 
0.83 

10.46 


11.76 


Per 

1904 

1903 

Inc. 

or  Dec. 

cent 

Rent  of  land  and  buildings.. 

$56,711 

$81,877 

$25,158 

30.74 

Rent  of  tracks  and  structure. 

103,071 

99,053 

+ 

4,017 

4.05 

Miscellaneous   

52,069 

96,562 

44,499 

46.08 

Total  income   

$6,190,122 

$5,626,734 

+ 

$563,388 

10.01 

DEDUCTIONS 

Per 

1904 

1903 

Inc. 

or  Dec. 

cent 

$748,258 

$757,788 

$9,530 

1.26 

4,052,956 

3,904,068 

+ 

148,888 

3.81 

$4,801,214 

$4,661,856 

+ 

$139,358 

2.99 

$1,388,907 

$964,878 

+ 

$424,029 

43.95 

383,706 

168,095 

+ 

215,610 

128.27 

Surplus  for  year  

$1,005,201 

$796,782 

+ 

$208,419 

26.16 

Sundry    accounts    from  pre- 
vious years  charged  off.. 


40,386 


Balance  to  credit  of  surplus.  $1,005,201 


$756,396 


CONSOLIDATED  GENERAL  BALANCE  SHEET, 
JUNE  30,  1904 
ASSETS 

Cost  of  road  and  equipment   $99,114,624 

Properties  owned  in  whole  or  in  part  by  B.  R.  T.  Co. 

Advances  account  of  construction  for  leased  companies   6,306,901 

Brooklyn  City  Railroad  Co   $6,003,941 

Prospect  Park  &  C.  I.  R.  R.  Co   302,960 


Construction  expenditures,  constituent  companies  

To  be  reimbursed  by  issuance  of  B.  R.  T.  1st  refunding 
gold  mortgage  4  per  cent  bonds,  upon  deposit  with  Central 
Trust  Company,  trustee,  of  certificates  of  indebtedness  to 
cover 

Guaranty  fund  (securities  and  cash)  

Treasury  bonds   

B.  R.  T.  1st  ref.  gold  mortgage  4  per  cent   $5,614,000 

Other  issues    110,000 


Treasury  stock   

Current  assets  

Cash  on  hand    $2,500,893 

Due  from  companies  and  individuals   294,441 

Construction  material  and  general  supplies  on  hand  837,802 
Prepaid  accounts    337,728 


1,816,617 


4,005,755 
5,724,000 


146,228 
3,970,864 


$121,084,989 

Note.— The  certificates  of  indebtedness  issued  by  constituent  companies,  ag- 
gregating $8,136,025.21,  against  which  B.  R.  T.  bonds  have  been  issued,  do 
not  appear  separately  on  this  consolidated  balance  sheet,  as  the  property  pur- 
chased appears  as  an  asset  under  the  head  of  "cost  of  road  and  equipment," 
and  "advances  account  construction  for  leased  companies,"  and  the  liability 
is  represented  by  the  bonds  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  issued 
from  time  to  time  as  such  certificates  of  indebtedness  are  acquired  and  de- 
posited with  the  Central  Trust  Company,  trustee. 


3°4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


LIABILITIES 

Capital  stock    $45,990,255 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company   $45,000,000 

Outstanding  capital  stock  of  constituent  companies.  990,255 


Bonded  debt  and  real  estate  mortgages   67,324,180 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Co   $21,458,000 

Bonded  debt  of  constituent  companies: 

Brooklyn  Heights  R.  R.  Co   250,000 

Brooklyn,  Q.  Co.  &  S.  R.  R.  Co   6,624,000 

The  Nassau  Electric  R.  R.  Co   15,000,040 

Sea  Beach  Railway  Co   650,000 

Brooklyn  Union  Elevated  R.  R.  Co   23,000,000 

Real  estate  mortgages    342,140 


Current  liabilities    6,144,486 

Loans  and  bills  payable    $3,250,000 

Audited  vouchers    791,187 

Due  companies  and  individuals    75,418 

Taxes  accrued  and  not  due   1,327,880 

Interest  and  rentals  accrued  and  not  due   644,459 

Interest  accrued  on  real  estate  mortgages  and  not 

due    3,755 

Insurance  reserve  fund    51,785 


Long  Island  Traction  trust  fund   9,439 

Accounts  to  be  adjusted    22,439 

Surplus    1,594,190 


$121,084,989 

 ♦♦♦  

AN  AGREEMENT  AS  REGARDS  NEW  YORK  SUBWAY 
POSITIONS 


The  question  of  the  interpretation  of  the  rule  of  seniority  in  ap- 
pointing employees  of  the  elevated  lines  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  to  positions  on  the  underground  railroad  has 
been  settled  by  an  agreement  satisfactory  to  both  the  management 
and  the  men.  The  men  at  present  in  the  employ  of  the  company 
will  have  preference  over  new  applicants  in  every  case.  It  appeared 
at  one  time  as  if  a  settlement  would  not  be  effected,  and  the  state- 
ment was  made  that  if  an  agreement  was  not  reached  a  strike  would 
be  declared. 

 ♦♦♦  

LINK  IN  LINE  FROM  WORCESTER,  MASS.,  TO  NORWICH, 

CONN. 


It  is  now  said  that  the  much-talked-of  electric  railway  between 
Central  Village  and  Norwich,  Conn.,  will  be  constructed  shortly, 
supplying  the  missing  link  in  an  unbroken  electric  connection  be- 
tween Worcester,  Mass.,  and  New  London,  Conn.,  a  distance  of  6o 
miles.  The  line  will  be  built  by  the  Consolidated  Railway  Company, 
controlled  by  the  New  York.  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad. 
Work  will  probably  be  begun  next  spring.  An  unusual  feature  of  the 
new  road  will  be  its  use  of  the  steam  road's  tracks  from  Plainfield 
to  Lisbon  station.  The  former  point  will  be  reached  from  Central 
Village  by  a  new  track  parallel  to  the  steam  tracks  on  the  west  side. 
Leaving  the  steam  tracks  at  Lisbon  the  electric  line  will  pass 
through  Jewett  City  and  Versailles,  where  it  will  connect  with  the 
Norwich  road.  Steam  traffic  from  Plainfield  to  Lisbon  will  be 
confined  to  freight  service  and  steam  trains  will  run  into  Jewett 
City  on  new  tracks  to  be  laid.  . 



TITUSVILLE  ELECTRIC  TRACTION  COMPANY'S  EXTENSION 


The  Titusville  Electric  Traction  Company,  of  Titusville,  Pa.,  is 
building  an  extension  from  Mystic  Park  to  Trionville,  a  distance 
of  2^4  miles.  The  grading  has  been  completed  between  the  two 
points  mentioned,  and  about  a  mile  of  track  has  already  been  laid. 
The  work  is  being  done  by  P.  Hart  &  Sons,  of  Staten  Island,  N.  Y. 
About  three  years  ago  this  firm  built  the  extension  of  the  original 
system  from  Hydetown  to  Mystic  Park,  a  distance  of  3^2  miles. 
The  construction  work  is  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  Chas. 
F.  Hart,  who  has  had  extensive  experience  in  both  steam  and 
electric  railway  work.  The  grading  is  exceptionally  well  done  and 
the  foundation  to  the  roadbed  is  excellent ;  curves  have  been 
eliminated  as  far  as  possible,  and  private  right  of  way  has  been 
secured  all  the  way  from  Mystic  Park  to  Trionville.  Roebling 
trolley  wire  is  used,  and  the  overhead  material  and  rail  bonds  were 
supplied  by  the  Ohio  Brass  Company.  The  new  extension  of  the 
Titusville  system  makes  a  total  of  20  miles  of  track,  connecting 
Titusville  with  Hydetown  and  Trionville  on  the  north  and  East 
Titusville  and  Pleasantville  on  the  south.  W.  J.  Smith  is  general 
manager  of  the  company. 


PENNSYLVANIA  STREET  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION'S  NEXT 
CONVENTION  TO  BE  HELD  IN  SEPTEMBER,  1905 


It  is  announced  that  the  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania  Street 
Railway  Association  for  1904  will  be  postponed  until  the  regular 
meeting  time  in  September,  1905.  This  action  seems  to  meet  with 
the  approval  of  the  railway  as  well  as  the  supply  men,  inasmuch 
as  the  major  portion  of  them  expect  to  attend  the  National  Con- 
vention at  St.  Louis. 



ELECTRIC  HEATERS  FOR  THE  NEW  YORK  SUBWAY 


The  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  just  closed  a  con- 
tract with  the  Consolidated  Car  Heating  Company  for  heaters  for 
the  200  new  steel  cars  for  use  in  the  New  York  subway.  There 
will  be  twenty-four  heaters  of  the  panel  type  in  each  car  and  two 
special  heaters  for  motormen's  cabs.  One  mile  of  wire  will  be  used 
in  the  coils  for  each  equipment.  The  maker  of  these  heaters  has 
also  received  an  order  for  electric  heaters  for  100  cars  for  the  Man- 
hattan Elevated  division. 

The  Consolidated  Car  Heating  Company  has  sold  to  date  75,000 
electric  heaters  for  use  in  the  city  of  New  York,  more  than  54,000 
of  which  have  been  sold  during  the  last  three  years.  It  is  now 
supplying  to  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  12-heater  equip- 
ments for  100  cars.  These  are  of  the  company's  new  cross-seat 
type.  It  has  also  received  an  order  from  Ford,  Bacon  &  Davis,  of 
New  York,  for  thirty-four  car  equipments  for  roads  at  Birming- 
ham, Ala.,  Knoxville  and  Nashville,  Tenn. 

—  ■  

HOTEL  ACCOMMODATIONS  AT  UTICA  DURING  SEPTEMBER 
CONVENTION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  STREET 
RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION 


W.  W.  Cole,  secretary  of  the  Street  Railway  Association  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  has  prepared  the  following  list  of  hotels  and 
apartment  houses  in  Utica  which  are  prepared  to  furnish  accom- 
modations to  the  delegates  to  the  twenty-second  annual  meeting 
to  be  held  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  13  and  14.  In  view  of  the  large 
attendance  expected,  reservations  should  be  made  at  an  early  date. 

At  the  Hotel  Butterfield,  American  plan  only,  the  rates  are : 
Two  double  rooms  with  bath,  $5  per  day;  five  double  rooms  with 
bath,  $4  per  day;  three  single  rooms  with  bath,  $4  per  day;  fifty 
rooms  without  bath,  $3  per  day;  by  doubling  up,  some  of  these 
fifty  rooms  will  accommodate  two  people. 

At  the  Baggs  Hotel,  American  plan  only :  Thirty  rooms  $3.50  per 
day  with  bath,  and  $3  per  day  without  bath.  At  the  St.  James 
Hotel,  American  plan  only:  Thirty  rooms,  accommodating  fifty 
persons,  rates  $2  and  $2.50  per  day. 

The  rates  at  the  Olbiston  and  Kanatenah  Apartments  are  ten 
single  rooms  at  $2  per  day,  and  fifteen  single  rooms  at  $1.50  per 
day. 

All  of  these  rooms  do  not  have  private  baths,  but  are  convenient 
to  baths. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  MIAMI  &  ERIE  CANAL  REORGANIZATION 


The  work  of  reorganizing  the  Miami  &  Erie  Canal  Transporta- 
tion Company  is  progressing  slowly.  According  to  the  agreement 
arrived  at  between  the  Cleveland  and  Cincinnati  bondholders,  the 
money  was  to  be  raised  for  paying  off  the  indebtedness  if  the 
claims  outstanding  could  be  bought  for  the  figures  agreed  upon  in 
an  option  agreement  last  fall.  It  was  thought  that  this  could  be 
done,  but  it  is  now  found  that  some  of  the  smaller  creditors  are 
inclined  to  hold  out  for  100  cents  on  the  dollar.  This  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  bondholders  are  not  prepared  to  pay.  If  the  plan 
falls  through,  the  investigation  before  the  referee  to  assess  the 
debts  against  the  stockholders  will  be  carried  out.  The  hearing- 
will  be  reopened  for  the;  report  of  the  committee  on  Sept.  6. 

It  is  reported  that  the  reorganization  plan  calls  for  an  assess- 
ment of  about  $3  per  share  of  stock,  with  an  income  bond  issue  to 
ensure  the  company  against  another  receivership.  The  ability  of 
the  canal  boat  scheme  to  show  earnings  over  actual  operating  ex- 
pense has  yet  to  be  demonstrated.  An  income  bond  would  call  for 
interest  only  if  earned  through  a  stated  period  of  years,  after  which 
it  would  call  for  the  usual  rate  of  interest.  This  would  place 
the  company  where  all  it  would  have  to  do  would  be  to  pay  ex- 
penses until  such  time  as  additional  concessions  could  be  obtained 
from  the  State  enabling  the  company  to  use  the  canal  tracks  for 
ordinary  passenger  and  freight  service. 


August  27,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


305 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  AND  STEAMBOAT  TRAFFIC 

The  consequences  of  building  suburban  or  interurban  electric 
railways  substantially  parallel  to  steam  railway  lines  are  now  a 
common  story,  so  that  the  veriest  novice  in  transportation  mat- 
ters feels  confident  that  he  can,  from  the  date  of  promotion  of 
the  electric  railway,  predict  at  least  the  immediate  results  of  its 
construction.  In  the  vicinity  of  Providence,  however,  the  some- 
what unusual  case  of  electric  railways  coming  into  at  least  in- 
direct competition  with  steamboat  lines  has  occurred.  On  both 
shores  of  Providence  River,  the  tidal  stream  forming  the  upper 
end  of  Narragansett  Bay,  there  are  many  summer  resorts  fre- 
quented by  people  from  the  city  and  many  summer  residences  of 
persons  doing  business  in  Providence. 

Years  ago  the  only  public  means  of  transportation  to  the  ma- 
jority of  these  places  were  the  steamboat  lines,  although  some 
few  places  could  be  reached  by  the  steam  railroad  lines.  During 
recent  years,  however,  lines  of  electric  railway  have  been  built 
on  both  sides  of  the  river,  some  of  the  routes  affording  attractive 
rides,  with  beautiful  views  of  the  bay  and  its  shores,  and  one  of 
the  old  steam  roads,  following  the  edge  of  the  water  pretty 
closely  for  some  distance,  was  equipped  for  electric  traction,  and 
has  now  been  operated  with  this  motive  power  for  several  years. 
Riding  in  an  open  trolley  is  hardly  less  comfortable  than  boat 
travel,  and,  in  case  of  crowds,  either  means  of  transportation 
causes  a  high  tensile  test  of  patience.  The  greater  accessibility 
and  convenience  of  the  electric  railways,  with  their  more  frequent 
trips,  have  been  a  telling  argument  in  their  favor,  and  so  in  these 
latter  days  it  has  come  to  pass  that  many  a  Rhode  Islander,  who 
does  not  own  a  "buzz-wagon,"  rides  on  the  sparking  rail  to  get 
his  clambake  dinner  instead  of  in  the  formerly  popular  steam- 
boats. The  steamboat  companies,  nevertheless,  are  still  in  busi- 
ness and  get  a  good  share,  although  it  is  reported  that  their 
schedules  have  been  noticeably  reduced. 



TESTS  ON  PUMPING  ENGINE  ECONOMY 


In  view  of  the  intense  interest  at  present  manifested  in  the 
steam  economy  of  prime  movers,  both  of  the  reciprocating  and 
turbine  types,  it  is  impossible  to  pass  without  remarking  some  re- 
sults lately  obtained  in  an  official  pumping  engine  test  at  the  Park 
Avenue  Pumping  Station,  Chicago.  The  engine  is  of  the  Worth- 
ington,  duplex,  reciprocating,  triple-expansion  type,  having  semi- 
rotary  steam  valves,  but  no  fly-wheel.  The  latter  is  replaced  by 
compensating  cylinders  so  arranged  that  their  pistons  retard  the 
motion  of  the  main  piston  during  the  first  part  of  the  stroke,  but 
assist  it  towards  the  close,  giving  a  uniform  resultant  thrust.  The 
pistons  of  these  auxiliary  cylinders  work  against  air  under  pressure 
from  a  tank.  The  engines  are  vertical  and  the  weight  of  the  pis- 
tons, plungers  and  rods  is  counter-balanced  by  another  auxiliary 
balancing  plunger,  also  working  through  the  medium  of  water 
against  air  under  pressure. 

The  capacity  of  the  engine  is  about  22,000,000  gallons  per  day, 
against  a  total  head  of  slightly  over  121  ft.,  and  660.9  hp  were  indi- 
cated in  the  test.  The  duty  obtained  was  174,735,801  ft.  lbs.  per 
1000  lbs.  of  steam  used,  corresponding  to  an  economy  of  11.32  lbs. 
of  steam  per  net  hp  delivered  in  water  lifted,  or  10.01  lbs.  of  steam 
per  i.  h.  p.  The  steam  pressure  was  144.45  lbs.  per  sq.  in.,  with  154 
degs.  F.  superheat  at  the  throttle,  the  steam  cylinders  being  pro- 
vided with  jackets  and  reheaters.  Two  other  engines  of  the  same 
design  in  the  Central  Park  Avenue  Station,  and  three  more  in  the 
Springfield  Avenue  Pumping  Station  have  all  shown  under  test 
an  economy  of  steam  less  than  11  lbs.,  although  the  economy  per 
delivered  hp  was  not  as  high  in  the  test  quoted.  These  tests  were 
carried  out  under  the  supervision  of  the  Bureau  of  Engineering 
Of  the  City  of  Chicago,  and,  together  with  the  engines  and  the 
power  station,  are  fully  described  in  a  pamphlet  distributed  by 
Henry  R.  Worthington,  of  New  York  City. 



INTERURBAN  FREIGHT  RAILWAY  FOR  ZANZIBAR 


An  interurban  railway  is  to  be  constructed  in  Zanzibar,  East 
Coast  of  Africa.  The  line  will  be  about  20  miles  in  length.  Sur- 
veys are  about  to  begin.  The  Zanzibar  Railroad  Company  has 
been  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey  for 
the  purpose  of  building  and  operating  the  system,  over  which 
freight — principally  spices — will  be  carried.  The  capital  of  the 
company  is  $100,000.  The  East  African  house  of  Arnold,  Cheney 
&  Company,  whose  New  York  offices  are  at  158  Water  Street,  is 
primarily  interested  in  the  project. 


NEW  PUBLICATIONS 


Friction  and  Lubrication.    By  William  M.  Davis.    Second  Edition ; 
257  pages.    Price,  $2.    Published  by  The  Lubrication  Publish- 
ing Company,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
The  necessity  for  issuing  a  second  edition  of  this  book  so  soon 
after  its  original  publication  must  be  gratifying  evidence  to  the 
author  that  his  work  filled  a  long  empty  niche  in  the  power  station 
engineer's  library  of  useful  information.    This  edition  contains 
about  thirty-five  pages  of  new   matter  which,  together  with  a 
stronger  cover  and  better  paper,  gives  it  considerably  more  value 
than  the  first  impression. 



STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  AUGUST  16,  1904 

767,436.  Switch-Throwing  Device ;  William  B.  Perry,  Wright 
City,  Mo.  App.  filed  Nov.  28,  1903.  The  invention  consists  of  a 
longitudinally  movable  shoe  pivoted  between  its  ends,  means  for 
normally  holding  the  shoe  out  of  the  path  of  the  track  switch- 
throwing  device,  means  for  locking  the  shoe  in  the  path  of  said 
device,  and  means  for  automatically  unlocking  the  shoe  to  restore 
it  to  its  normal  position. 

767.534-  Conductor  for  Electric  Railways ;  Arthur  Whittier, 
Wollaston,  Mass.  App.  filed  Sept.  8,  1903.  The  track  rail  has  a 
flexible  circuit-closing  magnetizable  conductor,  and  the  car  has  an 
element  connected  thereto  for  sliding  movement  transversely  with 
reference  to  the  car  and  provided  with  a  spring,  an  element  pivot- 
ally  connected  to  the  transversely  sliding  element  for  horizontal 
angular  movement,  and  magnets  and  track-engaging  devices  car- 
ried by  the  angularly  movable  element  and  operating  on  the  track 
rail,  the  spring  exerting  a  downward  pressure  on  the  track- 
engaging  devices. 


PATENT  NO.  767,538 


767.538.  Car  Fender ;  William  E.  Zachry,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  Dec.  15,  1903.  The  fender  comprises  a  folding  frame  remov- 
ably supported  on  one  end  of  the  car  and  a  second  frame  pivoted 
to  turn  with  relation  thereto,  whereby  when  the  fender  comes  into 
contact  with  an  object  in  front  of  the  car  the  pivoted  frame  will 
be  thereby  released  and  spring  up  and  support  such  object  free  of 
the  ground  and  out  of  danger. 

767.577-  Tram  or  Railway  Point  or  Switch  and  Means  for 
Working  Same ;  John  Leighton  and  Robert  Hacking,  Nottingham, 
England.  App.  filed  Nov.  20,  1903.  Instead  of  moving  the  switch 
rails  sidewise  together,  one  of  them  is  dropped  out  of  the  way  of 
one  wheel  while  the  other  remains  stationary  and  acts  on  the  other 
wheel. 

767.599.  Electrically  Operated  Apparatus ;  Charles  E.  Sedgwick 
and  Walter  H.  Abbott,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  App.  filed  Sept.  17,  1003. 
In  this  patent  is  disclosed  an  automatic  signalling  system  for  elec- 
tric railways  comprising  the  power  supply  line  for  the  car,  having 
insulated  sections  at  intervals  provided  with  feed-connecting  wires 
tapping  the  main  supply  line,  an  electrical  apparatus  consisting  of 
a  shell  and  a  coil  thereon  connected  in  circuit  with  the  feed  wire 
whereby  current  is  supplied  to  energize  the  coil  whenever  current 
is  supplied  to  the  car  when  it  passes  said  section,  a  ball  within  said 
shell  adapted  to  shift  alternately  to  opposite  ends  therein  as  the 
coil  is  successively  energized  by  the  movement  of  the  car  from  sec- 


306 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  9. 


tion  to  section,  and  signalling  means  controlled  by  said  ball  whereby 
the  location  of  the  car  is  determined. 

767,740.  Three-Way  Split  Switch  ;  Thomas  Dean,  Toledo,  Ohio. 
App.  filed  June  6,  1904.  The  invention  consists  of  a  switch-stand, 
a  frame,  a  shaft  mounted  in  said  frame,  a  pair  of  cam  members 
keyed  to  said  shaft,  a  pair  of  levers  mounted  in  said  frame  in  an 
intersecting  plane  with  said  shaft  and  each  having  a  forked  end 
within  which  one  of  the  cam  members  is  adapted  to  rotate,  connec- 
tions between  said  levers  and  the  switch  points  to  be  turned  and 
means  for  turning  the  shaft. 

767,858.  Automatic  Track  Lubricator;  Reuben  G.  York,  Lynn, 
Mass.  App.  filed  May  26,  1904.  A  lubricant  is  automatically  ap- 
plied to  the  flanges  of  the  wheels  of  a  car  which  is  to  travel  upon 
the  track  to  be  lubricated,  the  lubricator  being  operated  at  the 
proper  times  and  places  by  means  which  co-operate  with  the  guard 
flange  of  the  rail  which  is  always  to  be  raised  at  those  portions  of 
the  track  which  by  conditions  of  curve  or  bend  are  subject  to  special 
wear. 

767,889.  Electric  Switch ;  Charles  F.  Hopewell  and  Charles  H. 
Morse,  Cambridge,  Mass.  App.  filed  Dec.  31,  1903.  The  switch  is 
designed  to  operate  a  circuit  leading  from  the  trolley  wire  to  a 
ground  or  other  return,  which  includes  the  operating  electromagnet 
of  the  trolley  signal  mechanism,  and  the  switch  which  is  designed 
to  be  operated  by  a  trolley  passing  along  the  wire. 

767,939.  Trolley  Pole  Head;  John  E.  Greenwood,  Utica,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Aug.  29,  1903.  The  trolley  pole  has  a  flexible  terminal 
on  which  is  movably  mounted  a  cap-piece  carrying  oppositely  dis- 
posed members  provided  with  collectors,  said  members  being  in- 
dependently movable  to  cause  them  to  readily  adapt  themselves  to 
the  line  wire,  and  means  are  provided  for  limiting  the  movements 
of  said  members  and  for  maintaining  them  in  longitudinal  align- 
ment. 

■  

PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  CHARLES  C.  BENSON,  formerly  general  manager  of  the 
San  Juan  Light  &  Transit  Company,  which  Porto  Rico  system  is 
controlled  by  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  of  New  York,  is  now  here. 

MR.  E.  B.  GUNN,  who  recently  resigned  as  general  superinten- 
dent of  the  Dayton,  Springfield  &  Urbana  Railway,  of  Dayton, 
Ohio,  was  tendered  a  reception  at  Tecumseh  Park  by  the  operating 
force  of  the  road  one  evening  last  week. 

MR.  WILLIAM  BARCLAY  PARSONS,  the  consulting  engi- 
neer of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission,  of  New  York,  has  just 
arrived  from  Liverpool.  Mr.  Parsons  went  to  England  several 
months  ago  to  give  his  services  to  the  London  company  which  is 
building  the  underground  railroad. 

MR.  N.  F.  LANGDON,  who  was  lately  connected  with  the  con- 
struction of  the  Wellington,  New  Zealand,  tramway  system,  has 
accepted  a  position  with  the  United  Railroads  of  San  Francisco. 
Prior  to  going  to  Wellington,  Mr.  Langdon  served  four  years  in  the 
repair  shops  of  the  Brisbane  Tramways  Company. 

MR.  WILLIAM  E.  CONKLIN,  who  acted  for  some  time  past 
as  assistant  engineer  of  the  Schenectady  Street  Railway,  has  been 
appointed  assistant  engineer  to  Mr.  H.  A.  Belden,  general  manager 
of  the  Manila  electric  traction  system  and  general  representative 
for  J.  G.  White  &  Company  in  the  Philippines.  Mr.  Belden  is  now 
in  New  York. 

MR.  S.  S.  NEFF,  formerly  superintendent  of  the  Boston  Ele- 
vated Railway  Company,  Boston,  Mass.,  and  previously  superin- 
tendent of  the  Union  Elevated  Railway,  of  Chicago,  111.,  has  just 
been  appointed  general  superintendent  of  the  Mexican  Tramways 
Company,  Ltd.,  of  the  City  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Neff  left  to  assume 
charge  of  his  new  position  last  week. 

MR.  R.  W.  BAILEY,  formerly  superintendent  of  line  construc- 
tion of  the  East  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway,  has  been  appointed 
receiver  of  the  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles  &  Western  Railroad  Com- 
pany. It  is  not  often  that  a  small  electric  railway  property  is  for- 
tunate in  having  as  practical  a  railway  man  for  receiver  as  Mr. 
Bailey,  who  has  for  some  time  had  entire  charge  of  the  overhead 
construction  of  the  extensive  city  and  interurban  system  centering 
at  East  St.  Louis. 

MR.  GEORGE  BOWRON,  president  of  the  New  Zealand  Elec- 
tric Construction  Company,  which  has  recently  been  awarded  the 
contract  for  the  construction  and  equipment  of  a  somewhat  exten- 
sive electric  traction  system  to  be  operated  in  and  around  Christ- 
church  by  the  municipal  authorities  of  that  Antipodean  city,  is  now 
on  his  way  to  the  States.    The  Christchurch  system  will  be  built 


almost  entirely  of  American  material  and  equipment.  The  ex- 
pected trip  of  Managing  Director  Taylor  has  been  indefinitely  post- 
poned. The  New  Zealand  company  contemplates  undertaking 
further  construction  work  which  will,  it  is  expected,  mean  the 
placing  of  further  interesting  contracts  on  this  side. 

MR.  CHARLES  F.  GOODRICH,  general  superintendent  of 
the  Fox  River  Electric  Railway  &  Power  Company,  of 
Green  Bay,  Wis.,  since  January,  1898,  and  secretary  and  treasurer 
of  the  Knox  Construction  Company  since  the  organization  of  that 
company,  is  to  end  his  connection  with  both  companies  on  Sept.  1. 
Upon  the  retirement  of  Superintendent  Goodrich,  Mr.  George  W. 
Knox,  president  of  the  Knox  Construction  Company,  will  assume 
the  general  supervision  of  both  systems.  According  to  present 
arrangements,  there  will  be,  within  a  short  time,  a  formal  consolida- 
tion of  the  interests  of  the  Fox  River  Electric  Railway  &  Power 
Company  and  the  Knox  Construction  Company  under  the  title  of 
the  Green  Bay  Traction  Company.  President  Knox  will  be  named 
as  general  manager  for  the  entire  system. 

MR.  JOHN  BLAIR  MAC  AFEE,  of  Philadelphia,  has  been 
elected  president  of  the  Augusta-Aiken  Railway  &  Electric  Com- 
pany, of  Augusta,  Ga.,  controlling  the  Augusta  Railway  &  Electric 
Company,  the  Augusta  &  Aiken  Railway  Company,  the  North 
Augusta  Electric  &  Improvement  Company,  the  North  Augusta 
Land  Company  and  the  North  Augusta  Hotel  Company.  Mr.  Mac- 
Afee  is  well  known  to  the  industry  as  a  contractor  and  street  rail- 
way manager.  He  is  a  Canadian  by  birth,  but  he  has  lived  since 
childhood  in  Philadelphia.  After  graduating  from  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Bar  and 
began  the  practice  of  law.  He  acted  as  attorney  for  several  rail- 
ways, and  soon  became  interested  in  construction  work.  He  was 
one  of  the  organizers  and  for  some  time  vice-president  of  the  Rail- 
ways Company  General  and  of  the  American  Engineering  Company. 

MR.  JOHN  LOWBER  WELSH,  for  many  years  closely  identi- 
fied with  banking,  railroad  and  street  railway  interests  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  especially  prominent  in  Reading  Railroad  and  Union 
Traction  Company  affairs,  died  at  his  home  in  that  city  Monday, 
Aug.  22.  Mr.  W elsh  was  born  to  wealth  created  by  two  generations 
of  conservative  financiers,  and  made  his  own  way  very  rapidly  in 
the  financial  world.  At  thirty  years  of  age  there  stood  to  his  credit 
the  financing  in  Europe  of  the  Reading  Railway  loan.  This  was 
in  1870.  Thereafter  his  connections  with  the  company  were  inti- 
mate and,  at  times,  vital.  No  less  important  an  undertaking,  how- 
ever, was  the  laying  by  him  of  the  foundation  of  the  traction  system 
that  afterwards  became  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
controlling  all  the  lines  in  the  city.  In  1893,  when  electric  traction 
was  coming  into  general  use,  he  organized  the  People's  Traction 
Company.  His  ambition  to  merge  the  two  big  rival  systems,  the 
Electric  Traction  and  the  Philadelphia  Traction,  was  gratified  iri 
1895  by  the  organization  of  the  Union  Traction  Company,  of  which 
he  was  made  the  first  president.  He  remained  president  until  Sep- 
tember, 1898,  when  he  declined  to  stand  for  re-election.  Soon 
after  he  devoted  himself  to  the  affairs  of  his  own  firm  and  that  of 
Drexel  &  Company,  with  which  he  had  been  connected  for  many 
years  in  an  advisory  capacity. 

A  MEETING  OF  THE  EMPLOYEES  of  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  was  held  Saturday 
evening,  Aug.  6,  in  Trommer's  large  hall  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  to  do 
honor  to  their  retiring  master  mechanic,  A.  J.  Wilson,  who  recently 
resigned  on  acccountof  ill-health.  The  meeting  was  an  entire  surprise 
to  Mr.  Wilson  and  was  one  of  the  largest  gatherings  that  was  ever 
held  in  that  city  to  do  honor  to  a  single  individual,  nearly  2500  of 
his  former  employees  and  friends  being  present.  The  occasion  was 
the  presentation  to  Mr.  Wilson  of  a  set  of  resolutions  and  a  cut- 
glass  punch-bowl  service,  as  a  testimonial  of  their  regard  for  him. 
The  resolutions,  which  had  been  very  carefully  prepared  to  ex- 
press the  sentiment  of  esteem,  were  beautifully  engrossed  and  bore 
the  emblems  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Engineers,  the 
Brotherhood  of  Firemen  and  other  fraternities  in  which  Mr.  Wilson 
had  long  been  interested;  in  the  center  appeared  a  photograph  of 
Mr.  Wilson,  which  was  flanked  on  either  side  by  a  pen  sketch  of 
one  of  the  former  steam  locomotives  and  a  rear  view  of  a  motor  car. 
The  presentation  speech  was  made  by  Mr.  Barnaby,  of  the  audi- 
tor's office  of  the  company,  who  had  been  selected  as  chairman  of 
the  meeting.  Speeches  were  also  made  by  many  of  the  officials  of 
the  mechanical  department  of  the  company,  including  R.  C.  Taylor, 
mechanical  engineer,  and  several  others.  Mr.  Buehler,  president  of 
the  Columbia  Machine  Works  &  Malleable  Iron  Company,  of 
Brooklyn,  also  added  interest  to  the  occasion  by  referring  pleas- 
antly to  his  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Wilson.  J. 
Grimm,  who  presented  the  resolutions,  recounted  the  life  of  the 
master  mechanic  in  the  shop  and  office,  and  explained  how  he  had 
made  his  way  into  the  hearts  and  affections  of  those  who  had  been 
under  his  charge. 


INDEXED 

Street  Railway  Journal 

Vol.  XXIV.  NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  SEPTEMBER  3,  1904.  No.  10. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

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London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London" — Lieber's  Code 

used. 

ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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Investments  (The  "Red  Book" — Published  annually  in  May; 
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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
.equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Penalties  for  Improving  the  Service 

The  City  Council  of  Minneapolis  last  week  received  a  lesson 
which  we  heartily  wish  might  be  impressed  on  people  of  all 
the  cities  of  the  United  States,  namely,  that  it  does  not  pay  to 
impose  penalties  011  improvements  of  service.  The  sentiment  is 
becoming  entirely  too  general  that  any  move  a  large  city  railway 
company  wishes  to  make  in  the  way  of  extension  or  alteration 
of  existing  lines  is  a  matter  which  benefits  no  one  but  the  com- 
pany, and  that  every  move  should  be  paid  for  and  all  attempts 
at  improvements  stopped  until  the  company  will  accede  to  ex- 
orbitant demands.  The  public  in  various  cities  where  these 
sentiments  are  strongest  is  the  sufferer.  In  Chicago  we  see  un- 
necessary congestion  and  public  inconvenience  on  the  Union 
Elevated  T.oop  goin<;  (in  month  after  month  because  of  the  re- 
fusal ol"  the  city  to  permit  of  an  extension  of  a  few  feet  on  each 


elevated  platform,  the  object  of  the  city  being  to  squeeze  a  few 
more  sheckels  out  of  the  elevated  companies  of  Chicago,  none 
of  which  are  at  the  present  time  paying  any  remarkable  divi- 
dends. In  Minneapolis  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company- 
asked  the  Council  for  permission  to  lay  tracks  for  a  new  loop 
in  the  business  district.  This  loop  would  have  been  of  benefit 
to  the  people  of  the  whole  city  as  well  as  a  benefit  to  the  busi- 
ness Streets  over  which  it  would  run.  The  railroad  committee 
of  the  City  Council,  however,  thought  it  saw  in  the  company's 
request  an  opportunity  to  make  the  company  pay  for  something 
which  the  city  had  before  been  fully  intending  to  pay  for, 
namely,  the  strengthening  of  one  of  the  bridges  across  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  and  recommended  that  the  company  be  required 
to  do  this  if  the  loop  ordinance  was  passed.  President  Lowry 
very  promptly  gave  instructions  that  the  company's  petition 
for  this  new  loop  be  withdrawn  from  the  Council,  since  the  loop 
had  been  asked  for  only  to  benefit  the  public,  and,  under  Minne- 
apolis conditions,  just  as  many  people  would  ride  whether  the 
loop  is  built  or  not,  and  the  company  will  be  spared  great  ex- 
pense. The  absurdity  of  asking  the  company  at  Minneapolis 
to  pay  $100,000  for  constructing  a  loop,  the  benefits  of  which 
would  be  enjoyed  by  the  public  more  than  by  the  company, 
might  be  laughed  at  were  it' not  an  indication  of  a  very  preva- 
lent epidemic  in  American  c:ties. 

Advantages  in  a  Receivership 

It  is  not  usually  supposed  that  a  company  is  in  an  enviable 
position  when  it  is  in  a  receiver's  hands,  but  apparently  there 
are  times  when  a  receivership  can  smooth  out  tangles  which 
could  be  straightened  in  no  other  way.  Chicago  street  railway 
men,  lawyers  and  citizens  have  long  been  guessing  as  to  bow 
franchise  matters  could  ever  be  settled  as  regards  the  Chicago 
Union  Traction  Company.  The  Chicago  Union  Traction  Com- 
pany leases  the  property  of  underlying  companies.  What  the 
Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  directors  might  agree  to 
would  not  necessarily  bind  the  stock  and  bondholders  of  the 
underlying  companies,  who  actually  own  the  franchises.  The 
Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  directors  might  assent  to 
what  seemed  to  them  the  best  bargain  that  could  be  made  under 
the  circumstances,  and  this  might  be  upset  by  the  stock  and 
bondholders  of  the  underlying  companies,  who  are  the  ones 
actually  owning  the  property.  Any  one  familiar  with  the  Chi- 
cago situation  knows  that  it  will  be  difficult  enough  to  get  a 
franchise  ordinance  that  the  City  Council  on  the  one  hand  and 
a  single  board  of  directors  on  the  other  will  agree  to,  but  when 
it  comes  to  satisfying  not  only  these  two  bodies,  but  several 
others  to  which  the  matter  must  be  referred,  the  chances  for 
any  kind  of  a  settlement  seemed  to  recede  into  the  very  distant 
future.  The  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company,  however,  is 
in  receivers'  hands,  and  Judge  Grosscup,  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  Mayor  Harrison  last  week,  made  a  very  interesting  sugges- 
tion as  to  the  powers  of  the  court,  which  would  indicate  that 
the  receivership  under  these  circumstances  will  have  some  de- 
cided advantages.  Judge  Grosscup.  under  whom  the  receivers 
of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  are  acting,  had  been 


3°8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


asked  by  the  Mayor  whether  he  could  not  arrange  for  a  settle- 
ment of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company's  franchise  prob- 
lems on  the  same  basis  as  proposed  for  the  Chicago  City  Rail- 
way Company  in  an  ordinance  recently  drawn  up.  Judge 
Grosscup  did  not  commit  himself  as  to  this  ordinance  in  par- 
ticular, but  expressed  a  desire  for  the  settlement  of  the  difficul- 
ties, and  suggested  that  the  physical  structure  of  the  property 
interests  embraced  in  what  is  known  as  the  Union  Traction 
lines,  is  such  that  a  settlement  out  of  court  of  their  franchise 
relations  with  the  city,  and  particularly  the  merging  of  all  out- 
standing franchises  in  a  new  franchise,  would  be  a  task  of  great 
difficulty.  But  the  company  is  now  in  the  court's  hands,  and 
the  court's  possession  of  the  properties,  together  with  its  juris- 
diction over  the  questions  that  the  proposed  settlement  is  bound 
to  raise,  would  be  helpful  to  a  complete  adjustment  of  all  mat- 
ters involved.  Judge  Grosscup's  letter  to  the  Mayor  will  be 
found  in  full  in  another  column. 

Keep  Before  the  Public 

Steam  railroad  passenger  agents  have  regular  and  established 
channels  for  getting  information  to  the  public  on  the  time  of 
trains  and  the  other  information  that  the  traveler  wants.  Time 
tables  when  published  are  distributed  to  certain  definite  places 
where  experience  has  shown  that  they  are  likely  to  be  wanted, 
and  the  public  naturally  looks  in  these  places  for  them.  Inter- 
urban  roads  being  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  have  not 
established  anything  like  as  thorough  a  system  of  reaching  the 
public.  It  is  simply  astounding  to  any  unprejudiced  traveler 
who  wishes  to  make  use  of  interurban  roads  how  little  attention 
interurban  managers  pay  to  getting  information  for  the  public 
about  their  service.  There  are  some  interurban  centers  where 
this  is  not  true,  but  there  are  plenty  of  others  where  the  inter- 
urban managers  have  very  much  to  learn  about  publicity.  We 
have  said  so  much  about  this  in  the  past  that  we  are  almost 
ashamed  to  refer  to  it  again,  but  there  is  certainly  need  of 
something  more  to  be  said.  An  interurban  railway  system 
reaching  over  20  miles  to  100  miles  or  more  is  not  something 
of  entirely  local  interest.  A  prospective  passenger,  100  miles 
away,  may  want  to  see  a  time  table  in  order  to  plan  his  trip. 
To  the  discredit  of  interurban  business,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
in  many  cases  not  only  can  no  such  time  tables  be  found  within 
a  radius  of  100  miles  of  an  interurban  road,  but,  worse  than 
this,  very  frequently  the  only  printed  time  table  in  existence  is 
th\e  one  made  out  by  the  management  for  the  government  of 
employees.  Time  and  again,  in  various  places,  the  writer  has 
asked  for  time  tables  of  interurban  roads  to  be  told  that  none 
were  available.  The  only  means  many  roads  seem  to  have  of 
getting  time-table  information  to  the  public  is  through  the  in- 
terurban waiting  rooms  and  the  daily  papers  in  the  cities  which 
they  reach.  Of  course,  it  is  true  that  when  a  road  operates  on 
a  certain  time  table  for  a  year  or  more  the  entire  community 
gets  posted  on  the  time  of  the  cars,  so  that  the  inquiring 
stranger  has  a  fair  chance  of  finding  out  at  least  the  leaving 
time  of  interurban  cars  in  the  town  in  which  he  happens  to  be. 
Further  information  than  this  is  liable  to  be  very  indefinite.  It 
is  a  very  "penny  wise  and  pound  foolish"  policy  that  begrudges 
a  little  money  spent  in  printer's  ink  and  distribution  of  time 
tables.  The  trouble  with  many  interurban  managers  is  that 
they  are  so  well  acquainted  with  the  schedules  themselves  and 
are  so  constantly  in  touch  with  people  who  arc,  that  it  does  not 
seem  to  dawn  upon  them  that  every  possible  passenger  may  not 
be  entirely  familiar  with  when  and  where  the  cars  on  their 
roads  run. 


Concerning  the  Telephone 

The  value  of  the  telephone  as  an  aid  to  operation  has  become 
well  appreciated  of  late  in  the  electric  railway  field,  but  a  very 
casual  study  of  the  instrument's  use  shows  that  the  full  benefit 
of  the  apparatus  is  often  missed  in  practice.  The  use  of  the 
telephone  is  such  a  simple  matter  that  the  press  of  other  busi- 
ness frequently  crowds  out  the  consideration  which  ought  to 
be  given  to  the  design  and  installation  of  any  system  of  com- 
munication upon  an  operating  road.  Instruments  are  likely  to 
be  set  up  without  much  regard  to  extraneous  conditions,  and 
there  is  a  tendency  in  more  than  one  repair  department  to  let 
the  apparatus  alone  after  it  is  once  installed,  unless  it  becomes 
flagrantly  out  of  order.  The  importance  of  keeping  the  cars 
moving  casts  such  a  large  shadow  over  the  odds  and  ends  of 
work  which  are  always  waiting  to  be  accomplished  that  it  is 
hard  to  find  time  to  maintain  the  telephone  system  in  perfect 
condition,  even  on  interurban  lines  which  depend  upon  it  for 
the  safe  movement  of  their  traffic. 

It  is  worth  while  in  this  matter  to  take  a  leaf  from  the  book 
of  the  steam  road,  which  generally  spares  no  pains  to  keep  its 
telegraph  lines  and  apparatus  in  good  condition.  The  safe  and 
expeditious  handling  of  both  freight  and  passenger  traffic  is  so 
bound  up  in  the  telegraph  system  of  the  modern  railroad  that 
a  break-down  of  communication  demoralizes  business  to  the 
verge  of  paralysis. 

The  electric  road  is  prone  to  make  the  mistake  of  getting 
along  with  a  system  of  telephones  which  works  only  passably 
well.  This  is  often  not  so  much  the  fault  of  the  apparatus  as 
it  is  the  error  of  those  who  install  the  equipment.  It  is  no  un- 
common thing  to  find  a  sub-station  telephone,  for  example,  set 
up  without  any  sound-proof  booth  in  the  midst  of  operating  ma- 
chinery which  renders  the  reception  and  transmission  of  speech 
nearly  impossible ;  in  other  cases  the  telephone  will  be  installed 
in  a  corner  of  a  despatching  office  in  such  a  way  that  the  de- 
spatcher  is  obliged  to  turn  his  back  upon  the  tracks  when  talk- 
ing, and  in  still  other  instances  the  despatcher  has  to  raise  him- 
self in  his  chair  in  order  to  see  the  tracks  which  he  governs, 
thereby  laying  himself  open  to  the  chance  of  cutting  off  part  of 
his  conversation  with  trainmen  at  turn-outs  at  times  when 
every  word  is  of  critical  importance.  Misunderstanding  of 
orders  and  all  that  it  implies  hang  over  an  imperfectly  working 
system  like  the  famous' sword  of  Damocles,  and  in  times  of 
emergency  both  life  and  property  may  go  to  the  wall  through 
the  indistinctness  or  interruption  of  the  telephone  service.  In 
like  manner  the  importance  of  equipping  large  power  stations 
with  extension  sets  is  not  always  appreciated.  A  plant  of  10,000 
or  15,000  kw  capacity  deserves  more  than  a  single  telephone 
mounted  on  a  second-story  switchboard  gallery  perhaps  50  ft. 
above  the  engine  room  floor  and  accessible  only  by  two  or  three 
long  flights  of  stairs. 

Considerable  advantage  arises  on  city  systems  in  having  tele- 
phones located  near  the  posts  of  inspectors  and  starters  whose 
duty  requires  them  to  be  in  close  touch  with  both  the  street 
traffic  and  various  car  houses  and  division  headquarters.  In 
case  of  break-down  it  is  most  convenient  to  be  able  to  send  for 
the  emergency  crew  within  a  moment  of  the  accident's  occur- 
rence, and  when  such  delays  happen  in  rush  hours  every  half 
minute  cut  from  the  blockade  time  means  money  in  the  com- 
pany's pocket.  The  cost  of  installing  a  telephone  set  in  a  locked 
box  near  the  busiest  tracks  of  a  system  weighs  but  little  against 
the  saving  effected  by  inspectors  being  able  to  call  up  any  de- 
partment at  a  moment's  notice.  The  cost  of  relieving  a  block- 
ade generally  amount?  to  a  comparatively  small  sum  of  money, 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


309 


the  vital  element  being  the  time  required  to  set  the  system  in 
motion. 

As  for  the  type  of  telephone  apparatus  best  suited  to  electric 
railway  purposes  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  common  battery 
central-energy  system  is  superior  to  every  other  form  of  equip- 
ment, at  least  for  city  roads  where  the  distances  of  transmission 
are  short.  Some  form  of  automatic  apparatus  may  do  well 
enough  for  the  departments  of  a  repair  shop,  but  experience 
seems  to  indicate  that  for  serving  the  whole  street  railway 
system,  from  the  street  to  the  office  of  the  manager,  the  cen- 
tralized battery  apparatus  possesses  great  advantages  in  point 
of  quickness  and  simplicity  of  operation,  coupled  with  moderate 
maintenance  charges.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  inferior  equipment 
i.c  dear  at  any  price. 

The  G.  E.  Alternating-Current  Motor 

In  our  editorial  reference  to  the  new  alternating-current 
motor  of  the  General  Electric  Company  last  week,  we  dis- 
cussed the  general  theory  of  magnetic  distribution  and  com- 
pensation as  applied  to  series-commutator  motors  for  a.  c. 
railway  service.  The  development  of  a  railway  motor  for  a.  c. 
and  d.  c.  work  by  such  a  large  company  as  the  General  Electric 
constitutes,  has  such  an  important  bearing  on  electric  railway 
affairs  that  we  cannot  but  refer  again  to  some  of  the  principal 
features  in  the  machine  and  system  described  last  week. 

The  tests  published  in  the  last  issue  give  a  forcible  impres- 
sion of  general  usefulness  and  of  a  degree  of  adaptability  which 
is  very  gratifying,  in  view  of  the  many  difficulties  surrounding 
the  problem.  Looking  at  the  matter  quite  impartially,  we  be- 
lieve that  the  designing  engineers  did  well  to  lay  aside  the  re- 
pulsion type  of  motor  in  spite  of  its  fair  promises,  and  to  apply 
themselves  to  the  development  of  the  series  form,  of  which  the 
value  had  been  realized  by  Mr.  Eickemeyer  more  than  a  decade 
since.  The  point  of  the  matter  is  that  a  thoroughly  practical 
a.  c.  railway  motor  must  be  able  to  run  effectively  as  a  d.  c. 
motor  in  order  to  find  free  applicability  on  existing  systems. 
Were  this  not  so,  the  a.  c.  motor  in  some  one  of  its  polyphase 
forms  would  long  since  have  made  a  powerful  impression  upon 
the  art.  As  the  case  stands,  the  most  serious  obstacle  which 
the  a.  c.  railway  motor  has  to  encounter  is  not  ultra  conserva- 
tism, or  commutation  difficulties,  or  hysteresis  losses,  but  con- 
nections with  d.  c.  roads.  So  long  as  these  exist  the  a.  c.  motor 
must  be  prepared  to  meet  them  more  than  half  way,  which 
seems  to  be  the  policy  indorsed  by  the  motor  before  us. 

In  a  repulsion  motor,  as  in  all  other  induction  motors,  the 
structure  must  be  a  first-class  transformer.  This  requirement 
does  not  seem  to  be  compatible  with  good  performance  as  a 
d.  c.  motor,  and  approaching  the  problem  from  this  viewpoint, 
the  course  which  has  been  followed  in  the  design  of  the  motor 
under  consideration  is  strictly  logical.  To  put  the  matter  111  a 
nutshell,  it  is  a  d.  c.  motor  adapted  for  use  on  certain  alter- 
nating circuits  rather  than  an  a.  c.  motor  workable  at  a  pinch 
on  d.  c.  circuits.  This  condition  could  not  be  properly  met  by 
any  form  of  transformer  motor,  but  could  be  met  by  a  properly 
planned  series  motor.  The  crux  of  the  problem  is  the  main- 
tenance of  proper  commutation  in  both  functions  of  the  ma- 
chine. So  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  tests  have  indicated  at 
least  a  very  encouraging  degree  of  success,  although,  as  we 
have  often  remarked  in  this  connection,  the  final  test  is  a  test 
of  endurance,  of  power  to  stand  up  steadily  to  work  for  long 
periods  without  developing  trouble  at  the  commutator.  This 
matter  aside,  one  must  realize  that  in  this,  as  in  every  other 
case  of  design,  the  final  result  is  due  to  a  series  of  compro- 


mises. Given  a  general  structure.which  will  answer  measurably 
well  for  both  d.  c.  and  a.  c.  currents,  the  final  form  is  a  ques- 
tion of  sheer  finesse.  By  taking  advantage  of  a  fairly  high 
armature  speed  and  not  stinting  in  quality  of  iron,  weight  of 
copper  and  structural  expense,  one  can  hold  up  the  efficiency 
and  operative  qualities  very  creditably,  both  as  regards  d.  c. 
and  a.  c.  currents.  If  one  particular  property  is  very  highly 
developed  it  will  infallibly  be  at  the  expense  of  some  of  the 
others.  This  idea  of  compromise  holds  good  as  regards  the 
respective  performances  with  d.  c.  and  a.  c.  supply.  The  pres- 
ent motor  impresses  us  as  a  clever  compromise  in  this  last  par- 
ticular, since  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  conditions  of  ser- 
vice which  in  themselves  demand  a.  c.  supply  most  forcibly 
are  those  in  which  something  can  be  spared  in  acceleration 
power,  and  even  in  efficiency,  since  they  in  themselves  favor 
efficient  operation,  while  in  d.  c.  working  with  the  same  motor 
large  accelerative  power  is  highly  important,  and  efficiency 
under  these  trying  circumstances,  although  never  at  its  best, 
must  be  earnestly  cultivated. 

The  success  of  a  d.  c.-a.  c.  motor  must  be  measured  not  by 
numerical  results  under  specified  conditions,  but  by  all  around 
results.  It  reminds  one  of  the  case  of  warship  design,  on  a 
given  tonnage,  in  the  last  resort  determined  by  the  vote  of  the 
honorable  member  from  Waybacque,  a  delicate  compromise 
must  be  made  between  protection,  speed,  coal  endurance,  bat- 
tery power  and  other  factors  scarcely  less  important.  The  use- 
fulness of  the  ship  is  not  determined  by  the  predominance  of 
any  one  factor,  but  by  the  co-ordination  of  all.  Just  so  in  the 
case  of  this  new  motor — its  value  in  the  art  must  be  judged  not 
by  one  particular  feature  of  its  performance,  good  or  bad,  but 
by  its  operation  in  all  its  functions  under  existing  conditions 
upon  electric  roads.  And  these  cannot  accurately  be  foretold 
by  the  results  we  have  published,  but  must  be  tested  by  hard 
experience,  just  as  the  success  of  a  warship  design  must  be 
demonstrated  under  hostile  fire.  Our  general  impression  of  the 
motor  here  discussed  is  distinctly  favorable  as  regards  its  prac- 
tical usefulness,  but  we  are  anxious  to  see  it  tried  out  on  a 
large  scale  in  actual  hard  railway  work.  As  compared  with 
others  of  the  type,  it  is  far  too  early  yet  to  pass  judgment  upon 
it.  Electric  railroading,  as  we  have  often  pointed  out,  is  under- 
going steady  segregation.  We  have  to  deal  not  only  with  urban 
roads  rich  in  suburban  and  interurban  connections,  but  with 
interurban  roads  approximating  ordinary  railroads  very  closely 
in  their  structure,  service  and  general  functions.  It  is  alto- 
gether unlikely  that  any  one  generalized  type  of  motor  can  be 
made  to  meet  fully  all  these  conditions.  It  is  certainly  a  ma- 
terial advance  in  the  art  to  have  developed  a  motor  to  meet 
successfully  a  substantial  part  of  them. 

We  feel,  however,  that  for  the  larger  railway  work  all  these 
series  alternating  motors  leave  something  to  be  desired. 
Whether  it  is  practicable  to  construct  an  alternating  motor  for 
such  service  which  still  will  be  capable  of  working  measurably 
well  over  d.  c.  lines,  remains  yet  to  be  seen.  As  a  practical 
matter,  such  a  motor  as  this  series-compensated  one  seems  to 
have  before  it  a  considerable  field  of  usefulness.  The  power 
of  working  well  on  an  ordinary  tramway  without  essential 
change  in  equipment  or  method  of  operation,  and  then  slipping 
upon  an  outlying  a.  c.  system  and  doing  interurban  service  with 
effectiveness,  is  a  very  valuable  one.  The  weight  and  expense 
required  as  the  price  of  this  facility  must,  however,  be  taken 
into  account.  Only  considerable  experience  will  enable  a 
proper  judgment  to  be  made  on  this  point,  but  the  engineering 
skill  shown  in  so  deft  a  compromise  is  worthy  of  congratulation. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


A  NEW  CONCRETE  PAINT  AND  OVERHAULING  SHOP- 
PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


The  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit-  Company  is  making  exten- 
sive improvements  in  shop  facilities  at  its  Kensington  Avenue 
shops  by  an  addition  to  the  former  large  repair  shop  at  that 
point  of  a  new  two-story  building  which  will  provide  the  greatly 
needed  additional  room  for  properly  maintaining  their  largely 
increased  rolling  stock  equipment.  This  company  has  for  some 
time  past  maintained  two  large  overhauling  and  general  repair 
shops,  one  at  Eighth  and  Dauphin  Streets,  and  the  other  at 
Kensington  Avenue  and  Cumberland  Street,  where  all  heavy 


FRONT  ELEVATION  OF  THE  NEW  SHOP  BUILDING  FOR  THE 
PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 

overhauling  work  to  the  rolling  stock  has  been  carried  out. 
With  the  recent  large  additions  to  the  equipment  of  the  system, 
however,  these  two  shops  have  become  heavily  overtaxed  with 
work,  and  they  have  for  some  time  felt  the  need  of  additional 
room  for  greater  facility  in  carrying  on  the  work.  The  number 
of  cars  which  this  company  now  operates  has  been  increased 
to  3900,  and  the  mileage  of  track  now  totals  520  miles.  The 
Kensington  Avenue  shops  had  be- 
come so  crowded  that  in  some  de- 
partments the  work  has  been  carried 
on  at  a  great  disadvantage,  and  tools 
which  have  been  added  to  facilitate 
work  could  not  be  located  with  advan- 
tage in  reference  to  the  work  handled. 

In  considering  the  problem  of  ex- 
tension of  the  shop  a  serious  difficulty 
was  met  in  that  each  of  the  shop 
plants  occupied  an  entire  city  block, 
so  that  there  was  absolutely  no  room 
left  for  extension  of  plant  except  up- 
ward, by  increasing  the  height  of  the 
buildings.  The  Kensington  Avenue 
shops  offered  the  most  available  op- 
portunity for  extension  on  the  Cum- 
berland Street  side  of  the  plant.  The 
old  car  depot,  which  had  of  late  been 
used  mainly  for  car  storage,  painting, 
etc.,  formerly  located  there,  was  not 
adapted  to  car  repair  work  and  had 
been  little  used  except  for  light  work 
only.  It  was  decided  to  tear  out  this 
building  and  replace  by  a  two-story 

structure,  the  lower  floor  of  which  should  be  used  for  heavy 
overhauling  work,  and  the  second  floor  for  a  paint  shop.  Ac- 
cordingly, an  interesting  shop  plan  was  designed  and  adopted, 
and  the  new  structure  is  now  under  construction. 

The  layout  of  the  plant  of  the  Kensington  Avenue  shop  in- 
stallation is  illustrated  in  an  accompanying  engraving.  As 
shown,  it  occupies  the  entire  block  upon  Kensington  Avenue, 
bounded  by  Cumberland  and  Sergeant  Streets  at  the  two  sides, 
and  Jasper  Street  at  the  rear.  The  location  and  arrangement 
of  the  new  building  at  the  Cumberland  Street  side,  as  being 
installed,  is  clearly  indicated  therein.  The  older  shop  buildings 
lie  between  this  building  and  Sergeant  Street,  and  embrace  a 


woodworking  shop,  machine  shop,  blacksmith  shop  and  elec- 
trical repair  shop,  in  addition  to  the  extensive  erecting  shop 
facilities.  An  excellent  idea  of  the  relative  sizes  of  the  older 
shop  buildings  as  compared  with  the  new  shop  is  shown  in  the 
accompanying  general  cross-section  of  the  entire  shop  struc- 
ture, which  is  given  upon  a  following  page ;  the  new  shop 
building  occupies  a  much  larger  ground  area  than  any  one  of 
the  other  buildings,  and  is,  in  addition,  two  stories  in  height. 
The  machine  and  overhauling  shop,  which  is  shown  at  the  ex- 
treme right,  formerly  took  care  of  the  greater  part  of  the  heavy 
machine  and  electrical  repairs,  while  overhauling  was  taken 
care  of  in  the  two  buildings  immediately  to  the  left.  Hereafter 
a  large  part  of  the  overhauling  work  as  well  as  all  the  paint- 
ing will  be  handled  in  the  two-story  building  at  the  extreme 
left,  at  the  Cumberland  Street  side. 

The  work  of  construction  upon  the  new  shop  building  has 
only  recently  been  begun,  but  by  reason  of  the  possibility  of 
using  portions  of  the  walls  of  the  older  building  remarkable 
progress  has  been  made,  and  at  the  present  time  the  new  build- 
ing is  nearly  completed,  so  that  the  shop  will  be  opened  up  for 
work  early  this  fall.  The  photograph,  which  is  shown  here- 
with, illustrating  progress  of  the  work  and  incidentally  the 
method  of  erection  of  the  concrete  roof,  was  taken  Aug.  6, 
and  serves  to  indicate  the  rapidity  with  which  the  work  has 
been  carried  out.  As  may  be  seen  by  the  same,  practically  the 
entire  first-story  portions  of  the  former  walls  of  the  car  depot 
building  are  being  made  use  of  for  the  new  building.  For  this 
reason  the  outside  construction  of  the  new  building  will  be  of 
brick,  but  the  interior  construction,  including  all  columns, 
girders  and  floors,  as '  well  as  also  the  roof,  will  be  of  rein- 
forced concrete  construction  of  the  latest  and  most  approved 
tvpe;  this  renders  the  structural  features  of  the  new  shop,  irre- 


CONSTRUCTION  VIEW  OF  THE  WORK  OF  ERECTING  THE  NEW  REINFORCED  CONCRETE 
SHOP  BUILDING,  SHOWING  ERECTION  OF  FALSE  WORK  UPON  SECOND 
FLOOR,  TO  SUPPORT  THE  ROOF  FORMS 

spective  of  the  very  interesting  details  of  its  equipment,  of 
more  than  ordinary  interest  to  street  railway  officials  on  ac- 
count of  the  supreme  advantage  of  the  fireproofing  qualities 
afforded. 

The  drawings  on  the  following  pages  indicate  the  disposition 
of  space  in  the  new  building  and  the  arrangement  of  tracks, 
pits  and  the  transfer  tables.  The  building  is  90  ft.  x  389  ft.  in 
size  outside,  the  first  floor  having  a  clear  height  under  beams 
of  18  ft.,  and  the  second  floor  a  clear  height  at  eaves  of  15  ft. 
2  ins.  As  may  be  noted,  the  first  floor  provides  for  five  lines 
of  track,  while  the  second  floor  has  six.  Upon  the  first  floor 
all  tracks,  at  the  rear  of  the  transfer  table,  are  provided  with 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


3" 


pits,  while  those  at  the  front,  or  Kensington  Avenue  end  of  the 
building,  are  provided  with  pits  in  each  case  except  the  track 
at  the  south  side,  which  contains  the  elevator  for  raising  cars 
to  the  second  floor.  The  track  at  the  opposite  or  north  side 
of  this  floor,  leading  out  upon  Kensington  Avenue,  will  not  be 
used  for  overhauling  work,  but  will  be  kept  free  for  cars  enter- 
ing or  leaving  the  shop,  the  pit  being  intended  to  facilitate  in- 
spections of  incoming  cars  or  final  inspections  of  repaired  cars 
leaving  the  shop.    The  nine  sections  of  track  upon  the  first 


particularly  on  account  of  the  importance  of  fireproof  con- 
struction for  urban  building  conditions.  The  result  has  been 
that  not  only  this  shop  but  also  many  important  new  sub-sta- 
tions, power  plant  and  other  buildings  of  the  company  are 
being  erected  in  this  way. 

The  design  of  the  structural  features  of  the  building  was 
intrusted  to  the  Reinforced  Cement  Construction  Company,  of 
Philadelphia,  engineers  and  contractors  for  this  class  of  con- 
struction.   They  have  provided  for  the  construction,  out  of  re- 


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GROUND  LAYOUT  PLAN  OF  THE  KENSINGTON  AVENUE  SHOP  PLANT  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY, 
SHOWING  LOCATION  AND  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  NEW  STRUCTURE  UPON  THE  CUMBERLAND  STREET  SIDE 


floor  having  pits  will  provide  for  the  overhauling  of  twenty- 
two  cars  simultaneously,  while  upon  the  second  floor  thirty- 
four  cars  may  be  painted  at  one  time.  This  addition  to  the 
Kensington  Avenue  shop  will  increase  the  number  of  men  em- 
ployed there  to  350  men. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  this  shop  lies  in  the 
interesting  type  of  construction  which  was  resorted  to.  Con- 
crete construction  was  decided  upon  by  the  engineering  depart- 
ment of  the  company  after  a  long  and  careful  study  of  the 
subject  as  well  adapted  to  requirements  of  this  new  shop.  The 
excellent  results  which  have  resulted  from  the  greatly  increas- 
ing use  of  reinforced  concrete  construction  led  the  Philadelphia 
Rapid  Transit  Company  to  carefully  investigate  its  merits, 


inforced  concrete  of  the  type  indicated  in  the  following  draw- 
ings, of  the  girders,  trusses  and  floor  and  roof  members,  for 
which  particular  details  steel  I-beams  would  ordinarily  be  used. 
The  system  used  by  this  company  is  a  modification  of  what  is 
known  as  the  De  Valliere  system,  which  has  been  largely  em- 
ployed in  Switzerland  and  Italy.  This  company  has  made  many 
installations  of  important  buildings  upon  this  principle,  and 
also  has  recently  satisfied  the  building  inspectors  of  the  cities 
of  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  others  as  to  the  strength  and 
geireral  merits  of  the  system. 

In  a  test  which  was  recently  made  upon  this  system  of  con- 
crete construction,  a  section  of  floor,  8  ft.  x  t8  ft.  in  size,  with 
cross  girders  of  moderate  size,  was  erected  upon  16-in.  columns 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


and  surrounded  by  brick  walls  to  a  height  level  with  the  top  of 
the  floor,  the  brick  structure  acting  as  a  furnace  by  which  to 
submit  the  concrete  construction  to  the  test  of  extreme  heat. 
The  sample  floor  was  supported  upon  two  8-in.  x  14-in.  rein- 
forced concrete  girders,  which  spanned  the  spaces  between 
the  columns.  Each  girder  was  reinforced  by  four  i-in.  round 
steel  rods  at  the  bottom,  hung  in  stirrups  of  twisted  5-16-in. 
round  steel  and  having  an  eye  at  the  top  through  which  the 
5-16-in.  round  rods  of  the  floor  slab  were  inserted.  The  girder 
rods  were  placed  within  2  ins.  of  the  bottom  of  the  girder,  the 
two  lower  rods  running  straight  from  end  to  end,  while  the 


this  length  of  time  a  stream  of  cold  water  was  turned  upon  the 
floor  from  a  regular  fire  hydrant  delivering  at  65  lbs.  pressure, 
and  the  structure  was  cooled  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  this  way. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  total  deflection  under  the  load 
of  150  lbs.  per  sq.  ft.  and  the  effect  of  the  fire  was  only  2  5-12 
ins.  at  the  center  of  the  floor  slab,  although  the  floor  recovered 
1  5-12  ins.  of  this  after  thoroughly  cooling.  It  was  found  that 
no  separation  had  taken  place  between  the  slab  and  the  beams, 
and  no  spalling  of  exposed  surfaces  was  found,  even  though  the 
bottom  surface  of  the  slab  had  been  at  a  cherry  red  heat.  After 
the  concrete  had  become  thoroughly  cooled  it  required  a  total 


PART  FLOOR  PLANS  OF  THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  FLOORS  OF   THE  NEW  SHOP  BUILDING,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENTS  OF 
TRANSFER  TABLE    RUNWAYS,  TRACKS,  PITS,  OFFICES,  PAINT  VAULT,  ETC. 


two  upper  rods  were  bent  up  at  each  column  support  in  order 
to  resist  horizontal  shear  and  take  up  any  negative  bending 
movement  due  to  the  monolithic  structure,  as  this  system  of 
construction  provides  for.  The  floor  was  5  ins.  thick,  having 
one  layer  of  5-16-in.  round  steel  rods,  spaced  at  8-in.  centers, 
at  the  bottom,  and  another  layer  of  similar  rods  running  from 
the  bottom  of  the  slab  at  the  center  to  the  top  of  the  floor  at 
the  outer  edge,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  overhang  of  14  ins. 
beyond  the  girders. 

After  the  structure  had  become  thoroughly  set,  a  load  of  pig 
iron,  amounting  to  150  lbs.  per  sq.  ft.,  was  placed  upon  the 
floor,  although  no  deflection  whatever  was  noted  as  a  result  of 
this  load.  After  this  an  intense  fire  was  started  from  oak  cord 
wood  within  the  furnace  enclosure  beneath  the  floor  and  was 
allowed  to  burn  for  over  three  hours,  the  high  temperature  of 
1859  degs.  F.  having  been  reached.    After  having  burned  for 


of  336  lbs.  of  load  per  sq.  ft.  to  cause  the  floor  to  crack,  after 
which  the  floor  slab  was  loaded  with  a  total  of  602  lbs.  per  sq. 
ft.,  giving  a  maximum  deflection  of  2  5-12  ins.  This  indicates 
that  the  type  of  construction  used  provides  a  liberal  factor 
of  safety. 

The  details  of  this  type  of  concrete  building  construction  as 
applied  to  the  Kensington  Avenue  shop  addition  are  clearly 
shown  in  the  two  accompanying  drawings,  one  a  detailed  cross 
section  through  the  new  building,  with  part  detail  plans  of  roof 
bays  and  transverse  girders,  and  the  other  a  part  longitudinal 
section  to  show  the  complicated  special  construction  at  the 
transfer  table  pit.  As  may  be  seen  from  the  street  layout  plan 
of  the  shop  site,  the  various  buildings  are  served  from  transfer 
tables,  the  lack  of  room  under  city  conditions  of  operation  pre- 
venting the  use  of  ladder  tracks  for  entering  from  the  streets 
onto  the  various  floor  tracks  of  the  buildings.    In  the  construe- 


3H 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


tion  of  the  new  two-story  addition  it  was  therefore  found 
necessary  to  make  use  of  the  transfer  table  idea  upon  the  second 
floor  as  well  as  the  first  floor,  which  has  been  worked  out  in 
an  interesting  manner.  As  may  be  noted,  the  table  construction 
on  each  floor  permits  of  handling  double-truck  cars  as  large  as 


45  ft.  in  length.  The  peculiar  adaptability  of  this 
method  of  reinforced  concrete  construction  to  a  prob- 
lem of  such  a  difficult  nature  as  this  is  readily  seen  by 
an  examination  of  the  longitudinal  sectional  drawing. 
As  may  be  noted  therefrom,  the  transfer  table  is  car- 
ried in  a  pit  23  ft.  wide,  which  is  depressed  11  ins.  be- 
neath the  level  of  the  shop  floor  and  extends  crosswise 
of  the  building.  Four  running  rails  are  used,  as 
shown,  for  carrying  and  guiding  the  transfer  table, 
and  under  these  are  arranged  cross  concrete  support- 
ing girders  18  ins.  x  18  ins.  in  section.  These  cross 
girders  distribute  the  load  to  heavy  longitudinal 
girders  of  very  novel  construction ;  as  shown  at  sec- 
tion X-X,  these  longitudinal  girders  are  18  ins.  x  39^ 
ins.  high  at  bottom  side  of  floor,  although  in  reality 
they  may  be  said  to  be  ins.  high,  including  the 

thickness  of  the  floor  which  is  built  in  with  the  beam 
to  form  a  monolithic  structure.  There  are  four  of 
these  heavy  longitudinal  girders  spanning  between  col- 
umns.   This  is  an  example  of  probably  one  of  the 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


3i5 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  BUILDING,  SHOWING  DETAILS  OF  REINFO  RCED  CONCRETE  CONSTRUCTION  ,  PLAN  OF  ROOF,  BAY,  ETC. 


316  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  ELEVATOR  CONSTRUCTION  FOR  THE  NEW  KENSINGTON  AVENUE  SHOP  BUILDING  FOR  HOISTING 

CARS  TO  THE  PAINT  SHOP,  UPON  THE  SECOND  FLOOR 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


317 


largest  girders  of  concrete  construction  that  has  up  to  this 
time  been  constructed  especially  for  handling  live  loads  of  the 
nature  of  moving  cars.  These  beams  all  involve  the  same  gen- 
eral principles  of  construction  as  were  embodied  in  the  girders 
of  the  test  floor  previously  referred  to. 

Other  interesting  details  are  to  be  noted  in  this  construction 
in  the  method  of  tieing  these  longitudinal  girders  into  the 
20-in.  x  24-in.  building  columns  upon  which  they  are  sup- 
ported. The  columns  and  the  girders  are  built  together  to 
form  a  monolithic  structure,  the  load  from  the  girders  being 
distributed  to  the  columns  by  a  special  bracket  form  of  con- 
struction, as  shown.  The  brackets  are  heavily  reinforced  by 
the  use  of  diagonal  bracing  of  round  steel  rods.  It  may  be 
thought  that  a  considerable  risk  is  being  taken  in  providing 
for  the  carrying  of  the  weight  of  moving  cars  upon  girder  con- 
struction of  this  nature,  having  a  clear  span  of  46  ft.  between 


END  VIEW  OF  THE  CAR  ELEVATOR,  SHOWING  CLEARANCES 


the  columns,  but  it  has  been  proven  by  the  most  careful  tests 
that  the  capacities  of  these  girders  may  be  predetermined  with 
as  great  accuracy  as  is  possible  in  the  case  of  steel  I-beams  or 
plate  girders.  Another  interesting  feature  of  construction  is 
the  method  of  building  up  the  floor  at  the  edges  of  the  transfer 
table  pit  on  the  second  floor,  as  shown  in  the  longitudinal  sec- 
tion. There  was  insufficient  room  over  the  18-in.  x  18-in.  cross 
girders,  so  that  a  novel  method  of  diagonal  tieing  was  re- 
sorted to. 

The  roof  girders  which  carry  the  long  span  over  the  transfer 
table  section  were  required  to  meet  conditions  similar  to  those 
imposed  upon  the  second  floor  girders.  The  use  of  the  transfer 
table  to  carry  heavy  double-truck  cars  required  a  free  open 
space  of  at  least  the  size  shown,  and  it  was  therefore  necessary 
that  no  intervening  columns  be  used.  The  longitudinal  roof 
girders  at  this  section  of  the  shop  were  therefore  also  required 
to  cover  a  span  of  48  ft.,  and  for  these  reinforced  girders  10 
ins.  x  18  ins.  in  size  are  used.  The  cross  roof  beams  are  8-in. 
x  16-in.  beams,  of  similar  construction,  and  are  located  6  ft. 
apart.  The  style  of  roof  construction  and  proportion  of  slope 
given  for  drainage  are  made  clear  in  the  cross  section.  The 
roof  covering  will  be  a  concrete  slab  flooring,  3  ins.  thick, 
which  will  be  covered  with  felt,  tar  and  gravel. 

The  other  interesting  details  of  the  construction  of  the  new 
building  are  shown  in  the  detail  cross  and  longitudinal  sec- 
tional views,  which  are  well  drawn  to  illustrate  the  arrange- 
ment of  reinforcing  steel  in  each  girder.  It  is  to  be  noted  that 
the  Reinforced  Cement  Construction  Company  advocates  the 
use  of  round  sections  of  steel  only  as  embodying  the  greatest 
security  against  the  development  of  fissures  in  the  concrete 
matrix  when  the  different  members  are  overloaded.  It  is  found 
by  them  that  by  the  use  of  such  round  sections  the  steel  is  more 
surely  embedded  in  its  matrix  of  concrete,  whereby  it  is  best 
protected  against  the  external  influences,  and  the  full  value  of 
the  cohesion  between  steel  and  concrete  (estimated  by  Baushin- 
ger  at  600  lbs.  per  superficial  square  inch  of  surface  contact) 
is  realized.  The  methods  employed  by  this  company  for  de- 
termining the  required  sections  of  steel  and  concrete  were 
based  upon  the  work  of  the  most  noted  of  the  concrete  building 
authorities  of  Europe.  In  general,  it  may  be  said  to  consist  of 
locating  the  neutral  axis  of  the  members  by  taking  into  con- 
sideration the  relation  of  the  modulus  of  elasticity  of  steel  and 
that  of  concrete;  while  with  this  method  a  greater  amount  of 
steel  and  concrete  is  required  than  with  some  other  systems, 
the  results  are  found  to  be  sure  and  the  uncertainties  of  em- 
pirical formulae  are  said  to  be  avoided. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  the  construction  of  this  build- 
ing over  2000  cu.  yds.  of  concrete  construction  were  used, 
while  the  total  weight  of  reinforcing  steel  rods  ran  up  to  250 
tons.  An  excellent  idea  of  the  enormous  strength  of  this  con- 
struction may  be  gained  from  the  extreme  difficulty  that  was 
experienced  in  tearing  out  a  piece  of  floor  which  had  been 
faultily  set  by  the  workmen;  in  removing  a  section  of  the 
second  floor,  approximately  5  ft.  x  18  ft.,  it  required  the  efforts 
of  two  men  working  hard  for  three  days — a  remarkable  test 
of  its  strength  and  durability. 

The  arrangement  of  tracks,  columns,  etc.,  upon  each  floor  of 
the  new  building  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  plan  drawings. 
It  will  be  noted  that  upon  the  ground  floor  of  the  new  building 
a  liberal  amount  of  space  is  provided  for  the  offices  at  the  shops. 
The  present  office  facilities  are  located  in  the  rooms  on  the 
Sergeant  Street  side,  which,  as  shown  upon  the  layout  plan, 
will  in  the  future  be  occupied  by  the  boiler  room.  In  the  new 
building  a  large  space  will  be  devoted  to  the  shop  offices,  which 
will  be  well  lighted  and  roomy,  and  will  liberally  provide  for 
the  facilities  required.  An  inner  office  is  provided  for  the 
master  mechanic  in  charge,  Frank  Wampler,  while  the  outer 
office  will  be  devoted  to  the  time  clerks  in  connection  with  the 
checking  in  and  out  system  for  keeping  time.    A  set  of  lockers 


3i8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


for  the  use  of  the  workmen  are  arranged  along  the  north  side 
of  the  shop  just  beyond  the  entrance,  while  the  toilet  rooms 
adjoin  the  hall  which  leads  from  the  offices  to  the  stairway. 

Upon  the  second  floor  four  rooms  are  laid  off  at  the  front 
end,  two  of  which  are  strictly  fireproof,  and  provide  for  the 
storage  of  paint  and  paint  brushes,  while  the  largest  one  will 
be  devoted  to  sign  painting.  At  the  rear  is  the  toilet  room, 
and  outside  of  this  are  arranged  the  lockers  for  the  use  of  the 
painters.  The  sign  painting  room  is  provided  with  large  win- 
dows, which  will  give  the  excellent  lighting  facilities  required 
for  this  class  of  work.  The  paint  vault  and  paint-brush  room 
are  each  provided  with  concrete  walls,  sliding  metal  doors  and 


details  are  shown  in  the  accompanying  drawings,  which  also 
illustrate  a  typical  car  in  position  thereupon  and  give  an  idea 
of  its  capacity.  This  elevator  was  designed  and  built  by  the 
firm  of  F.  A.  &  H.  P.  Bates,  engineers,  of  Swarthmore,  Pa., 
who  make  a  specialty  of  high-grade  passenger  and  freight 
elevators. 

The  capacity  of  the  elevator  is  50,000  lbs.  at  a  speed  of  20  ft. 
per  minute  for  the  rise  of  about  20  ft.  The  pumping  plant  is 
proportioned  to  allow  the  car  to  make  one  round  trip  every 
three  minutes.  The  elevator  machinery  is  located  in  the  pit 
at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft,  to  ft.  deep  below  the  ground  floor 
level.    The  travel  of  (he  elevator  is  from  the  level  of  the 


End  View 
•Showing  Troney. 


THE  TYPE  OF  JIB  CRANE  TO  BE  USED  IN  THE  NEW  OVERHAULING  SECTION,  SHOWING  DETAILS  OF  TROLLEY,  ETC. 


fireproof  window  construction,  consisting  of  metal  galvanized 
iron  window  sash  and  wire  glass.  The  location  of  these  two 
latter  rooms  at  the  front  end  of  the  building  and  at  a  portion 
of  the  block  which  is  most  frequented  is  a  wise  precaution,  as 
in  case  of  a  possible  fire  it  will  be  much  more  readily  discov- 
ered than  if  the  room  had  been  located  at  the  rear  or  in  any 
other  out-of-the-way  location.  The  longitudinal  section  of 
the  front  end  of  the  building  shows  the  arrangement  of  the 
stairways,  as  well  as  also  the  partitions  and  windows. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  equipment  of  this  new  shop  is 
the  elevator,  which  is  located  in  the  south  track  near  the  Ken- 
sington Avenue  entrance,  for  raising  cars  to  the  paint  shop 
upon  the  second  floor.  This  elevator  is  of  the  direct-acting 
hydraulic-plunger  type  and  involves  some  interesting  features 
of  design.  Especially  heavy  construction  has  been  resorted  to, 
and  its  capacity  has  been  carefully  determined  to  provide  for 
any  abnormal  increase  in  size  of  cars  which  may  be  determined 
upon.   The  construction  of  the  elevator  and  arrangement  of  the 


ground  floor  to  the  level  of  the  second  floor,  a  distance  of  about 
20  ft. 

The  elevator  car  is  12  ft.  wide  and  42  ft.  long,  made  of  steel 
strongly  braced  and  stayed,  so  as  to  withstand  the  full  load 
when  applied  at  either  end  of  the  car.  The  truss  work  on  the 
car  is  10  ft.  high,  of  8-in.  channels,  with  heavy  gusset  plate 
connections,  and  the  framing  of  the  floor  is  of  8-in.  steel  beams, 
covered  with  the  floor  of  yellow  pine.  The  guides  on  the  car 
are  of  steel,  12  ft.  long,  and  arranged  so  as  to  give  bearing  sur- 
face on  the  strips  for  their  full  length,  thereby  giving  a  rigid 
connection  between  the  car  and  the  guide  strips. 

The  elevator  engine  is  of  the  direct-acting  plunger  hydraulic 
type,  consisting  of  a  hollow  steel  plunger,  turned  perfectly 
straight  and  polished  true  and  smooth  to  a  uniform  diameter 
of  16  ins.,  and  connected  to  the  platform  by  means  of  a  heavy 
cast-iron  spider.  This  is  operated  in  a  heavy  cast-iron  cylinder 
18  ins.  in  diameter,  which  is  fitted  with  a  heavy  cast-iron  stuff- 
ing box  provided  with  follower  and  gland  to  admit  six  rings 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


of  square  hemp  packing,  which  can  be  readily  removed  or  re- 
newed. This  forms  a  water-tight  joint  and  rigid  guide  for 
the  plunger. 

For  controlling  the  movements  of  the  car  a  water-balanced 
valve  3  ins.  in  diameter  is  used,  to  which  the  controller  is  con- 
nected directly  without  a  pilot.  The  valve  is  fitted  with  bronze 
piston  rods,  bronze  pistons,  and  bronze  rack  with  steel  pinion, 
brass  lined,  with  graduated  openings  to  receive  and  discharge 
the  water  at  the  top  and  bottom  landings  without  shock  or  jar. 
It  is  directly  connected  to  an  operating  cable  conveniently  lo- 
cated to  the  elevator  platform.  The  elevator  is  provided  with 
an  independent  automatic  stop,  connected  to  the  operating 
valve  and  arranged  to  stop  the  car  at  the  top  and  bottom  land- 


power  pump,  which  is  direct  driven  by  a  Diehl  direct-current 
motor  through  a  Reynolds  silent-chain  for  silent  and  smooth 
operation.  The  pump  has  pistons  5  ins.  in  diameter,  with 
an  8-in.  stroke,  and  is  fitted  with  a  by-pass  to  prevent  the  pres- 
sure exceeding  the  maximum  of  the  pressure  tank.  A  pressure 
regulator  is  used  in  connection  with  the  motor  drive,  which 
automatically  starts  and  stops  the  motor  as  the  pressure  in  the 
pressure  tank  falls  or  rises,  the  motor  thus  running  only  when 
water  is  required  for  operation.  The  pressure  can  be  reduced 
by  properly  setting  the  regulator,  and  the  current  used  in  the 
motor  will  thus  be  in  accordance  with  the  load  lifted. 

The  pressure  tank  is  a  long  horizontal  tank  provided  for  a 
capacity  of  1500  gallons.    Its  heads  are  dished  out  to  the  radius 


Cross -Sedittt^A'A  thprfU/K  Crane  shomny^ 
arrangement  of  Moisting  {rear  ^_ 


DETAILS  OF  THE  TRAVELING  CRANE  FOR  THE  OVERHAULING  SECTION  OF  THE  NEW  SHOP,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF 

THE  MOTOR-DRIVEN  HOISTING  MECHANISM,  ETC. 


ings  without  shock,  and  independent  of  the  elevator  operator. 

The  elevator  will  be  provided  with  two  counterweights  placed 
at  the  sides  of  the  hatchway  and  equal  in  weight  to  that  of  the 
car  and  part  of  the  plunger,  so  as  to  require  the  minimum 
power  for  operation.  Each  counterweight  will  weigh  about 
8000  lbs.  and  will  be  connected  to  the  car  by  means  of  four 
5^-in.  cables,  arranged  so  as  to  equally  take  the  weight  of  the 
counterweight. 

A  locking  device  for  holding  the  car  stationary  will  be  placed 
on  the  underneath  side  of  the  platform,  operated  by  a  lever  on 
the  platform,  and  so  arranged  that  this  device  cannot  he  oper- 
ated until  the  car  gets  to  the  upper  level ;  it  will  then  be  re- 
leased by  an  incline  at  the  side  of  the  hatchway,  and  can  then 
be  operated  to  hold  the  car  at  the  level  of  the  floor  until  the 
load  is  taken  on  or  off. 

The  hydraulic  pressure  pump  consists  of  a  Deming  triplex 


of  the  tank's  diameter,  the  design  of  the  tank  providing  for  a 
working  pressure  of  300  lbs.,  the  test  pressure  to  which  it  is 
subjected  before  going  into  service  being  500  lbs.  hydraulic. 
The  discharge  tank  is  of  J^-in.  tank  steel,  made  water-tight 
and  having  a  capacity  of  1200  gallons.  The  arrangement  of  the 
apparatus  in  the  pit  beneath  the  first  floor  position  of  the  table 
is  clearly  shown  in  the  engravings.  All  parts  are  easy  of  access 
and  may  be  readily  adjusted,  the  result  being  a  model  plant  in 
every  respect  for  heavy  service. 

Other  important  details  of  the  new  shop  are  to  be  noted  in 
the  special  crane  equipment  for  the  erecting  floor,  consisting 
of  traveling  and  jib  cranes,  the  former  to  be  located  upon  the 
concrete  columns  for  assisting  in  the  overhauling  work  and  the 
latter  for  hoisting  cars  up  to  remove  the  trucks  from  beneath 
them.  On  account  of  the  importance  of  these  details  both  the 
jib  cranes  and   the   traveling  cranes  arc  illustrated   by  th<' 


320 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


detail  sectional  drawings  presented  on  the  preceding  page. 
In  each  of  the  18-in.  x  24-in.  main  columns  in  the  first  floor 
of  the  new  building,  supporting  bolts  are  built  in  upon  which 
to  fasten  the  special  pivot  brackets  for  the  jib  cranes.  The 
arrangement  of  these  bolts  and  the  supporting  brackets  are 
clearly  shown  in  the  accompanying  engraving.  The  crane  is 
built  up  of  structural  work,  the  upper  horizontal  member  con- 
sisting of  two  7-in.  channels  11  ft.  long,  while  the  vertical 
and  slanting  members  consist  of  two  5.-in.  channels  each ;  these 
are  built  up  very  strongly  upon  cast-iron  separators,  in  the 
manner  shown  in  the  drawing,  two  of  which  act  as  pivots  upon 
which  the  crane  swings.  This  crane  is  provided  for  an  ex- 
treme lifting  radius  of  10  ft.  5  ins.  from  the  pivot  centers,  and 
is  designed  for  a  capacity  of  hoisting  3000  lbs.  It  is  swung 
and  the  trolley  is  traversed  by  hand. 

A  novel  construction  of  trolley  is  used  upon  these  jib  cranes, 
the  runway  for  which  is  formed  by  the  opening  between  the 
two  7-in.  channels  of  the  horizontal  member.  A  simple  small 
four-wheel  car  of  12-in.  wheel  base  is  used  for  this,  from 
which  a  hook,  carried  in  a  universal  ball  joint  or  swiveling 
base  in  the  trolley  frame,  projects  downward.  Upon  this  is 
hung  the  air  hoist,  or  block  and  tackle,  for  the  hoisting,  as  de- 
sired. The  other  interesting  features  of  this  design,  such  as 
the  details  of  the  trolley  wheels,  etc.,  are  made  clear  in  the 
accompanying  engraving. 

The  details  of  the  traveling  crane  are  shown  in  another  en- 
graving. The  traveling  cranes  span  the  spaces  over  tracks 
between  the  columns  of  the  first  floor.  The  columns  have  solid 
brackets  near  the  top,  built  in  and  heavily  reinforced  by  angling 
steel  rods  in  the  concrete  construction,  and  upon  these  brackets 
the  crane  runways  are  located.  The  crane  runways  consist  of 
I-beams  rigidly  bolted  to  the  columns  above  the  brackets  by 
special  through  bolts  provided  in  the  columns,  and  upon  them 
are  located  the  rails  carrying  the  crane  wheels.  The  runway 
rails  are  located  15  ft.  between  centers. 

The  traveling  crane  consists  of  two  wheel  carriages  or 
frames,  built  up  of  heavy  10-in.  channels,  so  located  as  to  bring 
the  centers  of  wheels  5  ft.  apart;  between  these  are  carried  two 
8-in.  I-beams,  which  are  rigidly  bolted  beneath  the  carriages 
by  special  cast  bracket  construction,  as  shown  in  the  drawings. 
Particularly  strong  and  stiff  construction  is  here  resorted  to, 
with  the  result  that  a  very  rigid  and  serviceable  crane  structure 
is  secured.  The  motor  operating  the  hoisting  mechanism  is 
one  of  the  2-hp  Christensen  air-compressor  motors,  furnished 
by  the  National  Electric  Company,  which  drives  through  re- 
duction gearing  to  a  shaft  beneath  the  crane  members  leading 
from  one  side  to  the  other  and  operating  the  hoisting  drums 
through  worm-gear  drives;  the  Christensen  motors  are  of  the 
series  type,  and  thus  are  well  adapted  to  this  service — particu- 
larly so  as  the  Christensen  air-brake  system  is  the  standard  of 
the  road,  and  thus  no  special  equipment  is  introduced.  The 
arrangements  and  proportions  of  this  mechanism  are  clearly 
shown  in  the  drawing.  The  crane  is  moved  longitudinally 
along  the  track  by  hand  power,  a  hand  chain  connection  being 
provided  which  extends  down  to  the  floor  within  easy  reach. 
This  chain  wheel  drives  the  shaft  extending  across  between  the 
two  wheel  carriages  from  which  the  drive  is  delivered  simul- 
taneously to  the  crane  wheels  through  gearing. 

The  designs  of  the  jib  and  traveling  cranes  were  worked  out 
by  the  engineering  department.  They  were  built  by  Alfred 
Box  &  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  but  are  being  assembled 
and  installed  by  the  company.  The  three  transfer  tables  are 
being  built  at  the  shops  of  the  company.  The  general  con- 
tractor for  the  building  construction  is  F.  T.  Maguire,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who  expects  to  have  the  building  completed  and 
ready  for  occupancy  by  Nov.  1  next.  The  total  cost  of  this 
improvement,  including  building  construction,  tracks,  elevator, 
transfer  tables,  heating  and  lighting  equipment,  etc.,  will  be 
about  $125,000. 


NEW  EXTENSION  OF  THE  HARTFORD  &  SPRINGFIELD 

A  new  branch  of  the  Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway 
Company  has  been  formally  opened  by  the  Street  Railway  Com- 
missioners of  Connecticut.  The  cars  began  to  run  on  Monday, 
Aug.  29.  The  road  is  10  miles  long.  It  starts  from  Windsor 
Green  and  runs  due  north  to  Windsor  Locks,  and  thence  to 
SufReld,  where  it  joins  with  the  Suffield  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, thus  completing  the  circuit  between  the  cities  of  Hart- 
ford and  Springfield. 

The  track  is  ballasted  for  the  most  part  with  a  foot  of  coarse 
sand  or  gravel,  though  in  some  places  crushed  stone  is  used. 
In  parts  of  the  route  through  Windsor  Locks  the  regular  State 
highway  macadamized  construction  has  been  employed.  About 
26,000  ties  have  been  laid.  These  were  all  furnished  by  local 
contractors.   The  Weber  railway  joint  has  been  put  in  through- 


AT  THE  ENTRANCE  TO  WINDSOR  LOCKS 


out.  Seventy-pound  T-rails,  furnished  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Steel  Company,  have  been  employed.  The  line  is  "bonded" 
throughout  with  8-in.  all-copper  wire  bond  of  No.  0000  ca- 
pacity, and  it  is  "cross-bonded"  every  1000  ft.  with  60-in.  cop- 
per bonding  of  No.  0000  capacity. 

The  bridges  and  trestles  are  said  by  Joseph  D.  Evans,  who 
has  had  charge  of  the  work  as  representative  of  the  National 
Construction  Company,  to  be  strong  and  well  built  enough  for 
the  purposes  of  any  steam  road.  The  principal  piece  of  bridge 
construction  was  the  new  steel  bridge  over  the  Farmington 
River  in  Windsor,  standing  alongside  of  the  old  covered  bridge 
of  wood  which  carries  the  highway,  which  was  built  in  accord- 
ance with  plans  approved  by  the  engineering  department  of  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  and  by  the  State 
Railroad  Commissioners  of  Connecticut.  The  new  bridge  is 
in  two  spans  of  115  ft.  and  135  ft,  respectively.  The  abut- 
ments are  of  concrete  construction.  The  center  pier  consists 
of  two  steel  cylinders,  each  containing  five  piles. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


321 


The  trestle  approaches  to  the  bridge  over  the  western  branch 
of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  are  to- 
gether about  950  ft.  in  length.  They  are  on  piles  of  Georgia 
pine,  driven  into  the  ground  to  a  depth  of  18  ft.  to  24  ft.  The 
stringers  are  8  ins.  x  16  ins.,  and  are  30  ft.  long.    There  are 


the  United  States  Signal  Company's  automatic  electric  signal 
system.  At  each  of  the  three  large  turn-outs,  capable  of  hold- 
ing three  cars,  the  Couch  and  Seeley  pole  telephone  is  found. 
Both  telephone  and  signal  systems  are  protected  from  the  dan- 
ger of  thunder  storms  by  twelve  Shaw  lightning  arresters.  The 


THE  NEW  BRIDGE  OVER  THE  FARMINGTON  RIVER 


THE  ROAD  IN  SUFFIELD  STREET 


two  of  them  under  each  rail.  The  ties  are  7  ins.  x  7  ins.,  and 
are  9  ft.  long.  They  are  placed  15  ins.  apart.  The  wooden 
guard  rails  outside  of  the  steel  rails  have  a  cross  section  of 
6  ins.  x  7  ins.,  and  run  continuously  on  the  trestles.  There  is 
also  a  T-guard  rail  inside  the  other  rails  which  runs  contin- 
uously across  the  trestle.  The  trestles  are  all  constructed  in 
accordance  with  standard  steam  railroad  specifications. 

Elsewhere  the  most  advanced  appliances  for  safe-guarding 
traffic  have  been  employed.    The  line  is  operated  by  blocks  of 


trolley  itself  is  similarly  protected  by  eighteen  General  Electric 
M.  D.  lightning  arresters. 

For  the  overhead  construction  about  600  trolley  poles  have 
been  planted.  On  these  a  new  style  of  flexible  brackets  has 
been  employed.  Grooved  trolley  of  No.  00  capacity  is  used, 
as  well  as  the  West  End  hangers.  On  all  curves  and  pull-offs 
solder  bronze  ears  have  been  introduced,  and  on  straight  lines 
the  ordinary  8-in.  mechanical  ear. 

The  line  is  fed  by  an  aluminum  cable  1  5-16  ins.  in  diameter, 
equivalent  in  cross  section  to  a  500,000-circ.  mil  copper  feeder. 
The  power  is  supplied  from  the  power  house  of  the  Hartford 
&  Springfield  Street  Railway  Company  at  Warehouse  Point. 
It  is  brought  over  the  Connecticut  River  to  Windsor  Locks  by 
means  of  an  aluminum  feeder  cable  strung  along  the  north  side 
of  the  historic  toll  bridge. 

The  equipment  at  the  outset  includes  four  42-ft.  closed  cars 
equipped  with  Christensen  air  brakes,  two  34-ft.  closed  cars 
with  air  brakes,  and  three  14-bench  open  cars  with  air-brake 
equipment.  Each  of  these  cars  is  provided  with  four  G.  E.-67 
motors.  There  is  also  included  a  large  double-track  snow  plow 
of  Wason  type  with  four  G.  E.-67  motors.  A  new  car  house 
for  storage  and  maintenance  of  the  cars  has  been  constructed 
just  south  of  Windsor  Locks. 

The  construction  of  the  road  has  been  in  the  hands  of  Joseph 
D.  Evans,  of  Boston,  who,  previous  to  his  connection  with  the 
Windsor  Locks  Traction  Company,  had  charge  of  the  construc- 
tion of  an  important  interurban  road  between  Newark  and 
Zanesville,  Ohio. 

A  through  service  will  be  established  by  means  of  traffic 
arrangements  with  the  Hartford  Street  Railway  Company,  the 
Sufheld  Street  Railway  Company  and  the  Springfield  Street 
Railway  Company,  whereby  passengers  will  be  conveyed  with- 
out change  of  cars  from  the  center  of  Hartford  to  the  center 
of  Springfield.  Direct  connection  will  also  be  maintained  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river  with  the  cars  of  the  Springfield  Com- 
pany that  run  to  Holyoke  and  Mt.  Tom.  A  special  feature  of 
the  operation  will  be  the  opportunity  to  start  in  Hartford  and 
make  a  trip  through  Springfield  and  back  down  the  east  side  of 
the  river  as  far  as  the  New  England  road's  crossing  in  East 
Hartford  without  change  of  cars.  This  will  give  a  unique  cir- 
cuit of  about  50  miles  through  the  beautiful  Connecticut  Valley. 
H.  S.  Newton  will  be  general  superintendent  of  the  lines  on 
both  sides  of  the  river. 


322 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


IMPORTANT  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  CAR-EQUIPMENT  RECORDS 
FOR  THE  BROOKLYN  ELEVATED  RAILROADS 


A  new  era,  mechanically,  has  been  instituted  in  the  mechan- 
ical department  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  in 
connection  with  the  recent  new  work  of  reconstruction  of  roll- 
ing stock  for  the  elevated  lines,  in  the  inauguration  of  one  of 
the  most  complete  systems  of  car-equipment  and  trouble  records 
that  has  ever  been  applied  to  cover  the  rolling  stock  equipment 
of  any  railroad  in  this  country.  The  real  necessity  and  im- 
portance of  the  use  of  such  a  system  of  carefully  recording 

The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company 

MECHANICAL  ENGINEER'S  DEPARTMENT  ELEVATED  DIVISION  .^S^, 

REPORT  OF  EQUIPMENT 


Overhauled,  Rc-Built  and  Re-Equipped  at 


Shopi  on  Request  No.  


Type  if  Van  Dorn  Au 


a wiUL   »ODY  j 

Old  No   4p.  .  Built  by .  $W4'./fy4«f?r«' .  v*Dip  of  Contract  

Date  Turned  mt   $as^4.     /g   190^  Price  

Coupling   Make  of  Seats  >#*4  fyl$&&f:. 

Fowler  and  Roberts  Fare  Register  No.  &9l'4   Seating  Capacity.  .  ^P.  

Style  Window  Curtains  and  Fixtures^f^"r4        Tf*.    '  ftlfy&ti4&&&. .   

Type  and  Make  of  Electric  Hwtei*..  A&M^i^W^  LL   .   .  No.  of  Heaters,  /ft  

Standard  Motor  Car  Switchboard  .;   Standard  Trail  Car  Switchbox. .  .^L/  

Description  of  Location  of  Switches,  other  than  above     


4> 


!  of  Adv. 


;  Racks 


,  Make  of  Platform  Gate 


TRUCK 

|  No  If.*"  Built  Wni-' 
Date  of  Contract  °  ^'i<)ez  Price   

I  —~*m.  <to*bl 
Axle    'a"/*      Wheel    ,„(i  T.rej^j,^ 
No.  \  I..j3        No  No  j,.-7*> 


flo. if/ffi.  Built  by 


/ufiAs.u*  A*/*'.-  fit'  Wo 


Date  of  Cont: 
AtleS"'*" 


tn  V 

Kt  /<?..!  00*-  Price  

o.  i  /.  * 


*-$ie& 


CONTROL 

Type  of  Control. . .   *.J.Q°   Date  of 

Mutiple  Control  Switch  N0.../&  Multiple  Unit  Switch  No 

Circuit  Breaker  No   :.. Relay  N 


Re' 


•  No 


Sattery  Cells.  Type  ....  f .-.,71>  .    ... 

Lightning  Arrester  Type  .....  ...V.  &.2rTi.fK: 


MOTORS 

uytrw&.  rX  Date  of  Contract 

No.  1  Motor  No.  i/^".?.  No  1  Armature  No.,  et%tM.09. 
No.  >       "  ttjg#t(t  No.-!         •'         "  ZdklJJ.. 


AIR  BRAKES 

NATIONAL   ELECTRIC   CO.  IK  IK. 


Date  of  Contract  dht^-  IQ 
Motor  Compressor  No.  ,./T*«?. . 

••     Armature  So...'.   f.fjl. .. 

..      It,,.,.,.  No      .  .»/* 


Date  of  Contract  .  .  190  *  Pn 

Size  of  Brake  Cylinder  . . .  /P.  '. 
Type  of  Motorman's  Valve  . <$ fJ Y- J?f*p 


Type 
Troll 


*      p  jo  CONTACT  SHOES  < 

.MfrA  7?  ...(b  P  No..3.4  ...  )  Purchased  JtW"  . 
y  Pole,  Type  -%^d&f  //  '.'       h"?  ••  -fth 


SNOW   EQUIPMENT  Q 

Purchased        ^TV****^*^  .  .  &  .  n 


THE    NEW   ROLLING   STOCK   EQUIPMENT   REPORT    FOR  THE 
BROOKLYN  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY— NO.  467 


results  of  break-downs  and  accidents,  work  of  repairs  and 
mechanical  changes  upon  both  elevated  and  surface  cars  was 
recognized  by  the  company  soon  after  the  installation  of  the 
electrical  equipment,  and  much  study  has  been  given  to  the 
subject  by  the  mechanical  department.  It  is  the  practice  of  all 
large  steam  railroad  systems  to  keep  records  of  this  character 
with  more  or  less  care,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of  tracing  the 
efficiency  in  service  of  the  various  classes  of  cars,  but  also  for 
ascertaining  the  cost  of  the  repair  work  upon  each  individual 
car.  Such  records  have,  under  all  conditions,  been  found  to 
be  of  great  value  in  determining  the  relative  usefulness  of  im- 
provements or  changes  over  previous  methods,  and  also  in 
keeping  track  of  the  costs  of  maintenance,  and  of  wrecks  and 
break-downs. 

As  referred  to  in  the  two  articles  in  preceding  issues  of  the 
Street  Railway  Journal,  the  work  of  reconstruction  of  the 
elevated  rolling  stock  of  the  Brooklyn  elevated  lines  is  being 
carried  out  with  great  care  as  to  detail,  in  hopes  of  greatly  bet- 
tering the  condition  of  and  the  service  rendered  by  the  equip- 
ment. In  arranging  for  this  new  work,  it  was  decided  to  care- 
fully test  the  results  by  providing  for  an  elaborate  system  of 
records  of  not  only  the  new  equipment,  but  also  the  troubles 


met  in  operation;  from  these  the  results  of  the  various  changes 
and  innovations  will  be  carefully  traced  as  to  the  amount  of 
labor  and  material  expended  and  the  costs,  and  their  value  may 
thus  be  determined.  The  requirements  of  each  branch  of  the 
work  were  carefully  studied  and  the  record  blanks  were  pre- 
pared with  particular  reference  to  the  important  features  of 
the  repair  and  reconstruction  work  to  be  recorded. 

Special  blanks  were  designed  for  use  in  the  repair  shops,  for 
the  different  gangs  of  workmen,  and  for  the  inspectors  to  indi- 
cate over  their  signatures  the  proper  completion  of  their  work, 
and  also  for  trainmen  to  report  troubles,  defects,  etc.,  occurring 
to  the  apparatus,  and  also  the  results  of  accidents.  Further- 
more, at  the  general  offices  of  the  company  record  blanks  and 
filing  systems  are  provided,  which  will  enable  the  reports  of 
reconstruction,  new  equipment  and  equipment  troubles  to  lie 
filed  and  cared  for.  The  system  involved  a  large  amount  of 
study,  and  at  this  time,  after  having  been  in  service  for  over 
eight  months,  has  shown  very  gratifying  results.  Sample  blanks 
of  each  of  the  principal  forms  of  reports  will  be  here  shown 
to  make  clear  the  details  of  the  system. 

EQUIPMENT  RECORDS 
When  a  car  has  been  overhauled,  rebuilt  or  re-equipped  at 
any  of  the  shops  of  the  elevated  division,  a  complete  report  of 


The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Co. 

MECHANICAL  ENGINEER'S  DEPARTMENT 


Inspection  of  Motor  Car  Equipment  at  the  39th  St.  Elevated  Shops 

To  MECHANICAL  ENGINEER  : 
Deo  Sir  : 

MotorCar  No  ...ff.9.$...       turned  out  on  Request  No   has  been  equipped  with 

Christiansen  No.  i  Motor  Compressor  and  Governor,  and  New  York  Air  Brake  Co's  Automatic  Air  Brakes,  and 
has  been  thoroughly  tested  out,  inspected  for  service  and  found  O.  K  in  all  respects. 


The  above  car  has  also  been  wired  for  lights,  beate: 
adhghts,  and  has  been  thoroughly  tested  out,  inspected  for  se 


and  motor  compress 
'ice  and  found  O.  K. 


Foreman  Air  Brakes 


r  governor,  as  well  as  ; 
i  all  respects: 


bo.. 


The  above  car  has  also  had  Westinghouse  Control,  type*   . .  . .  installed  upon  it, 

ng  2  Westinghouse  Motors,  type 
and  this  electrical  controlling  mechanism  together  with  motors  have  been  thoroughly 
tested  out,  inspected  for  service  and  is  O.  K.  in  all  respects.  The  sizes  of  wire  are  O,  K.  and  wiring  has  been 
done  satisfactorily. 


nounted  on  motor  truck  and  trailing  truck,  the  motor  truck 
r$0  ^ 


■A9PJ..JT  


the  Westinghouse  Elee.  and  Mfg.  Co. 


. . ,  equipped  as  above  turned  over  to  Operating  Department  at 

,  Date   .  fytzvcj/  .  190^  . 


THE  REPORT  OF  INSPECTION  OF  MOTOR  CARS  LEAVING  THE 
REPAIR  SHOP— NO.  468 

the  new  equipment  is  there  made  out  upon  the  blank  No.  467, 
which  is  herewith  illustrated.  This  blank  is  arranged  to  in- 
clude information  regarding  every  important  detail  of  any  car, 
whether  a  motor  or  trail  car.  It  contains  a  large  number  of 
entries  under  the  heading  of  car-body  details,  as  well  as  also 
referring  to  the  subjects  of  truck,  control  system,  motors,  air 
brakes,  contact  shoes  and  snow  equipment.  From  the  records 
under  car-body  details  it  is  possible  to  learn  not  only  the  type 
of  car  and  its  age,  but  also  all  important  changes  that  have 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


been  made  over  the  former  equipment.  The  truck  records  are 
arranged  to  assist  in  the  matter  of  keeping  records  of  wheel 
service.  For  the  air-brake  systems,  the  Christensen  compressor 
equipment  has  been  adopted  as  standard,  while  the  New  York 
Air  Company's  brake-cylinder  equipment,  motorman's  valve, 
etc.,  are  used ;  entries  are  provided  for  these  equipments  and 
their  details,  as  shown. 

This  record  No.  467,  when  made  out,  is  manifolded  in  five 
copies,  the  original  being  on  white  paper,  to  be  sent  to  the  me- 
chanical engineer;  the  duplicate  is  on  blue  paper  and  is  sent  to 
the  chief  mechanical  draughtsman,  the  triplicate  on  yellow  and 
sent  to  the  East  New  York  shops,  the  quadruplicate  on  pink 
and  sent  to  the  Thirty-Sixth  Street  shops,  while  the  quintupli- 
cate  is  on  green  paper  and  retained  at  the  Thirty-Ninth  Street 
elevated  shops.  This  provides  a  very  complete  system  of 
records,  and  being  maintained  at  five  different  points,  will  be 
available  for  reference  in  spite  of  almost  any  possible  contin- 
gency ;  it  is  improbable  that  fire  or  damage  to  buildings  and 
records  should  occur  at  all  five  places  at  once,  so  that  in  case 


The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company  qk| 


Mechanical  Engineers  Department 

Daily  Report  {^ffffl^ .„,^HSA ..H^fr^,, 


'_:  Shops. 


.  7//**/.  .. 


Elevated  Divisjpn 


± 


/<?  190'/ 


Class 

No.  of  Requests 

No.  Men 

•      Machine  Shop  Orders  No. 

No.  Hen 

Total 

•  ab 

,  1,1 

»  Xt- 

i 

7 

'7 

.3J 

f  11 

f 

7 

iS 

,  ,J 

/ 

& 

10 

7.  J 

Pipefitters 

1  l<) 

2o 

/ 

if 

Boilermakers  and 

"  '/? 

ir    1  6 

% 

/o 

15 

TiDimiths 

c 

6 

*»] 

s 

tj 

9 

Motor  Overbaulmg 

■Xo 

Xer 

Truck  Overhauling 

/C 

// 

Air-Bnke  Overhauling 

S 

<S" 

Control  Overhauling 

z 

z 

i6y 

THE  REPORT  OF  LABOR  DIVISION  AT  THE  ELEVATED 
REPAIR  SHOPS— NO.  462 


of  loss  of  one  complete  system  of  records  it  might  be  dupli- 
cated from  any  one  of  the  others. 

Upon  completion  of  the  work  of  reconstruction  or  the  over- 
hauling of  a  motor  car,  an  inspection  report  is  required  to  be 
made  out  upon  blank  No.  468,  which  is  reproduced  herewith. 
The  report  blank  is  addressed  to  the  mechanical  engineer  and 
provides  for  the  reports  of  inspection  of  the  foreman  of  the 
air-brake  gang,  the  foreman  of  the  wiring  gang,  of  the  elec- 
trical inspector  and  of  the  inspector  provided  by  the  Westing- 
house  Company  to  supervise  the  installation  of  the  Westing- 
house  motor-control  system  which  is  used  by  the  Brooklyn 
Rapid  Transit  Company  as  their  standard  equipment.  Upon 
receipt  of  this  report,  filled  out  in  the  manner  indicated  on  the 
sample,  the  mechanical  department  officially  turns  over  the 
completed  car,  to  which  the  blank  refers,  to  the  operating  de- 
partment of  the  company.    This  report,  when  made  out,  is 


manifolded  in  three  copies,  the  original,  on  white  paper,  being 
sent  to  the  mechanical  engineer,  while  the  duplicate  on  yellow 
paper  goes  to  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  and  the  triplicate  on  pink  paper  is  retained  at  the 
Thirty-Ninth  Street  elevated  shops. 

An  important  method  of  keeping  track  of  the  details  of  work 
at  the  elevated  shops  is  provided  for  in  the  blank  No.  462, 
which,  as  presented  herewith,  is  filled  out  for  the  date  of  June 
10.  This  report  indicates  the  number  and  class  of  workmen 
upon   each   request    (company   order)    for   work   upon  the 


ORIGINAL 

"ELK"'  THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD'COMPANY 

MECHANICAL  ENGINEERS  DEPARTMENT. 


Delay  of  work  at  the  39th  Street  Elevateo  Shops. 


Date 


.-  190'7 


To  Mechanical  Engineer: 
Dear  Sir  : 

We  are  delayed  by  the  no: 


:ipt  of  materia],  requisitioned  for  on  Purchasing  Agent,  as  follow 


Description 

KwiuiMtiou 
Number 

Dated1 

Order 
Number 

Dated 

Ordered  Prom 

utjrs 

%,.:< 

<3js'  f/t"  *£u**A  wiftLu 

J/ 

rW 

We  are  delayed  by  the  non-receipt  of  the  following  material,  being  made  up  at  East  New  York  Elevated  Shops. 


We  are  delayed  by  the  non  rceeipt  of  the  following  material,  being  made  up  at  the  52nd  Street  Surface  Shops. 
,  ^UtfjtMAty^, . .  Vpr. .  .  /f^,. .  rffp***^*^^  


THE  DELAY  REPORT  EOR  INDICATING  TO  THE  MANAGEMENT 
REASONS  FOR  DELAYS  AT  SHOPS— NO.  463 

cars.  The  workmen  are  divided  up  into  the  following  classes: 
carpenters,  painters,  blacksmiths,  pipe  fitters,  boiler  makers 
and  machinists,  tinsmiths  and  wiremen,  while  the  overhauling 
work  is  divided  up  with  reference  to  the  work  upon  the  motors, 
upon  trucks,  upon  the  air-brake  system  and  upon  the  control 
system.  As  may  be  seen,  this  blank  provides  for  the  reporting 
of  the  number  of  workmen  of  each  class,  upon  the  overhauling 
work  for  each  request  number,  upon  maintenance  work  and 
upon  machine  shop  orders,  while  a  total  column  is  provided 
for  recording  the  total  number  of  workmen  in  the  entire  ele- 
vated shop.  This  blank  is  manifolded  in  three  copies,  the 
original,  on  white  paper,  to  be  sent  to  the  mechanical  engineer, 
and  the  duplicate  in  blue  to  the  assistant  mechanical  engineer, 
while  the  triplicate  in  yellow  is  retained  at  the  shop  from 
which  the  report  is  sent  out.  This  is  one  of  the  first  successful 
attempts  that  has  been  made  by  an  electric  railway  system  for 
the  accurate  reporting  of  the  number  of  men  employed  upon 
each  specific  job  in  the  shops,  and  is  a  very  commendable  move- 
on  the  part  of  the  company.  Its  greatest  importance  is  that  of 
enabling  the  labor  cost  of  each  order  for  reconstruction  to  be 
accurately  traced ;  this  blank  provides  for  any  changes  of  men 
from  one  lequest  or  machine-shop  order  over  to  any  other, 
this  being  one  instance  where  reports  of  this  character  are 
liable  to  become  confused  under  most  shop  systems. 

Another  report  form  of  more  than  usual  importance  is  the 
one  shown  as  No.  463,  with  sample  entries  made  out  under  date 
of  May  23.  This  report  places  upon  record,  in  the  most  concise 
possible  manner,  the  reasons  for  any  delay  of  work  a1  tlv 


3^4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


Thirty-Ninth  Street  elevated  shops.  It  is  addressed  to  the 
mechanical  engineer,  stating  that  the  delay  of  work  is  due  to 
the  non-receipt  of  material,  requisitioned  for  on  the  purchasing 
agent,  as  shown.  It  also  provides  for  reporting  non-receipt  of 
materials  which  are  being  made  up  at  either  the  East  New 


car  no  £>63. 

standardized 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  DIVISION. 

PERMANENT   DATA   AND  DIMENSIONS. 


Type 


"lay  A 


Total  weight  of  car  body  jffeuA 


Length  of  car  bod 
"  .   over  platforms 
"     face  to  face  of 


c  trucks  and  equipment 

4t,'-  L"    "  . 

M  S 1  ~  to 
uplings    4 i  '-/' 
2  " 


Height  of  car  body  G 

"     above  rail  to' top  of  trolley  stand  Jjl'-S" 
"    tocenter  of  draw  bar  head     HQ  'It' 
step     J y 


Width  r 


"    of  platform  opening  at  g 

)  Built  in 
"      "  bolster  )  SunplnOMtaiy 

Distance  C  to  C.  of  king  bolts 


? 

te  p  '-/o 
/  ' 


;  ■_   'C*rt_MO.'3*'_ 

Make.of  automatic  car  couplings  /ai/   -/QtYjX'    ^  /ff 

•it.  £ 


fare  registers 


platform -gate_s_ 

heaters  itlrrtlJ(-£ja/ry /Oz/jype  *//f 
seats    ///i  ^-3 


olley  pole 


Stylo  of  seating 

;  *'    "  curtains  and  gxtuj 
Number  of  heaters  %>Q 
■  Size  of  advertising  sign  racks  // 
Standard  motor  car  switchboard 

"       trail     "•  switchbox 
Heat  and  light  couf 

Adapted  'Ow^W^i/o  "^etcZj?  Type  of  moto 


•£U*t/~~  Type  of  truck 


THE  FORM  OF  INDEX  CARD  USED  FOR  THE  PERMANENT  RECORDS  OF  DATA  AND 
DIMENSIONS  OF  EACH  ELEVATED  CAR  OF  THE  SYSTEM 


heading  of  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company,  this  com- 
pany being  the  operating  head  of  the  various  railroad  com- 
panies which  combine  to  form  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company ;  all  operating  and  mechanical  reports  bear  this  stand- 
ard heading,  while  a  special  monogram,  including  the  letters 
B.  R.  and  T.,  referring  to  the  con- 
trolling company,  is  incorporated  as 
shown. 

The  above-mentioned  records  form 
a  basis  upon  which  the  permanent 
data  and  reference  system  is  made  up. 
As  before  stated,  a  very  complete  per- 
manent record  system  has  been  de- 
signed, involving  the  use  of  an  ex- 
tensive card  index  filing  system,  for 
ease  of  manipulation,  and  also  for 
ready  reference ;  by  this  means  the 
work  in  the  mechanical  division  may 
be  studied  with  the  utmost  facility. 
The  cards  used  in  this  card  index  are 
of  the  standard  5-in.  x  8-in.  size,  and 
are  printed  in  special  standard  forms, 
with  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad 
Company  heading  and  the  standard 
B.  R.  T.  monogram,  as  will  be  shown 
in  accompanying  half-tone  engrav- 
ings. These  card  index  blanks  have 
been  printed  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  permanent  records  which 


d  stand  ^JftQ&zs^ Wrzt£4 


Capacity 


6' 


Size  of  wheels 


Torm  .^Sj- 11-03-. 


Type 


York  elevated  shops  or  the 
Fifty-Second  Street  surface  car 
shops  of  the  company.  This  report 
is  intended  to  prevent  the  shifting, 
verbally,  of  responsibility  for  delays 
to  places  where  it  is  not  due,  and  also 
permits  the  mechanical  engineering 
department  to  intelligently  order  in- 
vestigations made  at  the  points  of 
delay  reported  upon.  This  report  is 
manifolded  in  four  copies,  with  the 
original  in  white  to  the  mechanical 
engineer,  the  duplicate  in  blue  to  the 
assistant  master  mechanic  of  surface 
divisions,  who  is  directly  in  charge 
of  the  Fifty-Second  Street  shops, 

while  the  triplicate  in  yellow  goes  to  the  East  New  York  shops, 
and  the  quadruplicate  in  pink  is  retained  at  the  Thirty-Ninth 
Street  elevated  shops. 

When  it  is  desired  to  investigate  the  causes  of  delays  in  the 
work  as  reported  upon  blank  No.  463,  or  the  cause  of  any  acci- 
dent, mishap  or  other  trouble  in  the  mechanical  department, 
the  mechanical  engineer  issues  to  the  foremen  concerned  an 
order  for  investigation  of  the  particular  delay  or  trouble  upon 
a  special  investigation  blank,  which  notes  briefly  the  trouble, 
where  it  is  reported  to  have  occurred,  etc.,  together  with  ex- 
planations of  the  details  which  are  required.  This  blank  also 
contains  a  vacant  section  for  reply,  on  the  lower  end  for  the 
insertion  of  the  statement  of  the  foremen.  This  investigation 
report  is  very  easily  handled,  and  its  concise  and  effective  form 
make  it  of  more  than  usual  value.  This  blank  is  manifolded  in 
three  copies,  which  are  distributed  to  the  mechanical  engineer, 
the  assistant  mechanical  engineer  and  the  shop  concerned,  in 
the  same  manner  as  above  mentioned  in  the  weekly  report 
No.  462.  I 

All  of  the  five  above-mentioned  classes  of  reports  are  made 
out  upon  the  specially  printed  blanks  of  the  standard  size  of 
9  ins.  x  12  ins.,  with  the  arrangements  of  headings  as  shown 
upon  the  reproductions.    These  blanks  all  bear  the  standard 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY 


3°  jv-  /op//-  /fujj 


Armature  No.  5SSS 


Putchajeci 
Sold  or  Scrapped 


Di 

Contract 


fa. 


CAR 

DATE 

COiL£ 

*  COMMUTATOR 

PINIOW 

SDS 

MECHANICAL 

DETECTS 

CAR ' 

NO. 

Out 

Gd. 

t 

1 

O  C  'BV.L. 

l„  , 

w.o 

S.C.|  6J.jRSh. 

ir  c 

8>  1  Spg. 

CT 

irV.  C. 

BV. 

P.P. 

al£!l':„s. 

Strvrk 

W.orS. 

SHOP 

r-  fej 

..... 

.  T... 

':  ! 

...  1  1 

i  ' 

.— j — 

... 

1  r 

...  ....... 

:A| 

r;L 

...  L.j__ 

THE  IMPORTANT  ARMATURE  RECORD  UPON  WHICH  THE  HISTORY  OF  EVERY  ARMATURE 
IN  THE  ELEVATED  SERVICE  IS  CAREFULLY  TRACED 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY    elevated  division 
MOTOR  AND  TRUCK  REPORT. 


*.,'..t.wF  Truck  No.  by  */ 
REPAIRS  NEEDED ; 


:  Car  No.  •  /  %o  X 


Dale 


Taken  Jr<. 


REPAIRS  MADE: 


REMOVED. 
No.  I  Motor  No.  Arm.  No. 


PUT    I  N . 

Arm.  No. 


Motor  No    /J  2  #3 


Arm.  No.  2jf7,jO 


Put  Under  Car  r» 


fO        IW-/      Inspected  by 


THE  FORM  OF  SHOP  ARMATURE  REPORT  FROM  WHICH  THE 
PERMANENT  ARMATURE  RECORDS  ARE  MADE  OUT 

are  inserted  from  week  to  week,  as  reported  from  the  shops. 
The  methods  of  making  the  entries  and  use  of  the  card  index 
system  in  general  is  shown  upon  the  accompanying  card  forms. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


325 


CARD  INDEX  RECORDS 
The  card  index  record,  which  is  of  the  greatest  importance, 
is  the  permanent  data  and  dimensions  record,  as  shown  here- 
with, which  provides  for  a  tabulation  of  data  and  dimensions 
of  all  cars  upon  the  elevated  division.  One  of  these  cards  is 
made  out  for  every  car  which  is  overhauled,  rebuilt  or  re- 


reproduced  in  the  accompanying  half-tone.  This  record  gives 
complete  information  about  the  armatures  upon  any  particular 
motor  car ;  it  gives  the  date  when  the  armature  was  put  in  or 
removed,  the  trouble  that  may  have  occurred  in  the  coils,  the 
commutator,  the  leads,  the  shaft,  the  pinion,  the  armature 
bands  or  other  mechanical  details.    Provisions  are  also  made 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY.     elevated  fpnmat&tJet. 

REPORT  OF  TURNING  STEEL  TIRED  WHEELS 


Wheel  No.  S 


Received  From 


Shop 


.........M...:fL  

Reason  for  Turning          c^£/  u^/^sj  

Measurement  (Circumference)  Before  Turning       /„0$'  &  7 

Measurement  (Circumference)  After  Turning      103,  osr 
Tire  Loss  (Calipered)       .  Z  0 

'•'  ■  ■  '        '     yl  J, 


0 


Inspected  by 


lorW 


s!  m  {j 

Q;    Q:  Q 


■5;    tn:  (/)  <n': 

ja! "  "JJi  '  S  o 

St[   <!  H'  a;- 

2!  z  a. 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY. 


DIVISION    C-^/*  X&c  '^«/aHI)P 


REPORT    OF    PRESSING    ON   OF    NEW  WHEELS 
OR 

RENEWAL   OF   STEEL  TIRES 


Wheel  Fitted  By 
Pressed  On  By 
Tons  Pressure   

Axle  No.  

Make  of  Axle 

Diameter  of  Axle  ej*  

Fitted  By  _  ...^...?(bw!.?tf..  

Inspected  By   .,  


No 


Make  of  Wheel   ^Ar.JtSJ.  .Ozdfm  6°  -MSfejilfe*  S?rKs4  

Tire  Fitted  By  /(htrat/ 
Outside  Diameter  3^ 


THE  TWO  SHOP  REPORTS  OF  WHEEL  SERVICE  AND  REPAIR  WORK  FROM  WHICH  THE  NEW  WHEEL-RECORD  SYSTEM  IS  KEPT 


equipped  at  the  elevated  shops,  entries  being  made  mainly  from 
the  report  of  equipment  record  upon  blank  No.  467.  This 
record  is  of  great  importance,  as  it  includes  information  as  to 
the  type  of  car,  the  builder  and  date  of  purchase,  the  principal 
dimensions  of  the  car  body,  platforms  and  interior  details  of 
the  car,  together  with  truck  and  motor  information.  From  this 
card  all  the  general  dimensions  of  any  car  may  be  learned  at 
once,  while  it  also  serves  as  a  guide  to  additional  information 


by  giving  the  original  number  of  the  car,  its  new  number  since 
reconstruction,  and  serial  numbers  of  parts  of  the  equipment. 

While  the  above  permanent  data  card  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant records  that  can  be  kept  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  maintenance  of  the  elevated  rolling  stock  equipment,  there 
is  another  record,  however,  which  is  of  practically  as  great 
importance  on  account  of  its  covering  the  most  vital  factor  of 
the  motive  power  equipment  of  the  trains,  this  being  the  arma- 
ture record  for  the  car  motors.  This  record  is  kept  on  a  similar 
card  of  a  light  green  color,  one  of  which  with  sample  entries  is 


upon  this  record  for  the  entry  of  the  purchase  date  and  date  of 
selling  or  scrapping. 

The  above  armature  record  is  made  up  from  a  special  motor 
and  truck  report  form  (No.  407),  which  is  also  reproduced 
herewith.  This  report,  which  is  made  out  upon  a  blank  7  ins.  x 
10  ins.  in  size,  indicates  the  repairs  needed  upon  any  of  the 
motors  of  a  certain  car,  and  also  the  nature  of  the  repairs 
made,  together  with  the  armature  numbers  for  those  removed 
and  for  the  new  ones  replaced;  the 
middle  column  below  indicates  the 
cause  of  the  trouble  for  which  an 
armature  is  removed,  which  thus 
completes  the  necessary  information 
from  which  the  armature  record  may 
be  made  up.  It  permits  any  armature 
to  be  traced  by  number  from  one  car 
to  the  repair  shop  and  back  under 
its  next  car.  This  report  is  made 
out  by  the  shop  superintendent,  and 
after  the  repairs  are  made  is  turned 
in,  with  the  proper  entries,  to  the  main 
office,  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  per- 
manent armature  record. 

Something  of  a  departure  in  elec- 
tric railway  work  is  involved  in  the 
wheel  records  which  are  illustrated 
in  the  engravings  of  blank  forms  up- 
on this  page.  Two  report  blanks,  Nos. 
500  and  501,  are  provided  for  use  at 
the  shops,  upon  one  of  which  report  is 
made  of  the  turning  of  steel-tired 
wheels  and  the  other  of  the  pressing 
on  of  new  wheels  or  the  renewal  of 
steel  tires.  These  records  are  also  turned  in  to  the  main  office, 
and  serve  as  a  basis  for  the  permanent  wheel  record.  The  re- 
port of  turning  steel-tired  wheels  indicates  not  only  the  per- 
manent data  regarding  the  wheels,  but  also  the  reason  for  turn- 
ing, the  circumferential  measurements  before  and  after  turning, 
from  which  the  loss  may  be  calculated,  and  the  workmen  in 
charge  of  the  wheel  lathe  and  inspection. 

The  report  No.  501  supplies  complete  information  in  the  case 
of  a  new  wheel,  about  the  wheel  number,  make  of  wheel  and 
who  fitted  and  pressed  on  by,  or  the  number,  diameter  and  who 


Form  N<r.  ^  83.1n33.100c 
Whoel  No. 

THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  DIVISION       j£  -c  L  ^ 

WHEEL  RECORD                                                     ^      '  °P  \gJvly 

Dlam  of  Gen 
Made  fyJez, 

•?  ZfJ*"  -  -  I1"""13'                 "  '. 

rMrfeeaPh  Xtc*  /C.Purchaeed  <%-hj  S^/Xjot. 

Wheel  Fitted  tyo$MxsrajL<S 
Put  In  Service    -QjU£u>  fil  ^/ 

Pressed  o»  b,  # 

Tons  Pressure      t£sT_  . 

Dlam. 

tafoHo.   0,41               \  G'h" 

Material                             Made  by 

Purchased  £/ 

Put  In  Service 

—~—  — 

fltto£by_  ^_  

J%*^*xs  

Tin  Ho.  o5~2  3   SlO  .  J  <3£>" 
Putin 

Removed 

-^  . 

Measurements 

*  * 
No.  Days 

Oar  No. 

Date 

Measurement 

Date 

Cause 

In  Service 

Loss    l  Turned 

Ground 

Work  Dona  by 

10  zU 

**>/ 

32>" 

//(?-  0/ 

^7 
in 

■  to"  * 

33.  fc  " 

'//-'«? 

.35" 

r 

'~— -  — :  —  ■  

;    •  ' 

• 

■ 

 . ,  

:    .  1 

THE  NEW  WHEEL-RECORD  CARD  FOR  THE  ELEVATED  SYSTEM,  WITH  SAMPLE  ENTRIES 
TO  SHOW  METHOD  OF  TRACING  THE  SERVICE  OF  STEEL- TIRED  WHEELS 


326 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


fitted  by  in  the  case  of  renewal  of  a  steel  tire.  This  report 
includes  information  also  as  to  the  number,  maker  and  dimen- 
sions of  the  axle,  the  tons  pressure  in  pressing  wheels  onto  the 
axle,  and  who  the  wheels  were  fitted  by.  These  reports  are 
made  out  by  the  wheel  foreman  and  are  turned  into  the  main 
office  upon  completion  of  the  work. 

The  permanent  wheel  record  is  reproduced  herewith  with 
sample  entries,  from  which  its  use  will  be  clearly  understood. 
This  blank  refers  to  a  single  wheel  and  provides  for  all  possible 
entries  that  may  be  needed  in  connection  with  the  care  and 
maintenance  of  steel-tired  wheels.  The  number  of  axle  upon 
which  the  wheel  is  mounted  and  also  its  tire  number  are  given, 

Form  N.S.  tio.    0-41294.  11-03— 20M. 

THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  CO 

ELEVATED  DIVISION. 

Molorman's  Report  of  Defects  in  ,""1°^  Car  No. 


Date 


.  P.M. 


Length  of  Detention...../  Min's.  Train  No.../^?.. 


Place  of  Trouble... .^&J%&..\$ffl;. 

Motorman  . .  /$<dtV?<?/.  No.. .  £ 4.'?.*.. 

Conductor  ://  ^^M^  \ No... 


wheel  wear  iri  relation  to  the  character  of  the  particular  service 
in  which  the  car  is  operated.  This  form  of  wheel  record  is 
one  of  the  most  complete  that  has  ever  been  designed  by  any 
railroad  company,  and  rivals  those  kept  by  the  steam  railroad 
companies  in  regard  to  detail.  It  will  be  of  great  value  in  sup- 
plying the  information  which  is,  at  present,  so  greatly  needed 
in  reference  to  the  more  general  use  of  steel  wheels. 

TROUBLE  RECORDS 

An  elaborate  system  of  reporting  and  recording  defects  and 
troubles  in  car  equipment  has  also  been  provided  for  use  be- 
tween the  operating  and  mechanical  departments.  In  no  other 
way  can  troubles  be  traced  and  taken  care  of  so  systematically 
and  accurately  as  by  having  them  reported  from  the  operating 
side  and  then  traced  out,  repaired  and  recorded  by  the  mechan- 
ical department ;  this  will  enable  the  mechanical  department  to 
keep  closely  in  touch  with  the  condition  of  both  the  electrical 
and  detail  equipment  of  the  rolling  stock,  and  also  will  be  of 
great  value  in  indicating  the  prevalent  troubles  that  need  spe- 
cial attention  for  their  eradication. 

The  trouble  reports  from  the  operating  department  are  made 
out  primarily  by  the  motormen,  who  use  a  special  defect  report 
blank,  form  No.  410,  which  is  reproduced  with  sample  entries. 


Place  laid 


up  76,'<.<\.:%.rJi. 


Car  Body  Troubles  Control  Troubles 

End  Door  Circuit  Breaker  

Side  Door  ,j.  Circuit  Breaker  Magnet... 

Broken  Glass. ...&a.V Operating  Box   

Ventilator  Controller    

Bell  Reverser  

Bell  Cord  Operating  Head   

Light  or  Light  Switches  Miscellaneous  

Heaters  Limit  Magnet  

Platform  Gate  Hood  Switches  

Safety  Gate  Series  Multiple  Switch  

Platform  Chain  Resistance  Grids  

Pull  Chain  t  .    Seven  Point. 


The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company 

ELEVATED  DIVISION 


i/£k<.<  aA^f  j/J  roo y 


Inspect  the  following  MOTOR  cars  for 
and  put  in  good  condition. 


run  v.  nam  Tumn-rs  >ivc  

Brake  Chain  jumpers.    Four  point 

Broken  King  Pin  Receptacles.  Seven  Point  

Draw  Bar   r  Four  Point  

Coupling  Link  Jumps  in  Series  

Gar  Seats  Jumps  in  Multiple  

Car  Floor  Dirty  Slow  in  Series  

Slow  in  Multiple  

Storage  Batteries  

Motor  Troubles  Storage  Battery  Switches  

Armature  Trouble   Air  Brake  Troubles 

Motor  Flashed  Brakes  do  not  release  quickly 

Motor  Bucked    a^  times 

M:;t-r  Leads   Brakes  r-dsasi  ;n  lap 

Motor  Bearings  Brakes    do    not    stop  train 

quickly  enough  

Truck  Troubles  Equalized- Air  Pressure  

Motorman  s  v  alve. Stiff  

Motor  Truck   Low  Train  Line  Pressure  

Trailing  Truck  Governor  does  not  cut  out  

Flat  Wheel  Compressor  not  working  

Hot  Box  Compressor  Fuse  blown  

Brakes  Noisy  Train  Line  Pipe  

Broken  Brake  Rigging    Reservoir  Hose  

Truck  Noisy  Train  Line  Hose   

Contact  Shoe  Trouble  Air  Whistle  

Dead  Car  

Track  and  5ignal  Defects  

Please  check  mark  opposite  defect  reported.  If  the  defect  cannot  be 
readily  located,  ^ive,  in  addition  to  check  mark,  particulars  which  will 
assist  in  locating  trouble.  Original  (white)  of  this  report  MUST  be 
sent  to  Shop  with  defective  car  and  given  Division  Shop  Foreman:  send 
carbon  copy  (yellow?  to  Division  Train  Master.  In  case  the  trouble  is 
such  as  to  allow  the  car  to  remain  in  service,  report  will  be  made  out 
and  both  original  and  duplicate  sent  to  Division  Train  Master  who  must 
immediately  forward  original  to  Division  Shop  Foreman. 


/023 

47* 

//Of 

I  have  inspected  and  put  above  in  good  condition, 
except  the  following,  which  must  have  special  attention. 


!M  The  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company 


ELEVATED  DIVISION 


'{.(MM......  &  .  K.  190'/ 

Inspect  the  following    TRAILING  cars  for 

 ^^i^^,,^^,..^^^,,.  

and  put  in  good  condition. 


I  have  inspected  and  put  above  in  good'  condition, 
except  the  following,  which  must  have  special  attention. 


(Sign). 


(Sign). 


THE  INITIAL  FORMS  OF  THE  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  TROUBLE  REPORTS,  CONSISTING  OF  DEFECT  REPORT  BLANKS  FOR  THE 

MOTORMEN,  INSPECTION  ORDER  BLANKS,  ETC. 


together  with  all  possible  dimensions,  the  maker,  when  pur- 
chased, who  fitted  by,  tons  pressure  in  wheel  press,  etc.  The 
car  records  in  connection  with  the  wheel  appear  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  wheel  record  card,  and  show  the  date  and  measure- 
ment when  put  under  any  particular  car,  the  date,  cause  and 
measurements  when  removed,  number  of  days  in  service,  tire 
loss,  etc.  This  provides  for  everything  that  is  needed  in  the 
calculation  of  wheel  costs,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  becoming 
so  necessary  in  connection  with  the  use  of  steel-tired  wheels. 

Other  important  data  is  provided  for,  namely,  the  life  of  the 
wheel's  steel  tire,  the  amount  of  loss  in  turning  or  grinding, 
and  all  other  possible  information  in  this  connection,  from 
which  to  not  only  compare  different  makes  of  steel  tires  and 
wheels  in  general,  but  to  give  accurate  data  concerning  the 


When  trouble  occurs,  the  motorman  fills  in  this  report  blank 
as  to  the  time,  route,  length  of  delay.,  place  and  other  detailed 
information  in  regard  to  the  troubles  that  were  encountered; 
it  will  be  noted  that  a  classification  of  the  troubles  provided  for 
is  made,  involving  the  five  general  departments  of  a  car's 
equipment,  namely,  car-body  troubles,  motor  troubles,  truck 
troubles,  controller  troubles,  air-brake  troubles.  Under  each  of 
these  heads  the  principal  details  under  which  trouble  may  occur 
to  them  are  given  in  full,  with  blank  spaces  in  which  to  check 
off  the  kind  of  trouble.  Two  blank  spaces  are  also  provided 
for  referring  to  a  dead  car  and  to  track  and  signal  defects. 

Directions  are  given  at  the  bottom  of  this  blank  to  instruct 
the  motorman  as  to  its  use.  These  blanks  are  made  up  in  books 
4  ins.  x  9  ins.  in  size,  so  as  to  be  readily  carried  by  the  motor- 


September  3,  1904.]  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 

THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY  elevated  division 


327 


DAILY  REPORT 

'.*      no-/      irmtir  -  irfr  yj 


THE  FORM  USED  FOR  THE  DAILY  SUMMING  UP  OF  ALL  CAR 

PERMANENT  CLASSIFIED  CARD 

man  in  his  pocket,  and  reports  are  made  out  in  duplicate,  one 
upon  white  and  the  other  upon  yellow;  the  pages  are  arranged 
with  the  white  and  yellow  sheets  alternating,  a  carbon  being- 
used  when  making  out  a  report.  The  white  sheet,  or  original, 
is  sent  to  the  shop  with  the  defective  car,  for  the  use  of  the 
division  shop  foreman,  while  the  yellow  duplicate,  or  carbon 
copy,  is  sent  to, the  division  train  master;  in  case  the  trouble  is 
such  as  to  allow  the  car  to  remain  in  service,  both  reports  are 
given  by  the  motorman  to  the  division  train  master,  who  for- 
wards the  original  to  the  division  shop  foreman. 

In  investigating  the  reports  of  defects  in  this  connection,  an 
inspector's  blank  is  used  for  directing  the  inspection  of  cars 
upon  which  trouble  is  reported.  For  this,  blank  form  No.  405 
is  used.   As  may  be  seen,  it  directs  the  inspection  of  motor  and 


EQUIPMENT  TROUBLE  REPORTS,  FROM  WHICH  RECORD  THE 
RECORDS  ARE  MADE  OUT— NO.  408  r|* 

An  important  detail  record  is  made  up  of  all  troubles  re- 
ported upon  the  elevated  cars.  A  special  blank  12  ins.  x  24  ins. 
in  size  is  used  for  this  purpose,  as  shown  herewith  (form  No. 
408),  with  sample  entries.  This  blank  provides  for  keeping 
records  of  all  cars  which  are  taken  to  the  shop  for  overhauling 
or  repairs.  Under  the  main  heading,  which  is  the  usual 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  standard,  spaces  are  provided  for 
recording  the  state  of  weather,  name  of  the  elevated  shop  at 
which  repairs  are  made,  date  and  the  time  covered  by  the  re- 
port. The  columns  upon  the  blank  provide  for  the  numbers 
of  the  cars  run  in,  the  time  in,  trouble  reported,  trouble  found, 
repaired  by,  time  out,  detentions  in  service  when  trouble  was 
found,  reasons  for  any  delay  in  repairs  and  remarks.  This  is 
an  important  record,  inasmuch  as  it  furnishes  a  basis  for  the 


Car  563 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  DIVISION. 

CAR  BODY 


Built  bhi/yXit**.-* 


(Blue) 


-  ? 


56?> 

OMiaS*  601  Ho.  -4-0 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY  ELEVATED  DIVISION. 

OPERATIMI  BOX  AND  CIRCUIT  BkliAkLK 


7(11 

uy*  of  Coolnel 


■Ly  /r, 


(Buff) 


Cir  563 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY   ELEVATED  DIVISION, 
MOTOR  TRICK 


Bolll  tj  /  -A  .  ••/  /(M 
Dale  ol  Contract  . 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  DIVISION. 

M.  VALVE;  TRIPLE  AND  DRAKE  CYLINDER 


mm.  bi  z  v-C  &•>■  ••  (tSffe 

0  of  Cooltacl  xt'.Liy  *  AA*|V/ 


U'/GjL*    /<lhjl£  ~£/ajbu*/ 


(Salmon) 


(Pink) 


■■■«*-               THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  DIVISION       Tw  ^jSlj, 
Car  563                                           MOTORS  and  armatures                          Data  ol  Ctmlriet  ^fil>K^ 

  '  ! '        .  in   '-  ,*,.,. 

_  _    .  OUT         •          „    .  ... 

1                       '2  i 

■  -     '  :  L      '  '    '                   2  A 

THE  BROOM  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY— ELEVATED  01VIS10H  §to*&*&r&*$ 

CONTACT  SHOES,  BEAMS  AND  TROLLEY  PtWOtaMf  fj"*"/  "  '!} 


(Green)  •  (Yellow) 

REPRESENTATIVE  PERMANENT  RECORD  CARDS  FOR  THE  SIX  GENERAL  CLASSIFICATIONS  OF  CAR  EQUIPMENT  TROUBLES, 
SHOWING  METHODS  OF  TABULATING  AND  RECORDING  THE  EQUIPMENT  TROUBLES  MET  IN  SERVICE 


trail  cars  of  the  numbers  indicated,  with  orders  to  put  them  in 
good  condition.  After  inspection,  the  inspector  reports  at  the 
bottom  of  this  blank  as  to  the  condition  of  the  various  cars  as 
shown ;  those  which  were  found  to  be  in  good  condition  or  re- 
quire very  little  work  to  remedy  the  same  are  not  mentioned, 
while  the  numbers  of  those  requiring  repairs  or  overhauling 
are  inserted  below.  This  blank  is  4^4  ins.  x  8l/2  ins.  in  size, 
and  is  not  made  in  duplicate.  As  may  be  noted,  separate  forms 
are  used  for  motor  and  trail  cars. 


keeping  of  the  regular  permanent  trouble  records  and  gives 
the  mechanical  department  a  most  excellent  and  accessible 
knowledge  of  the  prevalent  troubles  and  condition  of  the  row- 
ing stock  and  its  equipment.  These  records  are  kept  on  file  in 
the  main  office  until  entered  upon  the  permanent  record  cards 
of  the  card  index  system,  and  furnish  excellent  means  of  in- 
vestigating the  trend  of  troubles  met  in  the  operation  of  the 
system. 

The  permanent  record  cards  are  shown  in  the  following 


328 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


engravings.  The  troubles  as  reported  upon  the  large  daily 
report  blanks  are  transcribed  to  the  various  card  index  per- 
manent record  cards,  being  sorted  upon  various  colored  cards 
according  to  the  department  of  the  equipment  in  which  each  of 
the  troubles  occurred.  Only  a  few  representative  cards  of  the 
trouble  records  are  reproduced  herewith,  although  there  are  in 
all  thirteen  required  for  properly  assorting  these  entries.  The 
trouble  reports  are  classified  in  much  the  same  order  as  upon 

THE  BfiOOKLTN  HEIGHTS  RJILROIO  mmi  A--  -.-^  A   DIVISION  (t^f!) 

■/^r^l  |  j'j  |  [  [ |  j J  |  j'-j  |  j'j  |  -j  'I  i  |  |  I  |J  [  |J-'-|  \'y3- 

'4k&y.  Mi'trJl  |  !•  j  .1.  /.j .  L  j         |:  j      |      j  y         {  I  1  t  j  j  j  '  j-j  •!  ••!  -* 


These  record  cards  are  similar  to  those  above  mentioned  for 
use  in  the  card  index,  being  of  the  adopted  standard  size  of 
5  ins.  x  8  ins.  Each  card  bears  the  standard  Brooklyn  Heights 
Railroad  Company's  heading,  together  with  the  B.  R.  T.  mono- 
gram, as  shown  upon  the  equipment  record  cards.  Sample  en- 
tries are  made  upon  these  cards  in  order  that  the  method  of 
making  the  records  may  be  more  easily  understood  than  can  be 
made  possible  by  a  description.    The  varied  colors  used  for  the 


THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY.  ^citdL^ 

Comparative  Monthly  and  Vcarly  Tabuloitnns  of  Trolley  and 

y  DIVISION. 

Conlocl  Shoo  Trouble!  ^Jl!/ 

1904 

1905 

I906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1912 

1913 

TOTAL 

JANUARY 

FEBRUARY 

MARCH 

_L 

APRIL 

;  MAY 

JUNE 

JULY  . 

AUGUST 

SEPTEMBER 

OCTOBER 

NOVEMBER 

CECEM3E3 

TOTAL 

THE  FORM  OF  CARD  USED  FOR  THE  MONTHLY  TABULATIONS 
FROM  DAILY  REPORTS  OF  CAR  EQUIPMENT  TROUBLES, 
WITH  SAMPLE  ENTRIES 

the  motorman's  defect  blank  (No.  410),  the  card  records  being 
arranged  as  follows : 

All  car-body  troubles  are  grouped  together  and  recorded  upon 
the  blue  card,  the  heading  for  one  of  which  is  reproduced  in 
half-tone  herewith.  The  truck  troubles  are  recorded  upon 
salmon-colored  cards,  on  account  of  the  importance  of  which 
two  cards  are  used,  one  devoted  to  motor  trucks  and  the  other 
to  trail  trucks.  The  control  troubles  are  entered  upon  four 
buff-color  record  cards,  the 
importance  of  this  feature 
of  the  equipment,  together 
with  its  complication  of  de- 
tail, making  this  number  of 
sub-divisions  necessary ;  the 
first  of  these  is  devoted  to 
troubles  in  the  controller 
reverser  and  the  operating 
head,  the  second  to  those 
in  the  operating  box  and 
circuit  breaker,  the  third  to 
those  in  the  limit  magnet 
and  switchboards,  and  the 
fourth  to  those  in  the  stor- 
age batteries,  jumpers  and 
grids.  A  single  green  rec- 
ord card  is  used  for  the 
recording  of  motor  and 
armature  troubles.  This 
card,  which  is  reproduced 
herewith  also  in  half-tone, 
is  divided  into  two  parts, 
one  for  armatures  in  and 

the  other  for  those  out.  The  air-brake  troubles  are 
divided  into  three  general  classes,  for  which  three  pink 
cards  are  used ;  the  first  referring  to  those  met  in 
the  motorman's  valve  and  the  brake  cylinder,  the  second  to 
those  of  the  motor  controller  and  governor,  and  the  third  of 
those  in  the  air  pipe  and  hose.  Two  yellow  record  cards  are 
used  for  the  record  of  troubles  in  auxiliary  apparatus,  one  pro- 
viding for  those  in  contact  shoes,  beams  and  trolleys,  and  the 
other  for  those  met  in  the  sleet  scrapers,  brushes  and  snow 
equipment. 


A   SAMPLE  OF  THE   COMPARATIVE   MONTHLY  AND  YEARLY 
TABULATION  OF  TROUBLES,  FOR  INDICATING  THE 
CONDITION  OF  THE  EQUIPMENT 

different  records  have  made  it  extremely  difficult  to  reproduce 
them  in  engravings,  but  the  results  are  sufficiently  clear  to  per- 
mit the  forms  to  be  readily  distinguishable. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  keeping  of  these  records  in 
the  above  indicated  system  provides  for  the  tracing  of  any 
trouble  which  may  have  occurred  at  any  time,  and  thus  for 
the  investigation  of  the  class  of  troubles  which  become  preva- 
lent in  any  branch  of  the  work  for  the  application  of  such  cor- 


THE  LARGE  CARD  INDEX  CABINET  IN  THE  MAIN  OFFICE  OF  THE  MECHANICAL  DEPARTMENT, 
WHICH  WAS  SPECIALLY  DESIGNED  FOR  THE  NEW  SYSTEM  OF  RECORDS 


rective  treatment  and  changes  as  will  tend  to  remove  them ; 
if,  for  instance,  any  particular  trouble  becomes  prevalent  in 
the  control  system,  as  discovered  by  carefully  watching  these 
records,  investigation  may  be  at  once  instituted  in  preference 
to  other  work,  and  the  proper  attention  given  to  this  particular 
feature  of  the  elevated  equipment  by  the  inspectors  in  view  of 
its  speedy  removal.  One  of  the  greatest  difficulties  that  is  met 
in  the  operation  of  a  large  system,  of  the  character  of  the  ele- 
vated division  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company,  is  the 
proper  watching  of  details  by  the  officials,  as  is  so  necessary 


I 


September  3,  1904.] 

in  keeping  the  equipment  in  proper  operating  condition ;  this 
system  of  records,  however,  enables  the  mechanical  as  well  as 
the  operating  officials  to  readily  trace  the  character  of  troubles 
that  are  being  met  with  so  that  if  any  one  becomes  unduly  large 
a  study  may  be  instituted  of  the  governing  conditions.  The 
importance  of  such  a  system  is  best  appreciated  by  the  steam 
railroads  who  have  gone  through  this  experience  in  a  general 
way  and  have  learned  the  absolute  necessity  of  such  records 
for  economical  operation. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  officials  interested  in  the  removal 
of  rolling  stock  equipment  troubles,  monthly  and  yearly  tabu- 
lations are  made  up  from  the  daily  reports,  as  shown  upon 
sample  tabulation  cards,  reproduced  herewith  in  half-tone  with 
sample  entries.  In  each  of  these  sets  of  records  six  cards  of 
the  various  colors  used  in  the  daily  records  are  provided,  the 
blue  to  receive  the  tabulation  of  car-body  troubles,  the  salmon 
the  tabulation  of  truck  troubles,  the  green  the  tabulation  of 
motor  troubles,  the  buff  the  tabulation  of  control  troubles,  the 
pink  the  tabulation  of  air-brake  troubles,  and  the  yellow  the 
tabulation  of  trolley  and  contact-shoe  troubles. 

Each  of  the  six  cards  for  the  monthly  tabulation  is  made  up 
with  the  same  general  form  of  heading  as  is  used  upon  the 
daily  report  cards,  the  lower  part  of  the  card  being  ruled  dif- 

,  L  563. 


r 


o 

TYPE  OF  GUIDE  CARD  USED  IN  THE  CARD  INDEX  CABINETS, 
SHOWING  STYLE  OF  FILING  SYSTEM 

ferently,  however,  for  the  summation  entries.  As  may  be  seen, 
the  wide  column  is  ruled  at  the  left  for  the  name  of  the  month, 
while  thirty-one  small  vertical  columns  are  provided,  one  to 
correspond  with  each  clay  of  the  month,  while  at  the  right  is  a 
column  for  totals ;  thus,  for  the  month  of  January,  1904,  six 
troubles  were  found  under  the  control-trouble  classification,  of 
which  one  was  a  short-circuit  upon  the  finger  board,  two  were 
battery  cells  weak,  and  so  on.  These  cards  are  of  the  standard 
card  index  size  used  by  the  company,  and  are  filed  in  the  same 
manner. 

The  yearly  comparative  tabulations  are  made  out  upon  a 
similar  set  of  six  cards  of  corresponding  colors,  and  similarly 
arranged  as  to  heading  and  classification.  These  cards  are 
ruled  off  horizontally  to  correspond  with  each  month  of  the 
year,  while  the  vertical  columns  provide  for  succeeding  years 
from  1904  to  1913.  In  the  column  for  1904  will  be  recorded 
the  total  number  of  troubles  in  each  classification  for  each 
month  of  the  year.  The  sample  entries  indicate  plainly  the 
method  of  making  records  upon  these  blanks.  Both  the  monthly 
and  the  yearly  tabulations  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  oper- 
ating officials  in  studying  the  mechanical  department  of  the 
system,  to  watch  for  diminutions  of  the  troubles  that  may 
formerly  have  been  prevalent. 

The  card  index  system  used  for  filing  these  card  records  is 
also  of  considerable  interest  on  account  of  its  size,  and  also  the 
careful  provisions  made  for  future  growth.    The  mechanical 


329 

department  took  up  a  study  of  this  matter,  and  as  a  result  de- 
signed a  special  card  index  system  involving  the  use  of  a  very 
neat  and  attractive  set  of  card  index  cabinets.  These  cabinets, 
as  well  as  the  special  card  index  record  blanks,  were  made  to 
the  specifications  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  by 
the  Library  Bureau,  of  New  York,  the  well-known  specialists 
in  card  index  system  of  accounting  and  recording.  As  may  be 
seen  from  the  accompanying  view  of  the  cabinets,  they  re- 
semble the  general  style  of  cabinet  furnished  by  this  company, 
except  that  they  are  provided  with  storage  quarters  in  the 
lower  portion.  Each  drawer  in  the  cabinet  contains  two  rows 
of  cards,  this  arrangement  having  been  found  preferable  to  the 
more  usual  method  of  providing  single  drawers ;  it  results  in 
stronger  cabinet  construction  and  will  be  much  more  conven- 
ient in  making  possible  the  arrangement  of  similar  records 
side  by  side. 

The  method  of  filing  the  cards  in  the  drawers  conforms  to 
the  general  practice  of  using  special  lettered  guide  cards  of 
the  type  shown  in  the  accompanying  engraving ;  this  sample 
guide  card  is  presented  to  indicate  the  style  of  card  index 
drawer  used,  and  it  also  indicates  the  method  of  separating  the 
different  branches  of  the  record  work.  It  will  be  noticed  that 
the  letter  "L"  is  printed  at  the  left  hand  side  of  the  thumb 
projection  of  the  guide  card  to  indicate  that  all  cards  covered 
by  this  guide  refer  to  elevated  car  records;  this  provision  has 
been  made  for  the  reason  that  it  is  intended  to  later  on  extend 
the  system  to  cover  the  mechanical  work  upon  the  surface  car 
division,  in  which  case  the  guide  cards  would  probably  be  given 
the  distinctive  letter  "S,"  to  distinguish  the  surface-car  records 
from  those  of  the  elevated.  These  guide  cards  are  permanently 
held  in  the  draws  by  the  center-rod  style  of  fastening,  the  rod 
passing  through  the  brass-lined  hole  in  the  projection  from  the 
lower  side  of  the  card. 



MUTUAL  INSURANCE  ASSOCIATION  FORMED  AT 
CLEVELAND 

For  some  time  the  managers  of  Cleveland  city  and  inter- 
urban  roads  have  been  discussing  the  possibility  of  reducing 
the  important  item  of  insurance  premiums  by  the  formation  of 
a  mutual  insurance  association  similar  to  the  well-known  fac- 
tory mutual  insurance  associations  which  take  care  of  certain 
lines  of  risks.  Recently  the  co-operation  of  Henry  N.  Staats, 
a  well-known  mutual  insurance  man,  was  secured,  and  last 
week  two  insurance  associations  were  incorporated.  One  of 
them  is  known  as  the  Electric  Mutual  Insurance  Company  of 
Ohio  and  the  other  the  Traction  Mutual  Insurance  Company 
of  Ohio.  The  incorporators  of  the  associations  are  identical, 
and  include  the  following  well-known  traction  operators : 
Horace  E.  Andrews,  president  of  the  Cleveland  Electric,  Syra- 
cuse Rapid  Transit  and  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Traction  Com- 
panies ;  Henry  A.  Everett,  president  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  Company,  Toledo  Railways  &  Light,  and  chairman  of 
the  board  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway ;  Luther  Allen,  presi- 
dent of  the  Toledo  &  Western  -Railway  Company  ;  Fred  T.  Pom- 
eroy,  president,  and  Albert  E.  Akins,  vice-president  of  the 
Cleveland  &  Southwestern  Traction  Company ;  Warren  S. 
Bicknell,  president,  and  Fred  W.  Coen,  secretary  of  the  Lake 
Shore  Electric  Railway  Company;  Henry  J.  Davies,  secretary 
of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company;  George  T.  Bishop, 
receiver  of  the  Eastern  Ohio  Traction  and  president  Northern 
Texas  Traction  Company;  Charles  W.  Wason,  president 
Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern  Traction  Company ;  Henry  N. 
Staats,  underwriter. 

Two  associations  were  formed  to  take  care  of  two  classes  of 
risks.  The  Electric  Company  will  insure  power  houses,  sub- 
stations and  similar  equipment,  and  electric  lighting  companies 
will  be  eligible  as  well  as  traction  companies.  The  Traction 
Insurance  Company  will  insure  car  houses,  cars,  repair  shops, 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


33Q 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10 


office  buildings  and  other  risks  which  are  considered  more  haz- 
ardous than  power  stations.  The  associations  will  be  national 
in  scope,  and  all  companies  in  tbe  lighting  and  railway  business 
will  be  invited  to  participate.  Risks  will  be  divided  into  classes 
and  premiums  will  be  charged  on  practically  the  same  basis  as 
with  the  old-line  insurance  companies.  The  plan  provides  for 
a  contingent  fund  for  the  payment  of  losses  under  which  each 
member  may  be  assessed  to  the  amount  of  five  times  the  annual 
premium.  At  the  end  of  each  year  all  premiums  not  consumed 
in  payment  of  losses  and  in  payment  of  operating  expenses  will 
be  returned  to  the  members.  The  associations  will  aim  to  reduce 
the  initial  cost  of  insurance  by  doing  away  with  all  unneces- 
sary expenses  in  the  operation  of  the  business.  The  greatest 
saving  will  be  effected  through  the  fact  that  no  agents  will  be 
maintained,  thus  eliminating  agents'  commissions,  one  of  the 
greatest  items  of  expense  with  the  old-line  companies. 

The  officials  of  the  association  will  use  great  care  in  select- 
ing risks,  thus  lowering  the  chance  of  losses,  and  they  will  en- 
deavor to  induce  members  to  equip  their  plants  and  buildings 
with  the  latest  methods  of  fire  protection.  The  officials  of  the 
Cleveland  Electric  Railway  are  displaying  great  interest  in 
these  plans  for  fire  protection  and  are  equipping  several  of 
their  car  houses  after  plans  suggested  by  Mr.  Staats.  To 
demonstrate  his  methods,  Mr.  Staats  has  arranged  with  the 
Cleveland  Electric  to  furnish  cars  and  a  car  house  for  an  in- 
teresting experiment.  The  cars  and  building  will  be  delib- 
erately set  on  fire  and  by  short  circuiting  wires,  by  means  of 
waste  and  by  building  a  fire  under  a  car,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
the  automatic  sprinklers  will  take  care  of  the  fire  in  each  case 
before  serious  damage  has  been  done. 

As  yet  the  two  associations  are  merely  in  a  formulative  stage, 
since  the  insurance  laws  of  Ohio  require  that  no  policies  shall 
be  issued  until  contracts  for  $20,000,000  of  insurance  have  been 
secured.  When  the  company  secures  this  amount  it  will  have 
a  yearly  income  of  $200,000. 

The  officers  of  the  associations  are  now  presenting  their  plan 
to  all  the  electric  railway  and  lighting  companies  in  the  coun- 
try, and  an  effort  will  be  made  to  have  the  scheme  become 
operative  in  the  shortest  possible  time. 

The  idea  of  applying  the  mutual  insurance  plan  to  traction 
and  lighting  companies  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Horace  Andrews 
while  in  a  casual  conversation  nearly  a  year  ago  with  Mr. 
Staats.  The  plan  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Staats  and  presented 
to  the  Cleveland  roads  on  Aug.  1,  and  the  success  of  the  move 
seemed  conjectural  until  Mr.  Andrews  came  out  openly  and  de- 
clared himself  in  favor  of  the  plan.  The  other  companies 
speedily  fell  into  line,  and  have  agreed  to  place  their  insurance 
with  the  associations  as  soon  as  the  plans  become  operative. 
The  companies  represented  by  the  incorporators  have  a  com- 
bined capital  stock  of  over  $40,000,000;  the  valuation  of  the 
property  likely  to  be  insured  by  them  is  estimated  at  $5,000,000. 
 *+*  

RAILS  AND  JOINTS 

BY  WILLIAM  H.  COLE,  M.  A.  I.  E.  E. 

There  is  probably  no  subject  in  the  construction  of  street 
railways  that  is  more  important  than  that  of  rails,  their  in- 
stallation, upkeep  and  jointing,  and  there  is  probably  no  de- 
partment where  its  deterioration  or  neglect  of  upkeep  works 
an  ultimate  greater  trouble  than  that  of  permanent  way.  Upon 
the  perfection  of  the  work  depends  the  life  of  the  rolling  stock, 
the  rails  themselves,  the  smooth,  even  riding  of  the  cars,  and 
the  return  of  the  current  to  the  power  station.  * 

So  much  has  been  written  as  to  the  best  method  of  installing 
the  track,  the  hardness  of  rails,  their  life  and  their  joining  to- 
gether that  to  the  average  man  it  is  in  a  measure  confusing. 
The  writer  has  given  the  subject  some  attention,  especially  in 
the  direction  of  rail  bonding  and  welding,  and  has  tried  to 


come  to  some  definite  conclusions  as  to  the  hardness  of  rails 
necessary  to  meet  traffic  requirements  in  a  crowded  city. 

There  is  no  question  as  to  the  fact  that  a  rail  for  electric 
street  railway  work  should  be  much  harder  than  for  steam 
railway  work,  for  the  conditions  are  entirely  different.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  the  problem  of  wear  upon  a  steam  railroad 
is  a  very  different  thing  from  that  upon  a  street  railroad.  The 
rail  on  steam  railroads  presents  a  clean  head,  because  the  rail 
is  not  buried,  and  it  has  to  oppose  principally  a  rolling  friction, 
for  the  number  of  times  per  mile  steam  railroad  trains  are 
stopped  is  very  low,  taking  a  general  average.  Not  only  are 
the  stops  incomparably  more  frequent,  but  they  are  again 
multiplied  into  a  greater  number  of  units,  as  many  individual 
cars  are  the  rule  on  street  railroads,  as  against  the  occasional 
train  of  the  steam  railroad. 

As  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  see  in  the  published 
authorities,  as  well  as  personal  contact  with  steel  experts,  there 
seems  to  be  considerable  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  com- 
binations of  the  different  ingredients  composing  the  steel  in 
the  rails,  and  there  seems  to  be  a  wide  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  the  hardness  of  the  steel.  The  decided  want  of  uniform- 
ity of  ideas  in  this  matter  has  lead  the  writer  to  have  conducted 
a  series  of  experiments  as  to  the  wear  of  the  rails  under  dif- 
ferent conditions,  the  results  of  which  might  be  of  interest. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  "each  chemical  ingredient  places 
its  own  particular  stamp  upon  the  steel  which  contains  it"  and 
the  stamp  varies  with  each  combination  of  ingredients,  that 
the  number  of  variations  are  infinite,  and  that  each  different 
heat  at  which  the  rails  are  rolled  affects  the  problem.  While 
the  prayer  in  making  the  investigation  was  only  "that  light 
might  be  thrown  in  the  right  direction,"  an  effort  was  made 
to  find  a  compromise  of  ingredients  that  might  be  near  some 
standard  for  general  use. 

The  observations  covered  a  full  year  on  a  line  under  heavy 
traffic  conditions,  in  Europe,  and  special  attention  was  given 
to  the  joints  at  the  different  times  of  making  the  observations. 

Five  different  types  of  bonding  and  welding  were  under  ob- 
servation, and  it  must  be  confessed  here  that  the  principal 
object  of  the  tests  and  observations  were  with  regard  to  the 
joints,  but  it  was  the  writer's  firm  endeavor  to  arrive  at  some 
definite  conclusion  in  his  own  mind  with  regard  to  hardness  of 
rails  for  different  conditions  of  traffic,  as  well  as  to  find  the 
best  possible  method  of  joining  and  bonding  the  rail  ends, 
having  regard  to  the  life  of  the  joints  as  well  as  their  electrical 
conductivity. 

The  rails  were  laid  on  a  concrete  stringer,  paved  with  Bel- 
gium granite  blocks,  with  a  luting  of  coal  tar  at  the  joints. 
They  were  of  the  grooved  girder  type,  6l/2  ins.  high,  and  weigh- 
ing 95  lbs.  to  the  yard.  They  were  selected  from  out  of  a  stock 
at  the  works  of  one  of  the  largest  rolling  mills  in  Europe,  and 
were,  as  can  be  seen,  of  three  degrees  of  hardness. 

An  analysis  was  made  of  the  ingredients  of  the  rails  at  the 
beginning  of  the  test  and  at  the  close,  all  by  a  reputable  steel 
expert,  and  special  attention  was  given  to  the  fact  that  a  part 
of  the  rails -were  heated  at  their  ends  when  making  the  Falk 
and  Goldschmidt  welds. 

There  were  fifteen  rails  in  all,  giving  three  joints  for  each 
of  the  five  different  classes  of  joints,  and  in  making  the  tests 
and  observations  an  average  of  the  results  for  the  three  rails 
of  its  class  was  given.  Micrometer  calipers  were  used  in 
measuring  the  wear  of  the  rails  each  month,  three  different 
measurements  were  made  at  each  place,  and  an  average  was 
calculated  from  these  three  measurements,  viz : 

A.  At  a  point  at  or  near  the  gage  line. 

B.  At  a  point  in  the  center  of  the  tread. 

C.  At  a  point  near  the  outside  of  the  rail. 

The  joints  that  were  bonded  were  fished  with  standard  fish 
plates,  bolted  with  eight  i-in.  bolts,  screwed  up  as  tight  as 
could  be,  the  rail  ends  laid  close  or  butting  each  other,  laid 


September  3,  1904.] 

fished  and  bonded  in  the  maximum  heat  of  the  day  and  imme- 
diately covered  and  paved  around  them. 

No.  1.  Three  joints  fished  as  above  and  bonded  around  the 
fish  plates  with  standard  Chicago  bonds  No.  00  B.  &  S.  gage, 
two  bonds  to  each  joint. 

No.  2.  Carefully  bonded  with  "Crown"  concealed  bonds,  with 
two  bonds  of  a  section  equal  to  two  No.  00  copper  bonds  B.  &  S. 
gage,  and  the  fish  plates  carefully  bolted  over  them. 

No.  3.  No.  2  plastic  bonds,  made  by  Harold  P.  Brown,  and 
carefully  installed  according  to  instructions,  by  a  man  formerly 
experienced  in  this  work. 

No.  4.  Three  joints  welded  by  the  Falk  process. 

No.  5.  Three  joints  welded  by  the  Goldschmidt  thermit 
process. 

The  rails  were  laid  continuously  so  the  same  cars  were 
obliged  to  pass  over  the  same  section  containing  the  different 
types  of  joints.  The  subjoined  tables  will  give  an  idea  as  to 
the  results,  and  from  the  results  of  these  tests  the  writer  has 
arrived  to  the  following  conclusions : 

That  for  electric  street  railways  under  average  traffic  con- 
ditions rails  should  give  a  life  of  about  forty  years  if  the  joints 
are  made  continuous,  and  are  composed  of 

Carbon   55  to  .58 

Silicon   10  or  under 

Phosphorus    .08  or  under 

Sulphur   06  or  under 

Manganese   83  or  under 

This  is  comparatively  a  hard  rail,  as  will  be  seen  by  the 
amount  of  carbon  it  contains.  I  think  .55  is  about  the  amount 
of  carbon  to  make  the  best  all  around  rail,  and  that  any  rail 
having  more  than  .58  of  carbon  is  too  hard,  and  that  perhaps 
the  leeway  of  .55  to  .58  is  quite  sufficient  for  manufacturing 
contingencies.  It  is  quite  certain  that  a  rail  within  the  above 
limits  will  give  approximately  the  longest  average  life,  based 
upon  the  writer's  experience  and  observation. 

The  weak  spot  in  all  lines  is  the  joint,  and  out  of  all  the 
tests  made  the  point  that  showed  the  greatest  weakness  and 
the  most  wear  was  at  the  joint.  By  far  the  best  section  in 
wear,  as  well  as  electrical  conductivity  at  the  end  of  the  tests, 
was  with  the  butt-welded  joints  made  by  the  Goldschmidt 
process.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  seemed  to  be  no  more  wear 
at  the  joints  thus  welded  than  any  other  part  ot  the  rail.  And 
at  the  end  the  relative  conductivity  seemed  to  be  the  same  as 
at  the  beginning. 

With  two  of  the  Falk  welded  joints  there  appeared  marked 
corrosion  between  the  rail  proper  and  the  cast-iron  sleeve,  and 
one  was  apparently  as  good  as  at  the  beginning.  The  resist- 
ance was  plainly  less  in  the  case  of  all  of  the  bonded  joints  at 
the  finish,  and  indeed  one  of  the  copper-bonded  joints  was 
actually  loose. 

One  of  the  plastic  bonds  held  up  very  well,  and  the  other  two 
were  not  in  very  good  shape,  and  had  very  little  contact  be- 
tween the  fish  plates  and  the  web  of  the  rail. 

All  of  the  fished  joints  showed  appreciable  wear  at  the  joints, 
with  considerable  pounding  as  the  wheels  rolled  over  them. 

One  of  the  fished  joints  required  attention  during  the  time 
of  the  test,  and  one  of  the  copper  bonds  had  to  be  reriveted,  as 
it  had  become  loose. 

As  a  conclusion,  I  think  it  is  more  than  manifest  as  to  what 
make  the  shortness  of  the  life  of  the  rail,  and  T  think  it  cannot 
be  too  strongly  emphasized,  because  it  discloses  one  of  the 
greatest  evils  existing  to-day  in  street  railway  work,  and  in 
which  the  stockholders  are  suffering  without  realizing  the 
extent,  and  that  is  defect  in  the  joints. 

Measurements  taken  at  any  other  part  of  the  rail  than  the 
joint  show  an  even  fair  wear,  with  a  good  long  life,  hut  rails 
are  being  taken  out  and  being  replaced  all  over  the  world,  not 
because  they  have  been  worn  to  the  point  of  destruction,  but 
because  the  joints  have  become  trio  bad  for  further  use,  and 


331 

another  thing  to  be  remembered  is  that  when  wear  at  joint 
reaches  a  certain  point  the  rest  of  the  rail  wears  with  very 
much  increased  rapidity. 

As  time  goes  on  we  hear  less  of  the  joint  question,  for  man- 
agers are  commencing  to  weld  their  joints  and  to  use  heavier 
rails,  with  stronger  fish-plates;  nevertheless,  the  evil  still  ex- 
ists, and  a  few  years  from  now  those  who  are  deluding  them- 
selves in  the  belief  that  they  have  a  long  life  for  their  existing 
tracks  will  awake  to  find  out  that  even  the  construction  of  to- 
day, unless  it  is  a  type  that  virtually  makes  a  continuous  rail, 
is  wasteful  and  extravagant. 

The  greatest  lesson  these  tests,  as  well  as  an  experience  cov- 
ering many  years  in  connection  with  electric  traction  work, 
gives  to  me,  is  one  that  I  cannot  emphasize  too  much,  and  it  is 
that,  unless  a  perfect  joint  is  obtained,  no  one  need  worry  too 
much  about  the  quality  of  the  steel  in  the  rail,  for  any  of  the 
standard  makers  produce  a  satisfactory  rail — any  one  may 
buy — the  very  cheapest  one  can  buy — will  last  longer  than  any 
of  the  joints,  unless  it  is  welded  properly  and  made  into  a  con- 
tinuous rail. 


INGREDIENTS  OF  FAILS  UNDER  TEST 


Carbon 

Soft 

Medium 

Hard 

.284 

•572 

•591 

.061 

■2  5 

•057 

Phosphorus   

.105 

.052 

.098 

.065 

.078 

.060 

Manganese  

.784 

.98I 

.830 

I.299 

1. 918 

I.636 

Iron  

98.701 

98.082 

98.364 

IOO.OOO 

IOO.OOO 

IOO.OOO 

Note. — Metal' ids  ignored 


The  following  are  figures  of  monthly  and  yearly  wear  in 
inches : 

AMOUNT  IN  INCHES  PER  MONTH  AT  THE  JOINT 


Kind  of  Rail 

Chicago 

Crown 

Plastic 

Falk 

Gold^hmidt 

Soft  

Medium  

Hard  

.CO23 
.0012 

.0028 

.0026 
.OOI3 
.0028 

.0024 
.0OI2 
.OO27 

.OOI8 
.OOI  I 
.OO24 

.OOI4 

.OOO9 
OOI9 

WEAR  IN  ONE  YEAR  AT  THE  JOINT 

Soft  

Medium  

Hard  

.0276 
.OI44 
•0336 

.0312 
.OI56 

0336 

.028S 
.Ot44 
.0324 

.0216 
.OI32 

.0288 

.OI68 
.OI08 
.0288 

WEAR  FOK  ONE  YEAR  IN  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE  RAIL 

Soft  

Medium  

Hard  

.OI68 
.0I2O 
.022S 

.Ol6S 
.0I2O 

.0228 

.0168 
.0I2O 
.0228 

.0168 
.0120 

.0228 

.OI68 
.0120 
.0228 

Taking  a  wear  of  .2  in.  as  being  the  extreme  permissible 
wear  at  the  joint  under  the  best  conditions,  the  life  of  the  dif- 
ferent types  of  joints  would  be  as  follows,  in  years: 

TYPE  OF  BOND  OR  WELD 


Kind  of  Rail 

Chicago 

Crown 

Plastic 

Falk 

Goldschmidt 

Soft  

7.2 

6.14 

9-9 

9-2 

11. 9 

Medium  

145 

12.8 

14-5 

IS- ' 

18.8 

Hard  

5  s 

5.i 

6.1 

69 

6.9 

The  estimated  life  of  rails  as  per  the  same  series  of  observa- 
tions, if  the  rail  were  a  continuous  one  and  the  joint  did  not  in- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


332 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


terfere,  giving  a  permissible  wear  of  .2  in.,  would  be  as  fol- 
lows, in  years: 


Kind  of  Rail 

Chicago 

Crown 

Plastic 

Falk 

Goldschmidt 

Soft  

II.9 

11.9 

II. 9 

II. 9 

11.9 

16.6 

16.6 

16.6 

16.6 

16.6 

Hard   

6.9 

6.9 

6.9 

6.9 

6.9 

The  following  would  be  the  electrical  efficiency  and  loss  at 
the  beginning  and  end  of  the  first  year : 


Class  of  Joint 

Electrical  Per 
Cent  Efficiency 
at  Beginning 
of  Year 

Electrical 
Efficiency  at 
End  of  Year 

Per  Cent  Below 
Equal  Section 
of  Rail 

89  51 

74-43 

29-57 

Crown  bonds  

86.71 

73-72 

26.28 

Plastic  bonds   

89.72 

77.84 

22.l6 

IOI.I6 

86  53 

10.44 

Goldschmidt  thermit  weld. 

IOLI4 

100.39 

OO.39  + 

The  following  would  be  the  loss  in  electrical  efficiency  at 
the  end  of  the  first  year's  service : 

Chicago  Bonds. — Starts  with  89.51  per  cent  and  ends  with  7443, 
or  29.57  per  cent  below  the  resistance  of  an  equal  section  of  rail. 

Crown  Bonds. — Starts  with  an  efficiency  86.71  per  cent  and  ends 
with  73.72  per  cent,  or  26.28  per  cent  below  the  resistance  of  an 
equal  section  of  rail. 

Plastic  Bonds. — Starts  with  89.72  per  cent  and  ends  with  77.84 
per  cent  efficiency,  or  22.16  per  cent  below  the  resistance  of  a  sec- 
tion of  rail  of  equal  length. 

Falk  Welds. — Starts  with  an  efficiency  of  101.16  per  cent  and  ends 
with  86.53,  or  IO-44  Per  cent  below  an  equal  section  of  solid  rail. 

Goldschmidt  Welds. — Starts  with  an  efficiency  of  101.14  per  cent 
and  ends  with  100.39  per  cent,  or  00.39  Per  cent  above  the  resist- 
ance of  an  equal  section  of  solid  rail. 



PAPERS  AT  THE  VIENNA  CONVENTION 

In  addition  to  the  abstracts  already  published  of  the  papers 
to  be  presented  at  the  Vienna  meeting  of  the  International 
Tramways  and  Light  Railways  Association  of  Europe,  digests 
are  given  below  of  three  papers : 

BRAKES 

The  report  by  Th.  Scholtes,  director  of  the  Nuernberg-Fuerth 
Street  Railway  Company,  on  brakes  for  electric  street  rail- 
ways, is  based  on  information  received  from  fifty-four  com- 
panies and  on  a  former  report  of  Mr.  Poetz,  which  covered  the 
practice  of  twenty  companies.  Mr.  Scholtes  distinguishes  the 
following  three  groups : 

In  the  first  group  hand  brakes,  operated  by  the  motorman, 
are  used  and  only  in  special  cases  are  short-circuit  brakes  ap- 
plied. Information  is  given  on  thirty-seven  companies  which 
use  this  system  (63  per  cent  of  all  companies  which  replied  to 
the  inquiries).  In  this  case  the  trailers,  which  are  mostly  in- 
herited from  the  horse-car  service  and  are  therefore  of  light 
weight,  are  not  mechanically  braked.  To  keep  them  at  rest 
on  grades  or  in  emergency  cases  the  hand  brake  is  available ; 
in  some  cases  the  trailers  are  provided  with  electro-magnetic 
brakes.  The  author  calls  attention  to  the  hand  brake  used  by 
the  Leipzig  Street  Railway.  In  the  same  a  sufficient  braking 
effect  is  obtained  by  a  friction  device  between  brake  gear  and 
brake  staff  without  any  exertion  of  the  motorman,  since  the 
momentum  of  inertia  of  the  car  is  utilized  for  pressing  the 
brake  shoes  against  the  wheels.  This  brake  is  stated  to  have 
proved  very  satisfactory.  Besides  the  hand  brake,  most  of  the 
companies  in  this  group  use  the  electric  short-circuit  brake  as 
an  emergency  brake. 

The  second  group  comprises  those  companies  which  use  in 
general  electric  brakes,  together  with  hand  brakes.  Thirteen 
companies  (22  per  cent)  use  this  system.    In  this  case  the 


trailers  are  also  generally  braked  electrically.  The  author 
seems  to  be  rather  favorably  inclined  toward  the  electric  brake. 
The  motors  should  be  chosen  of  sufficient  capacity  to  prevent 
undue  heating.  On  grades  the  cars  must  be  stopped,  of  course, 
by  means  of  the  hand  brake. 

The  third  group  comprises  air  brakes,  and  is  sub-divided  by 
the  author  into  classes.  One  class  comprises  four  companies 
which  have  air  brakes  on  all  motor  cars,  the  other  six  com- 
panies which  use  air  brakes  only  on  a  portion  of  their  cars, 
only  the  heavy  trains  and  cars  being  provided  with  the  same. 
The  author  has  made  careful  measurements  of  the  power  re- 
quired for  operating  the  air  pump;  the  energy  consumption 
with  electric  braking  and  without  the  air  brakes  was  429  watt- 
hours  per  km,  with  the  air  brakes  456  watt-hours  per  km,  so 
that  the  difference  of  27  watt-hours  =  6.3  per  cent  was  the 
energy  consumed  by  the  pump. 

The  statements  of  the  different  companies  as  to  cost  of  opera- 
tion and  maintenance  are  scarce  and  vary  greatly,  the  average 
values  being  as  follows: 

Hand  brake,  0.06  cents  per  car-km. 
Electric  brake,  0.02  cents  per  car-km. 
Air  brake,  0.08  cents  per  car-km. 

They  show  that  the  air  brake  is  the  most  expensive.  The 
general  conclusions  of  the  author  are  as  follows: 

In  selecting  the  system  of  braking,  the  local  conditions  are 
to  be  taken  into  account.  The  brakes  should  not  cause  any 
jerking.  There  should  always  be  two  independent  brakes.  The 
operation  of  the  brakes  should  not  require  such  manual  strength 
as  to  tire  the  motorman  out. 

If  the  hand  brake  is  insufficient  as  a  main  brake  on  account 
of  power  to  operate  it,  or  too  great  a  number  of  trailers,  or  too 
difficult  conditions  of  the  track,  a  mechanical  type  of  brake 
should  be  used  and  the  electric  brake  should  be  introduced. 

Under  special  conditions  (for  instance,  if  the  motors  have 
not  a  sufficient  capacity  or  if  the  controllers  and  rheostats  have 
not  enough  steps)  air  brakes  may  be  used  to  advantage.  For 
heavy  loads,  high  speeds  and  with  more  than  two  trailers,  air 
brakes  should  always  be  used. 

Mr.  Scholtes  concludes  that  the  resolutions  adopted  by  the 
Congresses  in  Geneva  in  1898  and  in  London  in  1902  are  still 
valid,  namely,  that  "for  electric  tramway  service  two  brakes  are 
desirable,  of  which  one  should  be  a  hand  brake,  while  the  other 
may  be  a  mechanical  (electric,  magnetic  or  air)  brake.  The 
electric  brake  is  in  most  cases  preferable  on  account  of  its 
simplicity  and  safety,  and  is  recommended  for  use." 

SAVING  OF  ELECTRICAL  ENERGY  IN  STREET  RAILWAY 
SERVICE 

A  paper  by  W.  Klitzing,  director  of  the  street  railway  com- 
pany in  Magdeburg,  deals  with  this  subject  and  gives  the  sum- 
mary of  the  replies  sent  by  forty-seven  street  railway  com- 
panies to  the  inquiries  of  the  society  as  to  methods  of  reducing 
the  consumption  of  electrical  energy.  That  it  should  be  pos- 
sible to  accomplish  some  valuable  saving  is  indicated  by  the 
fact  that  the  energy  consumption  of  the  different  companies 
varies  between  350  and  962  watt-hours  per  car-km,  and  be- 
tween 50  and  105  watt-hours  per  ton-km.  It  is,  of  course,  to 
be  taken  into  consideration  that  the  energy  consumption  de- 
pends to  some  extent  on  local  conditions,  such  as  grades  and 
curves,  number  of  stops,  conditions  of  weather  and  snow,  etc. 
But  nearly  all  the  companies  who  sent  replies  thought  that  it 
would  be  possible  to  reduce  the  energy  consumption. 

The  means  proposed  for  this  purpose  are  schools  for  motor- 
men,  temporary  employment  of  the  motormen  in  the  repair 
works,  introduction  of  the  three-wire  system,  payment  of  a 
premium  to  economical  motormen,  control  by  meters  installed 
on  the  cars.  A  larger  number  of  companies  have  installed 
meters,  varying  in  price  from  $18  to  $79  per  meter.  They  are 
mostly  placed  below  the  passenger  benches.  The  payment  of  a 
premium  to  motormen  for  economy  in  current  consumption  has 


September  3,  1904.] 

been  introduced  by  very  few  companies  only,  although  some 
of  them  think  this  desirable. 

SYSTEM   OF   CURRENT  DISTRIBUTION   FOR   URBAN   AND  IN- 
TERURBAN  RAILWAYS 

The  report  on  this  subject  is  written  by  Ph.  Pforr,  chief  en- 
gineer of  the  Allgemeine  Elektric.  Ges.  of  Berlin.  The  author 
first  compares  the  three-phase  and  single-phase  alternating- 
current  traction  systems,  and  concludes  that  the  three-phase 
system  is  not  so  desirable  as  the  single-phase.  The  necessity 
of  using  a  commutator  with  a  single-phase  motor  is  considered 
to  be  no  disadvantage,  since  on  many  roads  it  will  be  necessary 
for  the  cars  to  run  on  existing  direct-current  lines  so  that  the 
single-phase  motor  should  be  able  to  be  operated  as  a  direct- 
current  motor,  which  is  only  possible  if  it  has  a  commutator. 

The  author  then  compares  the  direct-current  system  with 
the  single-phase  alternating-current  system,  and  bases  his  dis- 
cussion of  the  latter  on  the  results  obtained  with  the  Winter- 
Eichberg  motor.  The  latter  is  inferior  to  the  direct-current 
motor  only  with  respect  to  efficiency  and  weight.  The  lower 
efficiency  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  operating  current  (which  in 
the  case  of  the  direct-current  motor  pas:es  through  th?  arma- 
ture only)  passes  through  both  stator  and  rotor  in  the  Winter- 
Eichberg  motor.  The  copper  losses  of  the  alternating-current 
motor  amount,  therefore,  to  about  twice  the  copper  losses  in 
the  direct-current  motor,  which  means  a  decrease  of  efficiency 
by  4  per  cent  or  5  per  cent.  Moreover,  for  a  frequency  of  40 
to  50  periods  the  iron  losses  are  also  greater,  while  for  a  fre- 
quency of  16  to  25  periods  per  second  the  iron  losses  are  about 
the  same  as  in  the  direct-current  motor.  The  lower  efficiency 
and  the  fact  that  the  space  cannot  be  so  well  utilized,  results 
in  an  increased  weight  of  10  per  cent  to  20  per  cent  for  the  al- 
'  ternating-current  motor,  the  weight  being  the  higher,  the  higher 
the  frequency. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  direct-current  motor  requires  regula- 
tion by  means  of  resistances  during  the  period  of  starting,  while 
the  alternating-current  motor  is  regulated  by  transformers.  In 
the  latter  case  the  energy  loss  is  much  smaller  than  in  the  for- 
mer. The  lower  efficiency  of  the  single-phase  motor  is  there- 
fore compensated  for  to  a  large  degree  by  better  regulation. 

For  the  single-phase  system  it  makes  no  difference  whether 
the  voltage  at  the  trolley  wire  is  500  or  10,000,  since  the  regu- 
lation is  not  accomplished  in  the  high-tension  circuit,  but  in  a 
special  branch  circuit,  in  which  the  voltage  is  only  about  200. 
With  direct  current  the  highest  voltage  which  has  been  used 
with  the  ordinary  traction  system  is  800,  that  employed  on  the 
Berlin  Elevated  Railway.  Thury  has  installed  a  direct-current 
system  on  the  St.  George  de  Commiers-la-Murc  line,  in  which 
current  is  transmitted  at  2400  volts.  For  this  purpose  he  con- 
nects four  motors,  each  of  600  volts,  in  series.  However,  since 
it  appeared  dangerous  to  interrupt  this  high-tension  circuit  for 
the  sake  of  regulation  of  speed,  he  does  not  use  the  rails  for  the 
return  currents,  but  has  installed  a  separate  overhead  return 
wire.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  make  a  connection  between  the 
rails  and  the  central  point  of  the  four  motors  so  that  each  over- 
head wire  has  a  voltage  of  1200  against  the  rails,  the  voltage 
being  positive  in  one  wire  and  negative  in  the  other.  For  in- 
terrupting the  circuit  he  uses  oil  switches,  which  take  consid- 
erable space  and  are  expensive. 

The  author  divides  interurban  railroads  in  two  classes.  The 
first  comprises  those  lines  in  which  the  power  house  generates 
energy  at  1200  volts  or  less  for  transmission.  This  plan  can 
be  employed  by  operating  not  too  heavy  trains,  and  where  the 
terminals  are  not  further  away  from  the  power  house  than  12 
km  to  15  km  (7  miles  to  9  miles).  The  second  class  comprises 
those  roads  in  which  the  currents  must  be  transmitted  at  a 
higher  voltage  than  1200;  it  includes  roads  with  a  more  ex- 
tended system  and  using  heavy  trains. 

The  author  concludes  that  for  the  second  class  using  more 
than  1200  volts,  the  single-phase  system  is  far  superior.  He 


333 

believes  that  the  first  cost  of  installation  will  not  be  higher 
than  for  the  direct-current  system,  while  the  cost  of  operation 
will  be  smaller  since  there  are  no  converter  stations.  It  is  only 
for  railroads  with  a  voltage  less  than  1200  that  the  advantages 
of  the  direct-current  system  manifest  themselves,  and  they  are 
the  greater  the  lower  the  voltage.  For  600  volts  to  700  volts 
the  direct-current  system  is  surely  preferable,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  equipment  of  the  cars  is  cheaper. 

Between  700  volts  to  1200  volts  the  equipment  of  the  direct- 
current  system  requires  special  devices,  the  motors  are  some- 
what more  expensive,  the  controllers  are  considerably  more 
expensive,  and  the  danger  for  the  attendants  and  for  the  pas- 
sengers are  greater.  The  question  which  of  the  two  systems  is 
preferable  in  such  cases  will  depend  on  local  conditions. 

 ♦♦♦  

DESIGNING  AT  ARM'S  LENGTH 

Chicago,  Aug.  27,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

The  editorial  in  your  issue  of  Aug.  20  on  the  value  of  statis- 
tics refers  briefly  to  the  advantages  of  centralized  management 
in  connection  with  power  transmission,  lighting  and  electric 
railway  systems.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  considerable  econ- 
omy-can be  secured  from  concentrating  the  technical  staff  at 
headquarters,  contrasted  with  the  often-times  prohibitive  ex- 
pense of  maintaining  experts  in  different  branches  of  engineer- 
ing at  the  local  offices  of  small  companies.  Like  many  other 
propositions,  however,  this  statement  deserves  some  qualifica- 
tion as  carried  out  in  practice,  for  it  is  only  when  high  effi- 
ciency is  obtained  in  the  centralized  engineering  department 
that  any  great  saving  may  be  effected.  The  expenses  of  man- 
agement are  likely  to  be  heavier  as  the  responsibilities  of  the 
headquarters'  officials  increase,  and  although  this  is  legitimate 
within  pretty  wide  limits,  it  does  not  take  long  for  all  general 
expenses  to  reach  a  formidable  total  if  a  sharp  eye  is  not  kept 
upon  them. 

In  some  organizations  of  this  character,  however,  the  tech- 
nical staff  is  seriously  hampered  in  doing  its  best  work  by  an 
ultra-conservative  policy  in  regard  to  traveling  expenses.  It 
is  no  uncommon  thing  to  find  a  power  station  in  the  Far 
West  being  designed,  root  and  branch,  by  an  engineer  2000 
miles  to  3000  miles  away,  in  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  New  York 
or  Boston,  who  is  not  privileged  to  visit  the  scene  of  his  work 
from  the  time  when  the  first  pencil  sketches  are  made  to  the 
days  when  steam  is  first  turned  into  the  engine  cylinders  and 
current  switched  upon  the  distributing  circuits.  Of  course, 
some  responsible  member  of  the  syndicate  or  centralized  organ- 
ization has  visited  the  site  of  the  plant  and  sized  up  the  general 
lay  of  the  land  in  the  intervals  between  dinners  with  the  Mayor 
and  Aldermen  or  with  representative  citizens  at  the  clubs. 
But  the  subordinate  engineer  whose  detailed  work  designs 
every  cubic  foot  of  the  station  is  often  left  in  the  lurch  as  far 
as  any  real  knowledge  of  local  conditions  goes.  An  instance  of 
this  occurred  recently  in  the  case  of  a  power  station  located  in 
a  distant  city.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  was  somewhere  around 
5000  kw,  and  about  three-quarters  of  a  million  of  dollars  repre- 
sented its  cost.  From  start  to  finish  the  designing  engineer  in 
charge  was  not  allowed  to  take  a  trip  to  the  spot,  and  as  a  re- 
sult, the  completed  station  stands  to-day  so  crammed  with  ma- 
chinery in  inconvenient  locations  that  it  is  difficult  to  operate 
the  plant.  From  time  to  time  during  the  construction  period, 
local  conditions  demanded  radical  changes  in  design;  the  piping 
system  became  more  and  more  complicated;  storage  batteries 
were  added  to  the  orginal  layout,  and  finally  an  enormous  boos- 
ter joined  the  happy  family  of  rotaries,  transformers,  switch- 
boards, cables  and  steam  pipes  which  filled  the  establishment 
until  it  only  needed  the  Hebraic  three  balls  over  the  entrance  to 
mark  it  as  a  sort  of  power  equipment  pawn  shop.    By  dint  of 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


334 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


much  coaxing  the  booster  was  finally  assigned  a  place  between 
the  bases  of  two  adjoining  rotaries,  the  terminal  board  being 
set  up  in  the  basement  below.  The  wiring  diagram  of  the 
plant  resembled  a  map  of  the  Evil  One's  nervous  system,  and  it 
was  almost  impossible  for  the  draughting  department  to  keep 
the  drawings  up  to  date,  so  frequent  were  the  changes  which 
followed  the  arrival  of  the  trans-continental  mail.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  the  $250  required  to  send  the  design- 
ing engineer  to  the  station  and  back  on  a  three  weeks'  trip 
would  have  been  saved  many  times  over  in  the  construction 
cost  of  tbe  plant,  which  ran  up  to  about  $150  per  kilowatt  at 
the  time  of  completion. 

Another  case  of  the  same  sort  was  that  of  a  Canadian  plant 
designed  by  an  American  firm.  Here  the  plans  were  carried 
through  without  much  change  in  the  home  office  until  after 
construction  began,  when  one  of  the  non-technical  officials  of  the 
firm  decided  to  cut  down  expenses  by  shrinking  the  dimensions 
of  the  station.  None  of  the  responsible  designers  had  visited  the 
plant,  so  the  paring  down  took  place  with  the  result  that  when 
operation  began,  it  was  necessary  to  climb  a  ladder  in  order  to 
shut  off  steam  from  the  boiler  room,  after  the  attendant  had 
squeezed  through  a  narrow  passageway  that  placed  a  premium 
on  a  thin  fireman.  Other  inconveniences  were  also  brought 
out  when  operation  commenced,  many  of  which  might  have 
been  foreseen  if  the  designer  had  visited  the  plant  during  con- 
struction. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  these  comments  to  deprecate  the  de- 
signing of  large  power  stations  in  a  distant  city,  but  it  is  in- 
tended to  point  the  necessity  of  following  the  work  in  person 
upon  the  ground  as  far  as  possible,  if  it  is  decided  to  direct  it 
in  general  at  arm's  length.  The  practice  of  the  great  manu- 
facturing companies  in  encouraging  their  designing  engineers 
to  visit  the  shops  and  testing  rooms  .is  well  worth  following 
under  the  different  conditions  which  accompany  the  design  of 
power  plants  by  firms  of  engineers.  Observer. 
 ♦♦♦ 

SIX-WHEELED  TRUCKS 

Minneapolis,  Aug.  25,  1904. 
Editors  Street  Railway  Iournal  : 

The  increase  in  car  speeds  upon  electric  railways  during  the 
past  few  years  has  brought  about  many  interesting  changes  in 
the  design  of  equipment.  The  demand  for  higher  rates  of  ac- 
celeration and  braking,  coupled  with  the  necessity  of  maintain- 
ing faster  maximum  speeds  for  considerable  periods  of  time, 
has  raised  the  standard  of  power  house,  line,  track  and  rolling; 
stock  construction  so  that  a  general  strengthening  of  design  is 
at  once  apparent  when  one  compares  the  equipment  of  1904 
with  that  of  five  or  ten  years  ago.  This  improvement  in  the 
quality  and  increase  in  the  quantity  of  material  used  is  par- 
ticularly evident  in  the  case  of  cars,  and  goes  a  long  way  to- 
ward explaining  the  advance  in  rolling  stock  prices  during  the 
past  decade.  Thus,  $2,500  was  not  long  ago  considered  a  fair 
valuation  for  a  car  representative  of  advanced  practice  in 
urban  transportation,  capable  of  attaining  a  maximum  speed 
of  25  miles  per  hour  and  carrying  some  thirty-eight  passengers. 
To-day  a  car  costing  $7,500  and  running  at  35  miles  per  hour, 
with  fifty-two  passengers  aboard,  is  far  from  unusual  in  city 
and  suburban  service,  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  charge  a  con- 
siderable part  of  this  increased  cost  to  the  faster  schedules  de- 
manded at  the  present  time. 

One  of  the  most  notable  points  brought  to  light  by  the  recent 
high-speed  tests  in  Germany  was  the  influence  of  roadbed  and 
track  upon  high-velocity  car  and  train  movements.  It  was 
thoroughly  demonstrated  that  without  the  most  substantial 
track  construction,  heavy  motor  equipments  could  not  be  safely 
worked  to  their  full  speed  possibilities.  In  the  same  way  the 
trucks  must  be  unusually  strong  if  a  car  is  to  safely  run  at 
high  speeds,  as  irregularities  occur  even  in  the  best  laid  track. 

Six-wheeled  trucks  are  now  so  common  upon  the  standard 


Pullman  cars  of  steam  roads  that  the  absence  of  the  third  pair 
of  wheels  immediately  strikes  the  attention  at  a  railway  station 
of  one  interested  in  transportation  matters.  It  is  pretty  certain 
that  electric  railway  speeds  have  not  yet  reached  a  maximum 
limit,  and  the  time  has  come  for  the  consideration  of  the  six- 
wheeled  truck  as  a  factor  in  the  movement  of  rolling  stock  at 
speeds  upward  of  60  miles  per  hour.  The  ordinary  trolley 
road  is  probably  better  off  with  four-wheeled  trucks,  as  the 
acceleration  drops  off  with  the  introduction  of  the  third  pair 
of  wheels,  while  the  first  cost  of  the  six-wheeled  truck  runs 
from  50  per  cent  to  100  per  cent  more  than  the  other.  The 
maintenance  expense  is  greater  with  the  six-wheeled  truck, 
other  things  being  equal,  and  the  maximum  speed  of  the  aver- 
age trolley  car  is  certainly  not  high  enough  to  warrant  incur- 
ring any  considerable  expense  in  trying  to  excel  the  very  satis- 
factory four-wheeled  trucks  now  upon  the  market.  In  other 
words,  there  is  little  reason  to  believe  that  the  difference  in 
safety  and  comfort  at  speeds  of  35  miles  to  50  miles  per  hour 
would  be  worth  the  extra  expense  of  the  six-wheeled  truck 
over  the  present  type  in  suburban  and  interurban  service. 

A  different  proposition  confronts  us,  however,  in  the  cases  of 
extra  high-speed  interurban  roads  and  of  steam  roads  contem- 
plating the  adoption  of  electrical  equipment  for  high-speed 
branch  lines  or  fast  suburban  service  upon  main  line  routes. 
Here  the  superior  running  qualities  and  safety  of  the  larger 
truck  have  an  important  bearing  upon  operation  at  speeds  of 
from  60  miles  to  80  miles  per  hour,  and  even  beyond.  No  one 
can  safely  fix  the  speed  limit  of  the  next  five  years  upon  Amer- 
ican railways  at  these  figures — in  fact,  they  are  exceeded  prac- 
tically every  day.  Although  the  electrical  equipment  of  a 
steam  road  does  not  imply  extraordinary  speeds  in  future 
schedules,  it  is  certain  that  as  the  field  of  electric  traction  ex- 
pands, the  speed  problem  is  not  one  to  fall  out  of  sight.  The 
suspension  of  two  heavy  motors  upon  a  truck  for  fast  running 
demands  a  much  more  solid  construction  than  is  the  case  with 
even  a  heavy  trailer  car,  and  the  employment  of  the  center  pair 
of  wheels  as  idlers  helps  to  carry  some  of  the  extra  weight  and 
strains,  at  the  sacrifice  of  an  accelerating  power,  which  dimin- 
ishes in  importance  as  the  length  of  run  between  stops  in- 
creases. Every  one  appreciates  the  difference  in  comfort  be- 
tween a  six-wheeled  truck  and  a  four-wheeler  at  60  miles  per 
hour,  because  the  former  fails  to  register  the  defects  in  track 
construction  which  make  such  an  impression  upon  the  latter. 
The  six-wheeled  truck  is  easier  upon  the  track  and  roadbed 
also.  On  account  of  the  heavy  motors  used  in  very  high-speed 
equipments,  36-in.  or  42-in.  wheels  are  preferable  to  the  33-in. 
size.  Little  trouble  should  be  expected  in  obtaining  a  high 
rate  of  retardation  with  the  six-wheeled  truck,  as  the  present 
idea  fits  shoes  to  every  wheel,  although  the  pressure  at  the 
center  wheel  is  lessened  somewhat.  Certainly  as  heavy  elec- 
tric railway  work  comes  more  and  more  to  the  front,  the  advis- 
ability of  adopting  six-wheeled  trucks  is  bound  to  be  more 
carefully  weighed  in  comparison  with  adherence  to  present 
four-wheeled  standards.  R.  P.  Williams. 

 ♦♦♦ 

CONCRETE  BUS-BAR  AND  SWITCH-CELL  COMPARTMENTS 

Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Aug.  26,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

I  notice  an  editorial  in  your  issue  of  Aug.  20  in  which  you 
advocate  the  use  of  concrete  in  bus-bar  and  switch-cell 
compartments.  I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
new  station  of  the  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company,  of 
Baltimore,  which  has  been  in  use  for  about  two  years,  has  con- 
crete switch-cell  compartments,  and  all  the  work  of  this  charac- 
ter which  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  done 
during  the  past  year  has  been  of  concrete  exclusively.  The  Balti- 
more construction  proved  very  satisfactory  during  the  recent 
fire  in  that  city.  Engineer. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


335 


A  NEW  STANDARD  FOR  CHECKING  SERVICE  METERS 

The  most  important  and  frequent  use  made  of  standard  in- 
struments in  central  stations  is  the  checking  of  the  wattmeters 
upon  the  service  circuits,  yet  it  is  the  use  for  which  they  are 
the  least  adapted.  Wattmeters  when  properly  tested  are  checked 
under  different  loads,  from  one-fiftieth  to  one  and  one-half 
times  their  rated  full-load  capacity,  and  the  range  thus  covered 
so  greatly  exceeds  that  of  the  portable  standard  instruments  in 
general  use,  that  ordinarily  three  of  these  standards  are  re- 
quired to  check  one  service  meter. 

To  facilitate  rapid  checking  of  the  integrating  wattmeters 
and  to  insure  accurate  results,  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company  has  designed  the  special  precision 
wattmeter  illustrated  herewith.  It  has  the  same  characteristics 
of  high  accuracy  and  ease  of  manipulation  of  the  other  West- 
inghouse instruments  of  precision,  and  has  a  special  provision 
by  which  connections  may  be  made  for  three  different  currents, 
of  5  amps.,  20  amps,  and  100  amps,  maximum  capacity,  re- 
spectively. The  precision  resistance  or  multiplier  is  used  in 
connection  with  this  instrument,  which,  with  resistance  in  cir- 
cuit suitable  for  100  volts,  will  accurately  measure  quantities 
of  from  10  watts  to  10,000  watts,  and  proportionate  amounts 
at  other  voltages. 

This  instrument  is  easily  manipulated.    The  construction  of 


PRECISION  WATTMETER  FOR  CHECKING  SERVICE  METERS 


the  binding  posts  facilitates  the  making  of  quick  connections 
and  insures  good  contact.  When  current  is  passed  through  the 
circuits  the  sight  wire  moves  to  the  right,  and  is  brought  back 
to  zero  by  turning  to  the  left  the  central  knob,  which  moves  the 
vernier  head  along  the  scale.  A  fine  adjustment  is  obtained 
by  the  knob  at  the  side.  Readings  are  made  in  tenths  of  a 
division  without  estimation,  giving,  in  the  instrument  shown, 
2000  readable  deflections  on  a  5-in.  circular  scale. 

In  designing  this  instrument  the  intention  has  been  to  pro- 
vide a  single  checking  standard  that  will  cover  the  entire  range 
ni  all  the  service  wattmeters  used  in  ordinary  installations,  and 
thus  to  avoid  the  use  of  several  standards,  with  the  accom- 
panying disadvantages  and  inconvenience  in  handling.  By 
agreeing  to  keep  this  and  other  instruments  of  precision  cor- 
rectly calibrated  for  live  years,  it  is  further  sought  to  eliminate 
any  trouble  caused  by  inaccuracy  or  doubt  of  the  correctness 
in  the  standards  themselves. 


CONVERTIBLE  CAR  FOR  GRAHAM,  VA. 

The  Bluefield  &  Hinton  Electric  Railway  Company  has  lately 
finished  the  construction  of  a  road  at  Graham,  in  the  extreme 
western  part  of  Virginia,  near  the  border  of  West  Virginia. 
Among  the  equipment  ordered  for  the  new  road  are  convertible 
and  semi-convertible  cars  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company. 
The  convertible  car  shown  in  the  illustration  has  been  lately 
received  and  put  in  operation.  It  is  20  ft.  7  ins.  long  over  the 
end  panels,  and  30  ft.  over  the  vestibules ;  from  the  panels  over 
the  vestibule,  4  ft.  8l/2  ins.  The  width  over  the  posts  at  the 
belt  is  7  ft.  9  ins.  The  distance  from  center  to  center  of  posts 
is  2  ft.  7  ins.,  and  the  sweep  of  the  posts,  5  ins.  The  side  sills  are 
5l/4  ins.  x  6  ins.,  and  the  end  sills,  4%  ins.  x  6  ins.  The  car  is 
seated  for  thirty-two  passengers,  the  seats  being  cane  uphol- 


CONVERTIBLE  CAR  FOR  THE  BLUEFIELD  &  HINTON  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAY  COMPANY 


stered  and  of  the  step-over  type.  Brackets  connecting  the 
backs  of  the  seats  to  the  posts  form  grab  handles  and  obviate 
the  necessity  of  grab  handles  on  the  outside  of  the  posts.  The 
guard  rails  are  arranged  to  slide  on  the  inside  of  the  posts, 
and  when  raised  are  held  above  the  curtain  roller  covers,  and 
appear  to  be  a  part  of  the  woodwork  of  the  car.  The  interior 
is  finished  in  cherry  of  natural  color,  and  the  ceilings  are  deco- 
rated birch  veneer.  Single  seats  are  placed  at  each  corner, 
under  which  are  located  the  large  hoppers  of  the  sand  boxes. 
The  metal  runways  which  guide  the  sashes  into  the  roof  pockets 
have  five  lock-bolt  stops,  so  that  the  windows  may  be  held  at 
any  desired  height.  The  flexible  metal  panels  have  strong 
locks  at  the  base,  by  which  they  are  securely  held  when  raised 
into  the  pockets.  The  furnishings  are  of  the  builder's  make, 
and  include  "Dumpit"  sand  boxes,  "Dedenda"  gongs,  brake 
handles,  radial  draw-bars  and  round  corner  seat  end  panels. 
The  car  is  mounted  on  No.  21-E  trucks. 


CONVENIENT  TRANSIT  IN  NEW  YORK  FROM  ELEVATED 
RAILWAY  TO  DEPARTMENT  STORE 

What  will  unquestionably  prove  a  great  boon  to  the  shopping 
public,  particularly  on  disagreeable  days,  is  the  entrance  to  one 
of  the  large  department  stores  which  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  has  constructed  at  its  Eighteenth  Street  "L" 
station.  Tens  of  thousands  of  shoppers  patronize  the  Sixth 
Avenue  "L"  system  daily,  and  of  these  multitudes  visit  the 
store,  in  question.  Traffic  at  the  intersection  of  Eighteenth 
Street  and  Sixth  Avenue  is  frequently  congested  and  occasion- 
ally perilous,  and  travelers  on  the  "E"  will  be  glad  to  know  that 
they  can  enter  the  store  without  having  to  descend  to  the  street, 
as  formerly.  The  entrance  to  the  mammoth  department  store 
is  virtually  a  bridge  built  across  the  tracks.  It  is  strongly  con- 
structed, and  from  an  architectural  point  attractive  to  the  eye. 
Passengers  coming  from  uptown  points  alight  from  trains, 
ascend  to  the  bridge,  and  in  a  moment  are  within  the  attractive 
walls  of  the  big  and  busy  center  of  retail  shopping.  The  view 
from  the  bridge  is  inspiring,  because  it  conveys  a  graphic  im- 
pression of  the  restless  activity  of  the  populous  dry  goods  dis- 
trict. Passengers  on  northbound  trains  do  not  have  to  cross 
the  tracks  by  way  of  the  bridge.  They  simply  ascend  a  short 
stairway,  turn  to  the  right,  and  soon  are  in  the  store. 


336 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


ST.  LOUIS  CAR  COMPANY  AT  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE 
EXPOSITION 


In  previous  issues  some  brief  descriptions  have  been  given  of 
the  St.  Louis  Car  Company's  extensive  exhibit  at  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition.  The  exhibit  has  had  a  number  of  in- 
teresting features  added  to  it  since,  and  it  is  only  recently  that 
the  magnificent  private  car  "Milwaukee"  for  John  I.  Beggs, 


THE  LONDON  AND  DUBLIN  DOUBLE-DECK  CARS  ON  EXHIBIT 


president  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
has  been  finished  to  complete  the  exhibit.  A  full  description 
of  this  exhibit,  which  is  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  Palace 
of  Transportation  as  well  as  the  largest  made  by  any  other  St. 
Louis  concern,  has  therefore  been  deferred  until  the  present. 
In  making  this  display  what  it  is,  the  company  must  be  credited 
with  something  more  than  a  desire  to  impress 
electric  railway  men  who  may  visit  the  Expo- 
sition. As  a  St.  Louis  manufacturer,  it  has 
shown  a  commendable  desire  to  contribute  gen- 
erously to  the  popular  educational  value  of  the 
transportation  exhibits,  and  so  to  the  success 
of  the  Exposition.  Besides  being  a  display  of 
the  many  types  of  car  construction  turned  out 
at  the  great  shops  in  Baden,  St.  Louis,  the  ex- 
hibit is  a  history  of  street  railway  car  con- 
struction from  the  mule  car  to  the  present 
coaches  for  high-speed  interurban  service. 

The  features  illustrating  the  progress  in 
construction  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  time 
along  one  aisle.  The  first  exhibit  in  this  sec- 
tion is  especially  appropriate  to  the  position  it 
occupies.  This  is  the  old  stage  coach  of  the 
kind  in  which  Horace  Greeley,  Schuyler  Col- 
fax and  others  viewed  the  glories  of  some  of 
the  territory  included  in  the  Louisiana  pur- 
chase. Nothing  could  be  more  indicative  of 
the  improvements  in  the  methods  of  travel 
through  the  region  acquired  by  the  purchase, 
or  of  the  progress  in  that  territory,  than  the 
contrast  between  this  simple  vehicle  and  the 
magnificent  private  car  forming  the  last  feature  of  the  his- 
torical exhibit. 

Next  in  order  is  an  old  "bob-tailed"  horse  car,  contributed  to 
the  exhibit  by  the  Louisville  Railway  Company.  This  car  was 
used  in  Louisville  in  1870.    It  has  a  platform  for  the  driver, 


and  at  the  rear  end  only  a  pair  of  steps,  leading  directly  into  the 
car.  Two  single-hinged  doors,  one  on  either  side  of  a  center 
post,  lead  from  the  car  to  the  driver's  platform.  A  noticeable 
feature  resembling  modern  construction  is  that  the  side  panels 
are  plain — that  is,  neither  concave  nor  convex,  giving  the  car 
the  same  width  over  the  side  sills  as  at  the  belt  rail.  Thus,  in 
this  car  at  least,  the  concave  panel  idea  inherited  from  the 
omnibus  had  been  abandoned.  Two  brake  wheels  with  separate 
chains  are  provided,  presumably  for  safety, 
the  brake  wheels  being  about  10  ins.  in 
diameter. 

A  horse  car  of  modern  construction,  but 
very  abbreviated  in  length,  is  also  shown.  This 
is  of  a  type  built  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany for  large  plantations  in  the  Southern 
countries. 

The  first  cable  car  ever  operated  is  also  an 
interesting  feature.  All  the  original  appli- 
ances, the  grip,  the  rails,  the  slots,  etc.,  are 
shown  in  position.  The  track  on  which  the 
car  rests  is  raised  several  feet  above  the  floor, 
giving  a  good  view  of  the  grip  and  under- 
ground construction.  The  car  bears  the  name 
"Clay  Street  Hill  Railroad  Company,"  and  was 
used  in  San  Francisco  in  1873. 

To  those  who  have  not  had  shop  experience 
with  the  early  types  of  electric  motors  and  car 
apparatus,  the  old  car  used  by  the  Topeka 
Railway  Company  is  of  special  interest.  This 
car  was  built  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
in  1887,  its  first  year  of  operation,  and  was  in 
continuous  service  until  1904. 

The  car  body  is  raised  from  the  trucks  to 
show  the  motors  and  equipment.  The  motors  are  of  the  old 
double-reduction  gear  type.  The  gears  as  well  as  the  armature 
are  unprotected.  The  controlling  device  is  of  the  Thomson- 
Houston  type,  in  which  the  rheostat,  placed  under  the  car,  is 
operated  from  the  platform  by  rods  and  bevel  gears. 

The  "knock  down"  car,  one  of  650  sent  to  Buenos  Ayres, 


THE  DISPLAY  OF  BRASS  CASTINGS,  THE  OLD  STAGE  COACH 
SHOWN  ON  THE  RIGHT 


Argentina,  will  illustrate  to  many  a  new  type  of  car  construc- 
tion. To  economize  room  in  shipping,  these  car  bodies  are  so 
built  that  they  can  be  easily  taken  apart  and  packed  very  com- 
pactly. The  car  as  exhibited  has  its  sides,  top  and  ends  wedged 
away,  showing  the  method  of  construction.    One  platform  is 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


337 


removed  and  crated,  as  in  shipment.  When  so  crated  it  is  com- 
posed of  three  parts — the  hood,  the  dash  and  the  platform,  with 
the  extending  timbers. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  many  of  the  street  cars  of 
London  are  of  American  construction.  One  of  the  type  of 
which  several  were  constructed  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
for  use  in  London  is  among  the  exhibits.  The  distinctive  fea- 
ture of  this  car  is  that  it  is  a  "double-decker,"  the  roof  being 
utilized  to  carry  as  many  passengers  as  the  interior.  Access 
to  the  upper  deck  is  gained  by  stairways  on  each  platform.  The 
car  is  elegantly  finished  throughout,  the  windows  being  sup- 
plied with  draped  curtains.    Similar  in  many  ways  is  the  next 


THE  BEGGS  PRIVATE  CAR  AND  CAR  NO.  300  OF  CALIFORNIA 
COMBINATION  TYPE  FOR  THE  PACIFIC  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAY  COMPANY 


exhibit.  This  is  a  car  made  for  use  in  Dublin,  Ireland,  and  is 
likewise  "double-decked." 

Of  rnore  than  usual  interest  to  the  car  builder  and  user  is 
the  car  for  the  New  York  subway,  built  for  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company.  The  copper  sheathing  below  the  belt 
rail,  together  with  the  decrease  in  width  at  the  eaves,  makes 
the  car  distinctive  in  appearance  from  the  many  around  it.  It 
was  constructed  according  to  very  rigid  specifications,  every 
precaution  being  taken  against  possible  crushing  or  telescoping 


THE  FIRST  CABLE  CAR 


in  the  event  of  accidents.  The  car  is  mounted  on  the  St.  Louis 
Car  Company's  Interborough  Special  M.  C.  B.  trucks. 

A  distinctive  type  for  elevated  railways  is  the  car  constructed 
for  the  Northwestern  Elevated  Railroad  of  Chicago.  It  is  46 
ft.  9  ins.  long,  having  a  width  over  all  of  8  ft.  8  ins.  The  bot- 
tom framing  is  of  wood  composite  construction,  being  thor- 
oughly reinforced  with  steel. 

A  car  closely  resembling  a  steam  railroad  coach  is  the  closed 
trail  car  for  the  "Key  Route"  in  Oakland,  Cal.  It  is  entered 
from  the  street  by  a  flight  of  steps,  but  the  extreme  width  of 


the  vestibule  steps  permits  rapid  loading  and  unloading.  The 
interior  of  the  car  is  supplied  with  three  St.  Louis  interior  arc 
lights.  In  addition,  incandescent  lamps  with  opalescent  globes 
are  placed  at  frequent  intervals  on  the  molding  just  under- 
neath the  upper  deck  sill,  there  being  used  for  this  purpose 
more  than  sixty  lamps.  The  rich  mahogany  finish  harmonizes 
well  with  the  green  tint  of  the  head  linings. 


THE  GLOBE  SHOWING  FOREIGN  PORTS  WHERE  THE  ST.  LOUIS 
CAR  COMPANY'S  PRODUCTS  ARE  USED 


Another  car  for  service  in  the  West  is  that  constructed  for 
the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company.  This  is  a  combination 
car,  the  open  forward  compartment  seating  twenty  passengers, 
while  the  closed  rear  section  seats  thirty-six  passengers. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  exhibits  is  the  partly  fin- 
ished car  of  the  kind  employed  on  the  Intramural  Railroad. 
Large  numbers  of  this  design  are  being  built  for  city  service. 
On  one  end  the  siding  of  the  car  is  completed.  The  other  end 
shows  merely  the  posts  and  trusses.    Between  are  the  inter- 


CAR,  SHOWING  DIFFERENT  STAGES  OF  CONSTRUCTION 


mediate  stages  of  construction,  showing  the  wood  trusses,  fur- 
ring, etc.  The  opposite  side  of  the  car  illustrates  the  process 
of  painting.  Near  one  door  post  the  siding  is  unpainted.  A 
short  section  is  then  shown  treated  with  primer.  The  other 
sections  illustrate  continually  advancing  stages  of  the  painting 
until  at  the  opposite  end  the  finished  state  is  shown. 

The  different  steps  are  as  follows:  (1)  primer,  (2)  lead  coat, 
(3)  putty  and  knifing  in  hardwood,  (4)  first  coat  rough  stuff, 
(5)  second  coat  rough  stuff,  (6)  third  coat  rough  stuff,  (7) 
guide  coat,  (8)  rubbed  out,  (9)  first  coat  color,  (10)  second 


338 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


coat  color,  (n)  color  varnish,  (12)  first  coat  varnish,  (13) 
second  coat  varnish,  (14)  third  coat  varnish. 

The  interior  of  the  car  is  likewise  shown  in  an  incompleted 
state.  One  side  is  finished,  having  the  seats  in  place.  On  the 
opposite  side,  however,  none  of  the  interior  finish  has  been 
fitted,  so  that  the  posts,  tie  rods,  etc.,  are  visible.  On  this  side 
the  method  of  running  the  light  wires  is  shown,  the  top  sill  and 
side  plate  being  grooved  for  them. 

The  highest  type  of  car  cr>^-^  ,v  iion  is  represented  in  the 
private  car  "Milwaukee,"  r  [  jcted  for  President  John  I. 
Beggs,  of  the  Milwaukee  EM  .ic  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
and  described  in  a  recent  hsue.  This  car  contains  kitchen, 
dining  room,  office,  observation  compartments  and  state  rooms, 
several  different  choice  woods  being  used  in  the  interior  finish. 
Marquetry  work  of  varied  designs  relieves  any  undue  plainness 
in  the  woodwork,  which  is  comparatively  free  from  paneling 
and  molding. 

In  addition  to  the  trucks  under  the  cars  exhibited,  several 
others  are  shown.  Among  these  is  the  No.  50  for  elevated  and 
interurban  service.  Another  for  elevated  and  heavy  interurban 
service  is  the  No.  32.  The  side  frames  of  this  type  are  of  solid 
steel.  An  unfinished  side  frame  lies  beside  the  truck,  showing 
the  one-piece  construction.  A  truck  for  high-speed  service  on 
interurban  lines  is  type  No.  23-B.  Among  other  places  this 
truck  is  used  under  the  private  car  "Martha"  of  the  Indiana 
Union  Traction  Company.  For  city  service  where  turns  of 
short  radii  are  necessary,  the  short  wheel  base  type  No.  47  is 
shown.  This  has  a  wheel  base  of  4  ft.  6  ins.,  the  motors  being 
outside  hung. 

In  recent  years  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company  has  put  on  the 
market  several  street  railway  specialties.  These,  including  arc 
headlights,  interior  arc  lamps,  journal  bearings,  roller  side 
bearings,  etc.,  are  shown  in  appropriate  places  in  the  exhibit. 

The  office  is  in  a  neat  booth  just  across  the  aisle  from  the 
main  exhibit.  The  space  immediately  in  front  of  the  booth  is 
occupied  by  car  seats  of  the  many  designs  manufactured  by 
the  company, 

A  description  of  the  exhibit  of  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
would  be  incomplete  were  mention  not  made  of  the  large  globe 
occupying  a  position  near  the  western  entrance  to  the  Trans- 
portation Building.  This  globe,  representing  the  World,  has 
marked  over  it,  in  their  proper  position  on  the  map,  the  places 
where  the  products  of  the  company  are  used.  The  whole  sur- 
face of  the  globe  is  well  dotted,  showing  many  points  in  Africa, 
South  America,  Australia  and  other  foreign  lands  which  have 
been  supplied  with  cars  by  this  company. 




RECEIPTS  AND  SHIPPING  BILLS  FOR  ELECTRIC  FREIGHT 

SERVICE 


On  many  electric  railways,  particularly  interurban  lines,  the 
freight  carrying  department  has  become  a  very  important  fea- 
ture. The  public  has  shown  a  disposition  to  recognize  the 
economies  and  conveniences  incident  to  freight  carriage  by 
electricity,  but  to  attain  the  highest  degree  of  success  it  is  essen- 
tial that  every  precaution  should  be  taken  to  give  no  cause  for 
complaints  relative  to  lost  or  delayed  material.  This  difficulty 
is  easily  minimized  by  using  shipping  forms  and  receipts  which 
can  be  quickly  filled  out  and  easily  understood. 

The  receipt  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration  is  em- 
ployed on  the  electric  package  and  freight  line  operated  by  the 
Pennsylvania  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railway  Company,  and  was 
designed  by  the  General  Manifold  Company,  of  Franklin,  Pa. 
It  is  printed  in  triplicate,  requiring  two  carbon  sheets,  a  num- 
ber of  such  sets  being  arranged  to  form  a  pad.  The  original  is 
given  by  the  freight  clerk  to  the  shipper,  the  first  copy  is  kept 
by  the  freight  clerk,  who  sends  it  to  the  auditing  department 
with  the  cash  received,  and  the  second  copy,  which  is  printed 
in  red,  goes  with  the  freight  to  the  freight  agent  at  the  other 


end,  who  secures  thereon  the  receipt  of  the  consignee.  This 
copy  is  then  also  returned  to  the  auditing  department  for  check- 
ing purposes.  The  first  and  second  copies  differ  slightly  from  the 
original.   Where  the  shipper's  form  is  marked  "Received  from" 

and  "By   ,  Agent,"  the  copies  for  the  conductor  and 

freight  agent  are  marked  "Shipped  by"  and  "Received  by 
 ,  Agent,"  thus  making  one  writing  suffice  for  all  forms. 


The  lower  part  of  the  copies  also  contains  instructions  for 


ELECTRIC  PACKAGE  &  FREIGHT  LINE 

OPERATED  BY 

Pennsylvania  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railway  Company 


'M  F  49553 


190 


Received  from 


The  property  described  below,  in  apparent  good  order,  except  as  noted,  contents  and  condition  of  contents 
of  packages  unknown, 


by 


Agent 


ARTICLES 


Consigned  to 


Which  said  Company  agrees  to  deliver  to  said  destination  if  on  its  lines,  otherwise  to  point  on  its  lines 
nearest  said  destination,  upon  payment  of  amount  indicated  by  punch  marks  in  margin  hereof,  rectilpl  of 
which  amount  and  articles  listed  is  hereby  acknowledged. 


NOTICE.  All  packages  must  be  marked  plainly  as  to  consignee  and  destination.  We  do  not  deliver 
packages  or  freight  to  points  off  our  line,  and  assume  no  responsibility  for  packages  or  freight  not  called 
for  upon  delivery  to  point  on  our  line  nearest  de_-:ic^tion  or  address  marked  on  package.   All  perishable 

articles  received  at  Shipper's  risk.  .1805   General  Manifold  Co..  rat.  Jan.  Li,  !y.*>,  .Titn.R.  iftjl, 

SHIPPING    RECEIPT    EMPLOYED    BY   THE    PENNSYLVANIA  & 
MAHONING  VALLEY  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


marking  the  amount  paid  by  the  consignor,  space  for  the  con- 
signee's receipt  and  for  indicating  where  the  goods  were  de- 
livered in  case  there  is  no  one  at  the  destinatiQn  to  receipt  for 
the  goods.  The  General  Manifold  Company  has  also  prepared 
a  similar  set  of  forms  for  the  electric  package  line  operated  by 
the  Youngstown  (Ohio)  &  Sharon  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
the  main  difference  being  provision  for  checking  material. 

These  forms  are  also  used  extensively  by  the  large  express 
companies,  and  are  reported  to  be  giving  unqualified  satisfac- 
tion. They  save  a  great  deal  of  time,  are  much  more  con- 
venient than  the  old  system  of  loose  carbons,  and  the  possibility 
of  error  or  fraud  is  practically  eliminated.  As  the  carbons  are 
waterproof  they  are  not  affected  by  dampness,  and  should  the 
sheets  become  wet  the  cop}-  will  not  run.  The  forms  described 
are  but  two  of  the  many  manufactured  by  this  company  for 
various  purposes. 


The  Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Railroad  is  now  carrying 
more  passengers  than  ever  before,  and  the  service  has  been 
doubled  within  two  months.  The  Public  Service  Corporation's 
cars  are  now  running  every  hour  from  6  a.  m.  to  7  p.  m.,  and 
are  carrying  a  large  number  of  through  passengers.  This  ser- 
vice, coupled  with  the  Trenton  &  New  Brunswick  Company's 
own, car  service,  gives  a  half-hour  headway  through  a  country 
where  not  a  single  town  or  village  is  encountered  for  25  miles, 
vet  nearly  every  car  is  filled. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


339 


THE  NEW  AMERICAN  UNIVERSAL  SAW  BENCH 


The  accompanying  illustrations  show  something  of  a  novelty 
in  saw-bench  design,  which  has  recently  been  placed  upon  the 
market  by  the  F.  H.  Clement  branch  of  the  American  Wood- 
working Machinery  Company,  New  York.  This  machine  dif- 
ers  radically  from  former  machines  of  this  class,  in  that  the 
table  is  arranged  to  tilt  in  one  direction  only,  whereas  it  has 
formerly  been  the  practice  to  have  the  tables  of  saw  benches 
tilt  in  both  directions ;  the  latter  resulted  in  rather  complicated 
and  cumbersome  construction,  whereas  in  the  new  construction, 
in  which  the  table  is  arranged  to  tilt  to  one  side  only,  a  great 
simplification  of  detail  has  been  obtained.  The  changes  of  de- 
tail by  which  this  new  departure  has  been  made  possible  are 
illustrated  in  the  accompanying  engravings  of  the  new  design. 

The  first  illustration  shows  the  table  from  one  side  when 
tilted  forward  to  the  extreme  angle  of  45  degs. ;  this  serves  to 
show  the  arrangement  of  gages,  the  ripping  gage  being  located 
upon  the  rear  stationary  portion  of  the  table,  while  the  cut-off 
or  miter  gage  is  shown  attached  to  the  rolling  portion  of  the 
table.  Another  engraving  illustrates  the  saw  bench  from  the 
rear  while  tilted  to  this  position,  and  serves  to  indicate  the 
construction  of  the  table  mechanism  as  well  as  the  double  arbor 
arrangement  of  mounting  the  two  saws,  one  rip  and  the  other 
cross-cut  saw  for  interchangeable  use.  The  two  following  views 
illustrate  the  saw  bench  first  with  the  ripping  gage  transferred 
to  the  rolling  table  section,  while  in  the  remaining  view  the  ma- 
chine is  shown  as  used  with  a  dado  head  mounted  upon  the 
arbor  in  place  of  one  of  the  saws.  The  construction  of  the  saw 
bench  is  such  that  dado  heads  up  to  6  ins.  thick  may  be  used  by 
means  of  a  special  sleeve,  which  takes  the  place  of  the  nut  and 
loose  collar  on  the  saw  arbor.  Dado  heads  thicker  than  2  ins. 
at  the  eye  may  be  used,  but  they  must  be  recessed  to  receive 
the  nut. 

The  box  frame  of  the  saw  bench  is  cast  in  one  piece,  and  has 
three  points  of  support  on  the  floor,  which  insures  rigidity  and 
avoids  any  tendency  of  springing  or  straining  of  any  part.  The 
saw  arbor  yoke  is  of  extremely  heavy  construction,  and  carries 
two  cast  steel  arbors,  with  the  pulley  between  the  two  bearings 


and  the  saw  overhung  at  one  end.  The  yoke  swings  upon 
gudgeons  on  both  sides  of  the  saw  line,  the  circular  attachment 
and  rotation  of  the  yoke  being  accomplished  by  a  heavy  worm 
wheel  and  double-pitch  worm.  This  construction  permits  of 
the  interchanging  of  the  saws  with  the  greatest  facility,  which 
may  be  accomplished  without  stopping  the  machine. 

The  rolling  portion  of  the  table  moves  on  non-friction  rollers 
and  is  guided  on  a  planed  and  scraped  way,  thus  insuring  an 
accurate  cut;  by  means  of  an  intermediate  frame. or  spider  it 
can  be  drawn  away  from  the  main  section  to  a  distance  of  2J/2 
ins.  to  admit  the  dado  heads  or  special  cutters.  As  above  men- 
tioned, the  table  is  arranged  to  tilt  in  one  direction  only,  inas- 


much as  the  work  guides  are  all  detachable;  this  allows  them 
to  be  mounted  on  either  side  of  the  saw  so  as  to  enable  work  to 
lie  beveled  at  any  possible  angle. 

The  gage  plate,  or  guide  for  use  when  rip  sawing,  moves 
over  the  entire  width  of  the  main  table,  and  will  admit  of  any 
width  of  board  up  to  24  ins.,  while  its  fence  may  be  tilted  to  45 
degs.  from  the  vertical.  The  entire  gage  also  swings  on  any 
one  of  the  retaining  pins  to  any  horizontal  angle  with  the  saw 
for  cutting  core  boxes,  large  grooves  or  similar  work.    In  ad- 


VIEW  OF  THE  NEW  DESIGN  OF  SAW  BENCH,  SHOWING 
TABLE  TILTED  FORWARD  AND  ARRANGEMENT 
OF  GAGES 

dition  to  the  positive  adjustment  by  means  of  the  table  pins, 
there  is  a  micrometer  adjustment  of  8  ins.  afforded  by  a  steel 
rack  and  pinion,  which  makes  the  movement  quick  and  accu- 
rate. This  side  of  the  table  has  a  rule  graduated  to  eighths  of 
an  inch  for  facility  in  setting  the  gage. 

The  cut-off  or  miter  gage  is  swiveled  on  the  rolling  table 
section  and  may  be  accurately  set  at  all  angles  by  means  of  a 
taper  pin  and  stop  holes.  A  complete  half-circle  protractor  is 
cut  into  the  table,  which  assists  in  setting  for  intermediate 


SPECIAL  ARRANGEMENT  OF  ROLLING 
TABLE  SECTION  TO  ACCOMMODATE 
DADO  HEADS  AND  SPECIAL  CUTTERS 

angles.  A  novel  feature  of  this  portion  of  the  machine  is  the 
providing,  as  a  part  of  this  protractor,  of  a  cross-graduated 
sector,  by  which  angles  corresponding  to  any  required  dimen- 
sion of  work  can  be  set  without  previously  determining  the 
angle  in  degrees,  thus  saving  time  and  calculating;  if,  for  in- 
stance, the  two  sides  of  a  right-angled  triangle,  which  it  is  de- 
sired to  cut,  be  known,  this  cross-graduated  sector  permits  the 
piece  to  lie  readily  set  without  reference  to  the  resulting  angle 
of  the  hypothenuse. 

A  supplementary  cut-off  gage  is  fitted  to  the  right  hand  table, 
consisting  of  a  long  tongue  moving  freely  in  a  slot,  to  which  is 
attached  a  swiveling  head  or  fence  graduated  to  45  degs.  both 


VIEW  OF  THE  SAW  BENCH  FROM  THE  VIEW  SHOWING  RIPPING  GAGE  TRANS- 
REAR,  WITH  TABLE  TILTED  TO  SHOW  FERRED  FROM  THE  REAR  TO  THE 
THE  SAW  ARBOR  MECHANISM                        ROLLING  TABLE  SECTION 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


shielded  lamps  upon  the  roof.  The  shielding  consists  of  a 
cast-iron  housing  about  }£  in.  in  thickness.  This  housing  is 
of  the  section  of  a  deep  U,  and  is  shaped  to  fit  the  car  roof,  and 
is  adapted  to  be  bolted  thereto.  The  casting  is  mounted  on 
the  roof  so  that  the  opening  thereof  points  directly  at  the  sign 
to  be  illuminated.  The  interior  of  the  casting  is  painted  with 
white  enamel,  and  installed  therein,  lying  sideways,  are  two  in- 
candescent lamps  pointing  toward  each  other.  The  upper  part 
of  the  casting  is  milled  so  that  two  glass  tops  can  be  slipped  in, 
and  these  are  held  in  place  by  buttons  mounted  on  the  end  of 
the  casting.  On  the  outside  of  the  casting  are  bolted  two 
hooks,  which  serve  to  prevent  the  trolley  cord  from  swaying 
from  side  to  side ;  in  short,  the  whole  lamp  guard  acts  as  a 
trolley  cord  protector  and  prevents  the  trolley  cord  from  saw- 
ing into  the  hood.  The  outside  of  the  lamp  guard  is  painted 
the  same  color  as  the  roof,  and  at  day  or  night  it  is  hardly  distin- 
guishable, and  it  is  sometimes  puzzling  on  noting  the  brilliantly 
illuminated  sign  to  discover  where  the  light  comes  from.  The 
fact  that  the  whole  structure  is  rugged  and  cheap,  and  can  be 
applied  to  illuminate  existing  signs,  and  answers  the  purpose 
of  a  cord  guard  as  well,  makes  it  a  very  satisfactory  solution 
of  the  illuminated  sign  problem. 

The  sign  is  well  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  figure, 
which  shows  the  roof  of  two  cars.  In  the  foreground  may  be 
seen  the  open  front  of  the  lamp  guard,  showing  the  two  lamps 
in  place.  Beyond  may  be  seen  the  roof  of  a  second  car,  showing 
the  exterior  of  the  lamp  guard,  the  hooks  for  retaining  the 
trolley  cord  and  the  sign  to  be  illuminated  just  above.  The 
lower  hook  guard  on  this  particular  car  is  a  relic  of  former 
times,  and  is  not  now  necessary.  This  method  of  illuminating 
signs  has  not  yet  been  placed  upon  the  market,  and  is  manu- 
factured by  the  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany for  its  own  use. 

 ♦♦♦  

INTERURBAN  CARS  FOR  THE  AUBURN  &  SYRACUSE 
RAILROAD 

Two  handsome  interurban  coaches  have  lately  been  delivered 
to  the  Auburn  &  Syracuse  Railroad  Company  by  the  G.  C. 
Kuhlman  Car  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The  cars  have 
been  placed  on  the  high-speed  line,  which  is  a  part  ofvthe  sys- 
tem operated  by  the  company,  extending  between  Syracuse  and 


HIGH-SPEED  INTERURBAN  CAR  FOR  THE  AUBURN  &  SYRACUSE  ELECTRIC  RAILROAD 


ways,  and  arranged  to  connect  when  desired  with  the  main  cut- 
off gage  by  a  yoke  or  arch,  which  passes  over  the  saw,  and 
thus  makes  a  long,  well-supported  gage  for  large  work.  When 
the  supplementary  cut-off  gage  is  not  in  use  the  fence  is  de- 
tached from  the  tongue,  and  the  latter  is  turned  over  in  its  slot 
so  as  to  make  a  flush  surface  on  the  table,  as  indicated  in  the 
first  accompanying  engraving.  The  machine  is  driven  through 
a  countershaft  and  idler  jack,  by  which  any  combination  of 
drive  connections  may  be  easily  made.  It  is  estimated  that  this 
machine  will  require  only  ^4  hp  for  driving  under  normal  con- 
ditions of  operation.    Its  total  weight  is  2100  lbs. 

 »♦♦  

NOVEL  CAR  SIGN 

The  need  for  a  sign  on  street  cars  which  would  be  luminous 
at  night  has  already  been  felt,  and  in  a  degree  been  met  by 


ILLUMINATING  DEVICE  FOR  CAR  SIGN 


electric  street  railway  inventors.  These  signs  are,  of  course, 
all  electrically  illuminated  and  employ  many  different  princi- 
ples.   The  Worcester  Consolidated  Street  Railway  Company, 


through  the  efforts  of  J.  H.  McMullin,  superintendent  of  car 
shops,  has  adopted  a  solution  of  the  problem  which  seems  to 
present  features  which  are  desirable  in  street  railway  work, 
namely,  simplicity,  durability  and  cheapness. 

The  principle  of  the  device  is  the  illumination  of  the  sign 
by  reflected  light.  The  ordinary  poly-sided  wooden  sign  is 
used,  and  is  illuminated  by  the  light  thrown  from  properly 


Auburn  by  way  of  Skaneateles  and  Marcellus,  a  distance  of 
25  miles,  through  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sections  of  New 
York  State.  This  is  in  the  famous  lake  country,,  through  many 
parts  of  which  a  number  of  interurban  roads  are  being  con- 
structed. The  cities  are  .prosperous  and  the  country  thickly 
populated,  fruit  growing  being  the  chief  industry.  In  summer 
the  traffic  is  largely  increased  by  people  from  the  cities  of , all 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


341 


parts  of  the  State,  who  are  attracted  by  the  fine  hotels  on  ,  the 
shores  of  the  numerous  lakes.  The  railway  company  owns 
Lakeside  Park  at  ,the  head  of  Lake  Skaneateles,  which  has 
come  to  be  a  popular  resort  of  the  people  of  Syracuse  and 
Auburn. 

The  cars, are  divided  into  two  compartments,  with  a  total 


INTERIOR  OF  AUBURN  &  SYRACUSE  CAR 

seating  capacity  of  fifty-six.  Semi-empire  ceilings,  tinted  light 
green  and  tastefully  decorated  with  gold,  contrast  pleasantly 
with  the  rich,  dark  Mexican  mahogany  woodwork.  The  win- 
dow lights  are  composed  of  heavy  polished  plate  glass,  and  the 
ventilator  sashes  have  cathedral  glass.  t  The  bronze  trim 
throughout  is  of  generous  proportion,  and  includes  parcel 
racks.  The  cars  measure  39  ft.  10  ins.  over  the  end  panels,  and 
49  ft.  10  ins.  over  the  bumpers.  The  width  over  sills  is  8  ft. 
2  ins.  Four  under  trusses  are  included  in  the  bottom  fram 
the  side  sills  are  4^4  ins.  x  7^  ins.,  with  sill  plates  on  the 
side,  6  ins.  x  Y%  in.    The  size  of  the  end  sills  is  5^4  ins.  x 


ical  supporting  devices,  cross-arms,  pins,  etc.,  for  strength  and 
durability.  In  such  installations  the  truss  pin  illustrated  here- 
with is  especially  recommended  by  its  makers,  Porter  &  Berg, 
of  Chicago,  who  report  that  this  type  of  construction  is  being 
used  with  great  success  on  several  of  the  largest  high-tension 
lines  in  the  country.  It  has  abundant  strength,  due  to  its  form, 
and  being  made  of  malleable  iron,  is  not  subject  to  burning 
from  leakage  currents  so  often  complained  of  in  wood  pins. 

The  insulator  is  fastened  on  the  pin  by  cement,  thus 
making  the  combination  of  pin  and  insulator  practically 
one  piece  and  giving  the  pin  an  absolutely  uniform  support,  free 
from  irregular  strains  on  the  thread  and  consequent  breakage 
of  the  insulators.  The  base  of  the  truss  pin  is  of  proper  width 
to  fit  over  the  top  of  the  cross-arm,  and  the  flanges  reach  over 
the  edge  of  the  arm  to  prevent  any  tendency  of  the  pin  to  turn 
in  place.  The  flanged  base  also  acts  as  a  water  shed  and  pre- 
vents rain  from  entering  the  cross-arm  through  the  pin  hole, 
thus  giving  it  a  longer  life.  The  iron  bolt  which  fastens  the 
truss  pin  to  the  arm  requires  a  much  smaller  hole,  and  the 
cross-arm  is  not  weakened  by  large  holes  as  is  the  case  where 
wooden  pins  are  used.  It  is  claimed  that  this  truss  pin  is  abso- 
lutely indestructible  and  will  outlast  the  life  of  any  high-tension 
installation. 

 ♦♦♦  • 


ELECTRIC  HOISTS  FOR  CONSTRUCTION  AND  SUPPLY  CARS 


Electric  hoists  are  becoming  more  and  more  a  necessity,  both 
for  handling  material  in  construction  work  and  for  regular  sup- 
plies on  electric  railway  systems  where  supply  cars  make 
tours  of  the  system,  for  delivering  and  receiving  material. 
Not  a  few  electric  railway  companies  have  equipped  their  supply 
and  construction  cars  with  electric  hoists,  these  being  frequently 


HIGH-TENSION  TRUSS-PIN 

ins.  The  size  of  the  corner  posts  is  4  ins.  x  6  ins.,  and  the 
thickness  of  the  side  posts  is  2l/2  ins.  The  angle-iron  bumpers, 
ratchet  brake  handles,  platform  and  conductor  gongs  are  of 
Brill  manufacture. 



A  NEW  TRUSS  PIN 

It  is  becoming  quite  usual  for  engineers  designing  high-ten- 
sion lines  to  draw  their  specifications  with  the  view  of  depend- 
ing entirely  upon  the  insulator  for  insulation,  and  the  mechan- 


ELECTRIC  HOIST,  WITH  PLAIN  RHEOSTAT  CONTROLLER 

home  made  and  susceptible  of  considerable  improvement,  be- 
cause the  average  electric  railway  has  not  had  extensive  expe- 
rience in  the  manufacture  of  hoists,  and  hence  the  actual  re- 
quirements are  not  always  known  in  advance. 

The  accompanying  illustrations  show  two  views  of  a  single- 
drum  electric  hoist  built  by  the  Thomas  Elevator  Company,  of 
Chicago.  This  company  has  for  a  number  of  years  made  a  busi- 
ness of  building  and  operating  both  steam  and  electric  hoists, 
and  has  had  excellent  opportunity  to  weed  out  all  defects  in  its 
hoisting  apparatus.    Owing  to  numerous  inquiries  and  orders 


342 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


from  electric  railway  companies,  the  company  recently  decided 
to  place  its  electric  hoists  before  transportation  companies,  in 
the  belief  that  when  it  becomes  known  among  electric  railways 
that  such  hoists  are  on  the  market  there  will  be  a  strong  demand 
for  them.  The  hoist  illustrated  is  especially  suited  for  the  light 
class  of  work  for  which  a  hoist  located  on  a  construction  or 


SINGLE-DRUM  ELECTRIC  HOIST,  SHOWING  GEARING. 
MOTOR,  ETC. 

supply  car  is  used.  The  motor  is  a  G.  E.-52,  with  the  regular 
resistance  used  with  a  street  railway  motor  equipment.  A 
plain  rheostat  controller  is  employed,  and  since  the  motor  is 
always  operated  in  the  same  direction,  no  provisions  for  re- 
versing are  necessary.  Acting  on  the  winding  drum  is  a  band- 
brake  operated  by  a  foot-lever.  The  winding  drum  can  be 
disconnected  from  the  motor  and  gears  so  as  to  revolve  freely 
and  lower  its  load.  The  drum  is  connected  to  the  gearing 
through  a  paper  cone  friction  clutch.  The  drum  is  forced 
against  the  paper  cone  clutch  by  a  cam  arrangement,  which  is 
so  designed  as  to  be  very  durable. 

This  hoist  can  be  used  very  effectively  for  pile  driving.  The 
hammer  of  the  pile  driver  is  connected  permanently  to  the  end 
of  the  winding-drum  cable.  The  motor  is  operated  continuously. 
To  raise  the  hammer  on  the  pile  driver,  the  clutch  is  thrown  in 
and  the  drum  winds  up  the  cable  until  the  hammer  is  at  the 
top  of  its  stroke,  when  the  operator  releases  the  clutch,  letting 
the  pile-driver  hammer  fall.  Just  before  the  hammer  strikes 
the  pile  the  operator  applies  the  brake  on  the  drum,  and  after 
a  little  practice  he  is  able  to  apply  the  clutch  at  the  right  in- 
stant to  catch  the  pile-driver  hammer  on  the  rebound  and  to 
start  the  winding  drum  to  pulling  the  hammer  up  again,  making 
use  of  the  rebound  as  a  start. 

It  has  also  been  suggested  that  hoists  of  this  kind  would  be 
of  use  in  repair  shops,  where  all  the  repair  tracks  can  be  en- 
tered only  by  means  of  a  transfer  table,  as  in  such  shops  it  is 
difficult  to  get  dead  cars  off  of  a  transfer  table  into  a  shop  with 
any  degree  of  celerity  or  economy  of  labor.  If  a  few  tracks 
could  be  equipped  with  hoists  of  this  type,  dead  cars  could  be 
easily  handled.    The  outfit  weighs  complete  about  3  tons. 



THE  HARRISON  SAFETY  BOILER  WORKS  AT  ST.  LOUIS 

The  Harrison  Safety  Boiler  Works,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
have  prepared  an  extensive  exhibit  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  of  their  Cochrane  feed-water  heaters,  steam  sep- 
arators, oil  separators  and  Sorge-Cochrane  systems.  Their 
headquarters  are  at  the  east  entrance  of  the  Gas,  Steam  and 
Fuel  Building,  and  are  in  charge  of  D.  M.  Mason. 

Among  the  Cochrane  heaters,  separators  and  Sorge-Cochrane 


systems  on  exhibition  are  the  following :  Exhibitors'  Power 
Plant — One  1200-hp  Sorge-Cochrane  system,  three  6-in.  Coch- 
rane horizontal  receiver  separators;  exhibit  of  Westinghouse- 
Church-Kerr  Company — Two  4000-hp  feed-water  heaters  and 
purifiers,  and  one  6-in.  vertical  steam  separator ;  Intramural 
Power  Plant — One  1750-hp  Cochrane  feed-water  heater  and 
purifier,  one  10-in.  and  one  8-in.  vertical  receiver  separator, 
one  8-in.  horizontal  receiver  separator,  one  40-in.  horizontal 
vacuum  oil  separator,  and  one  300-hp  Sorge-Cochrane  system ; 
Underwriter  Fire-Pump  Station  Line — One  14-in.  horizontal 
receiver  separator ;  exhibit  of  P.  DeC.  Ball — One  600-hp  feed- 
water  heater  and  purifier,  one  6-in.  horizontal  oil-ammonia 
separator. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  VALTELLINA  RAILWAY  ACCEPTED 

On  July  10  the  Societa  Italiana  per  le  Strade  Ferrate  Meri- 
dionali  Rete  Adriatica,  the  owning  company  of  the  well-known 
railway  connecting  Lecco,  Colico,  Sondrio  and  Chiavenna,  and 
popularly  called  the  Valtellina  Railway,  officially  accepted  the 
three-phase  equipment  in  use  as  satisfactory.  This  line  has 
been  frequently  described  in  the  technical  press,  and  was  in- 
stalled by  Ganz  &  Company,  of  Budapest,  at  their  own  risk. 
The  contract  with  the  railway  company  provided  that  it  should 
take  over  the  electric  installation  only  if  the  whole  installation 
should  prove  a  success  and  fulfil  all  the  requirements  of  rail- 
way service  for  a  period  of  two  years.  The  guarantee  com- 
menced on  Oct.  15,  1902,  the  date  of  starting  the  road,  and 
would  therefore  have  expired  on  Oct.  15,  1904.  The  Italian 
Railway  Company,  which,  during  the  period  which  has  elapsed, 
has  had  an  opportunity  of  closely  observing  the  working  of  the 
system,  decided  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  wait  for  the  ex- 
piration of  the  entire  period  of  guarantee.  It  consequently  took 
over  the  plant  July  10,  and  added  it  to  the  regular  Rete  Adri- 
atica system. 



AMERICAN  LOCOMOTIVE  SANDER  CO.  AT  WORLD'S  FAIR 

At  the  west  end  of  track  No.  17  in  the  Transportation  Build- 
ing is  the  exhibit  of  the  American  Locomotive  Sander  Com- 
pany. The  sander  especially  applicable  to  electric  railway  cars 
put  on  the  market  by  this  company  is  operated  by  air  obtained 


EXHIBIT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  LOCOMOTIVE  SANDER  COMPANY 


from  the  main  reservoir  pipe  of  the  brake  system.  From  the 
sand  boxes  usually  placed  inside  the  car,  a  rubber  hose  leads 
to  the  rail,  being  so  adjusted  that  no  matter  what  the  curvature 
of  the  track  the  sand  is  always  thrown  on  the  rail. 

A  feature  of  the  motorman's  valve  for  operating  the  sand 
is  a  warning  port  which  draws  the  attention  of  the  operator  to 
the  fact  that  the  valve  is  open,  thus  saving  much  sand  that 
would  otherwise  be  wasted. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


343 


LEGAL  NOTES 


LIABILITY  FOR  NEGLIGENCE. 


NEW  JERSEY.— Street  Railways— Collision  with  Wagon— Con- 
tributory Negligence. 

1.  When  a  person  drives  upon  a  trolley  track  and  comes  in 
collision  with  a  car,  in  order  to  charge  the  trolley  company  with 
negligence  he  must  show  that  the  motorman,  by  the  exercise  of 
due  care,  could  have  avoided  the  injury  to  him. 

2.  If  a  person  drives  upon  a  trolley  track  without  exercising 
reasonable  observation  to  ascertain  whether  there  is  danger  from 
an  approaching  car,  he  is  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

(Syllabus  by  the  Court.) — Solatinow  vs.  Jersey  City,  H.  &  P. 
Street  Railway  Company,  56  Atlantic  Rep.,  236.) 
NEW    YORK. — Personal    Injuries — Permanency — Expert  Evi- 
dence— Certainty. 

Where,  in  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  an  expert  witness  had 
testified  that  he  thought  he  could  state  with  a  fair  degree  of  cer- 
tainty where  plaintiff's  injuries  would  be  permanent,  and  there- 
after, in  answer  to  another  question,  stated  that  he  thought  they 
would  be  more  or  less  permanent;  that,  though  there  might  be 
some  little  improvement,  he  thought  she  would  suffer  probably  all 
the  rest  of  her  life;  and  defendant  did  not  object  to  the  second 
answer  on  the  ground  that  the  first  had  shown  the  witness  not 
qualified  to  give  an  opinion,  but  merely  moved  to  strike  out  as 
speculative,  the  second  answer  was  sufficiently  certain. —  (Kelly 
vs.  United  Traction  Company,  85  New  York  Supplement.) 
NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways— Personal  Injury— Crossings- 
Failure  to  Look. 

A  street  car  which  plaintiff  desired  to  board  having  started  as  he 
arrived  at  the  corner,  the  conductor  called  to  him  to  come  on 
across  the  street;  and  while  following  in  the  rear  of  the  car,  and 
almost  abreast  of  it,  he  was  struck  by  a  car  running  at  a  high  rate 
of  speed  on  an  intersecting  line.  Plaintiff  did  not  testify  that  he 
looked  for  the  car  on  such  intersecting  line  before  stepping  on  the 
tracks,  but  stated  that  he  could  not  see  such  car  until  it  struck  him, 
because  his  view  was  obstructed  by  the  car  he  was  following. 
Held,  that  it  could  not  be  said,  as  a  matter  of  law,  that  he  was  . 
guilty  of  contributory  negligence,  and  that  the  question  was  for 
the  jury. —  (Binns  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway  Company,  85 
New  York  Suppl.,  and  119  New  York  State  Rep.,  874.) 
NEW  YORK. — Appeal  from  Non-Suit — Favorable  Inferences — 
Street  Railroads — Vehicle  on  Track — Negligence — Question 
for  Jury — Contributory  Negligence. 

1.  On  appealing  from  a  non-suit,  plaintiff  is  entitled  to  the 
most  favorable  inferences  deducible  from  the  evidence,  and  all 
disputed  facts  are  to  be  treated  as  established  in  his  favor. 

2.  Plaintiff  was  driving  along  a  car  track,  and  a  car  came  up 
behind  him,  signaling  for  him  to  get  out  of  the  way.  A  wagon 
was  standing  on  the  outside  of  the  track,  and  he  turned  inwards 
across  the  parallel  track,  and,  as  he  did  so,  discovered  a  car  ap- 
proaching from  the  opposite  direction  a  half  a  block  away,  which 
struck  him  before  he  could  turn  back.  Held,  that  the  question  of 
defendant's  negligence  should  have  been  submitted  to  the  jury. 

3.  The  fact  that  plaintiff  endeavored  to  get  from  in  front  of  the 
first  car,  instead  of  continuing  as  he  was,  did  not  render  him 
guilty  of  contributory  negligence  as  a  matter  of  law,  but  the 
question  was  for  the  jury — (Pritchard  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Rail- 
road Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  and  119  New  York  State 
Rep.,  898.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Death  of  Passenger — Negli- 
gence— Question  for  Jury. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  the  negligent  killing 
of  a  passenger,  evidence  for  plaintiff  that  a  violent  jerk  and  ac- 
companying accelerated  speed  of  the  car  threw  decedent  off  while 
he  was  standing  on  the  running  board  and  holding  on  to  the 
stanchions  with  both  hands,  and  evidence  for  the  defendant  that  he 
was  seated  in  the  body  of  the  car,  but  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
and  voluntarily  got  up,  and  either  jumped  off  the  car  or  fell  or 
was  pushed  off,  require  a  submisison  of  the  case  to  the  jury. — 
Sheeron  vs.  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railway  Company,  85  New 
York  Suppl.,  95-) 

NEW  YORK. — Carriers — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Passen- 
gers— Dangerous  Position — Assumption  of  Risk. 
Where  plaintiff  elected  to  ride  on  the  step  of  a  crowded  street 
car,  and  was  thrown  off  by  the  oscillation  or  "greyhound  motion" 
of  the  car  as  it  was  running  at  the  usual  rate  of  speed  maintained 
on  that  portion  of  its  route,  and  there  was  no  evidence  of  any 
unusual  or  abnormal  motion  due  to  any  unusual  condition  of  the 
car,  rails,  roadbed,  or  management,  plaintiff  assumed  the  risk  of 
an  injury  so  occasioned. —  (Moskowitz  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Rail- 
way Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  960.) 


NEW  YORK. — Negligence— Joinder  of  Defendants— Obstructing 
Street — Personal  Inj  uries — Judgment. 
A  joint  judgment  against  a  street  railroad  and  a  contractor  do- 
ing work  for  it,  requiring  the  tearing  up  of  a  city's  streets,  is 
proper,  where,  through  negligence  in  placing  a  cord  across  the 
highway,  it  was  rendered  unsafe  for  travel,  by  reason  whereof 
plaintiff  was  injured,  whether  the  contractor  be  an  independent 
one,  or  whether  the  servant  of  one  or  the  other  was  the  cause  of 
the  cord  being  there. —  (Schiverea  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway 
Company  et  al,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  902.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Pedestrians — Neg- 
ligence— Evidence. 
Plaintiff's  deceased,  a  child  five  years  of  age,  as  he  was  coming 
from  school  with  a  companion,  broke  away  from  his  companion, 
and  ran  across  the  street  in  front  of  an  approaching  car,  was 
struck  by  the  car  and  killed.  The  companion  testified  that  just  as 
deceased  got  on  the  track  he  tripped  and  fell.  The  motorman  had 
stopped  at  the  preceding  street  crossing,  and,  though  the  car  was 
going  rapidly  it  was  under  control,  and  the  speed  was  not  exces- 
sive. There  was  no  evidence  that  the  motorman  was  not  attending 
to  his  business,  or  that  he  did  not  stop  the  car  as  soon  as  possible 
after  he  had  reason  to  suppose  that  deceased  would  attempt  to 
cross  in  front  of  the  car.  One  witness  testified  that  deceased  fell 
on  the  track  when  the  car  was  only  3  ft.  distant,  and  the  motor- 
man  testified  that  as  soon  as  he  saw  the  boy  start  to  run  across 
the  street  he  applied  the  brake,  put  on  the  reverse,  and  used  the 
sand  box,  and  succeeded  in  stopping  the  car  within  five  or  six  feet 
after  deceased  was  struck.  Held,  that  the  evidence  was  insufficient 
to  establish  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  motorman. —  (Sciurba  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  85.) 
NEW  YORK— Street  Railroads— Collision— Street  Crossings- 
Negligence — Questions  for  Jury. 

1.  Where  an  avenue  entering  a  street  on  which  is  a  line  of  rail- 
way comprises  a  continuous  line  of  traffic,  with  an  avenue  on  the 
other  side  of  the  street,  though  their  ends  are  not  directly  oppo- 
site, the  location  is  a  street  crossing,  at  which  the  rights  of  the 
users  of  the  streets  and  the  railroad  company  are  equal,  irre- 
spective of  the  direction  from  which  the  intersection  is  approached. 

2.  Where  a  street  car  approaches  a  street  intersection  at  a  great- 
er speed  than  usual,  and  the  motorman  makes  no  attempt  to  stop 
it  until  within  25  ft.  of  plaintiff's  conveyance,  too  late  to  avoid  the 
accident,  though  the  car  was  70  ft.  away  when  plaintiff  started  to 
turn  across  the  track,  the  company's  negligence  is  a  question  for 
the  jury. —  (Freeman  vs.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway  Company,  84 
New  York  Suppl.,  108.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways — Crossing  Accident— Contribu- 
tory Negligence — Evidence — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  It  is  not  negligence,  as  a  matter  of  law,  for  one  driving  a 
wagon  to  attempt  to  cross  street  railway  tracks  when  an  approach- 
ing car  is  about  a  block  distant. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries, 
plaintiff's  evidence  showed  that  a  car  was  nearly  a  block  away 
when  he  started  to  cross  the  tracks,  and  that  he  had  got  part  of 
the  wagon  over  the  tracks  when  it  was  struck  by  the  car,  and  that 
it  was  quite  light  at  the  time,  and  that  he  looked  for  the  car  im- 
mediately before  he  started,  the  cause  should  have  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  jury. —  (Carter  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 84  New  York  Suppl.,  134.) 

NEW    YORK.— Railroads— Engine    Setting    Fire— Negligence- 
Sufficiency  of  Evidence. 

Evidence  in  an  action  for  damages  from  a  fire  caused  by  sparks 
from  defendant's  engine,  which  burned  an  awning  and  some  signs, 
held  insufficient  to  show  negligence  in  defendant. — (Polacsek  vs. 
Manhattan  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  140) 
NEW  YORK.— Carriers — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Passen- 
gers— Dangerous  Position — Platform. 

Plaintiff  took  passage  on  a  street  car  which  was  so  crowded  that 
he  was  compelled  to  stand  on  the  rear  platform  and  hold  on  by  the 
hand  rail.  The  conductor  accepted  his  fare  while  in  this  position, 
and  without  notice  to  plaintiff  the  car  was  driven  around  a  curve 
in  the  track  without  slackening  speed,  in  violation  of  a  rule  of  the 
company  requiring  the  speed  to  be  reduced  one-half  in  rounding 
curves,  and  plaintiff  was  violently  thrown  from  the  car  and  in- 
jured. Held,  that  such  facts  were  sufficient  to  establish  negligence 
on  the  part  of  the  carrier  entitling  plaintiff  to  recover  for  his  in- 
juries.-—  (Gatens  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85 
New  York  Suppl.,  967.) 

NEW   YORK.— New   Trial— When    Granted— Verdict  Against 
Evidence — Conflicting  Evidence — Discretion  of  Court — Street 
Railways — Injuries  to  Persons  Driving  on  Track — Contribu- 
tory Negligence — Evidence — Sufficiency  of. 
1.  A  new  trial  can  only  be  granted  where  the  weight  of  evidence 

against  the  verdict  is  so  great  that  the  court  can  see  that  it  must 


344 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


have  been  the  result  of  passion,  prejudice,  mistake,  ignorance,  or 
corruption. 

2.  Where  the  evidence,  though  conflicting  on  material  points, 
supports  the  verdict,  the  court  has  no  discretion,  but  must  refuse 
a  new  trial,  even  though  the  conclusion  of  the  jury  is  one  which 
the  court  itself  would  not  have  reached  on  the  same  testimony. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  personal  injuries  re- 
sulting to  plaintiff  from  being  struck  by  a  car  while  driving  on  de- 
fendant's tracks,  evidence  held  sufficient  to  warrant  jury  in  con- 
cluding that  plaintiff  was  free  from  contributory  negligence. — ■ 
(Benjamin  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New 
York  Suppl.,  1052.) 

NEW  YORK. — Personal  Injuries — Actions  for — Negligence — 
Contributory  Negligence — Street  Railways — Injuries  to  Per- 
sons on  Track — Failure  to  Signal —  Materiality — Care  Re- 
quired in  Operation  of  Road- — Duty  of  Person  Crossing 
Track — Reliance  on  Car's  Slowing  Up. 

1.  To  warrant  a  recovery  in  an  action  Tor  wrongful  death,  de- 
fendant's negligence  and  intestate's  freedom  from  contributory 
negligence  must  be  shown. 

2.  When  defendant's  rapidly  approaching  street  car  was  within 
8  ft.  or  10  ft.  of  where  plaintiff's  intestate  stood,  it  slowed  up,  and 
intestate,  who  had  seen  it  approaching,  proceeded  to  cross  the 
track,  and  was  struck  by  the  car,  the  speed  of  which  had  been 
again  increased.  Held  contributory  negligence  on  intestate's  part, 
precluding  recovery. 

3.  Intestate  having  seen  the  car,  it  was  immaterial  whether  or 
not  a  signal  of  its  approach  was  given. 

4.  While  it  is  the  duty  of  a  street  car  motorman  to  have  the  car 
under  reasonable  control  on  approaching  a  street  crossing,  a 
pedestrian  has  no  right  to  assume  that,  because  a  car  has  slowed 
up,  it  will  stop,  or  its  speed  be  so  controlled  as  to  give  him  time 
to  cross  the  track  in  safety. — (Thompson  vs.  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  181.) 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Pedestrians — Con- 
tributory Negligence — Evidence. 

In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  injuries  to  a  pedestrian, 
where  the  uncontradicted  testimony  was  that  plaintiff  saw  the  car 
approaching  at  the  distance  of  a  block  and  a  half  or  two  blocks  at 
the  time  he  left  the  crossing,  and  that  it  was  daylight  and  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  his  seeing  it  from  that  time  to  the  time  he 
was  injured,  and  there  was  nothing  to  show  that  he  exercised  any 
care  whatever  after  he  left  the  corner,  or  that  he  looked  to  see 
where  the  car  was,  but  walked  heedlessly  onto  the  tracks,  a  ver- 
dict for  him  will  not  be  allowed  to  stand. — (Lynch  vs.  Third  Ave- 
nue Railroad  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl,  180. 
NEW  YORK. — Injury  to  Railroad  Employee — Employers'  Lia- 
bility Act — Negligence  of  Superintendent— Evidence — Suffi- 
ciency— Contributory  Negligence — Burden  of  Proof. 
1.  In  an  action  for  negligent  death  of  an  employee,  where  there 
was  no  evidence  that  the  location  at  which  deceased  was  work- 
ing was  defective,  that  any  appliances  were  out  of  order,  or  that 
any  precaution  was  omitted  by  defendant  that  was  possible  to  pro- 
tect deceased  in  the  performance  of  his  work,  no  liability  was 
shown  under  the  employers'  liability  act  (laws  1902,  p.  1748,  chap. 
600,  sec.  1.  subd.  1),  giving  an  action  for  injury  to  an  employee 
caused  by  reason  of  a  defect  arising  from  the  employer's  negli- 
gence in  the  ways,  works,  or  machinery  connected  with  the  em- 
ployers business. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  railroad  for  death  of  a  servant  engaged 
in  coupling  cars,  evidence  examined,  and  held  insufficient  to  show 
that  injury  resulted  from  the  negligence  of  one  engaged  in  super- 
intendence, or  one  acting  as  superintendent,  within  the  meaning 
of  the  employers'  liability  act  (laws  1902,  p.  1748,  chap.  600,  sec.  1, 
subd.  2),  giving  an  action  in  such  case. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  railroad  for  death  of  a  servant  engaged 
in  coupling  cars,  evidence  examined,  and  held  insufficient  to  show 
that  the  servant  was  himself  in  the  exercise  of  due  care,  within 
the  employers'  liability  act  (laws  1902,  p.  1748,  chap.  600,  sec.  I, 
subd.  2),  giving  an  action  for  servant's  injuries  resulting  from  the 
negligence  of  one  intrusted  with  superintendence  when  the  servant 
is  in  the  exercise  of  due  care  and  diligence. 

4.  Under  the  employers'  liability  act  (laws  1902,  p.  1748,  chap. 
600,  sec.  1,  subd.  2),  giving  an  action  for  servant's  injuries  result- 
ing from  negligence  of  one  intrusted  with  superintendence,  when 
the  servant  is  in  the  exercise  of  due  care  and  diligence,  it  must  be 
shown  that  the  servant  was  in  the  exercise  of  such  care,  to  author- 
ize a  recovery. — (McHugh  vs.  Manhattan  Railway  Company,  85 
New  York  Suppl.,  184.) 

NEW    YORK. — Street    Railways — Negligence — Collision  with 
Vehicle — Right  to  Cross  Track — Instructions. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  personal  injuries 
caused  by  a  collision  between  plaintiff's  wagon  and  a  car,  an  in- 
struction that  plaintiff  had  the  right  to  cross  the  track  when  he 


-Pleading— Bill  of  Particu- 


saw  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  do  so,  even  though  it  required 
the  motorman  to  slacken  speed,  and  that  the  rights  of  drivers  of 
vehicles  and  those  of  electric  cars  were  reciprocal,  so  that  the 
gnpman  is  bound  to  see  to  his  charge  as  diligently  as  the  driver 
of  a  vehicle  to  his,  was  not  objectionable  as  substituting  the 
mental  process  of  the  driver  for  the  judgment  of  the  jury  as  to 
whether  the  attempt  to  cross  was  reasonable.— (Prince  vs  Third 
Avenue  Railroad  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  542.) 
NEW  YORK.— Street  Railway— Person  on  Track— Injury— In- 
struction—Right  to  be  on  Track. 
In  an  action,  by  a  person  riding  in  a  wagon,  against  a  street 
railway  company,  for  an  injury  occasioned  by  the  collision  of  a  car 
with  the  vehicle,  it  is  error  to  instruct  that  a  person  on  a  highway 
has  no  right  to  be  on  a  street  railway  track  when  a  car  comes  up 
and  no  right  to  make  a  car  slow  up,  though  the  court  adds  that,' 
'To  put  it  more  precisely,  the  law  requires  them  to  use  reasonable 
prudence  to  be  off  when  the  car  comes  up,"  and  that  "he  has  a 
right  to  be  there,  but  with  that  right  goes  the  duty  to  be  vigilant 
to  be  off  before  the  car  comes  up."—  (Venuta  vs.  New  York,  W. 
&  C.  Traction  Company  et  al.,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  544.) 
NEW    YORK.— Street   Railways-Collision   with   Team— Con- 
tributory Negligence. 
The  driver  of  a  covered  wagon  stopped  it  when  it  was  nearly 
dark,  without  a  light,  on  a  street  car  track,  waiting  for  a  train  to 
pass,  remaining,  without  any  precautionary  measures,  for  two  or 
three  minutes,  till  struck  by  a  streeet  car  from  the  rear.  Held 
that  he  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence.— (Watson  vs  In- 
terurban  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  556.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways— Injury  to  Passengers— Decree 
of  Court. 

Where  plaintiff,  while  a  passenger  on  a  street  railway  car,  was 
injured  by  the  shaft  of  a  wagon  puncturing  the  side  of  the  car,  it 
was  error  to  instruct  that  the  railroad  company  was  bound  to 
exercise  the  "highest  degree  of  care"  to  insure  safety  of  the 
plaintiff.— (Kelly  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company  8=; 
New  York  Suppl.,  842.) 

NEW  YORK.— Negligence— Actions- 
lars. 

In  an  action  for  personal  injuries  defendant  is  entitled  to  a  bill 
of  particulars  as  to  the  injuries  which  plaintiff  alleged  she  be- 
lieved were  permanent,  and  as  to  the  length  of  time  during  which 
she  was  confined  to  her  home.— (84  New  York  Suppl.,  505.) 

NEW    YORK.— Street    Railways— Negligence— Collision  with 
Wagon — Evidence — Sufficiency. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  personal  injuries 
caused  by  a  collision  between  defendant's   car  and  plaintiff's 
wagon,  it  appeared  that  the  wagon  was  being  driven  in  front  of 
the  car,  and  turned  out  apparently  to  allow  the  car  to  pass,  but 
when  the  car  was  about  to  do  so  for  some  reason  turned  toward 
the  track  so  that  it  was  struck.    The  driver  turned  to  avoid  an 
approaching  vehicle,  but  it  did  not  appear  how  far  away  this 
vehicle  was.    Held  not  sufficient  to  support  a  finding  that  de- 
fendant was  negligent.— (Reichenberg  vs.  Interurban  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  524.) 
NEW  YORK— Street  Railways— Inj  ury  to 
Car — Negligence — Evidence. 
A  judgment  for  plaintiff  is  supported  by  evidence  that  she 
attempted  to  board  defendant's  street  car  while  it  was  at  a  stand- 
still, immediately  on  the  alighting  of  a  passenger,  and  that  it 
started  while  she  was  stepping  on  it,  though  plaintiff  approached 
the  car  after  the  signal  to  start  had  been  given  by  the  conductor 
who  was  inside  the  car.— (McGill  (two  cases)  vs.  Central  Cross- 
town  Railroad  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  477.) 
NEW  YORK.— New  Trial— Power  to  Grant— Discretion  of  Trial 
Court — Review  on  Appeal. 
The  power  to  set  aside  a  verdict  on  the  ground  that  it  is  against 
the  weight  of  the  evidence,  and  to  grant  a  new  trial,  rests  in  the 
sound  discretion  of  the  trial  court,  and  its  determination  will  not 
be  reversed  on  appeal  unless  an  abuse  of  discretion  clearly  ap- 
pears.—(Lynch  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway   Company,  84 
New  York  Suppl.,  496.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways— Collision  with  Team  Crossing 
Track— Contributory  Negligence. 
A  finding  that  plaintiff,  injured  by  the  wagon  on  which  he  was 
riding  being  struck  by  a  street  car,  was  not  guilty  of  contributory 
negligence,  is  authorized,  there  being  evidence  that  the  car  had 
stopped  half  a  block  away,  when  the  wagon  approached  the 
track,  by  a  diagonal  path,  to  cross  it,  though  plaintiff  did  not  look 
for  the  car,  the  place  not  being  one  of  obvious  danger,  and  there 
being  evidence  that,  if  he  had  looked,  the  position  of  the  car  was 
such  that  danger  in  attempting  to  cross  would  not  have  been 
apparent.— (Westerman  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 84  New  York  Suppl.,  501.) 


Injury  to  Passenger  Boarding 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


345 


NEW  YORK— Carrier— Invitation  to  Take  Passage— Injury 
to  Passenger— Contributory  Negligence — Remark  of  Coun- 
sel. 

1.  Where  one  signaled  a  motorman  of  a  street  car,  who  was 
looking  toward  him,  and  who  then  slowed  up  the  car,  there  was 
enough  to  warrant  the  inference  that  the  signal  was  seen,  and  the 
car  slowed  up  to  permit  the  taking  of  passage  on  it. 

2.  Where  one  stepped  aboard  a  car  when  it  had  almost  stopped, 
and  was  injured  by  its  sudden  starting,  it  cannot  be  said,  as  a 
matter  of  law,  that  he  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence. 

3.  On  objection  to  counsel's  remark  that  he  would  show  that 
"attempts  had  been  made,  and  witnesses  spirited  away,"  the  court 
said:  "Unless  he  proves  it,  I  will  instruct  the  jury  to  disregard 
the  statements,"  and  no  exception  was  taken.  Evidence  of  an  at- 
tempt to  bribe  a  witness  to  absent  himself  was  introduced.  The 
court's  attention  was  not  again  called  to  the  matter.  Held,  that 
the  remark  affords  no  warrant  for  reversal. — (Mulligan  vs.  Metro- 
politan Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  791.) 
NEW  YORK.— Master  and  Servant— Street  Railways— Per- 
sonal Injuries — Contributory  Negligence — Question  for  Jury 
— Appeal — Motion  for  New  Trial. 

1.  A  railway  conductor,  who  had  been  in  the  employment  for 
three  months,  called  the  attention  of  the  starter  to  the  fact  that  the 
wheel  had  fallen  out  of  the  top  of  the  trolley  pole,  and  was  in- 
structed to  proceed  by  allowing  the  fork  on  the  end  of  the  pole  to 
rest  against  and  slide  along  the  wire,  but  to  be  careful  in  going 
over  crossing  or  around  curves.  While  proceeding  on  a  straight 
piece  of  track  the  pole  became  entangled  with  a  supporting  wire 
and  fell  on  the  conductor.  Held,  that  the  question  whether  the 
conductor  assumed  the  risk  was  properly  submitted  to  the  jury. 

2.  Where  there  is  no  appeal  from  an  order  denying  a  motion  for 
new  trial,  the  appellant  cannot  raise  the  question  that  the  dam- 
ages were  excessive. — (Lynch  vs-.  Brooklyn  Heights  Railway 
Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  805.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Passengers  Boarding  Car  after 
Signal  to  Start. 
An  instruction  that,  if  plaintiff  tried  to  board  defendant's  street 
car  after  the  conductor  had  given  the  signal  to  start,  and  just  be- 
fore the  car  started,  defendant  was  not  liable  for  the  conductor's 
pushing  plaintiff  off,  is  properly  refused,  because  ignoring  the 
questions  of  plaintiff's  knowledge,  or  means  of  knowledge,  that  a 
signal  to  start  had  been  given,  and  of  any  negligence  of  plaintiff. 
— (Ferris  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York 
Suppl.,  806.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Personal  Injuries — Crossing 
Track  at  Night — Contributory  Negligence — Question  of  Fact 
— Negligence — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  It  is  not  negligence  per  se  for  a  person  to  attempt  to  cross 
the  track  of  a  street  railroad  at  night  75  ft.  in  front  of  an  ap- 
proaching electric  car. 

2.  Evidence  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  pedestrian  on  street  car 
track  held  sufficient  to  make  out  a  prima  facie  case  of  negligence 
on  the  part  of  the  street  railroad. — (McDermott  vs.  Brooklyn 
Heights  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  807.) 

NEW  YORK. — Carriers  of  Passengers — Negligence — Evidence — 
Notice  of  Defects — Effect  of  Railroad  Law.) 

1.  The  railroad  law  (laws  1890,  p.  1131,  chap.  565,  sec.  162,  as 
amended  by  laws  1892,  p.  1416,  chap.  676)  providing  that  no  exam- 
ination, request,  or  advice  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  shall 
impair  in  any  manner  or  degree  the  legal  rights,  duties,  or  liabili- 
ties of  a  railroad  corporation,  does  not  operate  to  render  inad- 
missible, in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger,  a  communication 
to  an  electric  railroad  from  the  Railroad  Commissioner,  made 
after  inspection  about  a  year  before  the  accident,  recommending 
the  adoption  of  certain  safeguards  at  the  place  of  the  accident. 

Notice  to  a  railroad  of  a  defect  from  which  injury  to  a  passenger 
has  resulted  is  competent  and  cogent  evidence  in  an  action  for  the 
injury,  irrespective  of  the  source  of  the  notice. — (Baruth  vs. 
Poughkeepsie  City  &  W.  F.  Electric  Railway  Company,  85  New 
York  Suppl.,  822.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Fire  Apparatus— Collisions- 
Right  of  Way — Injuries — Actions — Instructions. 

1.  Under  Greater  New  York  Charter,  sec.  748,  as  amended  by 
laws  1900,  p.  256,  chap.  155,  giving  fire  apparatus  when  on  duty, 
proceeding  to  a  fire,  the  right  of  way  in  a  public  street  over  all 
other  vehicles  except  those  carrying  the  United  States  mail,  the 
driver  of  a  fire  truck,  going  to  a  fire,  had  the  right  to  assume  on 
crossing  a  street  railroad  track  that  the  motorman  of  a  street  car 
approaching,  on  discovering  the  truck,  would  so  control  his  car 
as  to  give  the  truck  the  right  of  way. 

2.  In  an  action  for  damages  to  a  fire  truck  in  a  collision  with  a 
street  car  as  the  truck  was  proceeding  to  a  fire,  an  instruction  that 
all  that  was  required  of  the  motorman  of  the  car  "at  the  time  that 


he  apprehended  danger"  was  to  use  ordinary  care  to  bring  his  car 
to  a  stop  was  properly  refused  as  misleading,  since  it  limited  the 
motorman's  care  "at  the  time  he  apprehended  danger,"  though 
the  danger  was  caused  by  his  previous  negligence,  and  did  not 
require  care  on  his  part  from  the  time  he  apprehended  danger 
until  the  collision  actually  occurred. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  fire  apparatus  in  a  col- 
lision with  a  street  car,  plaintiff  claimed  negligence  on  the  part  of 
the  motorman  in  approaching  the  street  crossing  at  a  high  rate 
of  speed,  without  having  his  car  under  control,  and  in  failing  to 
keep  a  proper  lookout  to  discover  the  approach  of  the  truck  or 
signals  thereof,  an  instruction  that  if  at  the  time  the  motorman 
saw  the  danger  he  applied  the  reverse,  acting  in  the  belief  that  that 
was  the  best  method  of  stopping  the  car,  defendant  could  not  be 
found  guilty  of  negligence  because  the  motorman  did  not  apply 
the  brake,  was  properly  refused  as  misleading. 

4.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  fire  truck  in  a  collision  with  a 
street  car,  the  court  charged  that  the  safety  of  property  and  the 
protection  of  life  require  the  greatest  practicable  speed  of  vehicles 
of  the  Fire  Department  in  responding  to  alarms,  and  that  the 
laws  and  ordinances  regulating  the  speed  of  vehicles  in  the  street 
do  not  apply  to  vehicles  of  the  Fire  Department,  but  did  apply  to 
defendant's  car;  whereupon  defendant  requested  an  instruction 
that  there  was  no  statute  limiting  the  rate  of  speed  of  defendant's 
cars,  and  that  negligence  could  not  be  predicated  on  the  mere 
fact  that  the  car  was  running  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  and  that  the 
only  duty  resting  on  defendant  was  to  exercise  reasonable  care  in 
the  operation  of  the  car  under  all  the  circumstances.  Held  that 
the  charge  as  modified  by  the  request  was  proper. 

5.  The  driver  of  a  fire  truck  is  bound  to  respond  to  an  alarm  of 
fire  with  the  greatest  practicable  speed,  and  is  only  bound  to 
drive  with  that  care  which  a  prudent  person  would  exercise  under 
like  circumstances.  Hatch,  J.,  dissenting. — (City  of  New  York  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  694.) 
NEW  YORK.- — Street  Railroads — Drivers  of  Vehicles — Injuries 

at  Crossings — Contributory  Negligence — Negligence  of  Rail- 
way Company. 

1.  Where  the  driver  of  a  vehicle  approached  a  street  railway 
crossing  at  right  angles  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  and,  before  at- 
tempting to  cross  he  saw  the  car  by  which  he  was  struck  coming, 
but  made  no  effort  to  stop  or  avoid  the  car,  thinking  he  had  time 
to  get  across  the  track  in  front  of  the  car,  he  was  guilty  of  such 
contributory  negligence  as  precluded  recovery  for  his  injuries. 

2.  When  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  the  driver  of  a  wagon  while 
attempting  to  cross  a  street  car  track  in  front  of  a  car,  there  was  no 
evidence  that  when  plaintiff  drove  on  the  track  the  motorman 
could  have  stopped  the  car,  or  that  it  was  then  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  wagon  that  it  was  possible  to  stop  it,  a  verdict  finding 
that  defendant  was  negligent  was  not  sustainable. — (Goldkranz  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl,  667.) 
NEW  YORK. — Negligence — Personal  Injuries — Excessive  Ver- 
dict. 

Where  a  physician  with  a  practice  of  about  $6,000  a  year  had  his 
leg  from  the  knee  down  crushed  and  bruised,  so  that  he  was  con- 
fined to  his  bed  from  May  31,  1900,  to  July  2,  and  to  his  house 
until  July  12,  and  was  compelled  to  use  crutches  until  August,  and 
for  six  weeks  thereafter  used  a  cane,  and  at  the  date  of  the  trial, 
April  30,  1903,  was  obliged  to  wear  a  steel  plate  in  his  shoe,  and 
was  prevented  from  taking  long  walks,  and  there  was  evidence 
from  which  the  jury  could  infer  that  his  pecuniary  loss  was  sub- 
stantial for  the  two  years  that  had  intervened,  a  verdict  for  $12,000 
was  excessive,  and  should  be  reduced  to  $7,783. — (Herold  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  660.) 
NEW  YORK. — Appeal — Verdict — Conflicting  Evidence — Con- 
clusiveness— Carriers — Injuries  to  Passengers — Premature 
Start — Actions — Instructions. 

1.  A  verdict  based  on  conflicting  evidence  is  conclusive  as  to 
the  facts  on  appeal. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  alleged  to  have  re- 
sulted by  reason  of  a  premature  start,  an  instruction  that,  in  order 
for  plaintiff  to  recover,  he  must  prove  that  the  accident  happened 
substantially  as  he  alleged;  that  it  happened  through  the  negli- 
gence of  defendant's  servants  operating  the  car,  and  without  any 
contributory  negligence  on  plaintiff's  part — that  is,  that  the  car 
was  standing  still,  and,  before  plaintiff  had  an  opportunity  to>  board 
it,  it  was  started,  and  that  it  made  no  difference  how  short  a  time 
it  was  standing  still,  if  plaintiff  boarded  car,  and  the  conductor 
started  it  before  plaintiff  had  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  get  on 
the  car,  the  defendant  was  liable — was  not  objectionable  as  with- 
drawing from  the  jury  defendant's  negligence  as  a  question  of 
fact,  and  as  instructing  that  defendant  was  liable  irrespective  of 
plaintiff's  freedom  from  contributory  negligence,  which  had  been 
submitted  in  another  instruction. — (Doering  vs.  Metropolitan 
Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl.,  .<ioo.) 


346 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


NEW  YORK. — Practice — Objections  to  Evidence — Grounds — 
Prayer  for  Instructions — Items — Proof. 

1.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  evidence  as  to  the  nervous 
condition  of  plaintiff  at  the  time  of  an  examination  made  by  a 
physician  being  admissible  to  show  plaintiff's  general  condition, 
though  inadmissible  as  a  basis  of  recovery,  because  not  shown  to 
have  resulted  from  the  accident,  and  not  being  specified  in  the 
complaint  or  bill  of  particulars,  defendant's  objection  thereto 
should  have  been  taken,  not  to  its  admission,  but  by  a  request  for 
appropriate  instructions. 

2.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries  to  plaintiff's  son,  .there 
could  be  no  recovery  for  expenses  alleged  to-  have  been  incurred 
for  the  board,  lodging  and  nursing  of  the  son,  where  such  ex- 
penses were  not  paid  by  plaintiff,  nor  their  reasonable  value 
shown. — (Fagan  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company  (two 
cases),  85  New  York  Suppl,  340.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Drivers — Evidence 
■ — Contributory  Negligence. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries  to 
the  driver  of  a  cart  while  crossing  a  street  in  front  of  a  car,  evi- 
dence held  to  justify  a  verdict  in  favor  of  plaintiff. 

2.  Where  a  street  car,  at  the  time  plaintiff  attempted  to  drive 
across  the  track,  was  half  a  block  away,  and  not  closer  than  25  ft. 
when  plaintiff  was  actually  on  the  track,  and  was  going  at  a  speed 
not  to  exceed  ij4  miles  per  hour,  and  could  have  been  stopped 
within  3  ft.,  plaintiff  was  not  guilty  of  contributory  negligence,  as 
a  matter  of  law,  in  attempting  to  cross  in  front  of  it. — (Bullman 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl., 
32S-) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Injury  to  One 
Near  Track — Instructions — Prejudicial  Error — Construing  In- 
structions Together. 

1..  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  the  death  of  one 
killed  owing  to  a  car  leaving  the  track  at  a  point  near  where  he 
was  working,  the  court  instructed  that  it  was  the  duty  of  de- 
fendant to  have  the  car  rails,  etc.,  so  constructed  that  the  car 
would  stay  on  the  tracks.  Held,  that  the  instruction  was  errone- 
ous, as  eliminating  from  the  jury  the  question  of  the  degree  of  care 
which  defendant  was  required  to-  exercise,  and  practically  stating 
that  the  company  was  an  insurer  against  accidental  derailment. 

2.  Though  the  court  had  in  earlier  instructions  stated  that 
plaintiff  could  not  recover  merely  because  the  accident  happened, 
and  followed  the  erroneous  instruction  by  a  statement  that  if, 
from  all  the  testimony,  the  jury  believed  the  car  left  the  track 
without  defendant's  fault,  and  they  were  guilty  of  no  negligence, 
plaintiff  could  not  recover,  the  error  could  not  be  regarded  as 
harmless,  it  appearing  that  at  the  close  of  the  charge  the  court  was 
asked  by  counsel  if  the  court  meant  to  instruct  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  the  railroad  to  have  its  track  so  constructed  that  the  cars 
would  stay  on  the  tracks,  and  the  court  having  replied  that  such 
was  the  charge. — (Kelly  vs.  United  Traction  Company,  85  New 
York  Suppl,  433.) 

NEW  YORK.- — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Pedestrians — Con- 
tributory Negligence— Negligence — Instructions. 

1.  Plaintiff,  a  woman  78  years  of  age,  was  struck  by  a  street  car 
while  passing  diagonally  across  the  street  at  a  street  intersection. 
She  testified  that  when  she  left  the  curb  she  saw  the  car  approach- 
ing about  a  block  away,  and  that  when  she  was  about  half  way 
across  and  before  the  two  lines  of  tracks,  she  looked  a  second 
time,  and  saw  the  car  half  a  block  away,  and  continued  a  few  steps, 
when  she  was  struck  by  the  fore  part  of  the  car,  after  the  fender 
had  safely  passed  her.  Held,  that  such  facts  tended  to  show  care 
on  plaintiff's  part,  and  that,  if  she  misjudged  the  distance  of  the 
car  from  her,  such  fact  would  not  of  itself  constitute  contributory 
negligence. 

2.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  pedestrian  at  a  street  in- 
tersection by  collision  with  a  street  car,  it  was  not  disputed  that 
the  car  was  running  at  the  rate  of  7  miles  or  8  miles  an  hour, 
though  there  was  evidence  that  the  car  was  under  control,  whether 
the  operation  of  the  car  was  negligent  was  for  the  jury. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  pedestrian  at  a  street  in- 
tersection by  collision  with  a  street  car,  plaintiff  testified  that  she 
looked  twice  while  crossing  the  street,  and  at  the  first  time  saw 
the  car  a  block  away,  and  on  the  second  occasion  a  half  block 
away,  an  instruction  authorizing  the  jury  to  say  whether  or  not 
plaintiff  miscalculated  or  misjudged  the  distance,  or  whether  she 
failed  to  exercise  ordinary  care  in  making  the  usual  and  ordinary 
observation,  and  thus  brought  the  accident  on  herself,  was  not 
objectionable,  as  not  based  on  the  evidence. — (Mauer  vs.  Brook- 
lyn Heights  Railroad  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  76.) 
NEW  YORK.— Street  Railway— Passenger  Injured  by  Closing 

Door — Negligence. 
Plaintiff  boarded  a  crowded  street  car  and  stood  on  the  plat- 
form till  some  passengers  alighted,  when  the  conductor  directed 


him  to  go  inside,  saying  there  was  plenty  of  room.  Thereupon  he 
entered,  and,  the  car  being  still  crowded,  he  pushed  his  way  in 
sidewise,  using  his  left  hand  by  placing  it  against  the  door  jam  to 
support  himself,  and  before  he  had  time  to  avail  himself  of  other 
means  of  support,  if  any  could  be  reached,  the  conductor  went 
inside,  and  closed  the  sliding  door  on  his  hand.  Held,  that 
whether  the  conductor  was  negligent  was  a  question  of  fact,  a  find- 
ing on  which  for  plaintiff  would  not  be  disturbed  on  appeal. — 
Egnstfeld  vs.  Central  Crosstown  Railway  Company,  84  New  York 
Suppl,  148.)  , 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Workman  on 
Track — Evidence — Sufficiency. 
Plaintiff  was  attending  blasting  wires,  passing  them  to  the  fore- 
man, who  was  beneath  the  street  level,  and  connecting  them  with 
the  explosive.  He  had  placed  danger  flags  warning  cars  to  go 
slowly.  Previous  to  bending  over  he  looked  for  approaching 
cars,  and  then  dropped  the  wire  into  the  tunnel  to  the  foreman. 
He  was  struck  by  a  car  which  came  rapidly  along  without  giving 
signal  or  warning  before  he  had  recovered  the  wires.  Held  suffi- 
cient to  sustain  a  judgment  for  plaintiff. — (Hennessey  vs.  Forty- 
Second  Street,  M.  &  St.  N.  Ave.  Railway  Company,  84  New  York 
Suppl,  158.) 

NEW  YORK. — Dangerous  Streets — Notice  to  Pedestrian — Pre- 
sumption of  Safe  Condition — Particular  Defect — Notice — 
Question  of  Fact. 

1.  In  the  absence  of  an  appearance  of  danger  readily  discernible 
by  reasonable  care,  the  existence  of  which  is  ordinarily  a  question 
of  fact,  pedestrians  have  the  right  to  assume  that  sidewalks  and 
crosswalks  are  safe. 

Whether  a  rail  extending  over  a  crosswalk  constitutes  a  suffi- 
cient notice  of  danger  to  a  pedestrian  to  make  it  her  duty  to 
avoid  it  is  a  question  of  fact. — (Gribben  vs.  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl,  196.) 
NEW  YORK.- — Witnesses — Cross-Examination — Impeachment. 

Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  in- 
juries, a  witness  for  plaintiff,  who  saw  the  accident,  denied  on 
cross-examination  that  he  had  refused  to  tell  defendant's  agent 
how  the  accident  happened  unless  he  received  a  certain  sum  of 
money,  and  then  stated  that  defendant's  agent  had  offered  him 
the  amount  named,  and  that  he  had  refused  to  take  it,  defendant 
was  bound  by  this  testimony,  and  could  not  afterward  contradict 
it,  it  not  having  been  reverted  to  in  the  examination  in  chief,  and 
the  witness  not  being  shown  to  be  an  agent  of  plaintiff. — (Gold- 
berg vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York 
Suppl,  212.) 

NEW  YORK.— Trial — Examination  of  Plaintiff— Discretion  of 
Trial  Court. 

Allowing  plaintiff,  as  a  witness  in  an  action  for  personal  in- 
juries, to' take  a  glass  of  water  in  both  hands,  in  order  to  show  a 
nervous  affection  causing  him  to  spill  the  water  through  the 
trembling  of  his  hands,  and  to  use  his  handkerchief  in  the  same 
manner,  being  under  the  sole  control  of  the  witness  himself,  is  be- 
yond the  ordinary  tests  of  examination,  and  tends  to  prejudice  the 
jury,  but,  being  within  the  discretion  of  the  court,  is  not  ground 
for  reversal  by  the  Court  of  Appeals. — (Clark  vs.  Brooklyn 
Heigrus  Railroad  Company,  69  Northeastern  Rep.,  647.) 
NEW  YORK.- — Street  Railways — Injuries  to  Passengers— Ver- 
dict Against  Evidence- — Setting  Aside. 

In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  personal  injuries,  where 
plaintiff,  a  passenger,  is  wholly  uncorroborated,  and  is  contra- 
dicted in  all  essential  particulars  by  the  overwhelming  testimony 
of  a  number  of  disinterested  witnesses,  who  give  a  consistent  and 
not  improbable  version  of  the  accident,  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  must 
be  set  aside  as  against  the  weight  of  evidence. — (Manning  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York  Suppl, 
1122.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Collision  with  Vehicle — Fellow 
Servants — Imputed  Negligence — Contributory  Negligence. 

1.  Where  the  driver  of  a  furniture  van  and  his  helper,  who  is  in- 
jured in  a  collision  with  a  street  car,  are  not  engaged  in  a  common 
enterprise  or  joint  adventure,  but  are  merely  fellow  servants  in  the 
employ  of  the  same  master,  but  with  distinct  duties,  the  driver's 
negligence  is  not  imputable  to  the  helper,  so  as  to  prevent  his  re- 
covery. 

2.  The  failure  of  a  person  riding  in  the  rear  of  a  van,  and  who  is 
injured  through  a  collision  with  a  street  car,  to  jump  off  the 
vehicle  on  foreseeing  the  probability  of  a  collision,  is  not  con- 
tributory negligence  as  a  matter  of  law,  but  the  question  is  for  the 
jury,  dependent  on  whether,  and  when,  a  person  of  ordinary  pru- 
dence would  have  jumped,  and  whether  there  was  time  enough 
left  for  the  exercise  of  a  deliberate  judgment  after  the  collision 
became  imminent  from  the  ascertained  negligence  of  either  the 
motorman  or  the  driver  of  the  vehicle,  or  both. — (Waters  vs. 
Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  85  New  York' Suppl,  1120.) 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


347 


NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways— Collision  with  Wagon— Evi- 
dence— Exclamation  of  Motorman — Harmless  Error — Dam- 
ages— Injury  to  Wagon— Reasonableness — Evidence — Suffi- 
ciency. 

1.  The  statement  of  a  motorman,  after  colliding  with  a  delivery 
wagon,  that  he  "could  not  help  it,"  is  not  admissible  against  the 
railroad. 

2.  The  statement  of  a  motorman,  after  colliding  with  a  delivery 
wagon,  that  he  "could  not  help  it"  does  not  tend  to  show  negli- 
gence, and  its  erroneous  admission  was  not  prejudicial  error. 

3.  The  sum  expended  by  the  owner  of  a  delivery  wagon  for  the 
hiring  of  another  wagon  while  his  own  is  being  repaired  is  a 
proper  element  of  damages  for  injury  done  to  his  wagon  by  col- 
liding with  a  street  car. 

4.  Testimony  that  plaintiff  paid  out  $84  for  the  use  of  a  delivery 
wagon  during  the  twenty-eight  days  that  his  own  was  being  re- 
paired, but  that  he  thought  that  the  usual  rate  was  less  than  that, 
though  he  did  not  know  what  it  was,  did  not  warrant  a  finding 
that  $84  was  a  reasonable  charge,  so  as  to  establish  a  basis  for 
damages  for  injury  to  plaintiff's  own  wagon. — (Rogers  et  al.  vs. 
Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl,  974-) 
NEW  YORK.- — Carriers — Street  Railroads — Personal  Injuries — 

Instruction. 

The  complaint  in  a  personal  injury  action  alleged  that  the  acci- 
dent occurred  in  C  Street  at  or  near  the  intersection  thereof  with 
H  Street.  Plaintiff  testified  that  at  the  time  she  attempted  to  get 
on  the  car  by  which  she  was  injured  it  stood  waiting  for  her  on 
the  north  side  of  H  street,  but  was  contradicted  in  this  testimony 
by  two  of  her  own  witnesses.  The  court  was  requested  to  charge 
that,  if  the  jury  found  that  the  car  stopped  at  the  north  side  of  H 
Street  only,  they  must  find  for  defendant.  Held,  that  the  refusal 
to  charge  as  requested  was  proper. — (Gold  vs.  Dry  Dock,  E.  B. 
&  B.  R.  Co.,  84  New  York  Suppl,  1018.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Car  Leaving 
Track — Evidence — Operation  of  Car — Measure  of  Care. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries,  in 
which  plaintiff  claimed  that  defendant's  car,  by  reason  of  excessive 
speed  and  mismanagement,  and  owing  to  uneven  rails,  jumped  the 
track  at  the  point  of  the  accident,  and  ran  into  the  wagon  on 
which  deceased  was  riding  while  the  same  was  a  safe  distance 
from  the  track,  evidence  that  cars  had  been  derailed  at  other  times 
and  places  on  defendant's  road,  and  under  circumstances  not 
shown  to  be  similar  to  those  existing  at  the  time  of  the  accident, 
was  inadmissible. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  death 
alleged  to  have  been  caused  by  defendant's  negligence  in  the  oper- 
ation of  its  car  on  a  track  along  the  side  of  a  highway,  an  instruc- 
tion that,  though  the  defendant  had  the  right  of  way,  it  was  not 
exclusive,  and  it  was  its  duty  to  run  its  cars  so  that  the  safety  of 
other  travelers  should  be  protected,  was  erroneous,  the  railway 
company  being  bound  to  exercise  only  reasonable  care. — (Perras 
vs.  United  Traction  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  992.) 
NEW   YORK. — Street   Railroads — Personal   Injuries — Loss  of 

Clothing — Value — Evidence — Sufficiency. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  personal  injuries  one  of 
the  items  of  damage  claimed  by  plaintiff  was  the  loss  of  a  suit  of 
clothes.    The  only  evidence  as  to  its  value  was  the  testimonyof 
the  plaintiff  that  he  paid  $35  for  it.    The  only  evidence  as  to  its 
condition  after  the  accident  was  that  it  was  "torn  and  dirtied." 
Held,  insufficient  to  prove  the  value  of  the  clothes  immediately 
after  the  accident,  or  damages  to  them. — (Dunne  vs.  Interurban 
Street  Railway  Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  260.) 
NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Accident  at  Street  Crossing- 
Evidence — Question     for     Jury — Negligence — Contributory 
Negligence. 

Where  the  testimony  of  a  person  injured  by  a  street  car,  that  he 
looked,  and  did  not  see  its  approach,  before  he  started  to  cross  the 
street  in  front  of  it,  is  impeached  by  uncontroverted  physical  facts, 
showing  that  the  car  was  in  plain  sight,  and  that  he  therefore 
either  did  not  look  at  all,  or  did  not  look  with  care,  his  credibility 
is  not  involved,  so  as  to  take  the  case  to  the  jury. 

2.  Evidence  in  an  action  for  personal  injuries  resulting  from 
being  struck  by  a  street  car  examined,  and  held  insufficient  to 
show  freedom  from  contributory  negligence,  and  negligence  on 
the  part  of  defendant. — (McKinley  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  461.) 

NEW  YORK. — Carriers — Injuries  to  Passengers — Time  to  Alight 
— Evidence. 

Where  plaintiff  was  injured  while  alighting  from  a  street  car, 
and  her  testimony  that  the  car  had  stopped  before  she  attempted 
to  alight,  and  that  she  was  injured  by  the  premature  starting  of  the 
car,  was  uncorroborated,  and  several  disinterested  witnesses  testi- 
fied that  she  attempted  to  alight  before  the  car  had  stopped,  and 
was  thrown  down  in  so  doing,  a  verdict  in  favor  of  plaintiff  was 


contrary  to  the  weight  of  evidence.  Laughlin,  J.,  dissenting. — 
(Andrews  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  86  New 
York  Suppl.,  338.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injury  to  Horse — Expert  Evi- 
dence as  to  Value — Witnesses— Cross  Examination. 

1.  A  veterinary  surgeon  who  examines  a  horse  immediately  after 
it  is  injured  by  a  street  car,  and  testifies  that  he  could  not  tell  from 
such  examination  whether  it  was  in  a  sound  and  healthy  condition 
before  the  injury,  is  competent  to  testify  as  to  its  prior  value, 
though  he  did  not  see  it  before  the  accident. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injury  to  a  horse  by  a  street  car,  defendant's 
witness  testified  that  he  saw  all  that  happened;  and  later,  that  the 
first  thing  he  knew  he  heard  the  jingle  of  glass,  and  ran  around 
and  saw  a  horse,  and  the  horse  was  a  little  tangled  up.  On  cross- 
examination,  plaintiff's  attorney  asked  whether  the  witness  had 
not  seen  the  car  strike  the  truck;  where  the  wagon  was,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  switch,  and  whether  he  did  not  see  the  collision 
through  the  windows  of  the  car.  His  answer  showed  that  he  ad- 
hered to  his  statement  that  the  first  he  knew  of  the  accident  was 
hearing  the  glass  jingle  and  seeing  the  horse  tangled  up.  Held, 
that  a  written  statement  made  by  the  witness  prior  to  the  trial, 
offered  by  plaintiff,  and  showing  that  he  had  seen  the  car  strike 
the  truck,  was  not  objectionable  in  evidence  as  in  rebuttal  of  new 
matter  called  out  on  the  cross-exomination. — (Perine  vs  Interur- 
ban Street  Railway  Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  479.)  [ 
NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Collision  with  Truck— Imputed 

Negligence — Contributory  Negligence — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  Negligence  of  a  truck  driver,  for  whom  plaintiff  was  not  re- 
sponsible, and  with  whom  he  was  riding  when  injured  in  a  col- 
lision with  a  street  car,  could  not  be  imputed  to  him,  and  would 
not  defeat  his  recovery  for  negligence  of  the  motorman. 

2.  Plaintiff,  a  boy  of  nine  years,  was  on  the  seat  of  a  truck  with 
the  driver,  when  they  were  struck  by  a  car  at  a  street  intersection, 
and  he  was  injured.  He  apparently  neither  said  anything  to  the 
driver,  nor  drew  his  attention  to  the  car,  and  made  no  attempt  to 
jump  from  the  seat.  There  was  evidence,  however,  from  which  it 
might  be  fairly  inferred  that  the  truck  reached  the  track  in  time 
to  pass  in  safety  if  the  motorman  had  had  the  car  under  control. 
Held,  that  his  contributory  negligence  was  a  question  for  the 
jury. — (Robinson  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  86 
New  York  Suppl.,  442.) 

NEW  YORK— Personal  Injury  Case— Weight  of  Evidence. 

Where  plaintiff  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  is  the  only 
witneses  sworn  in  her  behalf,  and  defendant  calls  four  witnesses, 
three  of  whom  are  disinterested,  and  the  fourth  a  former  em- 
ployee, all  of  whom  contradicted  the  plaintiff,  and  testified  to  her 
contributary  negligence,  a  judgment  for  plaintiff  is  against  the 
weight  of  evidence. — (O'Neill  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 86  New  York  Suppl,  208.) 

NEW  YORK.— New  Trial— Imposition  of  Costs— Review— Mo- 
tion for  New  Trial — Granting  Motion — Failure  to  Take  New 
Trial — Appeal. 

1.  Where  a  verdict  is  set  aside  as  against  the  weight  of  evidence, 
costs  should  be  imposed  as  a  condition  of  granting  the  new  trial, 
even  in  a  case  of  seeming  hardship. 

2.  On  appeal  from  a  judgment  the  question  as  to  the  reason- 
ableness of  conditions  imposed  in  an  order  granting  appellant  a 
new  trial,  of  which  he  did  not  take  advantage  on  the  ground  that 
the  conditions  were  too  onerous,  is  not  reviewable. 

3.  A  party  who  fails  to-  take  advantage  of  an  order  granting  him 
a  new  trial  has  no  ground  for  complaint  on  an  appeal  from  the 
judgment. — (Carter  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  86 
New  York  Suppl,  206.) 

NEW  YORK.— Negligence— Death  of  Child— Case  Required. 

In  an  action  for  the  wrongful  death  of  a  child  there  can  be  no 
recovery  whether  he  was  sui  juris  or  11011  sui  juris,  if  he  did  not 
exercise  such  care  as  was  commensurate  with  his  years  and  in- 
telligence.—  (Atchason  vs.  United  Traction  Company,  86  New 
York  Suppl,  176.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways — Crossings— Injuries  to  Vehicle 
— Question  for  Jury. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries  to  a 
vehicle  occurring  by  a  collision  on  the  south  track  of  defendant's 
road,  witness  for  plaintiff  testified  that  when  the  driver  of  the 
vehicle  got  his  horse  on  the  south  track  the  car  was  still  standing 
50  ft.  or  60  ft.  away,  but  the  driver' did  not  testify  that  he  looked 
when  he  crossed  the  southerly  track,  and  the  evidence,  so  far  as 
he  was  concerned,  showed  that  when  he  crossed  the  northerly 
track  he  saw  defendant's  car  standing  still  at  the  distance  stated. 
There  was  no  evidence  that  the  car  was  going  rapidly  before  it 
struck  the  carriage,  but  there  was  evidence  that  plaintiff's  driver 
was  going  very  slowly.  Field,  that  there  was  evidence  for  the 
jury  to  consider  as  to  whether  or  not  the  driver  was  guilty  of 
negligence  in  not  looking  again,  and  whether  defendant  was 


34«  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


guilty  of  negligence,  and  it  was  error  to  dismiss  the  complaint. — 
(Rosenstock  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  86  New 
York  Suppl.,  104.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railways — Collision — Evidence — Contrib- 
utory Negligence. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  because  of  a  collision  be- 
tween plaintiff's  wagon  and  a  car,  the  evidence  for  plaintiff  showed 
that  when  about  40  ft.  from  the  track  the  driver  saw  the  car  about 
a  half  block  away,  but  drove  on  the  track,  not  seeing  the  car 
again  until  it  struck  the  wagon.  The  defendant's  motorman  testi- 
fied that  the  plaintiff's  horses  went  upon  the  track  about  10  ft. 
ahead  of  his  car,  and  a  disinterested  witness  swore  that  the  gong 
was  sounded,  that  the  car  was  going  at  a  moderate  rate  of  speed, 
and  that  the  horses  started  to  cross  the  track  at  a  distance  of  only 
8  ft.  or  10  ft.  ahead  of  the  car.  Held,  that  plaintiff  was  guilty  of 
contributory  negligence. — (Levy  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  102.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Collision — Evi- 
dence-— Sufficiency. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  because  of  a  collision  be- 
tween a  car  and  plaintiff's  vehicle  a  bystander  testified  to  the 
rapid  movement  of  the  car.  Two  employees  of  plaintiff,  who 
were  in  charge  of  the  vehicle,  which  was  a  covered  one  with  two 
windows  about  12  ins.  by  9  ins.  in  the  back,  testified  that  as  they 
drove  on  the  track  in  order  to  pass  a  truck  they  looked  back 
through  the  windows  and  saw  no  car;  that  just  as  they  passed  the 
truck  they  turned  off  the  track,  but  before  the  wagon  cleared  it,  it 
was  struck  from  behind  by  a  car.  Defendant  offered  no  evidence. 
Held  not  error,  on  verdict  for  defendant,  to  deny  plaintiff  a  new 
trial — (Alexander  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  86 
New  York  Suppl.,  212.) 

NEW  YORK.— New  Trial— Grounds— Municipal  Court  Act. 

An  order  setting  aside  a  verdict,  after  reciting  a  motion  on  be- 
half of  defendant  for  such  relief,  on  exceptions  taken  at  the  trial 
and  on  the  ground  that  the  verdict  was  contrary  to  the  evidence, 
contrary  to  law,  and  for  excessive  damages,  stated  the  granting  of 
the  motion,  and  the  judge  in  a  memorandum,  after  citing  authori- 
ties, said  that  the  verdict  was  set  aside  as  against  the  weight  of  the 
evidence.  Held,  that,  although  the  memorandum  stated  as  the 
reason  of  the  court's  action  a  ground  not  expressly  specified  in 
Municipal  Court  act  (laws  1902,  p.  1563,  chap.  580),  sec.  254, 
enumerating  the  grounds  for  such  relief,  yet  the  memorandum 
was  no  part  of  the  record,  and  the  order  itself  recited  causes  for 
the  vacation  of  a  verdict  expressly  enumerated  in  such  section. — 
(Newbound  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway,  86  New  York  Suppl., 
68.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Injuries  to  Pas- 
sengers— Evidence — Cross- Examination. 

1.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  received  by  a 
passenger  while  alighting  from  a  car,  where  plaintiff's  contention 
that  the  car  had  come  to  a  full  stop  before  suddenly  starting  was 
practically  uncorroborated,  his  only  witness  refusing  to  swear  that 
the  car  had  stopped,  and  defendant's  claim  that  plaintiff  en- 
deavored to  alight  while  the  car  was  in  motion  was  supported  by 
the  testimony  of  five  witnesses,  three  of  whom  were  disinterested, 
and  whose  testimony  was  strongly  supported  by  the  probabilities 
of  the  case,  a  verdict  for  plaintiff  was  clearly  against  the  weight 
of  evidence. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  to  a  pas- 
senger alleged  to  have  resulted  from  a  car  suddenly  starting  while 
he  was  alighting,  defendant  had  a  right  to  ask  plaintiff,  on  cross- 
examination,  whether  he  knew  that  before  he  could  recover  he 
must  show  that  the  car  started  while  he  was  alighting. — (Kramer 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railwav  Company,  86  New  York  Suppl 
34.) 

NEW  YORK. — Carriers — Street  Railway — Injury  to  Passenger 
in  Alighting — Submission  of  Case  to  Jury — Appeal  from  Dis- 
missal of  Complaint — Scope  of  Review. 

1.  Evidence  in  an  action  by  a  street  car  passenger  injured  in 
attempting  to  alight  held  too  uncertain  and  contradictory  to  war- 
rant submitting  the  issues  of  negligence  and  freedom  from  con- 
tributory negligence  to  the  jury. 

2.  On  an  appeal  from  the  dismissal  of  a  complaint  at  the  end  of 
plaintiff's  case  the  Supreme  Court  is  not  limited  to  reviewing  the 
ground  assigned  by  the  trial  court  for  its  action,  but  must  examine 
the  entire  record.— (Baker  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany. 86  New  Yo  k  Suppl..  10.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Personal  Injuries— Loss  of 
Clothing — Value — Evidence — Sufficiency. 
Where  one  of  the  items  in  the  bill  of  particulars  in  an  action 
against  a  street  railroad  for  personal  injuries  for  which  plaintiff 
claimed  damages  was  the  destruction  of  his  clothing,  evidence 
merely  that  plaintiff  paid  $50  for  it  is  insufficient  to  sustain,  a 
judgment  for  plaintiff  including  an  assessment  of  damages  at  $50 


for  the  loss  of  the  clothing. — (Connolly  vs.  Interurban  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  214.) 

NEW  YORK. — Passenger  on  Street  Car — Action  for  Injuries — 
Evidence- — Sufficiency — Instructions — Damages. 

1.  Evidence  examined,  and  held  sufficient  to  sustain  a  verdict 
against  a  street  railroad  company  for  injuring  a  passenger  when 
attempting  to  get  off  a  car. 

2.  In  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for  injuries  to 
a  passenger,  claimed  to  have  been  caused  by  starting  the  car  after 
it  had  stopped  and  when  she  was  about  to'  get  off,  the  court 
charged  the  jury,  without  objection,  that  the  only  question  for 
them  to  determine  was  whether,  in  getting  off  the  car,  plaintiff, 
before  she  had  an  opportunity  to  alight,  was  thrown  to  the  street 
by  a  jerk  caused  by  defendant's  employees.  Thereafter,  at  the 
close  of  the  whole  charge,  in  response  to  a  request  by  plaintiff  to 
further  charge,  the  court  stated  that  he  would  modify  his  charge, 
and  thereupon  charged  that  if  the  jury  found  the  car  had  stopped, 
and  that  plaintiff  was  preparing  to  alight,  and  the  car  gave  a  start 
or  jerk  before  she  had  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  do  so,  unless 
the  start  or  jerk  was  satisfactorily  explained  by  defendant,  it  was 
guilty  of  negligence,  and  it  was  not  incumbent  on  plaintiff  to 
prove  what  caused  the  same.  Held,  that  this  could  not  be  treated 
as  a  charge  that,  if  the  jury  found  that  plaintiff's  version  of  the 
case  was  true,  defendant  was  liable  as  a  matter  of  law. 

3.  A  verdict  for  $3,000  for  seriously  injuring  a  passenger  on  a 
street  car,  causing  her  confinement  in  a  hospital  for  nearly  six 
weeks,  and  leaving  her  with  one  leg  permanently  shortened,  with  a 
stiff  joint,  was  not  excessive. — (Bente  vs.  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  86  New  York  Suppl.,  86.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Personal  Injuries — Trial — 
Jurors — Misconduct — Evidence — Harmless  Error. 

1.  An  affidavit  on  which  is  based  an  application  to  set  aside  a 
verdict,  because  of  alleged  misconduct  of  two  jurors,  to  the  effect 
that  after  verdict  was  rendered  the  jurors  stated  to  offiant,  who 
was  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  plaintiff's  attorney,  that  during  the 
progress  of  the  trial  they  had  inspected  a  gate  on  one  of  the  de- 
fendant's street  cars,  to  ascertain  whether  the  plaintiff's  hand 
could  have  been  injured  in  the  manner  testified  to  by  him,  and  that 
such  information  influenced  them  in  arriving  at  a  verdict  against 
plaintiff,  is  hearsay. 

2.  The  misconduct  of  two  jurors,  in  inspecting  a  gate  on  one  of 
defendant's  cars,  to  ascertain  whether  plaintiff's  hand  could  have 
been  injured  in  the  manner  testified  to  by  him,  is  harmless,  where 
the  evidence  indicates  that  the  jury  were  justified  in  finding  for 
defendant,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  a  different  conclusion 
would  have  been  reached  had  the  inspection  not  been  made. — 
(Gans  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  New  York 
Suppl.,  914.) 

NEW  YORK. — Imputed  Negligence — Driver  of  Wagon — Co- 
Servant. 

Where  employees  of  the  same  master,  riding  on  a  wagon,  were 
not  engaged  in  a  common  enterprise,  and  the  one  injured  in  a 
collision  had  no  control  over  the  driver,  and  did  not  assume  to 
influence  him  in  a  way  leading  to  the  accident,  the  court  cannot 
say  as  a  matter  of  law  that  there  was  an  imputation  of  negli- 
gence.— (Ciufh  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New 
York  Suppl.,  918.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Duty  to  Use  Care  in  Running 
Car. 

The  duty  of  a  street  railroad  company  to  use  care  in  avoiding 
collisions  extends  not  only  to  the  duty  of  the  motorman  to  see 
that  the  front  end  of  the  car  may  pass  safely,  but  also  requires  the 
conductor  or  other  person  in  charge  of  the  car  to  watch  for  and 
avoid  obstructions  the  car  may  meet  at  any  time  before  it  has  en- 
tirely passed. —  (Martin  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway  Company, 
84  New  York  Suppl,  921.) 

NEW  YORK. — Witnesses — Credibility — Inconsistent  Statement 
— Admissibility — Consideration  by  Jury  for  Improper  Pur- 
poses— Motion  to  Strike  Testimony  Admissible  for  One  Pur- 
pose— Refusal — Evidence — Collateral  Matters — Confidential 
Relations — Physician  and  Patient — Extent  of  Privilege — Ob- 
jections— Sufficiency  to  Raise  Question — Persons  Included — 
Druggist — Refusal  of  Patient  to  Waive  Privilege — Effect — 
Right  to  Draw  Inferences  Therefrom — Requested  Instruc- 
tions— Erroneous  Statement  of  Law — Effect- — Refusal  to 
Give. 

1.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  defendant  offered  evidence 
tending  to  show  that  no  accident  occurred,  and  that  the  ailments 
complained  of  were  due  to  syphilis,  from  which  the  plaintiff  was 
suffering.  A  physician  called  by  plaintiff  testified  as  to  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  injuries  sustained  by  plaintiff  by  reason  of  the 
accident,  together  with  the  results  which  flowed  therefrom.  Held, 
that  a  certificate,  signed  by  the  physician,  certifying  that  Anna  D. 
had  been  sick  from  syphilis  and  under  his  treatment,  was  admiss- 


September  3,  1904.]  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  349 


ible,  as  bearing  on  the  credibility  of  his  testimony,  though  plain- 
tiff's name  was  Annie  D  ,  and  though  the  physician  testified  that 
the  certificate  did  not  refer  to  plaintiff,  and  that  he  knew  that  she 
had  never  had  the  disease. 

2.  Where  a  written  statement  signed  by  a  witness  was  received 
in  evidence  as  bearing  on  his  credibility,  the  statement  of  the 
court,  on  denying  a  motion  to  strike  the  statement  from  the 
record,  and  for  an  instruction  to  the  jury  to  disregard  it,  that  he 
would  leave  it  to  the  jury  to  say  whether  the  witness  made  the 
statement,  and  whether  it  referred  to  anything  connected  with  the 
case,  and  would  let  the  jury  draw  the  inferences  from  it  under  all 
the  circumstances,  did  not  authorize  the  jury  to  consider  the  state- 
ment for  any  purpose  beyond  its  bearing  on  the  credibility  of  the 
witness. 

3.  A  motion  to  strike  from  the  record  a  written  statement  was 
properly  denied  where  the  statement  was  properly  admitted  in 
evidence  as  bearing  on  the  credibility  of  a  witness. 

4.  In  an  action  for  personal  injuries,  defendant  offered  evidence 
tending  to  show  that  no  accident  occurred,  and  that  the  ailments 
complained  of  were  due  to  syphilis,  from  which  plaintiff  was  suf- 
fering. A  physician  called  by  plaintiff  testified  as  to  the  nature  and 
extent  of  the  injuries,  sustained  by  her  by  reason  of  the  accident, 
he  having  treated  her  for  such  injuries,  and  admitted  making  a 
written  statement  to  the  effect  that  Anna  D.  had  been  sick  from 
syphilis  and  under  his  treatment,  but  testified  that  the  statement 
did  not  apply  to  plaintiff,  whose  name  was  Annie  D.;  that  he  did 
not  know  to  whom  it  referred;  that  he  could  not  remember  the 
circumstances  of  making  it,  and  that  he  knew  that  plaintiff  had 
never  had  the  disease.  Held,  that  evidence  as  to  what  other  pa- 
tients did,  or  what  persons  called  on  him,  or  what  records  he 
kept,  or  as  to  whether  persons  suffering  from  such  disease  fre- 
quently gave  fictitious  names,  was  collateral  and  inadmissible. 

5.  The  testimony  of  a  physician,  limited  to  the  identification  of 
plaintiff,  to  the  fact  that  he  had  treated  her,  together  with  the 
place  and  length  of  time  of  such  treatment,  did  not  disclose,  or 
have  any  tendency  to  disclose,  any  communication  plaintiff  made 
to  the  physician,  or  he  to  her,  within  Code  Civ.  Proc,  sec.  834, 
prohibiting  a  physician  from  disclosing  professional  information 
acquired  in  attending  a  patient. 

6.  The  objection  to  the  question  asked  a  physician  which  called 
for  an  answer  as  to  whether  certain  prescriptions  delivered  by 
him  to  a  patient  were  in  his  handwriting,  that  it  was  immaterial, 
irrelevant  and  incompetent,  did  not  raise  the  objection  that  the 
question  was  in  violation  of  Code  Civ.  Proc.  sec.  834,  prohibiting 
a  physician  from  disclosing  professional  information  acquired  in 
attending  a  patient,  and  therefore  this  objection  could  not  be  made 
available  on  appeal. 

7.  Code  Civ.  Proc,  sec.  834,  prohibiting  a  physician  from  dis- 
closing professional  information  acquired  from  a  patient,  does 
not  extend  to  a  druggist  who  fills  physicians'  prescriptions,  nor 
does  it  preclude  a  patient  receiving  a  prescription  from  divulging 
its  contents,  and  therefore  a  druggist  filling  prescriptions  for  a 
physician's  patient  may  testify  to  that  fact,  and  indentify  the  pre- 
scriptions so  filled,  which  prescriptions  may  then  be  received  in 
evidence. 

8.  The  refusal  of  a  patient  to  permit  a  physician  to  testify,  not- 
withstanding Code  Civ.  Proc,  sec.  834,  prohibiting  a  physician 
from  disclosing  professional  information  acquired  from  a  patient, 
authorizes  the  jury  to  draw  inferences  therefrom  warranted  by  the 
evidence. 

9.  As  the  statute  only  prohibits  a  physician  from  disclosing  con- 
fidential information  acquired  in  attending  on  a  patient  where  the 
relation  of  patient  and  physician  is  established,  and  when  the  in- 
formation was  necessary  tO'  enable  him  to  act  in  that  capacity,  a 
requested  instruction  that,  under  the  law,  communications  from  a 
patient  to  a  physician  were  privileged  and  could  not  be  given  in 
testimony  except  in  a  case  of  a  waiver  of  the  privilege,  was 
properly  refused,  being  too  broad  a  statement  of  the  law. — 
(Deutschmann  vs.  Third  Avenue  Railroad  Company,  84  New 
York  Suppl.,  887.) 

NEW  YORK.— Imputed  Negl  igence — Fellow  Servants. 

Tt  cannot  be  said  as  matter  of  law  that  negligence  of  the  driver 
of  an  insurance  patrol  wagon  in  colliding  with  a  street  car  is  not 
imputable  to  an  employee  of  the  insurance  patrol  riding  to  a  fire 
011  the  wagon,  on  the  seat  with  the  driver,  and  ringing  the  bell  — 
(Adl  er  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company  84  New  York 
Suppl.,  877.) 

NEW  YORK.— Imputed  Negl  igence — Fellow  Servants. 

Even  if  the  negligence  of  the  driver  of  an  ice  wagon,  with  which 
a  street  car  collides,  can  be  imputed  to  one  riding  on  the  wagon 
as  a  helper,  he  not  having  interfered  in  any  manner  with  the 
driving,  the  question  having  been  submitted  to  the  jury  as  a 
question  of  fact,  their  finding  in  his  favor  should  not  be  disturbed. 


— (Murray  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New 
York  Suppl.,  876.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Teams — Contribu- 
tory Negligence — Failure  to  Look. 
One  driving  a  milk  wagon  at  a  jog  trot,  the  horse  being  under 
perfect  control,  was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  in  crossing 
a  street  car  track,  when  he  had  seen  the  car  standing  some  30  ft. 
from  where  it  struck  his  horse,  without  again  looking  before  at- 
tempting to  cross. — (Cosgrove  vs.  Interurban  Street  Railway 
Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  885.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Pedestrians — Neg- 
ligence— Question  for  Jury — Extra  Allowance — Objection — 
Appeal. 

1.  In  an  action  tor  injuries  to  plaintiff  by  a  street  car  as  she 
was  crossing  the  track  at  a  regular  street  crossing,  held,  that  the 
question  of  the  motorman's  negligence  was  for  the  jury. 

2.  Where  defendant  interposed  no  objection  to  plaintiff's  mo- 
tion for  an  extra  allowance  at  the  trial,  the  granting  of  such  mo- 
tion cannot  be  reviewed  on  appeal. — (Mulligan  vs.  Third  Avenue 
Railroad  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  366.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Passengers  Alighting — Duty 
to  Stop  Car — Instructions. 
An  instruction  that  it  was  the  duty  of  defendant  to  bring  its 
car  to  a  stop,  and  allow  it  to  so  remain  for  a  length  of  time  "suffi- 
cient" to  allow  plaintiff  and  her  children  to  alight  therefrom,  was 
not  erroneous,  though  the  law  only  required  the  car  to  stop  a 
reasonable  time,  where  other  instructions  stated  that  only  ordi- 
nary care  was  required. — (Day  vs.  Union  Railway  Company,  of 
New  York  City,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  560.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Injury  to  Person  Boarding  Car 

■ — Contributory  Negligence. 
Plaintiff,  in  an  action  for  injury  received  in  attempting  to  board 
a  street  car,  testified  that  the  gate  of  the  car  was  not  fully  opened 
for  reception  of  passengers,  that  it  was  open  a  little  bit,  and  that 
if  he  had  seen  the  position  it  was  in  he  never  would  have  put  his 
hand  there  to  get  hurt.  Held,  that  there  was  evidence  for  the 
jury  that  he  did  not  use  reasonable  care  in  attempting  to  board 
the  car,  under  the  circumstances. — (Ganz  vs.  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  579.) 
NEW    YORK. — Street    Railways — Negligence — Collision  with 

Pedestrian — Evidence — Contributory    Negligence — Speed  of 

Car. 

1.  Plaintiff  endeavored  to  push  his  cart  across  the  street  while 
defendant's  street  car  was  within  a  distance  estimated  by  wit- 
nesses at  from  15  ft.  to  the  "width  of  8  or  9  houses,"  and,  ob- 
serving the  car,  signaled  the  driver  to  slacken  speed  or  stop,  in 
spite  of  which  the  car  proceeded,  striking  and  injuring  plaintiff. 
The  driver  admitted  that  he  saw  plaintiff  and  endeavored  to  stop 
the  car,  but  also  testified  that  he  could  stop  within  20  ft.,  and  it 
appeared  that,  though  he  applied  the  brake  when  12  ft.  or  15  ft. 
from  plaintiff,  it  did  not  stop  until  20  ft.  beyond  the  point  of  col- 
lision.   Held,  that  defendant  was  guilty  of  negligence. 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  by  collision  with  street  car,  evidence 
held  to  show  plaintiff  free  from  contributory  negligence. 

3.  In  an  action  against  a  street  car  company  for  personal  in- 
juries, caused  by  defendant's  car  striking  plaintiff  as  he  was  cross- 
ing the  street,  evidence  of  bruises  to  the  plaintiff's  head  was  ad- 
missible as  showing  the  violence  of  the  collision,  and  thereby 
bearing  on  the  speed  of  the  car,  although  such  injuries  were  not 
specified  in  the  bill  of  particulars. — (Greenbaum  vs.  Interurban 
Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  588.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Collision— Contributory  Neg- 
ligence. 

In  an  action  for  injuries  sustained  by  a  street  car  colliding  with 
the  rear  end  of  plaintiff's  wagon  while  he  was  driving  along  the 
track,  evidence  considered,  and  held  to  show  contributory  negli- 
gence precluding  recovery. — (Geleta  vs.  Buffalo  &  N.  F.  Electric 
Railway,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  629.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railways — Negligence — Question  for  Jury 
— Care  Required  of  Street  Railway — Contributory  Negligence. 

1.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  sus- 
tained by  one  who,  having  alighted  from  a  car,  while  it  was  still 
standing  passed  behind  it,  and  was  struck  by  a  car  coining  from 
the  opposite  direction  on  the  other  track,  plaintiff  testified  that  he 
listened  for  a  bell,  but  did  not  hear  one,  while  defendant's  evidence 
was  that  the  bell  was  ringing,  and  that  plaintiff  ran  into  the  car, 
the  question  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  defendant  was  for  the 
jury. 

2.  A  street  railway  is  chargeable  with  notice  that  passengers, 
when  they  alight  from  cars,  are  liable  to  cross  to  the  opposite 
side  of  the  street,  and  over  the  adjoining  track,  and  the  obligation 
is  imposed  upon  the  railway  to  exercise  reasonable  care  in  the 
operation  of  its  cars,  having  regard  to  such  condition. 

3.  Where  one  who  has  flighted  from  a  street  car  passes  behind 


350  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


the  same,  and,  before  stepping  on  to  the  other  track,  looks  and 
listens  to  see  if  a  car  is  approaching  from  an  opposite  direction, 
but  does  not  see  or  hear  one,  he  is  not,  as  a  matter  of  law,  guilty 
of  contributory  negligence  in  going  on  the  other  track. — (Reed 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl., 
454) 

NEW  YORK. — Appeal  from  Non-Suit — Favorable  Inferences — 
Street  Railway — Passenger — Attempt  to  Board  Car — Injury — 
Case  for  lury — Contributory  Negligence — Question  for  Jury. 

1.  Where  a  non-suit  is  granted  at  the  close  of  plaintiff's  case, 
plaintiff  on  appeal  is  entitled  to  every  fact  that  the  jury  could 
have  found  from  her  evidence,  and  to  all  the  favorable  inferences 
therefrom;  and,  if  two  inferences  arise,  one  favorable  and  the 
other  unfavorable,  only  the  favorable  one  can  be  considered. 

2.  Evidence  in  a  suit  by  a  passenger  against  a  street  car  com- 
pany for  injuries  received  while  attempting  to  board  a  car  held 
sufficient  to  take  plaintiff's  case  to  the  jury  on  the  issues  of  negli- 
gence and  contributory  negligence. 

3.  Contributory  negligence  is  generally  a  question  of  fact,  and 
it  is  only  where  it  clearly  appears  from  the  circumstances,  or  is 
proved  by  uncontroverted  evidence,  that  the  court  can  determine 
the  question. — (Benjamin  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 84  New  York  Suppl.,  458.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Travelers  at  Cross- 
ings— Contributory  Negligence. 
A  traveler  who  crossed  street  car  tracks  at  a  crossing  in  such 
close  proximity  to  a  southbound  car  that  the  motorman  on  the 
northbound  car  could  not  stop  the  car  before  injuring  him,  and 
who  had  opportunity  to  see  the  northbound  car  approaching,  was 
precluded,  by  contributory  negligence,  from  recovering  for  the 
injuries  sustained. — (Schroder  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company.  84  New  York  Suppl.,  371.) 

NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Injuries  at  Crossings — Con- 
tributory Negligence — Instructions. 

1.  Plaintiff,  a  passenger  on  one  of  defendant's  street  cars,  on 
alighting  therefrom  at  a  crossing,  passed  behind  it  to  cross  the 
other  track,  and  while  on  the  latter  track  she  was  struck  by  a  car 
traveling  at  the  rate  of  15  miles  an  hour,  and  which  traveled  about 
100  ft.  before  it  was  brought  to  a  stop  after  the  collision.  Plaintiff 
testified  that,  as  the  car  on  which  she  had  been  a  passenger  pro- 
ceeded, she  looked  both  ways,  and  saw  no  car  approaching, 
though  there  was  nothing  obstructing  her  view,  and  that  she  then 
attempted  to  cross  defendant's  tracks.  Other  witnesses  in  her 
behalf  testified  that  when  she  started  to  cross  the  tracks  the  car 
that  struck  her  was  from  60  ft.  to  100  ft.  north  of  the  crossing. 
Held  sufficient  to  go  to  the  jury  on  the  question  of  her  contribu- 
tory negligence. 

2.  An  instruction,  in  an  action  in  which  there  was  conflicting 
evidence,  that  there  had  been  perjury  in  the  case  on  one  side  or 
the  other,  asking  on  which  side,  and  whether  the  jury,  out  of  the 
conflicting  testimony,  some  of  it  surely  perjured,  could  feel  that 
they  knew  to  any  reasonable  degree  of  certainty  what  the  truth 
was,  and  stating  that  if  they  did  not  their  verdict  should  be  for 
defendant,  was  erroneous,  because  preventing  the  jury  from  recon- 
ciling the  conflicting  testimony. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  company  for 
injuries  sustained  by  a  traveler  at  a  crossing,  plaintiff  testified  that 
on  alighting  from  a  car  at  a  crossing  she  looked  in  both  direc- 
tions, and  saw  no  car  approaching,  and  that  while  on  the  adjoin- 
ing track  she  was  struck  by  a  car,  and  it  was  admitted  that  there 
was  nothing  to  obstruct  her  view,  an  instruction  whether,  in  such 
a  situation,  plaintiff  could  palm  off  on  a  jury  the  suggestion  that 
she  did  not  see  the  car,  and  whether  it  was  to  be  tolerated  that  in 
an  open  field,  with  nothing  in  the  way — an  open  street,  in  broad 
daylight — a  man,  woman,  or  child,  sui  juris,  should  be  permitted 
to  walk  into  a  car  so  as  to  be  hit  thereby  without  the  imputation 
of  negligence  on  his  part,  where  there  was  no  acceleration  in  the 
speed  of  the  car,  was  erroneous,  as  a  virtual  direction  to  the  jury, 
to  find  a  verdict  for  defendant.— (Beers  vs.  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  785.) 

NEW  YORK.— Appeal— Negligence— Sufficiency  of  Evidence. 

Judgment  for  plaintiff  in  an  action  for  injury  from  the  starting 
of  a  street  car  while  she  was  alighting  after  it  had  been  stopped 
on  her  signal  will  be  reversed  as  against  the  weight  of  evidence, 
she  having  no  witness,  and  four  apparently  disinterested  wit- 
nesses, besides  the  conductor  and  motorman,  testifying  that,  after 
plaintiff  had  asked  the  conductor  to  stop  the  car,  she,  disregard- 
ing his  warning,  alighted  while  it  was  in  motion,  and  before  it  had 
stopped. — (Clancy  vs.  Yonkers  Railroad  Company,  84  New  York 
Suppl.,  789.) 

NEW  YORK— Street  Railways— Collision  with  Team— Action 
for  Injuries — Evidence — Appeal — Prejudicial  Error. 
In  an  action  against  a  street  railroad  for  injuries  from  a  collision 
with  plaintiff's  wagon,  plaintiff  testified  that  he  was  disabled  for 
nine  days,  and  then  went  to  work;  that  while  driving  his  horse 


ran  away,  and  he  jumped  (but  there  was  no  evidence  that  he  was 
injured);  that  he  worked  the  two  following  days.  He  then  testi- 
fied, under  objection,  as  not  having  been  shown  to  be  the  result 
of  the  accident,  that  he  did  no  more  work.  The  court  charged 
that  plaintiff  could  only  recover  for  the  "direct  consequences"  of 
the  accident.  Held,  that  defendant  was  not  prejudiced  by  the 
admission  of  the  testimony  excepted  to.- — (Dunford  vs.  Interurban 
Street  Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  865.) 
NEW  YORK. — Street  Railroads — Collision — Questions  for  Jury 
— Measure  of  Care — Stopping  Car — Error  of  Judgment. 

1.  A  street  car  line  passed  over  a  narrow  bridge.  Plaintiff  drove 
on  the  bridge  about  the  time  a  car  entered  on  the  other  end.  His 
horse  became  frightened.  The  motorman  did  not  slacken  his 
speed  until  near  the  horse,  which  swerved  across  the  track  and 
was  struck.  Held,  that  whether  the  motorman  exercised  due  care, 
and  whether  the  car  was  stopped  as  quickly  as  it  could  have  been 
after  the  danger  of  collision  became  apparent,  were  questions  for 
the  jury. 

2.  The  measure  of  caie  to  be  exercised  toward  persons  right- 
fully in  a  street  by  a  street  railroad  company  operating  cars  there- 
on is  such  reasonable  care  as  an  ordinarily  prudent  person  would 
exercise  under  all  the  circumstances. 

3.  Where  a  motorman  using  ordinary  prudence  erred  in  a  mat- 
ter of  judgment  as  to  stopping  the  car  in  time,  or  as  to  the  method 
of  stopping  it,  it  was  not  negligence  for  which  plaintiff  can  re- 
cover in  an  action  for  injuries  by  collision. 

4.  A  motorman  is  not  required  to  take  any  precaution  against 
frightening  a  horse  on  a  highway,  more  than  would  be  required 
by  the  driver  of  any  other  vehicle. — (Adsit  et  al.  vs.  Catskill  Elec- 
tric Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  393.) 

NEW  YORK.— Street  Railroads— Injury  to  Pedestrian— Contrib- 
utor}' Negligence. 
1.  Where  plaintiff's  decedent  was  killed  by  a  street  railway  car, 
running  at  a  high  rate  of  speed,  while  crossing  a  track  to  catch 
a  car  waiting  for  him,  the  conductor  of  which  called  upon  him  to 
liurry  if  he  wanted  to  get  the  car,  the  question  whether  decedent 
was  guilty  of  contributory  negligence  in  passing  diagonally  across 
the  street,  facing  the  approaching  car,  is  a  question  for  the  jury; 
it  presented  a  question  of  fact,  rather  than  one  of  law. — (Stillings 
vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company,  69  Northeastern  Rep., 
641.) 

NEW  YORK. — Carriers — Street  Railroads — Injuries  to  Passen- 
gers— Damages  —  Evidence — Variance  —  Harmless  Error — 
Trial — Motion  to  Strike — Presumption  of  Negligence. 

1.  Plaintiff  was  injured  from  fire  communicated  to  her  feet  and 
dress  while  riding  on  defendant's  street  car  by  friction  caused  by 
a  contact  between  a  wheel  of  the  car  and  an  iron  plate  over  the 
same,  drawn  together  by  the  overcrowded  condition  of  the  car. 
Shortly  thereafter  plaintiff  suffered  from  nervous  prostration,  and 
there  was  evidence  that  it  was  the  result  of  the  shock  caused  by 
the  burns.  Held,  that  a  finding  that  plaintiff's  nervous  prostra- 
tion was  the  result  of  the  injury,  and  was  not  occasioned  by  mere 
freight,  was  not  against  the  weight  of  evidence. 

2.  Where  defendant  railway  company  was  organized  by  con- 
solidation of  the  G.  &  S.  and  S.  &  M.  Railway  Companies,  the 
fact  that  the  complaint  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger 
charged  that  the  injuries  occurred  on  the  line  operated  by  the 
S.  &  M.  Railway  Company,  while  the  proof  showed  that  it  was 
in  fact  on  the  G.  &  S.  Railway  Company's  line,  did  not  constitute 
a  prejudicial  variance. 

3.  Where,  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on  a  street  car, 
it  was  conclusively  proved  that  the  conductors  of  one  of  the  con- 
stituent railways  forming  defendant  consolidated  company  were 
on  the  cars,  taking  fares,  error,  if  any,  in  permitting  the  introduc- 
tion of  reports  by  one  of  such  amalgamated  companies,  tending 
to  show  that  it  was  operating  the  road,  was  harmless. 

4.  Where  a  complaint  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  passenger  on 
a  street  car  charged  negligence,  in  permitting  the  bearings  on  one 
of  the  wheels  to  become  overheated,  a  variance  between  such 
allegation  and  the  proof,  which  showed  that  the  bearings  were 
not  overheated,  but  that  the  plate  over  the  wheel  was  overheated 
by  friction  caused  by  the  plate  being  pressed  against  the  wheel, 
which  proof  was  made  by  defendant's  witnesses,  was  not  material. 

5.  Where  some  of  the  evidence  given  by  a  witness  was  proper  for 
the  consideration  of  the  jury,  a  motion  to  strike  out  all  of  this 
evidence  was  properly  overruled. 

6.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  was  injured  by  the  over- 
heating of  a  plate  over  a  wheel  by  friction  caused  by  the  overload- 
ing of  the  car,  the  heating  of  the  plate  raised  a  presumption  of  neg- 
ligence on  the  part  of  the  company. — (Powell  vs.  Hudson  Valley 
Railway  Company,  84  New  York  Suppl.,  337.) 

NEW  YORK.— 1.  Street  Railroads— Alighting  from  Car— Negli- 
gence— Questions  for  Jury. 

A  street  car  conductor,  after  being  notified  of  plaintiff's  desire 
to  transfer,  left  the  car  just  before  reaching  the  place  of  transfer. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


35  i 


Plaintiff  was  familiar  with  the  locality,  and  knew  where  the  cars 
usually  stopped  for  transfer.  The  car,  on  reaching  the  place, 
stopped,  and  plaintiff  started  to  leave  it;  but,  it  having  started, 
she  remained  standing  until  it  stopped  a  second  time.  While  at- 
tempting to  alight,  it  was  suddenly  started  without  any  warning, 
and  she  was  thrown  to  the  street.  Plaintiff  did  not  notify  the 
motorman  of  her  intention  to  alight.  There  was  nothing  to  in- 
dicate that  the  car  had  stopped  for  any  purpose  other  than  the 
transfer  of  passengers.  Held,  to  require  the  submission  to  the 
jury  of  the  question  whether  plaintiff  was  negligent. — (Gillespie 
vs.  Yonkers  Railway  Company,  83  New  York  Suppl.,  1043.) 
NEW  YORK. — 1.  Personal  Injury — Damages — Inadequate  Ver- 
dict. 

A  verdict  of  $171  for  personal  injury  should  be  set  aside  as  in- 
adequate, the  undisputed  evidence  showing  permanent  injury  in 
strength  and  working  power,  loss  of  work  for  four  mounths  at 
$60  a  month,  and  incurrence  of  liability  for  medical  attendance 
worth  $250. — (Hurley  vs.  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company, 
83  New  York  Suppl.,  1082.) 

OREGON. — Street  Railroads — Vehicles — Injuries  to  Drivers — 
Minors — Care  Required — Contributory  Negligence — Instruc- 
tions—Objections. 

1.  Where  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  plaintiff's  minor  son,  while 
driving  a  light  express  wagon,  in  a  collision  with  a  defendant's 
street  car,  all  the  instructions  pertaining  to  defendant's  negli- 
gence were  unexceptional,  and  not  objected  to,  defendant  could 
not  object  to  instructions  on  contributory  negligence  limiting 
plaintiff's  duty  to  the  care  a  reasonably  prudent  minor  of  his  age 
would  be  expected  to  exercise,  on  the  ground,  that  defendant 
had  no  knowledge  that  the  driver  of  the  wagon  was  a  minor, 
and  that  its  liability  could  not  be  made  to  depend  on  the  driver's 
capacity  from  considerations  of  his  age 

2.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  plaintiff's  minor  son,  15  years 
of  age,  caused  by  collision  with  a  street  car  as  he  was  driving 
a  delivery  wagon  across  the  tracks,  it  could  not  be  said,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  law,  that  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate,  in  judgment,  pru- 
dence and  forethought,  so  as  to  be  liable  for  the  exercise  of  the 
same  degree  of  care  as  an  adult. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  plaintiff's  minor  son  in  a  colli- 
sion between  a  delivery  wagon  which  he  was  driving  and  a  street 
car,  the  evidence  as  to  his  acts  just  prior  to  the  collision  was  con- 
flicting; defendant  claiming  that  after  the  horse  and  all  of  the 
wagon  except  the  hind  wheels,  had  crossed  the  tracks,  the  driver 
suddenly  stopped  and  turned  the  horse  to  the  right,  so  that  a  col- 
lision occurred  before  the  car  could  be  stopped,  while  the  driver 
testified  that  before  attempting  to  cross  he  stopped,  and  looked 
and  listened  for  a  car,  and,  seeing  none,  started  to  cross  the  track 
at  a  slow  walk,  and  that,  before  the  hind  wheels  of  the  wagon 
got  across,  it  was  struck  by  a  car  approaching  at  a  high  rate  of 
speed.  Held,  that  it  was  proper  for  the  court  to  submit  the 
driver's  contributory  negligence  to  the  jury  under  instructions 
limiting  the  degree  of  care  required  of  him  to  such  care  as  a 
minor  of  his  age,  capacity  and  understanding  would  usually  exer- 
cise under  the  same  circumstances. — (Dubiver  vs.  City  &  Subur- 
ban Railway  Company,  74  Pacific  Rep.,  915). 
PENNSYLVANIA. — Carriers — Injury  to  Passenger — Negligence 

— Presumptions — Evidence. 

1.  Where  a  passenger  on  a  street  car  is  injured  without  fault 
of  his  own  by  a  collision  not  due  to  any  defect  in  the  car  on 
which  he  was  riding,  but  by  a  broken  appliance  in  the  car  that 
ran  into  it,  there  is  a  legal  presumption  of  negligence  to  be  re- 
butted by  the  carrier. 

2.  When  a  passenger  on  a  street  car,  in  a  well-grounded  fear 
that  a  collision  was  about  to  take  place,  which  would  result  in 
serious  injury,  jumped  from  the  car,  the  presumption  of  negli- 
gence on  the  part  of  the  carrier  arises  because  of  the  injuries  re- 
ceived. 

3.  A  street  car  company  is  not  negligent,  as  a  matter  of  law, 
because  it  runs  two  cars  toward  each  other  on  the  same  track. 

4.  A  carrier  of  passengers  is  required  to  exercise  the  highest 
degree  of  practical  care  which  is  consistent  with  the  mode  of 
transportation  adopted. 

5.  A  physician  testifying  in  a  personal  injury  case  as  to  the  per- 
manent character  of  the  injury,  may  be  asked  whether  it  will 
prevent  plaintiff  from  performing  her  ordinary  labor. — (Palmer  et 
al.,  vs.  Warren  Street  Railway  Company,  06  Atlantic  Rep.,  49.) 
PENNSYLVANIA. — Injury  to  Employee — Assumption  of  Risk. 

1.  Plaintiff  sued  to  recover  for  the  death  of  a  motorman,  caused 
by  a  collision  between  the  decedent's  car,  running  12  miles  an 
hour,  and  a  work  car  which  was  standing  at  a  curve  in  the  road. 
Defendant's  road  had  but  a  single  track,  and  the  movements  of 
the  work  car  could  not  be  regulated  by  a  fixed  schedule,  but  there 
was  no  danger  in  its  use  that  could  not  be  avoided  by  reasonable 
care  by  the  motorman.  Deceased  had  been  in  the  service  of  the 
company  for  several  years,  during  all  of  which  time  the  work,  gar 


had  been  in  use.  Held,  that  he  assumed  the  risk  resulting  from 
the  presence  of  the  car  on  the  track. — (Nelson  vs.  Oil  City  Street 
Railway  Company,  56  Atlantic  Rep.,  934.) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Street   Railroads— Injury   to   Child— Con- 
tributory Negligence  of  Motorman. 

1.  The  measure  of  responsibility  of  a  child  for  contributory  neg- 
ligence is  the  average  capacity  of  others  of  the  same  age  and  ex- 
perience, and  his  responsibility  also  depends  on  the  character  of 
the  danger  to  which  he  is  exposed;  and  the  question  is  generally 
one  for  the  jury,  unless  the  facts  are  clearly  settled,  and  there  can 
be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  inference  to  be  drawn. 

2.  Evidence  in  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  boy  seven  years  and 
eight  months  old,  on  a  street  car,  considered,  and  held  a  question 
for  the  jury  whether  the  motorman  was  negligent  in  permitting 
the  boy  to  ride  on  the  front  platform. 

3.  In  an  action  for  injuries  to  a  boy  seven  years  and  eight 
months  old,  it  was  proper  to  decline  to  submit  the  question  of  his 
contributory  negligence  to  the  jury,  where  he  went  on  the  front 
platform  of  a  street  car  to  tell  the  motorman  where  he  wanted 
to  get  off,  and  either  fell  or  jumped  off  the  platform  and  was  in- 
jured.— (Parker  vs.  Washington  Electric  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, 56  Atlantic  Rep.,  1001.) 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Injury  to  Employee— Contributory  Negli- 
gence. 

1.  Where  a  motorman,  on  reaching  a  street  crossing  with  his 
car,  failed  to  look  for  an  approaching  car,  and  a  collision  resulted, 
he  was  guilty  of  contributary  negligence,  preventing  recovery. — 
(Bobb  vs.  Union  Traction  Company,  55  Atlantic  Rep.,  972.) 
RHODE  ISLAND.— Negligence— Leading  Horse  in  Street— In- 
jury by  Animal — Liability  of  Owner. 

1.  The  owner  of  a  horse  which,  while  being  led  in  a  street, 
inflicts  an  injury  by  kicking  a  passer-by,  is  not  liable,  in  the 
absence  of  a  showing  of  knowledge  by  him  of  vicious  propensities 
or  previous  kicking. — (Eddy  vs.  Union  Railway  Company,  56 
Atlantic  Rep.,  677.) 

1  ENNESSEE  —  Street  Railroads  —  Injury  —  Negligence— Con- 
tributory Negligence — Evidence. 

1.  Evidence  in  an  action  for  the  negligence  of  defendant  in 
so  operating  its  street  car  as  to  frighten  the  horse  on  which  plain- 
tiff was  riding  and  cause  it  to  throw  him.  Held,  sufficient  to  sup- 
port a  verdict  for  plaintiff. 

2.  Where  it  reasonably  appears  to  a  motorman  in  control  of  a 
street  car  that  a  horse  has  become  unmanageable  through  fright, 
and  is  placing  some  one  in  danger,  it  is  the  motorman's  duty  to 
stop  sounding  his  gong  and  stop  his  car,  whether  at  the  usual 
stopping  point  or  not,  to  prevent  an  injury,  and  his  failure  to  do 
so  renders  the  company  liable  for  resulting  injury. 

3.  Whether  a  person  riding  a  young  and  skittish  horse,  which 
showed  fright  on  approaching  a  street  car!  was  guilty  of  negli- 
gence in  not  turning  at  once  off  the  street  on  which  the  car  was 
running,  was  a  question  for  the  jury. — (Knoxville  Traction  Com- 
pany vs.  Mullins,  76  Southwestern  Rep.,  890.) 

TEXAS.  —  Carriers  —  Injury    to    Passengers— Negligence— In- 
struction. 

1.  A  charge  that  if  the  jury  believe  that  plaintiff  attempted  to 
alight  from  a  car  after  it  had  stopped,  etc..  is  not  objectionable 
as  assuming  the  fact  to  be  that  the  car  had  stopped  when  she 
attempted  to  alight.— (San  Antonio  Traction  Company  vs.  Welter, 
77  Southwestern  Rep.,  414.) 

TEXAS.— Master  and  Servant— Injuries  to  Servant— Negligence 
— Assumption  of  Risk. 

1.  Where  a  servant,  ordered  to  assist  in  handling  a  wooden 
beam  with  inadequate  assistance,  was  ignorant,  by  reason  of  his 
inexperience,  of  the  weight  of  the  beam,  and  the  number  re- 
quired to  safely  handle  it,  and  the  master  was  charged  with  a 
knowledge  of  the  danger  of  the  undertaking,  the  master  was  lia- 
ble for  the  injuries  received  by  the  servant  while  assisting  in  hand- 
ling the  beam 

2.  A  servant  ordered  to  take  a  certain  number  of  men  with  him 
and  go  to  a  certain  place  and  get  a  wooden  beam,  who  knew  of 
the  weight  of  the  beam  and  the  number  of  men  required  to  handle 
it  with  safety,  assumed  the  risks  arising  from  undertaking  to 
handle  it  with  inadequate  force. — (San  Antonio  Traction  Co.  vs. 
De  Rodriguez.  77  Southwestern  Rep..  420.) 

TEXAS.  —  Street  Railways  —  Negligence  —  Instructions  —  Evi- 
dence— Prejudicial  Error. 
1.  Where  in  an  action  against  a  street  railway  for  injuries  sus- 
tained by  plaintiff  owing  to  his  horse  having  been  frightened  by 
a  car  which  ran  upon  a  bridge  at  an  unlawful  speed,  there  was  no 
evidence,  except  the  fright  of  the  horse  on  the  occasion  of  the 
accident,  which  tended  to  show  that  the  horse  was  fractious, 
an  instruction  that  if  the  plaintiff  was  driving  a  fractious  horse 
he  was  guilty  of  negligence  was  prejudicial  error. — (Romine  vs. 
San  Antonio  Traction  Company,  77  Southwestern  Rep.,  36.) 


352 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


LONDON  LETTER 


{From  Our  Own  Correspondent.) 
It  is  stated  that  the  directors  of  the  North-Eastern  Railway  Com- 
pany, who  have  quite  recently  completed  the  electrification  of  sev- 
eral of  the  branch  lines  on  the  north  bank  of  the  River  Tyne,  have 
now  decided  to  similarly  equip  their  Newcastle  and  South  Shields 
line,  which  traverses  a  thickly  populated  area  on  the  south  side  of 
the  river. 

It  is  rumored  also  that  the  main  line  of  the  North-Eastern  Rail- 
way is  to  be  shortly  electrified  between  Newcastle  and  Darlington,  a 
distance  of  38  miles.  This  section  of  line  forms  a  part  of  the  East 
Coast  route  to  Scotland,  and,  in  addition,  carries  the  immense  coal 
and  freight  traffic  to  and  from  the  Durham  coal  fields,  being  com- 
posed of  from  three  to  eight  sets  of  rails.  The  system  to  be 
adopted  is  the  overhead  wire — as  against  the  "live"  rail  now  used  on 
Tyneside — and  the  necessary  power  is  to  be  derived  from  a  local 
private  company. 

The  Bury  Corporation  tramway  committee  has  reported  that  an 
agreement  has  been  practically  arrived  at  and  terms  arranged  for 
the  through  running  of  both  Salford  and  Bury  tram  cars  over  por- 
tions of  the  systems  owned  by  both  corporations.  It  was  also  re- 
ported that  the  award  in  the  recent  arbitration  between  the  old 
Steam  Tramway  Company  and  the  local  authorities  was  ready  and 
that  the  Town  Clerk  of  Bury  had  been  instructed  to  take  it  up  for 
llie  authorities. 

The  new  municipal  electric  tramway  service  at  Northampton  was 
recently  inaugurated  by  the  Mayoress,  when  a  procession  of  electric 
cars  containing  members  of  the  Town  Council  and  others  proceeded 
through  the  town  amid  rejoicings.  The  corporation  purchased  the 
system  from  a  local  company  for  £37,500,  and  converted  it  from  a 
horse-drawn  to  an  electric  system  at  a  cost  of  an  additional  £85,000. 
The  new  trams  run  on  -about  9  miles  of  permanent  way.  J.  G. 
White  &  Company  were  the  contractors  for  the  permanent  way,  the 
International  Engineering  Company  for  the  power  plant,  Dick,  Kerr 
for  the  cars,  the  Brush  Company  for  the  overhead  construction, 
and  Siemens  Brothers  for  the  feeders. 

Jan.  I  next  is  the  date  fixed  by  the  chairman  of  the  District  Rail- 
way Company  for  the  opening  for  electric  traffic  of  "a  considerable 
portion"  of  the  line.  A  little  later  he  hopes  to  see  the  whole  of  the 
company's  system  wearing  quite  a  new  garb.  With  electric  traction 
and  zone  fares,  a  new  era  of  popularity  should  dawn  for  the  Dis- 
trict Railway,  and  there  is  not  much  doubt  that  the  cost  of  the 
change  will  be  small  in  comparison  with  the  financial  benefits  to  be 
gained  from  it,  which  should  quickly  accrue  when  the  public  find 
out  the  increased  comfort  and  the  absence  of  the  stifling  fumes 
which  have  been  tolerated  too  long. 

The  Leeds  Corporation  tramways  committee  is  considering  a  sug- 
gested agreement  for  the  running  of  through  cars  between  Leeds 
and  the  districts  of  Rothwell  and  Wakefield.  Some  time  ago  the 
Wakefield  District  Light  Railway  Company  wrote  to  the  Corpora- 
tion asking  that,  in  view  of  the  construction  of  lines  which  covered 
a  large  area,  some  facilities  should  be  granted  to  enable  through 
running  to  take  place  to  Leeds  by  its  cars,  and  to  its  territory  by  the 
Corporation  cars.  To  enable  this  to  be  carried  out,  the  company 
explained  that  it  had  adopted  standard-gage  track,  and  that  in 
other  respects  its  equipment  would  be  of  an  up-to-date  character. 
The  Leeds  tramways  committee  had  a  conference  with  the 
directors  of  the  company,  at  which  the  principle  was  laid  down  that 
the  receipts  earned  in  each  district  less  working  expenses  should  be 
paid  by  the  operating  or  running  body  to  the  owning  authority. 

At  two  points  in  the  construction  of  the  underground  shallow 
tramway  from  Holborn  to  The  Strand  the  Greathead  shield  will  be 
used  to  drive  the  tunnel.  The  shield  work  at  The  Strand  end  is  not 
yet  begun,  but  at  the  Holborn  entrance  it  is  being  pushed  steadily 
forward  from  the  south  side.  The  subway,  except  at  stations,  is 
?o  ft.  wide,  with  a  maximum  height  from  invert  to  intrados  of  16  ft. . 
the  arches  having  five  rings  of  brickwork.  The  cast-iron  tubes  will 
be  15  ft.  10  ins.  outside  diameter;  pipe  subway,  12  ft.  broad  by  8  ft. 
high  ;  vaults  under  pathways,  12  ft.  long  by  8  ft.  high  ;  sewers,  4  ft. 
fi  ins.  by  2  ft.  8  ins.,  with  blue  brick  invert,  with  branches  every  30 
ft.  under  the  vaults.  The  wood  paving  of  the  road  will  be  6  ins. 
thick,  and  the  footpath  will  be  paved  with  3-in.  York  flagging. 
There  is  a  pipe  subway  running  right  along  the  Strand  from  the 
Gaiety  to  the  Law  Courts.  The  subway  on  the  south  side  of 
Aldwyeh  runs  into  this  at  the  two  ends  and  crosses  under  the  new 
road  at  Catherine  Street  on  the  west,  and  near  Houghton  Street  on 
the  east.  These  two  crossways  join  the  subways  which  are  formed  on 
each  side  of  Kingsway.  and  which  turn  right  and  left  at  the  junction 
with  Aldwyeh,  and  so  form  the  subways  on  the  north  side  of  that 
street.  The  tramways  will  be  laid  down  on  the  conduit  system,  but 
the  tunnel  will  not  be  large  enough  to  accommodate  a  car  with  seats 
on  top,  and.  in  consequence,  all  cars  will  have  to  be  single-deck. 


Therefore,  passengers  will  have  to  change  cars  at  Theobald's  Road, 
unless  all  the  electric  cars  for  the  North  London  lines  running  to 
this  point  are  made  single-deckers,  which  does  not  appear  likely. 
The  extra  cost  of  making  the  tunnel  large  enough  to  admit  double- 
deck  cars  would  have  been  very  great,  and  the  Council,  which  has 
already  incurred  a  great  deal  of  blame  for  equipping  its  lines  with 
the  more  expensive  conduit  system  instead  of  with  the  overhead 
trolley  wire,  did  not  feel  able  to  undertake  the  tunnel  of  greater 
cost. 

In  view  of  the  stage  now  reached  by  Leith  Tramways  provisional 
order,  under  which  the  Town  Council  proposes  to  acquire  and  re- 
construct the  present  horse  tramway  system  in  the  burgh,  the  tram- 
ways committee  of  Leith  Town  Council  has  appointed  a  sub-com- 
mittee to  make  inquiries  regarding  all  systems  of  traction.  It  is 
expected  that  the  sub-committee  will  report  to  the  tramways  com- 
mittee early  in  September. 

At  the  recent  half-yearly  general  meeting  of  the  proprietors  of 
the  Great  Eastern  Railway,  Lord  Claud  John  Hamilton  (chairman 
of  the  company)  stated  that  they  had  as  yet  committed  themselves 
to  no  schemes  regarding  the  electrification  of  their  lines,  but  they 
were  now  watching  the  development  of  that  portion  of  the  Lanca- 
shire &  Yorkshire  Railway  between  Liverpool  and  Southport,  which 
was  now  worked  by  electrical  traction,  and  they  also  thought  it  ad- 
visable to  go  to  France  and  see  there  whether  there  was  anything 
for  them  to  learn  in  regard  to  the  working  of  some  of  the  French 
railways.  Accordingly,  in  the  month  of  May,  accompanied  by  the 
general  manager  and  other  principal  officials,  he  went  to  Paris,  but 
they  came  back  thoroughly  satisfied  that  there  was  nothing  in  what 
they  had  seen,  though  a  great  deal  of  it  was  commendable,  that 
would  prove  of  use  to  the  Great  Eastern  Railway.  They  were, 
therefore,  continuing  the  policy  of  holding  their  hands  until  they 
found  something  they  could  recommend  to  the  shareholders  with 
full  confidence. 

The  first  section  of  the  scheme  of  the  Metropolitan  Electric  Tram- 
ways, Ltd.,  to  intersect  the  northern  suburbs  of  London  has  now 
been  opened.    It  is  some  5  miles  in  length  and  extends  from  Fins- 
bury  Park,  along  Seven  Sisters  Road,  to  Tottenham  High  Road. 
At  Manor  House  it  branches  off  to  Wood  Green.    On  both  of  these 
routes  there  has  been  very  heavy  traffic  for  many  years.    In  this 
district  last  year  the  company's  passengers  numbered  14,000,000. 
The  fare  from  Finsbury  Park  to  Wood  Green  terminus  has  been 
reduced  from  3  halfpence  to  a  penny.    Altogether  about  50  miles  of 
electric  tramways  and  light  railways  are  to  be  constructed.    As  the 
result  of  an  alliance  between  the  Electric  Tramways,  Ltd.,  and  the 
North  Metropolitan  Tramways  Company,  which  leases  from  the 
London  County  Council  the  system  within  the  county,  junctions  are 
effected  at  several  points  with  the  new  lines,  which  are  also  fed  by 
the  Great  Northern  Railway  and  the  Great  Northern  &  City  Tube 
at  Finsbury  Park.    Work  is  now  in  progress  on  the  Great  North 
Road  from  Highgate  Archway  to  North  Finchley  and  on  the  Edg- 
ware  Road  from  Cricklewood  to  Edgware.    The  station  which  sup- 
plies the  lines  in  the  Wood  Green  and  Tottenham  districts  is  at 
Brimsdown,  about  3  miles  east  of  Enfield.    The  Cambridge  main 
line  of  the  Great  Eastern  Railway  is  close  at  hand,  and  the  Lea 
navigation,  on  the  edge  of  which  the  station  is  placed,  affords  facili- 
ties for  the  carriage  of  coal,  which  is  lifted  straight  from  barges  by 
an  electric  crane,  as  well  as  a  plentiful  supply  of  water  for  con- 
densing purposes,  etc.    Steam  is  supplied  by  Babcock  &  Wilcox 
boilers,  with  automatic  chain  grate  stokers  fed  by  coal,  which  is 
lifted  by  an  electrically  driven  conveyor  to  overhead  bunkers  and 
automatically  weighed  before  it  enters  the  furnaces.    The  chimney 
stack.  125  ft.  high,  is  made  of  steel  rings  lined  with  fire-brick 
throughout.    The  generating  plant  now  installed  consists  of  two 
1000-kw  alternators,  each  driven  by  a  Parsons  turbine  and  delivering 
a  three-phase  current  with  a  voltage  of  10,000  and  a  frequency  of 
50.    A  third  generator  of  the  same  capacity  is  being  erected,  and 
there  is  room  for  others  in  the  present  building,  which  has  been  de- 
signed so  that  it  can  conveniently  be  enlarged  when  necessary.  The 
high-tension  current  generated  here  is  conducted  by  duplicate  sets  of 
cables  to  sub-stations  already  erected  or  being  erected  at  Edmon- 
ton, Wood  Green,  Finchley  and  Henden,  where  by  rotary  trans- 
formers it  is  converted  down  to  continuous  current  at  550  volts  for 
use  on  the  tramways.    Although  established  primarily  for  supplying 
the  current  required  by  the  Metropolitan  Electric  Tramways,  this 
power  station  is  available  for  the  supply  of  electrical  energy  for 
power  purposes  over  a  large  area  of  Middlesex  and  Herts,  including 
24  miles  of  the  Lea  navigation,  along  which  there  is  plenty  of  land 
for  the  erection  of  factories,  which  would  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
water  transit.    Local  authorities  within  that  area  will  also  have  the 
opportunity  of  buying  power  "in  bulk"  for  their  electric  lighting  at 
prices  probably  much  lower  than  they  could  make  it  for  them- 
selves. 

The  report  of  the  Barry  Railway  Company  states  that  the  direc- 
tors have  had  before  them  the  question  of  the  electrification  of  the 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


353 


line,  and  have  sent  a  committee  to  inspect  lines  worked  by  electricity. 
After  careful  consideration,  they  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
"under  present  conditions  the  application  of  electrical  power  to  rail- 
ways which  deal  with  a  heavy  mineral  traffic  is  impracticable."  They 
have,  however,  let  a  contract  for  two-motor  coaches,  which  they 
think  can  work  economically  on  parts  of  the  Barry  line. 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Surrey  County  Council  at  Kingston 
the  Kew-bridge  joint  committee  reported  that  the  London  United 
Tramways,  Ltd.,  had  intimated  that  they  intended  to  promote  a 
bill  in  the  next  session  of  Parliament  seeking  powers  to  construct 
electric  tramways  over  the  new  King  Edward  VII.  bridge  at  Kew. 
The  joint  committee  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  use  of  the  over- 
head trolley  system  on  the  bridge  and  approaches  should,  if  possible, 
be  avoided.  A  resolution  to  this  effect  and  stipulating  that  the 
tramway  company  should  pay  an  annual  rental  of  £2,000  for  the 
use  of  the  bridge  was  passed. 

At  the  half-yearly  meeting  of  the  London,  Tilbury  &  Southend 
Railway  Company  the  chairman  said,  with  regard  to  the  question  of 
electrical  traction,  the  directors  recognized  that  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  the  proper  development  of  the  traffic  that  this  system  of 
traction  should  be  installed  as  an  alternative  means  of  working  from 
the  point  where  the  Whitechapel  and  Bow  Railway  joined  the  Til- 
bury Railway  at  Campbell  Road,  Bow,  to  a  point  at  or  near  Barking. 
Accordingly,  steps  were  being  taken  with  the  object  of  adapting  this 
portion  of  the  railway  for  electrical  traction,  so  that  it  might  be 
ready  for  use  at  the  time  when  the  new  mode  of  working  was 
brought  into  operation  on  the  Metropolitan  and  the  District  Rail- 
ways. The  company  fully  hoped  to  get  the  electrical  system  in 
operation  as  far  as  East  Ham  in  the  early  part  of  next  year — when 
the  District  Company  would  be  ready  for  it. 

When  recently  the  Torquay  tramways  bill  was  read  a  third  time 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  Lord  Clifford,  of  Chudleigh,  moved  to  in- 
sert the  following  new  clause :  "If  at  any  time  it  be  proved  that 
any  injury  or  damage  to  any  mains,  pipes  or  apparatus  of  the  Cor- 
poration or  the  Torquay  Gas  Company  shall  have  resulted  from  the 
use  of  electric  current  on  any  of  the  tramways  authorized  by  this 
bill,  nothing  in  the  bill  shall  relieve  the  company  from  liability  to 
make  compensation  for  such  injury  or  damage."  There  were,  he 
said,  special  circumstances  in  this  case  which  led  the  committee  be- 
fore whom  the  bill  went  to  believe  that  substantial  justice  would 
only  be  done  by  the  insertion  of  this  clause.  The  system  adopted 
in  this  case  (the  Dolter  system)  had  never  before  been  tried  in  this 
country,  and  on  that  ground  alone  the  Torquay  Corporation  were 
justified  in  asking  for  a  guarantee  against  loss  other  than  that  re- 
quired by  the  regulations  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  which  were  drawn 
up  when  this  particular  system  of  traction  was  not  contemplated. 
Lord  Balfour,  of  Burleigh,  and  other  Lords,  however,  maintained 
that  the  insertion  of  the  proposed  clause  would  be  disastrous  to  the 
precedents  which  had  governed  these  questions  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  it  was  negatived  without  a  division,  and  the  bill  was  then 
passed. 

The  Huddersfield  Corporation  has  just  completed  all  arrange- 
ments for  a  most  interesting  experiment  on  its  tramways.  Some 
time  ago  the  tramways  committee  was  approached  by  Martin,  Sons 
&  Company.  Ltd.,  manufacturers,  of  Wellington  Mills,  Lindley, 
with  the  object  of  securing  a  light  railway  service  to  carry  coal  from 
the  Hillhouse  Railway  siding  to  the  works  of  the  company  at  Lind- 
ley. The  negotiations  proceeded,  and  the  result  was  the  entering 
into  a  seven  years'  agreement  for  the  Corporation  to  carry  all 
Messrs.  Martin's  coal,  and  the  work  of  constructing  the  necessary 
permanent  way  to  connect  the  two  points  was  commenced.  The 
tramways  committee  will  restrict  the  hours  of  haulage  to  slack  hours 
in  the  morning  passenger  traffic,  and  none  will  be  carried  in  the 
afternoon.  The  committee  have  done  wisely  in  entering  into  a 
definite  agreement,  as  the  income  from  the  new  service  is  thus 
secured.  It  is  probable  that  other  large  consumers  of  coal  will  enter 
into  arrangements  with  the  Corporation  for  a  similar  service.  The 
distance  to  be  traversed  by  the  trucks  from  the  Hillhouse  siding  to 
Messrs.  Martins'  mill  is  about  3  miles.  The  trucks  will  be  in  charge 
of  a  motorman  and  a  conductor.  Leeds  is  proposing  to  obtain 
powers  to  enable  it  to  follow  the  example  of  Huddersfield,  whilst 
other  towns  are  showing  a  keen  interest  in  the  experiment. 

Tt  is  satisfactory  to  be  ahle  to  record  that  after  a  most  stubborn 
resistance  the  Newcastle  Corporation  has  evidently  seen  the  error 
of  its  ways  and  has  now  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  Tyne- 
side  Tramways  Company  whereby  running  powers  over  its  lines  are 
granted  to  the  company  with  mutual  benefit  to  corporation  and  com- 
pany and  much  satisfaction  to  the  people  of  the  vicinity.  It  will 
be  a  lesson  doubtless  to  other  corporations  that  tramways  are  run 
for  the  interests  of  the  people,  and  that  Parliament  will  not  tolerate 
any  narrow-minded  policy  on  the  part  of  corporation  officials,  who, 
after  all,  are,  what  they  seem  to  occasionally  forget,  public  servants. 
The  substance  of  the  agreement  is  that  the  Corporation  is  to  run  a 
service  of  cars  to  Park  Road,  Wallsend,  on  both  the  high  and  low 


routes,  the  Corporation  to  pay  to  the  company  four-fifths  of  a  half- 
penny for  each  passenger  carried  in  Wallsend,  the  amount  to  be  re- 
duced in  respect  to  workmen  and  children.  The  Corporation  is  not 
to  charge  more  than  a  half-penny  per  half  mile,  but  no  fares 
to  be  less  than  a  penny.  With  regard  to  the  Willington  Quay 
and  North  Shields  traffic,  the  company  to  rim  a  car  between 
Shields  and  Stanhope  Street,  or  some  point  on  the  route  west  of  the 
center  of  the  city,  and  vice  versa  every  sixteen  minutes,  the  Corpora- 
tion to  retain  the  whole  of  the  receipts  taken  on  account  of  pas- 
sengers carried  in  Newcastle,  less  twopence  per  car  operating  costs 
to  be  paid  by  the  company.  With  regard  to  the  Gosforth  Park  race 
traffic,  the  Corporation  is  to  have  the  sole  control  of  the  line  on 
those  days,  paying  to  the  company  seven-seventeenths  of  the  special 
through  fare  charged  from  the  Central'Station  to  Gosforth  Park  for 
every  passenger  carried.  With  regard  to  the  Gosforth  Park  ordi- 
nary traffic,  the  Corporation  is  to  run  such  service  as  the  traffic  may 
require.  The  cars  used  by  the  company  in  the  city  are  to  be  as  far 
as  possible  free  from  advertisements.  A.  C.  S. 



PARIS  LETTER 


(From  Our  Own  Correspondent.) 

The  Midi  Railway  Company  is  about  to  build  a  new  line  uniting 
Villefranche  to  Bourg  Madame,  in  the  Eastern  Pyrenees.  The 
length  of  the  line  is  57  km,  and  there  is  a  constant  rise  during  the 
first  32  km  amounting  to  1050  meters  above  starting  point.  The 
grades,  however,  do  not  exceed  6  per  cent.  Over  the  next  25  km 
the  line  descends  some  500  meters.  It  is  proposed  to  apply  electric 
traction,  waterfalls  being  available  in  the  district  for  generative  pur- 
poses. Single-phase  traction  is  proposed  as  an  alternative  to  the 
usual  direct-current  500  volts,  and  this  may  be  installed  in  view  of 
the  small  number  of  stops,  some  eighteen  over  the  entire  distance. 
In  case  single-phase  traction  is  adopted,  the  voltage  would  prob- 
ably be  about  3000  volts,  collected  from  an  overhead  trolley  line. 
No  tenders  have  yet  been  accepted,  and  the  Midi  Railway  Company 
is  open  to  receive  offers  for  twelve  equipments  for  use  on  this  line. 

The  new  extension  of  the  Orleans  Railway  Company,  the  elec- 
trical equipments  of  which  were  described  in  last  month's  issue,  has 
cost  the  railway  company  a  sum  of  over  $5,000,000,  of  which  about 
$r, 000,000  represent  the  cost  of  the  generating  machinery  of  the 
electric  extension;  $700,000  has  been  spent  on  the  acquisition  of 
land  and  new  stations,  and  tracks  have  cost  about  $300,000. 

The  modern  tendency  in  France  and  on  the  Continent  is  to  adopt 
American  practice  regarding  end  exits  from  cars  both  for  inter- 
urban  and  main  railway  lines.  It  is  therefore  causing  some  little 
surprise  that  the  American  is  now  going  back  on  his  practice,  as 
witness  the  new  car  used  on  the  Illinois  Central,  described  in  a 
recent  issue  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  which  car  has  a 
number  of  lateral  doors  instead  of  the  usual  end  exits. 

The  P.  L.  M.  Railway  Company  has  had  in  service  since  1903  an 
interesting  apparatus  for  the  mechanical  drilling  of  ties  and  also  for 
the  ballasting  of  the  track.  This  consists  of  an  electrogene  group 
capable  of  running  on  the  ordinary  tracks,  and  also  supplied  with 
portable  tracks  allowing  it  to  pull  itself  off  the  track  at  any  stopping 
place,  ready  for  operation.  There  is  a  small  cable  transmission  and 
portable  drill  for  boring  the  ties  ready  for  the  ties.  The  rate  of 
work  compares  well  with  hand  labor.  It  requires  gl/2  minutes  for 
two  drills  to  drill  for  and  pose  200  ties  complete  over  a  length  of 
single  track  18  meters.  Hand  labor  necessitates  4  minutes  to 
merely  withdraw  100  ties  over  the  same  length  of  track,  allowing 
two  men  for  the  work.  As  regards  the  ballasting  and  cushioning  of 
ties,  the  machine  worked  over  some  7000  ties  during  1903,  and  it  is 
calculated  that  seven  times  the  cost  of  the  work  would  have  to  be 
expended  for  the  same  done  by  hand.  The  use  of  this  apparatus  is 
to  be  extended  largely  over  the  P.  L.  M.  system. 

With  the  approach  of  the  completion  of  the  Simplon  Tunnel 
scheme,  to  be  opened  probably  within  the  next  eighteen  months, 
attention  is  being  directed  to  the  necessity  for  boring  a  tunnel  be- 
neath Mount  Blanc,  connecting  France  and  Italy.  The  scheme  is  by 
no  means  a  new  one,  it  having  been  mooted  as  long  ago  as  1875,  and 
has  been  shelved  by  successive  governments  ever  since.  The  tunnel 
would  be  a  comparatively  easy  undertaking,  and  the  length  is  only 
about  6  km,  the  cost  being  much  less  than  that  of  the  Simplon.  It  is 
thought  that  the  opening  of  the  Simplon  will  force  the  project  into 
view,  and  there  seems  a  good  chance  of  the  matter  being  taken  up 
seriously. 

Attention  has  now  and  then  been  directed  to  the  large  utilization 
of  non-navigable  streams,  both  in  France  and  Italy,  for  the  gener- 
ation of  power.  Statistics  recently  issued  show  that  in  France 
alone  there  exists  some  4600  small  stations  utilizing  4000  falls  of 
non-navigable  streams,  giving  some  500  hp.  In  addition,  there  are 
some  1500  stations  using  navigable  rivers  collecting  86,000  hp.  The 
power  of  the  former  stations  varies  from  the  highest  figure  of  37,000 


354 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


hp  for  1050  works  in  one  department  downward,  there  heing  ten 
departments  with  an  output  of  10,000  hp  and  above. 

The  Association  des  Industriels  de  France  announce  an  interna- 
tional competition  for  an  instrument  which  will  indicate  the  state 
of  load  of  an  electric  conductor.  Such  an  instrument  is  for  the  use 
of  all  those  who  have  to  work  on  or  in  proximity  to  electric  cabling 
to  allow  them  to  discover  in  a  practical  manner  that  no  risk  is  run 
by  touching  the  wiring.  The  conditions  are  that  the  instrument 
must  be  strong,  easily  carried  and  handled  and  giving  sure  readings 
in  all  circumstances  and  at  all  states  of  the  weather,  etc.  No  acci- 
dent must  happen  to  the  instrument  when  placed  directly  or  indi- 
rectly in  contact  with  one  or  several  live  conductors.  The  instru- 
ment must  be  available  for  direct  or  alternating  currents,  low  or 
high  pressure,  overhead  or  underground  conductors.  The  appa- 
ratus will  remain  the  property  of  the  inventor,  who  should  take  the 
necessary  steps  to  protect  the  invention.  The  apparatus  should  be 
sent,  together  with  description  and  drawings,  to  the  president  of  the 
association,  3  Rue  de  Lutece,  Paris,  before  the  end  of  this  year,  and 
the  prizes  will  be  distributed  before  June  1,  1905.  The  first  prize 
will  be  f.  6,000. 

The  electrical  situation  in  Italy,  which,  like  the  rest  of  Europe, 
has  suffered  a  general  depression,  is  now  looking  up,  having  attained 
the  maximum  of  the  crisis  about  the  middle  of  1903.  Since  that 
date  the  Allgemeine  Elektricitats  and  Thomson-Houston  concerns 
have  amalgamated,  as  we  have  already  announced.  Now  comes 
news  of  the  amalgamation  of  the  next  important  firms  of  Italian 
origin,  viz. :  the  Electrical  Company  and  the  combination  already 
two  years  old,  of  Gadda,  Brioschi,  Finzi  &  Company.  The  capital 
is  f.  7,000,000.  Beyond  the  firms  above  mentioned  and  the  Siemens- 
Schuckert  and  Brown  Boveri  concerns,  there  are  no  important 
Italian  electrical  firms.  The  industry  appears  to  be  about  to  take  a 
new  lease  of  life,  and  several  rather  important  schemes  are  in  view. 
Among  the  principal  which  may  be  resumed  is  the  application  by  the 
firm  Turletti-Erba,  of  Milan,  for  a  concession  of  25  cu.  m.  per 
minute  from  the  river  Olio,  in  the  district  of  Valcamonica,  pro- 
ducing with  a  fall  of  50  meters  over  13,000  hp,  to  be  applied  for  in- 
dustrial uses,  including  in  large  part  electric  traction.  The  length  of 
the  canal  is  to  be  6  km,  with  an  extension  to  join  another  fall  3  km 
away,  of  82  meters,  so  as  to  give  a  total  force  of  27,000  hp.  The 
estimates  for  this  work  are  3,200,000  lire  ($640,000).  Among  the 
installations  approaching  completion  is  that  of  Corti  &  Company  at 
Zogno,  giving  6000  hp  for  industrial  purposes  in  the  Monza  district 
The  general  remarks  above  regarding  Italv  also  apply  in  some 
measure  to  Spain 

A  new  company  Jias  been  formed  by  two  Belgian  firms  for  the 
taking  up  of  the  abandoned  concession  for  tramway  and  lighting  of 
the  town  of  Belgrade,  in  Servia.  The  power  station  on  the  Danube 
includes  seven  steam  groups  capable  of  giving  2000  hp  output.  The 
present  horse  tramways  are  at  present  being  transformed. 



TRANSFER  FRAUDS  ON  BOSTON  &  NORTHERN 


As  a  result  of  an  investigation  by  the  State  officers  and  the  in- 
spection department  of  the  Boston  &  Northern  Street  Railway 
Company,  four  of  the  conductors  are  under  arrest  on  the  charge  of 
larceny.  For  sime  time  the  officers  of  the  company  have  noticed  a 
shortage  in  their  receipts,  and  the  inspection  department  has  been 
at  work  investigating  the  matter.  It  is  said  that  the  system  had 
been  worked  out  to  a  nicety  by  the  ringleaders,  but  that  some  of 
the  underlings  had  blundered.  Perfected  to  a  working  basis,  the 
system  was  worked  in  this  way. 

A  conductor  of  the  Boston  &  Northern,  running  between  places 
which  may  be  called  A  and  B,  had  the  privilege  of  giving  transfers 
from  the  town  line  at  the  terminus  of  his  road  to  the  town  line 
where  the  conductor  of  the  connecting  car  would  take  up  fares. 
The  conductors  gave  transfers  to  passengers,  but  also,  it  is  said, 
supplied  each  other  with  blocks  of  twenty-five  and  fifty.  When  the 
day's  work  was  ended,  according  to  the  company's  lawyer,  they  had 
all  of  these  transfers  rung  up  on  the  cash  fare  indicators  of  their 
cars. 

Several  months  ago  the  officials  of  the  Boston  &  Northern  found 
that  their  conductors  had  a  clever  scheme  of  forging  8-cent  checks. 
The  men  were  allowed  some  leeway,  and  arrests  and  convictions 
came  later.  In  most  cases,  however,  the  companv  was  content  with 
discharging  the  guilty  men.  The  peculations  at  that  time  ran  into 
the  thousands,  but  the  company  thought  that  a  few  examples  of 
stringent  measures  would  be  sufficient  to  check  further  dishonesty 
on  the  part  of  its  employees.  Since  this  transfer  swapping  case  has 
come  to  light,  the  officials  say  that  nothing  short  of  prosecution  for 
larceny  and  letting  the  law  take  its  full,  course  will  satisfy  them. 
They  consider  that  their  duty  to  the  public  demands  such  action  on 
their  part. 


NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN  &  HARTFORD  IMPROVEMENTS- 
ELECTRICITY  OUT  OF  NEW  YORK 


The  most  important  announcement  made  in  railroad  circles  in  the 
East  for  some  time  is  that  just  issued  by  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  Company  regarding  plans  it  has 
worked  out  for  expending  $8,000,000  for  improved  rapid  transit  in 
Bronx  Borough,  New  York  City  and  that  part  of  Westchester 
County  lying  along  the  Sound.  It  is  proposed  to  "six-track"  the 
Harlem  branch  of  the  road,  running  from  the  Harlem  River  at 
Willis  Avenue  and  133d  Street  to  New  Rochelle.  This  work 
awaits  only  the  formal  approval  of  the  State  and  city  authorities. 
The  directors  of  the  road  are  now  considering  a  further  plan  for  a 
branch  from  West  Farms  along  the  Bronx  Valley  to  Woodlawn, 
in  the  southern  part  of  Mount  Vernon.  It  is  proposed  to  make  a 
connection  with  the  lnterborough  system  at  West  Farms,  and  it 
is  the  plan  eventually  to  give  a  through  service  from  the  Battery, 
N.  Y.,  to  New  Rochelle  and  Mount  Vernon. 

The  money  for  the  improvements  is  to  be  raised  by  an  issue  of 
$15,000,000  of  bonds,  the  balance  being  devoted  to  the  repayment 
to  the  New  Haven  of  money  advanced  in  the  last  thirty  years  on 
account  of  the  Harlem  River  &  Port  Chester  Railroad,  the  titular 
owner  of  the  Harlem  branch  of  the  New  Haven.  The  New  Haven 
has  been  without  bonded  indebtedness,  so  that  the  announcement 
of  the  proposed  bond  issue  will  interest  financial  circles.  The  bonds 
have  been  underwritten  at  a  premium. 

Of  the  six  tracks  from  the  Harlem  to  New  Rochelle,  four  will 
be  electrically  equipped  with  the  third-rail  system,  and  two  will  be 
left  for  the  use  of  steam  trains.  Two  of  the  electric  tracks  will 
be  for  express  trains,  running  every  fifteen  minutes,  and  the  other 
two  for  local  trains,  with  the  same  headway.  The  two  tracks  to 
be  used  for  steam  will  not  only  handle  the  freight,  but  will  be  the 
outlet  for  the  New  York  Connecting  Railway,  running  from  the 
Harlem  over  Randall's  and  Ward's  Islands  to  Astoria,  where  a  con- 
nection with  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  will  be  made.  Trains  from 
the  South  and  West  will  then  run  over  the  Pennsylvania  tracks 
through  the  tunnels  under  New  York  to  Long  Island  City,  thence 
over  the  Connecting  Railway  out  over  the  Harlem  branch  through 
to  Boston  and  the  East. 

The  formal  application  to  the  Railroad  Commissioners  shows 
that  the  present  estimate  of  the  cost  of  the  improvements  is  $7,701,- 
891,  but  it  is  expected  that  this  will  be  exceeded.  According  to 
Chief  Engineer  C.  M.  Ingersoll's  report,  the  cost  of  "six-tracking," 
eliminating  grade  crossings  and  constructing  new  stations,  will 
amount  to  $4,825,891.  B.  F.  Simmons,  of  Boston,  assistant  chief  of 
the  electrical  department  of  the  road,  estimates  the  cost  of  this 
branch  of  the  work  at  $2,876,000,  distributed  as  follows: 


Seventy  cars  equipped  with  electricity  complete   $750,000 

Four  third  rails  with  top  protections,  and  bonding  surface 

rails  with  necessary  marine  cable  at  drawbridges.  ..  ;.  .  415,000 

Feed  wire,  high-tension  wires  and  pole  line  complete.  ..  .  336,000 

Two  sub-stations  (with  electrical  apparatus)   280,000 

Power  house  with  all  material   920,000 

Car  house   100,000 

Sundries    75,000 


Total   $2,876,000 


The  cars  will  be  of  standard  construction,  of  the  latest  design, 
similar  to  those  to  be  used  by  the  lnterborough  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany, operating  the  elevated  and  the  subway  lines  in  New  York; 
and  it  is  expected  that  they  will  be  run  over  the  lnterborough  lines 
down  town  if  the  traffic  proves  large  enough. 

New  Rochelle  and  the  towns  beyond,  the  promise  is,  shall  have 
double  service  over  the  branch  and  main  line,  while  Mount  Vernon 
shall  have  the  proposed  branch  to  West  Farms,  giving  direct  con- 
nection with  the  lower  city  in  addition  to  the  main  line  service  as 
at  present. 

In  no  case  will  street  grades  be  changed  more  than  15  ins.  Ed- 
ward G.  Buckland,  attorney  of  the  company,  has  arranged  to  see 
Mayor  McClellan,  on  the  latter's  return  from  his  vacation,  about 
getting  formal  approval  by  the  city  authorities  of  the  extensive  im- 
provements. As  a  result  of  its  experience  in  the  operation  of  elec- 
trically equipped  lines  in  Connecticut,  the  New  Haven  road  is  pre- 
pared to  go  forward  with  the  establishment  of  an  extensive  and 
complete  auxiliary  electrical  system. 



Some  master  mechanics  are  continually  bothered  by  their  leni- 
ent storekeepers,  who  give  out  supplies  without  receiving  requisi- 
tions. A.  H.  Mann,  master  mechanic  of  the  Evansville  Electric 
Railway  Company,  has  an  effective  check  on  any  tendency  to  be 
lenient.  A  deaf  storekeeper  makes  a  written  requisition  abso- 
lutely necessary. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


355 


OUTING  OF  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  RAIL- 
WAY COMPANY 


Five  years  ago  President  Herbert  H.  Vreeland,  of  the  New  York 
City  Railway  Company,  invited  the  officers  and  heads  of  depart- 
ments of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company  to  spend  a  day  at 
his  country  home  at  Brewster,  N.  Y.,  and  partake  of  a  clam-bake. 
I  he  entertainment  was  such  a  success  that  Mr.  Vreeland  has  ex- 
tended a  similar  invitation  to  his  home  each  succeeding  year.  This 
year's  annual  outing  of  the  staff  of  the  New  York  City  Railway 
Company  at  Brewster  occurred  on  Aug.  24,  and  106  guests  left  in 
special  cars  attached  to  the  9  :o6  a.  m.  train,  via  the  Harlem  Rail- 
road for  Brewster.  They  were  met  at  the  station  by  Mr.  Vreeland 
and  transported  in  carriages  to  the  Tonneta  Outing  Club,  of  which 
Mr.  Vreeland  is  a  member,  and  which  is  about  2  miles  from  the 
station.  The  clubhouse  is  situated  on  the  side  of  Tonneta  Lake, 
where  the  clam-bake  was  given  at  about  1  o'clock.  During  the  in- 
terval the  guests  found  plenty  to  do  in  fishing,  rowing  and  other 
pastimes.  The  dinner,  as  on  other  occasions,  was  most  appetizing, 
and  included  not  only  the  luscious  bivalves,  but  fish,  lobsters, 
chickens  and  other  viands. 

After  a  short  rest  following  the  repast,  the  party  was  conveyed 
by  carriages  to  Mr.  Vreeland's  attractive  home,  "Rest-A-While," 
where  a  reception  was  extended  by  Mrs.  Vreeland,  assisted  by  a 
number  of  ladies  and  attended  also  by  a  number  of  prominent  resi- 
dents of  Brewster  and  vicinity.  A  very  pleasant  feature  of  the 
entertainment  of  the  day  was  a  musical  programme  provided  dur- 
ing morning,  afternoon  and  evening  by  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Drum  and  Fife  Corps,  and  by  a  quartette  of  singers.  The 
party  returned  to  New  York  about  9  o'clock  by  special  train  after 
a  most  enjoyable  day. 

In  addition  to  the  staff  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company, 
a  few  other  gentlemen  were  present,  including  Messrs.  Henry 
Sanderson,  of  the  New  York  Transportation  Company;  G.  Tracy 
Rogers,  of  the  Binghamton  Railway  Company;  Hon.  Frank  M. 
Baker,  of  the  New  York  State  Railroad  Commission ;  E.  P.  Bryan 
and  Frank  Hedley,  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company; 
Charles  F.  Smith,  Ira  A.  McCormack  and  J.  F.  Deems,  of  the  New 
York  Central  Railroad  Company;  W.  G.  Besler  and  W.  Mcintosh, 
of  the  Central  Railroad  of  New  Jersey;  W.  F.  Potter,  of  the  Long 
Island  Railroad  Company;  D.  M.  Brady,  of  the  Brady  Brass  Com- 
pany; Edward  A.  Maher  and  Thomas  W.  Olcott,  of  the  Union 
Railway  Company. 



SALE  OF  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  POWER  PLANT 


Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Company,  who  installed  the  main 
service  plant  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  have  announced 
that  after  the  close  of  the  Exposition  the  plant  will  be  for  sale, 
either  complete  or  in  part.  Particulars  of  this  plant  have  been 
published  in  these  columns,  but  it  can  be  said  briefly  that  it  con- 
sists of  four  3500-hp  Westinghouse  vertical  cross-compound  steam 
engines,  38-in.  and  75-in.  x  54-in.  stroke.  The  engines  run  at  85 
r.  p.  m.  and  drive  two  2000-kw  a.  c.  Westinghouse  and  two  200-kw 
a.  c.  General  Electric  generators.  The  generators  are  three-phase, 
6600-volt,  25-cycle,  revolving-field  type,  and  are  located  between 
the  engine  frames.  The  plant  also  contains  three  Westinghouse 
80-kw  exciters,  direct-driven  by  Westinghouse  compound  engines ; 
two  Worthington  jet  condensers,  two  Worthington  turbine  pumps, 
three  dry  vacuum  pumps,  etc.  The  boiler  plant  consists  of  sixteen 
400-hp  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers  equipped  with  Roney  stokers ; 
two  mechanical  draft  plants,  each  with  a  14-ft.  New  York  blower, 
direct  connected  to  a  13-in.  x  14-in.  Chandler  &  Taylor  engine ; 
pumps,  feed-water  heaters,  etc. 



ELECTRIC  TRAMWAYS  IN  THE  EAST 


It  is  satisfactory  to  learn  that,  despite  the  backward  condition 
which  has  existed  up  to  this  time  in  the  East  as  regards  electrical 
work,  there  is  evidence  of  a  growing  interest  in  electric  tramways 
and  lighting.  This  is  shown  by  a  number  of  recent  contracts  closed 
by  Dick,  Kerr  &  Company,  Ltd.,  for  London.  One  of  the  latest 
is  an  order  for  an  electric  tramway  plant  and  material  for  the 
Bangkok  tramways,  owned  by  the  Siamese  Tramways  Company, 
Ltd.  The  contract  includes  power  house  equipment  which  con- 
sists of  three  200-kw  500-volt  d.  c.  generators  of  Dick-Kerr's 
standard  type,  coupled  direct  to  a  three  Browett  Lindley  vertical 
compound  engine,  and  the  usual  accessories,  including  surface  con- 
densers, pumps,  etc.  There  are  also  forty  single  motor  equipments 
of  the  company's  standard  25-6  type  mounted  on  Brill  21-E  trucks, 
and  the  whole  of  the  rails,  fish-plates,  tie-bars  for  the  line,  which 
has  a  total  length  of  13^  miles. 


Of  the  other  contracts  which  Dick,  Kerr  &  Company  are  carrying 
out,  the  Mandalay  tramways  have  just  recently  been  successfully 
opened  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Burmah,  Sir  Hugh  Barnes, 
K.  C.  S.  I.,  K.  C.  V.  O.,  and  the  system  is  now  in  operation. 
The  total  length  of  these  tramways  is  12  miles  of  single  track  laid 
to  a  gage  of  3  ft.  6  ins.  with  rails  of  the  girder  type,  weighing  85 
lbs.  per  yd.  The  overhead  equipment  is  on  the  span  wire  system, 
and  is  of  a  very  neat  and  rigid  design.  The  rolling  stock  consists 
of  twenty-four  single-deck,  open,  cross-bench  cars,  to  accommodate 
forty-eight  passengers,  built  by  the  Electric  Railway  &  Tramway 
Carriage  Works,  Preston.  The  cars  are  mounted  on  Brill  maxi- 
mum traction  trucks,  each  car  being  supplied  with  a  complete  elec- 
trical equipment  consisting  of  two  standard  25-B  motors  with  DB-i 
form  "C"  controllers.  The  power  house  equipment  consists  of 
three  Dick-Kerr's  d.  c.  compound-wound  200-kw  400  r.  p.  m.  500- 
550-volt  generators,  direct  coupled  to  three  Belliss  compound  en- 
gines ;  the  switchboard  is  in  accordance  with  the  standard  traction 
practice,  and  consists  of  four  feeder  panels,  three  generator  panels, 
one  testing  panel  and  one  panel  for  motor  and  lighting  circuits. 

The  electric  tramways  of  Hongkong  are  rapidly  approaching 
completion  by  the  same  contractors.  The  total  length  of  single 
track  is  14 1/>  miles,  and  is  laid  to  a  gage  of  3  ft.  6  ins.  with  girder 
type  rails  weighing  86  lbs.  per  yd.  The  overhead  line  within  the 
city  is  center  pole  construction,  but  outside  the  city  boundary  is 
equipped  on  the  side  pole  system.  The  power  house  is  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  the  center  of  the  system  ;  the  plant  consists  of  two 
Dick-Kerr's  standard  d.  c.  300-kw  railway  generators  of  the  multi- 
polar type,  compound  wound,  running  at  a  speed  of  100  r.  p.  m,  at 
500  volts,  direct  coupled  to  the  main  shaft  of  two  engines  built  by 
Yates  &  Thorn  ;  in  addition  to  the  two  traction  sets,  two  combined 
sets  for  arc  and  incandescent  lighting  of  the  depot  have  been  in- 
stalled. The  switchboard  consists  of  two  generator  panels,  two 
feeder  panels,  three  lighting  panels,  one  main  station  panel  and  one 
b.  o.  t.  panel.  The  boiler  house  contains  two  Babcock  &  Wilcox 
water-tube  boilers  and  the  usual  accessories.  Twenty-six  single- 
deck  cars  are  provided,  ten  being  of  the  combined  type  with  an 
enclosed  portion  in  the  center  and  an  open  platform  with  seat*  at 
either  end,  and  having  a  seating  capacity  for  thirty-two  passengers ; 
the  remaining  sixteen  cars  are  of  the  open,  cross-bench  type  to  seat 
forty-eight  passengers ;  the  cars  were  built  by  the  Electric  Railway 
&  Tramway  Carriage  Works,  Ltd.,  Preston;  each  car  is  mounted 
on  a  Brill  21-E  truck  and  is  fitted  with  two  of  Dick-Kerr's  25-hp 
motors,  and  at  either  end  of  the  car  is  a  DB-i  form  "C"  con- 
troller. As  this  is  the  pioneer  system  of  electric  traction  in  China, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  the  venture  will  meet  with  well-deserved  suc- 
cess and  that  electrically  equipped  lines  will  shortly  be  laid  in 
other  parts  of  the  Celestial  Empire. 

Singapore  tramways  are  in  the  hands  of  the  same  contractors 
and  are  making  considerable  progress.  The  power  house  contains 
eight  Lancashire  boilers  with  the  usual  accessories,  including  two 
fuel  economizers  and  four  feed  pumps,  three  engines,  two  of  Yates 
&  Thorn's  horizontal  cross-compound  condensing  type,  coupled 
direct  to  two  of  Dick-Kerr's  standard  500-kw,  100  r.  p.  m.,  500-volt, 
compound  generators.  For  lighting  purposes  a  200-kw  plant  has 
been  installed,  including  a  d.  c.  generator  of  150-kw  capacity, 
coupled  direct  to  a  Willans  engine,  also  a  50-kw  motor-driven  gen- 
erator working  off  a  circuit  of  550  volts.  A  suitable  switchboard 
has  been  supplied  and  erected  by  the  contractors.  The  overhead 
work  has  been  carried  out  on  the  span  wire  system.  The  total 
length  of  single  track  is  27  miles,  and  is  laid  to  a  im  gage,  and  the 
form  of  construction  consists  of  laying  girder  type  rails  weighing 
95  lbs.  per  yd.  upon  a  continuous  beam  of  concrete.  The  rolling 
stock  consists  of  fifty  cars,  twenty  single-deck,  single-truck  com- 
bination type,  with  a  seating  capacity  of  thirty-two  persons,  sixteen 
inside  and  sixteen  outside,  and  thirty  open,  cross-bench  type  to 
seat  forty  persons;  they  are  mounted  on  Brill  21-E  trucks  and 
equipped  with  25-B  motors  and  DB-i  form  "C"  controller.  In 
addition  there  are  thirty-three  freight  cars  mounted  on  Brill  21-G 
trucks,  each  with  a  double  motor  equipment,  the  whole  of  the  roll- 
ing stock  being  built  by  the  Electric  Railway  &  Tramway  Carriage 
Works,  Preston. 

Lastly,  that  most  successful  tramway  owned  by  the  Calcutta 
Tramways  Company  is  carrying  out  considerable  extensions,  and 
this  work  has  been  entrusted  to  the  original  contractors,  Dick,  Kerr 
&  Company,  Ltd.  This  includes  an  additional  ten  open  type  motor 
cars,  in  all  respects  the  same  as  those  supplied  before,  i.  e.,  single- 
deck  open  type  cars  mounted  on  Brill  21-E  trucks  and  equipped 
with  two  25-A  motors,  each  with  a  DE-I  form  "C"  controller. 

The  main  station  plant  is  being  increased  by  one  of  Dick-Kerr's 
standard  three-phase  alternators,  500-kw,  25  cycles,  6000  volts, 
04  r.  p.  m.,  direct  coupled  to  a  Yates  &  Thorn  horizontal  cross- 
compound  engine.  There  are  two  sub-stations  being  erected,  in 
which  will  be  placed  one  of  Dick-Kerr's  standard  300-kw  rotary 
converters,  with  the  necessary  transformers  and  switch  gear. 


356 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


CHICAGO  TRACTION  MATTERS 


Judge  Grosscup,  in  reply  to  a  letter  by  Mayor  Harrison,  asking 
him  to  co-operate  in  the  settlement  of  Chicago  Union  Traction 
Company  franchise  questions  along  the  line  of  the  proposed  Chicago 
City  Railway  Company  franchise  ordinance,  has  replied  as  follows: 

"Chicago,  Aug.  23. — Dear  Sir :  1  have  yours  of  the  18th  inst., 
calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  substantial  elements  of  the 
decree  to  be  entered  in  the  traction  cases  have  been  determined; 
that  you  believe  from  my  public  utterances  that  I  desire  a  settle- 
ment fair  at  once  to  the  city  and  to  the  property  interests  confided 
to  the  charge  of  my  court ;  and  transmitting  a  copy  of  the  pending 
city  railway  ordinance,  and  asking  that  if  that  ordinance  meets  my 
views  I  intervene  in  such  a  way  as  may  be  proper  to  bring  about 
the  acceptance  of  a  similar  ordinance  by  the  Union  Traction  Com- 
pany and  its  underlying  companies. 

"The  fiscal  structure  of  the  property  interests  embraced  in  what 
is  known  as  the  Union  Traction  lines  is  such  that  a  settlement  out 
of  court  of  their  franchise  relations  with  the  city — particularly  the 
merging  of  all  outstanding  franchises  in  a  new  franchise — would 
be  a  task  of  great  difficulty.  On  this  account  it  has  seemed  to  me 
all  along  that  when  a  feasible  basis  for  settlement  was  once  arrived 
at  the  court's  possession  of  the  properties — drawing  along  with  it 
jurisdiction  over  the  questions  that  the  proposed  settlement  is  bound 
to  raise — would  he  helpful  to  a  quick  and  complete  adjustment  of 
all  the  matters  involved.  The  court,  so  far  as  I  represent  it,  is 
ready  now  to  aid  you  to  the  extent  of  its  power  in  bringing  about 
such  adjustment. 

"Nothing  can  be  done  by  the  court,  however,  except  on  the  basis 
that  the  franchise  to  be  given  will  contain  the  legal  equivalent  for 
the  franchises  to  be  relinquished.  An  exact  equivalent  would  be  a 
regrant  for  the  period  found  to  be  the  average  of  all  the  outstanding 
grants,  and  on  the  terms  substantially  of  the  outstanding  grants. 
To  what  extent  the  pending  city  railway  ordinance  meets  this  test, 
now  that  the  boundaries  of  the  grants  are  known,  will  be  made  the 
subject  of  immediate  inquiry.  Personally  I  hope  that  a  basis  for 
settlement,  not  only  in  principle  lint  in  detail,  will  be  speedily 
found."  I 


PROGRAMME  OF  THE  VIENNA  CONVENTION 


As  there  were  several  typographical  errors  in  the  list  of  papers 
to  be  presented  at  the  Vienna  Convention  of  the  International 
Tramway  &  Light  Railways  Association  as  published  in  the  issue 
of  tli i s  paper  for  Aug.  6,  and  as  several  additional  papers  have  been 
added  to  the  programme,  the  complete  list  of  papers  is  reprinted 
below  : 

1.  "Renewal  Accounts,"  by  M.  Haselmann,  manager  of  the  So- 
ciete des  Chemins  dc  fer  Vicinaux,  of  Aix-la-Chapelle. 

2.  "Transfer  Tickets,''  by  a  committee  consisting  of  Messrs.  J. 
Grialou,  manager  of  the  Compagnie  des  Omnibus  et  Tramways,  of 
Lyons ;  A.  Janssen,  secretary  of  the  Societe  des  Tramways  Bruxel- 
lois,  of  Brussels ;  E.  Lavalard,  manager  of  the  Compagnie  Generale 
des  Omnibus,  of  Paris;  von  Pirch,  manager  of  the  Tramways  de 
Barmen-Elberfield,  and  H.  Vcllguth,  secretary  of  Verein  Deutscher 
Strassen-und  Kleinbahn  Verwaltungen,  of  Berlin.  (Mr.  von  Pirch 
is  the  reporter  on  this  subject,  assisted  by  Mr.  Vcllguth.) 

3.  "Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Different  Types  of  Brakes 
for  Electric  Railways,"  by  M.  Scholtes,  manager  of  the  Nuremberg- 
Fiirth  Tramways. 

4.  "Protection  of  the  Trolley  Wire  Against  Accidental  Contact 
with  Telephone  and  Other  Aerial  Wires,"  by  M.  Petit,  chief  engi- 
neer of  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Chemins  de  fer  Vicinaux,  of 
Brussels. 

5.  "Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Trail  Cars,"  by  M.  Pavie, 
general  manager  of  the  Compagnie  Generale  Francaise  de  Tram- 
ways, of  Paris. 

6.  "Economy  in  the  Consumption  of  Current  by  Cars,"  by  M. 
Klitzing,  manager  of  the  Magdeburg  Tramways. 

7.  "Advantages  and  Disadvantages  of  Electric  Traction  on  In- 
terurban  Railways,"  by  M.  H.  Luithlen,  Chief  Commissioner  of 
Inspection  of  the  Austrian  State  Railways,  of  Vienna. 

8.  "Character  of  Current  for  Interurban  Lines,"  by  M.  Pforr, 
chief  engineer  of  the  Union  Elektricitats  Gesellschaft,  of  Berlin. 

9.  "Track  Construction  for  Interurban  Steam  Lines,"  by  M.  C. 
de  Burlet,  general  manager  of  the  Societe  Nationale  des  Chemins 
de  fer  Vicinaux,  of  Brussels. 

10.  "Legislation  on  Tramways  and  Interurban  Roads  in  Different 
Countries  in  Europe,"  by  R.  H.  Scotter,  of  London. 

11.  "Standard  Form  of  Operating  Report,"  by  Messrs.  H.  Geron, 
manager  of  the  Societe  des  Tramways  de  Cologne  (in  liquidation), 
of  Brussels ;  Haselmann,  manager  of  the  Societe  des  Chemins  de 
fer  Vicinaux,  of  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  L.  Janssen,  manager  of  the  So- 


ciete Les  Tramways  Bruxellois ;  Kessels,  manager  de  la  So- 
ciete Generale  des  Chemins  de  fer  Economiques,  Brussels ;  E.  Lava- 
lard, manager  Compagnie  Generale  des  Omnibus,  Paris ;  E.  A. 
Ziffer,  president  of  the  Bukowina  Railway  Company,  Vienna. 

12.  "Control  of  Electrical  Installations  and  Maintenance  of  Trol- 
ley  Wires,"  by  M.  G.  Pedriali,  chief  electrical  engineer  of  the  So- 
ciete des  Tramways  Bruxellois,  of  Brussels. 

13.  "Use  of  Motor  Cars  and  Locomotives  on  Railway  and  Tram- 
way Lines,"  by  M.  E.  A.  Ziffer,  president  of  the  Bukowina  Railway 
Company. 

14.  "Regulations  for  Testing  Motor  Capacity,"  by  a  committee 
consisting  of  Messrs.  G.  Kapp,  secretary  of  the  German  Association 
of  Electrical  Engineers;  G.  Rasch,  professor  of  the  Polytechnic  In- 
stitute at  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  Blondel,  professor  of  the  School  of 
Bridges  and  Highways,  Paris ;  E.  d'Hoop,  technical  director  of  ihe 
Societe  Les  Tramways  Bruxellois ;  Macloskie,  chief  engineer  of  the 
Union  Elektricitats  Gesellschaft;  James  Swinburne,  president  of 
the  British  Institution  of  Electrical  Engineers,  London :  and  Wyss- 
ling,  professor  of  the  Polytechnic  Institute  at  Zurich.  (Mr.  Kapp 
is  the  reporter  on  this  subject,  assisted  by  Mr.  Rasch.) 

15.  "Legislation  in  Germany  in  Favor  of  Employees  (insurance 
against  accident,  disease,  old  age  and  disability),  and  Its  Effect 
upon  Tramway  and  Railway  Enterprises ;  Comparison  with  Similar 
Insurance  Laws  in  Different  Parts  of  Europe,"  communication  by 
Mr.  Gorella,  secretary  of  Corporation  of  German  Tramways  & 
Light  Railways,  Berlin. 

16.  "Precautionary  Measures  Taken  to  Overcome  the  Effect  of 
Electric  Tramways  on  the  Measuring  Instruments  in  Physical  and 
Electro-Technical  Observatories,"  communication  by  M.  Bjorke- 
gren,  chief  engineer  of  the  Grosse  Berlin  Strassenbahn  Gesellschaft. 

 ♦♦♦  

SERIOUS  ACCIDENT  ON  ROCHESTER  &  EASTERN  LINE 


Fully  thirty-five  persons  were  injured  Wednesday,  Aug.  24,  in  a 
collision  on  the  Rochester  &  Eastern  Railway  near  Pittsford,  N.  Y., 
though  no  one  was  fatally  hurt.  About  a  dozen  people  suffered 
fractured  limbs  or  were  seriously  bruised,  and  the  remainder  suf- 
fered minor  injuries,  most  of  which  were  caused  by  broken  glass. 
A  train  of  two  cars  bound  from  Canandaigua  to  Rochester  ran  into 
a  single  car  running  east.  The  train  was  late,  and,  according  to 
the  statement  of  the  officers  of  the  company,  ran  past  the  siding 
where  it  was  to  have  met  the  car  from  Rochester.  The  trains  met 
on  a  sharp  curve.  A  lineman  in  the  employ  of  the  road  was  at 
work  near  the  scene  of  the  accident  and  saw  the  two  trains  ap- 
proaching. He  flagged  the  eastbound  train  and  it  had  nearly 
stopped  when  struck  by  the  other  train,  which  was  running  at  a 
good  speed.    All  three  of  the  cars  were  full  of  passengers. 

 »♦♦  

TWO  LINES  NOW  BETWEEN  DES  MOINES  AND  ST.  JOSEPH 


Two  electric  railway  companies  are  now  planning  the  construc- 
tion of  lines  between  Des  Moines  and  St.  Joseph.  Just  as  the  forces 
of  the  St.  Joseph,  Albany  &  Des  Moines  lines  are  getting  well  or- 
ganized and  the  surveyors  are  approaching  Des  Moines  with 
splendid  reports  of  a  first-class  route,  with  no  grades  to  exceed  1 
per  cent,  there  comes  from  Kansas  City  the  statement  that  the 
Interstate  Railway  Company  has  let  the  contracts  for  the  first  400 
miles  north  from  Kansas  City,  and  that  all  necessary  arrangements 
have  been  made  for  financing  the  line  from  Kansas  City  to  Duluth. 
Percival  Steele,  of  Chicago,  general  counsel  for  the  St.  Joseph, 
Albany  &  Des  Moines,  has  been  in  New  York  for  the  past  week  or 
so,  making  arrangements  for  the  financing"  of  the  Mordaunt  line 
between  St.  Joseph  and  Des  Moines,  and  recent  despatches  indicate 
that  he  has  been  successful  and  that  the  work  of  construction  will 
be  commenced  as  soon  as  the  survey  is  completed.  The  preliminary 
survey  will  be  finished  within  a  few  days,  and  from  that  the  locating 
survey  can  be  made  in  short  sections  so  that  the  construction  work 
can  be  commenced  at  any  time.  The  St.  Joseph,  Albany  &  Des 
Moines  Company  has  no  intention  of  building  further  north  than 
Des  Moines  at  this  time,  while  the  Interstate  Railway  Company 
intends  to  build  a  line  through  from  Kansas  City  to  Duluth.  The 
Consolidated  Trust  Company  was  recently  organized  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  financing  the  Interstate  Company,  and  it  is  stated  that 
$2,000,000  of  French  capital  is  invested  in  the  scheme.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  reported  that  the  Goulds  are  interested  in  the 
construction  of  the  St.  Joseph,  Albany  &  Des  Moines  line,  and  that 
plenty  of  financial  backing  will  be  forthcoming  for  the  enterprise. 
The  Interstate  Company  plans  the  construction  of  an  exclusive 
electric  line,  while  the  other  company  expect  to  use  steam  power 
for  the  freight  traffic.  As  both  companies  are  anxious  for  the  ter- 
ritory between  St.  Joseph  and  Des  Moines,  there  is  a  good  chance 
for  a  race  in  construction  work  between  those  two  cities. 


September  3,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY 


JOURNAL 


357 


IMPROVEMENTS  AT  THE  ST.  LOUIS  CAR  COMPANY'S  PLANT 


A  new  addition  to  the  erecting  shops  of  the  St.  Louis  Car  Com- 
pany will  give  much-needed  room  in  this  department.  The  new 
portion  extends  the  full  length  of  the  original  shops.  An  over- 
head trolley  system  has  been  recently  installed  in  the  machine  and 
truck  shops.  The  system  is  liberally  supplied  with  branches  and 
turn-outs,  so  that  heavy  work  may  be  carried  directly  to  all  ma- 
chines. 

The  company  has  almost  completed  the  last  of  450  cars  built  for 
the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company.  These  cars  were  ordered  especially 
for  use  in  handling  the  World's  Fair  visitors.  At  present  the  greater 
number  of  them  are  in  service  on  the  Olive  Street,  Market  Street, 
Easton  Avenue  and  other  lines  leading  to  the  World's  Fair  en- 
trances. * 

 ♦♦♦  


WESTINGHOUSE  TURBINE  CONTRACTS 

The  Westinghouse  interests  have  secured  a  number  of  contracts 
recently  for  steam  turbines  to  be  installed  in  various  electric  rail- 
way power  stations  throughout  the  country.  The  Parkersburg  & 
Marietta  Interurban  Railway  Company,  of  Parkersburg,  W.  Va., 
has  added  a  500-hp  turbine.  Two  machines  of  500-hp  capacity 
each  have  been  requisitioned  for  by  the  Philadelphia,  Coatesville 
&  Lancaster  Railway  Company. 

Westinghouse  gas  engines  have  been  ordered  by  the  Warren 
&  Jamestown  Street.  Railway  Company,  of  Warren,  Pa. 


GRADING  BEGINS  ON  SAN  JUAN-PONCE  ROAD 


Advices  from  San  Juan,  Porto  Rico,  state  that  the  Porto  Rico 
Railway,  Light  &  Power  Company,  the  assignee  of  the  franchise 
granted  to  the  Vandergrift  Construction  Company,  of  Philadel- 
phia, to  construct  and  operate  an  electric  railway  between  San  Juan 
and  Ponce — a  distance  of  70  odd  miles — has  started  work  on  the 
grading  from  Rio  Piedras  towards  Caguas,  passing  in  the  vicinity 
of  Trujillo  Alto.  The  Executive  Council  has  amended  this  fran- 
chise, and  the  company  is  now  permitted  to  pass  through  the  town 
of  Rio  Piedras.  The  plans,  etc.,  for  the  line  from  San  Juan  to  a 
point  located  between  Caguas  and  Rio  Piedras  have  been  approved 
by  the  Bureau  of  Public  Works. 

 ♦♦♦  


RAILROAD  ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  NEW  YORK  CONVENTION 


The  Trunk  Line  Association  has  announced  that  the  usual 
special  rates  from  points  in  New  York  State,  of  a  fare  and  a  third 
on  the  certificate  plan,  will  be  in  force  for  the  annual  convention  of 
the  New  York  State  Street  Railway  Association  to  be  held  in 
Utica,  Sept.  13  and  14.  Tickets  may  be  had  at  any  time  after  Sept. 
9  and  prior  to  Sept.  13,  except  from  stations  where  it  is  possible 
to  reach  the  place  of  meeting  by  noon  of  Sept.  13,  in  which  case 
tickets  will  be  sold  for  morning  trains  on  that  date. 

A  circular  giving  the  programme  of  the  convention  will  be  issued 
within  a  few  days.  All  roads  not  already  members  are  urged  to 
send  delegates  to  the  convention.  A  very  interesting  and  valuable 
u.eeting  is  assured. 


STEEL  CONTEST  AT  ST.  LOUIS  FAIR 


A  notable  feature  of  Machinery  Day  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition  will  be  that  of  the  high  speed  steel  cutting  contest, 
which  is  arousing  much  interest  throughout  the  world,  especially 
among  the  railroad  and  steel  men.  This  test  will  take  place  at 
Block  9,  Machinery  Hall,  commencing  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
Sept.  10.  Nearly  all  of  the  high  speed  steel  manufacturers  of  the 
world  will  be  entered  in  (his  contest,  and  it  promises  to  be  very 
interesting.  The  contest  will  be  decided  by  a  party  01  three  judges, 
one  selected  by  the  steel  men,  one  by  the  railroad  men  and  the 
third  by  the  first  two  judges.  The  test  will  be  made  both  in  solid 
forged  tools  and  in  the  Armstrong  tool  holders.  The  size  of  steel 
to  be  used  in  the  solid  forged  tools  will  be  1]A  ins.  x  2^  ins.,  and 
in  the  Armstrong  tool  holders  I  in.  x  I  in.  The  test  will  be  made 
on  the  new  motor-driven  high-speed  steel  lathe  manufactured  by  the 
Putnam  Machine  Works,  Fitchburg,  Mass. 

The  material  to  be  used  will  be  steel  forgings  and  cast  steel  col- 
umns. The  cut  will  be  1/4  in.,  1^2  ins.  reduction,  3-16  in.  feed,  100 
ft.  per  minute,  to  be  run  as  long  as  the  tool  will  stand  up.  The 
amount  of  metal  removed  will  be  one  of  the  points  to  decide  the 
quality  of  the  tools.  The  steel  to  be  used  in  this  test  will  be  that 
which  is  regularly  offered  by  the  steel  men  on  the  market  to-day. 
The  tools  will  all  be  forged,  tempered  and  ground  at  the  Exposi- 


tion grounds  before  a  committee  appointed  for  that  purpose.  No 
two  representatives  can  rapresent  the  same  brand  of  steel,  and  the 
steel  men  will  give  their  test  in  rotation  as  they  may  draw  their 
names,  which  will  be  placed  in  envelopes  in  a  box  for  that  purpose. 
Complete  record  of  every  test  will  be  given  to  each  contestant  and 
shall  be  signed  by  each  of  the  judges.  Any  further  information,  or 
copies  of  rules  governing  this  test,  can  be  had  by  applying  to  the 
chairman,  Block  9,  Machinery  Hall. 

 ♦♦♦  


PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  M.  B.  HERELEY,  formerly  general  superintendent  of  the 
Chicago  Union  Traction  Company,  has  become  general  traffic  man- 
ager. 

MR.  GEORGE  C.  EWING  has  been  appointed  manager  of  the 
railway  department  in  the  Boston  office  of  the  Westinghouse  Elec- 
tric &  Manufacturing  Company.  Mr.  Ewing  assumed  his  duties 
Sept.  1.  The  many  friends  of  Mr.  Ewing  in  New  England  and 
throughout  the  rest  of  the  country  will  extend  to  him  their  best 
wishes  in  his  new  work. 

MR.  JOSEPH  V.  SULLIVAN  has  been  appointed  chief  super- 
visor of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
caused  by  the  promotion  of  Mr.  Robert  R.  Hertzog  to  the  office  of 
chief  superintendent.  Mr.  Sullivan  has  been  with  the  Chicago 
Union  Traction  Company  about  one  year,  having  been  general  pas- 
senger agent.  In  his  new  position  he  will  have  charge  of  the  em- 
ployment of  men  and  will  continue  his  former  duties  of  negotiating 
for  special  cars  and  special  traffic.  Mr.  Sullivan  was  formerly  a 
Chicago  newspaper  man. 

MR.  ROBERT  R.  HERTZOG  has  been  made  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company.  Mr.  Hertzog 
formerly  was  chief  supervisor  of  the  company,  having  charge  of 
the  employment  of  men  and  allied  duties.  Mr.  Hertzog  began  his 
street  railway  career  in  the  cashier's  office  of  the  West  Chicago 
Street  Railroad  in  July,  1891,  and  later  became  chief  clerk  to  the 
superintendent  of  that  road.  When  the  road  was  consolidated  and 
the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company  formed  in  1900,  he  was 
made  chief  supervisor,  which  position  he  has  held  ever  since.  Mr. 
Hertzog  in  his  new  position  has  entire  charge  of  conducting  trans- 
portation.   He  is  only  forty  years  old. 

MR.  GEORGE  W.  KNOX,  of  Chicago,  on  Sept.  1  became  gen- 
eral manager  of  the  Green  Bay  Traction  Company,  of  Green  Bay, 
Wis.  This  is  the  company  which  is  to  take  over  and  operate  the 
Fox  River  Electric  Railway  &  Power  Company's  property,  con- 
sisting of  22  miles  of  city  lines  in 
Green  Bay  and  the  new  interurban 
line  between  Green  Bay  and  Kau- 
kauna,  which  has  just  been  com- 
pleted by  the  Knox  Construction 
Company,  of  which  Mr.  Knox  is 
president.  This  does  not  mean  that 
Mr.  Knox  is  to  give  up  his  engi- 
neering practice  with  headquarters 
at  Chicago,  as  the  business  of  the 
Knox  Engineering  Company,  of 
which  he  is  the  head,  is  too  im- 
portant to  permit  of  his  giving 
his  entire  time  to  the  Green  Bay 
property.  The  appointment  of  Mr. 
Knox  as  operating  head  of  this 
company,  however,  indicates  that 
the  Knox  Engineering  Company 
is  entering  a  new  field,  namely, 
that  of  operation,  in  addition  to 
the  construction  of  electric  railways,  thus  following  along  the 
lines  which  have  been  so  successfully  followed  by  several  other 
large  consulting  engineering  firms.  Mr.  Knox  is  a  thorough  op- 
erating man,  although  his  activities  since  he  resigned  the  position 
of  electrical  engineer  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company  in 
1900  have  been  mainly  in  consulting  and  construction  work.  Mr. 
Knox  has  been  in  electric  railway  work  practically  since  its  begin- 
ning in  1887,  being  employed  at  various  times  by  the  old  Sprague, 
f homson-PIouston  and  Edison  companies.  Associated  with  Mr. 
Knox  is  Mr.  R.  N.  Heskett,  who  has  been  resident  engineer  during 
the  construction  of  the  Green  Bay  &  Kaukauna  Interurban.  Mr. 
Heskett  was  at  one  time  superintendent  of  the  McCartney  Electric 
Railway,  of  West  Green  Bay,  before  it  was  purchased  by  the  pres- 
ent company.  After  its  purchase  he  completed  his  education  at 
Armour  Institute  of  Technology  in  Chicago,  from  which  he  gradu- 
ated in  1902.  Mr.  Knox  has  appointed  as  superintendent  at  Green 
Bay  Mr.  M.  J.  Kinch,  formerly  of  the  Grand  Rapids,  Holland  & 
Lake  Michigan  Railway  Company,  and  of  the  Rockford,  Beloit  & 
Janesville  Railroad  Company. 


GEORGE  W.  KNOX 


358 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  10. 


TABLE  OF  OPERATING  STATISTICS 


Notice.— These  statistics  will  be  carefully  revised  from  month  to  month,  upon  information  received  from  the  companies  direct,  or  from  official  sources. 
The  table  should  be  used  in  connection  with  our  Financial  Supplement  "  American  Street  Railway  Investments,"  which  contains  the  annual  operating 
reports  to  the  ends  of  the  various  financial  years.  Similar  statistics  in  regard  to  roads  not  reporting  are  solicited  by  the  editors.  *  Including  taxes, 
t  Deficit. 


Company 


Period 


AKRON,  O. 
Northern  Ohio  Tr. 
Light  Co  


AURORA,  ILL. 
Elgin,  Aurora  &  South- 
ern Tr.  Co  


BINGHAMTON,  N.  Y. 
Bingham  ton  Ry.  Co.. 


BUB'FALO,  N.  Y. 
International  Tr.  Co. 


CHICAGO,  ILL,. 
Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chi 
cago  Ry.  Co   


Chicago  &  M  i  1  w  aukee 
Elec.  R.  R.  Co  


Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  R.  R.  Co  .... 


Northwestern  Elevated 
K.  R.  Co  


South  Side 
R.  R.  Co.... 


Elevated 


CLEVELAND.  O. 
Cleveland  &  Southwest- 
ern Traction  Co  


Lake  Shore  Electric  Ry. 

Co  


DETROIT,  MICH. 
Detroit  United  Ry. 


DULUTH,  MINN. 
Duluth  Street  Ry.  Co. 


EATON,  IND. 
Muncie,  Hartford 
Ft.  Wayne  Ry.  Co. 


FORT  WORTH,  TEX 
Northern  Texas  Trac- 
tion Co  


1  m„  July  '04 
1 03 

7  "  "  '04 

7  "  "  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 

1  •'  "  '03 
7 04 
7 03 


July  '04 
"  '03 


1  in.,  June  '04 

'  03 

'  "  '04 
•  "  '03 
"     "  '04 


1  m.,  July  '04 
-   "     "  '04 


1  m.,  July  '04 
-    u  ,03 

"     »  '04 

11     "  *03 


1  m.,  July  '04 


July  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 

-    „  i.  ,03 

'  "  '04 

'  "  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 
1  "     "  '03 

7  04 

7  03 


1  m.,  July  '04 
1 03 

7  "  "  '04 

7  "  "  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 

1  "     "  '03 

7  "  "  *04 
7 03 


1  m.,  July  '04 

1  "  "  '03 
7 04 

7  "  "  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 
1  "  "  '03 
7  04 


1  m.,  July  '04 

1  "     "  '03 

7  "     "  '04 

7  "     "  '03 


Si 

oW 
H 


95.S81 
95,766 
496,967 
484,748 


46,480 
47,182 
260,328 
258,271 


29,120 
26.202 


355,472 
323.098 
1,003,871 
945,556 
4,074,977 
3,728,173 


58,518 
239,838 


52,228 
29,529 
215,478 
123,250 


158,320 
158,188 
1,221,648 
1,196,000 


94,264 
92,059 
745  411 
718,513 


108,348 
118,184 
907,087 
904,878 


50,54i 
43  692 
255,295 
240,538 


59,595 
56,822 
271,003 
259,903 


o.  x 


47,373 
47,970 

275,634 

264, 


21,472 
25,598 
156,238 
150,593 


12,495 
11,290 


223,597 
176,935 
647,170 
519,06f 
2,428,262 
,013,624 


27,131 
152,443 


18,508 
8,523 
91,095 
48,370 


26,663 
22.539 
171,130 
143,419 


36,223 
33,439 


456,269  *  240,951 
455,432  *  251,212 
2,541,590  *15924fi 
2,489,622  +1468701 


60.412 
60,777 
355,804 
353,523 


19,005 
14,346 
99,300 


52,281 
42,548 
311,217 
249,488 


28,107 
28,642 
201,639 
195,595 


*  7,623 

*  5,380 
*  49,803 


27,551 
20,543 
175,525 
132,973 


48,508 
47,795 
217,333 
214,984 


25,008 
21,584 

104.C80 

107,' 


16,625 
14.913 


131,875 
146,163 
356,701 
426,494 
1,646,715 
1,714,549 


31,38' 
87,395 


33,7  0 
21,007 
124,383 
74,880 


23,879 
21,153 
84,156 
97,119 


23,372 
23,383 


209,318 
204,220 
949,123 
1,020,921 


33,305 
34,135 
154,165 
157,928 


11,381 
8,966 
49,497 


24,730 
22  005 
135,691 
116,515 


S  6 

o  o 
"S  o 


22,806 
158,528 
155,1 


9,173 
9,173 
64,731 
64,943 


o<  o  c 


22,826  25,682 


102,553 

130,527 

367,' 

389,394 
1,565,061 
1,838,484 


20,404 
20,370 


89,816 
84,621 
623,261 
575,386 


15,876 
16,544 
107,388 
115,423 


4,000 

36\666 


10,209 
9,018 
70,757 
63,143 


24,989 
58,807 
59,153 


15,835 
12,411 

39,349 
42,735 


29,322 
15.636 

+11.088 
37,100 
81  654 

176,065 


2,968 
3,012 


119,502 
119,599 
325.862 
445.505 


17,429 
17,591 
46  777 
42,505 


7,381 
I9~m 


14,521 
12,987 
64.935 
53,372 


Company 


HAMILTON,  O. 
Cincinnati,  Dayton  & 
Toledo  Traction  Co. 


HANCOCK,  MICH. 
Houghton  County  St. 
Ry.  Co  


LIMA,  O. 
Western  Ohio  Ry  Co, 


LONG  ISLAND  CITY, 
N.  Y.      New  York  & 
Queens  Co.  Ry.  Co. 


MILWAUKEE,  WIS. 
Milwaukee  El.  Ry.  & 

Lt.  Co  


6  m.,  June '04 


3  m.,  June  '04 

-  •..  ,03 


1  m.,  July  '04 

'    '  "  '03 

'  "  '04 

'  "  '03 


MINNEAPOLIS,  MINN 
Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Co  


MONTREAL,  QUE. 
Montreal  St.  By.  Co.. 


PEEK  SKILL,  N.  Y. 
Peekskill  Lighting  & 
R.  R.  Co  


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
American  Railways.. 


ROCHESTER,  N.  Y. 
Rochester  Ry.  Co  


SAN  FRANCISCO.CAL. 
United   Railroads  of 
San  Francisco  


SAVANNAH,  GA. 
Savannah  Electric  Co. 


SEATTLE,  WASH. 
Seattle  Electric  Co. 


SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 
Syracuse  R.  T.  Co... 


TERRE  HAUTE,  IND. 
Terre  Haute  Elec.  Co. 


TOLEDO,  O. 
Toledo  Rys.  *  Lt.  Co. 


Period 


1  m.,  July  '04 

1  03 

7  "     "  '04 
"     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 


12  " 
12" 


'04 


1  m.,  July 
1   "  " 


1  m,,  July 

10 "  " 
10 "  " 


12  m.,  June'04 
12  "     "  '03 


1  in.,  July  '04 
  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 
"     1     "  '03 
'    June  '04 
'      "  '03 


1  m.,  July  '04 
'   ■'     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 
"  "  '03 

12  "  "  '04 
12 "     "  '03 


1  m.,  June  '04 


1  m. 
12" 
12  " 


1  m. 


1  m. 
1  " 

7  " 
7  " 


July  '04 
June  '04 


June  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 


July  '04 
"  '03 
"  '04 
"  '03 


H 


f4,810 
51,637 
98,480 
98,133 


16,93 
16,417 
11-9,037 
182,576 


103,000 


197,739 
172,974 


283,062 
270,499 
1,821,735 
1,707,175 


385,769 
364  471 
2,445,030 
2,283,125 


226,695 
216,236 
1,933,612 
1,788,178 


110,735 
106,118 


151,308 
144,466 


139,548 
116,732 
402,245 
337,479 


535,186 
500,079 


49,511 
46,104 
534,014 
499,470 


191,495 
175,513 
2,229,880 
2,018,907 


72,084 
839,373 
753,277 


47,654 
38,485 
526,293 
410,346 


158,377 
153,224 
984,236 
925,402 


eg 

OK 


28,395 
26,141 
£6,076 
49,908 


10,242 
9,566 
131,348 
121,202 


53,000 


144,613 
137,063 


133,977 
130,101 
935,360 


26,415 
25,496 
42,404 
48,225 


6,694 
6,851 
57,689 
61,374 


50,000 


53,126 
35,911 


149,085 
140,398 
886,375 


864,216  842,960 


179,679 
164,037 
1,165,553 
1,086,410 


131,276 
116,157 
1,281,213 
1,109,809 


*H6,327 
*62,600 


57,746 
223,708 
174,519 


26,471 
26,890 
305,083 
294,868 


126,243 
117,546 
1,557  615 
1,429,737 


41,809 
490.426 
421,961 


30,748 
24,366 
352,540 
279,888 


*77,820 
•75,500 
♦534,784 
♦476,706 


206,090 
200,433 
1,279,477 
1,196,715 


95,419 
100,079 
707,399 
678,368 


44,408 
43,518 


70,721 
58,986 
178.53' 
162,960 


23,040 
19.215 
228,931 
204,602 


65,252 
57,967 
672,266 
589,170 


30,275 
348,946 
331,316 


16,907 
14,119 
173,753 
130,458 


80,55: 
77,724 
449,452 
448,696 


s  a 


•a  S 

V  o 

0£ 


16,697 
16  083 
33,146 
32,1,53 


3,381 
2,929 
37,310 
33,200 


e  >  x  « 

u  2  «•- 


77,706 
75,383 
521.211 
499,830 


74,925 
60,937 
510,366 
426,256 


25,637 
24  696 
201,008 
189,363 


26,811 
25,896 
86,984 
126,110 


10,407 
9,588 
123,949 
115,252 


24,696 
24,053 
273,711 
282,473 


20,242 
243,460 
230,901 


9,579 
6,560 
105,357 
78,059 


41,186 
41,790 
291,535 
283,860 


NDEXED 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  SEPTEMBER  10,  1904. 


No.  11 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  thi 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London"— Lieber's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 

TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

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Investments  (The  "Red  Book" — Published  annually  in  May; 
regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)   $6.50  per  annum 

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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York 


The  New  York  State  Convention 

The  annual  convention  of  the  New  York  State  Street  Rail- 
way Association,  which  is  always  one  of  the  most  important 
street  railway  events  of  the  year,  is  to  he  held  next  week  at 
Utica,  on  Sept.  13  and  14.  This  convention  should  attract  wide 
attendance,  as  a  most  interesting  programme  has  heen  pro- 
vided, and  the  executive  committee  has  extended  a  cordial  in- 
vitation to  all  supply  men  and  railway  managers,  whether  they 
are  connected  with  roads  in  New  York  State  or  not.  The 
meetings  of  this  association  have  an  importance  which  is  not 
confined  to  the  State  of  New  York,  and  are  usually  attended 
by  several  representatives  of  street  railway  interests  in  other 
States. 


A  Revelation  in  Costs  of  Power 

The  recently  issued  Boston  Electrical  Handbook  contains, 
among  other  interesting  details  regarding  the  Boston  elevated 
system,  a  detailed  report  of  the  cost  of  power  at  each  of  its 

stations  for  an  entire  year.   The  facts  are  of  a  rather  startling 

V 

character  and  will  well  bear  serious  study.  As  our  readers  well 
know,  the  Boston  Elevated  Company  is  unique  in  being  one 
of  the  very  few  great  operating  companies  that  has  consistently 
—  kept  up  the  policy  of  supplying  its  network  from  a  group  of 
auxiliary  generating  stations  instead  of  surrendering  to  the 
current  fashion  of  building  a  colossal  central  station,  and  thence 
feeding  sub-stations  via  a  high-tension  network  and  rotaries. 
The  Boston  network  is  of  no  mean  size.  The  aggregate  rated 
capacity  of  its  stations  is  over  36,000  kw,  and  this  output  is 
none  too  large  for  the  demands  made  upon  it.  But  instead  of 
this  capacity  being  in  one  station  it  is  in  eight,  ranging  in 
capacity  from  600  kw  to  14,400  kw,  all  save  one,  and  that  al- 
most the  smallest,  being  located  upon  tidewater.  The  largest 
units  are  of  2700  kw,  and  all,  large  and  small,  are  driven  by 
reciprocating  engines,  with  a  few  exceptions  of  the  cross-com- 
pound condensing  form. 

In  every  station  the  closest  possible  account  is  kept  of  the 
costs  of  each  item,  and  particularly  of  the  output  and  coal  and 
water  consumption.  The  stations  in  this  respect  are  practically 
under  continuous  test,  so  that  the  data  presented  involve  no 
manner  of  guess  work  and  depend  upon  no  carefully  prepared 
tests,  but  represent  a  year's  actual  experience.  The  data  given 
are  for  the  year  ending  Oct.  1,  1902,  that  being  chosen  on  ac- 
count of  escaping  the  subsequent  great  disturbances  in  the 
costs  of  fuel.  During  the  year  the  average  price  of  coal  was 
$3.60  per  long  ton,  a  figure  rather  over  the  normal  in  previous 
years,  but  not  in  any  sense  extraordinary.  The  costs  given  in 
the  striking  diagram  shown  in  the  Boston  Handbook  are 
divided  into  four  heads:  coal,  labor,  repairs  and  supplies, 
superintendence  and  general  expense.  The  total  do  not  in- 
clude fixed  charges,  but  do  include  all  the  other  expenses.  The 
system  includes  three  rather  old  stations  with  relatively  small 
units,  in  which  the  costs  show  nothing  remarkable,  but  the 
fine  modern  stations — Central,  of  14,400  kw ;  Lincoln,  of  8100 
kw ;  Charlestown,  of  4300  kw ;  Harvard,  of  3600  kw,  and  Dor- 
chester, of  2000  kw — form  a  group  of  rather  sensational  in- 
terest. To  begin  with,  the  two  smallest  show  the  lowest  total 
costs  of  power,  in  each  case  just  0.7  cent  per  kw-hour.  Then 
comes  Lincoln  with  0.725  cent,  Charlestown  with  0.755 
cent,  and  Central,  the  largest,  with  0.76  cent.  To  a  certain 
extent  the  outlying  stations  are  favored  in  the  matter  of  load 
factor,  as  much  of  the  variation  is  taken  care  of  at  the  Central 
plant,  but  considering  the  high  price  of  coal,  the  net  results 
are  remarkable  in  the  highest  degree.  They  set  at  naught 
some  commonly  held  opinions  regarding  the  effect  of  capacity 
upon  cost  of  power  production,  for  if  a  2000-kw  station  can 
turn  out  power  at  0.7  cent  per  kw-hour,  of  which  a  little  over 
0.4  cent  is  paid  for  coal  at  $3.60  per  ton,  how  much  margin 
could  be  gained  in  a  50,000-kw  station  to  offset  the  losses  of 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


energy  and  miscellaneous  costs  of  a  high-tension  distribution 
system?  Another  point  which  will  shock  the  delicate  sensibili- 
ties of  some  engineers  is  the  fact  that  the  Central  station, 
which  has  hand-fired  boilers,  shows  for  coal  and  labor  com- 
bined a  lower  cost  than  the  very  modern  Lincoln  station,  which 
has  mechanical  stokers.  We  draw  no  moral,  but  merely  pre- 
sent the  solemn  fact  for  due  consideration.  To  us  it  merely 
implies  that  intelligent  attention  to  the  details  of  station  output 
will  give  good  results  with  either  method  of  firing.  The  secret 
of  success  in  any  good  modern  plant  lies  in  this  close  study  of 
operating  conditions,  and  particularly  in  the  nice  adjustment 
of  load  between  stations  that  keeps  up  the  load  factors  at  the 
several  points  when  feeding  is  done  from  a  group  of  stations. 
In  an  electric  railway  system  the  shifting  of  the  load  in  amount 
and  position  is  very  considerable,  and  unless  these  varia- 
tions are  looked  after  the  economic  results  will  probably  be 
rather  bad. 

The  average  cost  of  power  in  these  various  stations  of  the 
Boston  elevated  is  scarcely  0.75  cent  per  kw-hour,  and  at  the 
costs  of  coal  common  in  some  other  localities  would  fall  to 
about  0.6  cent  to  0.65  cent.  We  doubt  whether  these  results 
can  be  equaled  in  railway  plants  of  anywhere  nearly  similar 
size  when  the  costs  are  determined  by  rigorous  and  contin- 
uous tests.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  performance 
under  special  tests  to  determine  economy  and  the  final  results 
of  continuous  working.  Now  as  regards  the  comparison  of 
these  Boston  elevated  data  with  those  from  huge  stations  dis- 
tributing power  at  high  tension  to  sub-stations.  There  is  no 
doubt  whatever  that  large  units  tend  to  lower  the  costs  of 
power,  and  in  this  particular  the  big  stations  have  an  advan- 
tage. There  is  no  doubt  that  some  very  large  plants  can  and 
do  turn  out  power  under  the  best  of  the  Boston  figures,  even 
allowing  for  differences  in  costs  of  fuel.  But  that  any  station 
does  beat  the  Boston  figures  by  a  margin  big  enough  to  com- 
pensate for  the  energy  losses  in  transmission  and  conversion 
in  the  rotaries  with  the  attendant  costs  we  very  much  doubt. 
Merely  the  losses  of  energy  will  foot  up  to  about  25  per  cent, 
year  in  and  year  out,  and  when  one  adds  to  this  the  fixed 
charges,  due  to  the  installation  and  upkeep  of  the  high-tension 
apparatus  and  the  sub-stations,  the  case  looks  more  than 
dubious.  If  the  high-tension  distribution  could  feed  the  work- 
ing circuits  directly,  as  would  be  the  case  if  alternating  railway 
motors  were  used,  the  situation  would  be  mended,  but  that 
time  is  not  yet.  Of  course,  there  may  be  local  circumstances 
which  render  the  installation  of  a  single  station  advantageous — 
the  balance  of  costs  does  not  necessarily  swing  consistently  in 
one  direction — but  these  Boston  figures  ought  to  make  the 
engineer  think  twice  before  going  into  transmission  on  a  large 
scale.  To  ascertain  all  the  facts  for  a  complete  comparison 
one  would  be  compelled  to  go  in  detail  into  fixed  charges,  the 
cost  and  character  of  the  feeding  system,  and  the  nature  of  the 
variations  in  load.  This  would  be  no  easy  matter,  however  in- 
structive the  result  might  be.  It  is  sufficiently  evident,  how- 
ever, that  the  gain  in  economy  with  increase  of  size  has  been 
very  often  grossly  overestimated,  and  that  when  one  gets  up  to 
a  capacity  of  several  thousand  kilowatts  the  further  gains  are 
relatively  small.  And  the  margin  of  economy  in  the  very  large 
stations  is  by  no  means  necessarily  sufficient  to  justify  their 
existence.  Each  great  system  presents  its  own  special  set  of 
conditions,  which  must  be  taken  fully  into  account.  The  Bos- 
ton case,  we  think,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  other  solutions  of 
the  problem  than  gigantic  central  stations  may  be  possible  and 
in  their  proper  place  advisable. 


The  Continental  Standard  Form  of  Operating  Report 

As  most  of  our  readers  are  aware,  the  International  Tram- 
ways and  Light  Railway  Association,  or  to  call  it  by  its  official 
name,  the  Union  Internationale  de  Tramways  et  de  Chemins 
de  fer  d'Interet  local,  is  the  organization  which  represents  the 
street  railway  interests  of  the  whole  of  Europe  outside  of  Great 
Britain.  Its  headquarters  are  in  Brussels,  and  it  is  doing  its 
work  in  a  manner  that  in  one  way  or  another  it  might  be  taken 
for  a  pattern  by  any  one  of  the  American  associations.  A  num- 
ber of  the  papers  or  reports  to  be  presented  at  the  Vienna  con- 
vention this  week  have  already  been  published  in  these  pages, 
and  that  on  its  proposed  form  of  monthly  report  is  presented 
this  week.  In  this  connection  it  might  be  said  that,  in  addition 
to  the  papers  which  are  read  at  its  conventions,  the  asso- 
ciation publishes  six  months  in  advance  of  each  meeting  the  re- 
plies of  the  different  member  companies  to  inquiries  as  to  their 
practice  on  each  of  the  various  topics  to  be  discussed  at  the 
meeting.  These  replies  this  year  filled  280  pages  and  supply  a 
fund  of  information  on  current  European  practice.  This  asso- 
ciation differs  also  from  the  American  societies  in  that  its 
meetings  are  held  once  in  two  years  instead  of  once  a  year. 

At  its  last  session,  held  in  London  in  July,  1902,  a  preliminary 
report  was  presented  relating  to  the  formulation  and  adoption 
of  a  standard  operating  report.  The  committee  to  whom  this 
subject  was  assigned  has  continued  the  work  begun  in  London, 
and  has  recommended  a  form  of  report  which  has  been  trans- 
lated and  will  be  found  elsewhere  in  this  issue.  Owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  association  is  now  in  session  in  Vienna,  we  are 
not  in  a  position  to  know  what  action  will  be  taken  upon  this 
form,  but  in  advance  of  this  information  it  will  not  be  out  of 
place  for  us  to  express  certain  thoughts  which  are  suggested 
by  it,  especially  as  the  report  has  been  published  and  circulated. 

It  is  much  easier  to  tear  down  than  to  build  up ;  so  is  it  also 
much  easier  to  compare  an  established  fact  with  a  proposition, 
but  if  we  can  say  anything  to  help  bring  the  result  about  we 
wish  the  three  European  societies  would  consider  more  seri- 
ously the  adoption  of  a  report  which  could  be  in  fact  an  inter- 
national standard  report. 

In  an  editorial  published  in  this  paper  in  August,  1903,  we 
pointed  out  that  Great  Britain,  represented  by  its  two  associa- 
tions, was  proposing  two  widely  varying  forms  of  report,  each 
of  which  was  designed  to  be  the  standard  for  Great  Britain. 
With  this  difference  in  idea  if  not  intent  on  their  part  as  our 
text,  we  showed  the  benefit  that  would  come  from  discarding 
each  of  these  forms  and  substituting  therefor  the  classification 
and  form  of  report  adopted  in  America.  We  now  have  our 
argument  strengthened  by  the  form  of  report  recommended  at 
the  Vienna  convention  because  the  territory  covered  is  now 
increased  by  the  addition  of  the  whole  of  Europe  instead  of 
being  limited,  as  before,  to  Great  Britain  and  America. 

We  explained  a  year  ago  that  there  was  nothing  in  the 
two  British  proposed  forms  but  is  shown  equally  well  and  some- 
times better  in  the  American,  and  we  now  repeat  the  same 
claim  as  relating  to  the  Continental  form.  In  order  to  show 
briefly  how  this  conclusion  is  reached,  we  will  add  to  what  we 
said  a  year  ago  about  the  proposed  Great  Britain  reports  the 
following  result  of  an  examination  of  the  recently  proposed 
Continental  form : 

In  the  first  place  it  is,  as  it  is  headed,  an  operating  report 
purely,  as  no  place  is  provided  for  the  very  valuable  informa- 
tion which  comes  from  a  balance  sheet,  the  balance  sheet  and 
all  reference  to  it  being  omitted.  While  the  income  and  oper- 
ating expenses  are  shown  in  great  detail,  the  report  stops  at 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


net  earnings,  so  that  an  examination  of  the  report,  when  filled 
out  by  a  European  company,  will  not  give  the  officers,  1101 
others  interested  in  that  company,  anything  approaching  a 
true  understanding  of  its  financial  condition.  No  place  has 
been  provided  for  the  deduction  of  fixed  charges,  which  of  itself 
should  be  fatal  to  the  utility  of  the  report,  because  no  operating 
manager  can  so  quickly  realize  the  results  of  his  service  as 
through  the  effect  of  the  fixed  charges  upon  the  net  earnings. 
If  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Continental  association  to  introduce 
its  report  into  Great  Britain  for  adoption  there,  it  would  seem 
that  this  purpose  will  not  be  realized  until  provision  is  made 
for  depreciation,  even  though  the  British  associations  do  not 
agree  as  to  the  extent  to  which  depreciation  is  to  be  carried. 

Neglecting,  however,  this  omission  and  assuming  that  the 
object  is  to  construct  a  form  which  will  show  the  results  of  the 
operating  department  only,  the  report  does  not  seem,  from  an 
American  standpoint  certainly,  to  be  complete,  even  though  a 
vast  deal  of  statistics  is  provided.  As  an  instance  of  this,  while 
full  information  is  given  of  the  performance  of  the  power  sta- 
tion, and  while  the  employees,  car  mileage,  tons  carried,  etc., 
are  tabulated,  all  reference  has  been  omitted  to  the  work  done 
in  the  car  shops  and  by  the  line  and  track  departments  except 
so  far  as  shown  in  the  expenses.  To  the  American  manager 
detailed  information  of  this  kind  relating  to  the  track  and  line 
is  as  necessary  as  that  of  the  power  station. 

There  is  one  other  mistaken  custom  in  which  this  proposed 
report  indulges  and  in  which  many  American  companies  that 
have  not  yet  followed  the  American  standard  are  also  at  fault. 
We  refer  to  the  indiscriminate  mixing  of  statistics  with  the 
money  results  of  operation.  The  first  page  of  the  report  under 
discussion  well  illustrates  this  point.  We  think  that  the  pro- 
moters of  the  American  standard  are  to  be  congratulated  that 
they  have  segregated  everything  of  a  statistical  nature  to  a 
place  by  itself. 

Wo  do  not  desire  to  be  understood  from  our  criticisms  that 
the  Continental  report  has  no  good  points,  and  in  evidence  we 
might  point  out  to  the  American  companies  one  thing  provided 
for  in  this  report  which  is  all  too  rarely  even  considered  in 
America,  namely,  the  charging  to  the  proper  operating  ac- 
counts the  current  furnished  by  the  power  plant  for  lighting 
and  the  operation  of  machinery.  We  believe  that  the  American 
custom  is  not  accurate  in  this  respect.  It  is  very  rarely  also 
that  an  American  report  will  show  the  detailed  power  plant  in- 
formation that  is  provided  for  in  the  Continental  form,  and  if 
the  latter  went  further,  as  we  mentioned  above,  so  as  to  cover 
other  departments  of  the  service,  it  would  more  probably  ac- 
complish the  results  for  which  we  interpret  it  is  intended. 

The  adoption  of  the  Dewey  decimal  system  to  the  classifica- 
tion of  accounts,  as  shown  in  the  Continental  form,  is,  of 
course,  one  of  the  main  features  to  attract  attention  in  it.  This 
plan  has  undoubtedly  much  to  recommend  it,  although  there 
will  be  many  who  will  agree  with  us  that  its  advantages  are 
more  theoretical  than  practical,  certainly  so  far  as  the  nine 
main  sub-divisions  of  operating  expenses  are  concerned.  That 
is,  it  is  a  question  whether  a  logical  classification  should  be 
sacrificed  for  a  division  into  ten  instead  of  an  odd  number  of 
accounts.  In  the  American  practice  there  are  thirty-eight  ac- 
counts, and  if  we  apply  the  Dewey  system  to  these  accounts 
they  can  be  sub-divided  as  finely  as  may  be  desired.  This  has 
been  done  by  many  American  companies  with  complete  success 
and  without  destroying  in  any  way  the  thirty-eight  main  ac- 
counts. 

The  space  at  our  disposal  will  not  permit  a  complete  analysis 


of  this  report,  and  as  the  form  is  printed  in  its  entirety  in  this 
issue,  with  a  brief  digest  of  the  report  accompanying  it, 
we  submit  both  to  the  American  companies  for  their  in- 
formation. We  must,  however,  again  argue  as  we  did  a  year 
ago  for  one  standard  international  report.  We  believe  it  to  be 
a  necessity.  The  rapid  standardization  of  operating  practice 
must  bring  standard  accounting.  One  cannot  come  without 
the  other,  as  it  is  impossible  that  standard  operation  can  come 
except  as  it  follows  standard  accounting.  Operation  cannot 
be  compared  nor  can  comparisons  be  utilized  unless  the  ac- 
counting shall  first  be  upon  a  similar  basis. 

At  this  present  time  the  situation  is  that  America  has  a  stand- 
ard classification  and  form  of  report  so  firmly  established  and 
widely  adopted  by  both  operating  companies  and  financial  in- 
terests that  it  is  an  actual  standard.  Its  predominant  position 
has  been  strengthened  in  this  country  through  its  adoption  by 
both  the  United  States  Government  in  its  Census  work  and 
by  the  National  Association  of  State  Railroad  Commissioners. 
It  has  been  in  service  for  a  long  time,  and  by  its  flexibility 
and  utility  has  given  such  satisfaction  that  it  could  not  be 
changed  without  endless  confusion.  On  the  other  hand,  as 
we  pointed  out  a  year  ago,  there  is  nothing  in  any  of  the 
European  forms  of  reports  but  could  be  adapted  to  the  Amer- 
ican with  but  slight  changes.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore,  there 
is  hardly  more  than  one  side  to  the  question,  and  we 
hope  our  European  confreres  are  not  permitting  the  word 
American  to  deflect  them  from  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  stand- 
ard report  that  will  be  actually  international.  They  will  cer- 
tainly not  be  able  to  obtain  the  results  which  all  desire  from  a 
standard  report  if  they  permit  themselves  to  adopt  three  forms. 
Through  the  operation  of  the  tremendously  virile  ideas  of  the 
last  half  century  the  world  has  become  to  all  practical  purposes 
very  much  smaller  than  it  was  fifty  years  ago.  Securities  are 
held  in  other  countries  than  those  in  which  the  investments  are 
located,  and  we  submit  that  the  time  is  coming  when,  among 
other  demands,  a  standard  form  of  report  for  electric  railways 
will  be  one.  We  submit  further,  that  the  one  which  happened 
to  be  composed  and  adopted  first  in  America  is,  by  its  sim- 
plicity and  adaptability,  one  which  can  be  without  excess  of 
confusion  and  no  greater  expense  adopted  by  Europe,  thus 
clearing  what  will  eventually  be,  should  this  course  not  be  fol- 
lowed, an  atmosphere  of  confusion  and  uncertainty. 

Light  in  the  Yards 

With  incandescent  lamps  in  the  store  room,  and  current  for 
the  mere  asking,  it  is  strange  that  so  many  master  mechanics 
and  shop  foremen  keep  the  yards,  where  cars  are  stored  and 
switching  is  done,  in  such  complete  darkness.  No  doubt  if  they 
were  to  know  half  the  troubles  of  the  "night  man"  caused  by 
lack  of  light,  a  speedy  reformation  would  result.  The  night 
man  has  enough  difficulties  without  increasing  them  by  ex- 
pecting him  to  find  defects  by  the  touch  method. 

Mishaps,  such  as  blown  fuses,  trolley  jumping  off,  car  off 
track,  etc.,  are  much  more  likely  to  occur  in  yards  where 
switching  is  done  than  on  the  main  track,  and,  therefore,  every 
facility  should  be  offered ;  first,  to  avoid  such  occurrences,  and 
after  they  have  occurred  to  correct  them  as  speedily  as  possi- 
ble. The  effect  in  labor  saved  of  a  few  clusters  of  lights  placed 
on  poles  at  frequent  intervals  about  the  yards  will  be  at  once 
noticeable;  and,  too,  a  haphazard  feeling  that  the  night  man  is 
likely  to  have  conducting  his  work  in  the  dark  will  disappear 
and  give  place  to  a  feeling  of  confidence  that  will  have  its  effect 
in  causing  him  to  be  more  thorough  in  his  work  in  general. 


362 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  11. 


THE  INDIANA  NORTHERN  TRACTION  COMPANY 


The  Indiana  Northern  Traction  Company  is  now  completing 
an  interurban  line  20  miles  long  between  Marion  and  Wabash, 
Ind.  This  line  forms  a  connecting  link  between  two  important 
interurban  electric  railway  networks  in  that  State.    To  the 


Street  Ry.Jourual 

MAP  OF  THE  SYSTEM  OF  THE  INDIANA  NORTHERN 
TRACTION  COMPANY 


south  is  the  famous  Indiana  oil  and  gas  belt,  with  the  lines  of 
the  Indiana  Union  Traction  Company  <  mnecting  all  its  prin- 
cipal cities.  To  the  north  are  the  im  frurban  lines  of  the 
Wabash  valley,  offering  interurban  transportation  from  Lo- 
gansport  to  Peru,  Wabash,  Huntington  and  Fort  Wayne.  Lines 
east  and  south  from  Fort  Wayne  are  under  construction.  The 
accompanying  map  shows  the  relation  of  this  company's  link 
to  part  of  the  interurban  lines  on  both  sides  of  it.  The  southern 
terminus,  Marion,  is  the  oil  center  of  the  State.  It  has  a  num- 
ber of  suburbs  to  the  south  of  it,  where  oil  and  natural  ,gas 
have  attracted  many  industries  requiring  these  for  fuel.  The 


eluded  that  the  present  population  in  and  near  the  town  is  1500. 
Three  other  small  trading  stations  along  the  line  have  a  large 
rural  population  tributary.  The  promoters  of  the  road,  how- 
ever, have  not  relied  entirely  upon  the  population  directly 
touched  by  the  road.  The  road,  as  said  before,  is  a  connecting 
link  between  large  interurban  systems,  and  the  population 
brought  tributary  to  the  road  at  each  end  by  these  interurban 
systems  is  about  110,000  at  the  Wabash  end,  and  over  350,000 
at  the  Marion  end. 

A  traffic  agreement  has  been  made  with  the  Indiana  Union 
Traction  Company  in  Marion,  and  with  the  Wabash  River 
Traction  Company  at  Wabash  (which  is  controlled  by  the  same 
interests)  whereby  the  Indiana  Northern  Traction  Company's 
cars  enter  both  cities.  The  Indiana  Northern  Traction  Com- 
pany is  to  pay  2.y2  cents  for  each  5-cent  fare  collected  in  each 


APPROACHING  WABASH  ON  THE  INDIANA  NORTHERN 
TRACTION  LINE 


A  LONG  TRESTLE  ON  THE  LINE  OF  THE  INDIANA  NORTHERN 
TRACTION  COMPANY 


population  of  Marion,  which  has 'doubled  in  the  past  ten  years, 
is  now  probably  about  26,000,  judging  from  the  last  city  direc- 
tory. It  is  the  county  seat  of  Grant  County.  Wabash,  the 
northern  terminus  of  the  line,  is  the  county  seat  of  Wabash 
County.  Its  population  is  estimated' at  about  12,000.  The  prin- 
cipal village  along  the  line  is  La  Fontaine,  which,  although 
small,  is  probably  the  most  rapidly  growing  village  touched  by 
the  road.    The  school  attendance  is  250.    From  this  it  is  con- 


city  to  the  company  owning  the  city  tracks. 
The  city  company  maintains  the  tracks  and 
furnishes  the  power.  The  Indiana  Northern 
Traction  Company  will  not  compete  in  any 
way  for  local  business  in  either  Marion  or 
Wabash,  and  the  Indiana  Union  Traction 
Company  will  not  parallel  the  Indiana  North- 
ern Traction  Company  between  the  two  cities. 
The  route  is  on  a  private  right  of  way,  which 
parallels  the  Big  Four  Railroad  from  one  city 
to  the  other  except  in  passing  through  villages 
and  near  the  terminals.  There  is  only  one 
grade  crossing  with  a  steam  railroad  on  the 
line.  This  is  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city  of 
Marion.  This  grade  crossing  is  to  be  pro- 
tected with  interlocking  signals  and  derailing 
switches  on  both  steam  and  electric  railway 
tracks.  Just  before  descending  into  the  Wa- 
bash valley  south  of  Wabash,  the  tracks  of  the 
Big  Four  Railroad  are  crossed  by  a  viaduct. 
POWER  SUPPLY 
Plans  were  first  drawn  up  to  supply  the 
road  with  power  from  two  sub-stations 
high  tension,  alternating  current  purchased 
the  neighboring  interurban  companies  or 
from  an  electric  lighting  station.  It  was  found,  how- 
ever, that  rented  power  would  be  so  expensive  that  it  would  be 
advisable  to  install  a  power  station.  As  the  road  is  compara- 
tively short  and  natural  gas  is  cheap,  and,  as  furthermore,  the 
time  was  limited,  it  was  decided  to  put  in  a  very  simple  power 
station  with  direct-current  generators  belted  to  engines.  Such 


operated  with 
from    one  of 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


363 


a  power  station  could  be  quickly  put  up  and  operated  with  a 
reasonable  degree  of  economy ;  furthermore,  it  involves  a  mini- 
mum investment.  As  the  road  is  only  20  miles  long,  with  no 
prospect  of  being  extended  in  either  direction,  and  the  terri- 
tory at  both  ends  is  already  occupied,  there  was  no  object  in 
putting  in  alternating-current  apparatus  for  high-tension  trans- 
mission to  extensions.  In  case  the  road  should  ever  be  supplied 
with  current  from  an  outside  source  the  direct-current  power 
station  with  belted  units  would  involve  the  least  idle  investment. 
POWER  STATION 
The  power  station  is  located  at  La  Fontaine,  and  is  a  brick 
building  with  wooden  roof  trusses  and  gravel  roof.  The  side 
walls  are  12  ins.  thick,  and  that  between  the  engine  room  and 


OVERHEAD  WORK  IN  PROGRESS  ON  LINE  LOOKING  TOWARD 

MARION 

boiler  room  is. 8  ins.  in  thickness.  The  power  station  is  divided 
into  an  engine  room  70  ft.  x  60  ft.,  and  the  boiler  room  39  ft.  x 
4  ins.  x  7  ft.  Both  boiler  and  engine  room  floors  are  on  the 
same  level. 

The  boiler  room  contains  three  Stirling  water-tube  boilers 
of  300-hp  each.  Each  boiler  is  provided  with  a  steel-guyed  stack 
48  ins.  in  diameter  and  93  ft.  in  height  above  the  boiler  room 
floor  line,  and  91  ft.  in  height  above  the  grates.  Natural  gas 
is  to  be  regularly  used  for  fuel,  although  coal  is  to  be  used  tem- 
porarily, and  the  boiler  is  supplied  with  twelve  Claybourne 
burners,  manufactured  by  the  H.  F.  Reynolds  Electric  Com- 
pany, of  Marion,  Ind.    The  burners  are  guaranteed  to  develop 


OVERHEAD  CROSSING  OF  THE  BIG  FOUR  RAILROAD 

I  hp  at  50  per  cent  overload  with  46  cu.  ft.  of  gas  at  ^-ounce 
pressure,  a  horse-power  in  this  connection  being  considered 
the  evaporation  of  34^  lbs.  of  water  from  and  at  212  degs. 

Feed  water  is  taken  from  Grant's  Creek,  30  ft.  from  the  sta- 
tion, by  means  of  a  5^-in.  x  8-in.  x  7-in.  Blake  pump,  and  sup- 
plied to  a  Cochrane  open  feed-water  heater.    After  passing 


WORKING  A  GRAVEL  PIT 


POWER  HOUSE  UNDER  CONSTRUCTION 

through  the  heater  the  water  is  forced  into  the  boiler  by  a 
yl/2-m.  x  4-in.  x  10-in.  duplex  outside  type  Blake  plunger  pump. 
The  feed-water  heater,  which  is  of  1000  hp,  is  mounted  on  an 
elevated  gallery,  and  the  feed  pumps  are  un- 
derneath it.  The  water  passes  from  the  heater 
to  the  feed  pumps  by  gravity.  Each  boiler  is 
also  fitted  with  one  Penberthy  injector. 

The  engine  room  contains  two  20-in.  x  42-in. 
heavy-duty,  single,  non-condensing  Allis  Cor- 
liss engines,  operating  at  100  r.  p.  m.,  and  each 
belted  to  a  300-kw  direct-current  Bullock  rail- 
way generator.  This  simple  arrangement  of 
machinery  was  adopted  for  the  reasons  pre- 
viously mentioned  and  on  account  of  the  low 
cost  of  fuel,  as  the  entire  cost  of  gas  for  the 
operation  of  a  station  is  estimated  at  less  than 
$1,000  a  year.  Direct  current  was  used  in 
place  of  alternating  current  for  the  same 
reason — that  is,  to  reduce  the  interest  charges 
on  the  plant.  The  drop  on  the  feeder  system 
will  naturally  be  quite  large  owing  to  the 
length  of  line  and  the  distribution  by  direct 
current,  and  to  overcome  this  two  250-kw  elec- 
trically driven  boosters  have  been  installed. 
T  R  A  C  K  CONSTRUCTION 
The  track  is  laid  throughout  with  70-lb. 


364 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  11. 


A.  S.  C.  E.  rails  in  30-ft.  lengths.    The  joints  are  the  standard  are  on  a  4  per  cent  grade,  which  is  by  far  the  steepest  on  the 

30-in.  angle-bar  joints  with  six  bolts.   The  rails  are  laid  on  6-in.  line. 

x  8-in.  x  8-ft.  chestnut  tics  on  gravel  ballast,  which  is  laid  8  OVERHEAD  CONSTRUCTION 

ins.  under  the  ties.    The  latter  are  spaced  2  ft.  centers.    All  The  overhead  line  is  built  with  span  construction.  Juniper 

joints  are  bonded  with  two  American  Steel  &  Wire  Company's  poles  with  an  8-in.  top  and  30  ft.  in  length  are  used.    A  double 


PLAN  AND  CROSS  SECTION  OF  POWER  STATION 


No.  0000  concealed  bonds,  and  cross  bonds  of  the  same  size 
with  compressed  solid  terminals  are  used  every  500  ft. 

The  road  is  practically  level  with  the  exception  of  one  cross- 
ing over  the  Big  Four  Railroad,  where  a  pony  truss  with  a 
90-ft.  span  has  been  installed.    The  approaches  to  this  bridge- 


No.  000  grooved  trolley  is  employed  and  104  poles  are  used  per 
mile.  The  feed  wire  is  of  aluminum  throughout.  It  is  installed 
in  sizes  equivalent  to  350,000  and  400,000  circ.  mil  of  copper, 
and  ime  or  two  new  types  of  joints  for  connecting  the  aluminum 
feed  wires  are  being  tried,  as  well  as  the  ordinary  compressing 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


365 


screw  joint.  The  350,000-cm  feeder  runs  south  from  the  power 
house  and  the  400,000-cm  feeder  north.  The  trolley  and  feed- 
wire  insulators  were  supplied  by  the  Johns-Manville  Company. 

The  road  is  to  be  equipped  with  block  signal  and  telephone 
systems.  The  plan  of  power1  distribution  is  very  simple,  as  the 
power  station  will  feed  directly  into  the  trolley  wires  at  the 
station,  and  the  two  boosters  will  feed  through  the  aluminum 
feeders 'which  run  from  the  power  house  to  the  two  ends  of  the 
road.    The  line  is  not  sectioned. 

CARS 

The  cars  are  designed  to  be  always  operated  in  the  same 
direction.  The  rear  platform,  which  is  enclosed,  also  serves 
as  a  smoking  compartment,  having  a  seat  extending  around  the 
rear  of  the  vetibule.  A  Smith  hot-water  heater  is  located  in 
this  rear  vestibule.  The  front  end  of  the  car  is  a  motorman's 
cab,  which  is  separated  by  a  partition  from  the  entrance.  The 
interior  finish  is  mahogany,  with  olive  green  ceiling.  The 


NOTES  ON  THE  ST.  LOUIS  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  TESTS 


The  two  tracks  between  the  Transportation  Building  and 
the  intramural  railway  to  be  used  for  the  electric  railway 
tests,  arc  each  about  1400  ft  long,  and  are  laid  with  60-lb.  rail 
in  30-ft.  lengths,  resting  0n  6-in.  x  8-in.  x  8-ft.  cedar  ties, 
spaced  30  ins.  between  center's.  Cinder  ballast  is  used  through- 
out. One  of  the  tracks  is  about  3  ft.  above  the  other,  and  both 
are  straight  and  level  throughout.  Each  joint  is  bonded  with 
a  No.  00  American  Steel  &  Wire  Company's  bond,  having  a 
Ji-in.  head,  which  is  expanded  into  the  bond  hole  by  an  iron 
drift  pin  through  the  center. 

The  line  material  was  furnished  by  the  Wesco  Supply  Com- 
pany, of  St.  Louis,  and  was  installed  by  the  Exposition  me- 
chanical and  electrical  department.  Wire-lock  wedge-joint 
steel-tubular  poles  28  ft.  long,  and  consisting  of  three  tubes  of 
6-in.,  5-in.  and  4-in.  diameter,  respectively,  were  used.  The 


J^rr  |rr-r~,   \^rr  \r~,^   |,-rr  |rrr-v  |rrr jnrr    |^rr|rrr    |^rr  |rrr-    \<-rr  \rrr~,  | 


iSf  cct  Ry^Journal 

PLAN  AND  SIDE  ELEVATION  OF  STANDARD  CAR  USED  BY  THE  INDIANA  NORTHERN  TRACTION  COMPANY 


color  selected  for  these  cars  is  rather  striking,  being  orange 
up  to  the  window  sills  and  lemon  above  the  sills.  The  seats  are 
Hale  &  Kilburn,  arranged  to  face  permanently  one  way.  The 
cars  were  built  by  the  John  Stephenson  Company,  and  are 
mounted  on  Stephenson  M.  C.  B.  type  of  truck,  with  the  Rail- 
way Steel  Spring  Company's  steel-tired  wheels.  The  operating 
equipment  consists  of  four  G.  E.-73  motors,  with  L.-4  con- 
troller. The  brakes  are  of  the  Christensen  type,  manufactured 
by  the  National  Electric  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

The  running  time  between  Marion  and  Wabash  is  about  fifty 
minutes,  leaving  ten  minutes  for  layover  or  to  make  up  for 
time  lost,  and  allowing  cars  to  leave  each  end  once  each  hour. 
This  will  require  the  operation  of  two  cars  for  local  service, 
and,  possibly,  a  limited  car  will  be  added,  making  the  round 
trip  every  two  hours,  with  twenty-minute  layover  at  each  end. 

The  bond  issue  is  $500,000  in  thirty-year  5  per  cent  gold 
bonds,  or  an  equivalent  of  $25,000  per  mile  of  track.  The  stock 
is  $500,000.  The  officers  are:  Jilson  J.  Coleman,  of  New  York, 
president;  R.  E.  Breed,  of  Marion,  Ind.,  vice-president;  E.  M. 
Hunt,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  secretary  and  treasurer;  Hon.  F.  S. 
Katzenbach,  Jr.,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  general  counsel,  and  Henry 
F.  Coleman,  of  Marion,  Ind.,  general  manager  and  chief  engi- 
neer. The  road  has  been  built  under  contract  by  J.  G.  White 
&  Company,  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  I.  A.  Hodge. 



A  new  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  band  has  been  formed  by 
the  consolidation  of  the  old  band  of  the  same  name  with  that 
of  the  Cleveland  City  Railway-  The  new  band  now  has  sixty 
uniformed  members,  all  of  whom  are  street  railway  employees. 


poles  were  not  quite  long  enough  for  the  higher  of  the  two 
tracks,  and  the  setting  is  therefore  somewhat  out  of  the  ordi- 
nary. A  wooden  plug  was  driven  into  the  bottom  of  each  pole 
and  allowed  to  project  out  2  ft.  The  poles  were  then  placed  in 
6-ft.  holes,  18  ins.  in  diameter,  and  the  holes  filled  with  con- 
crete, consisting  of  two  parts  neat  Portlant  cement  and  five 
parts  finely  crushed  rock.  The  poles  are  all  placed  between 
the  two  tracks,  and  Hercules  double  brackets  of  9-ft.  span  were 
used.  The  Wesco  form  "M"  hanger  and  form  "M"  trolley 
clamp  are  employed  throughout.  The  trolley  wire  is  No.  00 
round  copper,  furnished  by  the  American  Steel  &  Wire  Com- 
pany. The  latter  company  has  also  loaned  3000  ft.  of  duplex 
lead-covered  cable  for  delivering  alternating  current  to  the 
track  from  the  Bullock  exhibit  in  the  Palace  of  Electricity. 

The  tests  on  the  Hunt  storage-battery  locomotive  are  finished 
and  the  observers  are  busy  working  up  the  results.  The  alter- 
nating-current rail  loss  tests  in  the  Bullock  space,  Palace  of 
Electricity,  are  nearly  done,  and  it  is  expected  as  soon  as  they 
are  completed  to  make  some  alternating  current  loss  tests  on 
the  test  tracks,  using  the  Bullock  machines  as  they  are  now 
arranged  for  the  work  on  single  rail  lengths. 

hi  the  tests  on  the  Bullock  space  considerable  difficulty  has 
been  experienced  in  measuring  drops,  but  by  means  of  raising 
pressure  transformers  it  has  been  possible  to  secure  results. 
The  entire  pressure  reading  outfit  has  been  calibrated  in  place 
by  means  of  a  General  Electric  volt  dynamometer.  A  General 
Electric  pressure  transformer,  designed  for  a  minimum  of  30 
volts  and  various  ratios  of  transformation  from  2  to  16  lo  1, 
was  used  with  a  Stanley  hot-wire  voltmeter.  The  actual  pres- 
sures are  from  1-16  volt  (o  2  volts,  and  the  transformer  ratios 


366 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


were  found  to  be  about  25  per  cent  low,  due  to  the  compara- 
tively large  exciting  current  at  these  low  pressures. 

A  series  of  car  runs  on  the  lines  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company  for  the  purpose  of  testing  the  Christensen  air-brake 
apparatus  have  just  been  concluded.  One  of  the  large  St.  Louis 
cars  was  placed  at  the  disposal  o.f  the  commission,  and  fully 
equipped  with  the  necessary  instruments,  and  was  run  in  regu- 
lar service  on  the  Park  Avenue  line.  Six  seats  were  roped  off, 
equipped  with  tables,  and  a  corps  of  nine  observers  on  each  of 
two  shifts  took  data  on  the  runs.  The  car  was  equipped  with 
a  22-hp  Christensen  compressor,  with  its  standard  regulating 
device  and  storage  tank.  An  additional  automatic  cut-out  was 
provided  to  stop  the  compressor  when  the  motorman  took  air, 
so  as  to  render  it  possible  to  measure  all  air  compressed.  The 
car  is  equipped  with  a  7-in.  brake  cylinder,  in  common  with 
the  rest  of  this  type  of  car,  and  the  regular  brake  rigging  is 
employed.  A  recording  pressure  gage,  loaned  by  the  West- 
inghouse  Air  Crake  Company,  was  used  on  the  brake  cylinder. 
Indicating  pressure  gages  were  placed  on  the  storage  tank  and 
on  the  brake  cylinder.  Current  taken  by  the  compressor  was 
measured  by  a  Weston  instrument.  All  these  instruments  were 
read  when  the  compressor  started  and  stopped,  or  when  the 
brakes  were  applied,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  brake  piston 
travel  for  various  pressures  was  very  accurately  determined 
and  the  conditions  of  each  stop  carefully  noted,  and  some  in- 
teresting results  on  the  amount  of  air  per  stop  are  looked  for. 

In  addition  to  this,  five-second  readings  were  taken  of  line 
voltage,  and  line  current  was  taken  on  an  Armstrong  record- 
ing ammeter,  loaned  by  the  General  Electric  Company.  A 
Boyer  speed  recorder  and  a  magneto  tachometer  were  used  for 
speed  readings.  The  magneto  tachometer  consists  of  a  small 
telephone  magneto  with  commutator  driven  by  friction  wheels 
bearing  on  one  of  the  car  axles. 

The  car  was  run  in  regular  service,  and  on  one  trip  carried 
140  passengers.  Runs  were  made  on  both  dry  and  wet  days, 
with  several  motormen,  so  the  test  will  give  the  air  consump- 
tion under  practically  all  conditions.  This  same  car  is  now 
being  tested  with  the  storage-air  system,  the  tests  as  outlined 
above  being  duplicated. 


CAR  HOUSE  FIRE  TEST  IN  CLEVELAND 


CURRENT  REQUIRED  FOR  HEATING  A  THIRD  RAIL 


Some  interesting  experiments  as  to  the  amount  of  current  re- 
quired for  heating  a  third  rail  to  remove  sleet  were  conducted 
in  Bridgeport  last  winter  by  Wm.  Grunow,  Jr.,  assisted  by 
W.  T.  Oviatt  and  R.  B.  Davis,  of  the  Connecticut  Railway  & 
Lighting  Company.  A  70-lb.  T-rail  30  ft.  long  was  used  and 
was  heated  by  means  of  a  steel  wire  carried  under  the  head  of 
the  rail  and  insulated  from  it  by  porcelain  bushings.  Wood 
protections  were  employed  to  shield  the  rail  from  wind  and  to 
maintain  its  temperature.  With  the  air  at  15  degs.  F.,  the  tem- 
perature of  the  rail  was  raised  19  degs.  in  fifteen  minutes ;  and 
with  the  air  21  degs.,  the  temperature  of  the  rail  was  raised 
19  degs.  in  twelve  minutes.  The  energy  consumption  during 
these  fifteen  minutes  was  equivalent  to  90  kw  if  the  heating 
had  been  applied  to  a  i-mile  length  of  the  same  section  of  rail. 

♦  ♦♦ 


The  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company  has  perfected 
an  arrangement  with  the  government  life-saving  department 
to  handle  an  emergency  life-saving  outfit  which  will  be  main- 
tained on  a  flat  car  at  Lorain,  and  will  be  ready  for  emergency 
calls  at  any  points  between  Sandusky  and  Cleveland,  the  elec- 
tric line  being  within  sight  of  the  lake  over  this  entire  division 
of  the  system.  The  contract  was  made  with  the  company  by 
Captain  C.  A.  Abbey,  superintendent-  of  construction  of  the 
United  States  Life  Saving  Service,  who  is  enthusiastic  over 
the  possibilities  of  the  plan  for  improving;  the  efficiency  of  the 
service  in  that  district. 


A  remarkable  test  of  a  fire  extinguisher  outfit  designed  espe- 
cially for  the  protection  of  car  houses  was  made  in  Cleveland 
the  latter  part  of  August,  and  was  witnessed  by  a  number  of 
prominent  traction  officials  of  that  city  and  vicinity,  together 
with  insurance  men  and  representatives  of  the  fire  department. 
The  experiment  was  of  a  hazardous  character,  but  it  was  en- 
tirely successful,  and  the  results  seemed  to  indicate  that  the 
adoption  of  the  system  by  street  railway  companies  will  un- 
doubtedly result  in  the  practical  elimination  of  the  great  num- 
ber of  disastrous  car  house  fires  which  have  embarrassed  street 
railway  companies  in  the  past. 

As  is  well  known,  the  car  house  is  considered  by  insurance 
companies  as  one  of  the  most  hazardous  risks  known,  and  the 
numerous  fires  of  this  character  have  had  the  result  of  increas- 
ing the  premiums  until  car  house  insurance  has  grown  to  be  a 
very  expensive  item  with  big  companies.  A  car  house  fire  is 
disastrous  to  a  street  railway  company  not  only  through  the 
actual  value  of  the  property  destroyed,  but  the  absence  of  roll- 
ing stock  involves  a  loss  of  business  until  new  cars  can  be 
secured  to  handle  the  traffic.  The  scheme  of  installing  auto- 
matic sprinkler  systems  has  operated  satisfactorily  in  stores  and 


INTERIOR  CAR  HOUSE  SHOWING  SPRINKLERS— REAR  END  OF 
BUILDING  KNOCKED  OUT  FOR  BETTER  DRAFT 


factories,  and  it  has  been  tried  in  car  houses,  but  it  has  not 
been  altogether  successful,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  sprinklers 
have  been  suspended  from  the  roof,  and  the  water  falling  on 
the  roofs  of  the  car  is  prevented  from  reaching  the  fire  until  it 
is  beyond  control,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  fire  usually  origi- 
nates inside  the  car. 

Recently,  Henry  N.  Staats,  of  Cleveland,  manager  of  the 
Traction  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Association,  which,  as  is  out- 
lined in  another  column  of  this  issue,  has  been  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  traction  properties,  conceived  the  idea  of 
placing  automatic  sprinklers  between  the  rows  of  cars  in  a 
barn.  He  presented  the  plan  to  the  Cleveland  manager  of  the 
General  Automatic  Fire  Extinguisher  Company,  who  at  once 
saw  the  advantages  of  the  scheme.  With  a  view  to  giving  the 
plan  a  practical  test,  it  was  presented  to  Horace  E.  Andrews, 
president  of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  who, 
after  some  hesitation,  agreed  to  the  company's  proposition  to 
install  the  system  in  a  car  house  filled  with  cars  and  then  de- 
liberately set  fire  to  the  house.  Mr.  Andrews  insisted  that  the 
trial  should  be  made  under  the  most  extreme  conditions  and 
that  a  series  of  tests  should  be  conducted  embodying  the  vari- 
ous causes  from  which  car  house  fires  usually  originate. 

The  building  selected  was  an  obsolete  frame  car  house  at  the 
corner  of  Quincy  Street  and  Bolton  Avenue,  which  is  isolated 
from  surrounding  property  and  is  used  for  car  storage.  The 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


367 


piping  was,  of  course,  of  a  temporary  character.  A  6-in.  iron 
pipe  from  the  city  main  was  rim  through  the  adjoining  lot,  ex- 
tending the  full  length  of  one  side  of  the  building.  From  this 
two  5-in.  lines  extended  into  the  house.  Two  vertical  5-in. 
mains  supplied  the  sprinklers  in  the  house.  Across  the  rear  of 
the  house  and  connected  with  the  main  from  the  street,  was  a 
4-in.  main,  both  ends  of  which  were  connected  to  Siamese 


CAR  THAT  STOOD  WITHIN  A  FOOT  OF  DAMAGED  CAR 


steamer  connections,  so  that  pressure  from  fire  engines  could 
be  turned  into  the  system  if  necessary.  The  piping  in  the  roof 
followed  the  General  Fire  Extinguisher  Company's  usual  prac- 
tice, the  sprinkler  heads  being  placed  in  rows  7  ft.  apart  and 
staggered  so  as  to  distribute  the  spray.  The  sprinklers  between 
the  cars,  which  was  the  new  feature  of  the  system,  were  sus- 
pended from  pipes  leading  from  the  roof,  and  were  level  with 
the  center  of  the  car  windows.  The  sprinkler  heads  in  both 
cases  were  the  standard  Grinnell  type,  which  have  been  used  by 
the  company  for  a  number  of  years.  The  valve  in  the  head  is 
held  in  place  by  a  central  column,  which  is  soldered  with  a  soft 
metal,  fusible  at  any  predetermined  degree  of  heat.  In  this 
case  they  were  set  for  about  150  degs.    The  water  as  it  is  re- 


1NTERIOR  OF  FIRST  CAR  AFTER  FI  RE.    FIRE  STARTED  UNDER 

SEAT 


leased  strikes  an  umbrella-shaped  head,  provided  with  serra- 
lions,  so  that  the  water  is  diverted  in  a  heavy  spray  over  a 
radius  of  about  16  ft.  Thirteen  obsolete  single-truck  cars  were 
placed  in  the  bouse  as  closely  together  as  possible.  The  ex- 
periments were  conducted  by  employees  of  the  Cleveland  Elec- 
tric Railway,  under  the  direct  supervision  of  President  An- 
drews, Secretary  Davies,  Chief  Engineer  Cook  and  others. 
Two  fire  steamers  bad  lines  connected  with  the  sprinkler  sys- 


tem, and  other  lines  of  hose  were  laid  ready  for  an  emergency. 

In  the  first  test  the  fire  was  started  in  car  No.  200,  located 
exactly  in  the  center  of  the  house,  and  in  a  manner  similar  to 
that  in  which  fires  usually  originate  in  cars,  viz :  by  means  of  a 
short-circuit.  Two  arc  light  carbons  were  connected  to  the 
motor  circuit,  and  a  piece  of  fuse  wire  was  placed  between  the 
two  carbons,  which  were  about  an  inch  apart.    The  carbons 


EXTERIOR  OF  SECOND  CAR 


were  placed  beneath  a  seat,  and  when  the  current  was  turned 
on  the  fuse  melted  and  an  arc  was  formed,  which  speedily  set 
fire  to  the  seats.  In  three  minutes  the  interior  of  the  car  was 
in  flames  and  the  windows  on  the  sides  and  transoms  com- 
menced to  break.  Within  three  minutes  from  the  time  the  first 
sprinkler  was  opened  the  fire,  both  inside  and  outside,  was  en- 
tirely extinguished.  Twenty-seven  sprinklers  were  opened  in 
this  test. 

The  second  test  was  even  more  severe,  as  it  was  started  from 
below  the  car  floor;  car  198,  located  directly  in  front  of  the 
first  car,  being  used.  To  provide  better  draft,  a  number  of 
boards  in  the  rear  of  the  building  were  knocked  out.  In  this 
test  oily  waste  was  placed  over  the  carbon  points  and  a  number 


INTERIOR  OF  SECOND  CAR  AFTER  FIRE.    FIRE  STARTED 
UNDER  FLOOR 


of  seats  were  piled  on  the  tire  after  it  was  started.  The  second 
fire  gained  good  headway  and  the  flames  burned  through  the 
upper  deck  and  mounted  to  the  roof  of  the  building  before  the 
sprinklers  opened.  Souk-  idea  can  lie  gained  of  the  heat  from 
the  fact  that  glass  in  the  w  indows  melted  and  incandescent 
lamps  were  twisted  all  out  of  shape.  In  the  first  trial  the  in- 
terior of  the  car  had  been  badly  damaged,  while  in  the  second 
it   was  completely  ruined.     For  a   few  seconds  it  looked  as 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


369 


though  the  second  experiment  was  a  failure  and  the  building 
doomed  to  destruction,  but  within  about  four  minutes  after  the 
first  sprinkler  opened,  the  fire  was  out.  The  roof  of  the  build- 
ing was  burned  slightly,  but  the  roof  sprinklers  took  care  of 
this  fire.  The  remarkable  feature  of  the  tests  was  the  fact  that 
in  neither  case  were  the  cars  on  the  adjoining  tracks  injured 
in  the  least,  beyond  a  little  scorching  of  paint,  and  not  a  win- 
dow in  these  cars  was  broken.  In  both  cases  the  experiments 
were  made  with  ordinary  city  pressure,  which  varied  between 
20  lbs.  and  25  lbs.  After  the  second  fire  was  extinguished,  at 
the  suggestion  of  President  Andrews,  the  steamers  were  con- 
nected on  the  pipes,  bringing  the  pressure  up  to  about  50  lbs. 
It  was  then  that  the  full  efficiency  of  the  system  was  seen,  as 
the  water  came  down  in  a  solid  mass  that  would  have  deluged 
any  fire,  no  matter  how  severe.  This  illustrated  the  pressure 
that  could  be  obtained  by  means  of  a  water  tower  erected  on  a 
building.  Even  greater  pressure  could  be  obtained  in  cases 
where  a  car  house  adjoins  a  power  station  and  where  pumps 
could  be  connected  to  the  system  with  little  delay. 

The  test  was  pronounced  entirely  satisfactory  and  successful 
by  all  the  street  railway  men  and  fire  officials.  The  only  sug- 
gestion made  was  that  had  the  sprinklers  between  the  cars  been 
placed  12  ins.  to  18  ins.  higher,  more  water  would  have  been 
thrown  through  the  transoms.  If  this  had  been  done  the  dam- 
age to  the  interior  of  the  cars  would  have  been  less,  since  in 
both  cases  the  flames  seemed  to  break  through  the  ventilator 
windows  before  they  did  through  the  side  windows.  The  most 
interesting  point  demonstrated  was  that  a  fire  breaking  out  in 
a  car  can  be  confined  wholly  to  that  car  without  injuring  any 
of  the  others.  The  system  is  effectual  in  winter  as  well  as  in 
summer,  because  in  cold  weather  the  water  is  drained  and  the 
pipes  above  ground  are  kept  under  an  air  pressure  which  re- 
leases the  water  as  soon  as  the  air  exhausts  through  the  ex- 
ploded head.  The  heads  are  of  such  shape  and  construction 
that  they  cannot  be  opened  by  an  accidental  blow,  and  each 


INTERIOR  OF  CAR  HOUSE,  SHOWING  CARS  ONLY  1  FT.  APART 


head  is  independent  of  the  others.  The  test  described  illus- 
trated a  most  extreme  case.  The  barn  was  very  old  and  had 
low  shingle  roof  on  timber  supports.  The  cars  were  closer 
together  than  is  now  ordinary  practice,  and  the  fire  was  aided 
in  starting  by  opening  the  rear  of  the  building,  allowing  the 
draft  a  clean  sweep. 

The  test  was  of  unusual  interest  to  Cleveland  managers,  be- 
cause within  the  past  few  years  nearly  every  road  radiating 
from  the  city  has  experienced  car  house  fires  and  incurred 
severe  losses.  It  also  attracted  attention  because  of  the  fact 
that  the  Traction  Mutual  Insurance  Association,  recently  or- 
ganized by  the  Cleveland  managers,  will  insist  upon  unusual 
methods  ol  fire  protection  for  the  properties  which  it  insures, 
and  this  test  seems  to  point  a  long  step  toward  safety. 


On  Aug.  30  the  operating  department  of  the  Cleveland  Elec- 
tric Railway  Company  made  another  series  of  interesting  tests 
with  the  automatic  sprinkler  system  installed  in  its  Bolton 
Avenue  car  house.  The  tests  were  made  to  demonstrate  the 
efficiency  of  the  so-called  dry  system  in  connection  with  the 
sprinklers,  and  also  to  demonstrate  what  would  be  the  result  of 
a  large  fire  such  as  might  have  its  origin  in  the  well-planned 
efforts  of  a  firebug  to  destroy  the  property. 

The  dry  system  is  unique  in  that  it  is  planned  with  the  idea  of 


SHOWING  PIPE  IN  YARD 


preventing  the  pipes  of  the  sprinkler  system  from  freezing 
during  cold  weather.  This  is  effected  by  removing  the  water 
entirely  from  the  exposed  portions  of  the  system  and  substi- 
tuting air  pressure  sufficiently  strong  to  keep  back  the  force 
of  the  water.  The  dividing  point  between  the  air  and  the 
water  is  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  and  is  marked  by  a 
large  valve  which  is  so  arranged  that  the  balance  is  as  8  to  1 
against  the  water.  That  is  to  say,  when  1  lb.  of  air  is  present 
on  one  side  of  the  valve  it  is  holding  back  8  1-bs.  of  water  on  the 
other  side.  The  sprinkler  heads  in  the  system  are  air  tight, 
and  all  the  joints  in  the  piping  are  designed  to  stand  a  fair 
amount  of  air  pressure.  When  the  heat  has  become  sufficiently 
intense  to  melt  the  metal  cap  which  holds  the  sprinkler  head 
closed,  the  air  is  released  and  the  water  immediately  follows. 

The  first  fire  was  started  in  a  car  in  the  rear  of  the  house, 
and,  as  in  the  previous  tests,  the  flames  were  extinguished  be- 
fore any  damage  had  been  done  to  surrounding  cars.  The 
second  test  was  made  very  severe.  A  fire  was  started  in  a  car 
in  the  rear  of  the  house  adjoining  one  of  the  wood  walls.  All 
the  doors,  windows  and  traps  were  opened  to  give  excessive 
draft,  and  large  heaps  of  tinder,  including  shavings,  car  seats 
and  waste,  thoroughly  soaked  with  oil,  were  piled  on  the  flames. 
In  this  test  the  fire  gained  terrific  headway  and  the  car  was 
badly  consumed,  but  the  sprinklers  extinguished  the  fire  before 
the  building  was  damaged. 

The  officials  of  the  company  are  pretty  well  satisfied  that  the 
system  will  save  a  building  even  under  the  most  adverse  con- 
ditions, and  the  indications  are  that  other  car  houses  will  be 
equipped  with  the  system. 

♦  ♦♦ 

T.  F.  Grover,  general  manager  of  the  Eastern  Wisconsin 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  which  operates  a  one-hour  line 
between  Fond  du  Lac  and  Oshkosh,  has  devised  a  very  effective 
means  of  advertising  this  and  other  routes  by  issuing  a  novel 
colored  hanger  which  can  be  conspicuously  hung  in  stores  and 
other  places.  The  hanger  represents  a  man  carrying  one  of 
the  company's  fine  interurban  cars.  Above  him  is  the  slogan, 
"Take  the  Yellow  Car,"  and  below  information  regarding  time 
tables,  connections  and  chartered  cars. 


37" 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


AIR  BRAKES  IN  CITY  SERVICE 


BY  EDWARD  C.  BOYNTON 

Something  has  recently  been  written  about  the  economy  of  air 
brakes  and  the  general  advisability  of  their  use  in  city  service. 
The  latter  question  has  been  settled  as  regards  double-truck 
cars  in  nearly  all  the  large  cities  in  the  country  in  favor  of  the 
air  brake. 

Several  questions  confront  the  management  when  consider- 
ing the  use  of  air:  Are  the  cars  worth  the  additional  expense? 
for  air  brakes  are  undoubtedly  expensive.  What  advantages 
will  they  gain  by  their  use?  What  will  be  the  cost  of  main- 
tenance ? 

The  first  question  is  not  very  difficult  to  answer.  All  large 
systems  are  continually  buying  new  cars,  and  it  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  oldest  cars  are  probably  not  worth  the  expense. 
As  to  the  second  question,  there  seem  to  be  three  advantages 
gained  over  the  hand  brake,  viz:  The  ability  to  maintain  a 
faster  schedule ;  the  decrease  in  accidents  due  to  the  emergency 
stop,  and  the  slight  economy  in  power  consumed  by  the  car. 

Several  competitive  tests  against  the  hand-braked  car  have 
proved  this,  but  as  the  saving  is  so  slight  it  is  only  necessary 
to  convince  the  management  that  more  power  is  not  being  used 
to  drive  the  independent  motor  compressor  than  was  used 
before. 

In  regard  to  the  ability  to  maintain  a  faster  schedule,  in  city 
as  well  as  interurban  service,  it  is  well  known  that  acceleration 
plays  a  most  important  part,  but  acceleration  is  both  positive 
and  negative,  and  they  are  equally  important.  The  time  has 
come  when  the  amount  of  acceleration,  either  positive  or  nega- 
tive, must  be  limited  by  the  comfort  of  the  passengers.  This 
renders  necessary  a  uniformly  accelerated  start  and  stop  as 
near  as  it  is  possible  to  secure  it. 

The  modern  car  controller  aims  to  make  the  positive  accelera- 
tion as  uniform  as  possible,  though,  to  a  large  extent,  it  is  still 
dependent  upon  the  skill  of  the  motorman,  as  is  also  the  nega- 
tive acceleration  in  stopping  with  the  air  brake.  An  accelera- 
tion both  positive  a-nd  negative  of  2  miles  per  hour  per  second 
can  be  obtained  in  a  modern  car  equipped  with  air  brakes  with- 
out discomfort  if  fairly  uniform.  The  resulting  increase  in 
schedule  speed  even  in  city  service  under  the  above  conditions 
is  remarkable. 

The  emergency  stop  with  the  air-braked  car,  while  it  may 
nearly  cause  the  passengers  to  "change  seats,"  has  undoubtedly 
been  the  means  of  preventing  some  loss  of  life  as  well  as  the 
saving  of  thousands  of  dollars  in  damage  to  equipment.  Al- 
most every  road  which  has  used  air  brakes  for  the  past  few 
years  can  testify  to  the  truth  of  this  statement,  and  many  cases 
have  occurred  under  the  writer's  personal  observation. 

The  cost  of  maintaining  an  air-brake  equipment  varies  in 
about  the  same  proportion  as  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  mo- 
tive power  of  the  car.  It  depends  entirely  upon  the  existing 
conditions  on  the  different  roads. 

These  conditions  mean  not  only  the  physical  characteristics 
of  the  road  as  regards  grades,  etc.,  but  also  on  the  kind  of  care 
and  inspection  the  equipment  receives  from  those  immediately 
in  charge.  In  this  last  condition  lies  the  whole  secret  of  the 
cost  of  maintenance.  Rigid  inspection  daily  of  the  air-brake 
equipment  is  as  necessary  as  the  inspection  of  the  motors  and 
controllers. 

In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  failure  of  an  air  brake  is  due  to 
such  trifles  as  a  wornout  carbon  brush  in  the  motor  compressor 
or  some  disarrangement  of  the  connections  to  the  automatic 
governor,  which  can  be  repaired  in  less  than  five  minutes,  and 
are  nearly  always  due  to  careless  inspection  or,  more  often,  to 
no  inspection  at  all.  The  result  is  that  the  cost  of  maintenance 
on  different  roads  varies  to  an  astonishing  degree"  so  also  does 
the  cost  of  maintaining  the  motive  power. 

Instances  are  on  record  where  air  brakes  have  been  in  service 


for  upward  of  four  years  and  nothing  done  except  to  keep 
bearings  oiled  and  brushes  in  place.  The  cost  of  maintenance 
in  the  above  case  is  almost  negligible  for  those  four  years. 
Other  cases  are  known  where  bearings  soon  went  down  for 
want  of  oil,  and  other  troubles  arose  for  lack  of  attention,  and 
the  cost  was  high. 

Another  road  will  adopt  air  whistles  without  thinking  that 
the  whistle  uses  more  air  than  the  brake.  The  increased  use 
of  air  will  naturally  increase  the  cost  of  maintenance.  One 
large  system  using  many  air-brake  equipments  kept  a  careful 
record  of  repairs  and  found  that  it  cost  approximately  30  cents 
per  month  per  car,  or  about  1  cent  per  day.  This  is  a  fair 
average  record,  but  of  course  did  not  include  brake  shoes. 

♦♦♦ 

STANDARD  FORM  OF  REPORT  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL 
TRAMWAYS  AND  LIGHT  RAILWAYS  ASSOCIATION 

In  the  following  four  pages  a  reproduction  is  given  of  the 
standard  form  of  monthly  report  recommended  by  the  commit- 
tee appointed  to  report  on  this  subject  at  the  Vienna  conven- 
tion of  the  International  Tramways  and  Light  Railways  Asso- 
ciation, which  was  held  this  week.  This  report  was  rendered 
by  H.  Geron,  manager  of  the  Cologne  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, now  in  liquidation,  and  was  presented  in  behalf  of  the 
committee,  which  consisted  of  Messrs.  Geron,  Haselmann,  L. 
Janssen,  J.  Kessels,  E.  Lavalard  and  E.  A.  Ziffer.  The  report 
explains  the  few  slight  changes  introduced  in  the  form  since 
the  last  report  rendered  at  the  London  meeting  of  the  associa- 
tion, and  also  replies  to  suggestions  which  were  made  by  mem- 
bers of  the  association  at  that  convention  and  which  were  re- 
ferred to  the  committee.  One  of  these  related  to  the  desirabil- 
ity of  including  in  the  operating  report  the  amounts  charged 
off  for  depreciation  and  sinking  funds.  On  this  point  the  com- 
mittee suggested  that  it  has  not  been  considered  desirable  to  do 
this  from  the  fact  that  there  is  no  regular  practice  among  the 
different  companies  as  to  the  amount  to  be  charged  off  to  these 
two  funds.  Many  companies  charge  off  a  higher  amount  in 
good  years  than  in  poor  years,  many  others  increase  the 
amounts  from  year  to  year,  and  in  other  instances  the  amount 
to  be  charged  off  is  regulated  either  by  the  charters  of  the 
company  or  by  municipal  enactments.  In  view  of  these  facts 
the  committee  recommend  the  establishment  of  a  special  ac- 
count to  be  called  "II,  Renewal  and  Sinking  Fund  Account," 
to  cover  these  charges. 

Another  point  brought  up  was  the  sub-division  of  Account 
8,  General  Expenses,  which  has  now  been  sub-divided  to  cover 
taxes,  payments  to  abutting  property  owners,  fire  insurance, 
accident  insurance,  etc. 

The  committee  states  that  thirty  companies  have  already 
adopted  this  form  of  report,  including  the  Vienna  Municipal 
Tramways,  the  Continental  Company  of  Nuremberg,  and  com- 
panies in  Lyons,  Elberfeld,  Brussels,  Munich,  Odessa,  Dessau, 
Cologne  and  elsewhere. 

Another  point  brought  up  at  the  London  meeting  was  the 
desirability  of  establishing  some  relation  between  motor-car 
kilometers  and  trail-car  kilometers,  so  that  a  single  unit  could 
be  used  as  a  basis  of  comparison.  The  committee  reports  that 
a  great  many  companies  use  as  a  unit  one  in  which  the  trail- 
car  kilometers  are  considered  as  one-half  that  of  the  motor- 
car kilometers — that  is,  if  the  motor-car  kilometers  are  repre- 
sented by  in  and  the  trail-car  kilometers  by  ;-,  the  total  car- 
kilometers  would  be  considered  to  be  m  -\-  l/2r.  Others  use  the 
formula  111  -|-  1-3;';  while  still  others  employ  the  unit  "train- 
kilometers."  The  practice,  however,  is  tending  toward  the  use 
of  m  -[-  y2r,  and  this  is  recommended  by  the  committee. 

The  committee  then  submits  the  form  shown  in  the  following 
four  pages,  and  in  its  report  gives  definitions  of  the  different 
accounts. 


September  io,  1904.] 


Commencement  of  the  fiscal  year. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 
MONTHLY  OPERATING  REPORT 

ot    (  Name  of  Company) 

  19   Month  oi. 


3?' 


.19. . . . 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF 
OPERATION 


Gross  earnings  (a  +  b ) . . . 
Operat'g  expenses  {a  +  b ) 


Net  earnings  or  loss  from 
operation*  


FOK  THE  MONTH 


this  year 


last  year 


Since  commencement  of  the 
fiscal  year 


this  year 


last  year 


GROSS  EARNINGS  FROM 
OPERATION 


1.  Ordinary  fares  . . 

2.  Transfer  tickets. 

3.  Commut'n  tickets 

4.  School  tickets. . . 

5.  Workmen's  t'kts 
6  

7    

8.  Chartered  cars . . 

9.  Baggage  

10.  Goods  \  £xPrff 

(  Freight. 

11.  Advertising  

12.  Miscellaneous... 


Total  (a)  (1  to  12) 


13.  Sale  of  current. 

14.  Rent  of  meters. 

15  

16  


Gross  earnings  (a  +b). 


For  the  month 


this  year 


last  year 


Since  commencement  of  the 
fiscal  year 


this  year 


last  year 


EMPLOYEES 


f  Managers  

\  Pers.  of  gen. office 
f  Superintendents . 
Pers.  of  office.. . . 
"    of  store  r'm. 
"    of  depots . 

2.  -j  Inspectors  

Starters  

Motormen  

Conductors  

[  Brakemen  

f  Chief  engineer. .  . 

2    J  Engineers  

1  Firemen  

[  Helpers  

4    /Overhead  men.. 

'  \  Helpers  

(  Master  mechanic 

5.  ■<  Workmen  

(.Helpers  

f  Track  engineer. 
%■  1  Track  inspectors 
'     (  Track  men  


this  last 
month  month 


Miscellaneous . 


Total 


Same 
month 
last 
year 


this  month 

this  year 

last  year 

■  Length  of  line 
operat'd  during 

OPERATING  EXPENSES 
(IV.) 


s 

H 

1) 

o 


1.  Management  

2.  Operation  

3.  Power  plant  

4.  Electric  line  

5.  Rolling  stock. . . . 

6.  Track  &  roadway 

7.  Buildings  

8.  General  expenses 


Total  (a)  (1  to  8) 


(b)  9.  Miscellaneous 


Total  expenses  (a  +  b). 


For  the  month 


this  year 


last  year 


Since  commencement  of  the 
fiscal  year 


this  year 


last  year 


PER  KM  CALCULATED 


In  the  month 


this 
year 


last 
year 


For  fiscal  year 


this 
year 


last 
year 


per  ton 

km 
in  the 
month 


per  km  of 
track 


o 


Earnings. 
Expenses 


Net  earnings* 


Motor  cars  (m). 
Trail  cars  (r). . . 
Service  cars 
Train -km   


Km.calcul'td(»z- 


Seat  km. 
Ton  km 


5  for  the  tramway. 
I  (total).... 

3  per  car  km  

'f  per  ton  km  

U   


Passengers  carried. 


[    by  loaded  cars. 


by  empty  cars. 


1 


Total. 


Rolling  stock  Motor  Trail 


in  service  .... 
in  reserve. . . . 
in  repair  shop 


Total. 


Passes  in  force  during  ) 
month  J 


OBSERVATIONS 


*  Deficits  are  written  in  red  ink. 


372  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  tl. 


SUBDIVISION  OF  THE  EXPENSES  OF  OPERATION  (IV.). 


ITEMS 

For  Month 

Same  Month 
Last  Year 

Labor 

Material 

Miscellaneous 

Total 

Total 

10 
11 
12 

13 

14 

15 
19 

X.       1*1  A  IN  A  l_i  E.1V1  n-IN  1 

Salaries  of  the  managers  and  staff.  

Office  supplies,  advertising,  cost  of  carriage,  telephone, 

Heating,  lighting  and  cleaning  of  offices,  maintenance  of 

Miscellaneous  





20 
21 

22 

23 

2-10 

241 

25 

20 

27 

2> 
20 

30 
30 

37 
3H 
30 

40 
41 

42 
43 
44 
45 
46 
47 
48 
40 

50 
510 
511 
520 

521 

522 
523 

531 

540 
541 
55 

56 
57 

58 

59 

2.  Operation 
Salaries  of  traffic  manager  and  stafi  and  of  store  rooms.. 

Motormen,  conductors,  switchmen  and  brake  inspectors 

Office  supplies,  printing,  cost  of  carriage,  tickets,  tele- 
phone,  telegraph   

Heating,  lighting  and  cleaning  of  offices,  passenger  sta- 



O  .        1  \J  W  c.  lx    J  1  A  1  IUiV 

Current  for  traction  and  /  incliHini?      ,    .  .    u    t.  \ 

lighting  of  cars          (not  including  electrlc  heating) . . 
Furnished  by  the  power  station  of  kw-h  at  

4.    Electric  Line 





Bonds  and  return  feeders  

Salaries  of  foreman  and  staff.  

—  - 









Maintenance  of  body,  brakes,  shoes,  couplers,  gongs, 

Maintenance  and  painting  of  car  bodies. . 

Repairs  occasioned  by  accidents  

Maintenance  of  the  other  electrical  equipment  of  the 
cars  (including  the  contact  device,  but  not  including 

Maintenance,    cleaning    and    heating    of  shops,  car 

Rent  of  meters  and  consumption  of  current  by  motors  in 

Rent  of  meters  for  lighting  shops  and  car  houses 

September  io,  1904.]        '  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 

SUBDIVISION  OF  THE  EXPENSES  OF  OPERATION  (IV '.)— Continued 


373 


ITEMS 

For  month 

Same  month 
last  year 

Labor 

Material 

Miscellaneous 

Total 

Total 

6.  Track  and  Roadway 

H  T      *       .                                    r       .                 '                                               1*11  1 

Maintenance  ot  stopping  signs  and  miscellaneous  poles. 

Rent  tor  use  of  lines  in  common  with  other  companies 

7.  Buildings 

Car  houses,  shops,  store  houses,  passenger  stations,  etc. 

8.  General  Expenses 

__ 





9.  Miscellaneous 





60 
61 
62 
63 
64 
65 
66 
67 
68 
6!) 


70 
71 
72 
73 
79 


80 
81 

82 
83 
84 
85 
86 

89 


90 


POWER  STATION 


BOILERS 


STEAM  ENGINES  AND  GENERATORS 


Nos. 

Heating 
Surface 
in  m- 

During  the  month 

Nos. 

Horse 
power 
capacity 

During  the  mon  i  h 

Hours 

Feed 
water 
in  cu.  m 

Evaporated  per  kg. 
of  coal 

Hours 

Kw-h.  produced  (A) 

Output  in 
per  cent 
of  rated 
capacity 

in  service 

in  reserve 

in  repair 

Starting  fires 

in  service 

in  reserve 

in  repair 

to  date 

last  year 

included 

not 
included 

I 
II 

III 

IV 
V 
VI 

I 

II 
III 

IV 
V 
VI 

Total  or 
Aver. 

374  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  u. 


EXPENSES  OF  POWER  PLANT 


SUBDIVISION  OF  EXPENSES 

Expenses 

Total  for  Month 

Per  Kw-h 
for  month 

This  Year 

Last  Year 

This 
Year 

Last 
Year 

30 
310 

3ii 

312 

313 
314 

320 

321 
322 

323 

324 
325 
33 

„,     ,  /    including      .        .          ,  \ 

Fuel  (not  including  heating    by   steam  )   

g>S2  r  Coal  '.  kg  at  frs   -5 

5»  I     "        SJ2 

s?5i  ■«                              "                       "  c3 

Total  kg   frs  

Wood  

Maintenance   of  engines,  boilers,  piping,  pumps, 

Labor 

Material 

Miscellaneous 

Maintenance  of  the  dynamos,  transformers,  switch- 

Maintenance  (acid,  water,  etc.)  of  the  storage  bat- 

Cleaning,  lighting,  heating  of  the  power  station  and 

MISCELLANEOUS  STATISTICS. 


STATISTICS  OF  POWER  CONSUMPTION 


A. — Kw-h  generated. 


Charge  Kw-h 

Discharge   " 


Difference 


Generated  Kw-h 

Output  


Difference 


Exciters. 


Average  consumption  in  plant  for 
lighting  motors,  etc  


Total  B. 


For  the  tramway  (as  per  meter,  de 
ducting  current  sold  and  loss  in 
transmission  system)  

Sold  to  outside  parties  (by  meters  or 
on  contract)  

For  loss  in  transmission  supply  to 
outside  parties  

For  lighting  offices,   repair  1  j 
shops,  etc   la' 

For  motors  in  repair  shops. .  f  »  < 

For  experiments   J  | 


Total  C. 


For  the  Month 


This  Year 


Efficiency. .  % 


Last  Year 


Efficiency. .  % 


%  of  Kw-h 
Generated 


inc.  inc. 
this  last 


Daily  output  maximum 

Daily  consumption  maximum  of  the  tramway 
Maximum  of  power  sold 
Maximum  momentary  load  for  the  tramway 
"  "  "      "   outside  supply 


(date)   kw-h. 


volts 


amp. 


C )  Cost  of  kw-h  furnished  to  the  system 


Change  in  Construction  Account  During 
the  Month 


Item 

Increase 

Decrease 

Total  

Showing  the  construction  account 
at  the  date  of  the  report  


Note. — All  statistics  should  be  as  exact  as  possible.  If 
certain  expenses  cannot  be  exactly  stated  they  should  be  given 
approximately  and  the  conditions  should  be  noted. 

Expenses  for  taxes,  insurance,  damages,  rent,  etc.,  should 
be  pro  rated  monthly.  If  this  cannot  be  done  exactly  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year  the  expenses  can  be  stated  approximately 
and  the  necessary  changes  can  be  made  during  the  later 
months. 

The  expenses  of  maintenance  and  repairs  should  be  those 
properly  so-called  and  not  the  cost  of  new  apparatus  or  expenses 
properly  to  be  charged  to  construction. 

Expenses  for  interest  and  sinking  fund  are  not  figured  in 
this  report. 

The  cost  of  current  indicated  on  pages  2  and  3  is  based  on 
the  kilowatt  hour  furnished  to  the  entire  system  (C). 


Of 


,  190. 


Signed, 


September  10,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


375 


PROGRAM  OF  THE  TWENTY-SECOND  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF 
THE  STREET  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  YORK 


All  arrangements  have  now  been  completed  for  the  twenty- 
second  annual  convention  of  the  Street  Railway  Association  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  which  is  to  be  held  in  the  New  Century 
Club  auditorium  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  on  Sept.  13  and  14.  The  ex- 
ecutive committee  has  spared  no  pains  in  providing  for  the  in- 
struction and  entertainment  of  the  visitors,  and  from  present 
appearances  the  coming  meeting  will  eclipse  all  previous  con- 
ventions of  the  association.  The  officers  of  the  association, 
as  well  as  the  management  of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley 
Railway  Company,  have  extended  a  cordial  invitation  to  attend 
the  convention  to  street  railway  managers  in  other  States,  and 
also  to  the  supply  men. 

The  headquarters  of  the  association  will  be  at  the  New  Cen- 
tury Club  auditorium.  Delegates  and  guests  will  register  and 
there  receive  a  badge  from  W.  W.  Cole,  secretary,  which  badge 
is  supplied  by  the  association.  Delegates  and  visitors  will  be 
entitled  to  free  transportation  during  the  convention  on  the 
lines  of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway,  upon  showing 
this  badge  to  the  conductor. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  this  convention  will 
be  the  special  trial  runs  to  be  made  with  the  General  Electric 
Company's  new  single-phase  railway  motor  on  one  of  the  lines 
of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company.  Seven 
miles  of  trolley  line  have  been  equipped  for  2200  volts  between 
Oriskany  and  Rome,  and  runs  will  be  made  between  the  con- 
vention hall  and  Rome  with  a  car  equipped  with  compensated 
alternating-current  motors.  From  Utica  to  Oriskany  the  mo- 
tors will  run  with  direct  current  and  from  Oriskany  to  Rome 
with  alternating  current.  It  is  expected  that  W.  B.  Potter,  of 
the  General  Electric  Company,  will  be  present  and  will  have 
charge  of  the  tests. 

The  formal  proceedings  of  the  convention  will  begin  with  a 
conference  of  the  executive  committee  at  9:30  a.  m.  on  Tues- 
day, Sept.  13.  At  10  a.  m.  this  session  will  be  followed  by  a 
meeting  of  the  association,  which  will  receive  the  various  of- 
ficial reports  and  take  up  the  reading  and  discussion  of  the 
papers  presented,  of  which  a  detailed  list  is  given  below.  Upon 
completing  this  work,  arrangements  will  be  made  for  the  nom- 
ination and  election  of  new  officers  and  the  selection  of  a  place 
for  the  next  meeting. 

At  10:30  a.  m.  the  ladies'  entertainment  committee  will  call 
on  the  visiting  ladies  at  the  New  Century  Club  auditorium, 
corner  of  Genesee  and  Hopper  Streets,  to  accompany  them  on 
a  trolley  ride  over  the  line  of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Rail- 
way to  Clinton.  At  Clinton  carriages  will  be  in  waiting  for  a 
drive  to  the  summit  of  College  Hill  and  about  the  campus  of 
Hamilton  College.  The  party  will  return  to  the  cars  and  pro- 
ceed directly  to  the  Yahnundasis  Golf  Club,  Genesee  Street, 
where  luncheon  will  be  served  at  1 :30  p.  m.  At  3 :30  p.  m. 
special  cars  will  call  for  the  ladies  at  the  Yahnundasis  Golf 
Club,  and  they  will  be  taken  by  the  way  of  Frankfort,  Uion, 
Mohawk  and  Herkimer  and  the  "Big  Bridge"  to  Little  Falls, 
returning  in  time  to  prepare  for  the  annual  banquet,  which  will 
be  held  at  7  130  p.  m.  at  the  banquet  hall  of  the  Masonic  Temple. 

Promptly  at  9 130  on  Wednesday  morning  the  association 
will  take  up  unfinished  business  and  discuss  the  contents  of 
the  question  box.   This  meeting  will  adjourn  at  noon. 

The  entertainment  feature  of  the  morning  will  be  a  carriage 
ride  up  the  beautiful  Sauquoit  Valley,  through  New  Hartford 
and  to  the  Sadaquada  Golf  Club  overlooking  New  York  Mills, 
where  luncheon  will  be  served. 

At  2  p.  m.  there  will  be  a  trip  in  special  cars  from  the  Sada- 
quada links  for  a  trip  through  the  historic  Oriskany  battle- 
field to  Rome,  returning  directly  to  Summit  Park,  where,  later 
in  the  afternoon,  luncheon  will  be  served. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the  interesting  papers  prepared  for 
this  meeting: 

"Power  Distribution  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Lines," 
by  M.  G.  Starrett,  chief  engineer  of  the  New  York  City  Rail- 
way. The  discussion  on  this  paper  will  be  lead  by  C.  E.  Roehl, 
electrical  engineer  of  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company. 

"Progress  of  Freight  and  Express  Business  on  Electric  Rail- 
roads," by  C.  E.  Van  Etten,  general  freight  agent  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Rapid  Transit  Company. 

"The  Best  Method  of  Maintaining  Car  Equipments,"  by  H. 
A.  Benedict,  electrical  and  mechanical  engineer  of  the  United 
Traction  Company,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

"The  Comparative  Merits  of  Long  and  Short  Cars  in  City 
Service,"  by  W.  J.  Davis,  Jr.,  of  the  General  Electric  Company. 

The  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company  will  present  a  paper 
on  signals,  which  will  be  discussed  by  State  Railroad  Com- 
missioner Barnes  and  others. 

Papers  are  also  to  be  submitted  by  J.  P.  E.  Clark,  general 
manager  of  the  Binghamton  Railway  Company;  R.  E.  Dan- 
forth,  general  manager  of  the  Rochester  Railway  Company; 
H.  M.  Beardsley,  auditor  of  the  Elmira  Water,  Light  &  Rail- 
road Company,  and  three  or  four  others. 

The  innovation  at  this  convention,  the  question  box,  is  under 
the  direction  of  W.  M.  Probasco. 



WHEELS  IN  LIVERPOOL 


In  a  report  recently  presented  to  the  Tramways  Committee 
in  Liverpool  by  the  general  manager  and  engineers  of  the 
Liverpool  tramways,  some  interesting  particulars  of  the  ex- 
perience with  wheels  is  brought  out.  The  wheels  of  the  Ger- 
man cars,  which  were  the  first  to  be  used  in  Liverpool  in  1898, 
were  steel  tired,  and  those  of  the  American  cars,  which  fol- 
lowed, were  chilled  cast  iron.  The  steel  tires  "spread"  in  run- 
ning, became  loose  and  out  of  gage,  and  were  ultimately  aban- 
doned in  favor  of  the  chilled  wheel,  which  was  giving  much 
better  results  on  the  cars  received  from  America.  About  1900 
the  British  manufacturers  commenced  the  production  of  special 
steel-tired  wheels  for  street  railway  service,  and  experiments 
with  these  wheels  were  carefully  watched.  In  May,  1902,  a 
number  of  selected  tires  were  placed  in  service  in  Liverpool, 
and  later  it  was  considered  desirable  to  try  tires  of  all  the 
representative  makers.  Fifty-two  of  the  cars  are  now  fitted 
with  steel-tired  wheels,  none  of  which  has  yet  worn  out,  and 
therefore  final  figures  cannot  be  quoted.  Very  divergent  re- 
sults have,  however,  been  obtained.  The  mileage  per  unit  of 
wear  has  varied  to  the  extent  of  50  per  cent,  indicating  the  im- 
portance of  selecting  tires  of  suitable  composition.  The  aver- 
age life  of  the  steel-tired  wheels  is  estimated  at  60,000  miles. 
The  average  life  of  the  chilled  wheel  was  35,000  miles. 

The  engineers  are  now  engaged  on  the  design  of  a  new  steel- 
tired  wheel,  which,  it  is  thought,  will  cost  50  per  cent  less  than 
the  price  at  which  such  wheels  can  at  present  be  bought  in  the 
market,  and  which,  it  is  believed,  will  afford  a  life  considerably 
in  advance  of  the  average  of  the  former  steel-tired  wheels.  It 
is  hoped  that  on  trial  this  new  wheel  will  be  found  suitable  for 
general  adoption. 

The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  is  fitting  to  all  its  cars  on 
the  World's  Fair  lines  bar  window  guards  extending  the  full 
height  of  the  open  windows.  The  change  was  deemed  advisable 
after  several  severe  accidents  had  happened  to  people  who, 
through  curiosity,  had  put  their  head  out  of  the  window,  not- 
withstanding the  protection  offered  by  the  ordinary  four-bar 
guards.  For  any  but  World's  Fair  crowds  these  high  guards 
would  not  be  so  necessary. 


376" 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


RACING  ON  THE  ROCHESTER  &  EASTERN 


The  Rochester  &  Eastern  Rapid  Railway  Company  recently 
offered  a  series  of  prizes  for  photographs  taken  along  its  line 
by  amateur  photographers.  These  prizes  were  recently 
awarded,  and  the  accompanying  engraving  is  a  reproduction  of 
the  photograph  which  took  the  first  prize.  The  view  is  taken 
at  a  point  about  2  miles  west  of  Victor,  where  the  tracks  of  the 
Rochester  &  Eastern  Rapid  Railway  Company  run  parallel 
with  the  Auburn  branch  of  the  New  York  Central  Railway  for 
over  a  mile.  Racing  between  the  steam  trains  and  electric  cars 
occur  almost  daily,  and  the  photographer  was  fortunate  in 
being  able  to  snapshot  one  of  these  competitions  of  speed.  As 
the  view  shows,  the  electric  car  was  leading  at  the  time  that 


to  Friday,  inclusive,  leaving  Moorestown  at  7:01  a.  m.,  8:01 
a.  m.,  8  44  a.  m.  and  9:31  a.  m. ;  also  at  4:31  p.  m.  and  6:14  p.  m. 
Returning  they  leave  the  ferry  terminal  in  Camden  at  8  a.  m., 
8:50  a.  m.,  3:50  p.  m.,  4:30  p.  m.,  5:20  p.  m.  and  6  p.  m.  On 
Saturdays  four  express  trips  are  run  -in  the  morning  from 
Moorestown  and  two  from  the  Camden  terminal.  There  are 
no  express  cars  on  Saturday  afternoons  and  none  on  Sunday. 
After  leaving  Moorestown  the  platform  gates  are  shut  and  no 
one  is  allowed  to  board  the  car  until  Camden  is  reached.  The 
time  saved  by  not  making  intermediate  stops  is  about  fifteen 
minutes  for  each  trip.  Two  cars  are  required  for  the  service, 
and  these  cars  make  the  round  trip  in  ninety  minutes. 

To  secure  this  service  the  Moorestown  Rapid  Transit  Club 
guaranteed  the  railway  company  that  the  receipts  should  not 


SPEED   COMPETITION   BETWEEN   STEAM  TRAIN  AND  ELECTRIC  CAR  NEAR  ROCHESTER 


the  photograph  was  taken.  The  result  of  this  race  is  not  men- 
tioned, but  it  is  understood  that  the  electric  cars  are  often  win- 
ners in  these  contests. 

 ♦♦♦  

CHARTERED  CARS  ON  THE  CAMDEN  &  SUBURBAN 
RAILWAY 


The  suburban  traffic  on  some  of  the  long  lines  of  the  Cam- 
den &  Suburban  Railway  Company  has  always  been  large,  but 
the  running  time  has  necessarily  been  somewhat  low  on  ac- 
count of  the  legal  requirement  for  the  cars  to  stop  and  take  on 
passengers  at  all  crossings  where  passengers  desire  to  board 
the  cars.  One  of  the  largest  suburban  towns  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Camden  is  Moorestown,  and  the  business  men  in  Cam- 
den who  live  in  Moorestown  have  been  for  a  long  time  anxious 
to  have  the  company  institute  an  express  service  between 
Moorestown  and  Camden.  As  this  could  not  be  done  satisfac- 
torily under  the  existing  ordinances,  some  of  the  residents  in 
Moorestown  decided  to  form  a  club  and  charter  cars,  which 
would  of  course  not  be  required  under  the  law  to  take  local 
passengers.  As  a  result,  the  Moorestown  Rapid  Transit  Club 
was  organized,  and  arrangements  were  made  with  the  Camden 
&  Suburban  Railway  Company  to  supply  to  the  members  of  the 
club  an  express  service  between  Stanwick  Avenue,  Moores- 
town, and  the  ferry  terminal  in  Camden,  a  distance  of  about 
11  miles.    Express  cars  are  run  from  Moorestown  on  Monday 


be  less  than  $2  per  car-hour.  The  service  was  started  on  Aug. 
8,  and  the  receipts  have  already  risen  from  50  cents  per  car- 
hour  to  $1.60  per  car-hour.  No  cash  fares  are  receiv4ed  and  no 
tickets  are  sold  on  the  cars.  Passengers  can  ride  only  on 
tickets  issued  by  the  club  or  its  representatives  in  Moorestown, 
and  which  are  sold  in  books  of  ten  for  $1.  These  tickets  carry 
no  transfer  privileges  in  Camden.  The  constitution  of  the  club 
provides  for  two  classes  of  members,  executive  members  and 
participating  members.  Any  one  can  become  a  participating 
member  by  purchasing  a  package  of  tickets.  As  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  club  of  this  kind  is  very  novel,  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  state  that  the  secretary  of  the  club  is  H.  C.  Heulings,  a 
prominent  business  man  of  Camden,  "whose  office  is  in  the 
Masonic  Temple  of  that  city.  The  club  has  been  regularly 
incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey. 



"Trolley  Talk"  is  a  little  flyer  which  the  Pittsburg,  McKees- 
port  &  Connellsville  Railway  Company  distributes  to  its 
patrons.  It  contains  some  sound  advice  to  the  public  about 
traveling  on  the  cars,  interesting  points  traversed  by  different 
branches,  and  in  other  ways  does  good  work  in  making  for  a 
better  understanding  between  the  railway  company  and  its 
patrons.  J.  M.  Brown,  the  company's  superintendent  of  trans- 
portation, states  that  this  publication  is  giving  very  good  re- 
sults in  the  way  of  increasing  regular  and  special  car  traffic. 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


377 


COMBINED  RUNNING  BOARD  AND  WHEEL  GUARD 


A  NEW  SCROLL  SAW 


The  Boston  Suburban  Electric  Companies  has  recently  al- 
lowed to  be  demonstrated  on  one  of  its  Wellesley  cars  the  fold- 
ing running  board  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations. 
This  running  board,  which  is  the  invention  of  M.  S.  Nolan,  of 
Waltham,  Mass.,  does  not  project  beyond  the  line  of  the  foot 
guard  when  folded,  and  when  lowered  it  serves  to  act  as  a 
wheel  guard. 

The  views  presented  in  Figs.  1,  2,  3  and  4  show  respectively 
the  running  board  with  double  step,  one  step  dropped  to  form 
a  wheel  guard,  the  manner  of  folding  up  the  lower  step,  and 
the  appearance  of  the  running  board  when  adapted  for  a  single 
step.  The  side  beam  or  body  of  the  car  is  faced  by  the  upper 
foot  guard,  to  which  are  bolted  the  foot  board  and  hangers. 
The  upper  step  is  fixed  upon  these  hangers,  which  are  also 
arranged  to  receive  a  backing  board  for  the  lower  foot  guard. 
Bolts  extending  through  the  hangers,  the  backing  and  the  guard 
securely  fasten  together  all  these  parts.  The 'manner  of  drop- 
ping the  lower  folding  foot  board  for  use  as  a  wheel  guard  is 
shown  in  section  in  Fig.  2. 

To  drop  the  board  for  compactness  or  for  use  as  a  wheel 
guard,  the  step  is  raised  so  that  the  stud  or  projection  7  is  dis- 
engaged from  its  recess  in  the  horizontal  support.  Then  the 
whole  section  slides  longitudinally  about  12  ins.,  which  disen- 
gages all  the  foot-board  extensions  from  the  said  horizontal 
supports.  When  the  folding  step  is  vertical  it  is  engaged  as 
shown  in  sections  in  Fig.  2.  It  is  kept  from  endwise  move- 
ment by  the  projection  being  recessed  in  the  foot  guard  8. 

When  the  board  is  in  position  for  use  as  a  step  it  is  sup- 
ported by  the  hanger  9,  terminating  horizontally,  and  is  bolted 
to  the  hanger  10,  which  supports  the  top  step.  Both  of  these 
hangers  are  fastened  by  the  same  bolts  to  the  sill 

To  raise  the  foot  board  for  use  as  such,  it  is  swung  up  until 
its  extensions  pass  under  the  horizontal  terminals  cf  the  hanger 
9,  and  is  then  moved  lengthwise  on  a  rod  until  the  extensions 


The  scroll  saw  is  an  absolutely  indispensable  tool  in  most 
woodworking  shops  and  factories  that  have  scroll  sawing  to  do, 
and  heretofore  the  tool  used  has  been  of  the  jig  type  familiar 
to  all  woodworkers;  but  this  kind  is  being  rapidly  displaced  by 
the  band  saw,  for,  although  the  jig  has  many  points  that  enable 
it  to  do  the  work  required  in  a  satisfactory  way,  the  band  saw 
has  all  these  points  and,  besides,  many  others,  which  are  readily 
appreciated  by  all  woodworkers  having  a  variety  of  difficult 
work  to  do  that  must  be  done  with  speed,  economy  and  effi- 


FRONT  AND  REAR  VIEWS  OF  SCROLL  SAW 

ciency.  It  is  by  putting  the  band  scroll  saw  to  this  severe  test 
that  its  superior  ability  is  better  understood. 

The  band  scroll  saw  presented  herewith  is  said  to  represent 
the  latest  developments  in  this  type  of  machine  as  made  by  the 
J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan  Company,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  In  its  con- 
struction the  upright  column  is  made  very  stiff  and  strong, 
enabling  the  machine  to  run  at  high  speed,  yet  without  vibra- 


jE 


Step  in  Position  Step  Dropped  Step  Raised 

FIGS.  1,  2,  3  AND  4.— COMBINATION  CAR  STEP  AND  WHEEL-GUARD 


Single  Step 

Strut  Ry.Jn 


are  opposite  the  said  horizontal  terminals.  When  lowered  to 
horizontal  position,  the  extensions  abut  the  lower  side  of  the 
hanger  and  support  the  foot  board  as  a  step.  The  projection 
or  stud  7  being  recessed  in  the  lower  side  of  hanger,  acts  as  a 
stop,  serving  to  prevent  the  board  slipping  back  and  drop- 
ping. The  device  may  be  used  as  a  wheel  guard  on  closed  and 
convertible  cars  regardless  of  its  use  as  a  step. 



The  scheme  of  forming  a  trolley  base  ball  league,  instituted 
by  the  Cleveland  &  South  Western  Traction  Company,  is  being 
imitated  by  other  Ohio  traction  lines.  The  Cleveland,  Paines- 
ville  &  Eastern  Railway,  the  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Ashta- 
bula Railway  and  the  Pennsylvania  &  Ohio  Railway  have  been 
largely  instrumental  in  the  recent  formation  of  the  North- 
eastern Ohio  Trolley  League.  Eight  towns  touched  by  these 
roads  are  represented  by  teams. 


tion.  The  iron  table  can  be  tilted  and  clamped  to  any  angle; 
while  the  new  straining  device  on  the  saw  is  very  sensitive,  the 
top  wheel  hanging  solely  on  a  knife  edge  balance,  thus  main- 
taining at  all  times  a  perfect  tension  on  the  saw  blade  and  add- 
ing materially  to  its  life:  something  so  necessary  to  prolong 
the  life  of  the  blade  and  yet  so  seldom  found. 

The  lower  wheel  is  solid,  instead  of  having  spokes,  this  pre- 
venting the  circulation  of  sawdust  and  increasing'  the  mo- 
mentum. As  the  lower  wheel  is  heavier  than  the  upper  wheel, 
it  controls  the  movement  of  the  latter — there  being  thus  no 
possibility  of  overrunning.  The  upper  wheel  can  be  raised  or 
lowered  while  the  machine  is  in  motion,  and  all  the  different 
adjustments,  stopping  of  feed,  etc.,  are  easily  made.  The  claim 
is  also  made  that  it  will  do  the  work  or  cutting  of  at  least  two 
of  the  ordinary  machines,  and  especially  so  where  fine  intricate 
scroll  work  is  desired,  in  either  light  or  heavy  wood. 


378 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


MORE  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  PUNXSUTAWNEY,  PA. 


The  semi-convertible  passenger  and  baggage  car  shown  here- 
with has  lately  beet!  delivered  to  the  Jefferson  Traction  Com- 
pany, of  Punxsutawney,  Pa.,  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  The 
railway  company  operates  25  miles  of  lines  in  Jefferson  County, 
in  the  west  central  part  of  Pennsylvania,  through  a  populous 
and  prosperous  country.  Several  cars  of  the  Brill  semi-con- 
vertible type  have  been  in  use  on  these  lines  for  the  last  two 
years.  The  service  is  chiefly  of  an  interurban  character,  to 
which  this  type  of  car  is  particularly  well  adapted.  The  road 
has  lately  ordered  additional  cars  from  the  same  company,  one 
of  which  will  be.  a  29-ft.  body  semi-convertible  passenger  and 
baggage  car. 

The  car  shown  in  the  engraving  measures  26  ft.  4  ins.  over 
the  body,  and  25  ft.  9  ins.  over  the  vestibules.    The  platforms 


COMBINED  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  AND  BAGGAGE  CAR  FOR  THE 
JEFFERSON  TRACTION  COMPANY 

are  4  ft.  %]/2  ins. ;  width  over  the  sills,  7  ft.  8y2  ins.,  and  over  the 
posts  at  the  belt,  8  ft.  The  side  sills  are  4^  ins.  x  6^4  ins.,  with 
6-in.  x  l/2-'m.  sill  plates  on  the  inside.  The  end  sills  are  5^  ins. 
x  6%  ins.  The  car  is  seated  for  twenty-eight  passengers  and 
the  baggage  compartment  furnished  with  folding  seats  for  the 
use  of  smokers.  The  passenger  compartment  is  finished  in 
cherry,  with  ceilings  of  decorated  birch.  The  baggage  com- 
partment is  5  ft.  6  ins.  long  and  has  30-in.  doors  on  either  side. 
The  trucks  are  the  builder's  27-G-1  type,  with  4-ft.  wheel  base, 
33-in.  wheels,  4-in.  axles,  and  are  equipped  with  45-hp  motors. 




AN  ARTISTIC  WASTE  RECEPTACLE 


clean  and  free  from  waste  paper,  fruit  skins  and  miscellaneous 
rubbish.  The  attractiveness  of  all  such  resorts  depends  in  no 
small  degree  upon  their  neatness,  and  in  cases  where  picnic 
parties  make  use  of  the  grounds  added  care  is  necessary  to  pre- 
vent the  accumulation  of  debris.  To  this  end  waste  receptacles 
are  now  installed  at  convenient  points  in  all  well-managed 
parks,  but  as  a  general  thing  these  receptacles  are  not  designed 
with  much  regard  to  their  influence  upon  their  surroundings. 
Ugly  wooden  or  tin  boxes  are  frequently  used,  the  only  con- 
cession in  the  way  of  appearance  being  one  or  two  coats  of 
green  paint,  if  indeed  any  paint  at  all  is  used. 

A  notable  instance  of  an  artistic  waste  receptacle  is  shown 
in  the  accompanying  illustration  of  an  arrangement  used  at 
Como  Park,  St.  Paul,  on  the  lines  of  the  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company.  Here  an  ordinary  galvanized  iron  can  about 
the  size  of  a  domestic  ash  barrel  is  corrugated  slightly  and 
coated  with  the  bark  of  a  tree,  a  hole  being  bored  in  the  bottom 
for  drainage.  The  receptacle  is  then  attached  to  a  tree  by  an 
iron  loop  connecting  with  a  hoop  around  the  top.  The  arrange- 
ment is  so  inconspicuous  that  it  resembles  a  tree  trunk  in  the 
woods,  and  harmonizes  perfectly  with  the  landscape  of  the 
park,  instead  of  constituting  an  ugly  blot  in  the  scenery.  As 
an  illustration  of  what  a  landscape  gardener  may  do  to  free 
from  offense  a  rather  ordinary  detail  of  a  street  railway  park, 
the  receptacles  used  at  Como  are  suggestive. 


TEST  OF  MAGNETIC  ADHESION  IN  KANSAS  CITY 


One  of  the  most  important  problems  in  connection  with  the 
operation  of  a  street  railway  park  is  that  of  keeping  the  grounds 


An  11-ton  car  of  the  Kansas  City  Railway  &  Light  Company 
was  recently  equipped  with  a  device  for  increasing  traction  by 
magnetism,  designed  by  the  Magnetic  Equipment  Company,  of 
Chicago,  and  a  test  was  made  under  the  supervision  of  Charles 
Fritz,  of  the  railway  company.  The  car  equipped  with  this 
device  is  shown  in  Fig.  1,  and  a  top  view  of  the  idler  wheel 
which  carries  the  arm  which  forms  the  electro-magnet  is  shown 
in  Fig.  2.  The  idler  wheel  rests  on  the  rail  when  current  is 
flowing  in  the  coil  to  energize  the  magnet.  The  other  end  of 
the  magnetic  arm  has  a  bearing  on  the  car  axle,  and  thus  a 
magnetic  circuit  is  completed  from  the  car  axle  through  the 
car  wheel  and  rail  to  the  idler  wheel  and  back  through  the  core 
or  arm  on  which  the  coil  is  wound.  The  test  at  Kansas  City 
showed  that  under  the  most  unfavorable  conditions  an  increase 
in  traction  of  22  per  cent  was  obtained.  The  average  was  con- 
siderably higher  than  this.  The  amount  of  traction  between 
wheels  and  rails  was  measured  by  noting  the  amount  of  current 
required  to  spin  the  wheels  with  and  without  the  magnetic 
device. 


WASTE  RECEPTACLE,  COMO    PARK,  MINN. 


FIG.  l.-CAR  WITH  MAGNETIC  ADHESION  EQUIPMENT  AT  KANSAS  CITY 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


379 


Since  this  test,  improvements  have  suggested  themselves 
which  are  now  being  carried  out.  Charles  Grover,  who 
was  for  a  number  of  years  chief  electrician  of  the  Metro- 
politan Street  Railway  at  Kansas  City,  is  now  chief  engineer 
of  the  Magnetic  Equipment  Company,  and  is  working  on  the 
development  of  this  apparatus.  The  amount  of  current  re- 
quired to  energize  the  magnetic  adhesion  devices  on  the  single- 


ular  buffet  parlor  car  service,  morning,  noon  and  evening  and 
late  at  night. 

The  "Carolyn"  is  of  the  same  standard  dimensions  as  the 
company's  other  cars,  viz:  51  ft.  8^4  ins.  over  bumpers,  43  ft. 
2^4  ins.  over  end  sills,  and  8  ft.  6  ins.  wide  over  all.  Like  the 
other  cars,  it  was  limited  by  the  necessity  of  passing  over  the 
Metropolitan  Elevated  Railroad  with  its  curves  and  platforms. 
At  one  end  of  the  car  is  a  smoking  compartment.  Between 


FIG.  2. — VIEW  LOOKING  DOWN  ON  MAGNETIC  ADHESION 
ATTACHMENT 


EXTERIOR  OF  PARLOR  AND  BUFFET  CAR  FOR  THE  AURORA. 
ELGIN  &  CHICAGO  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


truck  11-ton  car  which  was  tested  was  6  amps.  A  test  was  also 
made  letting  the  car  run  away  down  a  steep  hill  and  attempt- 
ing to  stop  it,  first  with  the  ordinary  hand  brakes,  and  next 
with  the  hand  brakes  and  the  magnetic  adhesion  device.  In 
the  first  case,  the  car  practically  ran  away  beyond  control,  and 
in  the  second  case  was  stopped  within  a  short  distance. 

 ♦♦♦  

AURORA,  ELGIN  &  CHICAGO  BUFFET  CAR 

The  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway  Company  recently 
added  to  its  equipment  a  parlor  and  buffet  car,  two  views  of 
which  are  shown  herewith.  The  "Carolyn,"  although  com- 
monly called  a  dining  car,  is  not  by  any  means  exclusively 
such,  being  in  reality  a  parlor  car  on  which  buffet  lunches  can 
be  served.  It  can  be  employed  for  any  of  the  uses  to  which  a 
parlor  car  is  usually  put  either  for  special  parties  or  for  regular 
high  class  extra  fare  service,  and  has  the  added  advantage  over 
the  majority  of  parlor  cars  that  a  kitchen  of  sufficient  size  is 
provided  so  that  simple  meals  can  be  served  to  a  part  of  the 


INTERIOR  OF  PARLOR  AND  BUFFET  CAR 


passengers.  The  company  has  considerable  patronage  from 
the  members  of  the  golf  clubs  near  Wheaton,  and  it  is  intended 
riot  only  to  be  in  a  position  to  supply  a  buffet  car  for  special 
parties,  but  to  accede  to  a  demand  that  has  been  made  for  reg- 


compartments  is  the  kitchen,  where  cooking  is  to  be  done  by 
electric  heaters.  Both  compartments  are  supplied  with  com- 
fortable wicker  chairs  and  removable  tables.  The  interior 
finish  is  of  oak,  stained  green,  waxed  and  polished  so  as  to  pro- 
duce a  soft  satin-like  surface,  which  is  very  pleasing.  Carving 
and  corners  have  been  avoided  as  far  as  possible,  and  the  only 
decoration  is  in  the  shape  of  plain  inlay  lines.  The  finish  is 
unusual,  but  very  pleasing.  The  car  is  not  equipped  with  mo- 
tors, but  has  a  type  M  controller  on  one  platform  and  train- 
line  wiring  so  that  it  can  be  operated  in  connection  with  a  reg- 
ular motor  car  without  switching  at  terminals.  The  car  is 
mounted  on  Peckham  trucks  of  the  M.  C.  B.  type.  The  car 
body  is  the  work  of  the  Niles  Car  &  Manufacturing  Company. 

Acknowledgment  is  due  to  General  Manager  E.  C.  Faber,  of 
the  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway,  for  the  facts  concerning 
this  innovation. 

 ♦♦♦  

PROSPEROUS  SEASON  FOR  BOSTON  SUBURBAN  ELECTRIC 
COMPANIES 

Despite  the  unfavorable  industrial  conditions  in  the  territory 
in  which  it  operates,  the  Boston  Suburban  Electric  Com- 
panies reports  one  of  the  most  prosperous  seasons  in  its  his- 
tory. Each  week  and  each  month  has  shown  a  marked  and 
gratifying  increase  in  the  returns  over  the  corresponding  dates 
last  year.  Both  Norumbega  Park  and  Lexington  Park 
have  done  remarkably  well,  and  the  management  believes  that 
the  large  expense  to  which  it  went  in  building  the  new  steel 
theater  and  in  spending  more  money  than  at  any  previous 
season,  has  been  fully  justified.  By  placing  the  very  best  at- 
tractions in  the  parks  and  running  them  on  an  absolutely  clean 
and  refined  basis,  traffic  has  been  drawn  regardless  of  the  fact 
that  the  tendency  this  summer  has  been  not  to  use  the  electrics 
to  as  great  an  extent  as  in  past  summers.  Even  during  G.  A.  R. 
week,  when  there  were  so  many  attractions  in  Boston,  the 
parks  were  well  patronized,  and  the  number  of  passengers  car- 
ried exceeded  expectations.  On  Wednesday,  Aug.  17,  the  day 
the  river  carnival  was  held  at  Waltham.  approximately  100,000 
people  were  handled  with  absolutely  no  friction  or  delay,  and 
with  no  accidents  of  any  description.  This  record,  of  course, 
stands  to  the  credit  of  the  operating  force,  to  whom  the  man- 
agement gives  full  credit. 

— »~*^ 

A  movement  is  now  on  foot  to  organize  a  company  for  the 
building  of  an  electric  railway  at  Rosario,  a  city  of  about 
T22,ooo  inhabitants,  in  the  Province  of  Santa  Fe,  Argentina. 


38o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


COASTING  THROUGH  SWITZERLAND 


The  application  of  the  highest  artistic  and  technical  skill 
toward  the  production  of  vast  scenic  panoramas  is  exemplified 
at  its  best  in  the  remarkable  entertainments  offered  to  visitors 
to  Coney  Island,  New  York.  The  public  no  longer  cares  for 
simple  amusements,  and  when  visiting  a  pleasure  ground  de- 
mands something  more  than  the  merry-go-rounds  and  swings 
which  were  so  popular  in  former  days.  Amusement  purveyors 
have  not  failed  to  recognize  this  trend,  and  while  some  have 
endeavored  to  satisfy  it  by  originating  shows  which  would 
draw  on  account  of  their  grotesque  or  nerve-racking  features, 
others  have  chosen  the  wiser  course  of  furnishing  something 
refined  and  pleasing.    An  entertainment  of  the  latter  kind  is 


scenes,  and  thirty  sleighs  in  use.  A  notable  feature  is  the  cool- 
ing apparatus,  which  diffuses  iced  air  throughout  the  whole 
structure.  Deftly  concealed  pipes  with  openings  in  the  various 
snowbanks  emit  the  air  from  the  cooling  apparatus,  while  the 
suction  ventilators  in  the  roof  make  a  draft  that  keeps  this 
artificial  "Switzerland"  as  cool  and  full  of  as  sweet,  pure  air 
as  can  be  found  among  the  picturesque  Swiss  mountains. 

 ♦♦♦  


NEW  CARS  FOR  TORREON,  MEXICO 


Cars  lately  built  by  the  American  Car  Company,  of  St.  Louis, 
for  the  Tranvias  de  Torreon,  Mexico,  include  the  type  shown 
in  the  accompanying  illustration.  Torreon  is  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  in  North  Central  Mexico  and  about  200  miles  south 
of  the  United  States.  The  cars  are  operated  in  and  about  the 
city  and  to  the  Plaza  de  Gomez,  a  short  distance  to  the  north. 

This  type  of  car  is  mounted  on  Brill  No.  27-E  trucks,  with 
7-ft.  6-in.  wheel  base,  and  equipped  with  motors  of  35-hp  ca- 
pacity. The  closed  compartment  is  furnished  with  spring  cane 
upholstered  seats,  placed  transversely,  and  the  entire  seating 
capacity  of  the  car  is  forty-five.  The  windows  are  composed 
of  two  sashes  each,  the  lower  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets  in 


ENTRANCE  TO  "COASTING  THROUGH  SWITZERLAND" 


COMBINATION  CAR  FOR  THE  TORREON  TRAMWAYS 


the  beautiful  panorama  presented  in  "Dreamland,"  Coney 
Island,  known  as  "Coasting  Through  Switzerland,"  which  was 
installed  by  Thomas  J.  Ryan,  of  Philadelphia.  In  conceiving 
and  carrying  out  this  novelty,  Mr.  Ryan  has  certainly  found 
something  that  delights  the  public,  so  it  is  not  surprising  to 
learn  that  duplicates  will  soon  be  installed  in  a  number  of  elec- 
tric railway  parks. 

Fronting  on  "Dreamland's"  West  Avenue,  a  picture  of  snowy 
peaks  indicates  the  pleasures  to  come  as  the  visitor  steps  into 
the  little  red  sleigh.  There  are  no  dips,  no  heart-breaking 
shocks  in  the  mile  of  railway  that  carries  one  over  this  inter- 
esting trip.  The  first  striking  feature  to  meet  the  eye  is  a  scene 
familiar  to  all  who  have  visited  the  Alps  and  one  written  about 
by  all  authors  who  have  ever  dealt  with  Switzerland.  Roped 
climbers  in  their  dangerous  ascent  of  the  mountain  have  met 
with  that  grave  occurrence — the  snapping  of  the  guide  rope — 
and  the  climbers  seem  to  be  falling  through  space.  Down  past 
the  valley,  seemingly  teeming  with  Swiss  life,  goes  the  little 
sleigh,  and  the  pang  of  the  falling  scene  is  lost  in  the  opening 
vista  of  the  famous  Mt.  Blanc.  The  valley  below  is  an  exact 
copy  of  a  Swiss  village.  Freakish  little  houses  standing  on 
snowy  peaks,  pine  trees  loaded  with  the  beautiful  white  snow, 
and  the  rude  bridge  thrown  across  the  village  mill  stream  make 
a  pleasing  view. 

Adding  spice  to  the  pleasure  trip.  Mt.  Cenis  tunnel  is  next 
approached.  Plunging  into  utter  darkness  the  sleigh  rolls  mer- 
rily along  for  a  distance  of  500  ft,  and  breaks  out  again  upon 
the  view  of  the  beautiful  Matterhorn.  Picturesque,  indeed,  is 
this  glorious  mountain,  tipped  with  the  virgin  snow,  the  evening 
sun  and  reflected  shadows  from  the  valley  below  vieing  with 
each  other  in  tinting  its  majestic  peak. 

In  the  matter  of  construction,  "Switzerland"  is  a  model  for 
amusement  venturers.  With  a  front  of  85  ft.  and  a  depth  of 
584  ft.,  it  comprises  over  a  mile  of  rail,  twenty-five  distinctive 


the  side  walls.  The  curtains  of  the  open  part  may  be  drawn 
completely  to  the  floor  and,  together  with  the  sashes  in  the 
bulkhead,  furnish  complete  protection  to  this  compartment. 

The  length  of  the  car  over  the  end  panels  is  24  ft.  y1/^  ins., 
and  over  the  crown  pieces,  32  ft.  y%  ins.  The  length  of  the 
closed  compartment  is  13  ft.  5  ins.,  and  of  the  open  compart- 
ment, 15  ft.  2^4  ins.    The  width  over  the  sills,  including  the 


INTERIOR  OF  COMBINATION  CAR 

sill  plates,  is  7  ft.  5  ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at  the  belt,  8  ft.  2 
ins.  The  sweep  of  the  posts  is  5  ins. ;  centers  of  posts,  2  ft.  5 
ins. ;  length  of  seats  in  closed  compartment,  33  ins.,  and  width 
of  aisles,  i8l/2  ins.  The  side  sills  are  3^4  ins.  x  7  ins.,  with  8-in. 
x  3^-in.  steel  plates.  The  corner  posts  of  the  closed  compart- 
ment are  3^  ins.  thick,  and  those  of  the  open  compartment, 
3^  ins.    The  side  posts  are,  1 24  ins.  and  2^4  ins. 


September  10,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


38. 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 


Wall  Street,  Sept.  7,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

Extreme  dullness  continues  in  all  branches  of  the  local  money 
market.  The  demand  for  funds,  and  especially  for  fixed  periods,  is 
practically  at  a  standstill,  despite  the  increased  activity  and 
strength  in  the  securities  market,  but  at  the  same  time  there  is  a 
general  disposition  on  the  part  of  lenders  to  ask  higher  rates,  in 
view  of  the  heavy  shipment  of  currency  to  the  South  and  West 
to  facilitate  the  movement  of  crops.  The  tone  is  called  firmer, 
but  so  long  as  call  money  is  offered  in  volume  at  around  I  per 
cent,  the  banks  and  trust  companies  are  likely  to  experience  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  placing  time  contracts  at  the  present  level  of 
rates.  Currency  continues  to  be  shipped  in  large  amounts  to  the 
interior,  but  these  shipments  are  partly  offset  by  the  constant  ar- 
rival of  gold  at  San  Francisco  from  Japan  and  the  Klondike.  A 
feature  of  the  week  was  the  statement  of  the  associated  banks 
published  on  Saturday,  and  which  was  very  unfavorable.  Loans 
expanded  $18,185,400,  while  the  cash  loss  sustained  by  the  local 
institutions  amounted  to  $7,426,700.  There  was  an  increase  in  de- 
posits of  $9,781,200,  and  the  net  result  of  their  changes  was  a  de- 
crease in  the  surplus  reserve  of  $9,872,000.  Mercantile  paper  con- 
tinues quiet,  specialists  reporting  a  limited  supply  of  the  choicest 
grades.  The  inquiry,  however,  is  good  and  all  offerings  are  readily 
absorbed.  Rates  remain  unchanged  at  4  per  cent  as  the  minimum. 
Time  money  is  quoted  at  2^/2  per  cent  for  sixty  days,  2^/4.  per  cent 
for  ninety  days,  and  y/2  to  2>V\  f°r  f°ur  to  si*  months  on  good 
mixed  collateral.  Sterling  exchange  is  heavy  under  the  liberal  re- 
ceipts of  commercial  bills,  and  the  tendency  of  rates  is  toward 
a  still  lower  level.  The  European  money  markets  show  no  par- 
ticular change.  At  London  call  money  rules  at  1  to  iV2  per  cent, 
while  the  open  market  discount  rate  for  short  bills  is  unchanged 
at  2}4  per  cent.  At  Paris  the  discount  rate  is  unchanged  at 
per  cent,  and  at  Berlin  the  rate  is  2%  per  cent. 

The  Stock  Market 

There  was  no  change  in  the  position  of  the  stock  market  this 
week.  It  was  generally  expected  that  prices  would  suffer  moderate 
reaction  at  the  close  of  last  week,  in  view  of  the  triple  holiday, 
but  instead  the  volume  of  business  increased  materially  and 
prices  generally  continued  to  move  upward.  As  has  been  the  case 
for  some  time  past,  the  bulk  of  the  activity  was  furnished  by  the 
professional  clement,  but  in  the  absence  of  any  unfavorable  new 
developments  over  the  three  holidays,  they  became  more  aggres- 
sive, and  succeeded  on  Tuesday  in  marking  up  prices  for  a  num- 
ber of  issues  to  the  highest  prices  of  the  year.  Commission  house 
business,  although  somewhat  larger  than  heretofore,  continues 
light,  but  the  opinion  is  held  in  most  quarters  that  a  moderate 
reaction  from  present  prices  would  induce  the  outside  public  to 
take  a  keener  interest  in  the  market.  At  the  close  the  announce- 
ment was  made  that  the  Colorado  &  Southern  Railroad  had  de- 
ferred the  payment  of  the  dividend  on  the  first  preferred  stocks, 
but  neither  this  nor  the  announcement  of  reduction  of  $4  to  $6 
per  ton  in  the  price  of  steel  plates  had  any  effect  upon  values.  At 
the  close  sentiment  was  distinctly  bullish,  and  prices  in  most  in- 
stances closed  at  about  the  highest. 

The  market  for  the  traction  stocks  was  moderately  active,  and 
with  the  exception  of  Metropolitan  Securities  prices  rule  substan- 
tially above  those  ruling  at  the  close  of  last  week.  It  is  stated, 
on  what  appears  to  be  excellent  authority,  that  negotiations  are 
Mill  in  progress  for  the  merging  for  the  various  traction  com- 
panies, but  it  is  not  expected  that  any  definite  arrangement  will  be 
concluded  for  some  time  to  come. 

Philadelphia 

A  steady  upward  movement  attended  the  dealings  in  the  Phil 
adelphia  specialties  during  the  week.  Interest  centered  largely  in 
Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey,  which  sold  at  72  for  439 
shares,  an  advance  of  2  points  over  the  previous  high  record  price 
lor  the  year.  Philadelphia  Traction  maintained  all  its  recent 
advance  to  00.  but  the  volume  of  business  was  quite  small.  Phil- 
adelphia Company  common  rose  y2  on  moderately  active  trading 
lo  40' j,  while  odd  lots  of  the  preferred  sold  at  44}4.  Philadel- 
phia Electric  scored  a  slight  advance  to  6  11-16  on  fairly  active 
trading.    More  interest  was  manifest  in  Union  Traction,  which 


scored  an  advance  of  \]/2  points  to  SSVa  on  the  exchange  of  about 
1400  shares. 

Chicago 

Interest  in  the  local  traction  issues  this  week  centered  exclu- 
sively in  the  report  that  a  syndicate  of  New  York  financiers  had 
been  formed  with  $36,000,000  for  the  purpose  of  ending  the  pres- 
ent muddle  by  bringing  about  a  consolidation  of  the  Chicago 
Union  Traction  Company  with  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Com- 
pany. It  is  understood  that  this  plan  is  progressing  satisfactorily, 
but  that  no  plan  will  be  announced  until  the  decree  of  Judge 
Grosscup  is  handed  down.  As  a  result  of  this  announcement,  and 
the  continued  good  traffic  returns,  there  was  a  substantial  gain  in 
prices  for  all  the  local  traction  issues.  Chicago  Union  Traction 
sold  as  high  as  8,  and  the  preferred  at  41,  but  later  on  there  was  a 
reaction  of  a  point  in  each  issue.  Chicago  City  Railway  sold  up 
to  i86p>,  while  odd  lots,  aggregating  65  shares,  brought  184. 
South  Side  Elevated  sold  at  91  pi  and  91,  and  Northwestern  Ele- 
vated advanced  from  77  to  21,  at  which  price  it  closed.  West 
Chicago  advanced  from  49JX  to  55,  and  closed  at  the  highest. 
Other  Traction  Securities 

The  feature  of  the  Boston  dealings  was  the  continued  weakness 
in  the  Massachusetts  Electric  issues.  At  the  close  of  last  week,  the 
preferred  sold  at  6zu2,  but  on  Friday  the  price  declined  sharply  to 
60,  and  subsequently  recovered  a  point.  The  common,  which  closed 
at  15  dropped  down  to  \2  under  fairly  heavy  pressure,  but  at  the 
close  there  was  a  rally  to  13.  Boston  Elevated  was  conspicuously 
strong,  the  price  advancing  il/2  points  to  153,  on  moderate  pur- 
chases. West  End  ruled  practically  unchanged,  all  the  transac- 
tions taking  place  at  92%,  while  the  preferred  ranged  between 
and  112.  In  Baltimore  only  a  very  moderate  business  was 
transacted,  and  prices  showed  some  irregularity.  United  Railway 
incomes,  which  closed  at  47T/2,  sold  down  to  46 1 S ,  while  the  4s 
declined  from  93 T 4  down  to  goji-  where  they  closed.  North  Balti- 
more 5s  sold  at  120,  and  Washington  City  and  Suburban  5s 
brought  100  and  ioop2.  Norfolk  Railway  &  Light  5s  sold  at  85.  In 
the  week  ending  yesterday  about  10,000  shares  of  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  was  dealt  in  on  the  curb,  as  against  27,000  shares 
in  the  previous  week.  The  price  fluctuated  widely,  and  was  influ- 
enced almost  entirely  by  the  differences  between  the  company  and 
the  labor  leaders.  At  the  close  of  last  week,  the  price  of  the  stock 
stood  at  149,  from  which  it  declined  on  yesterday  to  141.  Subse- 
quently the  price  advanced  sharply  to  148,  on  the  announcement 
that  the  company's  lines  would  not  be  tied  up  by  a  strike.  St. 
Louis  Transit  sold  at  10  for  a  few  hundred  shares.  Washington 
Railway  Electric  common  and  preferred  were  decidedly  strong, 
500  of  the  first-named  selling  at  18,  an  advance  of  2T4,  while  100 
of  the  preferred  brought  69,  an  advance  of  2  points,  as  compared 
with  the  last  previous  sale.  The  4  per  cent  bonds  rose  i>4,  $24,000 
changing  owners  at  83^2'. 

Last  week  was  one  of  the  heaviest  weeks  on  record  with  the 
Cincinnati  Exchange,  and  traction  issues  figured  largely  in  the 
movements.  Cincinnati  Street  Railway  and  Cincinnati,  Newport  & 
Covington  featured  in  the  activity.  Nearly  6000  shares  of  the 
Icrmer  changed  hands  with  a  steady  upward  movement,  the 
range  being  from  143^  to  145^.  Cincinnati,  Newport  &  Coving- 
ton preferred  sold  to  the  extent  of  about  5500  shares,  opening  at 
89*4  and  closing  the  week  at  92^.  The  common  did  not  partici- 
pate in  the  activity,  only  two  small  lots  selling  at  31.  The  first  5s 
of  this  company  brought  109/s  and  no  for  $18,000  worth,  while 
the  second  5s  sold  at  107.  Detroit  United  had  a  few  small  sales 
at  67^.  Columbus  Railway  preferred  sold  at  108  for  a  small  lot. 
The  4s  of  this  company  sold  at  96r<  and  the  5s  at  108.  Thirty- 
one  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  Indianapolis  Street  Railway  4s  sold 
at  85^4.  Northern  Ohio  Traction  5s  sold  at  98  to  99^4.  The 
greater  portion  of  this  activity  was  due  to  the  redemption  of  C.  H. 
&  D.  (steam)  bonds  which  were  held  largely  in  Cincinnati. 

The  purchase  of  bonds  for  investment  purposes  was  again  the 
feature  of  the  week  in  Cleveland.  Fifty  thousand  worth  of  De- 
troit Citizens'  5s  sold  at  lOO'L  Eighteen  thousand  worth  of 
Northern  Texas  Traction  5s  sold  at  82  to  83'^.  Twenty  thousand 
of  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  4s  sold  at  59J4  to  5934.  These 
bonds  are  in  good  demand,  owing  to  the  sale  of  large  blocks  of 
these  securities  by  the  Fverett-Moore  syndicate.  One  small  lot  of 
Cleveland  Electric  sold  at  72  and  a  small  lot  of  Northern  Texas 
Traction  at  3854. 


382 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


The  Everett-Moore  syndicate  of  Cleveland  has  sold  to  a  Cin- 
cinnati syndicate  $200,000  of  Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light  4 
per  cent  bonds.  It  has  also  given  an  option  to  the  same  parties 
on  its  entire  holdings  of  these  bonds,  aggregating  $800,000  worth. 
In  giving  the  option  the  Everett-Moore  people  agreed  to  ask  other 
holders  of  these  bonds  to  either  give  an  option  upon  their  holdings 
until  Jan.  1,  1005,  or  to  agree  not  to  dispose  of  their  holdings  until 
that  date.  The  syndicate  agrees  to  pay  60  and  interest  on  bonds 
called  for  before  October ;  65  for  those  called  for  between  that 
date  and  December,  and  6yl/2  for  those  called  for  during  Decem- 
ber. The  option  includes  $260,000  worth  of  the  bonds  held  in  the 
treasury  of  the  company,  and  if  these  are  sold,  the  company  will 
be  enabled  to  clear  up  its  floating  debt  of  $95,000.  The  syndicate 
which  has  obtained  the  option  on  these  bonds  is  composed  of  well- 
known  bond  houses  of  Philadelphia.  New  York,  Boston,  Cleve- 
land, Louisville  and  Cincinnati. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
(wo  weeks  ago. 

Closing  Bid 
Aug.  23  Sept.  7 


American   Railways    49  48% 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago    al2  al5 

Boston  Elevated    150  153 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit    53%  55% 

Chicago  City    170  183 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)   4%  7 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)    30  31 

Cleveland  Electric    70  71 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey    69%  72 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s   108%  108% 

Detroit  United    66%  67 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit    147  144% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)    — ■  — 

Lake  Street  Elevated    3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway    155  155% 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)    15  13 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)    63  61  ' 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)    19  21% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)    52%  60 

Metropolitan  Street    121%  120% 

Metropolitan  Securities    90%  87% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)    9%  — 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)    29  — 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s    73  — 

North  American    89  92% 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light    13  14 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)    39%  40% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit    13  14%' 

Philadelphia  Traction    99  99% 

St.  Louis  (common)    11  — 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)    89%  91 

Third   Avenue    122  122 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)    98%  98% 

Union  Traction   (Philadelphia)    54%  55% 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)    54  55% 

West  End  (common)    91%  92% 

West  End  (preferred)    Ill  111% 


a  Asked. 

Iron  and  Steel 

The  "Iron  Age,"  in  its  weekly  review  of  the  iron  trade,  says  that 
the  blast  furnace  statistics  make  a  very  encouraging  showing.  The 
productive  capacity  increased  during  August  from  246,000  tons  on 
the  first  of  that  month  to  292,000  tons  on  the  first  of  September. 
By  far  the  greater  part  of  this  increase  is  due  to  resumption  of 
work  on  the  part  of  the  steel  companies,  which  is  a  clear  indication 
that  demand  for  steel  itself  has  largely  increased.  This  movement 
is  still  under  way,  a  large  number  of  United  States  Steel  furnaces 
having  blown  in  since  Sept.  1.  Consumption  has  overtaken  produc- 
tion. The  output  of  the  steel  companies  increased  from  695,000 
tons  in  July,  to  747,500  tons  in  August,  thus  showing  that  the  re- 
sumption which  started  in  that  month  did  not  obtain  full  sway  in 
August.  At  a  meeting  of  beam  and  plate  associations  a  com- 
promise was  reached  between  those  big  interests  who  urged  a  re- 
duction to  a  1.25  cent  base  at  Pittsburg.  Quotations  are  as  fol- 
lows:   Bessemer  pig  $12.75,  Bessemer  steel  $19,  steel  rails,  $28. 

rietals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:  Copper  12^ 
cents,  lead  4$4  cents,  tin  27^  cents,  and  spelter  5  cents. 


COMPROMISE  AVERTS  STRIKE  ON  NEW  YORK  ELEVATED 


Fear  of  a  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  operating  the  elevated  lines  in  New  York,  is 
entirely  removed.  Concessions  from  both  sides  brought  about  this 
result.  The  principal  point  at  issue  between  the  Interborough 
management  and  the  labor  organizations  comprising  the  employees 
on  the  elevated  system,  the  bitterly  contested  question  of  motor- 
men's  wages  in  the  subway,  was  settled  by  compromise,  on  Tuesday, 
Sept.  6.  It  was  agreed  that  the  wages  of  the  motormen  in  the 
subway  shall  be  $3.50  a  day,  the  rate  demanded  by  the  men.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  latter  have  agreed  to  a  ten-hour  working  day  in 
the  tunnel  instead  of  one  of  nine  hours,  which  they  had  been  hold- 
ing out  for.  A  number  of  minor  details  of  the  agreement  were 
arranged  Wednesday,  Sept.  7,  at  a  conference  between  the  national 
representatives  of  the  unions  and  Vice-President  E.  P.  Bryan  of 
the  Interborough  Company,  and  a  contract  embodying  the  terms  of 
the  agreement  was  then  drawn  up.  This  agreement  will  remain  in 
force  for  three  years. 



CONSOLIDATION  AT  WHEELING 


The  purchase  a  few  days  ago  by  foreign  capitalists  of  the  .con- 
trolling interest  in  the  Wheeling  &  Elm  Grove  Railway  Company 
is  said  to  presage  the  consolidation  of  all  the  lines  in  the  city,  in- 
cluding the  Wheeling  City  Railway,  the  Wheeling  Traction  Com- 
pany and  the  Pan  Handle  Traction  Company.  The  details  of  the 
purchase  of  the  Wheeling  &  Elm  Grove  Company  are  not  made 
public,  but  as  the  company  includes  in  its  properties  a  light  and 
water  company  as  a  subsidiary,  it  is  evident  the  purchasers  are 
going  into  public  service  on  an  extensive  scale.  Already  the  new 
owners  have  organized,  electing  John  A.  Howard,  William  C. 
Handlan,  George  Baird  and  William  C.  Carle  to  the  board  of 
directors  of  the  Wheeling  &  Elm  Grove  Company,  and  John  A. 
Howard,  president ;  William  C.  Carle,  secretary  and  treasurer. 



INVESTIGATION  INTO  COST  OF  CARRYING  PASSENGERS  IN 
TOLEDO  STOPPED 


The  investigation  of  the  books  of  the  Toledo  Railways  &  Light 
Company  to  determine  the  cost  of  carrying  passengers,  which  was 
started  last  week  by  the  Cleveland  Audit  Company,  was  suspended 
later  by  the  action  of  the^Chamber  of  Commerce  committee  with- 
drawing as  a  party  to  the  investigation.  The  action  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  claimed  that  the  committee  representing  the  City 
Council  was  not  carrying  on  the  investigation  in  accord  with  the 
desires  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce.  The  matter  of  granting  an 
extension  of  franchise  to  the  Toledo  Company  is  now  back  prac- 
tically to  the  point  where  it  started. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  MIAMI  &  ERIE  CANAL  SETTLEMENT 


The  committee  which  has  charge  of  the  work  of  settling  the 
affairs  of  the  Miami  &  Erie  Canal  Transportation  Company  reports 
that  satisfactory  progress  is  being  made  towards  a  final  settlement. 
In  the  meantime,  however,  Attorney  Harry  Probasco,  of  Cincin- 
nati, who  represents  several  small  creditors,  has  been  endeavoring 
to  take  depositions  before  a  notary  public  to  discover  the  names 
of  the  stockholders.  They  attempted  to  force  testimony  from  D.  J. 
Ryan,  one  of  the  promotors  of  the  canal  company.  Mr.  Ryan  re- 
fused to  testify  and  the  notary  ordered  him  sent  to  jail.  Mr. 
Ryan  then  appealed  to  Judge  Dissette,  of  Cleveland,  who  issued  an 
injunction  providing  that  testimony  in  the  canal  case  be  taken  only 
before  the  referee  appointed  by  the  court  or  a  notary  especially 
delegated  by  the  referee.  After  the  order  was  issued  a  subpoena 
was  served  upon  Governor  Herrick  to  compel  him  to  tell  what  he 
knew  about  the  affairs  of  the  Canal  Company.  Mr.  Probasco  has 
created  an  immense  amount  of  discussion  in  legal  circles  by  threat- 
ening to  bring  mandamus  proceedings  to  compel  the  Cleveland 
judge  to  reopen  the  investigation  before  the  referee.  It  is  the  gen- 
eral opinion  that  Mr.  Probasco  is  not  so  much  interested  in  secur- 
ing the  claims  he  may  have  against  the  company  as  he  is  of  giving 
the  widest  possible  publicity  to  the  internal  affairs  of  the  com- 
pany since  its  inception.  In  this  Mr.  Probasco  is  supposed  to 
represent  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  Company,  a  steam 
road  which  parallels  the  canal  and  is  opposed  to  the  electric  line 
on  the  canal  banks ;  also  the  mule  canal  boat  men,  who  are  fighting 
the  electric-mule  scheme. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  383 


September  10,  1904.] 

ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CITY  RAILWAY 
COMPANY 


The  New  York  City  Railway  Company  has  issued  its  annual  re- 
port for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1904.    The  following  are  the 


figures  for  the  entire  property : 
The  income  account  shows  as  follows : 

Gross    $21,485,006 

Operating  expenses    12,127,856 


Net    $9>3S7.i5o 

Other  income    408,998 


Total  income    $9,766,148 

Taxes,  rentals,  interest,  etc   11,162,919 


Deficit    $i.396,77i 

The  balance  sheet  as  of  June  30,  1904,  shows  as  follows  : 
ASSETS 

Construction,  equipment,  leases  and  franchises   $145,583,380 

Additions  and  betterments,  leased  lines   23,040,058 

investments    5>244>687 

Materials  and  supplies    1,231,188 

Current  assets — 

Cash    $2,047,260 

Cash  on  deposit  to  pay  coupons  and  rentals,    r, 136,1 78 

Cash  on  deposit  to  redeem  bonds    160,000 

Cash  on  deposit  with  city  of  New  York  as 

security  for  construction  work   2,500 

Notes  receivable    88,725 

Accounts   receivable    592>934 

Metropolitan  Security  Company's  subscrip- 
tion to  New  York  City  Railway  Com- 
pany's securities    8,052,000 

  12,079,598 

Accrued  accounts:    Dividends  on  stock  owned   13-893 

Prepaid  and  undistributed  accounts :    Insurance,  track 

rentals,  etc   4I9>767 


Totals    $187,612,568 

LIABILITIES 

Capital  stocks    $72,111,800 

Funded  debt   '.   92,332,000 

New  York  City  Railway  Company's  ten-year  notes.  ..  660,000 
Central    Crosstown    Railroad    Company's  two-year 

"  notes    2,250,000 

Real  estate  mortgages    950,000 

Metropolitan  Securities  Company  (securities  due  them 

under  subscription)    9,556,800 

Current  liabilities : 

Notes  payable    $850,000 

Accounts  payable    1,483,209 

Coupons  and  rentals  due  and  unpaid    1,136,177 

Employees'  deposits    28,294 

Unclaimed  wages    5.77° 

3,503,450 

Service  liabilities:    Transfer  tickets  outstanding   2,489 

Accrued  accounts : 

Interest  and  rentals    $1,896,370 

Taxes    1,296,023 

Wages,  etc   86,689 

  3.279.082 

Profit  and  loss  (surplus)    2,966,947 

Total  liabilities    $187,612,568 


In  this  statement  of  the  assets  and  liabilities  of  the  system  as  a 
whole  the  securities,  real  estate  mortgages,  etc.,  which  are  owned 
by  other  companies  in  the  system  are  omitted. 

In  his  annual  report  to  stockholders.  President  H.  H.  Vreeland. 
of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company,  says : 

"In  order  to  secure  a  more  descriptive  name,  as  well  as  to  avoid 
confusion  with  another  railway  company  having  a  somewhat  simi- 
lar name,  the  company  has  by  appropriate  proceedings  changed  its 
name  to  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company. 

"The  accounts  of  the  company  for  the  year  have  been  audited  by 
Haskins  &  Sells.  Charles  S.  Ludham,  one  of  the  principals  of  the 
firm  of  Haskins  &  Sells,  has  been  appointed  comptroller  of  the  com- 
pany. 

"The  form  of  income  account  of  the  constituent  companies  nec- 
essarily differs  somewhat  from  that  employed  in  the  annual  report 
of  last  year.  The  distinction  between  the  Metropolitan  lines  and 
the  Third  Avenue  lines  is  no  longer  preserved,  as  the  necessity  of 
keeping  separate  income  accounts  of  the  Third  Avenue  Railroad 
Company  ceased  in  April  last,  when  the  fixed  rental  of  5  per  cent 
per  annum  upon  the  Third  Avenue  stock  began  to  accrue  and  the 


same  became  true  of  the  Central  Crosstown  Railroad  Company  on 
April  1,  when  its  lease  to  the  Metropolitan  Company  became 
effective. 

"The  lines  of  the  Central  Crosstown  Company  having  been  con- 
verted to  electric  traction,  and  it  having  become  desirable  to  use 
some  of  them  in  connection  with  the  lines  of  the  Metrop.olitan  sys- 
tem, a  lease  of  its  property  to  the  Metropolitan  Company  was  made 
as  of  April  1,  1904. 

"The  gross  earnings  from  operation  of  the  entire  system,  amount- 
ing to  $21,485,006,  show  a  slight  decrease  ($64,539)  from  the  previ- 
ous year.  This  is  due  in  large  part  to  the  unfavorable  weather  con- 
ditions of  the  past  winter,  which  were  without  parallel  for  severity 
and  long  duration.  During  the  winter  months  these  conditions  de- 
creased the  earnings  and  increased  the  operating  expenses  of  every 
line  in  the  system.  Repeated  heavy  falls  of  snow,  which  the  city's 
street  cleaning  department  were  unable  to  remove  for  weeks  at  a 
time,  forced  the  vehicle  traffic  on  to  the  company's  tracks,  thus 
greatly  impeding  the  movement  of  cars  and  discouraging  travel. 
The  substantial  increase  of  earnings  in  the  Bronx,  due  to  new  and 
extended  lines  and  to  the  growth  of  population,  was  not  sufficienl 
to  overcome  the  decrease  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan. 

"The  large  increase  in  operating  expenses,  like  the  decrease  in 
gross  earnings,  is  due  chiefly  to  the  length  and  severity  of  the 
winter,  as  the  result  of  which  extraordinary  expenses  for  the  re- 
moval of  snow  were  incurred  and  nearly  every  item  of  the  trans- 
portation and  maintenance  accounts  expanded  to  abnormal  propor 
( ions. 

"The  increase  over  last  year  in  the  aggregate  expenditures  of  the 
accident  and  claim  department,  which  constitutes  the  only  consider- 
able increase  in  general  expenses,  is  due  to  the  great  increase  in  the 
number  of  claims  settled  before  trial.  Substantial  economies  have, 
however,  been  accomplished  in  the  administration  of  the  depart- 
ment. 

"The  only  new  mileage  added  to  the  system  has  been  in  the  bor- 
ough of  the  Bronx  and  in  Westchester  County,  where  miles  of 
track  equipped  with  the  overhead  trolley  has  been  built. 

"A  franchise  has  been  granted  to  the  Union  Railway  Company 
for  an  extension  across  the  McComb's  Dam  Bridge  to  the  One 
Hundred  and  Fifty-Fifth  Street  terminus  of  the  Sixth  Avenue 
and  Ninth  Avenue  elevated  roads.  This  will  provide  an  entrance 
to  the  borough  of  Manhattan  for  a  number  of  important  lines  of 
the  Union  system  now  terminating  on  the  north  side  of  the  Har- 
lem River,  and  is  expected  to  prove  a  valuable  aid  in  developing 
traffic  of  the  west  side  of  the  borough  of  the  Bronx. 

"Because  of  the  unsettled  labor  situation  in  New  York,  the  sea- 
son's programme  of  electric  construction  was  considerably  cur- 
tailed, and  no  work  undertaken  that  was  not  imperative  of  such 
a  character  that  it  could  be  accomplished  with  certainty.  This 
consisted  of  short  extensions  of  existing  lines  and  the  completion 
of  work  previously  inaugurated. 

"One  hundred  new  closed  cars  and  ten  electric  sweepers  with 
motor  equipment  were  received  during  the  year  for  service  in  the 
borough  of  Manhattan,  and  100  closed  cars  have  been  ordered 
for  delivery  during  the  fall,  and  25  open  cars  were  received  dur- 
ing the  year  for  use  in  the  Bronx,  and  50  closed  cars  have  been 
ordered  for  delivery  this  fall. 

"All  the  predictions  of  the  last  annual  report  in  relation  to  the 
new  power  system  for  the  territory  north  of  the  Harlem  River 
haVe  been  realized  and  the  company  is  now  in  a  position  to  in- 
crease its  service  as  traffic  develops,  and  at  a  cost  which  allows  a 
margin  of  profit  upon  the  comparatively  low  earnings  per  car  mile 
realized  in  that  district.  As  the  improvements  have  only  re- 
cently been  completed,  the  benefits  are  not  fully  reflected  in  the 
year's  results. 

"The  company  is  advised  by  counsel  that,  under  the  recent  de- 
cision of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  case  of  Heerwagen  vs.  Cen- 
tral Crosstown  Railroad  Company,  of  Buffalo,  the  company  will 
be  entitled  to  deduct  from  the  gross  special  franchise  tax,  as  fixed 
by  the  State  Board  of  Tax  Commissioners,  the  amounts  which 
the  company  is  required  to  pay  to  the  city  by  way  of  compensa- 
tion for  its  franchises.  Prior  to  this  decision,  the  municipal  au- 
thorities of  the  city  had  refused  to  allow  these  deductions,  claim- 
ing that  it  was  entitled  to  collect  the  gross  tax.  It  is  expected  that 
the  company's  appeal  to  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  in- 
volving the  constitutionality  of  the  special  franchise  tax,  will  be 
heard  during  the  current  year." 

 ♦♦♦  

Postmaster  Roberts  of  Brooklyn  will  soon  have  in  commission  a 
specially  constructed  trolley  car  for  the  distribution  of  the  mails  to 
the  outlying  stations.  At  present  this  mail  is  forwarded  on  the 
regular  passenger  cars.  Under  the  new  system  the  mails  will 
be  sorted  on  their  way  to  the  stations  and  be  ready  to  deliv  er  '<>  the 
carriers  on  reaching  their  destination. 


3«4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


.[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  u. 


NEW  TRANSFER  ARRANGEMENTS  IN  LOS  ANGELES 


A  transfer  order  which  will  mean  the  saving  of  much  time  and 
money  to  those  who  patronize  the  Los  Angeles  Interurban  Railway 
Company  went  into  effect  on  Aug.  26.  It  is  now  possible  to  obtain 
transfers  from  the  green  and  yellow  cars  of  the  old  Traction  lines 
to  all  other  cars  of  the  system,  as  well  as  to  many  of  the  cars  of 
the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company.  Passengers  who  use  the 
University,  the  West  Adams  Street  and  the  Westlake  Park  lines 
of  the  Los  Angeles  Interurban  Railway  Company  can  now  be  car- 
ried much  further — in  many  cases  more  than  five  times  further — 
for  a  single  fare  than  heretofore. 

This  is  the  first  time  H.  E.  Huntington,  who  controls  both  lines, 
has  issued  such  a  far-reaching  transfer  order.  Transfers  are  not 
only  given  to  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  lines,  but  also  the  Glen- 
dale  and  Tropico  branch.  The  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company, 
the  Huntington  urban  system,  which  operates  more  cars  than  the 
other  lines,  is  not  included  in  the  order. 

The  suits  brought  against  Mr.  Huntington  to  compel  him  to  issue 
transfers  from  the  Los  Angeles  Railway  Company's  cars  to  those 
of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company  on  East  Ninth  Street,  are 
still  in  the  courts.  They  are  now  on  appeal.  In  the  lower  court 
the  company  was  defeated. 

W.  E.  Dunn,  attorney  for  Mr.  Huntington,  states  that  the  trans- 
ier  order  which  has  been  authorized  has  been  under  consideration 
for  six  months. 

"The  same  men,"  says  Mr.  Dunn,  "are  not  interested  with  Mr. 
Huntington  in  the  ownership  of  the  three  roads.  It  would,  there- 
fore, be  impossible  for  us  to  grant  universal  transfers.  We  are 
glad,  however,  to  be  able  to  facilitate  travel  by  granting  transfers 
between  the  Los  Angeles  Interurban  lines — commonly  called  the 
Traction  lines—and  those  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company. 
These  transfers  are  a  stimulus  to  business." 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  this  latest  transfer  order  has  no 
direct  bearing  on  the  city's  campaign  for  universal  transfers. 


NEW  YORK  VISIT  OF  DELEGATES  TO  INTERNATIONAL 
ELECTRICAL  CONGRESS 

The  delegates  to  the  International  Electrical  Congress,  to  be  held 
in  St.  Louis  next  week,  spent  Sept.  4  and  5  in  New  York  City. 
The  visitors  from  abroad  were  comprised  chiefly  in  two  main 
bodies,  one  consisting  of  the  members  of  the  Institution  of  Elec- 
trical Engineers  of  Great  Britain  and  the  other  the  members  of  the 
Associazione  Ellettrotecnica  Italiana.  After  spending  Sept.  3  in 
Boston,  they  reached  New  York  Sunday  morning,  and  that  after- 
noon were  given  a  trip  on  the  Hudson  and  to  Dreamland,  by  in- 
vitation of  J.  G.  White.  On  Monday  they  took  a  special  train 
through  the  subway  and  then  visited  by  boat  a  number  of  the 
power  stations  on  Manhattan  Island.  In  the  evening  a  banquet 
was  given  by  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  at  the 
Waldorf-Astoria.  Sept.  6  was  spent  at  Schenectady,  and  Sept.  7 
and  8  at  Montreal. 

 ♦♦♦  

INTERCHANGEABLE  COUPON  BOOKS  TO  BE  ON  SALE 


The  long-talked-of  interchangeable  coupon  books  adopted  by  the 
Ohio  Interurban  Railway  Association  are  now  being  printed  and 
will  lie  placed  on  sale  by  a  number  of  roads  within  a  very  short 
time.  The  matter  has  been  unavoidably  delayed,  owing  to  the  in- 
ability of  finding  a  bonding  company  that  would  insure  the  pay- 
ment of  the  coupons  by  the  various  roads,  the  question  of  a  bond 
being  one  of  the  points  insisted  upon  by  some  of  the  roads  at  the 
last  meeting  of  the  association.  The  bonding  companies  declined 
to  take  a  bond  of  this  kind,  claiming  it  would  simply  be  insuring 
the  credit  of  the  various  roads.  At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  trans- 
portation committee  it  was  decided  to  drop  the  clause  providing 
for  a  bond  and  insert  in  the  agreement  a  clause  making  the  person 
or  official  who  signed  the  agreement  for  each  road  a  trustee  who 
should  be  personally  responsible  for  the  money  due  the  various 
companies  for  the  coupons  collected  by  a  road.  The  relations  ex- 
isting between  a  company  and  the  trustee  signing  the  agreement 
is  a  matter  which  each  road  will  decide  for  itself.  In  any  event, 
the  company  is  liable  for  the  acts  of  its  authorized  agent,  and  the 
various  companies  that  are  parties  to  the  agreement  have  the  added 
assurance  that  the  trustees  are  personally  liable  for  the  money  re- 
ceived for  the  coupons.  Different  plans  have  already  been  decided 
upon  by  different  roads  for  working  this  out.  One  road  will  turn 
over  to  its  trustee  all  the  money  collected  from  the  sale  of  coupon 
books,  and  the  trustee  will  settle  each  month  with  his  own  road  as 
well  as  with  the  other  roads.  Another  company  will  create  a  coupon 


fund,  and  will  pay  into  this  fund  the  actual  value  of  the  coupons 
as  they  are  collected,  and  settlements  with  other  roads  will  be 
made  from  this  fund. 

This  plan  was  presented  to  the  various  roads  and  twelve  of  them 
have  signed  the  agreement  as  follows:  Western  Ohio;  Dayton  & 
Troy;  Toledo,  Fostoria  &  Findlay ;  Dayton  &  Northern;  Dayton, 
Covington  &  Piqua ;  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua ;  Springfield  & 
Xenia;  Dayton  &  Western;  Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  Toledo;  Cleve- 
land &  Southwestern ;  Lake  Shore  Electric,  and  Dayton  &  Xenia. 
Eight  other  roads  have  agreed  to  sign,  the  action  being  left  to  the 
directors,  so  that  in  all  probability  the  first  issue  will  be  good  on 
twenty  roads.  J.  H.  Merrill,  of  Lima,  secretary  of  the  association, 
is  now  making  a  trip  through  Ohio  to  induce  the  other  roads  to 
enter  the  agreement.  Efforts  will  also  be  made  to  secure  the  co- 
operation of  roads  in  Michigan,  Indiana  and  other  States  of  the 
Central  West. 

The  officers  of  the  Ohio  Association  aim  to  make  the  organiza- 
tion something  more  than  a  State  association.  Roads  of  Michigan, 
Indiana  and  Pennsylvania  are  being  connected  with  those  of  Ohio, 
and  the  problems  encountered  and  the  advantages  to  be  secured 
through  co-operation  can  not  be  limited  by  the  State  lines.  It  is 
understood  that  the  roads  in  Indiana  are  planning  an  interurban 
association  with  the  object  of  interchangeable  transportation 
primarily  in  view,  and  it  .is  probable  that  at  the  next  meeting  of 
the  Ohio- Association,  to  be  held  Thursday,  Oct.  27,  a  special  effort 
will  be  made  to  induce  the  Indiana  roads  to  combine  with  the  move- 
ment already  started  in  Ohio.  Indiana  men  will  be  offered  repre- 
sentation on  the  executive  and  other  committees,  and  if  thought 
desirable  the  name  of  the  association  will  be  changed  so  as  to  de- 
note the  wider  field  which  it  aims  to  cover. 

 ♦♦♦  

FAST  PASSENGER  SERVICE  ON  SUBURBAN  LINE  OUT  OF 
NEW  YORK 

The  new  trolley  express  service  was  begun  by  the  Union  Railway 
Company,  of  New  York,  Sept.  1,  between  New  Rochelle,  Mount 
Vernon,  and  the  Bronx  Park  elevated  station.  The  service  has  ap- 
pealed to  shoppers  and  commuters,  and  the  cars  are  crowded  all 
day. 

The  cars  make  the  run  from  New  Rochelle  to  Mount  Vernon  in 
twenty  minutes,  and  from  that  city  through  to  the  elevated  con- 
nection in  New  York  in  twenty-five  minutes,  establishing  a  schedule 
of  forty-five  minutes  between  New  Rochelle  and  Bronx  Park,  in- 
stead of  an  hour,  as  formerly.  It  is  hoped  to  reduce  the  running 
time  to  forty  minutes,  which  is  the  present  running  time  of  the  New 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  local  trains  between  New 
Rochelle  and  the  Grand  Central  Station,  New  York. 



PITTSBURG  CAPITAL  WILL  BUILD  LINES  UP  ALLEGHENY 

The  contract  for  the  construction  of  the  Pittsburg  &  Allegheny 
Valley  Railway  has  been  awarded  to  W.  A.  Smethurst,  Rodney  D. 
Allen  and  H.  C.  Baker,  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  understood  that  Mc- 
Cann,  Smith  &  Bennett,  of  Greensburg,  will  do  the  grading.  The 
general  contract  amounts  to  between  $500,000  and  $750,000. 

The  Allegheny  Valley  line  is  to  extend  from  Hyde  Park,  Apollo 
and  Leechburg,  to  Oakmont.  At  Oakmont  it  will  connect  with  the 
new  line  of  the  Pittsburg  Railways  Company.  The  line  now  being 
built  by  Keeling  &  Ridge  and  financed  by  William  A.  Stone  and 
other  Pittsburgers,  to  run  from  Indiana  to  Latrobe,  will  ultimately 
be  connected  with  this  line,  so  that  the  present  project  serves  as  an 
important  link  in  a  system  that  will  connect  Pittsburg  with  many 
large  towns  to  the  east. 

The  first  part  of  the  line  to  be  built  will  be  the  section  between 
Leechburg  and  Apollo.  The  rights  of  way  have  been  secured. 
The  Leechburg  Electric  Light  Company  has  been  absorbed  by  the 
new  railway  company,  as  has  also  the  Apollo  Electric  Light  Com- 
pany. The  power  plant  will  be  built  either  at  Leechburg  or  at 
Hyde  Park.  The  company  has  secured  100  acres  of  coal  land  near 
Hyde  Park  and  desires  to  locate  its  plant  near  the  mine,  so  that  it 
can  most  economically  secure  its  fuel. 

Leaving  Oakmont,  the  route  of  the  line  will  be  through  Parnas- 
sus, New  Kensington,  Arnold  and  Valley  Camp  to  Vandergrift, 
Leechburg,  Hyde  Park  and  Appollo.  The  entire  length  of  the  new 
line  will  be  about  40  miles  and  the  population  through  that  section 
will  average  5,000  per  mile.  To  increase  still  further  the  travel,  a 
park  will  be  established  near  Leechburg. 

O.  W.  Kennedy  is  president  of  the  company.  The  other  officers 
are :  Vice-President,  Hon.  John  Q.  Cochran,  Appollo ;  treasurer, 
W.  J.  Ward ;  secretary,  Dr.  J.  D.  Orr ;  directors,  Hon.  S.  M.  Jack- 
son, Appollo ;  J.  Klingensmith,  Leechburg ;  William  Gibson  and 
William  W.  Staub,  Pittsburg,  and  Messrs.  Kennedy,  Cochran  and 
Orr.  The  general  manager  is  Blake  A.  Mapledoram,  whose  office 
is  in  Leechburg. 


September  io,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


385 


CHICAGO  TRACTION  SYNDICATE 


The  report  is  confirmed  that  a  syndicate  of  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia and  Chicago  capitalists  has  been  formed  to  supply  $36,000,000 
cash  for  the  acquisition  of  the  stock  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway 
Company  and  the  consolidation  of  all  the  surface  car  companies  of 
Chicago.  Absolutely  nothing  definite  or  authentic  is  as  yet  avail- 
able about  the  plans  of  the  syndicate  for  carrying  out  the  merger. 
H.  J.  Hollins  &  Company,  J.  P.  Morgan  &  Company,  Kuhn,  Loeb 
&  Company,  Speyer  &  Company,  the  P.  A.  B.  Widener  interests 
of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Whitney  interests  are  all  interested  in 
the  new  deal. 



200-MILE  MEXICAN  TRACTION  PROJECT 


Advices  from  Mexico  City  state  that  the  Mexican  Railway,  the 
oldest  steam  railroad  in  the  Southern  republic,  proposes  to  convert 
its  extensive  system  into  electric  motive  power,  subject  to  the 
British  stockholders — it  being  controlled  by  British  capital — sanc- 
tioning the  change.  The  line  runs  from  Mexico  City  to  Vera  Cruz, 
and  is  about  200  miles  in  length.  The  price  of  coal  in  Mexico  City 
exceeds  $20  a  ton,  and  the  change  of  power  will,  it  is  estimated,  re- 
sult in  a  saving  of  some  $500,000  (Mexican  currency)  annually. 



CURTIS  TURBINES  FOR  NEW  ORLEANS 


A  contract  was  let  last  week  to  the  General  Electric  Company 
for  three  1500-kw  Curtis  turbines  to  be  installed  in  the  new  power 
house  about  to  be  constructed  by  the  New  Orleans  Railways  Com- 
pany. The  ultimate  capacity  of  this  plant  will  be  60,000  hp.  Some 
details  of  this  plant  were  given  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal 
of  Aug.  6.  Sanderson  &  Porter,  of  New  York,  are  the  consulting 
engineers  for  the  New  Orleans  Company. 

 ♦♦♦  

STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 


UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  AUG.  23,  1904 

768,040.  Car  Fender;  George  H.  Fraser,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  and 
James  N.  Weikly,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.  Application  filed  Dec.  31, 
1897.  The  fender  is  automatically  raised  and  lowered  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  oscillation  of  the  car  body  to  preserve  it  at  a  predeter- 
mined distance  from  the  track,  and  the  truck  is  tilted  laterally  of 
the  body  to  cover  curvatures  of  the  track. 

768,134.  Car  Fender;  Lowell  M.  Maxham,  Boston,  Mass.  App. 
filed  Dec.  12,  1903.  The  fender  is  supported  at  its  rear  edge  by  the 
car,  and  is  constructed  to  be  swung  horizontally  through  a  semi- 
circle to  a  housed  position  beneath  the  car  platform. 

768,176.  Car  Fender;  Sylvester  S.  Hawley,  Odin,  111.  App. 
filed  May  21,  1904.    etails  of  construction. 

768,187.  Railway  Switch;  Frank  L.  Maurer,  Johnstown,  Pa. 
App.  filed  Jan.  29,  1904.  The  invention  resides  in  an  attachment 
for  switches  whereby  the  latter  may  be  used  as  a  spring-switch 
with  either  right  or  left  hand  throw,  or  whereby  the  switch  tongue 
or  point  may  be  locked  in  either  of  its  thrown  positions  against 
accidental  displacement. 

768.198.  Step  Motion  for  Controller  Levers;  Irving  B.  Smith, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.  App.  filed  Dec.  9,  1903.  The  purpose  of  this 
invention  is  to  insure,  where  one  element  of  a  current-carrying  de- 
vice moves  with  respect  to  one  or  more  other  moving  or  stationary 
elements,  that  the  first  element  shall  only  come  to  rest  in  a  pre- 
determined position  with  respect  to  the  other  moving  or  station- 
ary element,  and  the  invention  consists  of  a  switch  lever  adapted 
to  move  uninterruptedly  and  to  be  brought  to  rest  at  desired  points 
and  automatic  means  adapted  to  adjust  the  final  points  of  rest  of 
said  lever  to  predetermined  positions. 

768.199.  Rheostat;  Irving  B.  Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  App. 
filed  Dec.  9,  1903.  The  rheostat  comprises  a  plurality  of  switch 
segments,  a  plate  to  which  said  segments  are  attached,  each  by  a 
tongue  and  groove  connection  and  a  plurality  of  resistance  units 
connected  to  said  segments. 

768,245.  Trolley;  Francis  C.  Sullivan,  of  McKeesport,  Pa.,  and 
Louis  S.  Harris,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  App.  filed  July  22,  1903.  A 
hood  is  supported  upon  the  shaft  of  the  trolley-wheel  and  extends 
around  the  trolley-wheel,  and  wheels  or  rollers  are  journaled  in 
the  hood  and  adapted  to  extend  across  the  trolley-wheel.  Means 
are  also  provided  for  permitting  the  hood  and  the  wheels  to  be 


opened  and  closed  over  the  trolley  wheel,  the  said  means  being 
actuated  by  the  trolley  rope. 

768,260.  Automatic  Brake  and  Take-up  Device  for  Trolley 
Cords;  Edward  H.  Amet,  Waukegan,  111.  App.  filed  June  6, 
1904.  Means  are  provided  to  which  the  lower  end  of  the  trolley 
cord  may  be  attached,  and  which  operates  to  keep  the  cord  taut 
during  the  movement  of  the  trolley  along  the  feed  wire,  which 
means  operate  automatically  to  lock  the  trolley  cord  against  pay- 
ing out  the  instant  the  trolley  leaves  the  wire. 

768,277.  Fender  for  Cars  or  Other  Vehicles ;  William  L.  Green, 
Waltham,  Mass.  App.  filed  Jan.  26,  1904.  The  fender  is  so 
constructed  that  when  a  person  standing  on  the  track  is 
struck,  the  impact  of  the  fender  causes  its  parts  to  immediately  em- 
brace, partially  surround  and  grasp  the  body  of  the  person  at  a 
point  below  the  shoulders,  and  hold  him  in  an  erect  position  until 
the  car  has  been  stopped. 

768,325.  Trolley  Restorer;  Edward  L.  Calahan,  Clifton,  N.  J. 
App.  filed  Nov.  6,  1903.  The  trolley  pole  is  provided  with  a  re- 
storer operated  by  a  rope  which  extends  to  the  front  of  the  car 
within  easy  reach  of  the  motorman,  so  that  the  trolley  may  be 
restored  to  the  feed  wire  from  the  front  of  the  car  instead  of  from 
the  rear. 

768,350.  Electro  -  Magnetic  Switch  &  Signal;  Samuel  B. 
Stewart,  Jr.,  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  May  20,  1902.  The 
invention  consists  of  an  arrangement  of  signals  in  connection  with 
the  electro-magnetic  switch,  which  signals  serve  to  show  when  the 
sectional  working  conductor  is  alive  or  energized.  A  signal  or 
semaphor  is  provided  which  is  mechanically  connected  with  the 
switch,  and  which  is  actuated  in  one  direction  when  the  switch 
is  opened  and  in  the  opposite  direction  when  the  switch  is  closed. 
An  electric  signal  is  also  provided,  which  is  connected  in  shunt  to 
the  switch-actuating  coil. 

768,357.  Electric  Track  Brake;  Fred  B.  Corey,  Schenectady,  N. 
Y.  App.  filed  Sept.  27,  1902.  The  purpose  of  this  invention  is 
to  provide  for  the  separation  of  the  brake-shoe  from  the  track  as 
soon  as  current  is  drawn  to  the  motor.  The  car  is  provided  with 
the  usual  propelling  motors  and  with  a  track-brake  having  a  brake- 
shoe.  A  solenoid  is  employed  for  lifting  the  brake-shoe,  the  same 
being  energized  by  motor-current  derived  from  the  circuit  of  the 
motor,  which  is  in  circuit  whenever  power  is  supplied  to  the  car. 

768,411.  Block  Signal  and  Track  Switch  Operating  Device; 
Charles  R.  Van  Trump,  Wilmington,  Del.  App.  filed  April  30, 
1904.  When  a  car  enters  any  block,  electrically  operated  signals  at 
each  end  of  the  block,  and  under  the  control  of  the  motorman 
within  the  moving  car,  will  be  displayed  or  switches  operated,  and 
as  the  car  leaves  the  block  from  either  direction,  signals  and 
switches  will  be  restored  to  their  normal  positions.  Mechanism 
is  also  provided  which  is  included  in  the  same  circuit  and  operated 
by  the  same  current  for  operating  track  switches  and  the  like. 

768,480.  Safety  Guard;  Wilson  K.  Page,  Clean,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  March  23,  1904.  The  purpose  of  this  invention  is  to  prevent 
in  a  positive  manner  the  stalling  of  a  car  at  a  crossing,  by  provid- 
ing a  guard  to  bridge  the  crossing,  the  guard  constituting  a  perfect 
conductor  for  the  current  should  the  trolley-wheel  leave  the  wire. 
The  guard  has  an  open-work  body  or  conducting  portion  and  trol- 
ley-wire hangers  are  combined  with  the  crest  thereof. 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  AUGUST  30,  1904 

768,606.  Suspension  of  Trolley  Wires ;  Martin  T.  A.  Kubier- 
schky  and  Paul  E.  Herkner,  Berlin,  Germany.  App.  filed  March  7, 
1902.  A  clip  which  clamps  the  wire  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford 
it  free  movement. 

768,610.  Electric  Controller  ;  John  Lindall,  Boston,  Mass.  App. 
filed  Jan.  13,  1904.  The  contact  pieces  are  provided  with  detach- 
able portions  which  are  subjected  to  the  greatest  wear  and  which 
can  be  renewed  at  less  expense  than  the  renewal  of  the  entire 
contact  would  entail. 

768,634.  Electric  Railway  Brake;  Levi  L.  Stamm,  Almond, 
N.  Y.  App.  filed  Dec.  8,  1903.  A  motor  acts  mechanically  on  the 
brake  rigging  of  the  car. 

768,661.  Automatic  Switch  Lock  for  Railways;  William  E. 
Llarris,  New  York,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Oct.  29,  1903.  Comprises  a 
member  adapted  to  be  actuated  by  a  passing  car,  and  which  is  to 
be  disposed  in  continuity  with  the  switch-point,  a  latch  adapted 
to  retain  the  point  in  one  position  or  another,  means  to  cause  the 
latch  to  project  out  beyond  the  switch-point,  means  to  withdraw 
said  latch  from  the  switch-point  and  a  train  of  mechanism  operable 
at  a  suitable  distance  from  the  switch-point  and  adapted  to  operate 
the  lock. 

768,989.  Trolley  Pole  Controller;  Martin  O.  Dolson,  Los  An- 
geles, Cal.  App.  filed  Dec.  23,  1903.  Pneumatic  means  for  raising 
and  lowering  the  pole,  a  trip-lever  on  the  pole  and  connected  with 
the  moving  means  and  an  arm  on  the  trip-lever  for  engaging  the 
trolley  wire  and  tilting  the  trip-lever  when  the  trolley  wheel  leaves 
the  wire. 


386  TfA.  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  n. 


768.863.  Hanger  for  Trolley  Wires ;  Augustus  Beubert,  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.    App.  filed  Dec.  10,  1903.  Details. 

768.864.  Crosstown  Arch  for  Intersecting  Trolley  Wires ;  Au- 
gustus Neubert,  Elizabeth.  N.  J.  App.  filed  Dec.  10,  1903.  An  arch 
for  crossed  trolley  wires  having  wings  for  the  several  wires  and 
means  to  support  the  wires  at  different  elevations. 

769,869.  Railway  Car ;  Charles  Fleischman,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Jan.  20,  1904.  A  seatless  car  having  a  plurality  of  rest- 
rails  for  the  support  of  standing  passengers  and  a  plurality  of 
openings  in  the  sides  of  the  car. 

768,920.  Railway  System ;  Constantine  B.  Voynow  and  George 
B.  Taylor.  Philadelphia,  Pa.  App.  filed  Feb.  17,  1904.  Comprises 
vehicles  having  double  tread  wheels,  tracks  having  rails  arranged 
to  engage  one  of  the  treads  of  the  wheels,  other  rails  arranged  to 
engage  the  other  treads  of  said  wheels. 

768,933.  Brake  Mechanism  for  Vehicles ;  Harry  Dixon,  Toronto, 
Canada.  App.  filed  July  23,  1903.  Details  of  an  anti-friction 
brake-actuating  drum  and  gear. 

768,959.  Trolley  Wheel ;  Frederick  Strail,  Rochester,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  June  1,  1903.  The  inner  faces  of  the  flanges  are  concaved 
to  admit  bends  of  the  wire  and  prevent  displacement  thereof  when 
rounding  curves. 

768,969.  Railway  Switch;  William  S.  Weston,  Chicago,  111.  App. 
liled  March  30,  1903.  Details. 

768,973.  Railway  Switch ;  Milo  Barnes,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  App. 
filed  Nov.  19,  1903.  Comprises  two  switch  points  divergent  from 
their  pivotal  points,  a  bar  pivotally  connected  to  the  two  switch- 
points  and  a  lever  extended  from  the  bar  and  adapted  to  be  moved 
by  a  device  carried  by  a  car  for  shifting  the  points  and  shunting  the 
car  in  any  one  of  three  directions. 

768,991.  Car  Brake;  Henry  Hoffmann,  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  May  14,  1904.  A  drum  is  provided  for  the  brake  chain 
having  a  pinion  adapted  to  mesh  with  a  gear  mounted  on  a  sleeve 
carried  by  the  brake  shaft. 

769,009.  Automatic  Trolley  Controlling  Device ;  Horace  W. 
Nichols  and  Samuel  Briggs,  Folcroft,  Pa.  App.  filed  Jan.  4,  1904. 
Details  of  a  spring  drum  and  ratchet  retriever. 

769,070.  Trolley ;  Lindey  F.  Forrester,  Foxboro,  Mass.  App. 
filed  Jan.  16,  1904.  The  trolley  wheel  rolls  upon  two  other  wheels 
mounted  in  the  harp,  thereby  reducing  friction. 

769.085.  Trolley  Retriever;  William  W.  Hoffman  and  Francis 
W.  Powers,  West  Lafayette,  Ind.  App.  filed  Oct.  19,  1903.  De- 
tails of  a  ratchet  and  drum  arrangement. 

769.086.  Trolley  Harp ;  William  W.  Hoffman,  West  Lafayette, 
Ind.  App.  filed  March  24,  1904.  A  trough-shaped  portion  at  the 
base  of  the  trolley  harp  for  conducting  water  away  from  the  rope. 

769,094.  Electric  Lighting  System  for  Cars;  Herman  Kreusler, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  App.  filed  Nov.  28,  1903.  A  switch  for  throwing 
in  a  battery  for  lighting  purposes  whenever  the  trolley  leaves  the 
wire. 



PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  C.  W.  KING  having  resigned,  Mr.  R.  R.  Norton  has  been 
appointed  train  master,  car  accountant  and  superintendent  of  tele- 
graph of  the  Colorado  Springs  &  Cripple  Creek  District  Railway 
Company. 

MR.  E.  H.  HUGHES,  formerly  in  charge  of  the  repair  shops  of 
the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Company,  of  Montreal,  Canada,  has 
accepted  the  Montreal  agency  for  the  H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Com- 
pany, of  New  York. 

MR.  EDWARD  HUBER,  a  prominent  manufacturer  of  Marion, 
Ohio,  died  a  few  days  ago.  Mr.  Huber  was  president  and  founder 
of  the  street  railway  lines  of  Marion,  which  were  recently  sold  to 
the  Columbus,  Delaware  &  Marion  Railway  Company. 

MR.  T.  C.  CHERRY  has  resigned  as  general  superintendent  of 
the  Saginaw  Valley  Traction  Company,  of  Saginaw,  Mich.,  to  go 
with  the  Columbus  Railway  &  Light  Company.  Mr.  Cherry  fortn- 
erly  was  superintendent  of  the  Lorain  Street  Railway,  of  Lorain, 
Ohio. 

MR.  WATSON  W.  APGAR,  who  has  been  superintendent  of 
the  Northport  Traction  Company,  of  Northport,  N.  Y.,  ever  since 
the  road  was  started,  two  years  last  April,  has  retired.  Mr.  Tillot, 
superintendent  of  the  Fluntington  Railroad,  will  succeed  Mr.  Apgar, 
combining  the  superintendency  of  both  roads. 

MR.  H.  S.  KNEEDLER,  an  old-time  newspaper  man,  has  been 
appointed  advertising  agent  for  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Com- 
pany at  Los  Angeles.  Mr.  Kneedler  has  been  in  Los  Angeles  about 
three  years.  Prior  to  that  time,  he  was  for  twenty  years  engaged 
in  journalism  in  Iowa,  and  before  that  was  in  Philadelphia.  The 
office  of  advertising  agent  of  the  Pacific  Electric  Railway  Company 


has  just  been  created,  and  is  designed  to  keep  the  public  informed 
on  what  to  expect  from  the  great  Huntington  systems.  Mr.  Kneed- 
ler was  for  a  time  advertising  agent  for  the  Southern  Pacific  in 
New  Orleans,  and  in  that  capacity  issued  much  of  the  literature  of 
that  road  still  in  circulation. 

MR.  W.  O.  MUNDY,  formerly  master  mechanic  of  the  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company,  has  become  connected  with  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  at  Pittsburg,  with  the  title  of 
commercial  engineer.  Mr.  Mundy  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
brightest  men  in  his  branch  of  electric  railway  work  in  the  coun- 
try. 

MR.  F.  SEJERSTED,  manager  of  the  Holmenkollen  Electric: 
Railway,  of  Christiania,  is  on  a  visit  to  this  country  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Norwegian  Government  Railways  for  the  purpose 
of  studying  the  application  of  electricity  to  railway  service  here  as 
bearing  on  the  proposed  conversion  of  the  government  roads  of 
Norway  from  steam  to  electricity. 

MR.  A.  S.  PALFREY,  of  the  auditing  department  of  the  Con- 
necticut Railway  &  Lighting  Company,  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  has 
been  appointed  auditor  of  the  Ferrocarriles  del  Distrito  Federal,  of 
the  City  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Palfrey  will  leave  for  his  new  position 
shortly.  Mr.  Palfrey  was  formerly  connected  with  the  Lynn  & 
Boston  Company  and  later  with  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany. 

MR.  J.  S.  HAMLIN  has  severed  connections  with  the  National 
Electric  Company,  taking  effect  Sept.  1.  Mr.  Hamlin  has  been  with 
the  Christensen  Engineering  Company  since  its  existence,  with  the 
exception  of  two  years,  one  of  which  he  was  master  mechanic  for 
the  Union  Traction  Company  at  Anderson,  Ind.  During  the  follow- 
ing year  he  was  sales  manager  of  the  Neal  Duplex  Brake.  Later  he 
returned  to  the  employ  of  the  National  Electric  Company,  successor 
to  the  Christensen  Engineering  Company. 

MR.  JAMES  W.  LYONS  has  announced  his  resignation  as 
manager  of  the  power  department  of  the  Allis-Chalmers  Company. 
His  resignation  took  effect  on  Aug.  13.  Mr.  Lyons  has  taken  this 
step  to  accept  the  appointment  as  consulting  engineer  to  the  Elgin 
Watch  Company,  of  Elgin,  111.,  which  will  erect  new  and  extensive 
works  under  his  supervision.  He  will  also  engage  in  other  con- 
sulting works ;  the  headquarter  will  be  at  Chicago.  Mr.  Lyons 
takes  with  him  the  good  wishes  of  all  his  former  associates  in  the 
Allis-Chalmers  Company. 

MR.  N.  C.  SMITH,  superintendent  of  the  Newton  division  of  the 
Boston  Suburban  Electric  Companies'  system,  has  been  appointed 
superintendent  of  the  Groton  &  Stonington  Street  Railway,  now 
nearing  completion.  The  system  of  which  Mr.  Smith  now  has 
charge  comprises  about  50  miles  of  track.  He  has  been  superin- 
tendent of  the  division  for  about  seven  years,  working  up  from 
driver  of  a  horse  car  about  eighteen  years  ago.  Mr.  Smith  is  about 
forty  years  old.  The  position  of  engineer  for  the  road  has  been 
given  to  Mr.  John  Barry,  formerly  of  New  London,  but  now  of 
Groton. 

MR.  HENRY  E.  HUNTINGTON,  the  street  railway  magnate 
of  Southern  California,  is  now  in  Los  Angeles  after  an  absence  of 
two  months  in  New  York.  Mr.  Huntington  says  he  has  no  new 
plans  for  that  section  of  the  State,  in  addition  to  those  he  outlined 
before  he  went  away.  He  is  convinced  Los  Angeles  will  continue 
to  grow  and  that  the  winter  season  will  be  up  to  expectations. 
Plans  for  the  extensions  of  his  lines  on  the  coast  are  still  in  embryo, 
so  far  as  information  for  publication  is  concerned.  Mr.  Huntington 
says  his  present  stay  in  Los  Angeles  will  not  be  lengthened  beyond 
"a  few  weeks." 

MR.  NELSON  GRABURN  has  been  appointed  master  mechanic 
of  the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Company,  of  Montreal,  Que.  Mr. 
Graburn's  latest  achievement  was  the  reorganization  and  electric- 
fication  under  his  supervision  of  the  Alexandria  &  Ramleh  Railway 
of  Alexander,  Egypt.  Mr.  Graburn's  experience  has  extended  to 
both  steam  and  electric  railroads,  also  electric  lighting.  He  served 
an  apprenticeship  with  the  Canadian  Pacific  Railway  as  mechanical 
engineer  from  1881  to  1887,  when  he  joined  the  Edison  Illuminating 
Company,  of  Brooklyn.  He  remained  with  this  company  until  1889, 
when  he  went  to  the  Thomson-Houston  works  at  Lynn,  Mass.,  to 
take  a  student's  course  in  electric  railway  work.  After  completing 
this  course  he  was  sent  to  Canada  by  the  General  Electric  Company 
to  look  after  contracts.  Mr.  Graburn  resigned  this  position  to  join 
the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Company  as  assistant  electrical  engi- 
neer. In  1894  he  was  promoted  to  the  position  of  electrical  engi- 
neer and  assistant  superintendent.  He  resigned  from  this  company 
in  1899  to  accept  the  position  of  consulting  engineer  of  the  Com- 
pagnie  Generale  de  Traction,  of  Paris. 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  SEPTEMBER  17,  1904. 


No.  12. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  tbr 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


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EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

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Improving  the  Forge  Shop 

In  common  with  the  repair  shop,  the  forge  shop  offers  a  fer- 
tile field  for  the  introduction  of  labor-saving  methods.  Thus, 
the  ventilation  question  deserves  study  in  its  bearing  upon  in- 
creased output  of  employees,  for  in  many  cases  the  atmosphere 
of  the  smithy  is  vitiated  by  smoke  and  dust — a  condition  some- 
times extending  to  adjoining  shops. 

Frequently  the  air  for  the  forges  is  supplied  by  one  employee 
at  the  bellows  instead  of  being  furnished  by  a  power-driven 
fan.  A  case  in  point  is  that  of  a  Western  road  in  which  the 
forge  and  machine  shops  occupied  different  ends  of  the  same 
room.  The  air  was  very  bad,  and  the  company  finally  realized 
the  expense  of  running  the  bellows  by  muscular  power.  In- 


stead of  belting  a  fan  to  a  convenient  line  shaft  which  was 
already  installed  within  10  ft.  of  the  forge  nearest  the  machine 
shop,  the  company  attached  an  old  locomotive  steam-driven 
air  compressor  to  the  opposite  wall,  with  all  its  wastefulness 
of  power,  and  at  last  accounts  was  attempting  to  operate  the 
blacksmith  department  air  supply  by  this  means.  Half-way 
measures  of  this  character  often  show  economical  results  in 
comparison  with  the  original  conditions  obtaining;  but  in  many 
cases  a  much  higher  efficiency  of  operation  and  a  greater  saving 
in  running  expenses  can  be  secured  by  following  questions  of 
this  kind  to  their  logical  conclusions.  It  is  often  as  easy  to 
obtain  economical  operating  conditions  in  an  old  shop  as  in  a 
new  one,  if  a  little  forethought  is  observed. 

Changing  Car  Colors 

There  is  a  constant  changing  of  the  standard  car  colors  of 
both  steam  and  electric  roads.  This  is  partly  attributable 
to  changes  in  management,  but  is  due  fully  as  much  to 
changes  in  the  ideas  of  the  same  manager  from  year  to 
year.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  large  city  system 
having  three  or  four  different  colors,  and  this  difference 
in  colors  is  not  due  to  any  old-fashioned  ideas  of  the 
management  as  to  having  a  different  car  color  for  each  route, 
but  is  caused  by  the  different  ideas  entertained  by  the 
management  as  to  the  proper  car  color  at  the  time  various  lots 
of  new  cars  were  ordered.  It  has  been  our  observation  that, 
no  matter  what  color  the  management  of  a  road  adopts,  there 
is  likely  to  come  up  a  question  after  a  few  years  operation  as 
to  whether  that  color  is  the  best,  and  whatever  the  color,  the 
difficulties  in  securing  one  which  will  not  fade,  which  is  easy 
to  match  and  easy  to  maintain,  are  so  great  that  the  manage- 
ment is  likely  to  conclude  that  almost  any  color  than  the  one 
with  which  it  has  had  the  most  experience  would  be  better.  In 
other  words,  it  is  a  case  of  "whatever  you  do  you  w  ill  wish  you 
had  done  the  other  thing."  One  company  abandons  red  because 
it  is  hard  to  maintain;  another  is  just  adopting  red,  and  so  on. 
Even  the  standard  Pullman  car  colors  are  not  entirely  the 
same  from  year  to  year.  This  is  evidently  not  a  case  where  we 
can  learn  much  from  the  steam  roads,  because  we  find  our 
steam  road  brethren  are  fully  as  fickle  in  the  matter  of  colors 
as  electric  railway  men.  Not  quite  as  great  a  variety  of  colors 
arc  used  on  steam  railway  passenger  coaches  as  on  street  rail- 
ways, but  there  are  enough  to  confuse  any  one  who  is  trying  to 
select  the  best  color  in  the  light  of  steam  railroad  experience. 
In  view  of  the  great  variety  of  colors  used  by  railway  com- 
panies during  many  years  operating  experience,  it  would  appear 
that,  as  far  as  durability  and  ease  of  maintenance  are  con- 
cerned, there  is  no  great  difference  between  the  five  or  six  most 
common  car  colors,  and  that  it  is  mainly  a  question  of  getting 
good  colors  in  the  first  place  and  not  neglecting  cars  so  that 
they  can  become  weather  beaten.  No  color  will  look  well  if  a 
car  is  neglected,  and  almost  any  of  the  good  standard  colors 
will  look  well  if  the  car  painting  is  well  maintained. 


388 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXLV 


No.  12. 


Buffet  Cars  on  Interurbans 

At  first  thought,  the  proposition  of  operating  a  buffet  car  on 
an  interurban  line  might  seem  questionable,  as  most  interurbans 
cater  so  largely  to  local  business.  A  further  investigation 
shows,  however,  that  there  is  a  certain  field  for  the  interurban 
buffet  or  dining  car,  just  as  there  will  certainly  be  in  time  for 
the  interurban  sleeping  car.  The  buffet  car  of  the  Aurora, 
Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway,  described  in  our  last  issue, 
might  appear  at  first  to  be  one  of  these  questionable  invest- 
ments, but  when  the  conditions  are  all  understood  it  settles 
down  to  a  more  businesslike  proposition.  In  the  first  place,  as 
long  as  the  company  is  catering  to  special  parties,  there  will 
always  be  an  opportunity  to  make  good  use  of  a  car  of  this 
kind,  for  it  makes  an  excellent  car  for  special  parties  and  is  not 
by  any  means  purely  a  buffet  car.  As  a  special  car  was  needed 
to  take  care  of  the  special  party  business,  it  was  nothing  more 
than  good  business  judgment  to  make  the  car  so  that  it  could 
serve  the  purpose  of  a  diner,  especially  when  the  character  of 
the  suburban  territory  through  which  this  line  runs  is  consid- 
ered. This  is  the  only  railroad  having  a  station  near  the  ex- 
tensive golf  grounds  at  Wheaton,  near  Chicago,  and  there  is  a 
fairly  steady  demand  during  the  summer  for  the  highest  class 
of  service  in  the  way  of  cars  for  special  parties,  as  well  as  a 
parlor  and  buffet  car  service,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  some- 
thing in  the  way  of  regular  combination  parlor  and  buffet  car 
service  may  be  arranged  for  later  if  traffic  conditions  war- 
rant it. 

There  is  another  field  for  the  interurban  buffet  or  dining  car 
to  which  we  have  referred  before.  This  is  in  the  interurban 
limited  service  which  is  being  carried  on  between  some  of  the 
more  important  towns.  These  limited  cars  are  patronized  by 
those  who  are  willing  to  pay  an  extra  price  for  speed  and  free- 
dom from  the  annoyance  of  local  stops,  and  it  is  this  class  of 
passengers,  including  traveling  men  and  others,  that  would 
gladly  pay  for  buffet  lunch  service  on  these  cars  during  meal 
time  hours,  as  it  would  mean  either  the  avoidance  of  consider- 
able discomfort  due  to  irregular  meals,  or  the  saving  of  con- 
siderable time.  For  such  service,  while  a  regular  dining  car 
would  hardly  be  the  thing,  a  car  of  the  class  now  being  built 
for  limited  interurban  service,  with  arrangements  for  tables 
between  seats  and  for  serving  light  lunches,  is  well  adapted,  and 
such  a  car  does  not  involve  much  idle  investment,  as  the  kitchen 
can  be  very  small  and  takes  up  but  little  room.  It  is  only  where 
runs  are  more  than  an  hour  in  length  that  such  a  service  could 
probably  be  made  to  pay,  but  between  large  towns,  with  runs 
of  over  an  hour,  there  is  certainly  a  demand  for  it. 

For  example,  suppose  a  traveling  man  in  Indianapolis  wishes 
about  noon  to  take  a  limited  car  for  some  point  two  hours  dis- 
tant. If  he  can  get  a  lunch  on  board  he  will  by  all  means  take 
that  car  rather  than  wait  until  another  car  and  lose  half  the 
afternoon  for  the  sake  of  getting  lunch  before  he  starts.  No 
one  realizes  this  better  than  the  traveling  man. 

It  may  be  a  little  aside  from  the  subject  of  buffet  cars,  but 
it  would  do  every  interurban  manager  good  to  occasionally 
start  out  as  would  a  commercial  traveler  and  attempt  to  "make" 
a  number  of  the  principal  towns,  either  in  his  own  or  some 
other  territory.  He  would  no  doubt  be  set  to  thinking  of  sev- 
eral things  that  would  not  otherwise  occur  to  him,  not  being  in 
the  habit  of  looking  at  things  from  the  traveler's  standpoint, 
and  he  would  therefore  be  in  a  better  position  to  plan  for  the 
accommodation  of  those  who  create  the  gross  receipts.  It  is 
usually  best  to  make  such  trips  away  from  one's  own  territory, 
because  the  home  ground  is  so  familiar  that  it  is  impossible  to 


go  over  it  in  the  same  critical  state  of  mind  as  would  the  aver- 
age traveling  man. 

Amateur  Criticism  in  St.  Paul 

One  of  the  most  prominent  traits  in  human  nature  seems  to 
be  the  tendency  to  perpetually  kick  against  the  pricks.  Since 
the  telephone  came  into  universal  use  in  active  urban  affairs, 
the  mental  athleticism  of  rancous-voiced  fault-finders  has  been 
stimulated  beyond  precedent,  and  scarcely  a  day  passes  in  any 
city  telephone  exchange  without  a  liberal  harvest  of  indiscrim- 
inate complaints  from  the  public  at  large.  Most  of  these  ob- 
jections to  the  service  are  lodged  with  the  operating  company, 
however,  and  to  the  street  railway  is  left  the  privilege  of  being 
run  by  non-technical  editors  and  letter-writers  to  the  daily 
newspaper — if  the  regular  management  would  but  consent. 

The  latest  illustration  of  this  constant  chip-on-the-shoulder 
attitude  comes  from  St.  Paul.  One  of  the  prominent  daily 
papers  of  that  city  has  "handed  a  hot  wan,"  as  Mr.  Dooley 
would  put  it,  to  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company  in  re- 
gard to  the  Union  Depot  Loop,  the  editorial  roasting  oven  hav- 
ing been  run  overtime  on  forced  draft  to  deliver  the  high  tem- 
perature criticisms  in  season  for  the  breakfast  editions.  It 
seems  that  the  company,  backed  by  the  opinions  of  numerous 
abutting  citizens  along  the  route,  has  about  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  Union  Depot  Loop  is  scarcely  worth  its  oper- 
ating expenses  in  the  transportation  scheme  of  the  city,  and 
on  the  strength  of  the  exceedingly  small  traffic  handled  on  this 
portion  of  its  lines  is  considering  the  desirability  of  cutting  out 
that  particular  service  altogether.  The  possibility  of  such  an 
occurrence  has  aroused  the  daily  paper  in  question  to  such  a 
feverish  state  of  mind  that  it  is  worth  while  to  bring  out  a  few 
points  in  connection  with  the  situation. 

At  the  present  time  the  traffic  on  the  Union  Depot  Loop  in 
St.  Paul  is  handled  by  two  small  cars  on  an  interval  scheduled 
at  seven  or  eight  minutes  through  most  of  the  morning  and 
afternoon.  The  Union  Depot  is  located  at  the  foot  of  Sibley 
Street,  in  the  heart  of  the  wholesale  district,  and  is  within 
three  short  blocks  of  close  interval  car  lines  giving  free  trans- 
fers to  every  line  in  the  city.  Two  of  the  most  important  lines 
pass  within  two  blocks  of  the  railway  station,  and  practically 
every  electric  car  in  St.  Paul  that  enters  the  business  district 
passes  within,  at  the  most,  five  blocks  of  the  Union  Depot.  In- 
numerable passengers  leave  their  cars  at  points  so  near  the 
station  that  they  do  not  consider  it  worth  while  to  transfer, 
either  to  the  loop  cars  or  to  the  other  adjacent  lines.  The 
nearest  point  to  the  depot  on  the  loop  line  itself  is  a  block  from 
the  door.  The  traffic  on  the  line  indicates  that  little  if  any  need 
of  the  loop  service  exists.  In  comparison  with  other  cities  the 
people  of  St.  Paul  are  well  served  in  the  matter  of  access  to 
the  railway  station,  and  in  no  city  of  consequence  is  it  ex- 
pected that  every  car  will  pass  out  of  its  logical  route  to  handle 
the  relatively  small  business  of  long-distance  travelers — at  least 
by  persons  informed  upon  transportation  matters.  One  does 
not  walk  much,  if  any,  further  in  St.  Paul  between  the  steam 
railway  train  shed  and  a  car  line  transferring  to  every  route 
in  the  city  than  in  leaving  the  Boston  South  station  or  the 
Denver  Union  Depot,  to  cite  two  examples  of  cities  having 
adequate  car  service.  Certainly  the  majority  of  the  traveling- 
public  must  be  cared  for  before  the  cars  on  every  line  can  be 
diverted  for  the  benefit  of  a  small  minority. 

In  this  connection  lies  a  point  often  missed  by  these  amateur 
masters  of  transportation  who  are  always  on  the  hunt  for 
trouble  :  The  interests  of  the  public  and  the  street  railway  com- 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


389 


panies  are  identical  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  one  hundred. 
Track  locations  are  difficult  enough  to  secure  in  these  days,  so 
that  when  one  is  given  up  or  the  service  cut  out,  it  may  be 
pretty  generally  assumed  that  the  line  is  of  no  value  to  either 
the  public  or  the  operating  company.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that 
the  interval  between  cars  on  the  Union  Depot  line  in  St.  Paul 
has  not  always  maintained  the  highest  standards  of  regularity, 
and  that  if  any  service  whatever  is  to  be  given  it  should  be  as 
close  to  scheduled  intervals  as  congested  city  streets  will  per- 
mit. This,  however,  in  no  way  justifies  the  editorial  tirade 
against  the  Twin  City  Company,  as  an  examination  of  the 
present  adequate  facilities  by  a  professional  electric  railway 
man  will  disclose.  From  the  earliest  days  of  the  commuter  on 
steam  roads  down  to  the  present  time,  practically  every  other 
man  in  the  street  considers  himself  perfectly  capable  of  run- 
ning a  railroad  under  all  circumstances,  failing  to  realize  that 
the  experience  of  years  is  a  vital  factor  in  successful  service. 
Criticism  is  well  enough  if  it  is  presented  to  the  proper  authori- 
ties, but  it  would  be  fitting  if  unprofessional  students  of  street 
railway  matters  would  refrain  a  little  oftener  from  rushing 
into  print  until  they  have  first  discussed  operating  questions 
with  the  men  who  grapple  with  them  in  their  daily  work  and 
who  are  making  a  life  study  of  the  business. 

The  Supply  Men  at  the  St.  Louis  Convention 

As  already  announced  in  these  columns,  a  preliminary  or- 
ganization, known  as  the  Manufacturers'  Committee,  has  been 
effected  among  the  manufacturers  and  dealers  in  street  railway 
supplies  to  co-operate  with  the  executive  committee  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  in  caring  for  the  ex- 
hibits and  the  entertainment  of  attendants  at  future  conven- 
tions of  the  association.  Several  suggestions  have  been  made 
in  past  years  for  the  organization  of  a  body  of  this  kind,  but 
the  time  was  not  ripe  for  it,  as  the  traditions  of  the  association 
had  always  been  that  the  local  street  railway  company,  in  the 
city  in  which  the  convention  was  being  held,  would  provide  all 
of  the  local  arrangements  necessary  for  the  entertainment  of 
those  in  attendance. 

This  hospitable  policy  originated  at  a  time  when  the  asso- 
ciation consisted  simply  of  the  presidents  of  a  very  few  street 
railway  companies  and  when  the  total  number  in  attendance  at 
any  convention  did  not  number  over  fifty.  The  custom  has 
been  continued  up  to  the  present  time  with  most  praiseworthy 
generosity  and  regardless  of  expense,  but  all  members  of  the 
association  have  recognized  for  some  time  that  with  the  in- 
creasing attendance  this  burden  could  no  longer  be  placed  upon 
the  local  railway  company.  In  fact,  many  have  expressed 
themselves  to  this  effect  at  recent  meetings  of  the  association. 
It  is  not  only  a  question  of  expense,  although  this  item  runs 
into  many  thousands  of  dollars,  but  of  expediency  as  well. 
Under  the  plan  pursued  so  far,  the  manager  of  the  local  com- 
pany and  his  assistants,  all  of  whom  are  busy  men,  are  obliged 
to  assume  for  several  months  prior  to  the  meeting,  the  details 
of  providing  entertainment  and  caring  for  other  features  of  the 
annual  convention,  a  burden  which  it  is  not  fair  to  impose 
upon  them. 

For  a  lung  time  the  representative  manufacturers  have  fell 
that  they  would  he  glad  to  assist  in  both  the  necessary  expendi- 
ture and  the  preliminary  work  attendant  upon  the  carrying  out 
of  a  successful  convention  programme,  but  there  has  been  a 
natural  disinclination  both  on  the  pari  of  the  lo;al  street  rail- 
way company  to  seem  to  shirk  any  of  this  work  and  on  that  of 
the  members  of  the  association  to  receive  co-operation  in  this 


way  from  any  one  outside  of  the  association.  This  year,  how- 
ever, seems  for  every  reason  a  most  opportune  one  for  initiat- 
ing a  new  plan.  The  executive  committee  has  wisely  agreed 
that  in  view  of  the  meeting  at  St.  Louis  there  is  no  necessity 
for  any  exhibits,  and  opinion  is  now  unanimous  among  the 
street  railway  companies  that  in  view  of  the  size  of  the  gather- 
ings a  change  of  procedure  is  advisable.  To  undertake  this 
work  is,  in  brief,  the  field  of  the  present  Manufacturers'  Com- 
mittee. The  plan  has  had  the  indorsement  of  the  officers  and  of 
many  of  the  leading  members  of  the  association,  and  we  have 
no  doubt  that  it  will  receive  the  co-operation  as  well  of  all  of 
the  manufacturers  and  the  supply  dealers,  as  well  as  the  ap- 
proval, at  St.  Louis,  of  all  of  the  members  of  the  street  rail- 
way association. 

As  at  present  constituted,  and  with  practically  no  personal 
solicitation,  the  new  association  has  over  seventy  subscribed 
members  and  other  pledges  which  will  make  the  number  over 
one  hundred.  If  its  purposes  were  better  known — and  we  hope 
that  they  will  be  fully  recognized  before  the  St.  Louis  conven- 
tion— it  should  have  at  least  300  members,  as  the  expense  con- 
nected with  membership  is  trifling.  At  St.  Louis  the  new  asso- 
ciation will  provide  an  attractive  programme  in  the  way  of  en- 
tertainment, and  will  also  supply  all  of  the  badges  used  by  both 
delegates  and  supply  men.  Its  future  work  will  depend  upon 
the  wishes  of  the  association  as  expressed  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing, but  the  committee  is  prepared  to  act  for  the  American 
Street  Railway  Association  in  any  way  in  which  the  latter  will 
consider  its  services  useful. 

Although  the  step  is  an  innovation  in  the  street  railway 
field,  it  is  in  no  sense  an  experiment.  A  similar  body  has  been 
co-operating  for  a  number  of  years  with  the  Master  Car  Build- 
ers' and  the  Master  Mechanics'  Associations  of  the  steam  rail- 
road companies,  and  has  been  found  a  most  useful  body ;  in 
fact,  one  which  is  now  regarded  as  indispensable  to  the  success 
of  the  meetings  of  those  two  societies.  The  steam  railroad 
manufacturers'  association  is  fifteen  years  old,  and  at  the  last 
convention  at  Saratoga  of  the  Master  Mechanics'  and  the  Mas- 
ter Car  Builders'  Associations  was  represented  by  327  mem- 
bers, each  of  which  had  present  anywhere  from  one  to  thirty- 
two  men.  The  annual  dues  to  this  association  are  $35.  The 
badges  at  Saratoga  were  supplied  by  this  association  and  were 
confined  to  official  delegates  and  to  members  of  the  manufac- 
turers' association  or  their  representatives,  and  it  is  needless 
to  say  that  all  supply  men  in  attendance  at  the  convention  were 
members  of  the  association. 

We  realize  that  a  number  of  street  railway  manufacturers 
have  taken  no  action  as  yet  in  regard  to  the  Manufacturers' 
Committee,  partly  because  of  their  desire  to  await  further  in- 
formation at  St.  Louis  and  partly  because  the  work  of  the  com- 
mittee has  been  identified  largely  with  exhibits,  and  as  there 
are  to  be  no  exhibits  at  St.  Louis  it  has  been  thought  that  there 
was  no  special  reason  for  joining  the  association.  This,  how- 
ever, we  believe  to  be  an  erroneous  theory.  The  policy  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  as  regards,  its  future 
plans  must  depend  largely  upon  the  co-operation  which  it  can 
depend  upon  receiving  from  the  manufacturers'  association, 
and  hence  upon  the  unanimity  with  which  this  association  is 
supported  by  the  supply  men.  The  latter,  for  many  years  past, 
have  been  the  recipients  of  hospitality  from  the  American 
Street  Railway  Association,  and  it  is  time  for  them  to  demon- 
strate to  the  street  railway  managers  that  they  are  ready  to 
co-operate  witli  the  association  in  any  policy  which  the  latter 
desires  to  pursue. 


39° 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 


An  excellent  example  of  the  successful  development  of  an 
electric  railway  passing  through  a  farming  district  containing 
several  small  towns  is  furnished  by  the  Dayton,  Covington  & 
Piqua  Traction  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  With  reference 
to  territory  and  construction,  the  road  is  situated  like  dozens 
of  other  interurban  roads  in  the  Central  West.  To  be  more 
accurate,  it  is  in  one  respect  worse  off  than  the  majority  of 
such  roads,  since  its  terminal  points  are  connected  by  another 
electric  railway  traversing  a  shorter  route.  Despite  this  ap- 
parent handicap,  the  Dayton,  Covington  &  Piqua  has  a  terri- 
tory which  is  distinctly  its  own  and  it  is  serving  and  develop- 


ing of  the  6-mile  extension,  and  the  name  of  the  property  was 
changed  accordingly.  The  valley  is  lined  with  small  farms 
given  up  largely  to  market  gardening,  and  the  produce  is  sold 
in  Dayton  and  Cincinnati.  Before  the  building  of  the  electric 
railway  the  people  were  obliged  to  depend  upon  a  branch  line 
of  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  (steam)  Railroad,  which 
ran  but  two  trains  a  day.  The  steam  road  takes  a  circuitous 
route  into  Dayton,  and  although  the  electric  line  makes  no 
pretense  at  being  a  high-speed  road,  its  cars  give  better  time 
into  the  city  from  nearly  all  points  than  do  the  steam  trains. 
The  inhabitants  of  the  towns  along  the  line  are  as  follows: 

Dayton   115,000 

Englewood    400 

Union   300 

West  Milton    1,000 

Ludlow  Falls    300 

Covington    1,800 

Piqua    16,000 


AN  EXAMPLE  OF  MASONRY  CONSTRUCTION 


MAP  OF  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY'S 
SYSTEM  AND  CONNECTING  LINES 


TANGENT,  SHOWING  LINE  WORK  ON  THE  DAYTON,  COVING- 
TON &  PIQUA  TRACTION  LINE 


ing  it  by  methods  unique  in  many  respects  and  making  the 
property  a  satisfactory  investment  for  those  who  own  it. 

The  road  is  34  miles  long,  extending  from  Dayton  to  Piqua 
by  way  of  Covington.  Between  Dayton  and  Covington  it 
traverses  the  valley  of  the  Stillwater  River,  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  and  fertile  valleys  in  the  State.  Originally  the  line 
was  projected  to  afford  better  transportation  facilities  for  this 
valley  alone,  and  the  project  was  known  as  the  Dayton  &  Still- 
water Valley  Traction  Company,  but  the  demand  for  better 
connection  between  Covington  and  Piqua  prompted  the  build- 


There  are  numerous  small  villages  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  line  and  contributing  to  it,  and  the  population  tributary  to 
the  line  is  figured  at  160,000.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  com- 
pany to  build  a  12-mile  spur  to  Bradford  and  Versailles,  which 
have  1200  and  1500  population,  respectively.  The  right  of  way 
for  this  extension  has  been  obtained. 

The  road  was  projected  by  Judge  Dennis  Dwyer,  one  of  the 
pioneer  electric  railway  builders  of  Ohio,  who  is  also  responsi- 
ble for  several  lines  radiating  from  Dayton.  He  is  now  presi- 
dent of  the  company,  although  the  control  and  management  are 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


39i 


in  the  hands  of  the  Boston  Industrial  Company,  of  Boston,  who 
financed  and  built  the  road.  The  direct  management  is  in  the 
hands  of  Edward  C.  Spring,  with  the  title  of  general  super- 
intendent. 

From  Dayton  to  Covington  the  line  traverses  the  side  of  the 
main  highway  of  the  Stillwater  Valley.  The  majority  of  its 
franchises  are  either  perpetual  or  for  fifty  years,  with  a  few 
of  them  for  twenty-five  years.  The  highway  makes  frequent 
changes,  so  that  at  times  the  line  is  in  the  valley  and  again 


A  GRAVEL  BANK  ON  THE  LINE  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  & 
PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 


on  the  hillside,  thereby  necessitating  numerous  grades.  How- 
ever, only  one  of  these  exceeds  5  per  cent.  The  section  from 
Covington  to  Piqua  is  tangent,  with  no  perceptible  grade.  The 
roadbed  is  maintained  in  excellent  condition.  The  track  is  all 
70-lb.,  with  joints  of  the  Continuous  type.  The  rails  are 
double  bonded  with  the  Ohio  Brass  Company's  flexible  all-wire 
bond  on  both  sides  of  each  joint  beneath  the  plate.  The  track 
is  cross  bonded  every  500  ft.  with  the  Ohio  Brass  Company's 
bonds.  The  road  was  ballasted  with  a  very  coarse  variety  of 
gravel,  of  which  a  large  bank  was  secured  adjoining  the  right 
of  way,  and  handled  with  a  steam  shovel  and  bottom  dump 


A  CUT  AND  5  PER  CENT  GRADE  ALONG  THE  LINE  OF  THE 
DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 

cars.  There  are  several  large  cuts  and  fills  and  a  number  of 
stone  culverts  crossing  small  streams.  At  Ludlow  Falls,  cross- 
ing a  deep  gorge  and  the  Big  Four  Railroad,  the  company 
built  a  three-span  trussed  bridge,  364  ft.  long  and  84  ft.  high, 
resting  on  solid  stone  piers.  The  bridge  was  furnished  by  the 
New  Castle  Bridge  Company.  The  bridge  is  almost  over  the 
falls,  affording  a  view  of  a  beautiful  bit  of  scenery. 

Over  a  considerable  portion  of  the  route  the  poles  are  40  ft. 
high,  and  carry  the  lines  of  a  telephone  company  operating  in 
that  district.  On  the  balance  of  the  route  the  poles  are  stand- 
ard.   The  trolley  is  double  00  round  wire.    Three  0000  d.  c. 


copper  feeders  extend  the  whole  length  of  the  line,  carried  on 
a  cross  arm  above  the  side  arm,  and  designed  for  six  feeders. 
Above  this  cross  arm  is  a  smaller  arm  carrying  the  telephone 
wires  for  the  despatching  system. 

The  management  believes  in  the  use  of  comparatively  small 
cars  for  a  road  of  this  character.  With  hourly  headway  the 
average  loads  are  seldom  up  to  the  full  seating  capacity,  and 
on  heavy  runs  the  practice  is  to  run  double-headers.  The  cars, 
which  are  45  ft.  in  length,  require  about  125  amps,  to  start  cn 
a  level,  whereas  some  of  the  60-ft.  cars  used  by  roads  in  this 
district  require  300  amps,  to  start,  and  the  additional  weight 


STANDARD  PASSENGER  CAR  USED  BY  THE  DAYTON,  COVING- 
TON &  PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 


and  seating  capacity  are  only  used  on  occasional  runs.  The 
company  has  eight  passenger  coaches,  two  express  and  freight 
cars  and  two  flat  cars  used  as  trailers.  Three  of  the  passenger 
coaches  have  combined  baggage  and  smoking  compartments, 
while  the  other  five  have  passenger  and  smoking  compartments. 
Each  is  furnished  with  a  toilet  room.  They  are  equipped  with 
four  G.  E.  No.  57  and  No.  67  motors,  mounted  on  Barney  & 
Smith  class  A  trucks,  and  controlled  by  G.  E.  K-14  controllers. 
The  car  bodies  were  built  by  the  Barney  &  Smith  Car  Com- 
pany, of  Dayton,  and  are  of  plain  but  substantial  construction. 
The  interior  finish  is  of  light  oak.   The  auxiliary  equipment  in- 


THE  TERMINAL  AT  PIQUA  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  & 
PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 

eludes  Christensen  air  brakes,  Consolidated  electric  heaters, 
Wilson  trolley  retrievers  and  two  Ohmer  fare  registers.  One 
of  these  is  used  for  the  interurban  fares  and  the  other  for  the 
city  fares,  as  the  cars  enter  the  city  for  2y2  miles  over  the 
tracks  of  the  People's  Street  Railway  Company,  the  traffic 
agreement  being  on  the  Dayton  plan,  under  which  the  city 
company  takes  3  cents  and  the  interurban  company  2  cents  of 
the  city  fare. 

The  freight  cars  are  the  same  length  as  the  passenger  type, 
and  have  double  doors  to  enable  them  to  take  on  heavy  freight. 
On  the  roof  of  each  car  is  an  elevated  platform  which  permits 


392 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


the  use  of  the  cars  for  line  repair  work.  It  is  seldom  that 
more  than  one  of  the  freight  cars  is  in  service  at  the  same 
time,  hence  there  is  no  necessity  for  a  line  car. 

The  main  car  house  and  power  station  are  located  at  West 
Milton,  together  with  the  office  and  operating  headquarters  of 
the  company.  The  arrangement  of  the  buildings  is  shown  in 
the  accompanying  illustration.  The  office  building  is  a  neat 
little  one-story  structure,  the  rear  portion  containing  the  de- 
spatcher's  office,  a  reading  room  and  lavatories  for  the  men, 
while  the  front  portion  contains  the  general  office  room  and 


GENERAL  OFFICES  AND  MEN'S  WAITING  ROOM  AT 
WEST  MILTON 

private  office  for  the  superintendent.  The  car  house  is  of 
brick,  174  ft.  long  x  48  ft.  wide,  and  contains  four  tracks,  one 
of  them  having  a  pit  the  entire  length.  The  company  does  its 
own  light  repair  work,  but  has  not  yet  equipped  a  shop  for 
heavy  repairs.  The  equipment  is  new  and  very  few  renewals 
have  been  required.  It  is  expected  that  this  fall  a  number  of 
machine  tools  and  other  necessary  repair  shop  equipment  will 
be  installed.  The  power  house  adjoins  and  is  connected  with 
Ihe  car  house.  It  measures  101  ft.  x  50  ft.,  and  is  divided  prac- 
tically in  the  center  by  a  brick  wall  separating  the  engine  room 
from  the  boiler  room. 

Fuel  for  the  bouse  is  handled  in  standard  coal  cars  from  a 
connecting  track  with  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton 
(steam)  Railroad  within  500  ft.  of  the  station.  The  coal  cars 
are  pushed  by  one  of  the  company's  freight  cars  through  the 


are  7-16  in.  thick,  and  the  heads  9-16  in.  thick.  They  have 
plain  grates,  with  48  sq.  ft.  of  grate  surface,  and  operate  at 
120  lbs.  of  steam.  They  were  built  and  installed  by  E.  Hodge 
&  Company,  of  Boston.  A  steel  stack  72  ins.  in  diameter  and 
100  ft.  high  rests  on  its  own  foundation  outside  the  boiler  room. 
The  breeching  contains  a  Stillman  automatic  damper  regulator 
operated  from  the  main  header,  which  is  12  ins.  in  diameter, 
and  extends  across  the  top  of  the  boilers  and  is  connected  with 
them  by  5-in.  lines. 

The  engines  are  two  Buckeye  tandem  compound,  piston  valve 
type,  cylinders  78^  ins.,  and  36-in.  x  40-in.  stroke,  and  revolve 
at  105  r.  p.  m.  They  are  rated  at  500  hp  each,  but  frequently 
develop  800  hp.  They  consume  about  18  lbs.  of  water  per  horse- 
power and  about  4  lbs.  to  tf/2  lbs.  of  coal  per  horse-power.  The 
engines  are  designed  rights  and  lefts,  and  the  stands  for  con- 
trolling the  auxiliary  equipment  are  between  them.  Below 
each  engine  is  a  Smith- Vaile  jet  condenser  of  the  following 
dimensions:  Steam,  9  ins.;  air,  i6l/2  ins.;  stroke,  18  ins.  The 
exhaust  piping  is  arranged  with  suitable  gate  valves,  so  that 
either  condenser  can  be  used  on  either  engine.  The  auxiliaries 
are  designed  to  make  use  of  all  hot  water.  The  exhaust  from 
engines  passes  through  primary  heaters  before  entering  the 
condensers,  and  secondary  heaters  take  the  exhaust  from  the 
two  condensers  and  the  boiler  feed  pumps.  The  feed  water  is 
passed  through  three  heaters  and  delivered  to  the  boilers  at 
210  degs.  The  condensation  from  the  heater  system  is  used 
for  heating  the  offices  and  car  house.  The  water  supply  for  the 
house  is  taken  from  the  Stillwater  River  and  is  pumped  1600 
ft.  with  a  lift  of  60  ft.  to  a  500,000-gallon  cooling  pond  at  the 
rear  of  the  house.  The  pump  house  is  on  the  river  bank  12  ft. 
above  high  water,  and  contains  a  three-cylinder  7-in.  x  8-in. 
Smith-Vaile  pump  direct-geared  to  a  35-hp  motor,  which  is 
started  and  controlled  from  the  power  house.  The  pump  house 
is  operated  only  a  small  portion  of  the  time  to  keep  the  pond 
up  to  a  certain  level.  Adjoining  the  pond  is  an  8-ft.  well  pro- 
vided with  a  strainer  from  which  the  condensing  and  feed 
water  are  taken.  The  condensing  water  is  conveyed  back  to 
the  pond  through  a  16-in.  tile  overflow,  and  the  warm  water  is 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  THE  OFFICE,  CAR  HOUSE  AND  POWER  HOUSE  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIOUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 

AT  WEST  MILTON,  OHIO 


second  track  in  the  car  house  onto  an  overhead  trestle  adjoin- 
ing the  boiler  house.  The  fuel  is  dumped  through  the  trestle 
into  small  industrial  railway  cars,  which  are  pushed  by  hand 
into  the  boiler  house  in  front  of  the  boilers.  The  cars  run 
into  the  house  practically  by  gravity,  as  the  boiler  room  floor 
is  considerably  lower  than  the  surrounding  property.  All  fuel 
is  weighed  as  it  enters  the  boiler  room.  The  boiler  room  floor 
is  10  ft.  below  that  of  the  engine  room,  while  the  engine  room 
floor  is  8  ft.  below  the  level  of  the  car  house  floor.  The  base- 
ment below  the  car  house  is  used  as  a  stock  room  and  storage 
for  material  of  all  kinds,  and  the  basement  below  the  engine 
room  contains  the  auxiliary  steam  equipment. 

The  boiler  equipment  consists  of  four  return  tubular  boilers 
rated  at  175  hp  each.  They  are  72  ins.  in  diameter  and  20  ft. 
long,  and  contain  eighty-six  3T4-in.  flues.    The  boiler  shells 


carried  around  to  the  far  side  of  the  pond  by  a  wooden  trough, 
which  assists  in  cooling  the  water.  The  overflow  to  the  pond 
adjoins  the  point  where  the  condenser  discharge  enters  and 
impurities  are  carried  off.  There  are  two  Smith-Vaile  duplex 
feed  pumps,  one  6  ins.  x  4  ins.  x  6  ins.  and  the  other  7  ins.  x  4 
ins.  x  10  ins.  Either  can  be  used  on  the  feed-water  lines,  and 
the  larger  is  designed  for  fire  protection  and  to  supply  the  vari- 
ous buildings  with  water. 

The  lubrication  of  all  bearings  is  automatically  provided  by 
a  forced  feed  system  in  connection  with  a  Columbus  radiator 
filter  furnished  by  the  Columbus  Oil  Filter  Company,  of  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. 

Direct  current  is  used  exclusively  on  this  line,  as  it  was  not 
considered  to  be  long  enough  to  necessitate  the  use  of  alter- 
nating-current distribution.    Three  0000  copper  feeders  cover 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


393 


the  line,  and  the  voltage  is  well  maintained  at  all  points  on  the 
system.  The  generators  are  direct  connected  to  the  engines, 
and  are  of  the  General  Electric  direct-current  type,  rated  at 
300  kw,  although  it  has  been  found  that  they  were  greatly  un- 
derrated. Under  normal  conditions  they  develop  500  amps., 
and  frequently  have  developed  850  amps,  per  machine.  One 
machine  has  been  found  ample  for  the  average  load  on  34  miles 
of  track  with  five  cars  on  regular  headway,  in  addition  to 
which  they  supply  the  West  Milton  Water  Works  with  a  small 
amount  of  power  about  equal  to  one  car.  The  switchboard  has 
six  black  enameled  panels  and  occupies  a  bay.  All  switching 
is  done  from  the  negative  side. 

Before  the  road  started,  the  company  canvassed  the  freight 
and  express  situation  very  thoroughly  and  decided  that  more 
money  could  be  made  by  pushing  the  freight  business  at  steam 
freight  rates,  and  also  doing  an  express  business  at  express 
rates,  than  by  doing  a  purely  express  business  and  attempting 
to  get  express  rates  for  everything,  as  is  done  by  many  of  the 
roads  in  this  district.    The  decision  seems  to  have  been  a  wise 


The  man  acts  as  a  go-between  for  the  farmers  along  the  route 
and  the  wholesalers  and  commission  houses  in  Dayton.  He 
calls  up  the  farmers  and  inquires  as  to  their  offerings  in  fruit, 
grain,  tobacco,  live  stock  and  other  produce,  and  then  calls  up 
the  city  merchants  and  inquires  as  to  their  wants,  frequently 
making  deals  on  the  spot.  The  company  charges  nothing  for 
making  these  connections  and  is  satisfied  with  the  freight. 
Large  quantities  of  grain  and  tobacco  have  been  moved  in  this 
way  and  the  company  provides  facilities  for  storing  these  goods 
when  it  cannot  be  moved  at  once.  In  handling  tobacco  it  has  a 
portable  platform  with  scales,  and  the  company's  figures  are 
taken  by  both  parties,  saving  the  time  and  expense  of  double 
weighing.  A  great  deal  of  live  stock,  including  sheep,  pigs, 
calves  and  cattle,  are  handled  to  a  stock  yard  at  Dayton.  These 
are  handled  in  the  closed  freight  cars  and  are  carried  through 
the  city  at  night,  the  stock  yard  mentioned  being  on  the  Day- 
ton, Springfield  &  Urbana  Railway.  The  cars  are  well  littered 
with  straw  and  are  thoroughly  cleaned  after  each  trip,  so  there 
is  nothing  offensive  about  their  passing  through  the  towns. 


L 


Track  No-2 


/8x8H.P,  - 

13-2"  -»r  -  -12' 4?  -^-12  i-%    ®<-12-£^$<-  -12 '£ -  12' i"  12' i"  ->f    12'i"  -         12-4-  3<-  -  12' j-   &-   K'i"  >?<     n'l    &     I2'i"  >?<  12'l< 


Track  No-3 

i 

— *i  

Track  No.  4 

— 1  

t<-  -  -io'o- 


H  Bolts 
3' 'Apart 

.    .  .  /K- 

Apart  "J^rJ 


Plan  of  Pier 
Front  Doors    at  Entrance 


Floor  Plan 

rr>^---r— n 


31  rP=rA 


id 


Location  of  Engine 


±«== 


Street  R>/.Joum(il 

PLAN  AND  ELEVATION  OF  CAR  HOUSE  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIQUA  RAILWAY  AT  WEST  MILTON,  OHIO 


one,  as  the  freight  business  furnishes  a  very  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  gross  receipts  and  is  growing  rapidly.  Last  year  the 
freight  cars  showed  earnings  of  28  cents  per  car-mile  as  com- 
pared with  23  cents  per  car-mile  for  the  passenger  cars,  while 
the  operating  expenses  were  practically  the  same  in  both  cases, 
namely,  about  14  cents  per  car-mile.  In  Dayton  the  company 
maintains  a  freight  station  in  connection  with  the  Dayton  & 
Northern  Traction  Company,  the  two  companies  dividing  the 
expense.  The  two  companies  also  have  a  partnership  arrange- 
ment on  a  passenger  station  and  ticket  office  in  the  shopping 
district  of  the  city.  The  freight  station  is  in  the  wholesale 
district,  and  is  a  building  75  ft.  x  50  ft.,  with  track  at  the  side 
and  convenient  platforms  for  both  cars  and  teams.  At  Piqua 
the  company  owns  a  building  40  ft.  x  80  ft.,  with  teaming  plat- 
form in  front  and  track  at  the  side.  The  car  crews  assist  in 
loading  and  unloading  the  freight,  and  but  one  man  is  main- 
tained by  the  company  at  each  of  the  two  stations.  At  other 
towns  the  company  has  an  arrangement  with  some  storekeeper 
for  a  waiting  room  and  freight  room,  this  being  provided  on  a 
percentage  basis.  The  secret  of  the  success  of  the  freight  busi- 
ness is  largely  because  the  company  maintains  a  solicitor,  who 
pursues  a  number  of  unique  methods  in  working  up  business. 


Considerable  dressed  meat  is  handled  from  the  stock  yards  to 
points  along  the  line.  For  loading  live  stock  the  cars  have 
been  equipped  with  a  special  lattice  work  incline,  which  folds 
up  into  a  door  after  the  car  has  been  loaded.  From  thirty  to 
forty  sheep  or  pigs  can  be  handled  at  a  time  in  one  of  the  box 
cars.  The  rate  charged  is  practically  the  same  as  on  the  steam 
road,  but  where  the  steam  road  would  take  a  day  to  a  day  and 
a  half  to  deliver  the  live  stock  to  the  stock  yard,  the  electric 
line  does  it  in  three  hours.  Weight  shrinkage  is  an  important 
item  in  handling  live  stock,  and  owing  to  its  quick  delivery  the 
electric  company  almost  invariably  gets  the  business.  The 
company  has  a  flat  rate  of  8  cents  per  cwt.  on  practically  all 
classes  of  goods  handled  as  freight.  There  are  two  regular 
freight  runs  each  way  a  day,  and  there  are  a  great  many  extra 
runs  for  car-load  business.  No  package  is  handled  for  less 
than  25  cents.  Every  other  car  is  a  combination  car,  and  a 
great  many  packages  requiring  immediate  delivery,  such  as 
fruit,  bread,  etc.,  for  the  country  merchants,  are  handled  in 
these  at  the  express  rates — 30  cents  per  cwt.  Considerable 
business  has  been  done  in  the  handling  of  stone,  lumber,  gravel, 
bricks  and  other  building  material.  This  is  usually  handled  at 
night  on  flat  cars,  which  are  hauled  as  trailers.    A  decided 


394 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


novelty  is  the  formation  of  an  ice  route  along  the  line.  The 
pond  ice  obtained  throughout  that  district  is  not  desirable  ow- 
ing to  limestone  deposits,  and  the  company  therefore  made  an 
arrangement  with  an  artificial  ice  manufacturer  at  Dayton  to 
deliver  ice  at  the  freight  station  in  Dayton  for  14  cents  per  cwt. 
The  railway  delivers  it  to  stores,  restaurants  and  fam- 
ilies along  the  line  at  28  cents  per  cwt.,  making  a  profit  over 


COOLING  POND  AND  SLUICE  FOR  CONDENSING  WATER 


what  the  freight  would  ordinarily  be.  The  shrinkage  is  not  as 
great  as  might  be  supposed.  The  ice  is  delivered  a  few  minutes 
before  the  departure  of  the  first  morning  car  on  Mondays, 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  these  being  the  smallest  runs  of  the 
week  for  other  goods.  The  ice  is  in  300-lb.  cakes,  nothing 
smaller  than  this  weight  being  sold.  In  many  cases  families  in 
the  same  neighborhood  club  together  and  divide  a  cake.  For 
handling  ice  the  car  is  provided  with  a  large  steel  pan  with  a 
drain  through  the  side  of  the  car,  so  that  the  water  does  not 
soak  through  the  floor. 


ALONG  THE  RIVER  IN  OVERLOOK  PARK 


Superintendent  Spring  has  been  making  a  study  of  the  most 
desirable  methods  to  be  pursued  in  developing  the  agricultural 
interests  of  his  district,  and  he  is  endeavoring  to  induce  the 
farmers  to  raise  crops  which  find  a  ready  market  at  Dayton. 
On  several  occasions  he  has  arranged  for  public  meetings  in 
the  various  towns  along  the  route,  and  addresses  have  been 
made  by  members  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  and  other 
authorities  on  higher  modes  of  agriculture,  and  already  these 
meetings  .give  promise  of  good  results.  Mr.  Spring  is  co- 
operating heartily  in  the  plans  of  the  Ohio  Cold  Storage  Com- 
pany recently  formed  at  Dayton  for  the  purpose  of  establish- 
ing a  large  cold  storage  warehouse.  The  company  will  collect 
produce  from  the  farmers  and  pay  market  prices  for  it  and  then 
distribute  the  goods  over  a  wide  territory.    Wherever  possible, 


the  company  aims  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the  traction  com- 
panies, which  will  collect  the  produce  and  take  it  to  the  ware- 
house. It  is  the  intention  to  place  refrigerator  cars  on  the 
traction  line  and  handle  dressed  meat  as  well  as  produce.  Ow- 
ing to  its  territory,  Mr.  Spring's  company  will  be  a  most  im- 
portant factor  in  the  development  of  this  new  line  of  business. 
Passenger  business  which  is  induced  forms  a  considerable 


THE  BRIDGE  AT  LUDLOW  FALLS 


part  of  the  traffic  of  this  line.  The  natural  scenic  beauty  of 
the  Stillwater  Valley  and  the  quaint  villages  through  which  it 
passes,  makes  the  road  a  popular  pleasure  route,  while  the 
company's  picnic  resort,  Overlook  Park,  at  West  Milton,  is 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  popular  in  that  section  of  the 
State.  The  company  bought  80  acres  adjoining  its  power 
house  and  office  and  bordering  the  Stillwater  River,  which  at 
that  point  is  quite  wide.  The  resort  was  designed  primarily 
as  a  picnic  park  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  install  the 
numerous  attractions  common  with  pleasure  resorts  near  large 


THE  DANCING  PAVILION  IN  OVERLOOK  PARK 


cities.  A  fine  dance  hall,  80  ft.  x  100  ft.,  recently  built,  has  a 
wide  veranda  extending  all  the  way  around,  and  has  been  con- 
structed for  winter  as  well  as  summer  parties.  It  will  be  heated 
in  winter  by  a  steam  pipe  from  the  power  station.  There  is  an 
elevated  platform  for  an  orchestra,  and  the  company  has  leased 
aCecilian  automatic  piano,  which  has  proven  a  very  good  invest- 
ment, as  it  is  operated  for  practically  nothing.  The  night  fore- 
man at  the  car  house  does  double  duty  on  evenings  when  there 
are  dances.  He  goes  to  the  dance  hall  and  plays  a  selection, 
then  there  is  an  intermission  for  five  minutes  while  he  goes 
back  to  the  car  house  to  look  after  his  cars.  The  use  of  the 
pavilion  and  music  are  given  free  to  a  party  chartering  a  spe- 
cial car,  for  which  there  is  a  fixed  schedule  of  rates,  according 
to  what  town  the  party  is  from.    Suppers  may  be  served,  if  de- 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


395 


sired,  as  the  building'  contains  a  kitchen.  On  Saturday  even- 
ings the  hall  is  open  to  the  public,  and  during  the  afternoons 
when  there  are  no  private  parties,  it  is  open  to  picnickers.  The 
grounds  are  free  to  all  who  come  on  the  company's  cars.  Nu- 


been  a  day  when  the  pavilion  or  grounds  have  not  been  let  to 
parties.  Some  of  the  largest  Dayton  picnics  have  been  held 
at  Overlook  Park  this  summer,  and  at  times  the  company  has 
had  to  borrow  rolling  stock  to  handle  the  traffic.  Adjoining 
the  park  are  the  grounds  and  country  quarters  of  the  Dayton 
Club.  In  securing  this  Mr.  Spring  made  an  excellent  move 
for  his  company.  An  old  farm  house  occupied  a  beautiful  site 
overlooking  the  river  when  the  company  bought  the  property. 
The  management  repaired  it,  beautified  the  grounds  and  offered 


Stree!  Ry.Journa 


ORGANIZATION  CHART  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  & 
PIQUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 

merous  swings  have  been  provided,  and  a  number  of  steel  row- 
boats  have  been  placed  in  the  river,  which  is  exceptionally  fine 
for  boatine  and  fishing. 


ENGINE  ROOM  OF  THE  DAYTON,  COVINGTON  &  PIOUA  TRACTION  COMPANY 


The  company  has  a  passenger  solicitor  who  is  constantly  em- 
ployed in  working  up  picnics,  excursions,  dancing  parties,  fam- 
ily reunions,  etc.,  and  during  the  past  summer  there  has  hardly 


DAYTON  CLUB  HOUSE  IN  OVERLOOK  PA  K  K 

the  place  at  a  nominal  rental  to  the  Dayton  Club,  one  of  the 
finest  clubs  in  the  city.  The  offer  was  accepted  with  alacrity. 
The  place  is  pleasingly  furnished  in  quaint  country  style,  and 
the  chicken  dinners  alone,  not  to  mention  the  fine  fishing  and 
boating  and  delightful  surroundings,  serve  to  induce  the  club 
members  to  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  run  out  to 
the  club.  Club  members  have  free  use  of  the  park  privileges, 
including  dancing. 

In  addition  to  advertising  quite  extensively  in  the  city  and 
country  papers,  Mr.  Spring  has  some  rather  diplomatic  methods 
of  making  this  resort  known.  When  some 
society  or  organization  plans  to  hold  a  picnic, 
free  transportation  for  a  committee  to  visit  the 
park  and  a  little  lunch  at  the  club  go  a  great 
way  toward  deciding  the  matter  when  several 
resorts  are  being  considered.  Recently  the 
Dayton  Hotel  Clerks'  Association  enjoyed  a 
quiet  little  supper  at  the  club,  with  a  pleasant 
evening  at  the  park',  with  the  result  that  many 
strangers  to  the  city  seeking  an  outing  are 
now  advised  to  run  out  to  Overlook  Park. 
The  daily  newspaper  men  have  been  similarly 
entertained  and  columns  of  good  advertising 
thus  obtained  at  comparatively  little  expense. 

Passenger  rates  on  this  road,  as  well  as 
other  Dayton  interurbans,  are  comparatively 
low.  The  regular  rates  figure  about  iy2  cents 
per  mile,  and  books  containing  600  i-mile 
coupons  are  sold  at  $7.50,  giving  rr4  cents  a 
mile.  These  books  may  be  used  by  several  in 
a  party.  With  the  exception  of  free  trans- 
portation, these  are  the  only  forms  of  tickets 
handled  by  the  conductors.  The  company 
believes  in  reducing  to  a  minimum  the  op- 
portunities and  temptations  for  dishonesty 
among  employees,  and  it  is  believed  that 
a  man  is  much  less  liable  to  take  cash 
than  effect  collusions  with  ticket  agents,  or  by  other 
methods  juggle  with  tickets.  Fares  and  mileage  tickets  are 
rung  up  on  Ohmer  registers  and  duplex  cash-fare  receipts  are 


396 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


given.  Each  conductor  is  provided  with  a  small  hand  satchel, 
and  at  West  Milton,  in  both  directions,  he  turns  in  his  satchel 
with  report  and  receives  another.  At  the  same  time  he  is 
handed  his  train  orders  by  the  despatcher.  These  orders  are 
issued  in  triplicate  on  an  Egry  automatic  register  and  usually 
cover  one  round  trip.  The  orders  are  in  larger  form  than 
those  generally  used  by  interurban  roads,  and  the  details  are 
carefully  written  out.  Should  it  be  necessary  to  call  for  an 
order  from  a  siding,  a  verbal  one  is  given,  carrying  the  car  to 
West  Milton,  where  a  new  written  order  is  given.  Conductors 
and  motormen  are  carefully  selected  and  given  a  rigid  examina- 
tion. Although  the  road  has  been  in  operation  for  two  years, 
not  a  man  has  been  discharged  or  left  the  employ  of  the  com- 
pany. The  men  are  sworn  in  as  special  police  in  the  counties 
through  which  the  road  passes,  and  the  company's  rules  regard- 
ing disorderly  conduct  or  disturbances  on  cars  are  rather  pe- 
culiar. A  passenger  who  refuses  to  pay  his  fare  or  otherwise 
creates  a  disturbance  is  never  ejected  from  a  car.  The  crew 
stop  at  the  first  siding,  call  up  the  police  at  the  nearest  town 
and  have  the  man  arrested.  The  company  has  strenuously 
prosecuted  a  number  of  offenders  until  at  present  disturbances 
on  its  cars  are  rare  occurrences.  Crews  are  uniformed  in  a 
cadet  gray,  which  it  is  claimed  is  neater  and  less  liable  to  soil 
than  the  usual  blue  uniform.  Crews  are  paid  20  cents  an  hour 
for  the  first  five  years  of  service,  23  cents  after  five  years,  and 
25  cents  if  they  remain  ten  years.  Conductors  are  given  $10 
and  motormen  $20  extra  at  Christmas  time,  if  during  the  year 
they  have  had  no  accidents  which  caused  expense  to  the 
company. 

Each  Tuesday  and  Friday,  Superintendent  Spring  meets  his 
various  heads  of  departments  and  assistants  at  West  Milton 
and  discusses  with  them  methods  of  improving  the  service. 
Suggestions  and  complaints  are  then  carefully  investigated  and 
acted  upon,  and  this  plan  thus  gives  each  individual  a  more 
active  interest  in  his  work.  Special  stress  is  laid  upon  keeping 
the  company's  property  and  service  in  good  order.  The  build- 
ings and  cars  are  kept  neat  and  clean,  and  a  beautiful  lawn 
with  numerous  flowers  surrounds  the  buildings  and  office  at 
West  Milton,  a  practice  which  is  uncommon  with  Western 
roads  and  which  suggests  the  Eastern  ownership  of  the 
property. 

Superintendent  Spring  has  had  over  eighteen  years  of  ex- 
perience in  all  departments  of  electric  railway  work,  and  is 
proud  of  the  fact  that  he  started  as  a  motorman  on  the  street 
car  lines  of  Boston.  He  was  the  chief  organizer  and  first  pres- 
ident of  the  New  England  Street  Railway  Club,  and  was  largely 
instrumental  in  the  organizing  of  the  Ohio  Interurban  Railway 
Association,  of  which  he  is  vice-president.  He  believes  that 
in  handling  a  property  of  this  class,  whose  business  must  be 
worked  up  to  a  large  extent,  that  the  operating  manager  must 
keep  closely  in  touch  with  every  detail  of  the  business.  Mr. 
Spring  makes  his  home  at  West  Milton  and  lives  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  power  station  and  office,  and  is  on  duty 
practically  all  the  time.  In  this  way  he  oversees  every  move 
that  is  made  and  passes  on  an  immense  amount  of  detail  work 
that  is  usually  left  to  subordinates. 

The  property  was  placed  in  operation  as  far  as  West  Milton 
on  June  26,  1902 ;  to  the  center  of  Dayton,  Nov.  26,  1902,  and 
to  Piqua,  May  12,  1903.  The  company  has  common  stock  au- 
thorized and  issued  of  $500,000,  and  5  per  cent  preferred  stock 
authorized  and  issued  of  $550,000.  The  bonded  indebtedness  is 
$450,000,  authorized  and  issued.  The  company  is  paying  its 
interest  charges  and  owes  practically  no  money  except  its 
bonded  indebtedness,  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  pay  dividends  on  its  preferred  stock  within  a  reasonablv 
short  time.  The  officers  are:  Dennis  Dwyer,  Dayton,  presi- 
dent; W.  E.  Geer,  Boston,  vice-president;  George  Whiting, 
Boston,  treasurer;  Thomas  T.  Robinson.  Boston,  general  man- 
ager; E.  C.  Spring.  West  Milton,  general  superintendent;  R.  D. 
Colburn,  West  Milton,  chief  engineer  and  master  mechanic. 


FLANGE  WEAR  AND  SIDE-BEARING  TRUCKS 


An  interesting,paper  on  this  subject  was  presented  by  Gustav 
Lindenthal  at  a  meeting  of  the  New  York  Railroad  Club  on 
Sept.  16.  Although  intended  primarily  for  steam  railroad 
work,  many  of  the  general  principles  apply  to  electric  railway 
service.  The  writer  refers  to  the  great  flange  wear  on  sharp 
curves,  and  states  that  three  causes  may  be  assigned  for  it,  viz: 
Centrifugal  force,  the  force  required  for  deflecting  the  direc- 
tion of  the  wheels  fixed  on  axles  from  a  straight  line,  and, 
third,  the  frictional  resistance  of  the  center  and  side  bearings 
on  the  truck. 

The  first  cause  he  considers  so  small  as  to  be  negligible. 
Taking  up  the  second  cause  he  refers  to  the  well  established 
fact,  first  brought  out  by  A.  M.  Wellington,  that  the  front  out- 
side wheel  of  an  ordinary  double  truck  is  the  only  one  in  lateral 
contact  with  the  rail.  The  flanges  of  the  three  other  wheels 
do  not  touch  the  rails.  The  front  outside  wheel,  therefore,  as- 
sumes the  office  of  pushing  the  three  other  wheels  of  the  truck 
sideways  from  a  straight  line,  in  which  they  otherwise  would 
continue  to  roll,  and  takes  up  practically  all  the  wear.  The 
slippage  of  the  wheels  by  reason  of  their  inability  of  turning 
on  the  axles  has  no  appreciable  influence  upon  lateral  pressure. 
This  rubbing  friction  of  the  outside  wheel  increases  with  the 
angle  of  incidence — that  is,  with  the  degree  of  curvature,  al- 
though the  lateral  pressure  against  the  outside  rail  is  the  same 
on  sharp  curves  as  on  light  curves.  The  only  way  in  which, 
for  the  usual  center  bearing  truck,  the  lateral  pressure  from 
that  cause  (continuous  change  of  direction  on  curve)  could  be 
reduced  would  be  by  lubricating  the  top  of  the  rails  on  curves, 
reducing  the  coefficient  of  sliding  friction  from  25  per  cent  to 
less  than  3  per  cent  of  the  vertical  pressure.  That,  however, 
is  impracticable.  The  wheel  treads  would,  of  course,  become 
greasy,  and  the  traction  power  of  the  locomotives  and  the  hold- 
ing power  of  the  brakes  would  be  greatly  reduced.  It  is  a 
choice  of  evils,  and  flange  wear  is  the  smaller  of  the  two. 

The  length  of  wheel  base  has  an  important  bearing  upon 
flange  pressure.  If  the  base  be  long,  as  in  a  single-truck  car, 
then  the  work  of  turning  the  car  is  performed  by  the  front 
outer  wheel  and  the  rear  inner  wheels,  and  both  these  wheels 
have  flange  pressures,  which  for  each  wheel  is  :ess  than  the 
flange  pressure  upon  the  front  outer  wheel  of  a  shorter  wheel 
base,  as  in  the  double  truck.  But  the  angle  of  incidence  is 
greater,  and  both  the  outer  and  inner  rail  are  subject  to  lateral 
pressure  and  will  show  wear  on  curves. 

Mr.  Lindenthal  then  considered  the  friction  of  the  center  and 
side  bearings  and  their  effect  on  increasing  the  flange  pres- 
sure. With  a  160,000-lb.  loaded  freight  car  the  following  may 
be  considered  the  separate  values  of  lateral  pressure  on  curves 
per  single  truck : 

1.  From  centrifugal  force,  nil. 

2.  From  change  of  direction,  with  fixed  wheels.  .  .  .  15,000  lbs. 

3.  From  friction  of  center  bearing,  average   3,000  lbs. 

which  may  grow  to  5600  lbs.  and,  including 

side  bearing  friction,  may  reach   13,000  lbs. 

That  is,  the  outer  front  wheel  of  each  truck  in  a  modern 
heavy  freight  car  may  exert  a  lateral  pressure  against  the  rail 
varying  from  18,000  lbs.  to  28,000  lbs.,  when  the  vertical  pres- 
sure upon  the  wheel  is  20,000  lbs.  under  a  car  weighing 
160,000  lbs. 

Several  instructive  conclusions  can  be  drawn   from  this 
analysis : 

The  outer  rail  on  a  curve  is  subject  to  a  lateral  pressure, 
which  is  from  45  per  cent  to  70  per  cent  of  the  vertical  wheel 
pressures,  assuming  both  pressures  distributed  upon  a  rail  30 
ft.  long.  Deducting  coefficient  of  friction  of  rail  upon  wooden 
ties  at  30  per  cent,  15  per  cent  to  40  per  cent  of  the  lateral 
pressure  is  left  to  be  resisted  by  the  rail  spikes.    It  is  no 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


397 


wonder  that  the  spikes  in  hardwood  ties  are  sawed  off  grad- 
ually, and  that  on  soft  wood  ties  the  outside  rail  has  a  danger- 
ous tendency  to  spread. 

On  new  outside  rails  the  resultant  of  vertical  and  lateral 
pressures  from  the  outer  front  wheels  has  to  overcome  only 
rolling  friction.  But  very  soon  the  corner  of  the  rail  is 
abraded,  and  while  the  vertical  pressure  continues  to  cause 
only  rolling  friction,  the  lateral  pressure  against  the  side  of  the 
rail  gradually  causes  rubbing  or  sliding  friction,  the  coefficient 
for  which  is  probably  100  times  greater  than  that  of  rolling 
friction.  The  side  of  the  rail  head  may  therefore  grind  off 
faster  from  sliding  friction  than  the  top  of  the  rail  can  wear 
from  rolling  friction.  Naturally  this  sliding  friction  wears  off 
also  the  wheel  flange  of  the  outer  front  wheel.  But  each  wheel 
in  a  truck  is  at  one  time  or  another  an  outer  front  wheel.  So 
all  wheels  wear  more  or  less  alike.  Assuming  that  the  metal 
of  the  wheel  tread  and  flange  is  twice  as  hard  and  tough  as  the 
ordinary  steel  rail,  which  assumption  is  near  to  fact,  then  for 
every  ounce  of  metal  ground  off  the  flange  of  a  wheel  2  ounces 
of  steel  are  ground  off  the  inner  side  of  the  outer  rail  of  curves. 

One  of  the  means  used  to  reduce  the  flange  pressure  is  greas- 
ing the  center  plates  and  side  bearings  of  the  trucks.  But  the 
inconvenience  of  lubrication  and  the  difficulty  of  keeping  it  up 
have  been  found  to  be  great  impediments.  A  better  plan  is 
the  doing  away  entirely  with  center  bearings  and  to  rely  upon 
nearly  frictionless  side  bearings  alone.  A  construction  of  this 
kind  is  then  described. 

The  side  bearings  consist  in  principle  of  large  cast-iron  balls 
(about  26  ins.  in  diameter)  on  which  the  car  body  rests,  two 
such  balls,  as  a  rule,  for  each  truck.  The  sides  of  the  balls, 
being  useless,  are  cut  away,  so  that  the  form  is  that  of  columns 
of  rockers,  with  spherical  ends,  which  have  hard  chilled  sur- 
faces. In  place  of  the  center  bearing  there  is  a  center  pin  or 
pivot,  having  a  loose  fit  in  a  spring  socket.  The  columns  rest 
in  pockets,  one  at  each  side  of  truck,  and  may  have  different 
forms.  There  is  only  rolling  or  ball  friction  at  top  and  bottom 
of  these  columns,  the  coefficient  of  which  will  hardly  exceed 
one  per  mill,  even  with  unmachined  surfaces,  liable  to  get 
gritty  with  cinder  and  dirt. 

The  reduced  curve  resistance  by  reason  of  decreased  flange 
pressure  would  permit  of  hauling,  with  the  same  locomotive 
in  any  given  train,  more  cars,  when  equipped  with  nearly  fric- 
tionless side  bearings.  One  additional  car  for  every  five  cars 
now  hauled  may  be  regarded  as  a  moderate  estimate.  Other 
advantages  of  rocker  side  bearing  trucks  are  the  doing  away 
of  the  car  and  truck  bolsters,  permitting  of  a  simpler  and 
lighter  construction,  and  the  prevention  of  the  disagreeable 
rocking  and  swaying  of  the  car,  so  characteristic  of  the  center 
bearing  truck. 

The  first  trucks  built  on  this  principle  a  few  years  ago  had 
spiral  spring  bearings  above  the  journal  boxes,  and  the  rockers 
were  of  solid  cast  iron.  Further  improvements  of  details  have 
been  made,  with  the  object  to  insure  greater  vertical  flexibility 
of  the  truck  frame  on  rough  and  uneven  track.  Careful  esti- 
mates and  comparison  of  weights  show  that  the  side  bearing 
iruck  is  lighter  in  weight  than  an  equivalent  center  bearing 
truck. 



A  carload  of  wheat  was  shipped  from  Estacada,  Ore.,  by 
electric  car  Aug.  27  for  Portland.  It  was  produced  on  a  farm 
2  miles  southwest  of  Estacada.  A  large  banner  was  strung 
along  either  side  of  the  car,  indicating  the  contents  and  the 
name  of  the  producer.  This  is  the  inaugural  of  a  large  traffic 
to  come  to  the  Oregon  Water  Power  &  Railway  Company  from 
the  regions  on  both  sides  of  the  Clackamas  River,  which  have 
hitherto  had  no  market  except  by  trucking  to  Portland  and 
( )regon  City. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  TECHNICAL  SCHOOL  TO  THE  BUSI- 
NESS AND  PROFESSION  OF  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS* 

BY  PROF.  H.  H.  NORRIS 

The  growing  importance  of  the  electric  railway  business  as 
a  field  of  usefulness  for  the  young  men  of  our  country  makes 
the  consideration  of  a  topic  like  this  timely  and  interesting. 
The  increasing  complexity  of  the  practical  engineering  prob- 
lems which  confront  railway  men  demands  that  the  most  in- 
telligent help  must  be  employed.  Every  week  new  inventions 
appear  which  must  be  tested  and  adopted  if  found  economical 
and  efficient.  In  addition,  the  apparatus  in  use  must  be  kept 
in  first-class  operating  condition. 

It  can  probably  be  taken  as  undisputed  that  no  really  practi- 
cal man  present  has  as  much  education  as  he  would  like,  when 
by  education  is  meant  that  very  desirable  mental  training  and 
equipment  which  makes  his  work  easy  and  his  field  of  useful- 
ness extensive  and  satisfying.  The  education  which  develops 
mental  strength  and  at  the  same  time  gives  culture  and  re- 
finement is  appreciated  everywhere,  and  it  pays  handsome 
profits  upon  the  capital  of  time  and  money  invested.  What  is 
better  yet  is  the  fact  that  any  young  man  of  sound  body  and 
mind  can  get  this  education  if  he  really  wishes  it  in  any  one  of 
the  many  technical  schools  in  which  our  country  fortunately 
abounds. 

With  these  facts  in  mind  and  with  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
the  members  of  this  association  the  writer  has  sought  answers 
to  a  number  of  questions  bearing  upon  the  relation  of  the  tech- 
nical schools  to  the  railway  business.  These  schools  are  be- 
ginning to  feel  the  demand  for  their  graduates  from  railway 
corporations,  not  so  much  by  direct  applications  for  the  ser- 
vices of  the  young  men  as  by  the  readiness  with  which  the 
latter  are  advanced  to  positions  of  responsibility  when  they 
start  in  at  the  bottom  and  are  willing  to  adapt  themselves  to 
their  work.  The  schools  are  establishing  electric  railway  de- 
partments to  meet  this  demand,  not  to  turn  out  railway  presi- 
dents and  general  managers,  but  to  point  out  to  the  students  the 
general  nature  of  the  practical  problems  which  they  must  later 
solve.  These  colleges  cannot  teach  a  trade,  a  business  or  a 
profession,  but  they,  should  expedite  the  acquirement  of  one  or 
all  of  these  after  the  college  days  are  over. 

As  a  means  of  discovering  the  attitude  of  the  electric  railway 
managers  of  this  State  toward  technically  trained  men  and  to 
learn  what  improvements  should  be  made  in  the  curricula  of 
the  schools  and  in  the  method  of  teaching,  a  number  of  ques- 
tions were  sent  to  each  member  of  this  association.  The 
answers  to  these  questions  are  embodied  in  the  following  state- 
ments : 

Question  [. — Are  any  of  your  officers  graduates  of  tech- 
nical schools? 

Most  of  the  roads  have  officers  who  are  technical  men,  but 
at  present  the  latter  are  largely  in  the  engineering  departments. 

Question  2. — Do  you  employ  any  technical  graduates  in 
subordinate  positions:' 

A  large  number  of  young  men  are  so  employed.  These  are 
engaged  in  all  departments,  and  they  are  learning  the  business 
in  the  proper  way,  from  the  bottom  up.  As  it  is  from  these 
ranks  that  vacancies  among  the  higher  positions  must  be  filled, 
it  is  an  important  matter. 

Question  3. — How  do  yon  regard  an  application  from  a 
young  technical  graduate  for  a  position  ? 

The  uniform  reply  is  "favorably."  That  is,  the  fact  that  a 
young  man  has  had  a  technical  education  commends  him  to  a 
company's  officers,  but  the  prepossession  in  his  favor  may  be 
modified  by  his  after  conduct.  These  answers  are  encouraging 
to  the  schools,  as  they  show  thai  past  experience  with  their 

*  Paper  presented  at  Utica  meeting  of  New  York  State  Street  Railway 
Association.  Sept,  14,  1904. 


398 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


graduates  has  led  the  companies  to  have  no  prejudice  against 
the  latter,  to  say  the  least. 

Question  4. — Do  you  find  these  young  men,  as  a  rule,  hum- 
ble or  conceited? 

The  writer  regards  this  matter  as  worthy  of  attention.  At 
one  time  young  men  felt  when  they  left  school  that  they  "knew 
it  all."  It  took  some  years  after  graduation  to  change  this 
idea  in  their  minds.  This  attitude  aroused  resentment  in  their 
fellow-employees  and  in  their  employers.  At  the  same  time  a 
certain  amount  of  self-confidence  is  expected  and  respected  in 
young  men  who  are  to  succeed  in  the  business  world. 

The  answers  to  this  question  are  varied  and  interesting.  One 
member  of  the  association  prefers  the  conceited  young  man, 
because  he  makes  the  best  employee  after  he  has  had  the  con- 
ceit taken  out  of  him.  Another  suggests  that  when  a  young 
man  has  an  undue  idea  of  his  own  ability  it  is  due  to  lack  of 
contact  with  business  men  while  he  was  in  school.  This  gentle- 
man believes  that  business  responsibility  is  the  best  thing  to 
furnish  the  proper  discipline.  There  is  no  doubt  also  that 
home  training  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  matter.  The 
general  opinion  is  that  the  average  young  man  from  college  is 
about  the  same  as  young  men  everywhere.  It  should  be  said 
that  the  schools  are  making  great  efforts  to  show  to  their  stu- 
dents the  relations  which  they  w.ill  sustain  to  business.  They 
are  not  to  enter  business  thinking  to  take  at  once  positions  of 
responsibility  and  of  good  salary.  The  next  question  bears 
upon  this  point. 

Question  5. — Are  they  improving  in  this  respect? 

The  answers  all  show  that  the  attitude  of  the  young  men  is 
improving,  which  indicates  that  the  schools  are  succeeding  in 
their  efforts.  This  has  been  brought  about  in  different  ways; 
partly  as  above ;  partly  through  the  provision  made  by  manu- 
facturing and  operating  companies  to  supply  apprentice  courses 
to  properly  fit  men  for  their  work.  The  young  men,  knowing 
that  they  must  go  through  some  such  course  or  its  equivalent, 
do  not  expect  to  do  more  than  continue  their  college  work  for 
a  few  years  under  business  supervision. 

Question  6. — Which  of  two  men  would  you  prefer  to  put  on 
an  engineering  problem;  one  who  had  no  technical  college 
training,  but  had  ten  years  of  actual  experience  in  similar 
work,  or  a  man  mho  had  graduated  from  a  technical  college 
and  had  had  five  years'  experience? 

Tbis  question  was  designed  to  determine  whether  or  not  by 
the  end  of  five  years  the  technical  man  has  caught  up  with  his 
associate  who  had  been  in  business  while  he  was  in  college. 
The  answers  indicate  that  the  college  man  will  be  preferred, 
other  things  being  equal.  This  indicates  that  at  any  rate  the 
young  man  will  be  able  to  earn  as  much  as  his  associate  five 
years  after  leaving  school. 

Question  7. — Which  of  two  men  would  you  prefer  to  em- 
ploy for  general  work;  one  with  no  technical  training  and  ten 
years'  experience  of  a  general  nature,  or  a  recent  technical 
graduate? 

This  question  is  difficult  to  answer,  because  so  much  depends 
upon  circumstances.  It  is  evident  that  in  a  position  requiring 
adaptability,  alertness,  mental  perception  and  such  qualities  the 
technical  graduate  is  better.  Also  if  the  position  is  one  in 
which  advancement  is  possible  the  college  man  will  probably 
fit.  But  if  the  position  is  one  which  requires  ability  to  do  a 
particular  thing  well  and  at  once  the  'so-called  "practical"  man 
will  bring  the  quickest  returns  to  the  employer. 

Question  8. — In  other  zvords,  which  is  the  deciding  factor, 
"experience"  or  "technical  training?" 

Like  the  preceding  question,  this  matter  is  determined  by  cir- 
cumstances. The  selection  depends  partly  upon  the  character- 
istics of  the  applicant,  for  neither  experience  nor  training  alone 
will  make  a  good  business  man.  The  fact  that  a  man  has  been 
employed  for  ten  years,  especially  if  it  be  in  responsible  work, 
about  offsets  the  value  of  the  diploma  of  a  good  school. 


Question  9. — In  the  engineer  whom  you  assign  to  a  position 
of  responsibility,  "which  do  you  expect  or  desire  chiefly — 
"knowledge"  or  the  "ability  to  apply  knowledge?" 

The  answers  to  this  question  indicate  that  while  both  knowl- 
edge and  the  ability  to  apply  it  are  necessary,  the  latter  is  the 
essential  element.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  obtain  knowl- 
edge if  a  man  knows  what  to  do  with  it  after  he  gets  it.  The 
business  of  the  technical  school  is  to  train  for  the  ability  to 
apply  knowledge,  at  the  same  time  pointing  out  the  means  for 
getting  hold  of  information.  In  these  times  no  engineer  or 
business  man  cares  to  load  his  mind  with  many  facts,  but  ex- 
pects to  put  his  hand  upon  them  when  he  needs  them.  He 
merely  keeps  enough  at  hand  to  serve  his  every-day  needs. 

Question  10. — How  can  the  college  graduate  be  made  to 
realize  more  clearly  that  he  must  adapt  himself  to  the  prac- 
tical conditions  as  they  exist  in  the  business  world? 

This  question  covers  the  most  important  part  of  the  ground 
as  far  as  the  school  is  concerned.  The  more  he  can  learn 
while  in  college  to  adapt  himself  to  his  surroundings  the  more 
rapid  will  be  his  advancement  afterward.  He  should  first 
learn  the  value  of  industry,  and  the  courses  of  instruction 
should  be  such  as  to  bring  him  into  contact  with  business  con- 
ditions. He  must  be  prepared  for  the  hard  knocks  which  are 
bound  to  come,  and  be  taught  the  underlying  principles  of 
business  success.  He  must  realize  that  he  has  to  make  his  own 
place  in  the  world  and  he  must  be  willing  to  develop  in  a 
natural  and  a  logical  manner.  He  must  realize  also  that  his 
commercial  value  at  the  start  is  small,  but  that  whatever  worth 
he  has  will  be  recognized  in  due  time. 

Question  11. — How  would  you  advise  a  young  man  fresh 
from  college  to  try  to  enter  the  electric  railway  field? 

All  the  answers  to  this  question  point  to  but  one  course, 
namely,  to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  work  up.  The  exact  posi- 
tion in  which  work  is  begun  is  of  small  consequence.  One 
superintendent  says,  "Begin  on  the  rear  end  of  the  car,"  an- 
other says,  "Take  any  opening  offered  and  do  any  work  as- 
signed by  the  superintendent."  No  one  suggests  applying  for 
a  superintendency  or  a  general  managership.  And  yet  in  the 
early  days  of  the  electric  railway  young  men  were  put  in  charge 
of  important  work  soon  after  graduation.  This  was  unwise, 
as  the  results  soon  showed.  It  is  evident  that  there  is  at  the 
present  time  no  systematic  way  for  entering  this  field  but  the 
method  prescribed  above  will  undoubtedly  bring  satisfactory 
results.  It  is  probable  that  an  apprentice  course  with  one  of 
the  manufacturing  companies  would  prove  very  helpful  in  most 
cases. 

Question  12. — After  all,  does  a.  college  education  in  a  tech- 
nical school  pay  if  a  young  man  expects  to  enter  this  line  of 
work?  ■..  . 

This  is  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter.  Every  answer 
indicates  an  enthusiastic  appreciation  of  the  value  of  a  techni- 
cal education.  As  one  superintendent  says  :  "Undoubtedly.  If 
he  has  got  the  proper  stuff  in  him  he  will  be  all  the  better  for  his 
technical  training.  If  he  has  not,  he  probably  will  not  amount  to 
very  much,  anyway."  Another  says:  "Most  decidedly  it  does 
pay  to  give  a  young  man  a  technical  college  education,  as  he 
will  find  his  knowledge  invaluable  when  he  comes  to  put  it  in 
practice.  I  do  not  consider  it  of  very  much  value  without  the 
practice,  but  do  consider  it  necessary  to  have  both.  In  other 
words,  the  man  with  a  technical  college  education  and  the 
practical  experience  combined  is  far  more  valuable  than  one 
with  only  the  practical  or  the  technical  alone." 

It  is  hoped  that  this  canvass  of  the  subject  will  result  in 
enabling  the  technical  schools  of  our  vicinity  to  more  fully 
appreciate  their  privileges  and  opportunities.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  writer  would  appeal  to  the  members  of  the  associa- 
tion to  value  the  young  graduate  by  a  different  standard  from 
that  applied  to  men  of  more  experience  but  less  technical  train- 
ing. The  latter  will  probably  be  profitable  assistants  in  a 
shorter  time,  but  in  the  long  run  the  college  training  will  count. 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


399 


THE  DESIRABILITY  OF  TRAIL  CARS  IN  CITY  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAY  SERVICE* 


Forty-two  railway  companies  answered  one  or  more  of  the 
questions  asked  by  the  writer,  and  the  following  are  the  ques- 
tions, a  resume  of  the  opinions  of  the  different  companies  and 
some  comments  by  the  writer : 

I.  Under  what  conditions  is  it  permissible  and  practicable 
to  use  one  or  more  trail  cars  on  city  electric  railways? 

The  replies  to  this  question  are  generally  harmonious  and 
may  be  summarized  as  follows : 

The  best  way  to  handle  temporary  increases  in  traffic  is  to 
use  trailers  during  the  busy  periods.  It  is  evident  that  if  the 
railway  desires  to  secure  the  patronage  of  those  who  have  com- 
paratively short  distances  to  walk,  it  must  be  prepared  to  fur- 
nish sufficient  cars  running  on  short  headways.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  trail  cars  offer  the  cheapest  solution  of  the  rush- 
hour  problem,  this  fact  leading  to  their  general  adoption  wher- 
ever local  ordinances  permit  their  use. 

If  the  traffic  is  heavy  for  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  trail 
cars  cannot  be  absolutely  recommended.  Under  such  a  con- 
dition an  experienced  railway  manager  recommends  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  motor  cars  running  on  very  short  headways, 
stating  that  a  single-motor  car  is  handled  more  easily  than  a 
train,  and  that  less  time  is  lost  in  switching  at  terminals.  A 
contrary  opinion  is  expressed  by  the  Grosse  Berliner  Strassen- 
bahn,  which  says  that  despite  double-track  lines  it  would  be 
impossible  to  handle  the  dense  traffic  in  such  places  as  Pots- 
damer  and  Leipziger  Streets  without  using  trailers.  At  present 
trains  are  operated  under  thirty  seconds'  headway,  and  the 
municipal  authorities  will  not  permit  an  increase  in  their 
number. 

Both  of  the  foregoing  views  are  extreme,  but  it  should  be 
possible  to  find  a  happy  medium  that  will  be  of  general  appli- 
cation. In  this  connection,  the  management  of  the  Lyons  tram- 
ways suggests  that  on  double-track  lines  trailers  should  be  em- 
ployed as  soon  as  more  than  50  per  cent  of  the  seats  are  used 
when  the  motor  cars  are  running  on  the  shortest  possible  head- 
way. As  this  seating  coefficient  is  rather  low,  75  per  cent 
might  mark  the  point  of  transition  to  trailers.  Trail  cars  are 
recommended  on  single-track  lines  when  the  number  of  sidings 
is  insufficient  to  operate  the  necessary  single  cars  on  short 
headways. 

Although  the  question  was  confined  to  the  use  of  trail  cars 
in  the  interior  of  cities,  replies  were  received  relative  to  sub- 
urban conditions  wherein  trail  cars  were  held  to  be  preferable, 
as  the  amount  of  traffic  in  such  cases  was  not  seriously  affected 
by  a  longer  headway.  In  conclusion,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
in  Marseilles,  where  two  or  three  trailers  are  used  per  train, 
the  cost  of  a  trail-car-km  is  about  one-half  of  the  cost  of  a 
motor-car-km. 

II.  Do  you  use  one  or  more  trail  cars  per  train?  Are  you 
permitted  to  attach  any  desired  number?  If  the  number  is 
limited,  what  are  the  reasons  for  such  limitation? 

Of  the  forty-two  companies  replying  to  this  question  all  re- 
ported that  when  necessary  they  used  at  least  one  trailer ;  nine- 
teen used  two;  four  used  three;  and  ten  companies  reported 
that  they  were  under  no  statutory  limitations,  but  none  of  them 
ever  used  more  than  three  trailers  per  train.  Fifteen  of  the 
reporting  companies  are  permitted  to  use  only  one  trailer,  the 
same  number  may  use  two,  and  two  companies  are  authorized 
to  attach  three  cars. 

The  limitations,  in  general,  are  due  to  police  traffic  regula- 
tions, grades  of  5.5  per  cent  and  above,  narrow  streets,  neces- 
sity of  maintaining  the  schedule  since  trains  involve  more 
stops,  and  lack  of  sufficient  motor  capacity  and  proper  braking 

*  Abstract  of  report  to  be  presented  this  week  at  the  Vienna  meeting  of  the 
International  Street  Railway  and  Eight  Railway  Association  by  M.  G.  Pavie 
of  Paris. 


mechanism.  The  experience  gained  in  trail-car  operation  dur- 
ing the  last  few  years  has  proved  the  former  prevailing  belief 
that  they  were  more  dangerous  than  motor  cars  to  be  erroneous, 
and  the  municipal  authorities  are  beginning  to  realize  this  fact. 

III.  In  how  far  is  the  use  of  one  or  more  trailers  required 
by  your  line  (single  or  double  track)  or  traffic  conditions?  If 
you  operate  a  single-track  line,  does  your  traffic  demand  the 
occasional  use  of  one  or  more  trailers,  and  is  this  permitted  ? 
If  you  operate  a  double-track  line,  why  do  you  operate  trail 
cars,  and  how  many  per  train? 

It  is  apparent  from  the  answers  received  that  with  few  ex- 
ceptions the  same  number  of  trailers  per  train  can  be  used 
equally  well  on  single  and  double-track  lines.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  necessity  for  trail  cars  arises  more  often  on 
single-track  than  on  double-track  roads,  and  where  a  sudden 
increase  in  travel  takes  place  in  one  direction  it  can  be  handled 
by  holding  a  certain  number  of  cars  at  one  terminal  and  send- 
ing them  forward  at  short  intervals  about  a  given  time.  That 
the  foregoing  instance  may  be  considered  as  applicable  to  spe- 
cial cases  only  is  evident  from  a  communication  sent  by  the 
Strassburger  Strassenbahn  to  the  effect  that  it  maintains  on 
its  double-track  lines  a  five-minute  schedule  connecting  with  a 
ten-minute  schedule  on  the  suburban  extensions.  The  sim- 
plicity resulting  from  this  combination  would  be  lost  by  tem- 
porarily increasing  the  city  headway,  and  hence  trailers  are 
used  during  rush  hours  to  permit  the  maintenance  of  the  sched- 
ule, despite  the  fact  that  the  company  believes  that  motor  cars 
alone  on  shorter  headways  would  be  more  advantageous  at 
certain  times. 

IV.  To  what  extent  is  the  use  of  trail  cars  on  your  system 
affected  by  pedestrian  and  vehicular  traffic,  the  width  of  the 
streets,  etc.  ? 

In  general,  the  number  of  trail  cars  is  not  affected  by  vehicu- 
lar traffic,  although  some  municipalities  in  which  there  are  nar- 
row streets  do  not  permit  more  than  one  trailer.  In  so  far 
as  streets  with  heavy  pedestrian  traffic  are  concerned,  the  ex- 
perience of  the  Barmen-Elberfeld  Company  points  out  that  the 
increased  seating  capacity  and  lower  fares  caused  by  using 
trailers  is  quite  an  incentive  toward  riding. 

V.  To  what  extent  is  your  use  of  trail  cars  limited  by  heavy 
grades  and  other  topographical  difficulties  involving  heavy 
braking?  What  conditions  must  be  fulfilled  in  this  connection? 
How  have  you  solved  them  ?  What  brakes  do  you  use  ?  Do 
they  act  simultaneously  throughout  the  train  ? 

Grades  below  3  per  cent  exert  no  appreciable  influence  on 
the  effectiveness  of  the  brakes.  In  Geneva  there  are  numerous 
4  per  cent  and  5  per  cent  grades,  which  make  braking  difficult, 
and  in  Konigsberg  no  trailers  are  permitted  on  8  per  cent 
grades.  Havre  and  Marseilles  use  trailers  on  grades  up  to  7 
per  cent.  In  Aachen  the  motorman  is  required  to  hold  on  to 
the  brake  handle  on  grades  exceeding  3.3  per  cent  if  the  motor 
car  and  trailer  are  not  furnished  with  simtiltaneously-acting 
brakes.  Of  the  forty-two  reporting  companies,  fourteen  use 
simultaneously-acting  brakes.  In  Berlin,  Sperry,  solenoid  and 
air  brakes  are  employed,  Westinghouse  brakes  in  Brussels, 
Siemens  &  Halske  solenoid  brakes  in  Cologne  and  Heidel- 
berg, etc. 

VI.  To  what  extent  is  the  use  of  trailers  affected  by  con- 
gested crossings  and  inadequate  switching  facilities  at  ter- 
minals ? 

Congested  crossings  exert  little  influence  on  the  number  of 
trail  cars.  Two  trailers  per  train  can  be  used  advantageously 
if  there  are  enough  sidings  at  the  proper  points  along  the  line 
and  at  the  terminals.  It  is  customary  to  have  a  number  of  re- 
serve cars  at  a  switching  point,  thereby  making  it  possible  to 
leave  a  trailer  on  one  track  and  run  over  to  another  for  coup- 
ling on  one  of  the  reserve  trailers. 

VII.  What,  in  your  opinion,  are  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  using  one  or  more  trailers? 


400 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


(A)  Advantages: 

1.  Motor  cars  require  a  motorman  and  conductor,  while 
trailers  require  a  conductor  only.  In  some  cases  one  conductor 
can  look  after  two  cars. 

2.  As  the  trail  cars  are  much  lighter  for  the  same  seating 
capacity,  the  saving  in  current  amounts  to  over  50  per  cent. 

3.  The  first  cost  of  a  trailer  is  about  one-third  that  of  a  mo- 
tor car. 

4.  Maintenance  charges  are  reduced  two-thirds. 

5.  The  absence  of  controlling  apparatus  on  the  platforms  of 
trail  cars  gives  more  room  for  passengers. 

6.  Reduction  of  accidents  caused  by  the  longer  headway  and 
fewer  blockades. 

7.  The  possibility  of  handling  sudden  increases  in  traffic 
without  holding  motor  cars  in  reserve. 

8.  The  preference  shown  by  the  public  for  the  low-step  easy- 
running  open  trail  cars.  The  number  of  closed  trailers  need 
not  be  high,  as  the  heaviest  business  is  done  during  the  summer. 

(B)  Disadvantages: 

1.  An  appreciable  reduction  in  speed,  which  can  be  remedied 
only  by  installing  auxiliary  generators. 

2.  Where  trailers  are  used  the  motors  are  often  too  small 
to  do  the  additional  work,  and  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  have 
larger  motors,  which  means  operation  at  less  than  full  load 
under  normal  conditions. 

3.  With  trailers,  more  time  is  required  for  acceleration  and 
deceleration,  and  additional  stops  must  be  made. 

Some  railways  expressed  themselves  as  being  in  favor  of  the 
abrogation  of  the  regulations  limiting  them  to  one  trail  car, 
as  experience  had  shown  that  two  and  even  three  trailers  could 
be  used  safely,  provided,  of  course,  that  the  motors  and  brakes 
were  of  adequate  capacity. 

—  

TESTS  OF  THE  INSULATION  RESISTANCE  OF  ELECTRIC 
TRAMWAY  SYSTEMS  AND  MAINTENANCE  OF 
THE  TROLLEY  WIRE 


The  report  on  this  subject  at  the  Vienna  convention  this 
week  of  the  International  Tramways  &  Light  Railways  Asso- 
ciation is  written  by  M.  G.  Pedriali,  chief  engineer  of  the  Brus- 
sels tramway  system.  The  first  part  of  the  report  deals  with 
regular  tests  of  the  insulation  resistance  of  the  lines  and  the 
localization  of  faults. 

All  companies  agree  that  it  is  necessary  to  test  carefully  the 
insulation  resistance  of  the  various  portions  of  the  lines  in 
regular  intervals — varying  between  three  months  and  a  year ; 
it  seems  that  tests  repeated  within  regular  intervals  of  six 
months  should  be  sufficient  to  meet  all  requirements. 

The  insulation  resistance  of  the  total  system,  or  of  sepa- 
rately fed  parts  of  it,  is  determined  by  means  of  instruments 
in  the  power  station  or  in  the  sub-station.  Some  companies 
use  a  voltmeter,  which  is  inserted  between  the  positive  pole  of 
the  dynamo  and  that  part  of  the  line,  the  insulation  of  which 
against  earth  is  to  be  measured.  In  the  voltage  between  the 
positive  pole  of  the  dynamo  and  earth  is  V,  and  the  reading 
of  the  voltmeter  is  V,  the  insulation  resistance  is  R  =  (V — 
V)  r/V,  where  r  is  the  resistance  of  the  voltmeter.  This 
method  gives  exact  results  only  if  the  ''sistance  is  of  about 
the  order  of  magnitude  of  the  resistance  of  the  voltmeter,  but 
it  is  not  to  be  recommended  for  the  determination  of  faults  in 
insulated  cables. 

An  effective  and  quick  method  for  determining  the  existence 
of  faults,  without  measurement,  consists  in  observing  the  read- 
ings of  the  ammeter  of  the  first  dynamo  during  starting  in  the 
morning;  if  all  cars  are  insulated  from  the  trolley  wires,  and 
if  the  needle  of  the  ammeter  is  still  deviated,  it  shows  that  the 
system  contains  a  fault ;  this  may  then  be  localized  by  opening 


the  different  line  switches.  On  conduit  and  surface  contact 
systems  the  insulation  should  be  regularly  tested  every  day. 
"On  lines  both  poles  of  which  are  insulated  against  earth,  it 
is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the  electrolytic  phenomena 
which  tend  to  transport  moisture  from  the  positive  to  the  nega- 
tive pole ;  the  greatest  attention  should  be  paid  to  this  point." 

The  measurements  of  the  stray  current  which  passes  at  a 
certain  point  between  the  rails  and  water  or  gas  pipes,  are  very 
difficult;  but  it  would  be  interesting  to  know  the  quantity  of 


=r>o 


FIG.  1.— METHOD  OF  TESTING  INSULATION  RESISTANCE  OF 
HANGER 

electricity  which  passes  per  unit  of  pipe  surface  from  the  pipe 
to  the  rail.  If  a  perfectly  insulated  joint  is  inserted  in  the  pipe 
and  both  parts  of  the  pipe  are  then  connected  by  means  of  a 
cable  in  which  an  ammeter  is  inserted  of  a  resistance  equal  to 
that  of  the  original  joint,  the  current  may  be  approximately 
determined. 

The  author  recommends  the  preparation  for  each  system  of  a 
map  on  which  those  points  are  marked  where  the  voltage  dif- 
ference between  rails  and  pipes  is  largest,  and  to  provide  test 
pipes  at  these  points  which  are  tested  in  regular  intervals. 


-f 


IT 


rnTHTTTTTTTTTT1   

Eattb 

FIG.  2.— METHOD  OF  DETECTING  FAULTS  IN  CONDUIT  SYSTEM 

Except  when  welded  rail  joints  are  used,  it  is  necessary  to 
test  the  resistance  of  the  joints  at  regular  intervals. 

Tests  of  insulation  of  the  trolley  wire  are  made  by  some 
companies  in  a  rough  way  to  find  whether  the  insulators  have 
a  fault  or  not.  In  this  case  the  hanger  X  in  Fig.  1  is  tested 
to  find  whether  the  current  passes  over  to  the  span  wire.  In 
most  cases  a  voltmeter  is  used,  which  is  connected  with  one''' 
pole  to  the  span  wire,  and  with  the  other  pole  to  earth ;  after- 
wards the  strain  insulator  Y  is  tested  by  connecting  the  span 
wire  between  X  and  Y  with  the  trolley  wire  and  connecting 


SEPTEMBER  17,   1904. J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


401 


the  pole  to  the  rails,  a  voltmeter  being  inserted.  This  method 
gives  only  approximate  results. 

The  author  states  that  the  following  "method  of  three  read- 
ings" has  often  given  good  results:  If  A,  B,  C  are  the  read- 
ings of  the  voltmeters  as  indicated  in  Fig.  1,  R  the  resistance 
of  the  voltmeter,  X  the  resistance  of  the  hanger,  Y  the  resist- 
ance of  the  pull-off,  then  X  =  (C— A— B)  R/B  and  Y  = 
(C— A— B)  R/A. 

For  finding  faults  in  conduits,  two  groups  of  test  lamps  are 
provided  on  the  switchboard  and  are  inserted  between  the  two 
poles  of  the  conduit,  while  the  center  connection  between  the 
two  lamp  groups  is  connected  to  earth.  If  one  of  the  two  poles 
is  earthed,  the  lamp  group  connected  to  the  other  pole  lights 
up.  It  often  happens  that  a  foreign  body  makes  contact  be- 
tween the  trolley  wire  and  earth.  Such  a  contact  may  some- 
times be  removed  by  sending  through  the  line  a  strong  current, 
adjustable  by  means  of  a  rheostat.  If  this  means  is  not  suffi- 
cient, the  fault  must  localized.  The  author  considers  the  fol- 
lowing method  of  Prof.  Eric  Gerard  to  be  very  practical: 

In  parallel  with  the  dynamo,  a  motor  M  of  small  capacity  is 
provided,  which  is  geared  to  an  interrupter ;  the  other  arrange- 
ments will  be  seen  from  the  illustration.  As  soon  as  it  is  found 
that  a  fault  exists,  the  apparatus  is  connected  to  the  negative 
pole  and  the  motor  is  started.  A  regularly  interrupted  current 
of  about  5  amps,  now  passes  through  the  fault,  the  frequency 
of  the  interruptions  being  70  to  80  per  minute.  A  coil  of  250 
windings  of  0.6  mm  wire,  which  is  closed  through  a  telephone, 
is  then  passed  along  the  conduit.  The  telephone  then  gives  a 
regular  stead}-  noise  until  the  fault  is  reached,  when  the  noise 
disappears. 

The  second  part  of  the  report  deals  with  the  maintenance  of 
the  trolley  wire.  The  author  recommends  that  tests  be  made 
at  regular  intervals  and  the  results  be  recorded.  The  span  wire 
should  be  as  elastic  as  possible.  The  tension  of  the  trolley  wire 
at  0  degs.  C.  should  be  between  450  kg  and  550  kg  (for  wires 
of  52.5  sq.  mm  cross-section).  Several  other  mechanical  de- 
tails of  construction  are  dealt  with. 

The  life  of  the  trolley  wire  varies  between  500,000  trips  and 
1,500,000  trips  for  wires  of  8-mm  diameter.  The  pressure  of 
the  trolley  pole  against  the  trolley  wire  should  not  be  more 
than  5.5  kg. 



CORRESPONDENCE 


SINGLE-PHASE  VS  THREE-PHASE  TRACTION 

Montreal,  Sept.  8,  1904. 

Editor  Street  Railway  Journal: 

I  have  been  much  interested  in  reading  the  description  of  the 
compensated  single-phase  motor  equipment  of  the  General 
Electric  Company  and  your  editorial  on  the  subject  in  issue 
of  Aug.  27,  and  was  more  particularly  struck  with  the  fact  that 
a  modification  of  the  Ryan  compensating  coils  should  first  give 
really  useful  results  on  a  motor  which  is  primarily  intended  for 
alternating-current  service.  It  shows  how  close  after  all  the 
two  systems  are.  The  special  apparatus  which  has  been  devised 
for  interlocking  the  oil  switches  so  as  to  prevent  trouble  should 
both  trolley  poles  be  accidentally  on  the  wires  at  the  same  time, 
and  also  for  running  the  lighting  from  both  systems  of  supply, 
are  interesting.  The  whole  proposition,  however,  of  com- 
bined alternating  and  direct-current  traction  strikes  me  as  be- 
ing of  a  tentative  nature;  in  fact,  as  you  say  in  your  editorial, 
one  reason  why  we  are  hearing  so  much  of  the  combined  sys- 
tem is  that  it  would  be  such  a  very  serious  matter  to  have  to 
scrap  a  whole  heap  of  existing  plant,  much  of  which  is  practi- 
cally quite  new.  My  own  views  for  some  time  have  been  that 
in  the  end  we  shall  have  universal  alternating-current  traction, 
and,  further,  that  it  will  be  by  means  of  three-phase  alternating 


current.  If  you  will  spare  me  space  1  will  give  you  my  reasons 
for  this  belief. 

As  you  know,  the  commutator  has  always  been  the  bugbear 
of  the  dynamo-electric  machine,  and  insurance  and  other  sta- 
tistics amply  prove  that  the  majority  of  the  breakdowns  which 
occur  in  motor  work  of  all  kinds  are  traceable  to  the  commu- 
tator or  its  adjuncts.  It  is  true  that  by  highly  organized  manu- 
facture the  commutator  has  been  developed  into  an  exceed- 
ingly perfect  piece  of  apparatus,  but  any  ordinary  railway  man, 
seeing  a  polyphase  and  a  continuous-current  motor  side  by  side 
for  the  first  time,  would  not  fail  to  plump  for  the  simpler  of  the 
two,  that  is  to  say,  the  three-phase.  This  is  more  or  less  the 
standpoint  which  will  eventually  decide  this  electric  traction 
question  for  railways,  at  any  rate  in  Britain,  for  railway  men 
have  not  studied,  and  do  not  want  to  know,  the  various  phases 
through  which  the  dynamo  machine  has  passed,  and  they  have 
no  reverence  for  the  commutator  as  such.  When  it  comes  to 
advising  their  directors  as  to  the  system  to  be  finally  adopted, 
I  think  they  will  only  consider  two  things,  namely,  simplicity 
of  apparatus  and  safety  to  human  lives. 

This,  it  appears  to  me,  is  given  by  the  three-phase  motor 
supplied  with  current  from  high-tension  overhead  wires.  It 
is  true  that  some  of  our  railways  are  experimenting  with  direct 
current  and  a  third  rail,  but  I  think  it  may  lie  safely  said  that 
they  are  far  from  satisfied ;  indeed,  if  we  have  many  more 
serious  accidents  on  third  rail  there  is  likely  to  be  a  national 
outcry  against  it. 

Now,  with  regard  to  the  duty  that  we  can  get  out  of  motors. 

As  you  well  know,  the  torque  of  an  electric  motor  depends 
on  the  magnetic  field,  and  the  three-phase  motor  differs  from 
a  single-phase  in  that  for  a  given  load  both  the  field  and  the 
torque  are  constant,  that  is  to  say,  they  do  not  pulsate.  The 
torque  of  a  single-phase  motor  varies  from  zero  to  maximum 
and  back  to  zero  with  every  alternation.  To  show  what  this 
means,  let  us  suppose  that  a  certain  train  requires  a  maximum 
draw-bar  pull  of  10  tons;  then,  with  three-phase  motors  the 
locomotive  will  weigh,  say  (10  x  5)  50  tons,  but  if  the  loco- 
motive is  equipped  with  single-phase  motor  it  must  weigh,  say 
85  tons  to  100  tons,  because  of  the  pulsating  torque. 

Again,  on  the  general  question  of  cost  there  is  no  getting 
away  from  the  simple  fact  that  a  single-phase  machine,  whether 
it  be  a  generator  or  a  motor,  must  be  larger  and  more  costly, 
and  in  this  question  of  cost  we  must  consider  not  only  the 
motor,  but  the  whole  system.  What  would  be  thought  of  a 
mechanical  engineer  who  built  a  three-cylinder  engine  or  pump 
and  then  only  ran  it  with  one  single  cylinder ;  the  idea  is,  of 
course,  absurd,  and  yet  it  is  very  fairly  analagous  to  the  single- 
phase  versus  three-phase  proposition. 

Finally,  as  to  the  question  of  the  number  of  overhead  wires. 
We  are  constantly  having  it  dinned  into  our  ears  that  overhead 
wires  are  inaesthetic,  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  people 
can  become  accustomed  to  almost  anything,  and  many  in 
Britain  who  had  much  to  say  against  bare  wires  soon  become 
accustomed  to  them.  Familiarity  is  everything  in  this  matter, 
and  once  overhead  wires  are  accepted,  a  wire  more  or  less  is 
immaterial  certainly.  The  extra  wire  required  for  three-phase 
work  will  not  be  noticed  by  the  man  in  the  street.  As  for  the 
electrical  engineer's  point  of  view,  surely  the  more  copper  there 
is  overhead,  the  less  has  to  be  put  underground,  and,  as  you 
know,  it  is  the  underground  wires  with  their  insulation,  trench- 
ing, need  of  repair,  etc.,  which  run  up  the  cost  of  electric  trac- 
tion. 

Since  writing  the  above  T  have  had  an  opportunity  of  riding 
on  the  Ballston  single-phase  line,  and  most  sincerely  congratu- 
late the  General  Electric  Company's  engineers  on  the  skill  with 
which  the  series-wound  motor  and  ordinary  series  parallel  con- 
troller have  been  adapted  for  working  with  single-phase  alter- 
nating current.  T  quite  appreciate  that  the  problem  before  us 
at  the  present  time  is  in  some  respects  similar  to  that  before  the 


402 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


pioneers  of  the  electric  tramway  when  they  fought  the  tele- 
phone interests  in  order  to  have  only  a  single  trolley  wire,  and 
yet,  judging  by  the  results  in  actual  work  of  the  three-phase 
railways  in  Switzerland  and  Italy,  the  supposed  difficulties  of 
dealing  with  extra  wires  are  exaggerated.  By  coasting  or  run- 
ning through  on  a  single  wire  at  very  difficult  crossings  the 
complication  disappears.  At  any  rate,  engineers  will  shortly 
have  an  opportunity  on  the  London  to  St.  Thomas  line,  Canada, 
of  seeing  what  Ganz  &  Company  can  do  with  a  combined  three- 
phase  and  direct-current  system  of  electric  traction,  for,  owing 
to  the  difficulty  of  getting  through  the  towns,  except  on  exist- 
ing direct-current  tracks,  the  original  idea  of  running  this  line 
altogether  by  three-phase  has  had  to  be  abandoned. 

The  very  original  and  solid  construction  work  which  Ganz 
&  Company  have  done  in  the  past  in  electric  traction  makes 
any  particular  line  of  action  they  take  up  all  the  more  interest- 
ing, and  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  they  were  the  first  large 
firm  to  grapple  with  the  single-phase  motor  problem  and  with 
some  success.  In  going  on  with  three  phase,  therefore,  they 
are  doing  so  with  their  eyes  wide  open.  Of  course,  when  tin- 
combined  three-phase  direct-current  motor  is  working  on  three 
phase  the  commutator  is  cut  out  of  action. 

E.  Kilburn  Scott. 

THE  LAGONDA  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY'S  EXHIBIT  AT 
ST.  LOUIS 


The  accompanying  illustration  is  a  view  of  the  exhibit  at  the 
St.  Louis  Exposition  of  the  Lagonda  Manufacturing  Company, 
of  Springfield,  Ohio,  the  manufacturers  of  the  well-known 
Weinland  tube  cleaners  and  other  specialties.  This  exhibit  is 
in  the  Steam,  Gas  and  Fuels  Building,  between  the  several 
types  of  United  States  and  foreign  boilers  used  there  for  fur- 


EXHIBIT  OF  THE  LAGONDA  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY 


nishing  the  steam  for  the  entire  Exposition  plant.  Here  may 
be  found  a  great  variety  of  cleaners,  as  the  Lagonda  Company 
makes  many  different  types  of  machines  to  meet  the  require- 
ments for  all  kinds  of  boilers  and  for  every  size  of  tube — hand 
cleaners,  turbine  cleaners  and  power  cleaners,  so  that  it  can 
successfully  meet  the  requirements  of  every  customer  in  this 
line. 

In  the  front  part  of  the  exhibit,  just  inside  the  railing,  is 
shown  the  mechanical  cleaner,  driven  by  an  electric  motor  or 
other  suitable  power.  On  the  left  side,  parallel  with  the  rail- 
ing, can  be  seen  the  company's  direct-motor  cleaner,  which  is 
something  new  in  this  line.  It  is  a  12-in.  water  wheel,  driving 
a  very  powerful  cleaning  head.  With  water  at  150  lbs.  pres- 
sure, it  develops  about  5  hp.    Between  the  two  desks  can  be 


seen  a  power-driven  cleaner  for  cleaning  the  tubes  of  boilers 
that  use  bent  tubes,  with  horizontal  drums  at  the  top.  A  very 
interesting  machine  is  the  8-in.  turbine  cleaner,  made  specially 
for  one  of  the  company's  customers. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  difference  in  sizes  of  machines. 
The  smallest  machine  in  the  exhibit  is  but  \  l/2  ins.  in  diameter. 
The  cut  also  shows  the  reseating  machine  which  this  company 
has  so  successfully  introduced;  also  its  tube  cutter  and  blow-off 
valve.  A  damper  regulator  made  by  this  firm  can  be  seen  in 
practical  use  on  one  of  the  boilers,  and  those  intereste^l  can  see 
also  the  different  types  of  tube  cleaners  cleaning  tubes  in  the 
boilers  in  use  at  the  Exposition,  as  the  managers  of  the  Exposi- 
tion have  selected  these  cleaners  to  be  used  exclusively,  which 
is  certainly  quite  a  compliment  to  the  merits  of  the  Lagonda 
Company's  manufactures. 

The  exhibit  is  in  charge  of  J.  W.  Gunn,  the  treasurer  of  the 
company,  who  will  be  pleased  to  meet  personally  any  engineers 
or  others  interested  in  this  line  of  machinery.  The  company 
has  issued  a  very  attractive  little  souvenir  in  the  shape  of  a 
watch  charm  which  it  will  be  pleased  to  give  to  any  one  who 
will  take  the  trouble  to  call  and  ask  for  it. 



HANDSOME  CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  ALBUQUERQUE,  N.  M. 

Three  convertible  cars  of  the  Brill  type  built  by  the  Ameri- 
can Car  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  were  recently  delivered  to  the 
Albuquerque  Traction  Company,  of  Albuquerque,  N.  Mex. 
This  is  the  first  lot  of  cars  of  this  type  ordered  by  the  com- 
pany. They  have  now  been  in  operation  several  weeks,  and 
are  reported  to  be  giving  entire  satisfaction.  Albuquerque  is 
on  the  main  line  of  the  Atchison,  Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railroad 
and  is  nearly  at  the  center  of  the  State.  It  has  a  population  of 
j  0,000. 

The  view  of  the  car  exterior  gives  a  good  idea  of  the  appear- 
ance both  open  and  closed.    The  system  of  raising  the  sashes 


INTERIOR  UF  ALBUQUERQUE  CONVERTIBLE  CAR 


and  the  flexible  metal  panels  into  pockets  in  the  side  roofs  is 
well  known,  and  therefore  need  not  be  described.  Brackets 
connecting  the  backs  of  the  seats  with  the  posts  serve  as  grab- 
handles,  and  are  arranged  to  swivel  when  the  seat  backs  are 
stepped  over.  The  guard-rails  are  arranged  to  slide  upon 
guides  inside  the  posts,  and  may  be  seen  in  the  illustration  of 
the  interior.  The  cars  are  seated  for  thirty-six  passengers  and 
have  a  large  amount  of  standing  room  in  the  aisles,  which  are 
24  ins.  wide.  The  seats  are  34  ins.  long  and  are  upholstered  in 
spring  cane.  Guides  are  furnished  at  the  tops  of  the  vestibule 
doors  to  control  their  movement,  and  a  special  form  of  catch 
holds  them  against  the  ends  of  the  body  when  folded.  Pockets 
in  the  wainscoating  of  the  vestibules  contain  the  window  sashes 
in  warm  weather.    The  platform  timbers  are  reinforced  with 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


403 


angle-iron  and  protected  at  the  ends  with  Brill  angle-iron 
bumpers.  The  round-corner  seat-end  panels,  brake  handles, 
sand  boxes  and  other  furnishings,  also  the  27-G  type  of  truck 
on  which  the  cars  are  mounted,  are  of  the  same  manufacture. 
The  length  of  the  cars  measured  over  the  bodies  is  29  ft.  9  ins., 
and  over  the  crown  pieces  34  ft.  9  ins. ;  from  the  end  panels 


CONVERTIBLE  CAR  OPERATED  BY  THE  ALBUQUERQUE  TRAC- 
TION COMPANY 

over  the  crown  pieces  4  ft.  6  ins. ;  width  over  sills,  including 
sill-plates,  7  ft.  ioJ/2  ins, ;  width  over  posts  at  belt,  8  ft.  5  ins. 
The  sweep  of  the  posts  is  3^  ins. ;  distance  between  centers  of 
posts,  2  ft.  7  ins.  The  side  sills  are  4^  ins.  x  6%  ins.,  with 
8-in.  x  5/^-in.  plates  on  the  outside.  The  end  sills  are  also  4^4 
ins.  x  6%  ins.  From  the  rails  to  the  platform  steps  is  16  ins., 
and  from  the  steps  to  the  platforms  13  ins. 




ST.  LOUIS  EXHIBIT  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  STORAGE  BATTERY 

COMPANY 


In  section  20  of  the  Palace  of  Electricity,  at  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition,  is  located  the  exhibit  of  the  Electric 
Storage  Battery  Company,  of  Philadelphia.    As  this  is  the 


EXHIBIT  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  STORAGE  BATTERY  COMPANY  AT  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION 


largest,  most  comprehensive  and  instructive  exhibit  ever  made 
of  storage  batteries  and  apparatus  used  in  connection  with  bat- 
tery installations,  a  visit  to  this  display  will  be  of  great  interest 
to  electrical  engineers. 


One  of  the  prominent  features  is  a  large  map  of  the  United 
States,  about  30  ft.  x  45  ft.,  on  which  is  indicated,  by  means  of 
colored  jewels,  the  location  and  character  of  the  various  in- 
stallations of  the  "chloride  accumulator."  The  exhibit  includes 
a  model  battery  house,  in  which  is  installed  a  model  regulating- 
railway  battery  operating  on  a  variable  load.  Five  standard 
marble  switchboard  panels  are  shown,  including  the  panels  for 
controlling  the  model  railway  battery.  The  other  panels  are 
an  Edison  central  station  three-wire  panel,  the  panels  for  regu- 
lating combined  lighting  and  power  loads,  the  railway  feeder 
panels  and  panels  for  regulating  railway  power  house  loads. 
Two  motor-driven  boosters  are  also  shown,  the  smaller  being- 
used  in  connection  with  the  model  battery,  and  the  larger  a 
standard  100-kw  railway  regulating  booster. 

Among  the  types  of  chloride  accumulators  are  three  H-61 
cells,  with  a  discharge  capacity  of  4800  amps,  for  one  hour, 
six  cells  type  G-77,  capacity  3000  amps,  for  one  hour,  and  type 
G-17  and  F-17,  all  of  these  being  in  standard  lead-lined  wooden 
tanks. 

The  smaller  cells  shown  are  types  "F,"  "E"  and  "D"  in  glass 
jars,  and  types  "E"  and  "D"  in  rubber  jars  for  train  lighting 
and  yacht  lighting.  There  is  also  shown  a  very  complete  set  of 
Exide  cells  for  automobiles,  and  Evide  sparking  sets  for  gas 
and  gasoline  engine  ignition.  The  Exide  exhibit  includes  a 
large  easel,  showing  in  detail  the  various  component  parts  of 
the  Exide  battery. 

At  one  end  of  the  space  is  a  group  of  three  large  end-cell 
switches,  operating. from  the  Edison  three-wire  panel.  Each 
of  these  switches  is  of  2000  amps,  capacity,  and  is  motor  driven, 
with  electrical  indici  tors.  These  end-cell  switches  are  in  actual 
operation  and  are  so  arranged  that  each  switch  may  be  driven 
by  its  own  motor,  or  by  means  of  clutches  any  two  or  all  may 
be  driven  by  any  one  motor.    Clutches  and  hand  wheels  are 

also  provided 
whereby  the  motors 
may  be  thrown  out 
of  gear  and  the 
switches  operated 
by  hand. 

The  model  bat- 
tery, with  its  boos- 
ter and  switch- 
board, forms  a  very 
interesting  working 
exhibit.  The  bat- 
tery is  of  type  E-15, 
in  lead-lined  wood- 
en tanks,  and  is 
mounted  on  white 
enamel  brick  tiers. 
The  battery  is  in 
every  particular  an 
exact  model  in  min- 
iature of  the  larger 
railway  installa- 
tions. The  battery 
is  insulated  from 
the  brick  tiers  by- 
means  of  standard 
double  insulation, 
consisting  of  vitri- 
fied bricks,  then 
glass  insulators, 
then  prepared  wood 
stringers  and  an- 
other set  of  glass  insulators.  On  the  switchboard  con- 
trolling the  model  battery  arc  the  necessary  battery  and 
booster  switches  and  automatic  circuit  breakers  with  their 
interlocking  devices,  a  Bristol  recording  voltmeter  and  the 


404 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


Weston  instruments,  consisting  of  voltmeter,  the  O  cen- 
ter battery  ammeter,  the  generator  ammeter  and  the 
total  load  ammeter.  The  conditions  under  which  the 
model  battery  operates  are  exactly  similar  to  street  railway 
conditions.  The  generator  delivers  the  average  current  re- 
quired, and  as  a  heavy  external  load  is  thrown  on  the  system, 
tbe  battery  assumes  the  load,  the  needle  of  the  generator  am- 
meter remaining  almost  stationary.  As  the  load  is  thrown  off 
the  battery  automatically  charges.  The  external  load  is  caused 
by  starting  up  the  100-kw  booster  and  by  throwing  on  a  bank 
of  80/100-cp  lamps.  As  an  example  of  how  well  the  battery 
regulates  the  load,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  direct-current  cir- 
cuit supplying  power  to  the  exhibit  is  limited  to  100  amps. 
With  the  battery  regulating,  a  load  of  300  amps,  is  thrown  on 
the  system,  causing  a  drop  in  the  lighting  or  generator  circuit 
of  less  than  1  volt  in  110,  and  a  rise  in  current  in  the  line,  or 
generator  circuit,  of  less  than  yyi  per  cent  of  the  total  load. 
The  action  of  the  battery  is  automatically  controlled  by  the 
small  booster  and  its  carbon  regulator. 

Referring  again  to  the  type  G-77  chloride  accumulator,  it 
may  be  stated  that  584  cells  of  this  type  have  recently  been  in- 
stalled on  the  system  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company.  This 
is  stated  to  be  the  largest  individual  installation  of  storage 
batteries  in  the  world. 




SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  SEATTLE,  RENTON  & 
SOUTHERN  RAILWAY 


The  Seattle,  Renton  &  Southern  Railway  Company  has  re- 
ceived from  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  a  number  of  combination 
passenger  and  smoking  cars  of  the  builders'  semi-convertible 
type.  The  railway  company  operates  about  13 miles  of  lines, 
connecting  Columbia  City,  Dunlap  and  Renton,  the  last-named 
being  the  southern  terminus  of  the  line.  The  country  trav- 
ersed by  the  road  is  noted  for  its  fine  scenery.  Lake  Washing- 
ton being  on  one  side  and  Admiralty  Inlet  on  the  other.  At 


SEATTLE,  RENTON  &  SOUTHERN  RAILWAY  COMPANY'S  LATEST 
SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR 

night  the  lines  are  used  for  the  freight  service,  which  requires 
fifteen  cars. 

The  new  passenger  cars  are  seated  for  twenty-eight  in  the 
passenger  compartment  and  twelve  in  the  smoking  compart- 
ment. These  compartments  are  divided  by  a  hardwood  parti- 
tion having  a  single  sliding  door.  The  illustration  shows  sev- 
eral of  the  windows  raised  to  different  heights  and  some  of 
them  raised  entirely  into  the  roof  pockets.  The  windows  in 
the  vestibules  are  arranged  to  drop  into  pockets.  The  interior 
finish  of  the  cars  consists  of  cherry,  with  ceilings  of  decorated 
birch.  The  seats  of  both  compartments  aie  upholstered  in 
cane,  and  are  of  the  step-over  type.  Arm  rests  are  provided 
on  the  window  sills,  as  the  window  sills  are  but  245^  ins.  from 
top  to  floor,  too  low  to  be  used  comfortablv  by  adult  pas- 
sengers. Because  of  the  increasing  demand  for  low  window 
sills,  the  car  company  has  made  this  height  its  standard  for  the 
semi-convertible  car,  as  there  are  no  wall  window  pockets  to 
interfere. 

The  length  of  the  cars  over  the  end  panels  is  29  ft.,  and  over 
the  vestibules  38  ft.  5  ins.    The  length  of  the  smoking  com- 


partments is  9  ft.  2  ins.  The  width  over  the  sills  is  7  ft.  io^4 
ins.,  and  over  posts  at  the  belt  8  ft.  2  ins.  The  sweep  of  the 
posts  is  i}4  ins.  The  side  sills  are  4  ins.  x  7^  ins.,  and  the 
end  sills  5^4  ins.  x  6%  ins.  The  sill-plates  are  12  ins.  x  ins., 
and  are  upon  the  inside  of  the  sills.  "Eureka"  maximum- 
traction  type  trucks  are  used  with  4-ft.  wheel-base,  33-in.  and 
20-in.  wheels,  4^-in.  and  31^-in.  axles,  equipped  with  motors 
of  50-hp  capacity  each. 




THE  RUSSIAN  WESTINGHOUSE  COMPANY  AT  THE 
ST.  LOUIS  FAIR 


Russia's  only  building  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition 
is  the  pavilion  in  the  Palace  of  Transportation,  which  was 
erected  by  the  Westinghouse  Company,  Ltd.,  of  St.  Petersburg, 
as  a  feature  of  the  Westinghouse  brake  exhibits.  It  is  repre- 
sentative in  every  feature  of  Russian  art  and  workmanship, 
and  is  recognized  as  the  general  Russian  rendezvous  at  St. 
Louis.  In  the  Palace  of  Machinery  the  same  company,  which 
has  made  every  effort  to  ensure  a  characteristic  Russian  ex- 
hibit at  the  Fair,  has  furnished  a  small  Russian  kiosk  at  the 
head  of  the  row  of  national  booths  erected  by  the  different 
Westinghouse  companies  of  Europe  and  America,  and  at  both 
places,  as  a  manifestation  of  Russian  hospitality,  Russian  tea, 
brewed  in  curious  old  samovars,  and  suchari,  a  sweet  native 
biscuit,  are  served  to  visitors  of  the  company  by  Russian  girls 
wearing  richly  embroidered  boyarin  costumes.  The  pavilion 
in  the  Palace  of  Transportation  covers  a  space  20  ft.  by  25  ft., 
and  is  25  ft.  high.  It  was  constructed  by  peasant  builders  in 
the  Possade  Sergiewo,  near  Moscow,  after  designs  by  the 
native  architect,  Baranowsky,  who  has  done  much  important 
work  in  St.  Petersburg.  U.  Grant  Smith,  of  the  Russian  West- 
inghouse Company,  is  in  general  charge  of  the  exhibit. 




INCREASED  LIFE  OF  STEEL-TIRED  WHEELS 


Increased  life  of  steel-tired  wheels  is  being  secured  by  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company  upon  its  elevated  divisions 
by  the  use  of  a  larger  size  of  tires  than  was  originally  adopted 
for  use  under  elevated  cars.  The  standard  wheel  center  of  the 
system  is  28  ins.  in  diameter,  while  the  thickness  of  tire  for- 
merly used  was  2r/2  ins.  Now,  however,  steel  tires  3  ins.  thick 
are  applied  in  re-tiring  all  wheels,  with  the  result  that  wheels 
go  into  service  34  ins.  in  diameter  at  the  tread  instead  of  33 
ins.,  as  formerly. 

This  results  in  a  considerable  addition  to  the  life  of  tires, 
which  is  of  importance  owing  to  the  extreme  service  met  in  the 
operating  conditions  upon  the  elevated  and  underground  lines. 
The  tire  wear  is  very  severe,  requiring  truing  up  of  every 
wheel  upon  the  system  twice  a  month  ;  this  is  done  by  grinding, 
and  further  truing  is  resorted  to  by  periodically  turning  off  to 
true  shape  in  a  car-wheel  lathe,  a  complete  description  of  which 
processes,  together  with  the  methods  of  handling  the  cars  and 
trucks  in  such  repair  work,  were  presented  on  pages  464-467 
of  the  March  26,  1904,  issue. 

The  result  of  the  numerous  truings,  by  grinding  and  turn- 
ing, proved  to  effect  a  rapid  reduction  of  tire  thickness,  which 
resulted  in  the  decision  to  use  the  thicker  tire.  The  increased 
diameter  of  wheels  by  1  in.  did  not  interfere  materially  with 
established  clearances,  while  it  results  in  providing  for  a  con- 
siderably longer  service  per  tire.  It  is  now  found  that  tires 
will  run  about  150,000  miles  before  becoming  too  thin  to  be  safe. 
As  the  average  mileage  per  car  per  day  is  150  miles,  1000  days 
or  practically  three  years'  service  per  tire  is  obtained. 

As  less  than  1-32  in.  is  removed  per  grinding,  the  twenty- 
four  grindings  for  each  tire  per  yard  do  not  reduce  the  tire 
thickness  more  than  y?  in.  or  %  in.,  or  in  extreme  cases  }4  in. 
per  year. 


t 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  405 


September  17,  1904.] 

THE  UTICA  CONVENTION 

As  this  issue  goes  to  press,  reports  received  from  the  Utica 
convention  of  the  New  York  State  Street  Railway  Association 
indicate  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  successful  in  the  history  of 
the  association.  There  is  a  large  attendance,  and  as  the  asso- 
ciation is  being  favored  with  clear  and  cool  weather,  no  more 
favorable  conditions  could  be  supplied. 

A  novel  feature  of  the  convention  is  the  unique  badge 
adopted.  It  consists  of  a  medallion  bearing  the  coat  of  arms 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  which  is  surrounded  by  the  name 
of  the  association.  On  the  reverse  side  is  a  list  of  the  previous 
conventions.  The  medallion  is  carried  on  two  bars,  one  bear- 
ing the  word  "Delegate,"  or  whatever  the  wearer  may  be,  the 
other  is  stamped  "Utica,  1904."  In  addition,  if  the  wearer  is 
an  officer  of  the  association  or  a  member  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, a  third  bar  is  attached,  marked  with  the  office  held  by 
him.  This  badge  is  to  be  retained,  and  at  each  succeeding  con- 
vention a  new  bar  will  be  attached  with  the  name  of  the  city 
and  the  year  of  the  convention.  The  bars  or  the  badges  at 
future  conventions  will  be  furnished  by  the  association.  Any- 
one desiring  a  badge  in  the  future  can  get  them  from  the  secre- 
tary at  $1  each. 

The  arrangements  made  for  the  various  business  meetings 
and  social  entertainments  were  perfect,  and  reflected  great 
credit  on  C.  Loomis  Allen,  manager  of  the  Utica  &  Mohawk 
Valley  Railway,  who,  with  his  corps  of  able  associates  con- 
nected with  this  company,  were  indefatigable  in  providing  for 
all  the  needs  of  the  attendants. 

At  the  close  of  the  session  on  Sept.  14,  the  following  officers 
were  elected  for  the  ensuing  year :  President,  C.  Loomis  Allen  ; 
first  vice-president,  J.  H.  Pardee;  second  vice-president,  A.  B. 
Colvin;  secretary  and  treasurer,  W.  W.  Cole;  executive  com- 
mittee, officers  and  E.  G.  Connette,  R.  E.  Danforth,  B.  B.  Nos- 
trand,  Jr.,  E.  F.  Peck. 

In  this  issue  it  is  possible  to  publish  only  one  or  two  of  the 
papers  presented  and  the  "Question  Box,"  but  the  other  papers, 
reports  and  discussions,  together  with  a  full  report  of  the  meet- 
ings, will  be  printed  in  the  next  issue.  The  "Question  Box" 
follows : 

THE  QUESTION  BOX 
POWER-STATION  CONSTRUCTION 
No.  1.    (a)  What  is  the  lift-  of  a  good  storage  battery  when  well  taken  care 
of?    (b)  Is  a  floating  battery   preferable  to  a   booster  installed  in  station' 
(c)  How  much  attention  does  a  battery  require? 

(a)  Charge  6  per  cent  depreciation  (b)  A  booster  with  the 
battery  is  preferable,    (c)  Examination  and  readings  once  a  day. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 
(a)  Without  any  renewals,  4  to  8  years.      (b)  Depends  on 
service.     (c)  Much  or  little,  depending  how  the  battery  fits  the 
service,  and  also  the  owner's  standard  of  maintenance. 

John  J.  Stanley. 

(a)  The  life  of  a  good  storage  battery  when  well  taken  care 
of  is  dependent  on  tbe  amount  of  work  which  it  does.  A  bat- 
tery working  up  to  or  above  its  capacity  every  day  will  wear  out 
earlier  than  one  worked  to  its  capacity  every  second  day.  (b)  The 
booster  is  or  is  not  necessary,  according  to  the  purpose  for  which 
the  battery  is  used.  If  it  is  desired  to  maintain  the  initial  volt- 
age under  an  increasing  load,  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  the 
booster  in  connection  with  the  battery,  (c)  The  attention  which 
the  battery  will  require  will  vary  according  to  the  extent  to  which 
it  is  used.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  a  storage  battery  will  cost  in 
time  and  material  about  7  per  cent  of  its  cost  price  each  year  if 
properly  looked  after.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

(b)  I  would  submit  for  your  consideration  an  abstract  from  a 
lecture  delivered  by  me  before  the  Stevens  Institute  recently,  and 
published  in  the  "Stevens  Indicator."  You  will  find  in  this  lecture 
a  comparison  between  a  line  battery  with  shunt  wound  booster 
at  the  power  house,  and  a  series  booster  without  a  battery.  This, 
of  course,  is  a  special  case.  It  is  impossible  to  give  any  general 
comparison  of  the  two  systems,  on  account  of  the  many  variable 
quantities  which  enter  into  the  problem,  such  as  the  distance  of 
transmission,  the  average  load,  the  maximum  load,  the  minimum 
voltage  permissible,  the  power  house  voltage,  etc.  It  will  gen- 
erally be  found,  however,  that  the  advantageous  use  of  a  series 
booster  is  confined  to  rather  narrow  limits.  In  many  cases  which 
have  come   under  my   personal   observation,  the  series  booster 


scheme,  while  quite  satisfactory  to  meet  the  conditions  obtain- 
ing when  first  installed,  has  soon  been  outgrown  by  an  increase 
of  load,  and  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  install  a  line  battery 
later.  The  question  of  whether  a  shunt  booster  should  be  in- 
stalled at  the  power  house  in  connection  with  a  line  battery  is 
also  one  which  cannot  be  generally  answered,  owing  to  the  wide 
variation  of  conditions.  It  is  frequently  found  desirable  to  install 
such  a  booster,  its  use  being  confined  to  days  of  exceptionally 
heavy  load,  while  under  normal  conditions  the  battery  will  float 
satisfactorily  connected  directly  across  the  line  without  boost- 
ing. J.  Lester  Woodbridge. 

No.  2.  Is  the  specific  heat  of  superheated  steam  constant,  and,  if  not,  what 
law  will  give  the  specific  heat  of  superheated  steam  at  various  temperatures 
and  pressures? 

Experiments  have  proven  that  saturated  steam  is  not  a  true  gas, 
and  that  upon  the  addition  of  heat  the  increase  of  volume  is  at 
first  much  greater  than  would  be  the  case  with  a  true  gas.  After 
about  20  to  25  degs.  Fahr.  of  superheat,  however,  the  behavior 
of  the  superheated  steam  is  very  close  to  that  of  a  true  gas,  and 
the  ordinary  gas  governing  the  relation  of  volume,  pressure  and 
temperature  with  a  true  gas  may  be  used  without  any  appreciable 
error.  Data  are  lacking  regarding  the  relations  of  pressure,  tem- 
perature and  volume  with  superheated  steam  at  high  tempera- 
tures, but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  higher  the  temperature  the 
closer  is  the  resemblance  to  a  true  gas.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

See  paper  read  before  the  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  at 
Chicago  meeting,  1904,  on  "Potential  Efficiency  of  Prime  Movers," 
by  C.  V.  Kerr.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  From  a  series  of  experiments  of  recent  date  it  has  been 
shown  that  the  specific  heat  of  superheated  steam  is  not  constant, 
but  varies  directly  as  the  temperature  and  independently  of  the 
pressure.  Mathematically,  it  is  believed  to  be  a  straight  line 
function  of  the  temperature.  The  one  hundred  or  more  experi- 
ments carried  on  by  Greissmann  would  seem  to  bear  out  this  be- 
lief, although  he  worked  only  up  to  325  degs.  Fahr.  He  estab- 
lished the  formula : 

Sp.  ht.  =  .00222  Ts  —  .116.  where  Ts  is  the  temperature  of  su- 
perheated steam,  and  for  a  mean  value  between  saturated  steam 
and  any  degree  of  superheat, 

.00222  (Ts  —  7') 

Sp.  ht.  =   —  .116 

2 

The  values  obtained  from  tbe  above,  checked  by  observation, 
taken  in  separately  fired  superheaters,  seem  to  show  a  value  a  trifle 
high,  and  in  August,  1004,  "Power,"  George  Orrok  suggests  the 
form : 

Sp.  ht.  =  .0016  T  —  .041  as  being  nearer  the  actual. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 

No.  3.  One  company  has  in  its  power  house  one  SOO-kw  550-volt,  direct-cur- 
rent generator  with  compound  fields.  In  the  armature  there  are  800  coils  and 
800  commutator  bars,  12  poles  and  12  brush  holders.  Would  like  to  know  the 
proper  connections  to  make  to  balance  the  magnetic  circuits  of  this  machine 
and  size  of  wire  necessary? 

It  is  not  practicable  to  cross-connect  this  armature,  as  800  bars 
cannot  be  divided  into  six  equal  parts.  In  order  to  cross-connect 
a  12-pole  generator,  there  should  be  six  available  points  of  equal 
potential  which  may  be  interconnected. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Mfg.  Company. 
Would  suggest  that  it  would  be  well  to  obtain  from  the  makers 
of  this  machine  a  connection  diagram,  which,  presumably,  would 
give  tbe  proper  connection.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

TRACK  CONSTRUCTION 

No.  4.  What  type  of  rail  has  given  the  best  satisfaction  for  city  service  in 
unimproved  streets,  and  what  troubles,  if  any,  have  been  met  with  in  the  9-in. 
girder  rail? 

The  ASCE  standard  T.  rail  has  given  us  the  best  satisfaction. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Standard  T-rail.  High  girder  rails,  being  sidebearing,  tip  out- 
ward, producing  wide  gauge,  especially  with  heavy  suburban  cars 
now  commonly  used  on  city  streets.  The  deep  wheel  flanges  of 
these  cars  are  liable  to  cut  down  the  lip  of  the  half  groove  type 
rail,  forcing  the  rail  further  out  of  gage  or  causing  derailment  by 
crowding  against  gage  of  opposite  rail.  Either  girder  rails  should 
be  discarded  in  favor  of  high  T-rails  or  the  manufacturers  should 
be  induced  to  make  center-bearing  girder  rails  with  heads  at  least 
i}4  ins.  deep  on  gage  line.  The  recommendations  of  the  Rail  Com- 
mittee of  the  National  Association  Convention  of  1902  in  favor 
of  high  T-rails  should  be  indorsed  by  this  convention. 

M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

For  unimproved  street  60  or  70  lb.  T-rail.  If  street  is  not  paved 
trouble  has  occurred  on  account  of  stones  in  groove. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 

The  girder  rail.  No  cutting  of  grooves.  Grooves  break  wheels 
pulling  out.  Wagons  cut  grooves  in  dirt  roads,  requiring  con- 
stant tilling  in  where  T-rail  is  used.  J.  W  Hick*. 


406 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV."  No.  i± 


T-rail  has  given  best  satisfaction  in  unimproved  streets.  Girder 
rails  in  unimproved  streets,  whether  tie  rods  were  used,  or 
whether  they  were  omitted,  have  proved  troublesome,  in  that  the 
rails  would  not  stay  to  a  true  gage.  This  trouble  is  eliminated 
by  the  use  of  T-rail.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

Six-inch  Shanghai  T  best  type  of  rail  for  dirt  or  macadam 
streets.  Question  too  broad ;  is  semi-groove,  full-groove,  tram, 
center-bearing  or  Trilby  girder  rj.il  meant?  T.  E.  Mitten. 

I  consider  T-rails  the  best  for  city  or  suburban  service  in  un- 
improved streets.  They  are  no  more  of  a  menace  to  vehicles  than 
any  other  section  of  rail  in  a  dirt  road.  They  are  easier  to  main- 
tain and  make  much  cheaper  construction.   W.  Boardman  Reed. 

If  paving  is  not  imminent,  standard  T-rail ;  otherwise  high  T- 
rail.  If  streets  are  wide  enough  to  provide  driveways  alongside 
of  tracks,  so  that  wagons  will  not  follow  rails,  T-rail  is  superior 
from  every  point  of  view  of  railway  company.  If  wagons  habit- 
ually follow  rails,  there  is  no  satisfactory  way  to  maintain  the 
unimproved  roadway  without  paving.  A.  S.  Kibbe. 

No.  5.  Cannot  a  limited  number  of  standard  rail  heads  be  adopted  for 
paved  streets? 

Two  heights  of  T-rails  and  two  each  of  tram-head  and  grooved 
girder  rails  would  seem  to  be  sufficient;  either  6  ins.  or  7  ins. 
high  for  asphalt  pavements,  and  9  ins.  high  for  brick  and  block 
pavements.  These  rails  will  allow  3  ins.  to  4  ins.  of  concrete 
above  base  of  rail.  M.  J.  Fkench,  Jr. 

We  believe  so.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  question  of  standard  rail  head  for  use 
in  paved  streets  depends  fully  as  much  on  the  caprice  of  the 
local  city  government  as  it  does  upon  the  theory  and  practice  of 
the  railway  companies.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

It  would  be  possible  and  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
to  design  a  number  of  standard  rail  heads  for  use  in  paved  streets. 

C.  Loomis  Allen. 

Yes,  through  a  limited  number  of  standards.  Fish-plates  with 
standard  drilling  would  be  preferable.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

There  is  no  reason  why  a  limited  number  of  standard  sections  of 
rail  heads  could  not  be  adopted  for  paved  streets,  if  engineers  of 
the  various  street  railway  companies  would  get  together  and 
come  to  some  decision  upon  this  subject,  and  it  would  be  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  street  railway  companies  could  this  be  done. 
The  greatest  obstacle  in  the  way  of  accomplishing  this  result  is,  I 
believe,  the  innumerable  ideas  held,  not  so  much  by  street  railway 
men  as  by  engineers  or  other  officials  connected  with  municipal 
corporations.  If,  however,  the  street  railways  could  decide  upon 
certain  sections,  and  no  other  sections  were  rolled  upon  special 
order,  I  think  the  municipal  authorities  could  be  forced  to  adopt 
one  of  a  few  standard  sections.  W.  Boardman  Reed. 

No.  6.  What  rights  has  a  railroad  company  in  arranging  drainage  for  its 
tracks?  Where  the  company  pays  for  paving  between  tracks  and  for  a  cer- 
tain distance  on  each  side,  can  it  claim  any  jurisdiction  in  arranging  grades 
for  drainage? 

If  the  authorities  granting  the  franchise  neglect  and  refuse  to 
establish  grades  and  methods  proper  for  drainage  of  the  railway 
strip,  a  company  has  the  right  to  provide  drainage  for  the  protec- 
tion of  its  property,  and  the  property  and  persons  of  others. 

M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

Depends  almost  wholly  on  statutes  governing  this  point  and 
varies  in  different  States.  In  private  right  of  way  the  drainage 
cannot  be  thrown  on  abutting  property.  No  jurisdiction,  but 
must  conform  to  grades  approved  by  the  city,  State  or  town  engi- 
neer. Charles  K.  Stearns. 

They  should  be  allowed  to  connect  to  sewers.     J.  J.  Stanley. 

If  the  city  engineer  insists  on  his  grades,  none.       J.  W.  Hicks. 

Yes.  In  city  streets  the  street  railway  company  which  pays  for 
paving  between  its  tracks  should  have  absolute  right  to  drain 
same,  but  not  necessarily  fix  grade  for  such  drainage,  as  it  will 
have  to  conform  to  grade  as  established  by  city  authorities,  which 
should  be  sufficient  for  drainage.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

I  believe  the  matter  of  the  grading  of  streets  is  one  solely  in 
the  hands  of  the  municipal  authorities,  and  do  not  believe  there 
is  any  way  in  which  such  authorities  can  be  compelled  to  accede 
to  the  demands  of  street  railway  companies.  An  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  such  difficulties  as  might  arise  is,  in  my  opinion,  alto- 
gether the  best  way  out  of  difficulties  that  street  railways  are  likely 
to  meet  with  in  this  direction.  W.  Boardman  Reed. 

No.  7.  Which  is  the  better  material  for  paving — Medina  sandstone  or 
granite  block? 

We  are  not  prepared  to  say  which  is  the  best  material  for  pav- 
ing, whether  sandstone  or  granite  block,  but  we  do  know  that  all 
paving,  whether  brick,  sandstone,  granite  block  or  asphalt,  along 
the  line  of  the  railway  track  is  greatly  benefited  by  the  use  of  mar- 
ginal protecting  strip.  This  strip,  being  continuous,  distributes  the 
pounding  from  the  miscellaneous  street  traffic  and  from  the  car 
v.  heel  over  a  large  distance,  and  prevents  the  disintegration  of  the 
paving  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  track,  due  to  the  springing 


of  the  track,  and  in  the  discussion  of  the  merits  of  various  pav- 
ing the  advantages  of  the  marginal  protecting  strip  should  not  be 
lo:t  sight  of.  F.  W.  Sargent. 

Some  authorities  claim  that  Medina  sandstone  will  outwear 
granite.  If  this  is  so,  sandstone  would  be  much  preferable,  as 
its  gritty  surface  makes  a  much  better  foothold  for  horses,  espe- 
cially in  winter  weather.  It  can  also  be  kept  much  cleaner,  and  it 
does  not  get  greasy  and  slippery  like  granite.  In  heavy  vehicular 
traffic,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  sandstone  will  not  stand. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 

I  am  not  familiar  with  the  merits  of  Medina  sandstone  for  pav^ 
ing  purposes,  except  as  I  have  seen  it  occasionally  in  my  travels 
through  the  country.  I  have  never  seen  it  compared  with  granite 
block  on  streets  with  heavy  traffic.  I  do  not  believe  it  will  wear 
as  well  as  the  best  of  granite  block,  but  probably  better  than  most 
of  the  granite  block  that  is  used,  there  being  as  much  or  more 
difference  between  the  various  granite  blocks  as  there  is  between 
Medina  sandstone  and  the  average  granite  block  used. 

W.  Boardman  Reed. 

If  Medina  sandstone  is  specified  a  specific  kind  of  granite  Mock 
should  be  named  in  the  question.  Westerly  granite  paving  blocks 
are  more  durable  than  any  sandstone,  and  in  all  other  respects  are 
of  equal  merit.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

Granite  block.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Medina  block  stone.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Medina  sandstone.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  8.    What  type  of  rail-joint  has  proven  best  in  paved  streets? 

Weber  joints.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Electric  welded  preferred;  Weber  joint  next.     J.  J.  Stanley. 

Weber  joint.    Goldschmidt  joint  in  the  future. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Continuous.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

The  experience  on  the  lines  of  this  company  shows  that  the 
standard  36-in.  ribbed  plates,  having  twelve  i-in.  x  3-in.  bolts  per 
joint,  do  not  offer  sufficient  resistance  to  vibration  to  prevent  wear 
and  loosening  of  joint  and  ultimate  failure  through  sagging  and 
spreading  at  joint  before  the  life  of  the  rail  is  exhausted.  A  type 
of  plate  affording  a  deeper  cross-section  than  the  rail,  combined 
with  the  feature  of  a  tie-plate,  is  preferable.  The  electrically  or 
cast-welded  joint,  provided  it  secures  at  least  the  tensile  strength 
and  rigidity  of  the  full  rail,  without  in  any  way  harming  the  chem- 
ical and  physical  wearing  properties  of  the  rail,  in  addition  to 
securing  sufficient  conductivity  for  return  current,  is  most  pref- 
erable. M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

In  my  opinion,  the  electrically-welded  joint,  as  used  in  Buffalo, 
or  the  rivet  joint,  as  used  in  Philadelphia.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

A  railway  joint  is,  and  always  has  been,  the  greatest  cause  of 
trouble  to  the  trackmaster.  To  say  which  is  the  best  joint  is 
difficult.  In  New  York  City,  I  think  9-in.  girder  rails,  angle-bars 
36  ins.  in  length,  with  twelve  holes,  have  been  used  for  the  past 
five  or  six  years,  and  are  now  failing.  They  are  being  replaced 
with  a  continuous  joint  plate,  and  this  seems  to  overcome,  in  a 
measure,  the  trouble  had  with  the  other  plate.  Cast  weld  joints 
have  been  used  to  a  considerable  extent  in  Manhattan,  and  many 
of  them  have  failed.  The  electric  welded  joints  have  been  used 
extensively  in  some  quarters,  and  have  held  up  exceedingly  well. 
The  Thermit  welded  joint  is  new  in  this  country  and  has  been  tried 
experimentally  in  Manhattan,  but  not  to  a  sufficient  extent  to 
enable  one  to  judge  of  its  merits.  It  has  the  advantage  of  being 
easily  applied  at  a  moderate  cost,  and  if  it  holds  well  will,  I  believe, 
overcome  many  of  the  difficulties  under  certain  conditions. 

W.  Boardman  Reed. 

No.  9.  (a)  What  is  the  best  method  of  detecting  broken  bonds?  (b)  Is  the 
electrical  drilling  machine  practicable? 

(a)  Probably  the  best  method  at  the  present  time  of  detecting 
broken  bonds  or  bonds  giving  defective  contact  is  by  the  use  of 
a  bond-testing  instrument  as  furnished  by  R.  W.  Conant  or  Ma- 
chado  &  Roller.  It  is  almost  necessary  to  employ  some  such  de- 
vice where  the  bond  is  concealed.  There  is,  however,  a  bond  now 
on  the  market  which  is  attached  by  means  of  solder  to  the  out- 
side of  the  ball  of  the  rail ;  the  use  of  this  bond  makes  it  un- 
necessary to  use  instruments  to  determine  whether  the  bond  is 
broken  or  to  what  extent  defective,  as  an  inspector  can  by  mere 
observation  determine  the  condition  of  each  bond  and  cover 
many  miles  of  track  per  day,  and  if  he  examines  the  bonds  care- 
fully all  doubt  as  to  the  condition  of  the  bond  is  eliminated,  which 
is  not  always  the  case  if  the  bond  is  concealed  and  dependence 
placed  upon  an  instrument  for  testing  its  condition.  "Seeing  is 
believing." 

(b)  The  electrical  drilling  machine  is  entirely  practical  wher- 
ever current  is  available  for  operating  it.  It  is  not,  however, 
an  economical  device  where  there  are  only  a  few  holes  to  drill,  as 
the  investment  in  the  drill  is  quite  large,  and  should  this  invest- 
ment be  charged  up  to  the  drilling  of  holes  it  would  run  the  cost 
considerably  over  that  of  drilling  the  holes  by  means  of  a  Buda 
Track  Drill.    If,  however,  there  are  5000  or  6000  or  more  holes  to 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


be  drilled,  we  should  say  that  the  electric  drill  would  pay  for  itself 
in  such  case  and  be  a  paying  investment.  G.  A.  Mead. 

(a)  Looking  at  them.  The  best  method  of  detecting  imperfect 
conductivity  is  by  application  of  a  measuring  device  that  will  de- 
termine the  relative  conductivity  of  the  joint  and  the  whole  rail, 
taking  into  consideration  the  conductivity  of  the  bonds  and  rail 
with  relation  to  their  composition  and  cross-section.  The  con- 
ductivity of  the  joint  plates,  being  variable,  should  be  disregarded. 

(b)  The  principle  is  certainly  practicable.  The  Ludlow  track 
drilling  machine,  manufactured  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  practically 
tested  in  that  city,  is  a  most  economical  and  successful  machine 
for  use  on  continuous  work  of  any  magnitude. 

M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

(a)  We  detect  broken  or  defective  bonds  readily  with  the 
Conant  Bond  Tester.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

(a)  Millivoltmeter  and  comparison  method,    (b)  Yes. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 

(a)  The  best  method  for  detecting  broken  or  loose  rail  bonds 
is  undoubtedly  the  electrical  method,  making  use  of  the  varying 
resistance  of  the  bonded  joint.  There  are  several  good  instruments 
on  the  market  for  this  purpose,  (b)  The  electrical  drilling  ma- 
chine is  certainly  practicable.  We  have  used  it  to  quite  an  ex- 
tent on  track  in  New  York  City.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

The  handiest  method  is  by  using  some  portable  bond  tester,  such 
as  the  Conant.  By  means  of  Wheatstone  Bridge  a  given  section 
of  rail  is  compared  with  the  same  length  of  rail  across  the  joint. 
A  better  method  would  be  to  determine  the  drop  in  the  line. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 

(a)  The  Conant  machine  is  very  satisfactory.  (b)  Electric 
drilling  machines  are  practicable  where  current  is  at  hand.  When 
mounted  on  a  small  car  so  that  they  can  be  easily  and  quickly 
shifted  and  adjusted  they  are  economical,  but  they  are  adapted 
more  particularly  to  structural  work,  requiring  many  holes  drilled 
in  close'  proximity,  than  to  rail  bonding  or  joint  drilling. 

A.  S.  Kibbe. 

No.  10.  What  is  the  better  type  of  bond — the  compressed  head  or  the 
pin  head? 

The  compressed  terminal  type  of  bond  will  no  doubt  give  more 
uniform  and  satisfactory  results  than  the  pin-driven  type  of  bond. 
In  the  pin-driven  type  of  bond  it  is  necessary  that  the  relations  be- 
tween the  diameter  of  pin,  the  size  of  hole  in  the  bond  terminal 
and  the  size  of  hole  in  the  rail  be  exact  in  order  to  obtain  the  best 
results.  This  condition  is  not  always  to  be  obtained,  and  is  not 
necessary  with  the  compressed  terminal  bond  for  the  reason  that 
it  is  only  necessary  to  continue  the  compression  to  its  limit,  in 
which  case  the  hole  will  be  thoroughly  filled  and  the  terminal 
pressed  into  firm  contact  with  the  rail.  And  unless  the  terminal 
is  in  firm,  strong  contact  with  the  rail,  the  terminal  will  loosen 
up  and  corrosion  will  soon  set  in,  thus  destroying  the  efficiency 
of  the  joint.  G.  A.  Mead. 

The  "compressed  head"  type  of  bond  can  be  made  tighter,  and 
will  afford  a  greater  contact  surface  if  a  compressor  of  sufficient 
power  is  used  to  "head"  the  terminal  in  the  form  of  a  rivet ;  a 
portable  pneumatic  riveting  plant  with  electrically-driven  com- 
pressor, on  a  small  car,  being  practicable  and  economical  for  con- 
tinuous work.  The  "pin  head"  type  does  not  afford  equal  area  of 
contact,  as  the  plug  spreads  the  head  of  the  bond  and  crowds  it 
away  from  the  rail.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  compressed  head  rail 
bond  is  the  best  type  of  rail  bond  as  compared  with  the  pin-head 
type.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

We  believe  the  pin  expanded  head  bond  the  better,  though  it  is 
not  entirely  satisfactory.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Heads  of  bonds  should  be  pressed  in  place,  not  hammered. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Compressed  head.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Compressed  head  if  great  care  is  taken  to  do  a  first-class  job. 

John  J.  Stanley. 

The  compressed  head.  T.  A.  Mitten. 

The  compressed  head  bond  is  better.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

No.  11.    Has  the  soldered  type  of  bond  been  found  to  be  practical? 

Soldered  bonds  have  been  in  practical  use  in  constantly  increas- 
ing quantities  for  the  past  three  years,  which  would  seem  to 
demonstrate  that  the  soldered  type  of  bond  is  entirely  practical. 
Many  large  and  important  roads  have  adopted  it  as  a  standard 
after  careful  trial.  This  type  of  bond  is  meeting  with  increased 
favor  among  practical  railway  operators.  G.  A.  Mead. 

No.  12.  What  are  the  advantages,  if  any,  of  the  soldered  type  of  bond  over 
that  of  the  compressed  terminal  bond? 

The  advantages  of  the  soldered  type  of  bond  over  that  of  the 
compressed  terminal  or  the  pin-driven  terminal  are  many  and  quite 
evident. 

First — The  type  most  generally  favored  is  the  one  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  balls  of  the  rail,  and  for  this  reason  is  always  in  a 


position  to  be  thoroughly  inspected  as  to  its  conditions  at  any  time 
without  the  use  of  instruments. 

Second — The  soldered  bond  will  permit  of  the  use  of  a  shorter 
bond  than  is  the  case  with  the  compressed  terminal  or  pin-driven 
bond,  and  at  the  same  time  the  same  amount  if  not  more  flexibility 
is  maintained.  This  decrease  in  length  reduces  the  resistance  of 
the  bond,  thereby  decreasing  the  drop  across  each  joint. 

Third — The  contact  resistance  between  the  terminals  of  the 
soldered  bond  and  the  rail,  as  compared  with  the  cross-section  is 
less  than  in  the  compressed  terminal  or  pin-expanded  terminal  type 
of  bond. 

Fourth — Its  first  cost  is  less  than  that  of  a  compressed  terminal 
or  pin-expanded  bond  of  the  same  capacity. 

Fifth — The  cost  of  installing  the  soldered  bond  is  less  than  for 
installing  the  compressed  type.  Official  reports  from  various  roads 
show  that  the  soldered  bond  can  be  installed  at  a  total  cost  of  from 
10  cents  to  13  cents,  while  the  cost  of  installing  the  compressed 
terminal  bond  is  practically  twice  this  amount. 

Sixth — The  bond  can  be  removed,  without  destroying,  and  re- 
installed, which  is  not  the  case  with  the  compressed  terminal  and 
pin-driven  terminal  bond. 

Seventh — The  bond  can  be  applied  without  the  necessity  of  re- 
moving or  disturbing  fish-plates. 

The  point  has  been  raised  in  a  few  instances  that  on  account  of 
the  bond  being  exposed  it  is  very  liable  to  be  stolen,  but  careful 
investigation  of  this  point  has  shown  that  on  account  of  the  small 
amount  of  copper  in  the  bond  and  the  difficulty  of  removing  the 
bond,  copper  thieves  recognize  at  once,  without  actually  trying, 
that  it  does  not  pay  to  steal  this  type  of  bond.  G.  A.  Mead. 

No.  13.  Is  a  concealed  bond  which  has  the  flexible  portion  made  of  cable 
as  practical  as  one  in  which  the  flexible  portion  is  made  of  flat  strips? 

It  has  been  shown  that  a  concealed  bond  in  which  the  flexible 
portion  is  made  of  cable  and  having  the  wires  slightly  twisted 
together  is  more  practical  than  one  in  which  the  flexible  portion  is 
made  of  flat  strips.  The  reason  for  this  seems  to  be  from  the 
fact  that  the  bond  in  which  the  cable  is  used,  on  account  of  the 
wires  being  bound  together  slightly,  has  a  tendency  to  transmit 
any  movement  in  the  flexible  portion,  due  to  a  movement  of  the 
rail,  throughout  its  length,  while  in  the  case  of  the  bond  composed 
of  flat  strips,  as  they  are  not  bound  together  in  any  manner,  tend 
to  take  up  all  the  motion  of  the  joint  at  some  one  particular  point 
of  the  flexible  portion  of  the  bond,  thereby  decreasing  the  life  of 
the  bond.  These  flat  strips  also  become  wedged  in  between  the 
plate  and  the  rail,  and  the  movement  of  the  rail  causes  them  to 
work  out  between  the  head  of  the  rail  and  the  fish-plate,  thereby 
cutting  them  off.  This  has  been  found  to  be  the  case  in  a  great 
many  instances.  G.  A.  Mead. 

OVERHEAD  LINE  CONSTRUCTION 
No.  14.    What  wood  is  best  adapted  to  stand  the  elements,  and  what  paint; 
how  many  coats,  and  how  often  should  same  be  painted? 

No  wood  is  better  adapted  to  stand  the  elements  than  red  cedar ; 
next  to  red  cedar,  white  pine.  As  to  paint  there  is  no  better  pre- 
servative and  no  paint  more  enduring  than  white  lead  reduced  to 
the  proper  consistency  for  flowing  with  pure  linseed  oil  and  tur- 
pentine. No  less  than  three  coats  should  be  applied  at  the  begin- 
ning, permitting  at  least  three  or  four  days  to  elapse  between  each 
coat.  Thereafter,  one  coat  of  the  same  material  every  three  years 
should  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  wood  against  decay  for  an  in- 
definite period.  My  opinion  is  based  upon  an  experience  with 
wood  and  wood  finish  of  various  kinds  covering  a  period  of  thirty- 
five  years.  John  F.  Ohmer. 

Cedar  is  best  wood  for  trolley  poles.  As  to  paint,  either  a 
graphite  paint  or  lead  and  oil  paint  are  efficient.   T.  E.  Mitten. 

For  poles,  Norway  pine,  dressed  and  painted,  seems  to  combine 
greatest  carrying  strength  and  resistance  to  storms,  together  with 
uniform  soundness  and  resistance  to  decay.  Paints  combining 
graphite  and  rubber  are  most  durable  for  iron  work.  Pure  lead 
and  oil  has  given  the  best  results  for  wood,  although  a  zinc  paint 
is  gaining  in  favor.  A  heavy  coat  should  be  applied  before  erec- 
tion of  work  and  another  immediately  following.  The  work- 
should  be  given  one  coat  the  succeeding  year  and  then  one  coat 
every  second  year.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

White  cedar,  covered  with  two  coats  of  white  lead  and  oil,  col- 
ored to  suit.    Painting  should  be  repeated  every  two  years. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Locust  and  chestnut.  Red  lead.  On  the  coast  once  in  two 
years ;  away  from  the  coast,  five  years.    Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Cedar  in  this  soil.  One  coat  filler,  two  coats  lead  and  oil — 
every  three  years,  one  coat  lead  and  oil.         John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  15.  What  is  the  most  economical  size  of  trolley  wheel  to  use  on  city 
and  interurban  lines? 

No.  16.    What  is  the  best  hanger — a  mechanical  or  soldered  clip? 

We  believe  that  the  best  form  of  hanger  to  use  is  that  known  as 
the  Type  N  Round  Top  Hanger,  which  consists  of  a  body  casting 
containing   an    insulating  compound   in    which   is   embedded  a 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


threaded  stud.  This  produces  a  neat,  compact  device  of  one  piece 
in  which  the  various  parts  are  not  detachable — or  the  Type  D 
Hanger,  similar  to  the  well-known  West  End  form,  which  con- 
tains an  insulated  bolt  and  can  readily  be  removed  from  the  hanger 
by  unscrewing  the  cap,  which  is  provided  with  lugs.  These  lugs, 
however,  can  be  clinched  over  after  the  hanger  has  been  assem- 
bled, thereby  preventing  any  movement  of  the  stud  or  the  un- 
screwing of  the  cap.  In  order  to  suspend  the  trolley  wire  from 
these  types  of  hanger  the  preference  at  the  present  time  seems  to 
be  more  in  favor  of  a  mechanical  clamp  than  a  soldered  clip.  In  case 
of  round  wire  the  ordinary  clinch  ear  or  the  Walker  ear  are  used 
extensively.  In  the  case  of  grooved  or  Fig.  8  trolley  wire,  the  pref- 
erence seems  to  be  for  the  mechanical  clamp,  in  which  the  two 
halves  are  made  to  grip  the  wire  by  means  of  screws.  The  use  of 
solder  in  connection  with  devices  to  be  attached  to  the  trolley  is 
not  looked  upon  with  as  much  favor  at  the  present  time  as  in  the 
past,  as  it  is  very  easy  to  reduce  the  tensile  strength  of  the  trolley 
wire  by  overheating  if  the  soldering  is  not  done  with  care.  Me- 
chanical forms  of  clamps  for  supporting  the  trolley  wire  have  for 
a  great  many  years  proved  themselves  to  be  perfectly  practical  and 
safe,  and  their  use  eliminates  the  possibility  of  injuring  the  trolley 
wire,  for  the  reason  just  given.  G.  A.  Mead. 

We  have  found  the  soldered  clip  to  give  best  satisfaction,  as  the 
mechanical  ones  used  by  us  did  not  allow  for  the  wear  in  the 
wire  and  where  thin  would  pull  out.  W.  H.  Pouch. 

If  the  question  is  intended  to  refer  to  the  relative  merits  of  a 
hanger  soldered  rigidly  to  the  wire,  combining  an  ear  in  the  same 
piece  with  insulators  on  span  wire,  it  would  be  preferable  to  any 
of  the  hangers  combining  insulating  parts  in  contact  with  the 
vibrating  metal  of  the  hanger,  as  the  latter  ultimately  crumble 
from  vibration.  If  the  question  refers  to  the  relative  merits  of 
soldered  and  mechanical  ears,  practice  shows  the  long,  deep- 
grooved  soldered  ear  to  be  more  economical,  as  the  soldered  ear 
ultimately  breaks  and  releases  the  wire,  whereas  the  stiff  mechan- 
ical ear  is  more  liable  to  saw  the  wire  in  two  at  the  receiving  end. 

M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

The  mechanical  clip.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Mechanical  clip.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Soldered  clip.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

If  soldered  without  overheating  the  wire,  soldered  clip.  Prac- 
tically, we  use  mechanical  clinch  type.  John  J.  Stanley. 
Soldered — especially  for  high  speed.          C.  Loom  is  Allen. 

No.  17.  What  is  the  best  method  of  spacing  d.  c.  lightning  arresters  along 
the  line? 

We  have  spaced  two  to  the  mile,  except  in  especially  exposed 
places.  In  such  places  we  have  arbitrarily  placed  one  or  two 
arresters,  as  the  case  might  seem  to  warrant. 

C.  Loomis  Allen. 

1).  c.  lightning  arresters  should  be  located  on  the  feed-in  spans 
close  to  the  feeder.  As  the  power  house  is  supposed  to  be  suf- 
ficiently protected  by  devices  in  its  immedate  vicinity,  its  consider- 
ation is  eliminated,  the  line  arresters  being  intended  to  protect  the 
line  and  cars.  Lightning  following  the  feeder  would,  in  part, 
naturally  be  diverted  at  a  feed-in  span,  as  it  follows  the  flow  of 
line  current.  Lightning  following  the  trolley  wire,  unless  reaching 
the  ground  through  the  car,  would  have  no  other  outlet  except 
through  the  feed-in  spans.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

The  spacing  given  to  d.  c.  lightning  arresters  along  an  overhead 
line  should  depend  on  the  configuration  of  the  country  through 
which  the  line  runs  and  the  liability  to  trouble  from  lightning, 
which,  of  course,  is  much  greater  in  some  sections  of  the  country 
than  others.  Where  electric  storms  are  frequent  and  violent  the 
d.  c.  lightning  arresters  should  be  installed  about  eight  to  the  mile, 
but  under  any  conditions  I  consider  there  should  be  at  least  four 
to  the  mile.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

Depending  somewhat  on  conditions.  We  place  d.  c.  lightning 
arresters  about  1800  feet  apart.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Every  half  mile.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Determined  by  local  conditions.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  18.  How  many  lightning  arresters  to  the  mile  in  the  best  practice? 
Should  more  arresters  be  used  in  suburban  than  city  lines? 

Suburban  lines  are  generally  more  exposed  than  city  lines,  and 
should  have  more  arresters.  Six  arresters  per  mile  of  wire  is  a 
good  rule  to  follow  for  suburban  lines. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Mfg.  Co. 

Once  every  half  mile  in  any  case.         Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Every  half  mile.  John  J.  Stanley. 

(a)  Every  1000  ft.    (b)  Yes.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Three  arresters  to  the  mile  is  considered  good  practice  under 
ordinary  circumstances.  Suburban  lines,  as  they  traverse  country 
affording  fewer  diverting  agencies  than  does  a  city,  require  better 
protection  than  city  lines.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

Our  experience  has  shown  that  more  arresters  should  be  used 
in  suburban  work  than  on  city  lines.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 


Four  arresters  to  the  mile  on  suburban  lines  and  two  in  city 
lines.  Anonymous. 

No.  19.  Has  it  been  observed  that  the  presence  of  a  high-voltage  transmis- 
sion line  running  along  the  same  right  of  way  with  the  trolley  has  a  tendency 
to  relieve  the  d.  c.  line  from  some  of  the  lightning  disturbances  to  which  it 
would  normally  be  subject? 

Lightning  seems  to  prefer  the  company  of  a  high  voltage  trans- 
mission line  to  that  .of  a  d.  c.  line.  M.  J.  French,  Jr. 

We  have  experienced  less  trouble  on  our  d.  c.  line  where  it  is 
paralleled  by  the  20,000-volt  transmission  line.  The  transmission 
line  runs  on  the  poles  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  tracks  from  the 
feeder  line.  We  are  using  Garton  arresters,  and  our  replace- 
ments have  been  much  more  frequent  on  sections  not  occupied  by 
transmission  lines.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

Decidedly  so.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Determination  of  such  a  question  is  difficult.  No  such  tendency 
has  been  sufficiently  pronounced  to  be  apparent  to  the  writer. 

A.  S.  Kibbe. 

No.  WTe  are,  however,  inclined  to  believe  that  the  presence  of 
the  trolley  line  running  parallel  with  the  high  tension  has  some 
tendency  to  relieve  the  strains  on  the  high  tension,  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  insulation  of  the  trolley  is  much  lower  than  that  of  the 
high-tension  and  presents  a  much  easier  path  to  the  ground. 

B.  E.  Morrow. 
POWER  TRANSMISSION  LINE  CONSTRUCTION 
No.  20.    Information  is  requested  with  regard  to  the  use  of  aluminum  for 
a.  c.  high-tension  lines  and  for  d.  c.  trolley  feeders;  also  for  use  bare  in  under- 
ground conduit  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  rail  return? 

The  use  of  aluminum  for  a.  c.  high-tension  lines  and  for  bare  d.  c. 
trolley  feeders  has  given  considerable  trouble  on  account  of  its  low 
fusing  point.  Short  circuits  through  cobwebs,  kite  strings  and 
large  birds  on  lines  carrying  20,000-volt  a.  c.  have  resulted  in  the 
fusing  of  the  wires,  where  copper  conductors,  carrying  practically 
the  same  voltage,  have  withstood  short-circuiting  from  limbs  and 
scraps  of  fence  wire.  M.  J.  French. 

Results  good.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Aluminum  for  d.  c.  trolley  feeders  and  rail  return  not  recom- 
mended on  account  of  difficulty  in  making  proper  joints. 

John  J.  Stanley. 

(a)  Aluminum  conductors  for  these  purposes  have  been  in  use 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  seem  to  be  giving  satisfaction;  their 
use  is  too  general  to  require  any  extensive  argument  as  to  their 
wide  acceptance. 

(b)  Not  recommended.  The  increased  cost  of  conduit  for  the 
larger  conductor  will  probably  more  than  offset  the  saving  in 
aluminum  conductors.  No  advantage  gained  by  reason  of  reduced 
weight  of  the  conductors.  Aluminum  will  not  ordinarily  last  as 
long  as  copper  underground.  Henry  Floy. 

Aluminum  is  admirably  suited  to  long-distance  alternating-cur- 
rent transmission.  Its  weight  being  one-third  that  of  copper,  ad- 
mits the  use  of  fewer  poles  and  farther  spacing,  thereby  lessening 
the  first  cost  and  chances  of  insulator  leakage,  and  at  the  same  time 
maintaining  a  high  standard  of  line  construction.  The  aluminum 
on  the  market  to-day  is  about  20  per  cent  of  copper,  when  copper 
is  taken  at  98  per  cent,  hence,  to  secure  equal  conductivities  it  is 
necessary  to  increase  the  cross-section  of  aluminum  in  the  ratio  of 
1.58  to  1.  It  has  been  noticed  that  soon  after  erection  of  an  alu- 
minum line  the  wire  turns  black,  due  to  oxidation,  and  from  that 
time  no  apparent  change  takes  place.  In  an  instance  under  the 
writer's  observation  an  11,000-volt  aluminum  line  was  built  across 
the  tracks  of  a  steam  road,  and  at  a  point  some  few  hundred  yards 
distant  an  iron  telephone  lead  also  crossed  the  tracks,  both  lines 
being  some  40  ft.  above  the  rails.  It  has  been  noticed  that  the  iron 
wire  rapidly  deteriorated  under  the  action  of  the  sulphur  gases 
from  passing  locomotives,  while  the  aluminum  wires  have  suffered 
no  deleterious  effects.  Owing  to  its  extreme  lightness,  aluminum 
is  also  well  suited  for  use  as  trolley  feeders,  materially  lessening 
the  strain  on  poles  and  crossarms.  The  lack  of  experience  with 
the  use  of  bare  cables  in  underground  conduits  makes  the  ques- 
tion one  of  conjecture  to  the  writer,  but  from  the  nature  of  the 
metal  it  i<  hardly  likely  that  it  would  successfully  withstand  the 
action  of  the  salts,  acids  and  gases  to  which  it  would  be  subjected. 

Charles  E.  Waddell. 

Aluminum  wire  satisfactory  for  d.  c.  overhead  lines.  No  ex- 
perience as  rail  return  or  a.  c.  lines.  C.  E.  Roehl. 

The  writer  has  employed  aluminum  for  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  feeder 
lines  for  nearly  five  years  with  a  high  degree  of  satisfaction.  As 
compared  with  copper  conductors  of  equal  conductivity  they  possess 
the  advantages  of :  (1)  Lower  first  cost.  (2)  Less  liability  to  be 
stolen. 

The  principal  disadvantages  under  which  aluminum  labors  are: 
(3)  Lower  temperature  of  fusibility.  (4)  Higher  coefficient  of  ex- 
pansion. 

In  the  following  respects  they  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


equal:  (5)  Durability  and  cost  of  maintenance.  (6)  Liability  to 
damage  from  sleet.  (Aluminum  probably  enjoys  a  slight  advantage 
over  copper  in  this  respect.)  (7)  Cost  of  erection,  with  small  prob- 
able advantage  in  favor  of  aluminum.  (8)  Proportion  between 
new  and  scrap  values. 

A  large  proportion  of  the  difficulty  encountered  with  aluminum 
conductors  in  recent  years  is  attributable  to  failure  to  properly  pro- 
vide for  item  No.  4.  In  the  use  of  high-tension  conductors  of  all 
kinds  our  knowledge  of  the  requirements  has  failed  to  keep  pace 
with  the  rapid  increase  in  voltages  employed.  As  a  result  many 
high-tension  circuits  have  been  installed  with  too  small  a  space 
between  the  different  legs.  With  proper  provision  in  these  re- 
spects the  writer  believes  that  aluminum  will  not  suffer  in  com- 
parison with  other  metals.  In  a  word,  the  subject  resolves  itself 
into  a  question  of  comparative  cost  of  materials,  and  this  is,  of 
course,  determined  by  quotations  at  the  time  of  purchase. 

A.  S.  Kibbe. 

Aluminum  wire  has  a  conductivity  of  62  in  the  Matthiessen 
Standard  Scale,  tensile  strength  of  26,000  pounds  per  sq.  in.,  spe- 
cific gravity  of  2.68,  and  is  a  very  durable  metal  when  erected  on 
pole  lines.  It  is  put  on  the  market  only  in  the  form  of  stranded 
conductors.  Comparing  it  with  copper  conductors  of  97  con- 
ductivity, and  of  the  same  resistance  per  unit  of  length,  it  has 
1,565  times  the  cross-section,  1.25  times  the  diameter,  the  same 
strength  as  a  copper  conductor  of  40,000  lbs.  per  sq.  in.  ultimate 
and  .47  the  weight  of  the  copper  conductor.  Its  coefficient  of  ex- 
pansion is  about  one-third  more  than  that  of  copper  and  its  co- 
efficient of  temperature  resistance  is  the  same. 

From  inspection  of  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  practically  the 
same  results  are  obtained  either  with  aluminum  or  copper,  so  far 
as  concerns  the  two  principal  considerations  necessary  in  con- 
ductors for  use  on  a  pole  line,  i.  e.,  low  resistance  and  high 
strength.  The  principal  differences  are:  (1)  Aluminum  costs 
about  10  per  cent  less,  for  the  same  results.  (2)  The  aluminum 
weighs  less  than  one-half  as  much,  thereby  causing  an  additional 
saving  in  the  cost  of  transportation  and  in  maintenance  of  the 
poles,  pins  and  cross-arms.  (3)  On  account  of  its  greater  co- 
efficient of  expansion,  aluminum  has  a  maximum  sag  of  about 
20  per  cent  more  than  copper  in  spans  of  customary  length.  (4) 
Aluminum  cannot  be  readily  soldered,  and  mechanical  joints  are 
used  in  place  of  soldering.  (5)  On  account  of  its  greater  diam- 
eter, lead-covered  aluminum  cables  cost  more  than  lead-covered 
copper  cables.  (6)  On  account  of  its  chemical  nature,  aluminum 
is  almost  certain  to  be  corroded  if  placed  underground  without 
being  waterproofed. 

The  first  two  items  enumerated  above  constitute  distinct  ad- 
vantages fur  aluminum,  and  have  been  the  cause  of  the  fact  that 
many  thousands  of  miles  of  aluminum  conductors  have  been  in- 
stalled for  high-tension  transmission  and  for  railway  feeders, 
since  their  manufacture  began  in  1898.  The  two  most  notable  in- 
stances in  the  East  are  the  line  of  The  Niagara  Falls  Power  Com- 
pany, from  Niagara  Falls  to  Buffalo,  over  which  17.000  hp  has 
been  transmitted,  and  the  line  of  The  Shawinigan  Water  & 
Power  Company,  from  Shawinigan  Falls  to  Montreal,  on  which 
power  is  transmitted  for  80  miles  at  a  pressure  of  55.000  volts. 
The  earliest  installation  in  this  section  was  that  of  The  Hartford 
Electric  Light  Company,  of  36  miles  of  342,600  c.  m.  aluminum  in 
1900. 

The  third  item  enumerated  constitutes  a  disadvantage  where 
wires  must  be  crowded  closely  together  on  account  of  greater 
liability  of  wires  to  cross.  In  the  case  of  transmission  and  feeder 
systems,  this  slightly  greater  sag  makes  no  difference  whatever, 
except,  perhaps,  from  an  aesthetic  standpoint.  The  fourth  item 
once  was  a  very  serious  drawback  to  the  use  of  aluminum,  but  a 
variety  of  mechanical  joints  have  since  been  brought  out  by  the 
manufacturers  of  aluminum  wire,  which  are  so  effective  and  so 
readily  applied  that  what  was  once  a  disadvantage  lias  become 
decidedly  the  reverse. 

'1  he  method  of  splicing  conductors  of  smaller  size  than  No. 
0000  B.  &  S.  gage  is  to  twist  them  in  a  Mclntyre  joint.  Larger 
sizes  are  joined  by  means  of  a  right  and  left  handed  aluminum 
stud  which  screws  into  terminals  compressed  on  the  ends  of  the 
cable  in  the  factory.  A  good  emergency  joint  consists  of  the  ordi- 
nary dovetail  cable  splice,  without  solder.  Joints  are  also  made 
111  the  field  by  compressing  cast  sleeves  on  the  cable  by  means  of 
a  small  portable  hydraulic  jack,  the  ends  of  the  cable  butting  to- 
gether in  the  center  of  the  sleeve.  Tap  connections  are  made  by 
means  of  aluminum  clamps  which  bolt  together  on  the  cable,  one 
of  the  clamps  carrying  a  lug  into  which  the  tap  wire  is  soldered. 
This  piece  of  soldering  presents  no  difficulty,  because  the  inside 
of  the  lug  is  tinned  before  leaving  the  factory. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  items  show  the  impracticability  of  the  use  of 
aluminum  for  underground  work.  Copper  seems  to  be  the  only 
material  possessing  Hie  requisite  properties  for  such  work. 

William  L.  Robb. 


On  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company  lines  we 
have  a  three-phase,  20,000-volt  transmission  line  28.5  miles  in 
length.  Aluminum  cable  of  the  size  equivalent  to  No.  2  copper  is 
used.  When  the  line  was  originally  built  the  spacing  of  the  wires 
was  in  the  form  of  a  triangle,  24  ins.  on  each  side  of  the  triangle. 
During  eighteen  months'  operation  of  this  transmission  line,  after 
construction,  there  were  fifteen  short-circuits  on  the  line  that 
could  not  be  accounted  for.  After  going  into  the  matter  it  was 
determined  that  these  short-circuits  were  due  to  objects  coming  in 
contact  with  the  line,  such  as  limbs  or  brush,  rope,  kites,  and  even 
large  birds.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1904  the  spacing  was  changed 
from  24  ins.  to  52  ins.,  and  since  that  time  there  have  been  no 
short  circuits  on  the  line  that  have  not  been  accounted  for.  In  the 
winter  of  1903-1904  temperature  change  in  twenty-four  hours  in  this 
locality  would  range  from  23  degs.  above  zero  to  32  degs.  below 
zero,  and  in  one  instance  the  low  point  of  36  degs.  below  zero  was 
registered.  The  only  breaks  that  were  found  in  the  aluminum  line 
during  the  winter  were  at  points  in  the  line  that  had  been  weak- 
ened previously  by  some  of  the  unaccounted  for  short-circuits. 

C.  Loomis  Allen. 

No.  21.  What  are  the  most  efficient  methods  of  joining  the  main  con- 
ductors and  of  attaching  trolley  taps  to  the  main  feeders? 

In  the  case  of  copper  feeders  of  large  size  the  ends  of  the  cables 
are  very  often  joined  together  or  spliced  by  spreading  the  indi- 
vidual wires  composing  the  cables  for  a  foot  or  more  back  from 
the  end  and  braiding  or  twisting  the  wires  of  the  two  cables  to- 
gether and  then  soldering  and  taping.  This,  however,  while  it 
makes  a  first-class  joint  if  done  properly,  is  not  as  a  rule  given  the 
necessary  care  and  the  joint  has  a  high  resistance.  Another 
method  is  to  make  use  of  a  feed  wire  splicer,  which  makes  it 
necessary  simply  to  bare  5  ins.  or  6  ins.  of  the  end  of  each  cable, 
insert  them  in  the  splicer,  heat  the  splicer  and  fill  with  solder. 
This  produces  a  strong,  efficient  and  neat  union  of  the  two  cables. 
In  case  of  high-tension  lines  where  small  copper  wires  or  cables 
are  used,  probably  one  of  the  best  methods  is  to  use  a  connector 
similar  to  the  soldered  connectors  used  in  joining  the  ends  of  trol- 
ley wire  or  some  of  the  various  forms  of  twist  connectors.  To 
tap  the  feed  wire  to  the  trolley  wire  can  be  very  readily  done  by 
soldering  a  1/0  or  2/0  insulated  wire  to  the  feeder  wire,  and 
bringing  the  tap  out  to  the  trolley  wire  alongside  to  the  feeder 
wire,  and  bringing  the  tap  out  to  the  trolley  wire  alongside  of 
the  span  wire  supporting  the  trolley.  The  tap  is  connected  to  the 
trolley  by  means  of  a  feeder  ear  of  any  of  the  various  forms.  If 
the  mechanical  ear  is  used,  several  taps  should  be  made  to  the 
trolley  at  several  consecutive  poles  in  order  to  get  the  full  benefit 
of  the  capacity  of  the  feeder,  as  the  contact  which  will  be  obtained 
between  the  mechanical  clamp  and  the  trolley  wire  is  very  liable 
to  be  less  than  the  capacity  of  the  tap  itself.  Probably  a  neater  ar- 
rangement would  be  to  substitute  an  insulated  copper  wire  for  the 
span  wire,  attaching  one  end  to  the  feeder  wire  and  baring  the 
insulated  wire  directly  above  the  trolley  wire  and  suspending  the 
trolley  wire  by  means  of  one  of  the  various  forms  of  feed-in- 
hangers  which  resembles  an  ordinary  insulated  hanger  without 
the  insulation.  In  bracket  construction  similar  methods  as  just 
given  hold  good  G.  A.  Mead. 

Clamps — if  current  density  is  not  too  high.  The  long  splice  is 
always  satisfactory.  C.  E.  Roehl. 

For  feeder  taps  the  most  satisfactory  device  is  a  two-piece 
aluminum  clamp  with  socket  and  set  screws  for  tap  and  bolts  to 
clamp  the  other  end  to  the  main  feedc. 

For  joints  in  main  conductors,  the  writer  has  employed  a  large 
variety  of  devices,  hut  he  has  found  nothing  so  satisfactory  as  a 
span  wire  splice.  This  is  made  by  unravelling  the  ends  of  cables 
for  a  length  of  eighteen  to  thirty  inches,  depending  upon  the  size 
of  the  cable.  The  ends  are  then  enmeshed  in  each  other  and  the 
strands  of  each  cable  flattened  out  along  the  other  end  and  shaped 
up  smoothly.  One  of  the  wires  is  then  wrapped  from  four  to  ten 
times  around  the  center  of  the  joint.  A  second  wire  is  then 
started  lapping  the  end  of  the  first  one.  The  latter  is  then  cut 
close  off  at  the  lap,  the  end  turned  over  and  under,  and  the  wrap- 
ping of  the  second  wire  continued  for  the  same  number  of  turns 
as  the  first,  and  the  process  repeated  until  all  of  the  strands  have 
been  wrapped  in  succession.  The  ends  of  the  last  two  are  twisted 
together  and  turned  down,  and  the  result  is  a  smooth  tapered  joint 
which  is  hardly  perceptible  in  hare  cable,  and  after  tapping  properly 
cannot  be  detected  in  insulated  cable.  The  conductivity  of  the 
joint  is  about  25  per  cent  in  excess  of  that  of  an  equal  length  of 
the  unbroken  cable,  and  it  is  stronger  mechanically  than  the  un- 
broken cable.  In  thirty-seven  strand  cable  the  joint  consumes  a 
length  of  2  ft.  off  each  end  joined.  A.  S.  Kibbe. 

See  No.  20  for  Dr.  William  L.  Robb's  answer. 

Soldered  joint  on  feeder  ear  Charles  k"  Stearns. 

For  small  wires  the  most  easily  applied  and  the  mosl  satis- 
factory splice  is  the  Mclntyre  twist  sleeve;  for  large  cables  the 


4io 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


single  piece  and  the  three  piece  compression  joints  make  neat, 
satisfactory  and  good  electrical  and  mechanical  unions. 

Charles  E.  Waddell. 

(a)  The  well-known  mechanical  Mclntyre  joint  for  size  not  too 
stiff  to  be  twisted,  namely  up  to  about  No.  0000.  For  larger  sizes 
aluminum  "compression  joints"  are  furnished  by  the  cable  manu- 
facturers. The  "joints"  consist  of  two  heavy  sleeves  joined  by 
screwing  into  their  terminals  a  right  and  left  handed  stud.  Each 
sleeve  is  put  on  the  end  of  two  cables  to  be  joined  by  hydraulic 
pressure,  which  causes  the  metal  of  the  sleeve  and  cable  to  "flow" 
together,  making  a  joint  with  two  or  three  times  the  conductivity 
of  the  cable  itself.  The  ordinary  wireman's  splice,  made  by  twist- 
ing the  ends  of  the  cable  together,  may  be  used,  but  there  results 
the  loss  of  several  feet  of  conductor  in  making  this  joint,  which  is 
objectionable.  Furthermore,  the  joint  is  a  purely  mechanical 
one. 

(b)  Use  a  copper  tap  from  the  trolley  to  the  feeder,  and  con- 
nect to  the  latter  by  means  of  a  "tapoff  joint,"  namely,  a  two  part 
aluminum  plate  clamp,  secured  to  the  feeder  by  set  screws.  The 
copper  tap  is  inserted  in  a  lug  of  the  clamp  and  secured  by  set 
screws  and  solder.  Henry  Floy. 

No.  22.  What  are  the  advantages  and  the  disadvantages  in  the  general  use 
of  aluminum  for  such  purposes? 

For  high-tension,  a.  c.  work:  Disadvantage — Low  fusing  point. 
Advantages — Minimum  mechanical  strain  on  pins  and  insulators 
and  line.  Lightness  and  method  of  joining  facilities;  quick  re- 
pairs, one  man  being  able  to  carry  material  and  make  repairs  in 
a  few  moments.  C.  Loom  is  Allen. 

See  No.  20  for  answers  by  Dr.  William  L.  Robb  and  A.  S. 
Kibbe. 

Advantages — Weight,  cost.  Disadvantages — Size,  joints,  sub- 
ject to  corrosion  from  gases;  high  expansion  coefficient;  fuses 
readily  on  short  circuit.  C.  E.  Roehl. 

(a)  Advantages — (1)  The  price,  as  aluminum  will  be  delivered 
on  the  ground  for  about  10  per  cent  less  than  copper  having  the 
same  conductivity.  (2)  Lightness,  as  aluminum  will  have  about 
47  per  cent  of  the  weight  of  copper  for  the  same  conductivity, 
strength  of  the  two  conductors  being  about  the  same,  thus  per- 
mitting greater  spans  and  reducing  cost  of  line  construction. 

(b)  Disadvantages — (1)  The  aluminum  will  have  about  20  per 
cent  greater  sag  for  the  same  span,  which,  under  some  circum- 
stances, is  objectionable.  (2)  The  aluminum  conductor  is  usually 
made  as  a  cable,  in  all  sizes,  whereas  in  the  smaller  sizes  the  cop- 
per is  a  single  conductor.  In  case  of  short-circuit  or  arc,  a  cable 
will  burn  off  more  easily  than  a  solid  conductor  of  the  same  con- 
ductivity. (3)  The  greatest  objection  to  the  use  of  aluminum 
feeders  in  connection  with  trolley  work  is  the  liability  to  galvanic 
action  between  the  copper  tap  and  the  aluminum  feeder  at  their 
point  of  juncture.  If,  however,  the  tap-off  clamp  has  its  lug 
turned  down  toward  the  ground  the  moisture  will  drip  off,  reduc- 
ing this  risk  to  a  minimum  ;  moreover,  the  interior  surface  of  the 
lug,  if  tinned,  as  would  be  the  case  when  soldered,  will  almost 
entirely  prevent  galvanic  action.  The  objections  argued  as  to  the 
effects  of  greater  wind  pressures,  damage  from  sleet,  increased 
charging  currents,  mutual  induction,  corrosion,  etc.,  do  'not  amount 
to  anything  worthy  of  consideration,  as  a  matter  of  practical  ex- 
perience. Henry  Floy. 

The  principal  disadvantage  possessed  by  aluminum — and  the 
objection  is  more  theoretical  than  actual — is  that  it  has  a  greater 
coefficient  of  expansion  than  copper.  In  high-tension  work  it  is 
therefore  necessary  to  space  the  wires  a  little  farther  apart. 
Briefly,  in  conclusion — Of  the  60  or  70  miles  of  high-tension  alu- 
minum lines  and  2  or  more  miles  of  trolley  feeders  that  have  been 
under  the  writer's  direct  observation  for  the  past  four  years,  it  may 
be  said  that  the  metal  has  been  perfectly  satisfactory ;  that  it  is 
easily  erected  and  maintained,  and  that  the  building  gangs  like  to 
handle  it.  Experience  demonstrates  that  extraordinary  care  is 
not  required  in  the  erection  of  an  aluminum  line,  nor  is  the  ques- 
tion of  sag  of  any  practical  consequence ;  the  line  is  usually  drawn 
sufficiently  taut  to  present  a  pleasing  appearance  and  the  effect  of 
wide  temperature  changes  has  not  proved  detrimental. 

Charles  E.  Waddell. 

No.  23.  What  is  the  maximum  distance  direct  current  can  be  advan- 
tageously transmitted  for  the  operation  of  interurban  cars 

The  maximum  distance  direct  current  can  be  advantageously 
transmitted  for  the  operation  of  interurban  cars  depends  upon  the 
relation  of  the  cost  of  generating  electric  current — including  all 
fixed  charges — to  the  cost  of  copper  feeder  lines.  Given  cost  of  all 
the  items  which  go  to  make  up  the  cost  of  producing  power,  equa- 
tions can  easily  be  written  which  will  give  the  maximum  distance 
for  any  specific  case.  M.  G.  Starrett. 

Five  to  8  miles.  John  J.  Stanley. 

From  s  to  7  miles,  depending  on  the  frequency  of  the  service 
and  the  grades  of  the  line.    It  is  a  question  of  balancing  the 


interest  on  the  copper  investment  and  the  saving  in  line  losses  per 
year.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

The  maximum  distance  to  which  direct  current  may  be  trans- 
mitted advantageously  is  not  a  fixed  quantity,  but  is  one  which 
must  be  determined  for  each  particular  set  of  conditions  en- 
countered. It  depends  upon  the  number  and  character  of  cars 
to  be  operated,  grades  encountered,  service  required,  cost  of  con- 
ductors and  cost  of  construction,  maintenance  and  operation  of 
power  plants.  Generally  speaking,  of  interurban  roads  handling  a 
moderate  business  10  to  12  miles  will  be  found  the  commercial 
limit  without  the  use  of  a  booster.  The  writer  has  operated  cars 
by  direct  current  for  a  distance  of  30  miles  from  the  power  station, 
but  in  cases  of  emergency  only,  and  the  number  of  cars  was  very 
much  reduced  below  that  required  by  the  regular  schedule. 

A.  S.  Kibbe. 

SELECTION  OF  ROLLING  STOCK 
No.  24.    Have  the  semi-convertible  cars  given  as  good  satisfaction  for  sum- 
mer service  as  the  open  cars,  and  to  what  extent  have  double-truck  cars  re- 
placed single-truck  for  strictly  city  service? 

Semi-convertible  cars  give  as  good  service,  if  not  better,  than 
open  cars,  particularly  on  account  of  freedom  from  accidents  to 
passengers.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

Yes,  practically  replaced.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No  semi-convertibles  for  us  any  more.  We  are  replacing  single 
with  double  trucks.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

In  the  first  place,  this  question  is,  until  analyzed,  difficult  to 
answer.  There  is  at  the  present  time  but  one  make  of  semi-con- 
vertible car — i.  e.,  the  car  original  in  name  and  original  in  con- 
struction to  the  degree  of  providing  interior  length  of  seating 
arrangement  transversely  and  aisle  width  equivalent  to  within  4 
ins.  of  the  overall  width  of  the  car  body  at  belt  rail,  and  at  the 
same  time  providing  for  opening  the  entire  window  space  between 
posts,  rails  and  letter  board.  I  appreciate  that  there  are  cars  of 
many  makes  masquerading  under  the  alias  "Semi-Convertible," 
but  if  you  investigate  you  will  find  in  each  and  every  instance  a 
case  of  the  old-timed,  old-fashioned  car  of  the  drop  sash  variety 
and  the  "semi-convertible"  feature  is  semi-convertible  in  name 
only. 

Now,  having  described  what  I  am  writing  about,  I  will  proceed 
to  the  question.  The  "semi-convertible"  car  has  in  many  instances 
given  not  only  as  great,  but  greater  satisfaction  than  open  cars ; 
where  this  satisfaction  is  apparent  is  in  cases  where  suburban 
runs  are  concerned,  exclusive  of  excursion  travel.  Generally 
speaking,  all  suburban  roads  operate  at  a  rate  of  speed  at  times 
from  20  to  30  m.  p.  h.,  and  even  more.  Riding  in  a  typical  open 
car  at  any  such  speed,  irrespective  of  the  actual  temperature,  is 
highly  uncomfortable,  owing  to  the  excessive  breezes.  Side  run- 
ning-board steps  from  the  standpoint  of  accidents  are  an  ob- 
jection (some  city  railways  even  now  going  to  the  semi-convertible 
car  on  this  account  alone),  even  at  the  average  rate  of  speed  of 
city  cars ;  they  are  infinitely  more  dangerous  on  high-speed  su- 
burban roads,  and  more  seriously  uncomfortable  for  egress  and 
ingress  where  "slopping"  of  the  roadway  sometimes  fixes  the 
starting  or  landing  point  for  a  passenger  several  inches  lower  than 
the  head  of  the  rail. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  state  that  the  semi-convertible  car  will  en- 
tirely supplant  the  open  car.  In  some  cities,  even  without  consid- 
eration of  the  accident  portion  of  the  proposition,  open  cars  will 
forever  be  a  factor ;  the  average  city  populace  will  not  accept  the 
"large  window,  virtually  an  open  car"  gold  brick,  and  may  insist 
upon  the  open  car  to  the  point  of  becoming  demonstrative.  On 
the  other  hand,  for  excursion  and  park  travel,  I  doubt  the  economy 
of  hauling  the  crowds  naturally  assembling  in  the  semi-convertible 
car  when  it  can  be  so  much  more  cheaply  handled  with  the  large 
seating  capacity  open  car.  My  answer  briefly  is  both  "Yes"  and 
"No"  under  the  condition  explained. 

Double-truck  cars  have  very  largely  replaced  single-truck  cars 
for  city  service — more  largely,  possibly,  than  many  people  im- 
agine. I  know  positively  of  the  product  of  one  quite  large  car 
builder  who  ten  years  ago  was  turning  out  go  per  cent  single-truck 
cars,  and  10  per  cent  double-truck  cars ;  for  the  last  three  years 
the  average  has  been  directly  reversed  to  over  90  per  cent  double- 
truck  cars  and  less  than  10  per  cent  single-truck  cars,  and  I  have 
no  reason  to  believe  the  situation  is  different  with  the  output  of 
cars  by  builders  other  than  the  one  I  have  in  mind.  Within  the 
past  eighteen  months  two  large  systems  in  the  East  have  "ex- 
perimented" in  going  from  double-truck  cars  back  to  single-truck 
cars  under  grade  and  power  conditions  a  trifle  more  severe  than 
anything  I  know  of,  and  I  am  watching  it  carefully.  Before  the 
publication  of  the  next  question  box  there  may  be  some  interesting 
developments  in  this  direction.  W.  H.  Heulings.  Jr. 

Referring  to  semi-convertible  cars — For  high-speed  suburban 
and  long  interurban  roads,  open  cars  with  side  steps  would  not  be 
popular.    The  writer  has  built  semi-convertible  cars  since  1880,  of 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


411 


various  types  and  descriptions.  He  was  instrumental  in  assisting 
Mr.  Brownell  in  getting  up  the  first  type  of  semi-convertible  cars 
and  has  had  all  opportunities  to  follow  the  semi-convertible  cars 
since  that  time,  and  there  is  no  doubt  in  his  mind  that  the  semi- 
convertible  cars  will  increase  in  popularity,  especially  for  long 
stretches  and  high-speed  interurban  service ;  and  the  simplest  in 
construction  that  will  neither  disfigure  nor  interfere  with  the 
practical  construction  of  the  car  will  be  the  winner.  This  ques- 
tion in  reality  can  better  be  answered  by  a  railroad  operator  than 
by  a  car  builder.  Peter  M.  Kling. 

I  have  found  that  semi-convertible  cars  have  given  universal 
satisfaction  to  the  public,  to  our  employees  and  to  our  company, 
and  I  would  prefer  them,  in  this  climate,  to  open  cars.  In  summer 
they  are  as  pleasant  and  airy  as  an  open  car,  having  the  further 
advantage  that  if  a  sudden  change  of  temperature  or  a  storm  oc- 
curs the  car  can  be  made  into  a  closed  car  quickly.  In  winter  they 
have  been  found  to  be  warm  and  comfortable,  and  no  difficulty 
whatever  to  heat  them. 

At  all  times  you  have  a  good  broad  aisle  in  the  car,  without  re- 
ducing the  width  of  your  seats,  and  they  are  considerably  lighter 
than  a  box  car  of  the  same  length  of  body.  On  the  Utica  &  Mo- 
hawk Valley  Railway  we  have  had  them  in  use  since  the  fall  of 
1901,  and  have  found  them  so  desirable  that  our  orders  for  new 
cars,  since  the  first  ones  were  placed  in  operation,  have  been  to 
duplicate  our  first  orders.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

No.  25.  Has  any  practical  type  of  power  brake  been  developed  to  take  the 
place  of  air-brakes? 

The  Westinghouse  traction  brake  is  to  our  minds  the  most  prac- 
tical type  of  power  brake  developed  to  take  the  place  of  the  air 
brake  for  electric  equipment.  F.  W.  Sargent. 

From  what  I  have  seen  lately,  I  am  satisfied  that  there  will  be 
a  hand  brake  exhibited  at  the  convention  that  will  be  of  great  in- 
terest to  railroad  managers  and  operators.  This  brake  has  great 
advantages  over  the  ordinary  hand  brake.  It  will  apply  the  brake 
100  per  cent  quicker  than  any  other  hand  brake  on  the  market,  and 
will  furnish  100  per  cent  more  power  in  stopping  the  car. 

Peter  M.  Kling. 

If  you  believe  the  inventors — Yes.    From  experience — No. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

Fair  results  from  a  rope  drum  brake  developed  by  a  local  in- 
ventor. John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  26.  What  is  the  difference  in  current  consumption  of  two  and  four- 
motor  equipments? 

Sixteen-ton  four-motor  equipment  required  2.70  kw  per  car  mile ; 
ten-bench  open  car  requires  1.67  kw  per  car  mile.  Both  in  city  ser- 
vice. Anonymous. 

Fifteen  to  20  per  cent  more  current  for  the  same  weight  of  car  or 
load  and  same  speed.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

With  the  same  weight  of  car  body  and  trucks  and  same  horse- 
power rating  of  motors,  the  current  consumption  will  be  approxi- 
mately 10  per  cent  less  for  two  motors  than  for  four,  owing  to 
lower  weight  and  higher  efficiency  of  larger  motors. 

Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company. 

No.  27.    What  is  the  best  method  of  determining  the  life  of  motor  parts? 

By  mileage  record.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Generally  from  record  of  car-miles  run. 

John  J.  Stanley. 
By  numbering  the  parts  and  keeping  a  card  record  of  the  repairs 
on  each  car.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

No.  28.  What  type  of  snow-plow  has  given  the  best  satisfaction  for  city 
streets 

McGuire.  John  J.  Stanley. 

Side  wing  plow.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

On  streets  having  single  track — the  nose  plow.  On  streets  hav- 
ing double  track — the  shear  plow.  The  plow  that  has  proven  best 
to  me  is  the  steel  plow  built  by  Smith  6k  Wallace.  The  principle 
of  the  plow  is  to  fight  or  buck  the  snow  with  the  truck  and  not 
with  the  body.  If  there  is  any  room  to  push  the  snow  from  the 
track  this  plow  will  do  it.  In  this  locality,  in  the  winter  last 
past,  we  had  142  days  consecutive  sleighing.  We  think  we  know 
something  about  snow  and  snow  plows. 

C.  Loomis  Allen. 

No.  29.  (a)  Are  electric  heaters  economical?  (b)  What  other  system  is 
more  efficient  and  convenient? 

fa)  Electric  heaters  have  not  proven  economical  with  us.  (b) 
Hot  water  heat  is  much  more  economical  and  efficient,  though 
possibly  not  quite  so  convenient  to  operate. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 
(a)  If  by  economical  is  meant  the  measure  of  actual  cost  of 
heating  cars  as  compared  with  other  methods  of  heating  the  same 
cars,  electricaLheaters  are  not  economical.  But  when  the  other 
features  of  electric  heating  are  taken  into  consideration,  viz.:  Ab- 
sence of  coal  gas,  ashes  and  dirt  from  the  car;  the  saving  in  room 


by  using  the  electric  heaters,  and  the  ease  with  which  the  heat  is 
cut  off  or  turned  on  to  the  car;  these  are  the  features  which  more 
than  counterbalance  the  actual  increase  in  the  cost  of  producing 
heat,  (b)  In  my  opinion  there  is  no  other  system  more  efficient, 
when  all  things  are  considered,  and  none  as  convenient. 

M.  G.  Starrett. 

(b)  Hot  water  gives  a  more  even  temperature  per  car  and  prob- 
ably at  less  cost.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

(a)  No.  (b)  Hot  water  more  efficient,  but  not  so  convenient 
as  electric  heaters.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

(a)  No.    (b)  None  so  convenient.    Efficiency  (  ?). 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

(a)  No.    (b)  Stoves.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  30.  Have  any  experiments  been  made,  or  any  one  had  experience  with 
hot-water  heaters,  and  if  so,  what  has  been  the  difference  in  expense  between 
them  and  electric  heaters? 

Yes,  the  difference  is  very  marked,  and  entirely  in  favor  of  hot 
water  heat.     (See  answer  to  Question  29.) 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 
Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Street  Railway  Company  uses  hot  water 
heaters.  Charles  K.  Stearns. 

No.  31.  Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  maintenance,  which  is  preferable: 
the  split  or  solid  gears? 

Solid  gears. 

Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing  Company. 
BLOCK-SIGNAL  SYSTEM 
No.  32.    Which  is  more  reliable:    automatic  signals  or  those  manipulated 
by  hand? 

Automatic,  properly  installed  and  regularly  inspected  and  main- 
tained. Charles  K.  Stearns. 

An  automatic  signal  that  sets  "danger"  when  out  of  order  is  as 
reliable  as  hand.    Otherwise  hand  signals.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

I  believe  that  signals  operated  by  hand  are  the  better  kind.  We 
have  never  had  any  experience  with  automatic  signals,  but  have 
operated  hand  signals  for  several  years  and  they  have  proven  very 
satisfactory.  I  would  prefer  them  to  automatic  signals,  as  the 
motorman  is  compelled  to  stop  in  order  to  operate  the  hand  signal 
and  depends  solely  upon  himself  for  the  proper  operation  of  the 
same,  and  not  upon  the  car,  trolley  or  other  mechanical  device 
which  miy  get  out  of  order  as  is  the  case  with  automatic  signals. 

Frank  J.  Gerdon. 

No.  33.  Is  there  a  satisfactory  automatic  block-signal  system  used  that  will 
take  care  of  any  number  of  cars  passing  through  the  same  block? 

A  signal  manufactured  by  Eureka  Automatic  Electric  Signal 
Company,  Lansford,  Pa.,  claims  to  do  so.  It  might  be  well  to 
have  a  representative  of  that  company  answer  the  question. 

W.  H.  Pouch. 

Almost  every  record  of  "patents  issued"  which  appears  in  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  contains  one  or  more  patents  of  block 
signals  for  electric  railways.  Hundreds  of  patents  have  been  issued, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say,  from  a  standpoint  of  practical  and  economical 
railroading,  90  per  cent  of  them  are  absolutely  worthless.  Almost 
without  exception,  electric  railway  signal  companies  have  failed  to 
receive  sufficient  encouragement  to  warrant  any  extensive  or  per- 
manent organization.  They  come  and  go  and  are  soon  forgotten, 
simply  because  their  signals  fail  to  cover  the  absolutely  essential 
requirements.  A  reliable  counting  device  which  protects  a  plu- 
rality of  cars  passing  through  a  block  together  has  been  the  worst 
stumbling  block  so  far ;  another,  is  the  circuit-maker  or  device  for 
operating  the  controller  when  the  cars  enter  or  leave  the  block. 
These  two.  which  are  important  features  of  "Eureka  Signals"  are 
proving  highly  satisfactory  in  service,  and  this  is  due  entirely  to  a 
total  lack  of  complications  in  either  mechanical  or  electrical  con- 
struction. 

The  circuit-maker  has  no  mechanically  operating  parts,  and  the 
counting  device  in  the  controller  is  a  ratchet-wheel  which  operates 
forward  one  notch  for  each  car  entering  the  block,  and  backward 
one  notch  for  each  car  which  leaves  the  block.  The  targets  are 
conveniently  placed  so  that  the  motorman  always  gets  his  signal 
in  front  of  his  car.  Intermediate  targets  are  also  placed  in  each 
block.  These  intermediate  targets  are  in  series  with  the  target 
which  allows  the  car  to  enter  the  block.  If,  for  any  reason,  a  car 
enters  the  block  against  cars  already  in  the  block,  the  intermedi- 
ate targets  are  set  to  danger,  warning  the  motorman,  even  though 
he  is  half  way  through  the  block. 

Points  to  be  emphasized:  Positive  in  operation.  Reliable  in  all 
kinds  of  weather.  Regular  cars  need  signals  only;  extra  cars 
can  be  sent  out  and  called  in  without  notice  to  other  cars  on  line. 
Targets  indicate  direction  cars  are  moving.  Any  number  of  cars 
can  follow  each  other  through  a  block.  First  car  in  sets  "control 
target"  at  near  end  of  block  and  "danger  target"  at  distance  end  of 
block.    Last  car  out  sets  the  signals  to  "clear." 

A  great  deal  of  time  has  been  spent  developing  and  improving 
"Eureka  Signals,"  and  to-day  an  installation  can  be  furnished  which 


412  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


covers  all  requirements  and  is  at  the  same  time  comparatively 
inexpensive. 

Eureka  Automatic  Electric  Signal  Company. 

No.  34.    Are  telephonic  train  orders  satisfactory? 

We  have  used  the  telephone  for  ten  years,  and  never  have  we 
had  a  case  of  misunderstanding  the  orders.  In  connection  with  a 
dupliograph  would  consider  it  perfectly  reliahle. 

W.  H  Pouch. 

Yes.  If  triplicate  records  in  the  telephone  booths  are  regularly 
kept  and  inspected  by  the  dispatcher  every  day. 

Charles  K.  Stearns. 
They  are  to  us.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

In  my  opinion  telephone  train  orders  would  not  prove  entirely 
satisfactory.  It  seeems  to  me  there  would  be  great  possibility  for 
a  misunderstanding  of  01  ders,  especially  during  cold  or  stormy 
weather.  In  the  event  of  trouble  it  would  also  be  very  difficult 
to  get  at  the  facts  of  the  case,  as  there  would  simply  be  one  man's 
word  against  another's  Frank  J.  Gerdon. 

OPERATION. 
ACCIDENT  DEPARTMENT 
No.   35.    Where  and  when  should  derailing  switches  be  used,  excluding 
steam  railroad  crossings? 

I  lerailing  switches,  besides  being  used  at  steam  railway  crossings 
at  grade,  should  be  used  where  practicable  on  any  grade  above  8 
per  cent  where  there  is  danger,  should  a  car  become  unmanageable 
on  the  grade,  of  this  car  plunging  down  an  embankment,  colliding 
with  a  car  on  another  line  or  running  into  buildings  on  the  street. 
Care  should  be  taken,  however,  that  the  derailing  switch  should  be 
so  constructed  that  the  car,  instead  of  being  simply  diverted  from 
the  main  rail,  should  be  carried  up  a  sufficient  grade  in  the  oppo- 
site direction  to  check  its  momentum.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

All  railway  crossings  at  grade  should  be  protected  by  (lerailing 
switches;  also  such  other  points  as  local  conditions  may  require. 

Frank  J.  Gerdon. 

In  most  cases,  steam  railroad  crossings  should  be  protected  by 
derailing  switches  placed  yc,  ft.  from  the  first  rail  of  steam  railroad 
track.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  36.  Give  experience  with  accidents  with  derailing  switches. 
We  have  had  no  accidents  at  derailing  switches,  but  at  one  time 
we  had  a  narrow  escape.  At  that  time  there  was  installed  on  the 
I  lagaman  Line  at  the  foot  of  an  8  per  cent  grade  a  derailing  switch 
which  was  closed  by  the  conductor  when  the  car  was  descending 
the  grade.  During  a  sleet  storm  the  rail  was  in  a  very  had  condi- 
tion, and  the  crew  of  the  car  ascending  the  grade,  being  aware  of 
this  fact,  closed  the  derail  and  left  it  closed.  The  car  descending 
the  grade  became  unmanageable,  due  to  some  trouble  with  the 
brakes,  and  passed  over  the  derail  at  a  high  rate  of  speed.  If  this 
derail  had  been  open  the  car  undoubtedly  would  have  gone  into  one 
of  the  line  poles  and  caused  a  serious  accident.  This  derail  at  that 
time  was  not  furnished  with  a  track  running  up  a  grade  in  the 
reverse  direction  in  order  to  stop  the  momentum  of  any  car  which 
would  become  unmanageable  on  the  grade. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Muring  the  year  ending  June  30,  TQ04.  we  had  forty-nine  cases  of 
cars  leaving  the  track  at  the  derailer.  Of  these  forty-nine  cases 
forty-four  have  resulted  from  the  neglect  of  the  employee  to  hold 
the  derailer  handle  fixmh  until  the  car  had  passed  the  switch, 
three  have  been  the  result  of  the  motorman  forgetting  the  location 
of  the  same,  and  two  the  result  of  the  conductor  dropping  the  handle 
tu  avoid  a  possible  collision  with  a  steam  train.  The  number  of 
claims  for  personal  injury  caused  by  cars  leaving  the  track  at  the 
derailing  switch  has  been  very  small ;  in  fact,  there  have  been  only 
two  cases  of  personal  injury  from  this  cause  during  the  period 
above  mentioned.  There  has.  however,  been  considerable  damage 
done  tu  the  property  of  others,  such  as  broken  pavement  or  curb- 
stone, a  broken  crossing  gate  or  collision  with  vehicles  from  the 
sudden  and  unexpected  derailment  of  the  car.  There  is  one  objec- 
tion, however,  to  the  derailer  that  is  of  considerable  moment,  and 
that  is  the  accident  happening  from  passengers  getting  off  the  car 
as  the  same  is  about  to  start,  during  the  absence  of  the  conductor 
at  the  handle.  On  a  closed  vestibuled  car  it  is  physically  impossible 
fur  the  motorman  to  see  whether  the  rear  platform  and  steps  are 
clear  without  getting  off  his  car,  and  this  is  more  especially  true 
when  the  aisle  is  crowded  or  the  front  vestibule  curtained  at  night. 
We  have  had  several  instances  of  passengers  having  been  in  the 
act  of  Stepping  from  the  rear  platform  to  the  lower  step  in  alighting, 
entirely  out  of  the  line  of  vision  of  the  motorman  on  the  front  end 
of  the  car  or  the  conductor  at  the  derailer  handle,  when  the  car 
started,  and  they  were  ihrown  to  the  ground.  As  far  as  the  pur- 
pose for  which  the  derailer  was  invented  is  concerned,  it  practi- 
cally eliminates  the  possibility  of  a  collision  between  an  electric 
car  and  a  steam  train.  R.  B.  Hamilton. 

Very  few  accidents  occur  at  derailing  switches  other  than  derail- 
ment of  car.  T-  E.  Mitten. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 

No.  37.  Have  you  used  the  premium  system  with  your  employees  for 
avoiding  accidents;  if  so,  what  percentage  have  the  accidents  been  reduced? 

We  have  used  the  premium  system  with  our  employees;  a  slight 
decrease  in  accidents  resulted.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  38.  Has  not  the  practice  of  giving  premiums  to  conductors  and  motor- 
men  for  avoiding  accidents  made  them  careless  in  reporting  slight  accidents? 

Under  the  system  of  giving  premiums,  trainmen  are  inclined  to 
be  careless  in  reporting  accidents.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  39.    What  is  the  best  method  of  training  employees  to  avoid  accidents.' 

The  best  method  of  training  employees  to  avoid  accident  is  to 
take  up  each  accident  immediately  after  it  has  occurred  and  fix  the 
responsibility  definitely  after  careful  investigation.  Meetings  of 
the  men  should  be  held  and  these  things  should  be  discussed,  so 
that  all  will  be  fully  conversant  with  the  rules  of  operation  and 
what  is  expected  of  a  man  who  is  in  responsible  charge  of  a  car. 
Too  much  care  cannot  be  used  in  the  selection  of  employees  and  in 
their  training  and  examination  in  the  operating  rules. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 
The  best  method  of  training  employees  to  avoid  accidents  is  care- 
ful supervision  and  the  administering  of  punishment  for  the  slight- 
est infraction  of  the  rules.  T.  E.  Mitten. 
CAR  HOUSES 
No.  40..    What  is  the  best  design  for  a  car  house? 

Pits  all  over  and  twice  as  large  as  service  calls  for. 

Anonymous. 

Fireproof  construction,  concrete  and  steel,  subdivided  so  as  not 
to  include  more  than  5000  sq.  ft.  of  floor  space. 

John  J.  Stanley. 

EMPLOYEES 

No.  41.  What  has  been  the  benefit,  if  any,  of  forming  an  association  among 
employees? 

The  principal  benefit  in  forming  an  association  among  the  em- 
ployees is  that  the  officials  and  the  men  can  come  to  know  one  an- 
other in  a  friendly  and  social  way,  and  are  thus  enabled  to  take  up 
a  great  many  subjects  in  an  informal  way  which  are  a  benefit  to  all 
concerned.  The  employees  who  are  banded  together  to  advance 
the  interests  of  the  corporation  for  which  they  are  working  and  to 
mutually  protect  themselves  against  sickness  and  accident  take 
more  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  road  than  if  they  were  simply 
working  as  individuals.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

A  good  thing  here.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

(1)  To  assist  members  of  an  association  in  times  of  sickness  and 
death  in  such  a  way  that  the  afflicted  will  realize  it  is  not  charity, 
but  a  duty,  that  the  association  has  to  perform.  (2)  To  promote 
good  fellowship  among  the  employees.  (3)  To  throw  in  the  way 
of  members  of  the  association  a  few  periodicals  that  will  show  to 
them  that  there  is  a  future  ahead  of  them  if  they  will  but  be  ambi- 
tious and  work.  C.  Loomis  Allen. 

An  .association  among  employees  tends  to  create  a  feeling  of  good 
fellowship  and  of  loyalty  to  the  company.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  42.  (a)  Can  associations  of  employees  be  made  sufficiently  attractive  to 
take  the  place  of  union  organizations?  (b)  Can  a  successful  benefit  fund  be 
established  by  contributions  from  employees  alone  without  assistance  from  the 
company?  (c)  If  so,  would  not  such  a  fund  be  more  appreciated  by  the  men 
than  one  on  which  they  had  received  assistance?  (d)  Would  not  a  written 
examination  at  the  end  of  each  year  of  all  conductors  and  motormen  cm- 
ployed  during  the  year,  somewhat  in  the  nature  of  the  competitive  civil  service 
examination,  be  the  best  method  of  determining  seniority? 

(a)  An  employees'  association  can  be  made  more  attractive  than 
a  trade  union  organization,  for  the  reason  that  the  policy  of  the 
association  is  dictated  by  men  whom  they  know  and  are  in  daily 
touch  with,  rather  than  by  outside  influence  which  is  foreign  anil 
unknown  to  them.  (b  and  c)  A  successful  benefit  fund  could 
doubtless  lie  formed  by  contributions  from  the  employees,  but  we 
believe  in  the  company  contributing,  for  the  reason  that  the  em- 
ployees in  this  case  realize  that  the  company  is  as  much  interested 
in  the  success  of  the  association  as  they  are.  (d)  I  do  not  think 
that  seniority  should  be  determined  by  the  results  of  competitive 
civil  examination,  for  the  reason  that  long  and  faithful  service, 
granting  a  man  is  competent,  should  be  recognized  in  railroading 
as  well  as  in  any  other  profession.  T.  N.  Shannahan. 

Associations  of  employeees.  we  think,  can  be  made  sufficiently 
attractive  to  take  the  place  of  union  organizations. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 

(a)  Not  in  a  city  so  strongly  union  as  Rochester.  fb)  We 
are  doing  it.  (c)  Doubtful,  (d)  The  best  motormen  in  many 
cases  are  unable  to  read  or  write.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

No.  43.    What  is  the  best  method  of  disciplining  employees? 

The  Brown  system,  with  such  modifications  as  are  necessitated 
by  local  conditions.  J.  H.  Shannahan. 

We  believe  in  reprimands,  and.  in  continued  disobedience,  dis- 
missal. J.  W.  Hicks. 

Beg  to  advise  that  the  best  method'  for  disciplining  employees 


September  17,  1904.J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


4i  J 


is  to  have  all  work  done  systematically.  Where  there  is  no  system 
there  can  be  no  discipline.  Peter  M.  Kling. 

We  have  tried  disciplining  by  letter,  but  find  this  method  not  so 
satisfactory  as  disciplining  by  the  superintendent  at  his  office,  where 
men  are  called  up  on  charges.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  44.  Give  experience  of  the  merit  system  in  connection  with  discipline 
of  employees. 

Our  experience  with  the  merit  system  in  connection  with  the 
discipline  of  employees  has  been  very  satisfactory. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

No.  45.  Does  the  merit  system  entail  extra  office  expense,  and  to  what 
extent  has  it  helped  discipline? 

I  he  merit  system  does  not  entail  any  extra  office  expense. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

No.  46.  Do  all  roads  subject  their  intending  employees  to  a  physical  ex- 
amination? 

All  roads  should  subject  their  intending  employees  to  a  phy- 
sical examination  for  the  reason  that  the  office  which  employs  a 
man  is  not  sure  that  he  is  physically  able  to  perform  his  duties 
until  a  competent  surgeon  has  certified  to  that  effect. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

We  subject  all  intending  employees  to  a  physical  examination. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 

We  do.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

No.  47.  What  benefit  or  check  has  resulted  in  the  securing  of  bonds  from 
employees? 

Many  men  fear  bond  companies  attaching  their  homes. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

No.  48.  Should  conductors  furnish  bonds,  and  if  so,  who  should  pay  the 
premium  ? 

The  better  system  is  compelling  ,  a  moderate  sized  deposit — $20 
"r  less.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Only  such  conductors  as  have  a  large  belt  are  required  to  furnish 
bonds,  the  premium  being  paid  by  the  company. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 
FARES  ON  INTERURBAN  RAILWAYS 
No.  49.    What  is  the  best  method  of  collecting  and  accounting  interurban 
fares? 

All  fares  collected  on  interurban  cars,  and  also  those  collected 
upon  city  cars,  should  be  along  those  lines  which  afford  expediency 
to  the  conductor  and  at  the  same  time  provide  a  separate  accounting 
for  each  fare  collected,  thereby  enabling  the  conductor  to  make 
settlement  with  the  company  upon  the  basis  of  fares  collected  and 
recorded.  This  can  only  be  done  by  a  register  system  that  registers 
and  indicates,  separately,  a  multiplicity  of  fares. 

John  F.  Ohmer. 

We  insist  upon  passengers  buying  tickets  at  agencies. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

With  this  company  the  plan  of  ticketing  one  way  or  round  trip 
and  collection  of  cash  fare  for  one  way  trip  to  passenger's  destin- 
ation has  been  found  quite  satisfactory.  All  tickets  are  recorded 
on  fare  registers.  Conductor's  trip  sheets  show  denomination  of 
tickets  collected,  and  these  are  compiled  by  auditor  on  daily  report, 
showing  separately  all  denominations  of  tickets  and  cash  fares 
collected,  together  with  total  revenue  from  each  conductor. 

T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  50.  Are  there  any  data  available  to  show  the  percentage  of  tickets  used 
to  tickets  sold,  and  what  is  a  fair  per  cent  of  shrinkage? 

No  data  available.  There  being  no  inducement  to  purchase- 
tickets  in  Buffalo,  the  number  used  is  very  small  and  for  con- 
venience of  carrying  only.  Difference  on  some  interurban  lines  of 
this  company  varies  from  5  to  10  per  cent,  but  tickets  being  valid 
indefinitely,  this  doesn't  prove  that  they  will  not  be  presented  at 
some  future  time.  X.  E.  Mitten 

PARKS  AND  PLEASURE  RESORTS 
No.  51.    Is  it  better  to  operate  all  attractions  at  parks  or  to  induce  out- 
siders to  put  them  in  cm  a  percentage  basis?    Are  any  pleasure  parks  self- 
sustaining  or  can  they  be  made  so? 

Pleasure  parks  adjacent  to  cities  where  attendance  is  good,  num- 
bering from  5000  people  up  daily,  are  more  likely  to  support  attrac- 
tions operated  by  outside  parties  on  a  percentage  than  parks  with 
smaller  attendance.  These  attractions,  being  operated  by  experi- 
enced persons  in  that  line  of  business,  are  more  likely  to  be  main- 
tained economically  than  if  managed  by  the  railway  company,  as 
the  latter  would  have  to  pay  high  salaries  to  experienced  attendants. 
The  average  pleasure  park  with  a  daily  attendance  of  5000  or  over 
should  be  easily  made  self-sustaining.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  52.  What  is  the  most  effective  method  of  advertising,  for  (he  least 
expense? 

Exchange  transportation  for  news  matter  in  papers. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

I  lie  most  effective  method  of  advertising  is  the  most  expensiv  e. 
<is  the  quality  of  advertising  is  usually  measured  by  the  cost.  News-' 


paper  advertising  by  insertion  of  display  ads  of  one-quarter  to  one- 
eighth  page  and  accompanied  by  reading  notices  in  the  same  publi- 
cation are  usually  of  the  greatest  benefit.  Billboard  advertising 
with  large  spaces  liberally  distributed  is  also  of  much  benefit,  and 
advertising  in  car  windows  where  practicable  is  another  good 
means  of  reaching  the  public.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

REPAIR  SHOPS 

No.  53.  What  is  the  proper  test  to  give  equipment  before  leaving  the  shop 
for  service? 

Assuming  the  fields  and  armatures  to  have  been  properly  tested 
before  equipment  is  mounted,  a  test  should  be  made  to  ascertain 
if  motors  have  been  properly  connected,  and  car  given  a  trial  run, 
to  test  brakes,  etc.  When  the  facilities  are  at  hand  it  is  desirable 
to  take  temperature  of  motors  and  readings  of  voltage  and  current 
consumption  during  the  experimental  trips. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

High  voltage,  then  regular  running  test. 

John  J.  Stanley. 
Straight  air  brake  equipment  may  be  tested  before  leaving  the 
shop  in  the  following  manner:  When  all  the  piping  has  been  fully 
completed,  pump  up  the  maximum  pressure  in  the  reservoir,  leav- 
ing the  operating  valve  handles  at  the  release  position.  The  cocks 
in  the  reservoir  pipe  at  the  operating  valves  and  governor  should 
then  be  closed  and  the  pipe  disconnected  at  these  points.  The 
reservoir  pipe  should  then  be  thoroughly  blown  out  by  opening  these 
cocks,  the  piping  having  been  previously  sprung  to  one  side  to  give 
free  exit  to  the  air.  It  is  well  to  exhaust  a  full  tank  of  air  through 
each  one  of  these  cocks.  These  joints  should  then  be  reconnected 
and  the  above  cocks  opened,  while  the  pipe  leading  to  the  brake 
cylinder  should  be  disconnected  at  the  union  placed  near  the  cyl- 
inder. With  both  operating  valve  handles  in  release  position, 
full  pressure  should  be  pumped  up  in  the  reservoir  and  discharged 
through  the  disconnected  union  by  applying  the  brake  in  full  emer- 
gency at  both  operating  valves  simultaneously.  If  only  one  valve 
were  open  at  a  time  foreign  matter  might  readily  blow  past  the  ori- 
fice of  the  branch  leading  to  the  brake  cylinder  and  consequently 
not  be  discharged  from  the  pipe.  Having  blown  out  the  piping 
in  this  manner,  full  pressure  should  be  pumped  up  throughout  the 
system  and  every  joint  tested  by  painting  it  with  soapsuds.  When 
all  leaks  have  been  stopped,  the  piping  should  be  securely  clamped 
to  the  car  to  avoid  vibration.  In  testing  the  brake  equipment  on 
trains  by  means  of  air  plants  or  with  a  motor  car.  the  following 
method  is  recommended:  After  the  hose  couplings  are  all  united 
and  the  angle  cocks  have  all  been  opened  the  air  should  be  turned 
into  the  train  pipe.  WAnen  ample  time  has  elapsed  to  insure  a 
sufficient  train  pipe  pressure  the  train  should  be  examined  and  all 
leaks  stopped.  After  this  the  brakes  should  be  applied,  piston  travel 
adjusted  where  necessary,  and  any  defective  brakes  repaired  or 
carded  according  to  the  rules  of  the  road.  In  making  car  and  shop 
tests  of  automatic  brakes  if  is  advisable  whenever  possible  to  have 
a  motorman's  brake  valve  with  which  to  apply  and  release  the 
brakes.  Tn  every  case  the  levers  and  pins  which  go  to  make  up 
the  foundation  brake  rigging  should  be  carefully  inspected.  Piston 
travel  should  invariably  be  adjusted  before  the  car  leaves  the  cat- 
house.  Jos.  R.  Ellicott. 

No.  54.  What  is  the  best  method  of  keeping  shop  record  of  cost  of  main- 
tenance:   bodies,  trucks  and  motor? 

Individual  record  of  bodies,  trucks  and  motors 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Card  index.  John  J.  Stanley. 

No.  55.  Considerable  trouble  has  been  experienced  with  broken  car  axles 
from  crystallization,  especially  during  cold  weather.  The  axles  break  either 
at  the  end  of  the  key  way  or  at  the  shoulder  next  to  the  journal  bearing. 
We  would  like  to  know  the  cause;  also,  if  salt  water  getting  in  to  a  small 
check  will  cause  it  to  spread  or  deepen?  From  the  appearances  of  some  of 
the  breaks,  those  are  the  indications.  Also  would  like  to  know  which  grade 
of  steel  is  considered  best  for  car  axles? 

No.  56.  Which  is  productive  of  the  best  results — pit  work  or  overhauling 
from  above? 

Overhauling  from  above.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Use  pit  work  only.  John  J.  Stanley. 

1  have  found  that  overhauling  from  above  gives  better  results. 
Defects  in  trucks,  body  and  motors  are  more  readily  discerned. 

C.  Looms  Allen. 

No.  57.    Is  it  best  to  overhaul  equipment  by  mileage? 

Unquestionably.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

No.  John  J.  Stanley. 

SNOW  REMOVAL 
No.  58.    What  amount  of  snow  ran  the  city  authorities  demand  removed? 

They  can  demand  all  removed,  but  how  much  they  get  is 
another  question  J.  W.  HlCKS. 

Depends  011  the  ordinance  and  franchise. 

T.    E    M  ITT  P.N 


414 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


No.  59.    What  is  the  best  form  of  organization  of  snow  fighting  forces? 

You  cannot  rely  upon  organization  where  snowstorms  come  up 
quickly.  Then  it  is  a  case  of  up  and  at  it  with  the  first  men  you 
can  find.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

Switch  cleaners  and  shovelers  in  large  systems  come  under  Way 
and  Structures  Departmert ;  snow  plows  under  Operating  Depart- 
ment. Switch  cleaning  work  should  be  divided  in  sections,  each 
in  charge  of  a  foreman  who  will  require  no  orders  for  getting  out 
other  than  the  condition  of  weather.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

TRAFFIC  DEVELOPMENT 
No.  60.    Has  it  proven  beneficial  in  moderate  sized  cities  to  largely  in- 
crease the  number  of  cars  during  rush  hours  over  the  ordinary  times  of 
day? 

No ;  unless  it  rains  or  storms.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

No.  61.  What  has  been  found  to  be  the  best  method  of  advertising  to 
develop  traffic? 

This  question  in  answered  in  No.  52.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  62.  What  has  been  the  experience  with  the  use  of  trailers  as  regards 
accidents,  and  have  they  proven  more  satisfactory  than  the  use  of  larger  cars 
with  no  trailers? 

We  are 'compelled  to  put  three  men  on  a  train — two  on  a  large 
car.  J.  W.  Hicks. 

The  use  of  trailer  cars  on  surface  roads  inside  of  cities  will  cer- 
tainly increase  accidents.  I  have  seen  this  demonstrated  on  both 
cable  and  electric  roads.  Peter  M.  Kling. 

Trailers,  in  our  opinion,  have  decreased  the  number  of  acci- 
dents. They  have  proven  more  satisfactory  than  the  use  of  large 
cars  with  no  trailers.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No.  63.    Does  not  the  use  of  trailers  increase  the  number  of  derailments? 

Not  if  heavy  truck  is  used  under  trailers. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

Trailers  certainly  add  to  the  increase  of  derailments. 

Peter  M.  Kling. 
We  cannot  see  that  the  use  of  trailers  has  in  any  way  increased 
the  number  of  derailments.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

No:  64.  Should  the  extra  list  be  a  revolving  one  (i.  e.,  after  an  extra  has 
had  work,  should  he  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  list  and  work  up  again)? 

The  extra  list  should  be  a  revolving  one  on  all  roads  which 
carry  more  than  fifteen  extra  men  on  each  end;  otherwise  the  ex- 
tra men  at  the  bottom  of  the  list  get  so  little  work  that  it  will  be 
very  difficult  to  induce  a  competent  man  to  stay  in  the  employ  of 
the  company.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

The  extra  list  should  be  a  revolving  one.  After  an  extra  has 
had  work  he  should  go  to  the  bottom  of  the  list  and  work  up 
again.  T.  E.  Mitten. 

WHEELS— CHILLED  IRON,  STEEL-TIRED,  FUSED  WHEELS 
AND  SOLID 

No.  65.  Would  not  the  trouble,  which  was  experienced  by  many  roads 
during  the  past  winter,  of  motors  dragging  on  the  ice,  be  eliminated  by  the 
use  of  36-in.  wheels? 

T  think  so.  It  seems  to  me  that  with  the  large  motor  equipments 
now  being  used  it  will  become  necessary  to  increase  the  diameter 
of  wheel  to  get  proper  clearance  at  bottom  of  motor.  We  experi- 
enced considerable  trouble  during  the  past  winter  with  snow  and 
ice,  and  also  some  trouble  with  pavement  in  city  streets  heaving 
badly,  allowing  motors  to  drag.  This  trouble  could  be  largely  elim- 
inated by  the  use  of  a  36-inch  wheel.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

I  am  personally  much  opposed  to  36-inch  wheels.  I  believe  to- 
day that  strong  efforts  should  be  made  to  induce  the  manufactur- 
ers of  motors  to  make  a  motor  that  will  operate  on  a  30-inch  diam- 
eter wheel.  This  would  be  a  great  convenience  to  the  public,  and 
would  help  the  railroad  to  reduce  accidents,  and  would  facilitate 
passengers  in  getting  in  and  out  of  cars.  Peter  M.  Kling.  ' 

Certainly.    But  that  means  a  double  step. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

No.  66.    What  are  the  relative  merits  of  steel  and  cast-iron  wheels? 

The  steel  tired  wheels,  with  flanges  and  treads  now  in  use,  are 
probably  safer,  but  the  cast  iron  wheels  are  cheaper. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

No.  67.  (a)  How  does  the  life  of  cast-iron  wheels  compare  with  steel-tired, 
fused  and  solid-steel  wheels?  (b)  Is  not  the  cost  of  maintenance  per  mile  in 
favor  of  the  cast-iron  wheel? 

(a)  Very  favorably.  (h)  We  have  not  had  the  steel-tired 
wheels  in  use  long  enough  to  give  the  exact  figures,  but  the  indi- 
cations are  that  the  cost  per  mile  will  be  in  favor  of  the  cast  iron 
whee]-  '  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

No.  18.  Is  not  a  550-lb.  double-plate  cast-iron  wheel  as  safe  to  run  under 
our  modern  interurban  cars  as  the  steel-tired  wheels  now  being  used? 

Do  not  think  so,  unless  the  special  work  will  permit  of  the  use 
Of  an  M.  C.  B.  wheel-tread  and  flange. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 


No.  69.  What  is  the  principal  cause  of  wheels  being  flattened  on  air-brake 
interurban  cars? 

Untrained  motormen.  J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Applying  brakes  with  ieaves  or  grass  on  track  causing  skidding. 

J.  W.  Hicks. 

The  cause  of  wheels  being  flattened  on  air  brake  interurban  cars 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  brakes  are  not  released  soon 
enough  to  prevent  locking  of  the  wheels,  as  wheels  cannot  be  flat- 
tened unless  they  slide.  F.  W.  Sargent. 

We  believe  that  the  principal  cause  of  flat  wheels  on  air  brake 
cars  in  interurban  service  is  a  braking  pressure  that  is  too  great 
for  the  average  condition  of  the  rail  surface.  It  is  a  well  recog- 
nized fact  that  cars  equipped  with  four  motors  can  be  braked  up  to 
considerably  over  100  per  cent  of  the  light  weight  of  the  car,  includ- 
ing trucks  and  motors,  provided  the  rails  are  in  good  condition 
and  sand  is  freely  used;  when,  however,  the  rails  are  in  a  slippery 
condition  a  much  lower  pressure  is  sufficient  to  cause  skidding  of 
the  wheels.  The  proper  pressure  to  use  depending  so  largely  on 
the  condition  of  the  rail  resolves  the  whole  matter  to  the  question 
of  good  judgment  on  the  part  of  the  motorman.  Many  wheels  are 
damaged  by  improper  use  of  the  air  pressure  by  the  motorman. 
For  example,  it  is  a  common  thing  in  making  a  stop  to  let  about 
5  pounds  of  air  into  the  cylinder,  increasing  it  at  frequent  intervals 
by  5  pounds  additional  at  each  interval  until  when  the  car  comes  to 
a  standstill  there  is  a  large  pressure  in  the  cylinder.  This  is  exactly 
the  wrong  way  in  which  to  use  the  brake  pressure.  As  the  speed 
decreases,  the  cylinder  pressure  necessary  to  obtain  a  suitable  brak- 
ing power  becomes  less.  Jos.  R.  Ellicott. 

Ease  and  speed  of  application  of  brakes,  speed  and  weight  of  cars. 

A.  S.  Kibbe. 

The  principal  cause,  in  my  opinion,  is  a  too  vigorous  application 
of  the  air  by  inexperienced  or  careless  motormen. 

Frank  J.  Gerdon. 

No.  70.    What  are  the  causes,  all  of  them,  of  flat  wheels? 

Sliding,  worn  through  chill,  shelled  out  spots,  and  from  mechani- 
cal causes,  such  as  bolt  or  rut  getting  in  gears,  etc. 

J.  N.  Shannahan. 

Some  of  the  causes  of  flat  wheels  are:  Defects  in  casting; 
tread  shelling  out  in  spots ;  binding  of  brake  rigging  on  curves, 
which  often  cause  the  idle  or  trailer  wheels  to  slide;  brake  rigging 
of  improper  design,  which  brings  too  much  force  to  bear  on  the 
brakes ;  a  brake  rigging  without  equalizing  levers,  in  which  case 
the  pressure  is  unequally  divided  owing  to  certain  wheels  wearing 
faster  than  others.  Jos.  R.  Ellicott. 

This  question  is  answered  by  the  word  "sliding,"  which  is  the 
sole  cause  of  flat  wheels.  The  cause  of  sliding  has  a  multitude  of 
answers,  but  the  principal  one  is  answered  in  the  same  manner  as 
question  69.  The  chilled  wheel  m'ay  not  be  flattened  by  sliding,  but 
it  may  be  burned  by  being  highly  heated  by  the  brakes  being  ap- 
plied just  inside  the  point  of  sliding,  so  that  the  thread  is  burned 
and  begins  to  shell  out,  and  then  this  shelling  out  soon  develops 
a  flat  spot  and  condemns  the  wheel.  It  may  be  that  there  is  a 
slight  slide  due  to  the  brakes  not  being  released  quickly  enough, 
which  does  not  make  the  wheel  flat  enough  to  pound,  but  yet  has 
burned  it  clear  through  the  chill.  Subsequent  grinding  may  remove 
the  flat  spot,  but  it  will  not  restore  the  original  texture  of  the 
chilled  metal,  and  the  soft  spot  remains  to  be  flattened  again  at 
the  first  opportunity,  or  to  be  pounded  out  and  form  a  shelled  out 
spot,  which  in  time  gives  the  flat  spot.  The  remedy  for  flat  wheels 
is  not  to  slide  them,  for  a  rolling  wheel  will  not  get  flat  unless  highly 
heated  to  the  danger  point. 

The  use  of  the  very  soft  and  high-holding  brake-shoe  or  a 
brake-shoe  which  clings  tr  the  wheel  when  highly  heated  may  be 
the  cause  of  wheel  sliding,  inasmuch  as  such  a  shoe  may  not  re- 
lease as  quickly  as  a  harder  shoe.  Slow  speeds  and  slow  pressures 
do  not  require  the  excessive  braking  effort  for  the  train  control 
that  high  speeds  and  heavy  loads  necessitate,  and  the  condition 
does  not  exist  with  low  speeds  and  loads,  therefore,  for  the  highest 
brake-shoe  friction  with  the  modern  braking  facilities.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  at  high  speeds  and  heavy  pressures  where  the  rate 
of  heat  generation  by  the  -  brake-shoe  is  very  rapid  and  extreme, 
that  the  harder  and  more  durable  brake-shoe  stops  the  car  as  readily 
as  the  softer  and  less  durable  shoe,  and  the  harder  shoe  is,  for 
such  traffic,  to  be  preferred,  because  of  the  danger  from  wheels  slid- 
ing. F.  W.  Sargent. 

The  principal  cause  is  due  to  the  brakes  being  applied  too  vigor- 
ously so  as  to  lock  or  skid  the  wheels,  then  sanding  the  rail  and 
allowing  the  wheels  to  slide  over  the  rail  that  has  been  sanded. 
I  know  of  no  other  way  by  which  the  wheel  could  be  flattened  ex- 
cept by  sliding  the  same.  Frank  J.  Gerdon. 

No.  71.  What  weight  and  model  of  chilled  car  wheels,  33  ins.  in  diameter, 
are  proper  and  safe  for  an  8-ton  single-truck  electric  car  for  city  service,  and 
the  probable  life  of  the  same? 

Four  hundred  and  twenty  pound  spoke  wheel.  Life  of  wheel  will 
depend  largely  on  the  condition  of  track;  probably  from  35,000  to 
30,000  miles.  J.  N.  Shannahan, 


September  17,  1904/j 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


4t$ 


NOTES  ON  THE  EXHIBITS  AND  EXHIBITORS 


I  he  Eureka  Automatic  Signal  Company,  of  Lansford,  Pa.,  had 
an  elaborate  exhibit  at  the  convention.  This  company's  signal 
system  was  set  up  to  illustrate  a  complete  block.  Current  was 
supplied  by  the  Utica  Electric  Light  &  Power  Company.  All 
phases  of  the  system  were  shown  in  actual  operation,  and  dele- 
gates to  the  convention  examined  carefully  its  manipulation  and 
operation  by  those  in  charge  of  the  exhibit.  To  further  demon- 
strate its  operation  under  actual  service  conditions  a  complete 
block  of  the  Eureka  Automatic  Signals  were  installed  between 
Walker  Station  and  Oriskany.  A  delegation  of  railroad  men 
was  taken  over  the  line  and  shown  the  actual  working  of  the 
system.  The  company  was  represented  by  John  Early,  Jr.,  Walter 
Drumheller  and  Edward  Hammett,  Jr. 

The  J.  G.  Brill  Company,  of  Philadelphia,  was  represented  by 
Geo.  M.  Haskell. 

The  Security  Register  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  exhibited  types 
of  its  fare-recording  register.  An  interesting  feature  of  this  ex- 
hibit was  a  register  taken  apart  so  that  each  part  could  be  examined 
by  itself,  showing  its  mechanical  strength,  shape  and  workmanship. 
The  company  was  represented  by  its  president,  Giles  S.  Allison; 
R.  C.  Hallett  and  Daniel  J.  Fitch. 

The  Shanahan  Trolley  Specialty  Company,  of  Little  Falls,  N. 
Y.,  had  an  exhibit  of  its  controller  in  actual  operation  on  the 
veranda  of  the  clubhouse  in  which  the  convention  was  held.  The 
company  was  represented  by  E.  S.  Van  Valkenberg,  B.  F.  Shan- 
ahan and  R.  J.  Snyder. 

Elmer  P.  Morris,  of  New  York,  was  represented  by  E.  D.  Hin- 
man. 

The  American  Brake-Shoe  &  Foundry  Company,  of  New  York, 
was  represented  by  H.  S.  Bradfield. 

The  Utica  Fire  Alarm  &  Telephone  Company  was  represented  in 
the  person  of  A.  F.  Balfeild. 

C.  W.  Garhart  took  care  of  the  interests  of  the  Crocker- Wheeler 
Company,  of  Ampere,  N.  J.,  at  the  convention. 

The  Carnegie  Steel  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  was  represented  at 
the  convention  by  Frederick  C.  Brunke. 

W.  N.  Mathews  was  himself  present  to  represent  W.  N.  Mathews 
&  Bros.,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Western  Electric  Company's  interests  were  ably  and  hospit- 
ably taken  care  of  by  R.  M.  Campbell,  the  manager  of  the  railway 
department  in  New  York,  and  F.  D.  Killson. 

Geo.  F.  Brandau,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  had  a  car  equipped  with  his 
emergency  brake,  which  was  shown  to  many  of  the  delegates  to 
the  convention. 

Daniel  M.  Brady  and  C.  P.  King  attended  the  convention  in  the 
interests  of  the  Brady  Brass  Company,  of  New  York. 

The  Jewett  Car  Company,  of  Newark,  Ohio,  was  represented  by 
A.  H.  Sisson. 

The  National  Brake  Company,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  had  as  repre- 
sentatives W.  D.  Brewster  and  E.  B.  Stone. 

The  Electric  Storage  Company,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was  repre- 
sented by  Albert  Taylor. 

The  Taylor  Electric  Truck  Company,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  was  present 
in  the  person  of  its  president,  John  Taylor. 

The  H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Company,  of  New  York,  was  repre- 
sented by  F.  R.  Austin. 

The  Owego  Bridge  Company,  of  Owego,  N.  Y.,  was  represented 
by  M.  W.  Denman. 

The  Continuous  Rail  Joint  Company  had  a  neat  and  well-ar- 
ranged exhibit  of  its  various  types  of  rail  joints.  The  company 
was  represented  by  B.  M.  Barr,  W.  A.  Chapman  and  W.  J. 
Bradley. 

The  American  Electrical  Works,  of  Phillipsdale,  R.  I.,  was  rep- 
resented by  its  New  York  sales  agent,  W.  J.  Watson. 

The  Pittsburg  Reduction  Company,  of  Pittsburg.  Pa.,  was  rep- 
resented by  B.  M.  Polley  and  Wm.  Hooper. 

The  Ham  Sand  Box  Company,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.,  was  represented 
by  A.  W.  Ham,  its  president. 

Mayer  &  Englund  Company,  of  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  was  represented 
by  John  McSorley. 

R.  C.  Norton  represented  Roberts  &  Norton,  of  Utica,  N.  Y. 

The  Solvay  Process  Company,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  was  repre- 
sented by  H.  W.  Sykes  and  W.  E.  Hopton. 

The  Archbold-Brady  Company,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  was  present 
in  the  person  of  Wm.  K.  Archbold. 

The  Stromberg-Carlson  Telephone  Company,  of  Rochester,  N. 
Y.,  was  represented  by  Eugene  L.  Brown 

The  Oh  mer  Fare  Register  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  rep- 
resented by  J.  H.  Stedman,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  C.  W.  Kette- 
man,  of  Dayton,  Ohio. 

The  Crouse-Hinds  Company,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  had  a  very 
complete  exhibit  of  the  various  specialties  manufactured  by  this 
company  for  street  railway  service.    The  company  was  represented 


by  A.  F.  Hills,  Frank  Buchannan  and  its  president,  H.  B.  Crouse. 

The  Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Company  was  represented 
by  J.  R.  Ellicott,  G.  E.  Baker  and  F.  V.  Green. 

The  interests  of  the  Peckham  Manufacturing  Company  were  well 
attended  to  by  Wm.  Wampler  and  J.  M.  Hoadley. 

The  Safety  Insulated  Wire  Company  was  represented  by  A.  P. 
Eckert. 

The  National  Electric  Company,  of  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  exhibited 
its  Christensen  air  brake  and  some  fine  photographs  of  its  motors, 
generators  and  air  compressors.  J.  T.  Cunningham,  H.  N.  Ran- 
som and  Robert  Long  were  present  in  the  interest  of  the  company. 

The  Railway  Steel  Spring  Company,  of  New  York,  had  an  inter- 
esting exhibit  of  four  full-size  steel-tired  wheels  pressed  on  the 
axle  and  ready  for  service.  The  company  was  represented  by 
Alexander  S.  Hurd  and  Frederick  C.  McLewee. 

The  Bossert  Electric  Construction  Company  was  represented 
by  F.  B.  Chapman. 

The  American  Automatic  Switch  Company  was  represented  by 
H.  N.  Powers. 

The  Garton-Daniels  Company,  of  Keokuk,  la.,  had  on  exhibition 
various  types  of  its  lightning  arresters. 

The  Consolidated  Car  Heating  Company,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  had 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  complete  exhibits  at  the  convention. 
All  types  of  electric  heaters  manufactured  by  this  company  were 
on  exhibition  and  carefully  examined  by  most  of  the  delegates 
present.    The  company  was  represented  by  C.  S.  Hawley  and  S. 

B.  Keys. 

The  Columbia  Machine  Works  &  Malleable  Iron  Company,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  was  represented  by  its  popular  vice-president, 
W.  R.  Kerschner,  of  Allentown,  Pa.  Mr.  Kerschner  also  looked 
after  his  many  other  interests  in  the  street  railway  field. 

The  Downward  Light  Electric  Company,  of  New  York,  was 
represented  by  George  S.  Jenkins. 

C.  F.  Davey  was  present  to  show  his  new  trolley  retriever. 

The  O.  J.  Childs  Company,  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  was  represented 
by  Jos.  H.  Corbett. 

The  Barbour-Stockwell  Company,  of  Cambridgeport,  Mass.,  was 
well  represented  by  Wm.  W.  Field. 

The  Federal  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Elyria,  Ohio,  was  rep- 
resented by  C.  B.  Tewkesbury. 

The  O.  M.  Edwards  Company,  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  had  an  ex- 
hibit of  its  window  fixtures  and  vestibule  trap-doors.  O.  M. 
Edwards  and  J.  E.  Simons  were  in  attendance. 

A.  E.  Cortis  &  Company  (Inc.),  New  York,  was  represented 
by  W.  J.  Howey. 

The  Chase-Shawmut  Company,  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  was 
represented  at  the  convention  by  F.  D.  Masterson. 

The  Hildreth  Varnish  Company  was  represented  by  Charles 

C.  Castle  and  F.  T.  Savage. 

E.  J.  Lawless,  of  the  John  Stephenson  Company,  of  Elizabeth, 
N,  J.,  liberally  entertained  the  many  customers  and  friends  of 
this  company  present  at  the  convention. 

The  Stearn-Ado  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  represented 
by  M.  Rohrheimer. 

The  Lorain  Steel  Company's  interests  were  well  taken  care  of 
by  Major  PI.  C.  Evans,  of  New  York. 

The  Scranton  Bolt  &  Nut  Company,  of  Scranton,  Pa.,  wa^ 
represented  by  F.  B.  Butler. 

D.  W.  Phelan,  the  well-known  New  York  pole  and  tie  dealer, 
ably  took  care  of  his  friends  and  customers  at  the  convention.  He 
was  also  represented  by  H.  H.  Mills. 

The  McGuire-Cummings  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Chicago, 
was  represented  by  B.  F.  Stewart. 

The  New  York  Leather  Belting  Company  had  an  exhibit  of  its 
leather  belting  and  leather  register  and  bell  cords.  The  company 
was  represented  by  F.  F.  Despard  and  N.  H.  Glatt. 

The  Home  Rubber  Company,  of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  was  represented 
by  J.  C.  Berranz. 

The  Sterling-Meaker  Company,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  was  repre- 
sented by  its  president,  J.  A.  Stowe,  C.  E.  Gierding  and  George 
E.  Willis.  An  extensive  and  complete  line  of  the  products  man- 
ufactured by  this  company  was  on  exhibition,  viz. :  The  Sterling 
brake,  the  momentum  brake,  safety  fender,  five  types  of  registers, 
register  fittings,  etc. 

The  Franklin  Railway  Supply  Company,  of  Franklin,  Pa.,  was 
represented  by  K.  S.  Hequembourg. 

The  Erie  Trolley  Wheel  Company,  of  Erie,  Pa.,  was  repre- 
sented by  A.  B.  Halleck. 

C.  S.  Knowles  Company,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  was  represented 
by  C.  H.  Clark. 

The  Sherwin-Williams  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  rep- 
resented by  F.  A.  Elmquist. 

The  Heywood  Brothers  &  Wakefield  Company  was  represented 
at  the  convention  by  its  popular  New  York  railway  department 
manager,  Bertram  Berry. 


416 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  i±. 


Charles  I.  Earll,  of  New  York,  exhibited  his  trolley  retriever 
in  actual  operation.  The  railway  public  seemed  very  much  in- 
terested in  its  absolute  reliability  and  manifested  its  interest  in 
watching  its  operation. 

The  Ohio  Brass  Company  had  an  extensive  exhibit  of  its  over- 
head materials,  rail  bonds  and  various  other  products  manufac- 
tured by  this  company.  N.  M.  Garland,  New  York  sales  agent, 
and  F.  H.  Jameson  were  present  at  the  convention. 

The  National  Car  Wheel  Company  was  represented  by  its  New 
York  sales  agent,  E.  H.  Chapin. 

The  Frank  Ridlon  Company,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  was  represented 
by  Charles  N.  Wood  and  Robert  Mathias. 

LTie  Gold  Car  Heating  &  Lighting  Company,  of  New  York,  was 
represented  by  A.  E.  Robbins. 

The  R.  D.  Nuttall  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  was  represented  by- 
its  well-known  president,  F.  A.  Eslep. 

The  Pantasote  Company,  of  New  York,  was  represented  by 
John  M.  High. 

Tiie  Dayton  Manufacturing  Company,  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  repre- 
sented by  Joseph  Leidenger. 

The  George  S.  Hastings  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was 
represented  by  George  S.  Hastings. 

The  Curtain  Supply  Company,  of  Chicago,  had  an  exhibit  of  its 
curtain  fixtures.  The  company  was  well  represented  by  L.  W. 
Whipple. 

The  Wheel  Truing  Brake-Shoe  Company  had  an  exhibit  of 
its  brake-shoes.    J.  M.  Griffin  was  present. 

The  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company,  New  York,  was 
represented  by  William  Hazelton. 

The  Duff  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Allegheny,  Pa.,  had 
an  exhibit  of  the  "Jack  that  Duff  built  "  It  was  represented  by 
George  A.  Edgins  and  Charles  A.  Foster. 

The  Consumers'  Rubber  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  rep- 
resented by  F.  W.  Hitchings. 

The  Recording  Fare  Register  Company  had  a  complete  exhibit 
of  its  fare  registers  and  accessory  trolley  supplies.  The  com- 
pany was  represented  by  M.  De  Forest  Yates,  president,  and 
Frank  B.  Kennedy,  secretary. 

The  Ludlow  Supply  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  repre- 
sented by  W.  E.  Ludlow,  president,  and  J.  R.  Grant.  A  com- 
plete motor-driven  track  drill  was  shown  in  actual  operation. 

The  Nichols-Lintern  Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  was  repre- 
sented by  William  Lintern,  president  of  the  company. 

The  Van  Dorn  &  Dutton,  and  the  Van  Dorn-EIliott  Electric 
Company,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  had  a  complete  exhibit  of  its  gears 
and  pionions,  armature  and  field  coils  and  commutators.  The 
representative  present  was  J.  N.  Elliott. 

The  American  Iron  &  Steel  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
Lebanon,  Pa.,  had  a  complete  exhibit  of  its  products.  It  was 
represented  by  Thomas  S.  Brenholtz. 

The  Lehigh  Car  Wheel  &  Axle  Works,  Catasauqua,  Pa.,  was 
represented  by  B.  F.  Swartz. 

The  Atlas  Railway  Supply  Company,  of  Chicago.  111.,  had  an 
exhibit  of  its  rail  joint.     It  was  represented  by  C.  D.  Porterfield. 

The  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company,  of  Steelton,  Pa.,  was  repre- 
sented by  William  M.  Henderson  and  John  C.  Jay,  Jr. 

The  Hale  &  Kilburn  Manufacturing  Company,  Philadelphia,  had 
an  exhibit  of  its  car  seats.     It  was  represented  by  S.  A.  Walker. 

The  Anti-Friction  Handle  Company,  of  Amsterdam,  N.  Y.,  was 
represented  by  A.  O.  Lindsay. 

The  General  Electric  Company  had  on  exhibition  its  new  a.  c. 
motor,  referred  to  elsewhere,  and  which  attracted  wide  attention. 
Among  those  present  in  the  interest  of  the  company  were:  H  G 
Grier,  H.  H.  C  rowell.  G.  deB.  Green,  W.  Gibson  Carey,  f.  S. 
Pevear,  J.  C.  Calisch,  J.  J.  Mahoney,  C.  E.  Eveleth,  H.  D."  Hawks 
and  E.  R.  Scott. 

S.  C.  Schenck,  L.  W.  Hershey,  Frank  B.  Erwin,  W.  E.  Parker 
and  George  W.  Pulver  were  present  in  the  interests  of  the  West- 
inghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Pitsburg.  The 
Westinghouse  Traction  Brake  Company  was  also  represented  sepa- 
rately, as  mentioned  above. 

The  Galena  Signal  Oil  Companv,  of  Franklin,  Pa.,  was  repre- 
sented by  A.  F.  Miller  and  W.  H.  Pape. 

Frank  W.  Edmunds  represented  the  interests  of  the  Dressel  Rail- 
way Lamp  Works,  of  New  York. 

The  Lumen  Bearing  Company,  of  Buffalo.  N.  Y.,  was  present  in 
the  person  of  E.  P.  Sharp. 

The  New  York  Car  Wheel  Company,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y..  was  rep- 
resented by  C.  L.  Jackson. 

The  Standard  Underground  Cable  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  was 
represented  by  H.  P.  Kimball,  of  the  New  York  office. 

The  Taylor  Iron  &  Steel  Company,  of  High  Bridge,  N.  J.,  was 
represented  by  Knox  Taylor,  whose  text  was  "Steel-Tired  Wheels." 

Alvin  S.  King  was  present  for  the  Sterling  Varnish  Company,  of 
Pittsburg. 


The  interests  of  the  Weber  Railway  Joint  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, of  New  York,  were  ably  cared  for  by  James  C.  Barr. 

 ♦♦♦  

POSSIBLE  ENLARGEMENT  OF  THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY 
MECHANICAL  &  ELECTRICAL  ASSOCIATION 


Secretary  Mower,  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  & 
Electrical  Association,  has  issued  a  circular  notice  to  members 
of  the  association  in  regard  to  the  proposed  enlargement  of  the 
association.  The  circular,  which  is  dated  Sept.  10,  reads  as 
follows : 

During  the  past  year,  an  effort  has  been  made  by  the  superinten- 
dents of  the  way  department  to  organize  an  association  of  their 
own  on  lines  similar  to  ours.  As  yet,  however,  no  definite  action 
has  been  taken  by  them. 

The  suggestion  has  also  been  made  that,  in  view  of  the  close  re- 
lation existing  between  their  department  and  those  which  we 
represent,  our  association  ought  to  be  extended  to  include  that 
branch  of  the  service. 

This  idea  has  been  carefully  considered  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee for  several  months,  and  it  is  our  judgment  that  if  the  super- 
intendents of  the  way  department  prefer  to  combine  with  us,  rather 
than  to  form  a  separate  organization,  action  should  be  taken  by  our 
association  at  this  year's  convention. 

In  order,  therefore,  that  the  matter  may  be  brought  to  a  vote  at 
i  iur  next  regular  meeting,  notice  is  hereby  given,  thirty  days  in 
advance,  of  the  following  proposed  amendments  to  our  constitution 
and  by-laws,  which  may  be  necessary  in  case  the  question  is  decided 
in  the  affirmative. 

PRESENT  READING 
Name — Article  I.    The  name  of  this  association  shall  be  "The  American  Rail- 
way Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association,"  and  its  office  shall  be  at  the 
place  where  the  secretary  resides. 

POSSIBLE  CHANGES 

Name — Article  I.    The  name  of  this  association  shall  be   

 ,  and  its  office  shall  be  at  the  place  where 

the  secretary  resides. 
(To  be  so  changed  as  to  include  the  way  department.    Suggestions  will  be 
welcomed.) 

PRESENT  READING 
Members — Article  III.,  Section  1. 

The  heads  of  mechanical  and  electrical  departments  of  railway  companies 
may  be  elected  active  members,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  each,  and 
all  privileges  of  the  association. 

POSSIBLE  CHANGES 
'I  he  heads  of  mechanical,  electrical  and  way  departments  of  railway  com- 
panies may  be  elected  active  members,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  one  vote  each, 
and  all  privileges  of  the  association. 

PRESENT  READING 
Members— Article  III.,  Section  3. 

Employees  of  mechanical  and  electrical  departments,  not  eligible  as  active 
members,  may  become  eligible  to  junior  membership  upon  the  written  recom- 
mendation of  at  least  one  member,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges 
except  that  of  voting. 

POSSIBLE  CHANGES 
Members — Article  III.,  Section  3. 

Employees  of  mechanical,  electrical  and  way  departments,  not  eligible  as 
active  members,  may  Decome  eligible  to  junior  membership  upon  the  written 
recommendation  of  at  least  one  member,  and  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges 
except  that  of  voting. 

Article  II.  of  the  by-laws  may  also  be  changed  to  provide  that  a  certain 
number  of  the  executive  committee  be  way  men;  also  Article  VII.  regarding 
the  arrangement  for  meetings. 

♦♦♦ 

The  first  electric  cars  ever  built  entirely  in  the  city  of  San  Diego 
are  nearing  completion  at  the  car  houses  of  the  San  Diego  Electric- 
Railway  Company,  at  the  foot  of  E  Street.  Three  of  them  will 
soon  be  ready  to  take  their  places  on  the  various  city  lines.  Gen- 
eral Manager  Clayton  has  had  a  number  of  the  old  cars  rebuilt 
since  he  came  here,  has  lengthened  a  number  of  the  old  Fourth 
Street  electric  cars,  and  remade  several  of  the  old  cable  cars  into 
the  handsome  double-enders  now  in  service  on  some  of  the  lines. 
All  of  the  rebuilt  cars  have  double  trucks.  Mr.  Clayton  stated  re- 
cently that  the  company  has  all  the  single-truck  cars  that  it  would 
ever  have  use  for,  meaning  that  as  soon  as  the  traffic  warranted  it 
large  double-truck  cars  will  be  put  into  service  and  the  smaller  cars 
reserved  for  emergency  use.  The  three  new  cars  will  be  supplied 
with  double  trucks  and  double  ends,  with  side  seats  on  the  outside 
capable  of  carrying  twenty  passengers. 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


417 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 


Wall  Street,  Sept.  14,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

The  money  market  this  week  reflected  to  some  extent  the  con- 
tinued heavy  losses  in  cash  sustained  by  the  local  banks,  which, 
for  the  two  weeks  ending  last  Saturday,  amounted  to  over  $15,- 
000,000,  while  the  surplus  reserve  has  been  reduced  by  nearly 
$19,000,000  within  the  same  period.  Naturally,  rates  for  all  ma- 
turities have  hardened  perceptibly,  especially  in  the  time  loan 
department,  where  the  asking  rates  rule  full  !4  per  cent  above 
those  prevailing  at  the  close  of  a  week  ago.  Sixty-day  contracts 
which  were  in  abundant  supply  last  week  at  2l/i  per  cent,  now 
command  2%  per  cent,  while  ninety-day  funds  are  in  fair  demand 
at  3  per  cent.  Over-tbe-year  maturities  are  also  in  better  request 
at  3:-2  per  cent,  but  the  banks  and  trust  companies  are  not  in- 
clined to  put  out  their  funds  for  fixed  periods  at  less  than  3^4 
per  cent.  The  supply  of  money  at  the  latter  figure  is  very  moder- 
ate. Some  of  the  larger  lenders  refuse  to  do  business  at  the  cur- 
rent rates,  there  being  a  disposition  on  their  part  to  hold  off  for 
better  returns,  which  are  expected  to  prevail  in  the  near  future. 
The  opinion  is  held  in  certain  quarters  that  the  season's  ship- 
ments of  currency  to  the  interior  will  be  larger  than  those  of 
last  year,  despite  the  statements  of  large  supplies  of  cash  at  West- 
ern and  Southern  points.  Call  money  was  again  in  abundant  sup- 
ply at  last  week's  close.  At  the  opening,  transactions  were  re- 
ported at  y%  per  cent,  but  on  Monday  the  price  was  advanced  to 
i]/2  per  cent.  Only  a  few  small  loans  were  made  at  that  figure, 
and  subsequently  there  was  a  decline  to  I  per  cent,  which  was 
the  average  rate  for  the  week.  Commercial  paper  shows  no  ap- 
preciable change.  Specialists  report  a  further  falling  off  in  the 
supply  of  prime  material,  but  the  demand  continues  good,  and  all 
offerings  are  readily  taken.  Rates  are  unchanged  at  4  per  cent  as 
the  minimum  for  the  choicest  grades.  The  sterling  exchange 
market  displays  a  decidedly  easier  tendency,  prime  demand  bills 
sustaining  a  further  loss  of  25  points  to  $4.8690.  The  receipts  of 
cotton  bills  are  considerably  larger  than  a  week  ago,  and  indi- 
cations point  to  a  more  liberal  supply  in  the  near  future. 

The  statement  of  the  Associated  Banks,  published  last  Satur- 
day, showed  an  increase  in  loan  of  $13,243,600  to  $1,130,486,200,  a 
new  high  record,  while  deposits  increased  $4,625,400  to  $1,221,700,- 
400,  also  a  new  high  record.  The  cash  item  showed  a  loss  of 
$7,908,800.  while  the  surplus  reserve  decreased  $9,065,130.  The 
surplus  is  now  $38,438,250,  compared  with  $15,372,200  in  1903, 
$715,075  in  1902,  $7,110,550  in  1901,  and  $20,836,175  in  1900. 

The  Stock  market 

Increased  activity  developed  in  the  securities  market  this  week, 
the  total  transactions  on  several  occasions  being  the  largest  for 
the  year.  The  dealings,  however,  were  attended  by  considerable 
irregularity,  induced  by  heavy  profit-taking  sales.  At  the  open- 
ing the  general  tendency  of  prices  was  toward  a  higher  level,  but 
later  the  market  was  subjected  to  heavy  selling,  directed  princi- 
pally against  St.  Paul  and  Union  Pacific.  The  selling  of  these 
issues  by  Western  houses  was  the  signal  for  a  general  profit- 
taking  movement,  but  all  stock  offered  found  a  ready  market  on 
the  way  down.  On  Thursday  and  Friday  the  market  grew  de- 
cidedly stronger,  and  on  Saturday  prices  for  many  issues  reached 
the  previous  high  records  for  the  year,  despite  the  unfavorable 
bank  statement,  which  showed  a  further  decrease  in  the  surplus 
reserve  of  over  $9,000,000.  At  the  beginning  of  the  present  week 
prices  broke  sharply  on  the  poor  showing  made  by  the  Govern- 
ment crop  report,  especially  as  to  spring  wheat.  The  selling  at 
first  was  directed  against  the  granger  stocks,  but  subsequently 
the  movement  became  general  and  proved  to  be  the  severest 
check  the  bull  forces  have  had  to  contend  with  in  several  weeks. 
At  the  close  the  market  was  decidedly  confused,  but  in  certain 
parts  attempts  to  cover  stock  were  clearly  discernible. 

Notwithstanding  the  severe  reaction  in  the  general  list,  the  local 
traction  issues  showed  relative  strength.  Manhattan  Elevated 
moved  up  i-M<,  while  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  and  Third 
Avenue  rose  2)4,  and  1,  respectively.  Metropolitan  Securities 
were  conspicuously  weak,  the  price  sustaining  a  net  loss  of  65^ 
points.  There  was  the  usual  crop  rumors  affecting  the  property, 
none  of  which  could  be  confirmed.  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  was 
firm. 


Philadelphia 

Dealings  in  the  Philadelphia  traction  issues  were  considerably 
more  active,  and  prices  generally  ruled  well  above  the  previous 
week's  final  figures.  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  was  the  over- 
shadowing feature,  both  as  regards  activity  and  strength,  the  trad- 
ing being  stimulated  by  the  announcement  that  the  entire  holdings 
of  the  William  L.  Elkins  estate,  amounting  to  35,000  shares,  had 
been  sold  to  a  New  York  and  Philadelphia  syndicate.  It  was  also 
stated  that  the  stock  will  soon  be  listed  upon  the  New  York  Stock 
Exchange,  the  preliminary  steps  having  already  been  taken. 
Opening  14%,  a  slight  advance  over  the  previous  closing, 
the  price  advanced  steadily  to  18,  an  extreme  gain  of  3J4  points, 
but  subsequently  it  reacted  to  1 7 •  v,s  on  profit-taking  sales.  In  all, 
close  on  to  30,000  shares  were  dealt  in.  United  Traction  continued 
the  upward  movement,  about  2000  shares  changing  hands  at  from 
55^8  tip  to  5654  and  back  to  56^,  which  was  the  closing  price. 
Philadelphia  Traction  sold  at  99I4  to  99^4  for  moderate  amounts, 
and  closed  the  week  with  sales  at  97}i  ex-dividend.  Fairmount 
Park  Transportation  declined  from  17  to  16  on  the  exchange  of  a 
few  hundred  shares.  Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  was 
fairly  active  and  steady,  upward  of  600  shares  being  transferred 
at  72  and  71  -H,  a  loss  of  %,  Philadelphia  Electric  was  active, 
about  20,000  shares  changing  owners  at  from  up  to  jY&,  from 
which  it  reacted  to  7  3-16,  a  net  gain  for  the  week  of  about  ) 6 
point. 

Chicago 

The  principal  feature  of  the  Chicago  market  was  the  extreme 
dullness  prevailing  in  the  traction  stocks.  Chicago  Union  Trac- 
tion issues,  which  were  active  and  strong  last  week  at  8  -md  41 
respectively,  for  the  common  and  preferred,  were  entirely  neg- 
lected this  week.  Chicago  City  Railway  was  very  quiet,  about  300 
shares  changing  owners  at  190,  an  advance  of  3J/2  points.  West 
Chicago  moved  up  from  55T4  to  56^2  on  the  exchange  of  470 
shares,  an  advance  of  \)A  points,  and  20,000  of  the  5s  brought 
96;^.  South  Side  Elevated  was  firm  at  92,  125  shares  selling  at 
that  figure.  Metropolitan  Elevated  advanced  to  23J4,  but  later  it 
ran  off  to  23[4.  The  preferred  sold  at  60  in  the  early  dealings, 
but  subsequently  there  was  a  reaction  of  Yi  point.  Chicago  &  Oak 
Park  Elevated  common  sold  at  6  and  6j 4 ,  while  small  lots  of  the 
preferred  changed  owners  at  25  and  23. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

Interest  in  the  Boston  traction  centered  largely  in  Massachu- 
setts Electric  issues,  both  of  which  sustained  further  substantial 
losses.  The  common  opened  the  week  with  sales  of  185  shares  at 
13,  but  later  the  price  ran  off  \Y\,  recovering  at  the  e'lose  to  11*4. 
The  preferred  opened  at  60,  and  advanced  to  61,  but  later  in  the 
week  there  was  a  decline  to  58.  with  a  final  rally  to  58; •j.  It  is 
said  that  the  earnings  of  the  system  for  the  month  of  August  in- 
creased $30,000,  as  compared  with  the  corresponding  month  last 
year  and  that  the  net  earnings  for  the  year  ending  Sept.  30  will 
be  about  2l/i  on  the  preferred  stock  as  against  2  per  cent  paid  in 
dividends.  Boston  Elevated  was  quiet,  but  strong,  the  price  rang- 
ing from  i52-)4  to  154,  and  closing  at  the  highest.  West  End 
opened  strong  at  92^,  but  toward  the  close  it  eased  off  to  91%. 
A  small  lot  of  the  preferred  brought  inT<.  The  feature  of  the 
Baltimore  trading  was  the  break  of  2's  in  United  Railway  incomes 
from  46  to  43.' s.  with  a  subsequent  rally  to  44' s.  The  4s  were 
fairly  active  and  strong,  prices  ranging  from  90  to  90' j.  and  clos- 
ing" at  the  latter  figure.  Lexington  Street  Railway  5s  sold  at 
ioo'4,  and  Washington  City  &  Suburban  5s  brought  ioo'_>  and  tot. 
One  $1000  Knoxville  Traction  5s  sold  at  103.  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  was  one  of  the  prominent  features  on  the  New  York  curb. 
Dealings  in  it  were  comparatively  small,  amounting  to  about  6000 
shares  for  the  week,  as  against  27,000  shares  traded  in  in  the 
preceding  week",  and  price  fluctuations  were  confined  to  a  rather 
narrow  range — from  148  at  the  close,  the  price  ran  off  to  145,  but 
subsequently  it  rallied  to  146,  at  which  figure  it  closed.  There- 
were  various  rumors  concerning  the  much-talked-of  "deal,"  but 
none  of  them  could  be  confirmed.  Washington  Railway  and  Elec- 
tric issues  were  extremely  quiet,  but  strong,  small  lots  of  the 
common  and  preferred  selling  at  [8  and  6gTj,  respectively.  The 
4  per  cent  bonds  were  traded  in  to  the  extent  of  $27,000,  at  83^ 
and  83I/2.    St.  Louis  advanced  \l/2  points  to  on  the  purchase 

of  a  single  hundred  shares.  The  gross  earnings  of  the  company 
continue  to  show  large  gains.    Those  for  the  month  of  August 


4i8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


amounting  to  $1,014,776,  an  increase  of  $355,241,  or  about  54  per 
cent  over  last  year,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  gross  receipts  for 
the  year  will  exceed  $9,000,000.  A  meeting  of  the  stockholders  will 
be  held  on  October  19  to  ratify  a  proposition  to  cause  the  issue  of 
$20,000,000  improvement  and  refunding  bonds,  authorized  last 
May,  and  to  issue  in  place  of  them  bonds  not  exceeding  $12,500,- 
000,  of  which  $10,000  will  be  issued  at  present,  as  the  cost  of  the 
proposed  improvements  has  been  less  than  previously  estimated. 
The  collateral  loans  amounting  to  $6,000,000  coming  due  in  No- 
vember can  also  be  met  by  this  issue. 

Tractions  were  again  active  in  Cincinnati,  the  majority  of  the 
purchases  apparently  being  for  investment  purposes.  Cincinnati 
Street  Railway  lead  in  the  selling,  the  sales  for  the  week  aggre- 
gating about  2700  shares.  The  prices  ranged  from  1441/;  to  I45j^, 
practically  the  same  as  last  week.  Cincinnati,  Newport  &  Cov- 
ington common  came  into  the  trading  after  an  inactive  period, 
sales  being  about  23,000  shares  with  a  range  of  from  2>°Va  to  31 
The  preferred  was  again  very  active,  sales  being  2251  shares,  with 
the  range  from  92^  to  94^.  Several  blocks  of  the  first  5s  of  this 
company  sold  at  109%  and  no,  while  one  lot  of  the  second  5s 
sold  at  107^2.  Twelve  thousand  Northern  Ohio  Traction  5s  sold 
at  991/a.  Detroit  United  sold  at  67,  Cincinnati  &  Hamilton  Trac- 
tion at  46  and  Toledo  Railways  &  Light  at  21.  A  lot  of  Miami  & 
Erie  Canal  sold  at  $1  per  share,  indicating  very  little  faith  in  the 
future  of  the  canal  stock. 

Northern  Texas  Traction  continues  in  strong  demand  in  Cleve- 
land. The  property  is  showing  gains  in  earnings.  The  stock, 
however,  is  scarce.  Over  600  shares  sold  in  small  lots  with  a 
range  of  from  38^  to  40^.  Cleveland  Electric  advanced  to  73 
on  sales  of  279  shares.  A  small  lot  of  Northern  Ohio  Traction  & 
Light  sold  at  13^.  Northern  Texas  5s  advanced  to  85  and  North- 
ern Ohio  Traction  &  Light  4s  sold  at  59^. 

A  report  from  Cincinnati  says  that  the  deal  for  the  purchase 
of  $800,000  worth  of  the  4  per  cent  bonds  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  Company  by  a  syndicate  of  brokers  headed  by 
W.  E.  Hutton  &  Company,  has  been  practically  declared  off  for 
the  present.  A  representative  of  that  company  was  quoted  as  say- 
ing that  his  company  was  not  satisfied  with  the  proposition  of  the 
Cleveland  holders  of  the  bonds.  E.  W.  Moore,  of  the  Everett- 
Moore  syndicate,  who  negotiated  the  deal,  says  that  the  sales  of 
the  bonds  has  been  deferred  only  temporarily,  and  that  the  option 
has  not  been  declared  off.  It  appears  that  some  of  the  outside 
Cleveland  bondholders  were  unwilling  to  sell  at  the  prices  offered 
by  the  Cincinnati  syndicate,  and  the  latter  desired  to  secure  the 
entire  holdings  in  Cleveland. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
two  weeks  ago. 

Closing  Bid 
Sept.  7   Sept.  14 


American  Railways    48%  48U 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago    a15  al5 

Boston  Elevated    153  153 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit    555^  55% 

Chicago  City    183  lg0 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)    7  7 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)    31  31 

Cleveland  Electric    71  72% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey   72  72% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s   108%  108% 

Detroit  United   ,  67  87 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit    144%  148% 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (preferred)    _   

Lake  Street  Elevated    %y„  31A 

Manhattan  Railway    155%  167 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)    13  1214 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)    61  59 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common")   21%  — 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)    60  — 

Metropolitan  Street    120%  122 

Metropolitan  Securities    87%  81% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)      _ 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)    _   

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s      

North  American    92%   

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light    14  14 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)    40%  44% 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit    14%  ig% 

Philadelphia  Traction    ggi^,  ggi^ 

St.  Louis  (common)       

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)    91  _ 

Third  Avenue    100  100 


Closing  Bid 
Sept.  7   Sept.  14 


Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)    98%  98% 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)    55%  5G 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)    55%  — 

West  End  (common)    92%  92% 

West  End  (preferred)    111%  111% 


a  Asked. 

Iron  and  Steel 

The  "Iron  Age,"  in  its  weekly  review,  says :  The  all-absorbing 
question  whether  the  recent  open  reduction  in  prices  of  finished 
material  has  stimulated  serious  buying  cannot  be  answered  as 
yet.  With  due  reserve  the  statement  may  be  made  that  thus  fai 
the  indications  are  not  particularly  favorable.  There  has  cer- 
tainly not  been  any  rush  of  buying.  From  all  accounts  current 
tonnage  in  the  steel  trade  is  good.  A  clear  indication  of  this  is 
furnished  by  the  fact  that  the  independent  mills  are  taking  their 
purchases  right  along,  with  a  few  insignificant  exceptions,  and  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  has  in  blast  80  per  cent  of  the 
furnace  capacity,  including  a  number  of  new  stocks. 

netals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows :    Copper  12$/$ 
cents,  lead  4.20  cents,  tin  27.62^2  cents,  and  spelter  5.10  cents. 
 ♦♦♦  

CONSOLIDATION  IN  PORTLAND,  OREGON 


The  consolidation  of  the  Portland  Railway  Company  and  the 
City  &  Suburban  Railway  Company,  of  Portland,  Ore.,  became  a 
certainty  when  the  stockholders  of  the  latter  company  met  on 
Sept.  1  and  unanimously  decided  to  join  with  the  Portland  Rail- 
way Company.  The  stock  of  the  Portland  Railway  is  owned  en- 
tirely by  the  Portland  Traction  Company,  which  is  not  an  oper- 
ating company.  It  is  a  close  corporation  with  few  stockholders, 
all  of  whom  have  been  in  favor  of  consolidation,  so  that  the 
City  &  Suburban  meeting  was  the  decisive  step  in  the  merging  of 
the  two  properties.  All  that  remains  now  is  for  the  transfer  of 
the  stock  of  the  new  corporation.  This  will  not  take  place  for 
more  than  a  month,  as  some  of  the  stockholders  are  in  Europe.  The 
new  company  is  to  be  known  as  the  Portland  &  Suburban  Rail- 
way Company,  and  will  be  capitalized  at  $5,000,000.  Of  this 
amount  $4,000,000  will  be  issued  in  exchange  for  the  properties 
and  for  cash  subscriptions,  the  remaining  $1,000,000  being  held 
in  reserve  for  insurance,  as  the  growth  of  the  system  demands. 
As  the  cash  subscriptions  will  amount  to  about  $1,000,000  it  will 
give  the  new  company  a  good  working  capital  with  which  to  make 
extensions  and  improvements  to  the  existing  properties.  The 
stockholders  of  the  City  &  Suburban  Railway  Company  will  re- 
ceive about  one  and  one-third  shares  in  the  new  company  for 
their  holdings  and  the  basis  of  exchange  of  the  Portland  Rail- 
way Company  is  about  the  same.  The  new  company  will  have  a 
bonded  indebtedness  of  $2,607,000. 

When  the  two  companies  have  been  merged  and  brought  under 
one  management  the  new  company  will  own  108.2  miles  of  track 
in  Portland  and  vicinity.  At  the  present  time  the  City  &  Subur- 
ban Company  has  in  operation  67.2  miles  of  track,  including  its 
suburban  lines,  while  the  Portland  Railway  Company  has  41  miles 
over  which  it  is  running  its  cars.  To  operate  this  system  the  former 
company  has  147  cars  in  use,  while  the  latter  has  107.  The  City 
&  Suburban  employs  600  men,  while  the  Portland  Railway  Com- 
pany has  400  workmen  on  its  payroll. 

The  officers  of  the  new  corporation  will  probably  consist  of : 
President,  A.  L.  Mills,  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Portland;  vice-president.  C.  F.  Swigert,  secretary  and  general 
manager  of  the  City  &  Suburban ;  secretary  and  treasurer,  J.  C. 
Ainsworth,  president  United  States  National  Bank  and  treasurer 
of  the  Portland  Railway ;  general  manager,  F.  I.  Fuller,  general 
manager  of  the  Portland  Railway.  The  executive  management 
of  the  combined  properties  will  be  jointly  in  the  hands  of  C.  F. 
Swigert,  as  vice-president,  and  F.  I.  Fuller,  as  general  manager. 
Although  no  definite  arrangements  have  yet  been  made,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  mechanical  and  engineering  features  of  operation  will 
fall  to  Mr.  Fuller. 

While  no  detailed  plans  for  the  new  company  have  been  ar- 
ranged at  present,  several  improvements  have  been  outlined  and 
will  probably  be  put  into  effect  soon  after  the  incorporation  of 
the  new  company.  Among  these  plans  may  be  mentioned  the  build- 
ing of  a  large  car  construction  and  repair  shop  and  a  large  car 
house  in  East  Portland.  New  motor  equipment  will  be  purchased, 
new  standard  types  of  cars  will  be  constructed,  and  considerable 
track  will  be  relaid.  It  is  likely  that  a  loop  system  will  be  estab- 
lished in  handling  cars  in  the  down-town  section  and  at  the  ter- 
minals. 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


419 


THAT  NEW  YORK  CONSOLIDATION 


The  stories  of  the  merger  of  the  local  traction  companies  in 
New  York  go  merrily  on,  a  new  variation  being  rendered  almost 
every  day.  The  story  that  comes  to  hand  as  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  goes  to  press,  has  been  worked  out  with  greater  regard 
for  details  than  any  other  that  has  yet  appeared,  the  actual  price 
being  given  at  which  the  companies  will  be  taken  over.  According 
to  this  story,  Thomas  F.  Ryan  has  been  empowered  by  the  ma- 
jority interest  in  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  to  dispose  of  the 
shares  pledged  to  him  in  whatever  manner  he  disposes  of  his 
own.  There  are  absolutely  no  restrictions  as  to  this  disposition, 
so  it  is  said.  Metropolitan  Securities,  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way and  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  shares  are  all  to  be  de- 
posited with  a  holding  company  or  the  present  Metropolitan  Se- 
curities Company,  which  will  issue  $140,000,000  of  6  per  cent  pre- 
ferred stock,  which  stock  is  figured  at  present  to  have  a  value  of  128, 
and  will  take  up  share  for  share  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  stock ; 
will  give  an  additional  bonus  to  Interborough  shares,  either  com- 
mon or  preferred,  so  as  to  make  Interborough  shares  worth  148, 
and  will  also  place  a  value  of  104  upon  Metropolitan  Securities. 



MANHATTAN  ELEVATED  REPORT 


The  following  statement  has  been  filed  with  the  New  York  State 
Railroad  Commission  in  Alb?ny  by  the  Manhattan  Railway  Division 
of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company : 


Year  ended  June  30 

1904 

1903 

Gross  earnings  

 $14,187,686 

$12,208,337 

Operating  expenses   

  5,846,051 

5,460,794 

Net  earnings  

  $8,341,635 

$6,747,543 

Other  income   

  341,504 

346,859 

Total  

  $8,683,139 

$7,094,402 

Fixed  charges   

  2,893,412 

2,820,859 

Balance   

  $5,789,726 

$4,273,544 

^Dividends   

  4,564,000 

3,546,000 

Surplus   

  $1,225,726 

$727,544 

*  The  above  dividends  include  the  guaranteed  7  per  cent  on  the 
Manhatan  Railway  Company  and  the  2  per  cent  declared  on  Inter- 
borough Rapid  Transit. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  EARNINGS  - 
PLAN  TO  REDUCE  BOND  ISSUE 


A  daily  increase  of  more  than  250,000  passengers  is  indicated 
by  the  record-breaking  statement  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Com- 
pany's earnings  for  August.  The  exhibit  shows  gross  earnings 
of  $1,014,076  for  the  month,  as  compared  with  $659,535  Ior 
August,  1903,  an  increase  of  $355,241,  or  approximately  54  per 
cent.  For  the  present  year  up  to  Sept.  1,  the  receipts  of  the  com- 
pany have  aggregated  $6,246,856,  as  compared  with  $4,766,704  for 
the  same  period  of  1903,  an  increase  of  $1,480,153,  or  more  than 
30  per  cent.  The  average  monthly  increase  thus  far  this  year  has 
been  in  excess  of  $126,000,  while  the  average  daily  fares  have  in- 
creased more  than  $11,500. 

The  total  number  of  passengers  carried  each  day  has  increased 
to  more  than  600.000,  while  during  the  past  mouth  20,295,520  rev- 
enue passengers  were  hauled.  Including  transfers,  it  is  estimated 
that  more  than  30,000,000  people  were  handled. 

It  is  now  confidently  expected  that  the  gross  earnings  of  the 
company  for  the  present  calendar  year  will  not  be  less  than 
$9,000,000.  Some  estimates  that  have  been  made  place  the  figures 
at  $10,000,000.  Net  receipts  also  have  increased  at  an  astonishing 
rate  during  the  past  few  months.  It  is  anticipated  that  the  bal- 
ance for  August,  after  all  expenses,  will  amount  to  $150,000. 

A  meeting  of  the  stockholders  of  the  company  has  been  called 
for  Oct.  19  to  pass  upon  a  proposition  to  cancel  the  issue  of  $20,- 
000,000  improvement  and  refunding  bonds  authorized  last  May, 
and  to  issue  in  lieu  thereof  bonds  not  to  exceed  $12,500,000. 

The  object  in  authorizing  the  issue  of  $20,000,000  bonds  last 
May  was  to  retire  certain  obligations  arising  from  deficits  and 
improvements  which  the  company  has  incurred  in  the  course  of  its 
existence.  The  bonds  were  to  be  guaranteed  by  the  United  Rail- 
ways Company,  of  which  the  Transit  Company  is  in  a  measure  a 
subsidiary  organization. 

Notice  of  the  purpose  to  restrict  the  issue  to  $12,500,000  was 


made  public  last  month,  and  was  noted  in  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  at  that  time.  Since  then  it  has  been  stated  that  arrange- 
ments have  made  by  which  the  company  will  issue  only  $10,000,- 
000  bonds,  as  the  cost  of  the  proposed  improvements  have  not 
been  as  great  as  estimated,  and  the  collateral  loans  coming  due 
in  November  for  $6,000,000  can  be  retired  from  the  difference  be- 
tween the  cost  of  the  improvements  and  the  total  of  the  bonds, 
which,  it  is  believed  will  bring  a  good  price.  Brown  Brothers,  of 
New  York,  have  done  much  toward  financing  the  company,  and 
have  disposed  of  some  of  the  bonds,  though  arrangements  with 
the  purchasers  can  be  made  on  the  new  basis.  Another  feature 
which  it  is  believed  will  be  considered  is  that  in  all  probability 
the  Transit  Company  will  be  able  to  wipe  out  its  deficits  with  its 
net  earnings  this  year. 

 ♦♦♦  

NORTHERN  COLORADO  COMPANY'S  PROJECT 


The  directorate  of  the  Northern  Colorado  Electric  Railway  Com- 
pany has  been  changed  by  the  resignation  of  L.  C.  Moore  and  the 
election  of  William  R.  Rathvon,  of  Boulder,  Col.,  as  his  successor. 
Air.  Rathvon  has  been  for  some  years  connected  with  the 
United  Oil  Company  in  an  executive  capacity,  and  is  at  present 
the  manager  of  the  northern  fields  for  the  above  named  company. 
The  United  Oil  Company  is  the  refining  company  for  the  Conti- 
nental Oil  Company.  Mr.  Moore  has  been  elected  treasurer  of  the 
company.  The  preliminary  plans  of  the  company  as  adopted  by  the 
new  directorate  include  building  from  Eaton,  Weld  County,  to 
Longmont,  in  Boulder  County,  including  in  the  line  the  towns  and 
cities  of  Windsor,  Timnath,  Fort  Collins,  Loveland,  Berthoud  and 
several  in-country  villages.  The  total  distance  is  about  61  miles 
and  the  population  per  mile  is  451.  The  proposed  road  will  pene- 
trate one  of  the  richest  potato,  beet  and  wheat  sections  in  America. 
Franchises  have  already  been  granted  for  Larimer  County,  Wind- 
sor, Fort  Collins,  Loveland  and  Berthoud,  and  applications  for 
grants  are  being  considered  by  the  City  Council  of  Longmont  and 
Town  Board  of  Eaton.  Terminal  service  will  be  arranged  over 
lines  now  ready  to  build  from  Denver  to  Longmont.  The  line  will 
be  built  to  conform  with  the  latest  standard  interurban  practice. 
Preparations  are  being  made  for  beginning  surveys  at  once. 



CONTRACT  FOR  SINGLE=PHASE  LINE  IN  THE  SOUTH 


The  Atlanta  Interurban  Railway  Company,  controlled  by  the 
Georgia  Railway  &  Electric  Company,  and  now  building  a  line 
in  Atlanta  and  its  suburbs,  has  awarded  a  contract  to  the  Westing- 
house  Company  for  the  equipment  of  the  line  with  the  single-phase 
system.  This  is  the  first  company  in  the  South  to  contract  with 
the  Westinghouse  Company  for  the  equipment  of  its  lines  with  this 
system. 


REGULATION  OF  TRAFFIC  IN  NEW  YORK  BY  THE  POLICE 


During  the  last  municipal  administration  in  New  York  the  con- 
tinental method  of  regulating  street  traffic  at  congested  crossings 
was  introduced  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan.  Under  this  sys- 
tem the  traffic  on  streets  extending  north  and  south  is  given  right 
of  w?.y  while  the  traffic  on  streets  east  and  west  is  held.  Then 
the  traffic  on  the  streets  east  and  west  is  given  the  right  of  way 
,vhile  the  traffic  north  and  south  is  held.  When  this  scheme  was 
introduced  simple  instructions  also  were  issued  as  to  the  proper  way 
to  follow  the  rules  of  the  road.  The  police  soon  learned  just  what 
was  expected  of  them,  and  the  plan  finally  worked  out  successfully. 
The  present  police  commissioner  has  conceived  the  idea  that  he- 
can  improve  upon  the  system  as  operated  under  his  predecessor, 
and  has  placed  mounted  police  at  a  number  of  crossing,  his  con- 
tention being  that  a  mounted  officer  has  an  advantage  over  a  pa- 
trolman in  dealing  with  offenders.  Probably  the  most  important 
task  the  commissioner  has  undertaken  is  that  of  regulating  vehicle 
traffic  over  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  between  the  hours  of  4  o'clock  and 
7  o'clock  p.  m.  Trucks  coming  to  Brooklyn  from  up  town  are 
now  required  to  pass  down  the  west  side  of  Park  Row,  until 
near  the  Post  Office.  Then  they  may  cross  over  and  come  up  the 
east  side  of  the  Row,  keeping  off  the  car  tracks,  and  turn  into 
the  bridge  roadway.  Trucks  from  Brooklyn  are  compelled  to 
turn  to  the  right  up  Park  Row  to  Chambers  Street,  instead  of 
plunging  directly  across  to  Center  Street.  Thus,  the  space  di 
rectly  in  front  of  the  bridge  is  kept  clear  of  heavy  wagons,  and 
the  cars  on  Park  Row  and  Center  Street  are  permitted  to  make 
good  time.  In  the  system  as  worked  in  New  York  there  is  a 
lesson  that  could  be  applied  in  other  cities  that  find  it  hard  to 
cope  with  the  problems  in  traffic  presented  in  congested  districts. 


420 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12. 


NEW  BRIDGE  TRAFFIC  PLANS  IN  NEW  YORK 


Bridge  Commissioner  Best,  of  New  York,  has  sent  another  let- 
ter to  Mayor  McClellan  on  the  question  of  improved  facilities  for 
handling  traffic  over  the  old  and  new  East  River  Bridges.  Mr. 
Best  says  that  the  proposed  connecting  railway  between  the  two 
bridges  now  erected  would  afford  but  little  relief.  He  says  that 
to  avoid  the  experience  of  having  a  bridge  completed  with  no 
railway  facilities,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Williamsburg  Bridge, 
lines  to  and  from  the  Manhattan  Bridge,  now  building,  should  be 
provided  for  at  once.  He  therefore  suggests  to  the  Mayor  the 
following  improvements : 

An  elevated  railway  through  Canal  Street  from  Greenwich 
Street  or  the  Hudson  River  to  the  Manhattan  Bridge  terminal, 
with  a  branch  through  Elm  Street,  Center  Street  or  the  Bowery  to 
Delancey  Street,  thence  to  the  terminus  of  the  Williamsburg 
Bridge,  the  line  to  be  built  either  by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company  or  the  Manhattan  Elevated. 

Or,  a  trolley  subway  through  Delancey  Street,  across  town  to 
*  Hudson  Street,  down  Hudson  Street,  West  Broadway  and  Green- 
wich Street,  at  least  as  far  as  the  Jersey  City  ferries  at  Cortlandt 
and  Liberty  Streets,  with  a  branch  through  Duane  Street,  under 
the  present  subway  at  Elm  Street,  into  the  basement  of  the  pro- 
jected station  on  Center  Street,  there  to  connect  with  the  sur- 
face lines  from  Brooklyn,  which  could  use  the  basement  of  the 
station  as  a  terminal  and  through  station. 

The  building  of  this  line  the  Commissioner  suggests  leaving  to 
the  Brooklyn  company  or  to  the  Jersey  City  companies,  which 
will  soon  have  a  foothold  in  New  York  through  tunnels.  He 
thinks  that  this  route  could  be  operated  as  a  loop  or  otherwise 
at  the  option  of  the  companies.  The  transfer  of  the  present  loop 
tracks  at  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  to  the  basement  of  the  new  ter- 
minal station  Mr.  Best  believes  to  be  advisable,  but  not  impera- 
tive. He  adds:  "I  assume  that  the  project  to  carry  the  South 
Brooklyn  Subway  over  the  Manhattan  Bridge  may  be  urged  quite 
persistently,  and  that  if  it  is  adopted  we  shall  not  be  able  to  run 
so  many  cars  over  this  bridge  as  has  been  anticipated.  In  this 
event,  a  trolley  subway  would  not  be  necessary." 



levis  county  railway-canadian  electric  light 
company: 


The  troubles  hitherto  existing  between  the  above  two  com- 
panies are  in  a  fair  way  to  be  promptly  and  amicably  settled.  Al- 
lusion to  the  fact  of  power  contract  disputes  between  these  two 
companies  has  been  previously  made  in  these  columns.  We  are  now 
advised  that  a  board  of  arbitration  has  been  appointed,  and  an 
agreement  signed  by  both  companies,  to  settle  all  dffiiculties,  and 
to  draw  up  a  new  power  contract.  The  gentlemen  selected  are : 
R.  S.  Kelsch,  consulting  engineering  of  the  Montreal  Light,  Heat 
&  Power  Company;  Henry  D.  Bayne,  manager  at  Montreal  of  the 
Canadian  Westinghouse  Company,  Limited,  and  L.  P.  Sirois,  a 
prominent  notary  of  Quebec. 

Power  has  been  served  to  the  railway,  and  the  road  has  been  in 
operation  since  Aug.  9,  through  the  influence  of  a  citizens'  com- 
mittee, and  is  now  continued  by  the  arbitration  agreement. 

The  Levis  road  was  without  power  for  five  weeks  and  three 
days  during  its  best  season,  and  to  provide  against  any  recurrence 
the  work  of  installing  a  relay  steam  plant  is  progressing. 



;V-  BUENOS  AIRES  HORSE  LINES  TO  BE  CONVERTED 


The  Buenos  Aires  Grand  National  Tramways  Company,  which 
operates  upward  of  50  miles  of  horse  tramways  in  and  around  the 
capital  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  is  largely  to  convert  its  system 
to  electric  traction,  and  has  already  placed  an  important  contract 
for  American  equipment,  the  General  Electric  Supply  Company,  of 
Buenos  Aires,  which  represents  the  General  Electric  interests  in 
that  part  of  the  world,  having  been  awarded  a  contract  for  100  40- 
hp.  double  motor  equipments  with  controllers,  trolleys,  cables,  com- 
plete. 

The  Grand  National  Company  is  composed  mostly  of  British 
capital.  The  London  offices  are  at  6  Eastcheapside,  E.  C.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  company  is  B.  S.  Howard.  Charles  Downey  is  man- 
aging director.  The  consulting  engineers  are  Sir  George  Bruce  & 
White,  London.  The  contracts  for  material,  equipment,  etc.,  for 
Argentine  Republic  electric  traction  systems  have  hitherto  chiefly 
been  instituted  among  European  manufacturers,  especially  Ger- 
man concerns.  The  General  Electric  contract  is  the  first  important 
one  secured  by  American  interests  for  some  time. 


CINCINNATI,  GEORGETOWN  &  PORTSMOUTH  RAILROAD  IN 
MARKET  FOR  EQUIPMENT 


The  Cincinnati,  Georgetown  &  Portsmouth  Railroad,  of  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  will  reach  Russelville  on  its  West  Union  extension 
about  Oct.  15,  and  expects  tc  reach  West  Union  early  next  season. 
The  earnings  for  the  year  ended  June  30,  1904,  exceeded  those  of 
June,  1903,  more  than  $12,000.  The  increase  for  July,  1904,  over 
the  same  month  last  year  was  $1,500.  For  the  first  three  weeks  in 
August  the  increase  over  the  same  period  last  year  was  $1,200. 
The  company  is  in  the  market  for  rails  and  bridges. 



TWIN  CITY  COMPANY  HAS  PLAN  TO  PREVENT 
ELECTROLYSIS 


The  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  operating  in  Minneapo- 
lis and  St.  Paul,  has  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Water  Commis- 
sioners of  St.  Paul  a  detailed  plan  for  the  prevention  of  damages 
to  the  city's  water  mains  by  electrolysis.  The  presentation  of  the 
plan  was  in  accordance  with  an  agreement  by  which  the  city  of 
St.  Paul  was  to  suspend  a  damage  suit  against  the  company  pro- 
viding such  a  plan  was  devised  and  presented  by  Sept.  r,  1904.  The 
plan  which  has  been  submitted  was  prepared  by  Sargent  &  Lundy, 
of  Chicago.  It  provicjes  that  a  cable,  to  be  connected  with  the  rails 
by  wires,  be  laid  between  the  double  tracks,  thus  providing  ade- 
quately for  the  return  of  the  current  to  the  source  of  supply.  The 
report  has  been  submitted  to  the  Board's  electrical  expert,  Prof. 
Dugald  C.  Jackson,  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  who,  after  mak- 
ing a  careful  examination  as  to  the  feasibility  of  the  plan,  will  re- 
port back  to  the  Board. 



REMARKABLE  RECORD  OF  THE  BOSTON  &  WORCESTER 


The  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Railway,  operating  between 
Boston  and  Worcester,  Mass.,  a  distance  of  about  40  miles,  shows 
an  increase  in  earnings  for  the  summer  that  can  only  properly  be 
designated  by  the  word  remarkable.  For  the  month  of  August 
car  receipts  averaged  the  record  figure  of  $5.25  per  car  hour,  and 
for  the  year  to  end  this  month  the  gross  earnings  will  exceed 
$400,000.  On  Saturday,  Sunday  and  Monday,  Sept.  3,  4  and  5,  the 
gross  earnings  were  $9,696.  The  earnings  for  Labor  Day  alone 
were  $4,246.  The  total  for  the  three  days  showed  an  increase  over 
last  year  of  more  than  25  per  cent.  It  is  said  that  earnings  so 
far  this  month  have  shown  an  increase  of  $500  per  day  over  last 
year. 



ANNUAL  CONFERENCE  OF  THE  MUNICIPAL  TRAMWAYS 
ASSOCIATION  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN 


The  annual  conference  of  the  Municipal  Tramways  Association 
of  Great  Britain  is  to  be  held  in  Liverpool  on  Sept.  27,  28  and  29. 
The  executive  committee  has  considered  the  arrangements  for 
the  annual  conference,  and  the  programme  will  be  roughly  as 
follows : 

On  Sept.  27  there  will  be  a  meeting  of  the  executive  committee 
at  9.45  a.  m.,  and  a  meeting  of  the  manager's  section  at  10  a.  m. 
Half  an  hour  later  a  reception  will  be  given  to  the  association  by 
the  Liverpool  Corporation,  followed  by  a  conference  at  11  o'clock. 
In  the  evening  the  members  will  be  entertained  to  a  dinner  by  the 
Liverpool  Corporation. 

On  the  following  day  there  will  be  an  executive  committee 
meeting  followed  by  a  business  meeting  and  conference  of  the  as- 
sociation. The  Lambeth  Road  works  and  Pumpfields  power  sta- 
tion are  to  be  visited  in  the  afternoon  preceding  the  association 
dinner  at  7  p.  m. 

An  excursion  has  been  planned  for  Sept.  29,  of  which  the  de- 
tails have  not  yet  been  announced.  The  following  papers  and  re- 
ports will  be  submitted  for  discussion : 

"How  to  Effect  Economy  in  Current  Consumption,"  by  P. 
Fisher. 

"Arrangement  of  Men's  Duties,"  by  J.  B.  Hamilton. 
"Methods  of  Dealing  with  Mixed  Systems  of  Traction,"  by  A. 
L.  C.  Fell. 

"Cars,  Their  Equipment  and  Maintenance,"  by  J.  Aldworth. 

"Overhead  Equipment,  Its  Construction  and  Maintenance,"  by 
J.  M.  McElroy. 

Report  on  the  standardization  of  tramway  accounts. 

Revised  report  on  the  hours  of  labor,  etc.,  of  tramway  em- 
ployees. 


September  17,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


42  T 


CONVENTION  ARRANGEMENTS  OF  MANUFACTURERS' 
COMMITTEE 


The  executive  committee  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Asso- 
ciation held  a  meeting  at  St.  Louis  Sept.  io,  in  conference  with  a 
committee  of  the  recently  formed  manufacturers  association,  to 
decide  upon  details  of  the  programme  for  convention  week.  The 
entertainment  that  will  be  provided  by  the  supply  men  will  be  in 
line  with  the  anticipated  desire  of  those  visiting  the  convention  to 
see  as  much  of  the  Exposition  as  possible. 

The  members  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  ex- 
ecutive committee  in  attendance  at  the  conference  were  President 
W.  Caryl  Ely,  of  Buffalo;  J.  C.  Hutchins,  of  Detroit;  E.  C.  Foster, 
of  New  Orleans ;  Secretary  T.  C.  Pinington,  of  Chicago,  and  Capt. 
Robert  McCulloch  and  John  Grant,  representing  St.  Louis.  The 
members  of  the  manufacturers'  committee  present  were  Chairman 
Daniel  M.  Brady,  Secretary  R.  W.  Meade,  C.  C.  Pierce,  of  Boston ; 
W.  J.  Cooke,  of  Chicago;  G.  J.  Kobusch,  of  St.  Louis;  Daniel 
Royse,  representing  F.  S.  Kenfield,  of  Chicago,  and  E.  H.  Baker, 
chairman  of  the  finance  committee. 



MUNICIPAL  SHORTSIGHTEDNESS  IN  JERSEY  CITY 


The  spectacle  is  presented  in  Jersey  City  of  the  City  Council 
passing  street  railway  ordinances  and  the  Mayor  signing  the  docu- 
ments in  the  face  of  protests  from  the  company  in  whose  favor 
the  grants  were  made,  that  the  conditions  embodied  therein  were 
impossible  of  acceptance.  The  ordinances  granted  to  the  Public 
Service  Corporation  the  right  to  build  extensions  and  make  im- 
provements to  its  lines  in  Jersey  City,  that,  as  President  Mc- 
Carter  of  the  company  said,  were  of  far  more  importance  to  the 
public  than  they  were  to  the  company.  Despite  this,  however, 
the  city  wanted  to  make  a  contract  that  could  be  upset  before  the 
expiration  of  the  company's  bonds.  The  company  was  willing  to 
pay  to  the  city  5  per  cent  of  its  gross  receipts  ;  it  was  willing  to 
grant  transfers,  to  pave  and  sprinkle  the  streets,  to  concede  the 
principle  involved  in  a  renewal  of  its  contract  at  periods  of  twenty- 
five  years,  but  refused  to  do  this  during  the  life  of  its  bonds, 
which  were  issued  before  this  new  condition  was  thought  of. 

 ♦♦^  

FRESH  CAPITAL  AND  NEW  NAME  FOR  STILWELL-B1ERCE 
&  SMITH- VAILE  COMPANY 


The  Stilwell-Bierce  &  Smith-Vaile  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio, 
all  its  manufacturing  lines,  goodwill,  patents,  drawings,  etc.,  have 
been  purchased  by  Col.  J.  D.  Piatt,  president  of  the  Barney  & 
Smith  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio.  Col.  Piatt  has 
organized  a  company  called  the  Piatt  Iron  Works  Company,  to  carry 
on  the  enterprise.  The  purchase  price  was  in  the  neighborhood  of 
$750,000.  The  new  company  has  a  cash  working  capital  of  $400,000. 
The  company  will  take  over  all  the  unfinished  contracts  of  the 
Stilwell-Bierce  &  Smith-Vale  Company.  The  personnel  of  the 
engineering  and  sales  department  will  remain  practically  the  same 
as  heretofore.  Geo.  W.  Neff  is  the  Eastern  manager  of  the  com- 
pany, with  headquarters  in  New  York. 

 ♦♦♦  

MILWAUKEE  COMPANY'S  OFFER  TO  LIGHT  STREETS 


A  formal  proposition  has  been  made  by  President  John  I.  Beggs 
in  behalf  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company  to 
the  joint  committee  of  the  Common  Council  of  Milwaukee  on 
finance  and  lighting,  for  lighting  the  streets  of  the  city.  Mr.  Beggs 
says  the  company  is  willing  to  make  an  agreement  with  the  city  to 
furnish  light  at  the  same  figures  that  are  charged  in  the  city  of 
Detroit,  which  has  been  frequently  referred  to  in  the  discussion  of 
the  project  of  building  a  municipal  light  plant.  Mr.  Beggs  pro- 
poses that  expert  accountants  each  year  report  to  the  City  Council 
exactly  what  it  has  cost  the  city  of  Detroit  to  light  its  streets  and 
the  figures  thus  reported  shall  govern  the  price  to  be  charged  the  city 
of  Milwaukee.  It  is  provided,  however,  that  the  difference  in  the 
cost  of  coal  in  Detroit  and  Milwaukee  shall  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration, and  also  that  any  other  similar  questions  shall  be  consid- 
ered by  the  accountants.  It  is  roughly  estimated  that  it  would 
cost  the  city  $1,000,000  to  erect  a  municipal  plant. 


STEAM  RAILROAD  SUBWAY  FOR  CINCINNATI 


Plans  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Union  Terminal 
Company,  of  Cincinnati,  for  a  tunnel  into  the  city  for  the  steam 
lines  will,  it  is  said,  be  submitted  to  the  railroad  authorities  this 
week.  The  plans  include  a  subway  directly  across  the  center  of  the 
city.  Private  property  is  to  be  taken  by  purchase  and  lease,  giving 
those  along  the  line  direct  switching  connection  with  every  rail- 
road in  the  city.  It  will  contain  twelve  standard  tracks.  Th<; 
motive  power  will,  of  course,  be  electricity. 



SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  COMPANY'S  ELECTRIC  PLANS 


From  Sacramento  comes  the  statement  that  plans  are  well  under 
way  for  installing  electricity  on  the  Southern  Pacific  Company's 
suburban  lines  across  the  bay.  Engineers  are  at  work  upon  the 
plans,  and  a  portion  of  the  $5,000,000  which  Mr.  Harriman  recently 
authorized  Director  Kruttschnitt  to  spend  on  improvements  will  go 
toward  the  preliminary  work.  Rumor  has  it  that  it  has  been  defi- 
nitely decided  to  operate  the  Berkeley,  Oakland  and  Alameda  lines 
of  the  Southern  Pacific  on  a  third-rail  system  similar  to  the  North 
Shore  Railroad,  instead  of  the  overhead  trolley  wire  system,  by 
which  the  Santa  Fe  moves  its  Key  Route  trains. 



CHANGES  IN  CINCINNATI,  DAYTON  &  TOLEDO  TRACTION 


The  annual  meeting  of  stockholders  of  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton 
&  Toledo  Traction  Company  on  Sept.  8,  resulted  in  sweeping 
changes  in  the  directorate.  Of  50,000  shares  represented,  only 
6000  were  shown  to  be  held  in  Cleveland,  which  resulted  in  the 
practical  elimination  of  the  Mandelbaum  interests  that  formerly 
controlled  the  property.  H.  B.  McGraw  was  elected  director  to 
represent  the  Cleveland  interests,  he  being  the  only  Clevelander 
on  the  new  board,  which  is  as  follows :  George  B.  Cox,  W.  E. 
Hutton,  L.  A.  Irelan,  C.  A.  Richardson,  W.  Kelsey  Schoepf,  of 
Cincinnati ;  Peter  Schwab,  of  Hamilton ;  H.  B.  McGraw,  of  Cleve- 
land. These  officers  were  chosen :  W.  Kesley  Schoepf,  G.  B.  Cox, 
C.  A.  Richardson,  executive  committee ;  George  B.  Cox,  president ; 
W.  K.  Schoepf,  first  vice-president ;  C.  A.  Richardson,  second  vice- 
president;  J.  B.  Foraker,  secretary-treasury;  J.  Williams,  assistant 
secretary-treasurer;  F.  J.  J.  Sloat,  general  manager;  W.  J.  Boyer, 
auditor. 



ELKINS  HOLDINGS  IN  PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT  GO 
TO  A  SYNDICATE 


A  deal  has  been  closed  by  which  about  35,000  shares  of  stock  of 
the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  belonging  to  the  estate 
of  William  L.  Elkins  have  been  sold  to  a  syndicate  of  inside  Phila- 
delphia and  New  York  traction  interests.  Previously  about  15,000 
shares  of  the  Elkins  holdings  were  sold  to  members  of  the  same 
syndicate.  The  price  paid  was  about  $15  a  share,  and  the  stock  is 
understood  to  have  gone  to  men  who  were  close  friends  and  asso- 
ciates of  Mr.  Elkins.  Among  the  purchasers  are  :  John  B.  Parsons, 
president  of  the  Rapid  Transit ;  P.  A.  B.  Widener,  George  D. 
Widener,  J.  J.  Sullivan,  William  H.  Shelmerdine,  Michael  Murphy, 
John  M.  Mack,  George  A.  Huhn  and  Clarence  Wolf,  of  Philadel- 
phia, and  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  August  Belmont,  James  H.  Hyde  and 
John  D.  Crimmins,  of  New  York. 

The  capital  of  the  company  is  $30,000,000,  divided  into  600,000 
shares  of  a  par  value  of  $50.  When  the  company  was  organized  $5 
a  share  was  paid  in.  This  assessment  amounted  to  $3,000,000.  In 
May,  1903,  a  second  call  for  $5  was  made,  and  the  third  $5  was  paid 
last  December,  making  in  all  $9,000,000  called.  A  fourth  assess- 
ment will  be  called  next  month.  It  will  be  for  $5  a  share.  This 
will  bring  the  total  paid-in  capital  up  to  $12,000,000. 

George  H.  Earle,  Jr.,  president  of  the  Finance  Company  of  Penn- 
sylvania, has  been  elected  a  director  of  the  company  to  fill  the 
vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  William  L.  Elkins.  Mr.  Earle  is 
interested  in  Indiana  traction  lines  controlled  by  United  Gas  Im- 
provement interests.  He  also  has  considerable  interest  in  the 
United  Railroad  of  San  Francisco,  and  in  addition  is  a  larger  owner 
in  the  Philadelphia  Company,  which  controls  the  Pittsburg  roads. 
Beside  being  at  the  head  of  the  Investment  Company  of  Philadel- 
phia, Mr.  Earle  is  president  of  the  Tradesmen's  National  Bank, 
the  Market  Street  National  Bank,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Ware- 
housing &  Safe  Deposit  Company. 


/ 


422 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  12 


SCHENECTADY  COMPANY  TO  ESTABLISH  A  BUS  SERVICE 


The  availability  of  the  automobile  as  an  adjunct  and  feeder  of 
the  electric  railway  is  to  be  tested  by  the  Schenectady  Railway 
Company,  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y.  This  company  has  placed  an 
order  with  the  General  Electric  Company  for  two  passenger 
cars,  which  will  be  placed  in  service  between  Loudonville  and 
Albany,  a  distance  of  8  miles.  The  seating  capacity  of  each  bus 
will  be  twenty  persons,  and  the  speed  with  full  load  will  be  12 
m.  p.  h.  This  experiment  may  allay  the  fears  of  those  who  here- 
tofore have  looked  upon  the  automobile  only  as  a  possible  com- 
petitor of  the  electric  railway. 

 ♦♦♦  

ACCIDENT  FAKIRS  SENTENCED  IN  BOSTON 


On  charges  of  conspiring  to  defraud  the  Warren,  Brookfield  & 
Spencer  Street  Railway  by  pretending  that  one  of  them  was  on  one 
of  the  company's  cars  when  it  met  with  an  accident,  and  recovering 
$25  for  fictitious  injuries,  John  W.  West  and  Elizabeth  Allen  were 
each  sentenced  to  eight  months  in  the  House  of  Correction  in  the 
Municipal  Court  at  Boston,  Sept.  10.  Judge  Boltser,  in  finding  the 
couple  guilty,  censured  them  sharply  and  gave  them  sentences  that 
are  much  heavier  than  usually  are  given  in  offenses  in  which  no 
greater  amount  is  concerned.  "While  it  is  true  that  the  amount 
involved  is  small,"  the  Judge  said,  "all  the  evidence  shows  that  it 
was  a  plan  of  premeditated,  deliberate  and  continued  villainy." 
 ♦♦♦  

STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  SEPT.  6,  1904 

769,187.  Registering  Mechanism ;  Jacob  Schinneller,  Pittsburg, 
Pa.  App.  filed  Feb.  9,  1903.  A  special  auxiliary  register  adapted 
to  be  operated  independently  of  the  main  register  when  the  pas- 
senger is  entitled  to  a  rebate. 

769,301.  Summer  Car;  Edmund  Bury,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  App. 
filed  Feb.  6,  1904.  Mechanism  whereby  the  side  exits  to  the  cars 
may  be  readily  opened  and  closed  from  either  platform. 

769,398.  Operating  Mechanism  for  Car  Registers ;  Wilfred  I. 
Ohmer,  Dayton,  Ohio.  App.  filed  Jan.  23,  1903.  Comprises  a 
shaft  capable  of  both  rotary  and  longitudinal  motion,  a  vertical 
shaft  mounted  in  a  housing  and  having  a  geared  connection  with 
said  shaft  within  said  housing,  whereby  both  shafts  rotate  in 
unison,  an  operating  handle  mounted  on  the  vertical  shaft,  a  bell 
crank  lever  mounted  in  the  housing  and  engaging  the  shaft  to 
move  the  same  longitudinally,  and  a  connection  between  the  op- 
erating handle  and  the  bell  crank  lever  to  actuate  the  lever  when 
the  handle  is  moved  longitudinally. 

769,462.  Self-Adj usting  Trolley  for  Electric  Railways;  Charles 
C.  Benson,  Newburyport,  Mass.  App.  filed  Nov.  19,  1902.  The 
harp  is  so  constructed  as  to  permit  the  wheel  to  swing  laterally. 

769,513.  Switch  Operating  Device;  Cort  W.  Townsend,  New 
Philadelphia,  Ohio.  App.  filed  June  28,  1904.  Details  of  con- 
struction of  a  switch-throwing  device  mounted  upon  the  car-axle. 


PATENT  NO.  769,462 


769.576.  Car  Brake  for  Railroads ;  Edward  A.  Wagener,  Den- 
ver, Colo.  App.  filed  Sept.  30,  1003.  Two  friction  rollers,  located 
(relatively  to  the  car  wheel)  diametrically  opposite  each  other, 
with  means  for  bringing  the  roller  simultaneously  into  contact 
with  the  tread  of  the  car  wheel,  and  also  independent  stationary 
surfaces. 

769.577.  Railway  Switch ;  William  Wharton,  Jr.,  Philadelphia, 
Pa.  App.  filed  June  3,  1904.  A  recessed  body  portion  having  a 
rail  at  one  side  and  stops  at  the  opposite  side,  the  surface  between 
the  stops  being  inclined,  and  a  tongue  with  a  tread  portion  and  a 
guard  mounted  in  the  recess. 

769,685.  Electric  Railway  Switch  ;  Schuyler  C.  Gurley,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind.  App.  filed  Sept.  8,  1903.  Details  of  an  electro-magnet 
for  actuating  a  railway  switch. 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  BENJAMIN  C.  FAUROT,  a  pioneer  citizen  of  Lima,  Ohio, 
died  a  few  days  ago.  He  established  the  first  street  railway  sys- 
tem in  that  city,  now  known  as  the  Lima  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company. 

MR.  J.  A.  BRETT,  for  the  past  several  years  general  manager 
of  the  Electrical  Installation  Company,  of  Chicago,  will,  on  Oct. 
1,  retire  from  that  company  to  engage  in  other  business.  Mr.  Brett 
has  made  no  definite  arrangements  for  the  future,  but  has  several 
proposals  under  consideration. 

MR.  HENRY  BACON  TUCKER,  master  mechanic  of  the  Jack- 
sonville Electric  Company,  of  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  was  married 
Wednesday,  Sept.  7,  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  to  Miss  Winifred  Lang- 
don  Allison,  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  J.  Allison,  of 
South  Farms,  Middletown.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tucker  are  now  at 
home  at  Jacksonville  to  their  friends. 

MR.  S.  B.  LIVERMORE,  former  superintendent  of  the  Winona 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  has  been  appointed  superintendent  of 
the  La  Crosse  City  Railway  Company  to  succeed  Mr.  Peter  Valier, 
who  recently  resigned  to  accept  a  position  with  the  La.  Crosse  & 
Southeastern  Railway  Company.  Mr.  Livermore  had  several  years' 
experience  with  the  Winona  Company. 

GEN.  JOHN  M.  HOOD,  president  of  the  United  Railways  & 
Electric  Company,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  has  returned  from  a  flying 
trip  through  England,  France,  Germany,  Switzerland  and  Northern 
Italy.  He  left  Baltimore  on  Aug.  3  and  sailed  for  Europe  from 
New  York  on  the  following  day,  arriving  at  Hamburg  on  Aug.  11. 
His  main  object  in  making  the  trip  was  to  study  European  trans- 
portation methods. 

MR.  JOSEPH  ELBLE,  a  division  superintendent  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Traction  Company,  was  quite  seriously  injured  a  few  days  ago 
in  a  brave  effort  to  save  the  life  of  a  child.  Mr.  Elble  was  stand- 
ing on  the  running  board  of  a  car  when  a  child  ran  onto  the 
track.  The  motorman  made  an  effort  to  stop,  but  Mr.  Elble,  seeing 
that  the  child  was  certain  to  be  struck,  jumped  forward  and  grasped 
the  child,  pulling  her  to  one  side  and  saving  her  life.  Both  were 
knocked  down,  however,  and  Mr.  Elble  received  serious  scalp 
wounds  and  other  injuries. 

MR.  CURTIS  J.  HARRINGTON,  who  was  for  several  years 
past  prominently  identified  with  the  electric  railway  construction 
and  supply  business,  died  at  St.  Vincent's  Hospital,  New  York, 
on  the  morning  of  Sept.  10.  Funeral  services,  with  Masonic 
honors,  were  held  at  his  New  York  residence,  151  East  Fifty- 
Fourth  Street,  on  Monday,  Sept.  12,  before  his  body  was  sent  for 
interment  to  Scranton,  Pa.,  where  his  parents  live.  Mr.  Harring- 
ton was  born  April  21,  1870,  and  first  entered  the  electric  railway 
supply  business  in  1897  with  Mr.  Elmer  P.  Morris,  New  York, 
after  having  spent  several  years  in  electric  railway  work  around 
Philadalphia.  He  left  Mr.  Morris  to  become  manager  of  the  Elec- 
tric Lead  Reduction  Company,  of  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.,  but  later 
he  returned  to  New  York  to  engage  in  business  for  himself.  He 
leaves  a  wife  and  one  child.  His  brother,  Mr.  W.  E.  Harrington, 
is  vice-president  of  the  Camden  &  Suburban  Railway  Company,  of 
Camden,  N.  J. 

MR.  JOHN  C.  WILLETTS,  president  of  the  John  Stephenson 
Company,  died  on  Aug.  31,  1904,  at  his  home  at  Skaneateles,  N.  Y., 
after  an  illness  of  several  months.  Mr.  Willetts  was  born  in  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  March  4,  1846 ;  he  was  a  son  of  Mr.  William  Jackson 
Willetts.  In  his  early  manhood  Mr.  Willetts  engaged  in  the  leather 
business  in  New  York,  but  on  account  of  ill  health  was  soon 
obliged  to  give  up  his  interests  and  remove  to  Florida,  where  he 
spent  several  years.  In  1872  he  married  Miss  Emma  Prentice, 
daughter  of  John  H.  Prentice,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  well- 
known  Prentice  stores  of  Brooklyn.  For  the  past  twenty-five  years 
Mr.  Willetts  has  made  his  home  in  Skaneateles,  N.  Y.,  and  during 
this  time  has  been  prominently  identified  with  the  growth  and  im- 
provement of  the  town.  He  was  particularly  interested  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  new  public  library  at  Skaneateles,  and  gave  much 
of  his  time  to  this  end,  personally  supervising  the  construction  and 
equipment  of  the  new  library  building.  Besides  being  president 
of  the  John  Stephenson  Company,  Mr.  Willetts  was  at  the  time  of 
his  death  the  president  of  the  Dexter  Folder  Company,  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  Syracuse  Chilled  Plow  Company,  vice-president  of  the 
National  Bank  of  Skaneateles,  a  director  of  the  E.  W.  Bliss  Com- 
pany. He  also  was  interested  in  several  other  well-known  business 
enterprises.  The  funeral  service  was  held  at  Skaneateles  on  Sept. 
3.  Mr.  Willetts  is  survived  by  a  wife  and  four  children.  Mr.  H. 
K.  S.  Williams  has  been  elected  to  the  position  held  by  Mr.  Willetts 
with  the  Stephenson  Company. 


INDEXED 


Street  Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV. 


NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  SEPTEMBER  24,  1904. 


No.  13 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  thi 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY1"'/^. 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Libert 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:   Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London"— Lieber's  Code 

used. 


ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

In  the  United  States,  Hawaii,  Puerto  Rico,  Philippines,  Cuba,  Canada 
and  Mexico. 

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Combination    Rate,    with    Electric    Railway    Directory  and 
Buyer's  Manual  (3  issues — February,  August  and  November)  $4.00  per  annum 

Both  of  the  above,  in  connection  with  American  Street  Railway 
Investments  (The  "Red  Book" — Published  annually  in  May; 
regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)   $6.50  per  annum 

Single  copies,  Street  Railway  Journal,  first  issue  of  each  month,  20  cents; 
other  issues,  10  cents. 

To  All  Countries  Other  Than  Those  Mentioned  Above: 

Street  Railway  Journal  (52  issues),  postage  prepaid   $6.00 

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Single  copies,  first  issue  of  each  month,  40  cents;  other  issues,  15  cents. 

Subscriptions  payable  in  advance,  by  check  or  money  order.  Remittances 
for  foreign  subscriptions  may  be  made  through  our  European  office. 

Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 

EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  lattr 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


A  Great  Feat  in  Transportation 

One  of  the  finest  feats  in  street  railway  transportation  ever 
witnessed  was  the  way  the  street  railway  companies  of  St. 
Louis  handled  the  crowds  on  St.  Louis  Day  at  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition.  This  was  the  day  when  the  people  of 
St.  Louis  set  aside  all  work  as  far  as  possible  and  devoted 
themselves  to  swelling  the  attendance  at  the  Exposition ;  the 
attendance  being  about  400,000  on  that  day.  With  the  memory 
of  the  enormous  congestion  of  people  at  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition, Chicago  Day,  Oct.  9,  1893,  in  mind,  it  is  not  strange  that 
some  uneasiness  was  felt  lest  the  transportation   lines  be 


swamped  with  traffic.  They  were  not  overcrowded,  however, 
am^he  way  in  which  the  street  railways  did  their  work  on  that 
day  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  admiration  of  every  intelligent 
street  railway  man  who  witnessed  it.  It  is  all  very  well  to  say 
that  larger  numbers  of  people  are  carried  daily  by  the  street 
railways  of  Greater  New  York.  That  is  not  the  point.  The 
admirable  thing  about  the  St.  Louis  Day  street  railway  per- 
formance is  that  the  street  railways  were  on  a  special  day  and 
to  a  special  place  able  to  carry  about  double  the  normal  traffic 
of  the  corresponding  date  a  year  before,  and  were  able  to  do  it 
with  such  clock-work  regularity  of  service  that  the  jam  and 
crush  of  people  at  terminal  and  transfer  points,  usually  con- 
sidered inseparable  from  such  great  special  days,  were  nowhere 
to  be  found.  Cars  and  crowds  moved  along  so  freely  that  it 
was  difficult  to  realize  that  the  greatest  day  of  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  Exposition  was  in  progress.  Photographers  who 
went  out  with  their  cameras  expecting  to  get  photographs  of 
great  masses  of  packed  humanity,  were  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. The  crowds  flowed  to  and  from  the  street  car  terminals 
like  great  rivers,  and  the  stream  being  unbroken  by  any  short- 
comings of  the  car  service,  there  was  no  time  for  the  lakes 
and  seas  of  humanity  to  form  that  are  thought  usually  to  be  the 
necessary  evils  of  such  special  events.  It  is  not  without  a 
justifiable  humorous  twinkle  of  the  eye  that  St.  Louis  street 
railway  men  relate  how  for  a  time  in  the  morning  the  street 
cars  landed  people  at  some  of  the  Exposition  gates  faster  than 
the  Exposition  management  was  able  to  perform  the  simple 
task  of  passing  them  through  the  gates.  The  whole  thing 
showed  not  only  the  results  of  excellent  street  railway  man- 
agement for  the  day,  but  also  the  results  of  the  months  of  well 
planned  preparation.  We  feel  that  we  must  metaphorically 
take  our  hats  off  to  the  gentlemen  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company  and  of  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Company 
who  were  responsible  to  so  great  a  degree  for  the  comfort  of 
the  St.  Louis  public  on  that  day,  as  well  as  on  previous  similar 
occasions. 

Soldered  Rail  Bonds 

It  is  now  about  four  years  since  the  first  bonds  using  solder 
for  electrical  connection  between  the  bond  and  rail  were  de- 
scribed in  these  columns.  In  that  time  there  has  been  a  steady 
increase  in  the  use  of  soldered  bonds,  and  more  than  one  manu- 
facturer is  putting  out  bonds  designed  to^  be  soldered  to  the 
rail.  As  to  the  superior  qualities  of  a  soldered  contact  when  the 
soldering  is  thoroughly  well  done  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for 
as  long  as  the  solder  is  intact  there  is  no  possible  chance  for 
oxidizing  or  electrolytic  action  between  the  contact  surfaces. 
That  the  soldered  bond  has  not  been  used  more  heretofore  is 
probably  due  to  fear  on  the  part  of  constructing  engineers  that 
they  cannot  be  sure  that  the  soldering  is  well  done  in  every 
case,  and  if  not  well  done,  the  bond  is  much  worse  than  any 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


riveted  or  pressed  terminal.  It  has  been  argued  that  it  is  more 
likely  that  the  class  of  labor  which  is  employed  on  bonding 
work  will  secure  a  fairly  good  contact  with  the  pressed  terminal 
than  with  soldered.  One  of  the  principal  dangers  with  soldered 
bonds  is  a  lack  of  heat  during  the  soldering  process.  As  the 
veriest  novice  in  the  art  of  soldering  knows,  plenty  of  heat  is 
one  of  the  first  essentials  in  soldering,  and  it  takes  considerable 
heat  to  raise  a  70-lb  rail  to  a  temperature  which  will  melt  solder 
and  to  keep  it  at  that  temperature  long  enough  to  do  the  job. 
As  the  rail  is  large  it  has  the  ability  to  conduct  away  a  great 
amount  of  heat.  The  heat  must  be  so  intense  and  so  localized 
at  one  spot  that  the  rail  cannot  conduct  heat  away  fast  enough 
to  cool  the  spot  that  is  to  be  soldered.  Recent  types  of  blow 
torches,  both  for  kerosene  and  gasoline,  can  be  obtained  which 
overcome  the  difficulty  of  insufficient  heat.  Could  the  rail  tem- 
perature be  raised  high  enough  to  melt  brass,  brazed  rail  bonds 
would  apparently  be  even  better  than  soldered  bonds,  on  ac- 
count of  the  greater  mechanical  strength  of  the  joint.  The 
joint,  however,  seems  to  be  abundantly  strong  on  most  of  the 
soldered  bonds  where  the  area  of  contact  is  large. 

In  connection  with  soldered  bonds,  the  question  comes  up  of 
the  best  location.  Some  of  the  first  soldered  bonds  which  were 
installed  in  paved  streets  in  Seattle  were  placed  under  the  base 
of  the  rail,  the  rail  being  bonded  in  lengths  of  a  block  or  more 
and  then  turned  over  into  position  on  the  ties.  Some  light 
bonds,  or  wire,  have  been  made  by  riveting  the  terminals  of  the 
wire  into  the  rail  base  and  then  soldering  the  terminal  to  the 
base.  This  kind  of  bonding  can  be  done  after  the  track  is  laid. 
Another  form  of  soldered  bond  is  adapted  to  go  under  the 
angle-bars  and  to  be  soldered  to  the  web  of  the  rail  after  re- 
moving one  of  the  angle-bars.  An  interurban  road  on  private 
right  of  way  now  being  finished  in  the  Middle  West  has  adopted 
the  novel  plan  of  using  a  short  soldered  bond  on  the  head  of  the 
rail  opposite  the  flangeway.  The  points  urged  in  favor  of  this 
location  are  ease  of  installation  after  the  angle-bars  have  been 
applied  and  ease  of  inspection,  as  the  condition  of  the  bond  can 
always  be  seen  at  a  glance.  On  an  interurban  road  on  a  private 
right  of  way  the  danger  of  injury  to  the  exposed  bond  is  not 
great,  although,  of  course,  the  danger  from  theft  is  ever  present. 
It  is,  of  course,  desirable  to  have  a  bond  which  depends  en- 
tirely upon  solder  for  its  connection,  where  it  can  be  inspected, 
although  testing  would  reveal  the  fault  if  it  were  concealed. 
On  a  small  road,  testing  would  be  considerably  more  expensive 
than  inspection.  Altogether  there  is  much  to  be  said  on  both 
sides  of  this  latter  question. 

Controller  Burn-Outs 

The  burning  out  of  controllers  on  double-truck,  four-motor 
equipments  is  becoming  so  frequent  that  it  is  high  time  that 
some  plan  of  relief  from  it  be  sought.  Indeed  several  operating 
companies  are  experimenting  in  that  direction.  About  eleven 
years  ago  the  type  K  series-parallel  controller  was  first  put 
on  the  market,  and  as  this  controller  used  the  magnetic 
blow-out  for  extinguishing  the  arc,  and  was  well  designed  in 
other  particulars,  it  filled  the  bill  admirably  for  the  sizes  of 
motor  equipments  common  in  those  days.  The  controller  prob- 
lem for  street  cars  was  so  completely  solved  fox  the  time  being 
by  the  K  types  of  controller,  which  have  practically  become 
universal  for  city  railway  service  in  the  United  States,  that 
the  matter  of  controllers  and  car  wiring  for  20-ton  and  25-ton 
city  cars  has  possibly  not  received  the  attention  from  operating 
companies  that  it  should. 

The  increased  troubles  from  controller  burn-outs  recently 


are  due  almost  entirely  to  the  larger  volumes  of  current  that 
must  be  interrupted  at  the  controller  and  the  larger  arcs  that 
must  be  broken.   While  the  typical  city  car  of  a  few  years  ago 
weighed,  say,  7  tons  or  8  tons  and  took  a  maximum  accelera- 
tion current  of  60  amps,  to  130  amps.,  the  typical  big  city  car 
of  to-day  will  weigh  from  18  tons  to  25  tons,  and  will  take  from 
160  amps,  to  400  amps,  maximum  acceleration  current.  This 
means  that  the  car  fuses  and  circuit  breakers  must  be  adjusted 
to  pass  at  least  this  current,  and  the  feeder  circuit  breakers  at 
the  power  station  must  at  least  allow  several  of  these  cars  to 
accelerate  on  a  section  at  once  without  opening.    Car  circuit 
breakers  now  are  frequently  set  to  open  at  a  greater  current 
than  feeder  circuit  breakers  would  open  at  a  few  years  ago. 
The   dimensions  of  street  car  controllers,  however,  have 
changed  but  little.    There  have  been  a  number  of  important 
improvements  in  details  and  some  increases  in  contact  areas, 
but  the  dimensions  have  not  altered  in  any  such  proportion  as 
the  current  which  must  be  carried.   These  controllers  do  their 
work  very  well  on  the  large  four-motor  equipments  until  some^ 
thing  goes  wrong  with  the  motors  or  car  wiring.    In  the  old 
days  a  ground  in  a  motor  or  in  the  car  wiring  would  be  almost 
certain  to  open  the  car  fuse  or  circuit  breaker,  and  very  likely 
would  open  the  circuit  breaker  on  that  feeder  at  the  power  sta- 
tion as  well.   The  controller,  therefore,  would  not  have  to  open 
the  circuit  under  a  heavy  short-circuit  current,  as  this  was  done 
by  the  fuses  and  circuit  breakers.    In  modern  practice,  how- 
ever, circuit  breakers  and  fuses  will  frequently  pass  enough 
current  so  that  a  ground  on  the  car  will  not  open  them  at  once. 
In  such  a  case  this  heavy  current  will  be  broken  in  the  con- 
troller when  the  motonnan  throws  it  off.   The  result  is  usually 
a  terrific  arc  in  the  controller  that  wrecks  it,  and  causes  such  a 
display  of  fireworks  on  the  front  platform  that  the  company 
considers  itself  fortunate  if  the  terrified  passengers  do  not  land 
themselves  promiscuously  in  the  street  before  the  car  stops,  to 
the  detriment  of  the  accident  account.    When  four-motor 
equipments  were  new,  "fireworks  on  the  front  platform"  were 
seldom  heard  of,  because  motors  and  car  wiring  had  not  had 
time  to  develop  defects.   Now  that  such  equipments  have  been 
in  use  several  years,  the  faults  are  becoming  more  numerous, 
as  are  the  accompanying  pyrotechnic  displays.   As  the  difficulty 
lies  primarily  in  the  fact  that  the  heavy  currents  incident  to 
short-circuits  on  the  car  are  interrupted  by  the  controller  rather 
than  by  the  circuit  breakers  and  fuses,  several  companies  oper- 
ating four-motor  equipments  with  the  K  forms  of  controller 
have  begun  to  experiment  with  fuses  placed  in  each  of  the  four- 
motor  circuits.   As  each  fuse  can  be  of  a  size  sufficient  only  for 
the  current  required  by  one  motor,  it  can  be  one-fourth  the 
size  of  the  main  fuse,  as  the  main  fuse  must  pass  the  current 
taken  by  the  four  motors  in  multiple.   The  presence  of  a  fuse 
in  each  motor  circuit  which  will  open  upon  one-fourth  the  cur- 
rent that  the  main  fuse  or  circuit  breaker  will  open,  should 
relieve  the  difficulty  considerably.    It  further  has  the  advan- 
tage that  it  absolves  the  motorman  of  all  responsibility  of  ex- 
perimenting to  find  out  which  motor  to  cut  out.   These  four  in- 
dividual motor  fuses  add  to  the  complication  of  car  wiring  and 
equipment,  to  be  sure,  but  the  complication  is  not  serious.  A 
move  of  this  kind,  it  may  be  said,  is  in  accordance  with  the 
present  general  tendency  in  lighting  and  power  work  to  depend 
mainly  on  small  branch  circuit  fuses  near  the  point  of  con- 
sumption and  to  fuse  all  main  supply  circuits  very  heavily  or 
not  at  all.   The  use  of  individual  motor  fuses  would  result  in 
automatically  opening  all  grounded  motor  circuits.   As  grounds 
are  more  frequently  in  motors  than  in  car  wiring,  unless  car 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


425 


wiring  is  inexcusably  bad,  such  fuses  should  prevent  the  ma- 
jority of  controller  burn-outs  and  possibly  save  the  spread  of 
trouble  in  a  motor.  Controller  burn-outs  can,  of  course,  be 
decreased  by  taking  care  that  the  main  car  breaker  or  fuse  is 
never  set  for  a  greater  current  than  is  necessary  and  by  main- 
taining high  insulation  of  motors  by  means  of  frequent  tests. 
The  use  of  multiple-unit  controllers  which  will  safely  inter- 
rupt very  heavy  currents  is  one  effective  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culty, but  as  such  control  adds  15  per  cent  to  20  per  cent  to  the 
cost  of  a  city  car  there  will  be  considerable  casting  around  in 
other  directions  for  relief  before  that  solution  is  generally  ac- 
cepted. It  is  coming  to  be  more  and  more  the  case  that  the 
problems  in  connection  with  the  successful  breaking  of  heavy 
circuits  and  the  prompt  isolation  of  short-circuit  troubles  before 
they  can  spread  are  calling  for  the  best  electrical  engineering 
talent  of  anything  in  connection  with  handling  large  quantities 
of  electrical  energy. 

A  Consideration  of  Single-Phase  Motors 

At  the  Electrical  Congress  just  closed,  a  special  meeting  on 
Sept.  14  and  a  large  part  of  the  closing  session,  Sept.  16,  was 
devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the  present  movement  in  favor  of 
alternating  railway  motors.  The  subject  is,  of  course,  one 
which  has  been  of  great  interest  to  the  profession  for  some 
time  past,  and  the  papers  dealing  with  it  have  been  eagerly 
anticipated.  At  the  earlier  session  the  development  of  the  idea 
was  considered  at  length  by  Dr.  Steinmetz  and  Mr.  Lamme. 
These  gentlemen,  who  can  speak  with  authority  as  having  been 
themselves  in  the  front  of  the  movement,  made  plain  the 
necessity  of  turning  in  this  direction  and  the  importance  to  the 
larger  railway  field  of  the  methods  proposed.  It  has  long  been 
clear  that  for  the  extension  of  electric  traction  the  funda- 
mental need  is  a  higher  working  voltage,  enabling  the  distribu- 
tion of  power  to  be  made  with  some  regard  for  economy.  The 
present  method  of  distributing  to  sub-stations,  however  efficient 
and  desirable  within  its  proper  range  of  application,  yet  touches 
only  here  and  there  the  difficulties  of  the  situation  when  the 
coming  larger  work  of  the  electrician  is  at  hand.  The  various 
efforts  at  polyphase  traction  motors  were  gone  over,  and  the 
inherent  difficulties  of  the  type,  in  particular  the  trouble  en- 
countered in  getting  variable  speed,  and  in  such  speeding  as 
would  enable  time  to  be  made  up  when  the  necessity  should 
arise.  Given  then  the  problem  of  working  out  an  alternating 
system  which  should  possess,  so  far  as  motors  were  concerned, 
the  characteristics  of  series  motors  such  as  were  in  regular 
use,  the  natural  and  logical  result  was  the  series  alternating 
motor  at  low  frequency.  Once  this  was  obtained,  it  had,  in 
addition,  the  most  valuable  property  of  working  direct-current 
circuits  quite  as  effectively  as,  and,  in  fact,  rather  better  than  on 
alternating-current  circuits.  Thus  was  evolved  a  machine  which 
could  not  only  work  successfully  on  long  lines  where  a  simple 
alternating  distribution  was  of  primary  value,  but  which  could, 
in  addition,  operate  with  admirable  results  on  circuits  such  as 
are  now  usual  in  electric  railroading.  Mr.  Lamme  gave  a 
most  interesting  account  of  his  work  in  the  evolution  of  the 
type  first  announced  at  the  Great  Barrington  meeting  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  and  later  elabo- 
rated into  its  present  form,  while  Dr.  Steinmetz  contributed 
his  theoretical  consideration  of  the  question  in  addition  to 
drawing  on  his  rich  practical  experience.  Owing  to  the  short- 
ness of  the  available  time,  the  discussion  had  to  be  cut  short 
and  was  held  over  until  Friday,  when  it  was  again  taken  up  at 
some  length.    Dr.  Duncan,  Mr.  Sprague,  H.  W.  Leonard,  Mr. 


Armstrong  and  several  of  the  distinguished  foreigners  present 
took  a  hand  in  this  adjourned  presentation  of  the  subject.  This 
session  drew  out  somewhat  divergent  opinions.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  work  done  was  fully  recognized,  but  its  relation 
to  the  art  at  large  was  considered  by  no  means  fixed  as  yet. 
Particularly  in  heavy  railroading,  there  seemed  to  be  an  im- 
pression that  the  proposed  remedy  was  scarcely  drastic  enough 
to  meet  existing  symptoms.  In  fact,  considerable  doubts  were 
expressed  of  the  likelihood  of  the  larger  railroad  work  being 
taken  up  to  a  marked  extent  in  the  near  future.  The  require- 
ments are  of  very  great  severity  compared  with  even  the  most 
ambitious  interurban  roads  yet  built.  The  backbone  of  railway 
earnings  is  the  freight  traffic,  and  any  application  of  electric 
power  to  railway  working  which  is  not  prepared  to  undertake 
such  traffic  fails  of  that  completeness  which  is  necessary  to  full 
success.  The  single-phase  commutating  motor,  even  if  it  fully 
meets  the  requirements  of  ordinary  interurban  traction,  might 
still  fall  far  short  of  the  freight  haulage  requirements.  There 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  full  consensus  of  opinion  among  engi- 
neers as  to  the  real  value  of  these  novel  systems  even  for  in- 
terurban working.  It  seems  clear  that  the  types  of  motor  con- 
sidered have  the  very  valuable  power  of  working  admirably 
on  direct-current  railway  circuits.  Indeed,  it  would  be  strange 
if  they  should  signally  fail  here,  for  a  series-wound  mo- 
tor with  laminated  field,  low  inductance  and  special  precau- 
tions against  sparking  must  certainly  work  on  a  direct-current 
circuit,  if  anywhere.  It  is  the  performance  on  alternating  cir- 
cuits that  is  just  now  of  most  interest  and  will  soon  be  settled 
by  practical  use.  There  seems  to  be  good  reason  for  thinking 
that  this  will  be  satisfactory  at  least  for  certain  cases,  and  even 
if  this  be  all,  a  very  material  success  will  have  been  scored. 
There  seems  to  be  little  doubt  that  this  d.  c.-a.  c.  series  motor 
is  intrinsically  somewhat  more  bulky  and  heavy  and  materially 
more  costly  than  the  ordinary  railway  motor  at  the  same  out- 
put and  efficiency.  This  is  perhaps  the  necessary  penalty  of  its 
discontinuous  energy  supply,  and  there  need  be  small  expecta- 
tion that  further  improvements  will  modify  this  relative  situa- 
tion. Quite  possibly  we  may  have  an  a.  c.  type  not  materially 
heavier  than  present  standard  motors,  but,  granting  this,  the 
same  designing  would  produce  a  still  lighter  d.  c.  motor, 
and  the  same  comparison  would  doubtless  hold  as  respects 
costs.  Of  course,  there  are  no  data  as  yet  on  the  probable  cost 
of  maintenance  and  repairs.  It  is  not  at  all  improbable  that 
these  may  be  somewhat  higher  on  the  alternating-current 
equipment  as  a  whole  than  upon  the  now  standard  forms. 
When  judged  in  comparison  with  the  maintenance  and  repairs 
of  the  usual  long  line  equipment,  including  the  sub-stations, 
the  alternating  motors  should  have  the  better  of  the  argument. 
But  high  cost  and  possibly  high  maintenance,  may  seriously 
affect  the  adoption  of  the  compromise  motor  in  cases  where  a 
large  part  of  the  work  is  likely  to  be  over  existing  d.  c.  lines. 
By  far  the  best  hold  of  the  newcomer  lies,  it  seems  to  us,  in  the 
lighter  suburban  and  interurban  lines  having  urban  terminii. 
Suburban  work  requiring  high  acceleration  will  hardly  prove  a 
good  field,  so  far  as  may  be  judged  by  current  opinion  of  the 
alternating  motor.  A  fortiori  large  railway  work  seems  un- 
likely to  be  a  suitable  field.  Most  engineers  not  directly  con- 
cerned with  the  production  of  these  motors  seem  to  take  rather 
a  conservative  view  of  the  situation,  while  expressing  admira- 
tion for  the  ingenious  solution  of  a  most  interesting  problem. 
A  few  trials  on  hard-working  commercial  lines  are,  however, 
more  important  than  anybody's  opinion,  and  we  hope  they  will 
soon  be  had. 


426 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


HANDLING  TRAFFIC  DURING  BRIDGE  CONSTRUCTION  IN 
PORTLAND,  OREGON 


The  Morrison  Street  Bridge  across  the  Willamette  River  in 
Portland,  Ore.,  is  being  replaced  by  a  new  steel  structure,  and 


MORRISON  STREET  BRIDGE,  PORTLAND,  SHOWING  OLD  DRAW  AND  FALSE  WORK 
SO  AS  TO  RAISE  TRACKS  ABOVE  FLOOR  OF  NEW  BRIDGE— TAKEN  AUG.  28,  1904 


with  the  traffic  are  by  no  means  small.  The  old  structure  was 
at  an  elevation  of  38.6  ft.  above  datum,  while  the  floor  of  the 
new  bridge  is  to  be  42.5  ft.  above  the  datum  line.  The  first 
thing  done  was  to  put  in  false  work  the  entire  length  and  raise 
the  floor  6  ft.  above  the  old  bridge,  thus  leaving  just  enough 
room  beneath  for  the  placing  of  the 
floor  of  the  new  bridge.  Temporary 
pile  bents  were  put  in  to  support  the 
floor.  Most  of  them  are  about  60  ft. 
deep,  but  in  some  cases  120-ft.  piles 
are  necessary.  The  steel  I-beams  of 
the  new  bridge  were  used  for  string- 
ers on  these  pile  bents.  A  traveler 
was  erected  by  which  the  old  spans 
were  removed  and  the  new  ones 
placed  in  position.  The  new  bridge 
is  to  have  two  267-ft.  6-in.  spans,  one 
200-ft.  span,  a  384-ft.  draw  span  and 
600  ft.  of  wooden  trestle  approaches, 
the  total  length  being  1719  ft.  The 
new  spans  were  purposely  designed 
of  different  lengths  from  the  old  ones, 
to  aid  in  placing  the  permanent  piers, 
which  are  of  the  concrete  caisson  type. 
The  old  bridge  was  21  ft.  wide,  while 
the  new  one  is  to  have  a  roadway  36 


MORRISON  STREET  BRIDGE,  PORTLAND,  SHOWING    TWO  NEW  SPANS.   ALSO  ILLUSTRATING  TEMPORARY  FLOOR 

FOR  TRACKS— TAKEN  AUG.  30,  1904 

it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  work 
is  being  carried  on  with  very  little  in- 
terruption to  electric  railway  traffic. 
This  bridge  is  used  by  the  City  &  Sub- 
urban Railway  Company  for  connec- 
tion between  its  loop  in  the  business 
center  of  Portland  and  several  lines  in 
East  Portland,  as  well  as  for  a  bridge 
car,  which  makes  frequent  trips  back 
and  forth  across  the  bridge.  The  old 
structure  was  built  of  wooden  trusses 
on  pile  and  stone  piers,  and,  as  it  wa> 
deemed  unsafe,  the  city  determined  to 
replace  it  with  a  modern  steel-truss 
bridge.  The  contract  was  let  to  the 
Pacific  Construction  Company,  of  San 
Francisco,  and  work  was  begun  last 
January.  One  of  the  conditions  of  the 
contract  was  that  the  street  car  traffic 
should  not  be  interrupted  during  the 
entire   period   of   construction  more 

than  a  total  of  thirty  days.  As  about  900  cars  cross  the  bridge 
every  day,  it  is  seen  that  the  difficulties  of  tearing  out  the  old 


MORRISON  STREET  BRIDGE,  PORTLAND,  SHOWING  FALSE  WORK  UNDER  TEMPORARY 
TRACK  ON  OLD  DRAW— TAKEN  JUNE  17,  1904 


bridge  and  putting  the  new  one  in  place  without  interfering 


ft.  wide,  with  a  7-ft.  sidewalk  on  each  side.  The  railway  tracks 
will  be  placed  with  9-ft.  6-in.  centers  (the  gage  being  3  ft.  6 
ins.)  on  a  single  floor  in  the  center  of  the  roadway,  with  a 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


427 


guard  timber  along  the  edges  of  the  two  wagon  roads.  The 
latter  will  be  paved  with  wooden  block  paving. 

The  accompanying 'illustrations  show  the  method  of  con- 
structing the  bridge  and  of  raising  the  floor  and  tracks  so  as  to 
permit  the  permanent  structure  to  be  placed  in  position.  Two 
of  the  permanent  spans  are  now  in  place,  and  during  the  eight 
months  of  work  the  car  traffic  has  been  shut  off  but  four  days. 
During  that  period  passengers  cross  on  a  temporary  foot-path. 
It  is  expected  that  the  work  will  be  completed  by  the  first  of 
next  year.  The  bridge  was  designed  by  F.  A.  Koetitz,  chief 
engineer  of  the  Pacific  Construction  Company,  and  is  being 
erected  under  the  direct  supervision  of  F.  M.  Butler,  secretary 
of  that  company.  The  cost  of  the  entire  work  will  be  $400,000, 
and  will  be  borne  by  the  city,  as  it  receives  its  remuneration 
from  the  City  &  Suburban  Railway  Company  for  the  railway 
service  through  a  rental  charge  of  $1,000  a  month. 


NEW  TERMINAL  FACILITIES  AT  THE  MINNESOTA  STATE 
FAIR  GROUNDS 


The  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company,  operating  in  St. 
Paul  and  Minneapolis,  has  recently  completed  some  very  in- 
teresting new  terminal  facilities  at  the  Minnesota  State  Fair 
Grounds.  The  State  Fair  is  an  annual  occurrence  of  great  at- 
traction to  the  citizens  of  Minnesota  and  its  neighboring  States, 
as  it  illustrates  the  agricultural,  manufacturing  and  commercial 
resources  of  the  Northwest  in  a  way  which  is  perhaps  more 
effective  than  any  other  method  of  exploitation.  In  recent 
years  the  great  crowds  attending  the  Fair  have  made  the  prob- 
lem of  transportation  exceedingly  difficult,  as  the  electric  rail- 
way facilities  were  confined  to  the  Langford  Avenue  double 
track  on  the  Como-Harriet  line  of  the  company. 

All  the  buildings  on  the  Fair  Grounds  are  of  a  permanent 
character,  and  this  year  an  important  addition  to  the  existing 
layout  was  found  in  the  new  Manufactures'  Building,  whose 
erection  was  made  possible  by  the  legislative  appropriation  of 
$30,000,  secured  by  the  Northwestern  Manufacturers'  Associa- 
tion. This  building  is  the  most  substantial  structure  on  the 
grounds,  being  of  pressed  brick,  120  ft.  x  160  ft.,  with  a  stone 
foundation,  concrete  floor,  and  galvanized  iron  roof,  supported 
by  steel  trusses.  The  architect  was  C.  H.  Johnston,  of  St.  Paul. 
This  and  other  additions  to  the  attractions  of  the  Fair,  led 
the  officials  in  charge  to  expect  an  unusually  heavy  traffic  dur- 
ing the  week  of  its  opening  and  operation,  Aug.  29  to  Sept.  3, 
inclusive,  and  accordingly  a  space  covering  nearly  4.9  acres 
was  set  apart  for  improved  street  railway  terminal  fa- 
cilities. 

The  State  Fair  Grounds  are  located  in  the  Midway  district 
of  St.  Paul,  slightly  west  of  Como  Park,  and  are  reached  from 
either  St.  Paul  or  Minneapolis  by  the  Como-Harriet  line  of  the 
Twin  City  Company.  The  new  terminal  has  wisely  been  laid 
out  at  a  side,  rather  than  the  main  entrance  of  the  grounds,  so 
that  a  considerable  part  of  the  traffic  coming  from  St.  Paul  may 
split  from  the  terminal  traffic  through  the  passing  of  the  main 
entrance  by  the  cars  before  the  terminal  is  entered.  A  con- 
siderable amount  of  carriage  and  pedestrian  traffic  at  the  main 
entrance  was  thus  freed  from  the  congestion  which  would 
have  resulted  if  all  the  street  railway,  foot  and  vehicle  traffic 
had  been  handled  at  one  place. 

The  accompanying  diagram  shows  the  general  plan  of  the 
terminal  tracks,  which  occupy  a  section  of  the  Fair  Grounds 
700  ft.  long  x  300  ft.  wide,  approximately.  The  area  is  divided 
into  two  loops,  A  and  B,  each  of  which  encloses  five  parallel 
spur  tracks  for  the  storage  of  cars  in  anticipation  of  the  enor- 
mous rush  of  traffic  which  follows  the  conclusion  of  the  after- 
noon and  evening  performances  on  the  race  track  and  at  other 
places  on  the  grounds.  A  fence  encloses  the  sides  of  the 
terminal,  entrance  and  exit  to  and  from  the  grounds  being 


through  ticket  booths  and  turnstiles  at  the  north  end  of  the  en- 
closure. In  general,  Minneapolis  traffic  is  handled  by  the 
"A"  loop  and  spur  tracks,  St.  Paul  being  cared  for  by  the  "B" 
loop  and  spurs.  A  fence  separates  the  two  sections,  in  the 
middle  of  the  enclosure.  In  ordinary  operation  through  cars 
from  St.  Paul  to  Minneapolis  are  deflected  to  the  terminal 
at  the  point  C;  they  pass  up  the  east  side  of  the  loop  "B," 
discharge  and  load,  and  pass  on  to  Minneapolis  either  by  the 
west  side  of  the  loop  A  or  the  loop  B,  depending  upon  the  traffic 
on  the  tracks  at  any  particular  time.  Local  cars  from  St.  Paul 
to  the  Fair  Grounds  generally  follow  the  same  course,  re- 
turning, however,  to  the  eastbound  Como-Harriet  track  at  the 
point  D.  Through  cars  from  Minneapolis  to  St.  Paul  take 
the  switches  at  E  or  F,  according  to  the  conditions  in  the  ter- 
minal, and  after  traversing  the  loop  corresponding,  return 
to  the  main  eastbound  track  at  point  G  or  point  D.    Local  cars 


v*rret  Rii.Journal   *"  G  E  F 

LANGFORD 

NEW  STREET  RAILWAY  LOOPS  AND  STORAGE  TRACKS  AT  THE 
MINNESOTA  STATE  FAIR  GROUNDS 


from  Minneapolis  to  the  grounds  follow  the  same  course, 
according  to  circumstances,  returning  to  the  westbound  main 
line  by  the  switches  at  H  or  K.  The  capacity  of  the  spur  tracks 
is  about  120  cars,  and  these,  added  to  perhaps  thirty  cars  on 
the  loops,  give  a  total  of  150  cars  that  are  ready  for  instant 
occupancy  at  the  close  of  the  afternoon  and  evening  perform- 
ances. The  cars  in  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis  run  in  one  direc- 
tion only,  being  single-ended,  so  that  it  is  necessary  for 
stored  cars  to  back  upon  the  stub  tracks  before  taking  their 
loads.  This,  however,  was  done  before  the  rush  of  traffic 
comes.  The  spaces  between  the  tracks  are  laid  out  in  gravel 
and  cinder  walks. 

The  limited  space  available  crowded  the  switches  somewhat, 
but  the  main  line  movements  are  so  flexible  that  little  trouble 
was  experienced  on  this  score.  A  special  force  of  inspectors 
and  starters  was  appointed  to  supervise  the  traffic  in  detail,  and 


428 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


the  facilities  planned  were  found  capable  of  handling  at  least 
15,000  to  20,000  passengers  per  hour,  if  not  more.  It  was  found 
that  the  stub  tracks  met  with  special  favor  among  patrons 
with  families,  women  and  children,  who  preferred  to  walk 
a  short  distance  to  make  sure  of  seats,  to  standing  in  the  more 
crowded  cars  upon  the  loops. 



NEW  BRIDGES  AT  COMO  PARK,  ST.  PAUL 

The  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company  has  recently  com- 
pleted two  new  bridges  at  Como  Park,  St.  Paul,  which  are  of 
considerable  interest  both  from  an  architectural  and  operating 
standpoint.  Como  Park  is  located  on  the  double-track  Como- 
Harriet  line  of  the  company,  and  is  one  of  the  most  popular 
resorts  of  the  Twin  Cities,  being  situated  between  Minneapolis 
and  St.  Paul's  thickly  settled  district,  a  5-cent  fare  being 
charged  from  either  place  to  the  park.  On  account  of  the 
traffic  obtaining  during  busy  hours  it  was  found  necessary  to 
improve  the  existing  facilities  for  handling  the  crowds,  and  in 
the  early  part  of  the  summer  the  bridges  were  placed  in  service, 
constituting,  with  the  platform  arrangements  adjoining,  a 
thoroughly  modern  type  of  way  station. 

One  of  the  bridges  is  devoted  principally  to  carriage  and 


FOOT  BRIDGE  AND  CARRIAGE  BRIDGE  BUILT  BY  THE  TWIN 
CITY  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY  AT  COMO  PARK 


automobile  traffic,  the  other  taking  care  of  the  foot  passengers. 
The  foot-bridge  is  the  prominent  one  in  the  accompanying 
illustration.  Both  were  built  primarily  to  avoid  any  crossing  of 
tracks  at  grade  by  visitors  to  the  park. 

The  wagon  bridge  is  about  150  ft.  west  of  the  "foot"-bridge, 
so  called,  and  is  100  ft.  long  and  50  ft.  wide,  with  a  21-in.  para- 
pet of  sandstone  at  each  side,  the  parapet  being  about  3  ft. 
high  above  the  roadway.  The  roadway  is  about  40  ft.  wide, 
leaving  space  for  two  gravel  sidewalks  beside  the  parapet,  each 
5  ft.  wide.  The  arch  of  the  bridge  is  about  40  ft.  wide  and  21 
ft.  high,  approximately.  The  bridge  is  of  concrete-steel  con- 
struction, the  facing  of  the  side  walls  and  inner  surface  of  the 
abutments  being  of  sandstone  masonry.  Two  qualities  of  con- 
crete were  used  in  the  construction  of  the  bridge,  No.  1  and 
No.  2,  respectively.    The  composition  of  each  was : 


No.  1 

American  Portland  cement   1  part 

Sand    2  parts 

Broken  stone    4  parts 

No.  2 

American  Portland  cement   1  part 

Sand   3  parts 

Broken  stone    5  parts 


No.  1  was  used  for  the  arch,  piers  and  beams,  and  No.  2  for 
the  abutments.    The  cement  was  required  to  show  a  tensile 


strength  of  600  lbs.  after  seven  days,  and  when  mixed  with 
sand  in  the  proportion  of  one  part  cement  to  two  parts  sand  by 
measure  it  showed  a  tensile  strength  of  200  lbs.  per  square 
inch  in  seven  days.  Clean,  coarse,  sharp  sand  was  used  and 
screened  before  mixing,  and  the  crushed  stone  employed  was 
native  blue  limestone.  The  facing  of  the  side  walls  and  inner 
surface  of  the  abutments  is  bonded  into  the  concrete  backing 
with  headers  extending  at  least  18  ins.  back  from  the  face,  one- 
quarter  of  the  facing  being  headers.  The  backing  of  the  side 
walls  is  ordinary  rubble,  and  the  mortar  used  in  the  joints  and 
arch  ring  was  composed  of  one  part  cement  to  two  parts  sand. 
All  the  other  mortar,  except  that  used  in  pointing,  was  of  one 
part  cement  to  three  parts  sand. 

The  reinforcement  of  the  wagon  bridge  consists  of  sixteen 
steel  ribs  imbedded  in  the  concrete  of  the  arch.  These  ribs  are 
made  up  of  5-in.  9%  lbs.  per  foot  I-beams  bent  to  conform  to 
the  arch  curvature.  They  are  in  two  pieces  and  are  tied  to- 
gether with  five  lines  of  ^-in.  round  rods  extending  entirely 
across  the  bridge  and  secured  to  the  arch  ring  stone  with 
dowels  at  right  angles  to  the  face  of  the  joint  in  the  arch  ring. 
The  arch  ribs  are  anchored  into  the  abutments  by  being  riveted 
to  2-in.  by  2-in.  by  %-'m.  angles.  After  the  completion  of  the 
arches  and  spandrels,  and  before  any  fill  was  put  in,  the  top 
spaces  of  the  arches,  piers  and  abutments  and  the  lower  6  ins. 
of  the  spandrel  walls  were  coated  with  a  heavy  coat  of  semi- 
liquid  mortar  consisting  of  one  part  cement,  one-half  part 
slaked  lime  and  three  parts  sand,  spread  to  leave  a  smooth 
finish,  and  after  this  set  hard  it  was  given  a  heavy  coat  of  pure 
cement  grout. 

The  foot-bridge  is  approximately  88  ft.  long  over  the  top, 
with  a  21  -ft.  arch.  The  width  of  the  walk  is  15  ft.,  each  side 
sloping  downward  from  a  center  line.  Each  side  is  protected 
by  a  handsome  concrete  parapet  4  ft.  10  in^.  high  and  about 
14  ins.  wide  at  the  railing.  The  parapets  terminate  in  four 
corner  posts  4  ft.  by  3  ft.  6  ins.  in  cross  section.  Three  longitu- 
dinal grooves  for  drainage  purposes  are  cut  in  the  bridge  walk, 
the  foot-bridge  likewise  being  of  concrete-steel  construction. 
Parallel  grooves  are  also  cut  in  the  walk  several  inches  apart  for 
drainage  and  the  prevention  of  slippage  by  pedestrians.  These 
grooves  are  staggered  in  the  two  outer  rows.  The  same  qual- 
ity of  concrete  was  used  as  in  the  wagon  bridge,  No.  1  being 
used  for  the  arch,  piers  and  beams,  and  No.  2  for  the  abut- 
ments. Native  blue  limestone  was  also  employed.  The  steel- 
work is  of  I-beams,  five  7-in.  ribs  being  imbedded  in  the  con- 
crete of  the  arch  and  anchored  into  the  abutment  by  being 
riveted  to  two  2-in.  by  2-in.  by  %-'m.  angle  .irons  extending 
across  the  bridge.  The  waterproofing  was  carried  out  as  on 
the  wagon  bridge. 

Between  the  two  tracks  which  run  through  both  bridges  is  a 
double  picket  fence  of  bar-iron  7  ft.  high  and  set  3  ft.  from  the 
nearest  rail.  This  fence  extends  from  the  end  of  the  wagon 
bridge  to  the  end  of  the  curve  that  begins  at  the  east  end  of  the 
concrete  platform  which  receives  passengers  as  they  alight 
from  the  cars  on  either  track.  This  fence  divides  the  east  and 
westbound  traffic,  passengers  coming  from  Minneapolis  to 
Como  Park  being  obliged  to  cross  the  foot-bridge  in  order  to 
enter  the  park,  while  passengers  going  to  St.  Paul  from  the 
park  likewise  cross  the  foot-bridge.  Matters  are  made  even, 
however,  by  the  westbound  track,  which  discharges  passengers 
from  St.  Paul  to  Como  without  the  necessity  of  crossing  the 
bridge,  and  takes  Minneapolis  passengers  from  Como  in  the 
same  way.  A  resident  of  either  city  who  goes  to  Como  is  thus 
obliged  to  cross  the  bridge  but  once.  The  picket  fence  runs 
about  100  yds.  down  the  track  to  the  east  and  perhaps  180  ft.  to 
the  west,  so  that  there  is  no  chance  for  evading  the  foot-bridge 
and  making  a  dangerous  grade  crossing  by  way  of  short  cuts. 
In  the  middle  of  the  picket  fence  is  an  inconspicuous  padlocked 
gate  26  ins.  wide  for  the  use  of  employees. 

There  are  two  concrete  platforms  supplied  by  the  Portland 


September  24,  1904.] 

Stone  Company,  of  St.  Paul.  Each  is  190  ft.  long,  26  ft.  wide 
in  the  maximum  and  13  ft.  6  ins.  wide  in  the  minimum  dimen- 
sion beneath  the  bridge  arch.  On  each  side  of  the  track  is  a 
plank  walk  32  ins.  wide  set  between  the  inner  rail  and  the 
platform.  Each  platform  is  made  of  concrete  blocks  24  ins. 
square.    Gravel  ballast  is  used  between  the  tracks. 

On  the  approach  to  the  foot-bridge  the  trolley  suspension 
changes  from  span  to  double  bracket  construction,  one  pole 
being  set  at  each  side  of  the  bridge.  Figure  8  trolley  is  used 
under  the  bridges,  and  over  each  track  at  the  bridges  the  trol- 
ley wire  is  supported  by  two  pairs  of  clips,  each  pair  being 
attached  to  the  end  of  a  wooden  bar  about  8  ins.  long.  The 
bar  is  hung  by  an  eye  from  a  rectangular  iron  plate  which  is 
screwed  into  a  wooden  base-board  about  \y2  ins.  thick,  the 
base-board  being  about  10  ins.  long  and  6  ins.  wide.  The 
center  of  each  of  these  base-boards  is  located  about  18  inches 
from  the  edge  of  the  bridge  arch.  Feeders  and  arc  light  wires 
are  carried  in  insulating  bushings  mounted  upon  wooden  bases, 
one  at  each  end  of  the  arch  center  line.  A  notable  feature  of 
the  layout  is  the  use  of  the  straight  track  in  all  but  about  6  ft. 
of  the  platform  run,  and  the  curvature  here  is  so  slight  as  to 
amount  to  nothing  as  far  as  passengers  are  concerned.  For 
the  convenience  of  passengers  four  wooden  seats  with  backs 
have  been  provided,  two  for  each  platform,  beneath  the  arch  of 
the  foot-bridge.  Each  of  these  is  16  ft.  long  and  18  ins.  wide. 
The  bridges  and  platforms  are  lighted  by  six  series  arc  lamps, 
and  a  locked  telephone  box  is  also  provided  for  railway  use  on 
one  of  the  arc  light  poles.  An  iron  trellis  is  now  being"  set  up 
at  the  Como  Park  end  of  the  foot-bridge,  and  next  season  this 
will  be  decorated  by  various  floral  growths. 

As  a  feature  of  the  landscape,  the  new  bridges  and  platform 
arrangements  at  Como  deserve  special  praise.  Their  graceful 
design  reminds  one  of  the  artistic  engineering  structures  of  the 
European  continent,  and  as  additions  to  the  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company's  new  physical  property  they  deserve  more 
than  passing  notice.  They  exemplify  the  rapid  extension  of 
reinforced  concrete  in  engineering  construction  and  give  the 
impression  of  strength  and  permanence  to  even  the  casual  ob- 
server. Costing  in  the  vicinity  of  $15,000  together,  these  two 
bridges  mark  the  passing  of  experimental  construction  in  work 
of  this  character,  and  are  worthy  of  imitation  in  the  progressive 
practice  of  the  future.  The  writer  is  under  obligation  to  Gen- 
eral Manager  Hield  and  Roadmaster  Wilson,  of  the  Twin  City 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  for  courtesies  extended  in  connection 
with  this  article. 



PROGRAM  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  MEETING 


Secretary  Penington  has  announced  that  the  St.  Louis  con- 
vention of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  will  be 
held  Oct.  12  and  13,  1904,  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Trans- 
portation Building  at  the  Exposition  grounds,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Papers  will  be  presented  on  the  following  subjects :  "Steam 
Turbines,"  "Reciprocating  Engines,"  "Gas  Engines,"  "Trans- 
fers, Their  Uses  and  Abuses,"  and  "Signals." 

The  week  of  Oct.  10  will  be  Street  Railway  Week,  the  Amer- 
ican Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  holding 
its  meetings  on  Oct.  10  and  11,  and  the  Accountants'  Associa- 
tion, Oct.  13,  14  and  15.  Wednesday,  Oct.  12,  has  been  desig- 
nated as  Street  Railway  Day  by  the  Fair  officials.  It  is  ex- 
pected that  addresses  will  be  made  by  President  D.  R.  Francis, 
Mayor  Rolla  Wells  and  Prof.  Goldsborough.  Headquarters 
will  be  at  the  Southern  Hotel. 

The  Manufacturers'  Committee  has  prepared  a  fine  pro- 
gramme of  entertainment  for  the  members  of  the  association. 
It  will  have  one  of  the  finest  bands  in  the  country,  which  will 
give  a  concert  at  the  hall  before  the  opening  of  each  session 
and  numerous  concerts  during  the  week. 


429 

ST.  LOUIS  STREET  RAILWAYS  ON  ST.  LOUIS  DAY 

On  Sept.  15  the  people  of  St.  Louis  and  vicinity  turned  out  to 
celebrate  St.  Louis  Day  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposi- 
tion. Great  efforts  were  put  forth  to  bring  out  a  large  attend- 
ance. Much  depended  on  the  efficiency  of  the  street  railway 
transportation  facilities.  When  the  street  railways  carried  the 
World's  Fair  opening  day  crowds  so  rapidly  and  regularly  they 
gave  the  people  of  St.  Louis  an  idea  of  what  they  could  do  that 
was  a  pleasant  surprise,  and  those  who  expected  that  the  facili- 
ties, ample  on  opening  day,  would  fall  short  of  promptly  taking 
care  of  the  much  larger  crowds  on  St.  Louis  Day  were  agree- 
ably surprised.  The  attendance  registered  by  the  World's  Fair 
turn-stiles  was  about  400,000,  or  approximately  double  the  pre- 
vious largest  day  of  the  Exposition. 

The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company's  traffic  figures  for  the  day 
were : 

Receipts   $38,498.12 

Revenue  passengers  carried   788,536 

Transfer  passengers    363,249 

Total,  including  transfers   1,151,785 

The  company  ran  about  1100  cars,  which  is  not  much  more 
than  the  number  now  in  daily  service,  but  the  number  of  cars 
on  the  lines  leading  to  the  Fair  was  increased  by  adding  a  few 
cars  on  each  line.  The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  on  the  Olive 
Street  line,  which,  being  the  most  direct,  gets  by  far  the 
heaviest  World's  Fair  travel,  cars  are  operated  regularly  on 
such  short  headway  that  more  cars  can  not  be  added  without 
having  them  so  interfere  with  each  other  as  to  at  least  neces- 
sitate a  much  slower  schedule  and  perhaps  actually  defeat  the 
purpose  of  moving  the  greatest  number  of  people  per  hour.  A 
count  made  at  the  corner  of  Olive  and  Twelfth  Streets  at  9 
a.  m.  showed  forty  cars  passing  in  fifteen  minutes,  or  a  little 
less  than  three-minute  average.  This  gave  a  headway  so  short 
that  cars  interfered  with  each  other  slightly,  so  that  regular 
speed  could  not  be  made,  but  the  interference  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  moving  the  maximum  number  per  hour,  thus 
showing  that  the  company  had  struck  a  nice  balance  between 
too  many  and  not  enough.  The  traffic  on  St.  Louis  Day  was 
nearly  double  the  traffic  of  Sept.  15,  1903,  but  it  is  not  greatly 
in  excess  o'f  the  company's  regular  traffic  the  past  month,  which, 
of  course,  includes  both  the  regular  traffic  and  the  World's 
Fair  traffic ;  while  the  St.  Louis  Day  traffic  was  mainly  World's 
Fair  traffic. 

The  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Company  carried  ap- 
proximately 141,000  people,  of  which  a  very  few  were  transfer 
passengers.    From  127  to  134  cars  were  operated. 

It  was  a  fascinating  sight  to  see  the  great  continuous  streams 
of  people  moving  away  from  the  street  railway  terminals  in  the 
morning  and  toward  them  afternoon  and  evening  without  in- 
terruption due  to  any  hitch  in  the  car  service  or  inability  to 
carry  the  people  as  fast  as  they  came.  All  the  way  out  Olive 
Street  nothing  but  a  continuous  string  of  cars  was  to 
be  seen. 

Three  kinds  of  terminal  loops  are  in  use  at  the  Fair  Grounds. 
The  Suburban  has  an  enclosed  loop  with  gates,  opposite  which 
gates  the  cars  stop  and  receive  passengers  at  front  and  rear 
platforms.  The  fence  is  directly  alongside  the  track,  and 
passengers  are  not  admitted  to  the  loop  except  as  they  pass 
directly  through  the  gates  onto  the  car  platforms.  The  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company's  Olive  Street  loop  has  ticket-selling 
booths  and  turn-stiles,  as  explained  in  previous  issues  of  this 
paper.    Other  loops  are  entirely  open. 

The  smooth  performance  of  the  street  railway  service  has 
elicited  many  kind  words  from  St.  Louis  press  and  public  for 
Vice-President  and  General  Manager  Robert  McCulloch,  of 
the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  and  John  Mahoney.  general 
superintendent  of  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Company. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


43° 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 

THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  UTICA  CONVENTION 


The  twenty-second  annual  convention  of  the  Street  Railway 
Association  of  the  State  of  New  York  met  at  Utica,  Sept.  13 
and  14,  and  was  very  largely  attended.  The  meetings  were 
held  at  the  new  Century  Club  auditorium  and,  as  mentioned 
in  the  last  issue,  a  number  of  exhibits  were  made  in  the  same 
building.  A  report  of  the  business  sessions  of  the  meeting  is 
published  below : 

TUESDAY  MORNING  SESSION 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  President  E.  G.  Connette 
at  10:45  a-  m-  On  motion  of  C.  L.  Allen,  duly  seconded  and 
carried,  the  official  registration  made  by  the  secretary  was  ac- 
cepted in  lieu  of  the  roll  call. 

On  motion,  duly  seconded  and  carried,  the  minutes  of  the 
preceding  meeting,  at  printed,  were  approved. 

The  president  then  introduced  Hon.  Charles  A.  Talcott, 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  Utica,  who  welcomed  the  delegates  to 
Utica  in  a  felicitous  speech. 

The  President — In  behalf  of  the  association,  I  thank  you  for 
your  kind  and  cordial  welcome. 

The  secretary,  W.  W.  Cole,  then  read  the  report  of  the  execu- 
tive committee,  and  of  the  secretary  and  treasurer,  both  of 
which  were  approved. 

The  secretary  then  read  a  communication  from  the  Central 
New  York  Telephone  &  Telegram  Company,  offering  the  facili- 
ties of  its  service  to  the  delegates  during  the  convention.  The 
thanks  of  the  association  were  tendered  to  the  company  for 
this  generous  offer. 

The  president  then  read  his  annual  address,  which  is  pub- 
lished in  abstract  below : 

PRESIDENT  CONNETTE'S  ANNUAL  ADDRESS 

President  E.  G.  Connette,  after  reviewing  the  salient  points  in  the 
progress  of  the  traffic  industry  in  the  State  since  1811,  said: 

"While  the  year  past  has  not  been  as  thrifty  and  prosperous  as 
the  preceding  year  or  two,  still  the  gross  earnings  of  the  street 
railroads  of  this  State  for  the  last  fiscal  year  show  a  healthy  increase 
over  the  previous  fiscal  year. 

"The  increase  in  the  operative  mileage  of  street  surface  rail- 
roads during  the  past  year  was  11 1.9— a  large  majority  of  which  in- 
crease is  interurban  mileage. 

"According  to  the  last  annual  report  of  the  Board  of  Railroad 
Commissioners,  the  casualties  on  street  surface  railroads  are  less 
than  they  were  during  the  preceding  fiscal  year,  which  is  encourag- 
ing, and  shows  that  the  roads  are  being  operated  with  more  care 
and  improved  methods.  Defects  in  methods  of  train  despatching 
on  electric  railroads  has  resulted  in  more  serious  accidents  during 
the  last  year  than  from  any  other  cause.  Head-on  collisions  have 
occurred  on  two  roads  using  the  most  approved  systems  of  train 
despatching.  A  more  perfect  method  of  operating  cars  by  train 
signals  should  be  devised,  if  possible,  to  prevent  collisions,  or  some 
other  means  adopted  by  which  such  accidents  can  be  avoided. 

"The  increase  in  the  freight  and  express  business  on  electric 
railroads  during  the  past  five  years  is  shown  by  the  following  table : 
Year  Tons 
J899   120,940 

l**   133.343 

TQoi   237,311 

r9°2    394,641 

r903   516,470 

"This  indicates  that  the  package  or  parcel  business  is  increasing 
rapidly,  but  there  is  yet  a  large  field  for  development  in  this  line. 
The  running  of  express  service  on  electric  roads  creates  a  con- 
venience which  can  scarcely  be  appreciated  until  it  has  been  tried. 
It  connects  the  jobbing  house  in  the  city  with  the  hamlet  and  vil- 
lage store,  so  that  they  can  replenish  their  stock  of  goods  from 
time  to  time  with  promptness  and  with  much  less  expense  than 
under  the  old  methods,  and  furnishes  the  farmer  a  quick  and  easy 
market  for  his  produce;  the  future  of  this  class  of  business  and 
the  advantages  to  the  public  thereby  can  scarcely  be  estimated. 

"Interesting  papers  have  been  prepared  and  will  be  read  before 
this  convention  upon  the  subject  of  freight  and  express  business 
on  electric  roads,  and  I  trust  that  the  convention  will  give  particu- 
lar attention  to  this  as  one  of  the  liveliest  subjects  to  be  developed 
by  the  street  and  interurban  roads. 

"There  was  no  legislation  enacted  during  the  past  year  which 


adversely  affected  the  street  railway  interests  of  this  State;  while 
there  was  some  legislation  which  more  or  less  benefited  some  of 
the  roads. 

"The  development  by  the  electrical  companies  of  the  compen- 
sated a.  c.  railway  motor  is  a  long  step  forward,  as  the  advantages 
of  this  system  are  the  lesser  cost  of  conversion  and  distributing 
and  reduced  operation  in  sub-stations.  Its  application  is  especially 
desirable  where  the  density  of  traffic  is  low — that  is,  where  a  more 
or  less  infrequent  service  is  maintained  over  reasonable  distances, 
or  where  a  more  frequent  or  heavy  service  is  maintained  over  dis- 
tances greater  than  are  now  customary  in  direct-current  work.  It 
is  also  particularly  applicable  where  trains  are  run  in  such  large 
numbers  that  the  current  drawn  from  the  line  at  a  given  point  is 
very  large  and  would  necessitate  converter  sub-stations  at  frequent 
intervals  if  direct  current  was  used.  Where  large  loads  are  con- 
centrated at  a  few  points  on  the  line  as  against  the  load  uniformly 
distributed  over  the  whole  system,  or  where  the  cost  of  motor  car 
equipment  is  small  compared  with  the  cost  of  transmitting  and 
distributing,  the  a.  c.  system  is  most  suitable.  These  motors  have 
a  decided  advantage  from  the  fact  that  they  can  be  used  either 
with  a.  c.  or  d.  c.  current. 

"As  a  matter  of  statistics,  it  is  doubtless  interesting  to  know  that 
the  average  number  of  persons  employed  on  all  street  surface  rail- 
roads during  the  past  fiscal  year  was  30,028,  and  that  the  amount 
paid  out  in  salaries  and  wages  during  that  time  was  $17,841,895.49. 
It  is  not  only  interesting  from  a  statistical  standpoint,  but  it  gives 
an  idea  of  the  large  number  of  men  and  the  immense  amount  which 
is  paid  out  in  wages,  which  should  in  itself  accentuate  the  impor- 
tance of  the  State  association  in  representing  an  industry  of  such 
large  proportions. 

"The  committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  association, 
at  the  instance  of  the  State  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners,  to 
act  jointly  with  the  American  Society  of  Electrical  Engineers  and 
the  National  Board  of  Underwriters  for  the  purpose  of  making 
high  voltage  tests,  to  determine  the  danger  of  transmission  lines 
under  present  methods  of  construction,  have  performed  their  duty 
in  a  zealous  and  commendable  manner.  I  especially  call  the  atten- 
tion of  the  association  to  their  report,  which  will  be  submitted  at 
this  meeting. 

"The  standard  rules  committee  have  done  excellent  work  in 
connection  with  their  duties.  Their  report  has  been  printed  in 
pamphlet  form,  showing  the  rules  as  now  recommended,  together 
with  reports  of  the  minutes  of  the  committee,  showing  why  certain 
changes  have  been  made. 

"The  work  on  the  system  of  interurban  rules  has  not  yet  reached 
a  point  which  is  entirely  satisfactory  to  the  members  of  the  rules 
committee,  but  they  have  incorporated  in  their  report  certain 
recommendations  in  regard  to  interurban  rules. 

"This  committee  should  be  continued  in  order  that  the  work  of 
standardization  may  be  perfected,  especially  so  far  as  interurban 
rules  are  concerned,  and  I  would  suggest  that  this  committee  espe- 
cially consider  the  question  of  train  despatching. 

"The  cordial  relations  existing  between  employees  and  the  street 
railroad  companies  of  the  State  is  a  pleasing  condition,  and  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  up-to-date  methods  in  the  management  and 
control  of  men.  No  concern  which  employs  men  can  reach  the 
maximum  of  success  and  attain  the  best  results  without  a  thorough 
co-operation  of  its  employees.  All  men  are  human  and  the  posi- 
tion they  occupy  in  life  should  not  effect  their  self-respect.  The 
Golden  Rule  applied  to  the  management  of  employees  is  one  which 
will  always  bring  good  results. 

"There  is  a  common  interest  among  the  street  railroads  which 
can  only  be  fostered  and  protected  by  united  action.  This  associa- 
tion was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  attaining  the  end  suggested ; 
that  is,  to  provide  the  avenue  for  unifying  the  work,  and  caring  for 
and  looking  after  the  interests  of  the  street  railroad  companies  of 
this  State,  and  every  street  railroad  company  in  the  State  should, 
therefore,  become  a  member.  Nearly  all  of  them  are,  but  there 
are  yet  a  fewr  roads  which  have,  for  some  reason,  never  joined  the 
association,  and  I  therefore  respectfully  suggest  that  every  effort 
be  made  to  have  every  street  railroad  company  in  the  State  become 
a  member  of  this  association.  It  is  not  only  beneficial  from  the 
standpoint  of  looking  after  the  common  interests  of  its  members, 
but  the  annual  meetings  are  becoming  more  and  more  popular  and 
interesting.  The  papers  submitted  and  the  subjects  discussed  are 
of  such  a  nature  as  will  harmonize  the  ideas  of  management  and 
develop  up-to-date  plans  for  the  proper  operation  of  the  different 
departments. 

"A  'question  box'  has  been  introduced  as  a  new  feature  of  the 
programme  at  this  meeting  and  an  interesting  discussion  of  the 
various  topics  contained  therein  is  desired. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


43i 


"One  of  the  pleasant  features  of  our  annual  meetings  is  to  meet 
the  supply  men  and  greet  them  in  a  social  way,  and  the  large  num- 
ber which  are  in  attendance  at  this  meeting  is  a  reassurance  of 
their  unflagging  interest  in  and  good  will  for  this  association. 

"In  closing,  I  do  not  forget  to  express  my  hearty  thanks  and 
appreciation  for  the  loyal  and  active  support  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee, and  for  the  live  and  active  interest  of  the  members  and 
friends  of  the  association  and  especially  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  in  the  effort  to  make  this  meeting  an  interesting  and 
pleasant  occasion. 

The  association  has  shown  its  usefulness  and  importance  in  the 
past  several  years,  and  its  importance  and  usefulness  can  yet  be 
increased  and  broadened,  and  I  therefore  bespeak  for  the  associa- 
tion the  same  hearty  support  and  co-operation  of  its  members, 
officials  and  executive  committee  as  has  been  contributed  during 
my  incumbency  as  president  of  the  association. 

The  President — The  next  order  of  business  is  the  reading 
and  discussion  of  the  papers  which  have  been  prepared  for  this 
meeting.  The  first  paper  which  will  be  read  has  been  prepared 
by  M.  G.  Starrett,  chief  engineer  of  the  New  York  City  Rail- 
way Company.  Mr.  Starrett  is  unavoidably  absent,  and  W.  B. 
Reed  will  read  the  paper. 

This  paper  is  published  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  President — I  will  ask  C.  E.  Roehl,  of  the  Brooklyn 
Heights  Railway  Company,  to  lead  in  the  discussion  of  this 
paper. 

Mr.  Roehl — I  am  sure  we  have  all  enjoyed  the  reading  of 
Mr.  Starrett's  paper.  The  Metropolitan  Company,  I  believe, 
marked  an  era  when  it  started  in  with  a  large  a.  c.  station  and 
distributing  by  high-tension  feeders  to  sub-stations.  We  in 
Brooklyn  have  not  quite  as  large  a  plant  as  the  Metropolitan 
system,  but  we  will  approach  it  gradually.  In  four  years  we 
have  doubled  our  power  output,  and  if  the  plan  of  our  oper- 
ating department  this  winter  is  carried  out,  we  will  have  trebled 
it;  in  other  words,  we  will  have  it  developed  300  per  cent  over 
what  it  was  four  years  ago.  Brooklyn  began  in  the  early  days 
with  electric  traction,  and  it  has,  therefore,  a  number  of  small 
direct-current  stations.  Four  years  ago  we  started  a  32,000-hp 
combined  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  power  station.  This  station  is  now  in 
operation  and  has  been  for  about  six  months,  and  we  are  able 
to  get  some  results  from  it.  Since  that  time,  last  summer,  we 
started  with  a  new  station,  entirely  a.  c.  This  station  when 
completed  will  be  about  100,000  hp.  This,  I  think,  is  one  of 
the  largest  stations  yet  planned.  Like  the  Metropolitan,  we 
have  the  6600  volts  three-phase  alternating  current,  with  six 
sub-stations.  We  have  storage  batteries  in  two  of  them.  These 
batteries  were  fallen  heir  to,  and  we  did  not  feel  disposed  to 
throw  them  out,  and  so  we  are  still  using  them.  We  are  not, 
however,  using  storage  batteries  in  any  of  our  new  sub-sta- 
tions. A  careful  study  of  the  Brooklyn  situation  shows  that 
we  cannot  build  the  same  kind  of  sub-stations  that  the  Metro- 
politan system  did.  I  think  that  company  has  rotary  sub-sta- 
tions of  10,000  kw.  Our  largest  sub-station  is  6000  kw,  and 
most  of  them  are  5000  kw.  Our  standard  rotary  unit  is  1000 
kw.  Where  the  territory  carries  more  than  a  5000-kw  load, 
we  find  it  is  cheaper  to  revise  the  boundaries  of  the  sub-sta- 
tion district  and  build  another  sub-station,  finding  that  it  is 
cheaper  than  the  expense  of  maintaining  one  station  with 
longer  low-tension  feeders.  In  our  new  plan  for  our  new 
power  station  we  have  decided  to  change  to  11,000  volts.  We 
find  that  we  will  make  a  saving  of  about  $300,000  in  our  high- 
tension  feeders  alone  after  changing  our  present  a.  c.  gen- 
erators from  6600  volts  to  11,000  volts.  We  propose  to  re- 
wind them  so  that  they  can  be  operated  either  at  6600  volts  or 
11,000  volts  on  the  star  connection  with  neutral  grounding. 
Our  high-tension  feeders  are  not  insulated  as  heavily  as  the 
Metropolitan.  Whereas  they  use  seven  thirty-seconds  of  an 
inch  paper  insulation  around  each  conductor,  we  use  five  and 
a  half  thirty-seconds  around  each  conductor.  We  have  also 
adopted  as  a  standard  feeder  250,000  circ.  mils.  That  is  uni- 
form throughout.  We  carry  about  2500  kw  per  feeder.  To  go 
back  to  the  size  of  the  sub-stations,  we  have  now  six  sub-sta- 


tions, and  we  are  planning  to  have  fourteen.  I  was  very  much 
interested  in  the  statement  of  Mr.  Starrett  that  they  were  able 
to  save  $1,650,000  in  their  a.  c.  distribution  as  compared  with 
a  number  of  d.  c.  stations.  That  figure  compares  very  closely 
with  the  estimate  which  we  made  four  years  ago  on  our 
Brooklyn  station.  We  found  that  we  were  able  to  save  about 
a  million  and  a  half  dollars  by  using  a.  c.  distribution  as  com- 
pared with  sub-stations  for  the  direct  current.  Our  station,  as 
compared  with  the  Metropolitan  station,  has  smaller  units. 
We  have  4000-hp  engines  and  2700-kw  generators,  as  against 
the  3500-kw  generators  in  the  Metropolitan  system.  Our  cost 
of  coal  is  somewhat  less.  I  note  that  Mr.  Starrett  states  that 
67  per  cent  represents  the  coal  cost.  Ours  is  65  per  cent.  That 
is  explained  by  the  fact  that  we  use  a  very  low  grade  of  hard 
coal,  No.  3  buckwheat,  paying  about  $1.45  a  ton  for  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  our  labor  cost  is  somewhat  higher.  We  have  24 
per  cent  as  against  19  per  cent  for  the  Metropolitan.  This  is 
probably  due  to  the  fact  that  we  have  entirely  hand-firing  boil- 
ers, it  being  impossible  to  burn  so  low  a  grade  of  coal  with  the 
automatic  stoker,  which  is  used  by  the  Metropolitan,  I  believe. 
Having  both  direct-current  stations  and  a.  c.  distribution,  we 
have  an  opportunity  to  compare  the  old  method  with  the  new. 
It  is  cheaper  for  us  to  generate  the  alternating  current  and 
send  it  out  over  high-tension  feeders  and  distribute  it  from 
the  rotary  sub-stations  than  it  is  to  generate  the  current  at 
our  direct-current  stations.  That  reminds  me  of  an  editorial 
which  I  read  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  recently,  ques- 
tioning the  advisability  of  using  the  alternating  current,  and 
citing  the  case  of  the  Boston  Elevated.  There,  I  think,  the 
lowest  cost  of  their  direct-current  system  is  seven-tenths  of  a 
cent  per  kw-hour.  We  are  able  to  beat  that  at  our  sub-stations 
thus  far;  so  that  I  think  that  the  Boston  Elevated  Company 
can  probably  beat  its  present  figure  by  going  into  the  a.  c. 
distribution. 

H.  H.  Vreeland — I  want  to  say  one  word  with  reference  to 
the  ancient  history  which  has  been  mentioned,  and  which  is 
chiefly  valuable  to  the  association  when  it  is  remembered  that 
the  Metropolitan  station  now  being  discussed  was  planned  in 
1897.  I  recall  a  series  of  conferences  held  at  that  time  between 
some  of  those  interested  in  the  property  and  various  electrical 
and  mechanical  engineers  as  to  whether  it  was  safe  to  attempt 
to  build  that  character  of  station  and  use  that  character  of  dis- 
tribution. In  fact,  some  of  the  financial  interests  connected 
wih  the  property,  and  who  had  large  interests  in  other  sections 
of  the  country  at  the  same  time,  were  getting  ready  to  build 
d.  c.  stations.  The  lesson  to  the  members  of  the  association, 
particularly  to  the  younger  men,  is  that  they  have  got  to  study 
very  hard  to  keep  up  with  the  procession.  It  was  only  the 
other  day  that  this  association  was  considering  what  was  the 
best  medicine  to  remove  botts  from  horses  and  what  was  the 
best  horse  feed:  then  there  was  the  question  whether  elec- 
tricity was  practical  at  all ;  then  the  question  whether  we  need 
have  high-tension  power  stations.  Now  it  is  a  grave  question, 
considering  Tesla's  latest  developments,  whether  we  will  re- 
quire any  stations— d.  c.  or  a.  c— at  all  in  the  next  year  or  two. 

Mr.  Ely— I  regard  this  paper  on  power  distribution  as  one 
of  the  most  important  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  or 
reading  at  any  of  these  conventions.  Of  course,  we  are  here 
to  get  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  benefit.  We  all  know 
that  there  are  no  questions  which  are  more  important  to  our 
business  than  those  of  power  generation  and  distribution,  and 
we  all  recognize  the  truth  of  the  idea  suggested  by  Mr.  Vree- 
land, as  to  the  rapid  advance  of  the  art— the  doing  away  with 
old  things  by  the  new  within  so  short  a  period  of  years  that  it 
seems  almost  incredible.  Just  a  word  in  illustration  of  that. 
At  Niagara  Falls,  when  the  plans  were  being  matured  for 
power  house  No.  I  of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company,  or 
rather  just  prior  to  that,  in  about  1890,  George  Westinghouse, 
of  Pittsburg,  visited  the  Falls  and  talked  with  the  people  who 


432 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


were  promoting  that  power  enterprise,  and  suggested  that  it 
was  a  great  mistake  to  think  of  distributing  that  power  by 
means  of  elecricity.  He  suggested  as  the  result  of  their  ex- 
perience that  compressed  air  be  considered  for  the  purpose  of 
distribution.  In  1895,  or  about  that  time,  five  or  six  years 
after  Mr.  Westinghouse  made  that  statement,  the  first  current 
was  turned  out  of  the  power  house,  and  the  5000-hp  generators 
that  supplied  the  alternating  current  were  manufactured  by 
the  Westinghouse  Company.  I  don't  know  of  anything  that 
better  illustrates  the  rapidity  of  advancement  in  that  part  of 
the  art  than  the  fact  mentioned.  In  1899  the  International  Rail- 
way Company  installed  a  power  distribution  at  Buffalo,  con- 
sisting of  sub-stations  arranged  for  the  stepping  down  and  dis- 
tribution of  the  alternating  current  from  the  high-tension  lines 
of  the  Niagara  Falls  Power  Company.  Since  that  time  some  of 
our  sub-stations  have  been  consolidated.  I  would  like  to  ask 
of  Mr.  Vreeland  the  distance  between  the  sub-stations  of  the 
Metropolitan  at  129th  and  146th  Streets? 
Mr.  Vreeland — It  is  about  1  mile. 

Mr.  Ely — As  a  result  of  your  experience,  Mr.  Vreeland,  is  it 
more  economical  to  maintain  two  sub-stations  at  distances  of  a 
couple  of  miles  apart  than  it  would  be  to  consolidate  those  two 
sub-stations  into  one?  Of  course,  I  mean  to  leave  out  of  con- 
sideration the  question  of  cost  of  real  estate  and  all  that  sort 
of  thing.  If  you  had  to  do  it  over  again,  would  it  be  better  to 
consolidate  those  two  sub-stations  than  to  maintain  two  so 
close  together?  , 

Mr.  Vreeland — The  stations  referred  to  were  placed  where 
they  are  for  peculiar  local  reasons.  There  is  a  very  heavy 
grade  both  ways  on  Amsterdam  Avenue  from  128th  Street, 
and  very  heavy  service — one  of  our  heavy  lines  on  which  cars 
on  holidays  and  Sundays  are  run  on  about  twenty-second  in- 
tervals. A  very  long  hill  runs  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  dis- 
tance to  the  next  power  station.  It  is  more  economical  to  dis- 
tribute from  this  point.  Probably  if  we  had  had  the  present  ar- 
rangement originally,  there  might  have  been  some  changes. 
When  we  built  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  station  our  operation 
was  confined  entirely  to  Manhattan  Island  and  the  lower  sec- 
tions of  the  city.  The  Third  Avenue  Railroad,  to  which  we 
fell  heir,  had  its  station  and  sub-stations  under  contract  and 
partially  constructed  when  we  took  the  road  over,  and  it  was 
principally  a  question  of  getting  the  system  completed  and  in 
operation  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible,  as  they  did  not  have 
sufficient  power  for  their  operation,  so  that  less  consideration 
was  given  to  these  points.  But  in  direct  answer  to  your  ques- 
tion, the  stations  would  have  been  arranged  in  that  way,  owing 
to  the  peculiar  conditions. 

Mr.  McNamara,  of  Albany — Before  passing  from  this  sub- 
ject of  the  generation  and  distribution  of  power,  I  would  like 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  convention  to  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Starrett  says  in  his  paper  that,  with  a  few  exceptions,  a  storage 
battery  is  installed  in  connection  with  each  sub-station.  The 
gentleman  from  Brooklyn,  however  stated  that  they  were 
using  storage  batteries  inherited  from  their  predecessors,  and 
that  with  their  new  power  house  they  were  not  going  to  install 
storage  batteries.  It  has  been  a  question  with  me  why  those 
using  storage  batteries  have  not  inquired  why  the  gentlemen 
in  Brooklyn  are  not  going  to  install  storage  batteries  in  their 
new  power  house. 

Mr.  Roehl — I  will  answer  that  by  saying  that  it  would  take 
a  very  large  battery  to  smooth  out  the  fluctuations  in  the  load 
of  an  elevated  railroad — an  excessively  large  and  excessively 
expensive  storage  battery.  It  will  do  it,  as  we  know,  from  the 
Metropolitan  condition;  but  we  don't  find  it  to  be  satisfactory 
with  an  elevated  road. 

Mr.  Vreeland — The  chief  thing  that  led  us  to  consider  the 
storage  battery  in  connection  with  our  sub-stations"  was  the 
enormous  loads  that  we  carry.  A  drop  in  our  voltage  slows 
down  our  speed,  and  we  have  to  keep  up  our  speed  to  the  maxi- 


mum to  conform  to  any  schedule  at  all.  The  loss  in  time  on 
our  schedule  is  a  very  serious  matter  with  us,  and  causes  a 
congestion  of  cars  in  many  localities.  We  found  that  we  must 
keep  a  voltage  of  550  absolutely  to  meet  that  condition,  and 
that  was  one  reason  why  we  went  so  largely  into  the  use  of 
storage  batteries.  Another  reason  was  that  our  service  is  very 
heavy  eighteen  hours  a  day  on  our  principal  lines.  We  have 
a  peculiar  condition  in  New  York  with  the  theater  section  and 
the  club  section.  Take  first  the  theaters  from  Twenty-Third 
Street  to  Forty-Sixth  Street  on  and  adjacent  to  Broadway. 
With  the  new  theaters,  they  have  a  seating  capacity  of  68,000 
people,  all  of  whom  are  discharged  on  Broadway  at  night  in- 
side of  about  ten  minutes.  Taking  this  in  connection  with  the 
club  service,  our  traffic  is  extremely  heavy  at  such  times,  and 
in  order  to  do  the  work  we  had  to  have  the  relief  of  a  storage 
battery.  Again,  on  some  of  the  east  side  lines,  we  have  carried 
our  load  from  12  o'clock  or  1  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  4  o'clock 
on  our  batteries,  and  then  shut  down  the  power  station  com- 
pletely to  do  work  that  was  necessary  on  the  equipment.  This 
is  a  great  advantage ;  but,  as  I  said,  an  important  reason,  and 
a  very  important  one,  was  that  the  drop  in  voltage  affected  our 
service  in  the  central  lines  and  all  of  our  more  important  heavy 
lines. 

Mr.  McNamara — Inasmuch  as  the  United  Traction  Company 
has  invested  about  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  storage  bat- 
teries, I  am  very  much  gratified  to  learn  that  we  have  got  some- 
thing which  is  useful. 

T.  E.  Mitten,  of  Buffalo — I  want  to  say  something  of  our 
experience  with  storage  batteries.  We  are  rather  dissimilar 
in  conditions  from  almost  any  other  system,  in  that  we  use  a 
very  large  proportion  of  power  generated  at  Niagara  Falls. 
It  is  supplied  to  us  twenty-four  hours  in  the  day,  365  days  in 
the  year.  We  have  only  about  a  33  per  cent  load  factor,  and 
while  we  purchase  8000  hp  from  the  Falls,  a  portion  of  the 
time  we  only  use  perhaps  2000,  so  that  we  have  6000  hp  for 
six  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  going  to  waste,  except  so 
much  as  we  are  able  to  utilize  in  the  storage  batteries. 
Then  we  find,  too,  that  our  storage  battery  eases  up  on  our 
machines  and  relieves  them  of  the  great  strain  of  the  fluctuating 
load.  We  have  combined  some  of  our  sub-stations.  One  of 
our  reasons  for  that  is  that  by  that  means  we  are  able  to  cen- 
tralize our  storage  battery  nearer  the  center  of  the  load,  which 
enables  us  to  use  it  to  much  better  ladvantage. 

The  President — We  will  now  take  up  the  next  paper  on  the 
programme,  "Maintenance  of  Electric  Cars  and  Their  Equip- 
ment," by  H.  A.  Benedict,  of  the  United  Traction  Company,  of 
Albany  and  Troy.  (This  paper  is  published  elsewhere  in  this 
issue.) 

R.  E.  Danforth,  of  Rochester — I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Bene- 
dict concerning  his  inspection.  The  methods  differ  somewhat 
in  the  frequency  with  which  cars  are  brought  into  the  shop 
and  overhauled.  The  practice  in  some  cities  is  to  overhaul 
cars  according  to  the  calendar — that  is,  every  three  to  six 
months.  In  other  cities  it  is  according  to  the  mileage  made 
by  the  cars,  the  number  of  miles  being  determined  by  the 
equipment  and  the  character  of  the  service.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  latter  method  is  the  more  economical  generally,  as  the 
older  types  of  motors  require  careful  overhauling  after  10,000 
miles  to  15,000  miles,  while  modern  motors  may  possibly  run 
25,000  miles.  The  practice  followed  in  our  city  has  been  along 
the  latter  line.  The  cars  are  generally  overhauled — trucks, 
motors  and  bodies — on  that  basis,  depending  on  the  equipment, 
which  brings  the  cars  into  the  shop  on  an  average  of  every 
four  months.  On  the  third  visit  of  the  cars  to  the  shop  the 
bodies  are  revarnished.  In  the  daily  inspection  the  work  is 
only  carried  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  keep  the  car  in  good 
operating  condition  in  respect  to  trucks,  controllers,  wheels, 
commutators,  brushes,  etc.,  including  the  inspection  of  the 
lubrication.    Mr.  Benedict  referred  to  the  matter  of  lubrica- 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


433 


tion  in  his  paper,  intimating  that  he  preferred  oil.  I  believe 
that  is  a  subject  which  might  be  discussed  somewhat  profitably, 
and  I  would  like  to  know  what  experience  he  has  had  in  the 
use  of  oil  on  motors. 

Mr.  Benedict — The  experience  that  we  have  had  with  oil 
has  been  that  we  do  not  get  hot  bearings  as  we  do  with  grease. 
The  difficulty  comes  in  the  use  of  oil  on  the  older  type  of 
motors,  which  motors  were  designed  for  grease  boxes.  For 
the  use  of  oil  it  has  become  necessary  to  design  a  box  which 
will  go  inside  of  the  grease  box,  and  by  means  of  a  peculiar 
method  feed  the  oil  to  the  journal.  We  have  used  oil  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  and  the  only  difficulty  that  we  have  had  with 
it  is  in  regulating  the  flow  of  the  oil. 

Mr.  Mitten — I  have  made  some  study  recently  of  the  methods 
adopted  by  different  railway  companies  in  their  care  and  main- 
tenance of  cars,  and  I  have  found  that  in  two  of  the  larger 
cities  quite  a  change  is  being  made.  In  fact,  they  are  advo- 
cating doing  away  entirely  with  car  storage  in  car  houses,  and 
letting  their  cars  stand  out  at  night.  The  inspection  is  done 
at  the  ends  of  the  line  during  the  day  instead  of  at  night,  as  it 
is  done  now  by  many,  and  as  it  was  formerly  done  by  us  all. 
While  at  the  first  glance  this  seems  to  be  a  questionable  pro- 
ceeding, I  have  found  that  in  many  cases  of  car  house  inspec- 
tion, where  car  houses  were  originally  built  for  horse  cars,  the 
pit  capacity  was  inadequate,  and  the  inspection  was  such  that 
it  did  not  recommend  itself  to  me  at  all.  The  railways  that  I 
speak  of  placed  their  inspectors  in  the  morning  at  the  ends  of 
each  line,  and  they  inspected  the  cars  as  they  passed.  Usually 
the  car  stands  the  interval  between  cars — that  is,  the  headway 
of  five  minutes  or  ten  minutes,  as  the  case  may  be.  In  the 
meantime  the  crew  takes  the  following  car.  We  had  some  ex- 
perience last  winter  in  attempting  to  house  some  of  our  cars 
out  of  doors,  with  not  very  good  results.  We  found  that  the 
working  parts  would  stiffen  up  and  the  grease  would  freeze 
and  we  would  have  rather  bad  work  on  our  first  two  or  three 
trips  in  the  morning,  particularly  after  heavy  snow  falls.  Our 
car  roofs  would  also  become  covered  with  snow  and  the  win- 
dows would  be  obscured.  What  I  am  trying  to  emphasize  par- 
ticularly, however,  is  whether  we  do  get  proper  inspection  at 
night,  and  whether  in  many  cases  we  do  not  run  our  cars  until 
something  breaks  or  the  armature  gets  down  on  the  bearings, 
or  something  of  that  kind.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  daily  in- 
spection at  the  ends  of  the  lines,  unless  the  car  house  facilities 
are  of  the  best,  could  be  done  better  than  if  an  attempt  is  made 
to  do  it  in  car  houses  such  as  I  have  seen  in  many  cities  built 
for  horse  cars.  The  cars  are  crowded  in  with  no  possibility  of 
getting  under  the  cars.  Now  compare  the  inspection  under 
these  conditions  with  that  at  the  end  of  the  line,  where  the 
crew  bringing  the  car  into  the  end  of  the  line  can  readily  tell 
the  repair  crew  of  any  particular  trouble  that  they  are  having 
with  the  car.  It  seems  to  me  it  is  well  worth  considering 
whether  that  is  not  the  better  method,  considering  our  car 
houses,  than  the  one  which  is  in  general  use. 

Mr.  Ely — I  have  a  fact  to  relate  which  may  not  prove  un- 
interesting in  this  connection.  I  first  heard  of  the  proposition 
of  "housing  cars  out  of  doors"  a  year  ago  last  February,  com- 
ing from  the  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Amer- 
ican Street  Railway  Association  which  was  held  at  Saratoga. 
The  statement  was  made  to  me  that  in  certain  places  that 
method  was  about  to  be  tried,  and  I  asked  the  gentleman  who 
spoke  about  it  what  precedent  could  be  cited  for  such  treatment. 
He  said:  "Why,  steam  railroads  keep  their  cars  out  doors 
either  all  or  a  large  portion  of  the  time."  The  difference  that 
suggested  itself  at  once  to  my  mind  was  that  the  electric  car 
is  not  only  a  passenger  coach,  but  it  answers  also  to  the  loco- 
motive of  the  steam  railroad;  and  I  said  to  him:  "But  you 
don't  know  of  any  place  where  steam  roads  keep  their  locomo- 
tives out  of  doors?"  They  always  provide  storage  for  them. 
For  electric  cars  it  would  seem  to  me  economy  would  require 


other  treatment  than  that  suggested.  We  have  had  the  ex- 
perience cited  by  Mr.  Mitten.  While  at  St.  Louis  last  Satur- 
day, I  met  the  same  gentleman  again  and  we  had  a  further  dis- 
cussion, and  at  the  end  of  two  years'  experience  on  his  part, 
and  after  having  been  in  consultation  with  a  number  of  others 
who  were  trying  this  method,  he  confessed  to  me  that  he  would 
not  care  to  go  on  record  in  favor  of  any  such  proposition  if 
there  were  any  way  of  avoiding  it. 

Mr.  Cole — I  have  some  figures  that  I  have  been  collecting 
that  may  be  of  considerable  interest  on  this  point.  Our  man  at 
the  switchboard  puts  out  a  chart  of  the  car  operation  each  day 
which  shows  the  coal  consumption  per  kilowatt-hour  and  also 
the  temperature  and  the  mileage.  It  is  of  considerable  interest 
to  know  that  the  coal  consumption  follows  the  temperature 
very  much  closer  than  it  does  the  mileage.  We  had  one  car 
house  near  which  we  had  a  power  station,  and  we  heated  the 
car  house  from  our  station.  This  plan  was  abandoned,  but 
early  in  the  winter  the  switchboard  man  began  to  complain 
that  the  cars  starting  out  of  this  house,  for  some  reason,  used 
an  excessive  amount  of  power.  Tests  were  made,  and  it  was 
found  that  a  car  38  ft.  long,  equipped  with  two  35-hp  or  two 
50-hp  motors,  would  average  a  consumption  of  current  of  about 
160  amps,  to  171  amps.,  but  the  same  car  starting  out  of  the 
car  house  in  the  morning  with  the  journals  all  freely  lubri- 
cated, would  consume  from  50  amps,  to  60  amps.,  so  that  sub- 
urban cars  starting  from  this  place  would  use  about  three 
times  as  much  current  as  they  did  ordinarily.  I  think  that  when 
you  consider  that  running  the  cars  represents  only  about  7J/2 
per  cent  of  the  original  energy  of  the  coal  pile,  while  in  using 
the  coal  to  heat  the  car  houses  directly  you  are  getting  prac- 
tically all  the  energy  out  of  it,  it  is  very  much  cheaper  to  heat 
the  car  house  and  start  the  cars  out  warm  in  the  winter 
months. 

Mr.  Ely — I  am  a  great  believer  in  the  experience  of  other 
men  and  the  things  that  come  to  us  from  a  close  observance 
of  the  common  happenings  of  life,  the  things  that  pertain  to 
the  great  mass  of  people.  Now,  traveling  through  the  country 
in  a  wagon,  what  better  indication  of  the  character  of  the  farm- 
ers, their  credit  at  the  bank,  their  standing  among  their  neigh- 
bors and  in  the  community  could  be  afforded  than  by  this :  We 
pass  the  farm  of  A  and  observe  that  his  barnyarn,  his  wood- 
shed and  other  buildings  are  in  good  order,  and  the  yards  are 
clean  and  free  from  all  kinds  of  incumbrances.  Then  we  come 
to  the  farm  of  B  and  observe  a  valuable  reaper  "stored  out  of 
doors"  instead  of  being  run  in  the  barn.  I  do  not  wish  to  en- 
large upon  the  difference;  that  thought  is  not  in  my  mind;  but 
wherever  you  have  observed  a  farmer  who  leaves  his  ma- 
chinery out  of  doors  you  find  a  chap  who  has  no  credit  at  the 
bank  and  he  has  no  standing  anywhere.  And  if  we  leave  the 
valuable  machinery  used  in  these  great  enterprises  out  of  doors 
in  the  storms,  it  would  not  take  long  for  one  to  draw  the  same 
comparison  as  between  the  farm  of  A  and  the  farm  of  B. 

Mr.  Benedict — I  think  all  of  us  have  been  apt  to  neglect  the 
proper  inspection  of  our  cars,  and  on  account  of  improper  in- 
spection perhaps  we  have  had  many  extra  expenditures  at  the 
power  stations  and  many  extra  expenditures  in  our  repair 
shops.  In  our  operation  our  cars  are  brought  into  the  house 
from  thirty  seconds  to  perhaps  a  minute  and  a  half  or  two 
minutes'  headway.  With  that  headway  inspection  has  been 
made  of  portions  of  the  cars  while  passing  over  the  inspec- 
tion pit.  We  have  pits  under  each  entering  track,  and  try  to 
make  a  thorough  inspection.  Within  the  past  year  or  so  we 
have  been  paying  much  more  attention  to  giving  the  cars  care- 
ful inspection.  We  now  test  carefully  our  circuit  breakers, 
and  we  have  found  a  great  benefit  to  be  derived  therefrom. 
We  are  also  careful  to  test  our  wheels  and  armatures  in  the 
house  with  proper  appliances,  and  pay  especial  attention  to  the 
cleaning  and  examination  of  the  controllers,  and  we  have 
found  that  it  has  saved  us  considerable  in  expense  and  in  many 


434 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


ways  been  a  great  advantage.  It  is  pretty  difficult  to  inspect 
properly  a  car  operated  with  an  underground  current  of  elec- 
tricity where  we  cannot  have  pits.  In  the  use  of  the  overhead 
trolley  I  think  the  proper  method  of  building  the  house  is  to 
build  it  all  pits.  It  gives  the  men  opportunity  to  thoroughly 
inspect  the  under  portions  of  the  car.  I  think  we  also  should 
try  and  have  our  tracks  laid  further  apart  in  the  house  than 
has  been  the  general  practice,  so  as  to  enable  the  men  to  get 
around  them  and  make  proper  inspection.  This  is  a  matter 
that  is  deserving  of  considerable  attention. 

Mr.  Allen — I  would  like  to  ask  Mr.  Benedict  which  method 
of  inspection  he  prefers,  an  inspection  on  the  mileage  basis  or 
an  inspection  on  the  time  basis,  after  a  certain  number  of 
months  have  passed  ? 

Mr.  Benedict — I  prefer  the  time  method — that  is,  not  in 
months,  but  in  days.  I  believe  that  a  car  that  goes  out  and 
runs  for  eighteen  hours  should  have  its  working  parts  thor- 
oughly inspected  each  day.  In  reference  to  bringing  the  cars 
in  and  overhauling  them  every  four  or  five  months,  our  experi- 
ence has  been  that  we  have  to  bring  the  car  in  and  change  the 
wheels  oftener  than  every  four  to  five  months.  And  when  you 
have  to  change  the  wheels  in  a  car  that  is  the  time  to  put  the 
truck  in  perfect  shape  before  it  goes  underneath  the  car  again. 
I  believe  that  a  man  who  is  an  inspector  should  be  as  well 
paid  as  any  man  in  the  maintenance  department  which  is  doing 
the  labor. 

Mr.  Rockwell,  of  the  Syracuse,  Lakeside  &  Baldwinsville 
Railway  Company — I  would  like  to  say  a  word  or  two  in  re- 
gard to  the  inspection  of  cars.  I  don't  think  we  have  gone 
into  details  sufficiently.  The  mere  taking  out  or  examination 
of  portions  of  a  car  I  do  not  consider  inspection  by  a  good  deal. 
It  seems  to  me  that  the  principal  portion  of  the  running  part 
of  a  car  is  composed  of  simply  two  things:  one  is  to  make  the 
car  go  and  the  other  is  to  be  able  to  stop  it.  Therefore,  the 
motor  and  the  brakes  are  the  vital  points  about  a  car.  There 
are  very  few  other  things  in  connection  with  a  car  that  would 
seem  to  me  likely  to  lead  to  the  causing  of  an  accident  or  ham- 
pering the  road  by  stalling  the  cars  in  any  way.  I  believe  that 
the  only  way  that  you  can  operate  a  road  which  is  carrying  a 
great  many  people  with  frequent  service,  is  to  inspect  the  cars 
so  thoroughly  that  there  is  no  question  when  they  go  out  of 
the  car  house  that  they  will  come  back  in  proper  condition, 
barring  possible  accidents  or  collisions.  The  only  way  to  do 
that  is  to  have  a  systematic  way  of  inspecting  your  cars.  In 
order  to  do  that  the  motors  have  got  to  be  taken  down,  the 
copper  dust  and  the  carbon  dust  swept  out — cleaned  all 
through,  the  commutators  thoroughly  examined  and  put  back 
in  place.  That  should  unquestionably  be  done  on  the  mileage 
basis ;  days  and  months  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  It  fre- 
quently depends  on  the  business  done,  whether  the  car  is  in 
use  or  not.  When  I  was  running  a  certain  road  operating 
eighty-eight  cars  on  a  minute  headway,  I  established  a  system 
of  inspecting  a  car  every  time  it  ran  3000  miles.  Now  that 
mileage  will  not  be  considered  sufficient  by  many  managers. 
A  car  may  be  able  to  go  5000,  10,000  or  20,000  miles,  but 
in  my  estimation  it  is  best  to  say  from  three  to  six.  Every 
time  a  car  made  3000  miles  I  brought  it  to  the  car  house  and 
had  it  entirely  overhauled,  the  same  as  if  it  had  been  in  a 
smash-up,  leaving  nothing  untouched.  Understand,  that  is  in 
addition  to  the  ordinary  twenty-four-hour  inspection,  as  to  the 
controller  and  such  things.  This  is  more  particularly  true  of 
the  motors  and  brakes.  Thoroughly  test  them.  I  believe  in 
putting  the  full  test  on  your  brake  chains.  In  that  case  the 
result  was  that  we  ran  the  road  for  over  three  years  without 
having  a  car  stalled  on  the  line  from  any  motor  defect.  I 
don't  think  you  can  do  it  in  any  other  way  than  a  systematic 
way  of  that  kind.  If  you  keep  track  of  your  mileage  you  know 
just  where  your  car  is.  One  word  in  regard  to  storing  cars. 
I  think  the  only  excuse  for  not  housing  cars  is  that  you  haven't 


got  the  money — and  that  is  inexcusable.  My  experience  is  that 
the  cost  of  the  paint  alone  on  the  cars  would  pay  the  interest 
on  four  times  the  price  of  a  car  house. 

The  president  then  announced  the  appointment  of  the  nomi- 
nating committee,  which  consisted  of  Mr.  Vreeland,  of  New 
York;  Mr.  Ely,  of  Buffalo;  Mr.  Rogers,  of  Binghamton;  Mr. 
Shannahan,  of  Gloversville,  and  Mr.  Clarke,  of  Syracuse.  The 
convention  then  took  a  recess  until  2  o'clock. 

TUESDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION 

The  President — The  first  order  of  business  is  the  report  of 
the  standard  rules  committee,  of  which  Mr.  Mitten  is  chair- 
man. I  would  like  to  say  in  connection  with  this  report  that 
it  has  been  printed  in  pamphlet  form  and  distributed  through- 
out the  convention  hall,  so  that  each  member  can  secure  a  copy. 

Mr.  Mitten  read  the  report  of  the  standard  rules  committee. 

Mr.  Mitten — I  want  to  say  that  the  association  is  much  in- 
debted to  Mr.  Barnes  for  his  assistance  in  the  rearrangement 
and  revising  of  these  rules.  He  attended  our  meetings  in  New 
York  and  went  over  the  whole  matter  very  carefully  with  us, 
and  the  thanks  of  this  association  are  due  to  Mr.  Barnes  and 
the  commissioners.  Many  suggestions  have  been  received  by 
the  rules  committee  as  to  changes  in  the  code.  The  main  point 
which  we  have  tried  to  cover  has  been  to  so  arrange  the  rules 
under  the  different  headings  as  to  permit  of  changes  being 
made  by  a  continued  rules  committee  as  they  might  find  neces- 
sary. Under  the  old  arrangement  of  the  rules,  where  the  num- 
bers ran  consecutively  from  one  to  the  last  number,  and  differ- 
ent headings  were  inserted,  it  was  absolutely  impossible  to  in- 
sert rules  pertaining'  to  any  of  the  headings  without  dis- 
turbing the  arrangement  of  the  numbering.  But  with  the  wide 
scope  now  given  between  the  numbering  of  the  three  sections, 
there  is  abundance  of  room  for  the  addition  of  rules  required 
by  various  systems  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  those 
rules  which  have  been  made  standard. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Allen,  duly  seconded,  the  report  of  the 
standard  rules  committee  was  adopted. 

The  President — I  believe  that  Mr.  Barnes,  representing  the 
State  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners,  has  some  remarks  to 
make  in  regard  to  the  rules.  We  will  be  pleased  to  hear  from 
Mr.  Barnes. 

Mr.  Barnes — I  want  to  take  this  occasion  of  expressing  my 
gratification  at  the  adoption  by  this  association  of  a  standard 
set  of  rules.  My  position  has  given  me  opportunities  for  ob- 
servation which  have  impressed  me  with  the  importance  of  the 
adoption  of  a  set  of  rules  by  the  State  Association  perhaps 
more  forcibly  than  some  others.  In  the  investigation  of  acci- 
dents the  necessity  for  such  a  set  of  rules  is  very  apparent.  I 
find  that  accidents  may  happen  on  railroads  that  are  governed 
by  proper  rules,  and  I  can  add  that  accidents  will  happen  on 
railroads  that  are  not  so  governed.  It  would  surprise  the 
members  of  this  association  who  have  expended  time  and  study 
on  the  question  of  rules  to  know  how  many  railroads  are  oper- 
ated without  any  attempt  at  rules,  and  it  would  surprise  some 
of  the  larger  managers  to  know  how  closely  situated  to  them 
are  railroads  that  are  operated  without  any  attempt  at  govern- 
ment of  employees  or  discipline  by  rules.  While  the  rules  per- 
haps have  not  been  extended  as  far  as  might  be  wished,  the 
work  done  by  the  committee  on  rules  is  certainly  a  gratifying 
one,  and  they  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  not  only  of  this  asso- 
ciation, but  of  every  street  railroad  man  in  the  country,  and 
for  my  part,  as  I  said  before,  I  wish  to  express  my  gratification 
that  such  a  set  of  rules  has  been  adopted. 

Mr.  Fassett,  of  Albany — As  a  member  of  the  rules  commit- 
tee I  want  to  have  placed  on  record  the  appreciation  which 
that  committee  feels  for  what  Mr.  Barnes  has  done  for  them. 
Mr.  Barnes,  as  the  representative  of  the  Railroad  Commission, 
has  met  with  the  committee  on  rules,  has  helped  us,  and  has 
done  a  great  deal  of  work  for  us  which  is  not  understood  by 
the  association  generally.   I  move  that  a  vote  of  thanks  be  ten- 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


435 


dered  to  Mr.  Barnes  for  the  work  that  he  has  done  in  assisting 
the  committee  to  get  up  this  standard  set  of  rules. 
The  motion  was  duly  seconded. 

The  President — I  think  it  is  eminently  proper  that  this  asso- 
ciation should  express  its  appreciation  of  Mr.  Barnes'  services. 
I  know  personally  that  he  has  contributed  valuable  service  to- 
ward the  compilation  of  the  standard  code  of  rules.  I  know 
that  I,  as  one  member  of  the  association,  appreciate  what  he 
has  done.    Gentlemen,  the  motion  is  before  you. 

The  motion  was  carried  unanimously  on  a  rising  vote. 

Mr.  Allen — Unless  I  am  out  of  order,  it  seems  to  me  that  a 
vote  of  thanks  is  due  to  the  members  of  the  rules  committee, 
and  I  think  a  resolution  should  be  passed  by  this  convention 
continuing  this  committee  for  another  year.  In  the  report  that 
has  been  made  by  the  rules  committee  they  do  not  ask  a  com- 
plete adoption  of  all  of  the  rules.  They  refer  to  the  fact  that 
there  is  much  work  to  be  done  in  the  future.  That  being  the 
case,  I  w  ould  move  you  that  this  committee  be  continued  in  the 
future. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

Mr.  Van  Etten  not  being  able  to  be  present,  the  secretary 
read  the  paper  prepared  by  him  and  which  is  printed  elsewhere. 
Mr.  Clark,  of  Syracuse,  then  read  a  paper  on  "The  Question 
of  Freight,"  prepared  by  L.  W.  Serrell,  consulting  engineer  of 
the  Oneonta,  Cooperstown  &  Richfield  Springs  Railroad  Com- 
pany, and  George  Dunford,  the  general  express  agent  of  the 
Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Company,  read  a  paper  on  "A  Method 
of  Handling  Interurban  Express  Matter."  Both  of  these  papers 
are  printed  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  President — I  know  that  the  convention  would  be  pleased 
to  hear  from  Mr.  Sanderson,  who  has  charge  of  the  express 
business  on  the  lines  of  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company. 

Mr.  Sanderson,  of  New  York — The  express  company  which 
conducts  the  business  on  the  lines  controlled  by  Mr.  Vreeland 
began  business  some  three  years  ago.  We  began  with  the  idea 
of  doing  a  local  business,  but  we  found  that  to  get  any  local 
business  at  all  we  were  compelled  to  adopt  the  same  rates  as 
our  competitors.  It  may  be  surprising  to  the  members  of  the 
association  to  know  that  there  are  over  3000  local  expressmen 
in  New  York  City.  The  average  express  company  (so-called) 
may  consist  of  a  man  and  his  son,  operating  two  wagons,  run- 
ning from  one  point  to  another.  They  get  a  very  good  income 
and  they  make  rates  which  are  sure  to  get  them  business.  In 
order  to  get  that  business  we  had  to  adopt  rates  which  were 
such  that  we  made  a  loss.  The  only  arrangement  we  were  able 
to  make  with  the  old-line  companies  was  for  territory  which 
was  not  profitable.  If  the  territory  was  profitable  they  took  it 
themselves.  We  were  able  to  undertake  the  collection  and  de- 
livery of  matter  for  two  old-line  companies  in  sections  which 
they  did  not  care  to  cover  with  their  wagons.  Our  chief  trou- 
ble was  in  our  wagon  experience.  Sixteen  per  cent  of  out- 
total  expenditure  was  in  horses  and  wagons  and  stabling.  I 
notice  in  one  of  these  papers  a  list  of  the  gross  income  from 
various  localities  in  this  State.  The  Metropolitan  Company 
did  more  business  than  all  those  companies  put  together.  The 
only  reason  why  we  found  local  business  unprofitable  was  by- 
reason  of  the  short  haul.  As  stated  in  one  of  these  papers,  it 
costs  as  much  to  transport  a  package  a  short  distance— to  put 
it  on  the  wagon  and  carry  it  to  the  station  and  load  it  on  the 
car  and  carry  it  to  another  depot  and  then  retransfer  it  and 
make  the  ultimate  delivery  in  New  York  at  any  point— as  it 
would  cost  a  big  express  company  to  transport  it  to  Chicago  01- 
St.  Louis,  for  which  it  receives  $2.50  or  $2  a  hundred.  Again, 
we  had  to  put  up  with  a  cheaper  grade  of  labor  on  our  wagons, 
and  the  result  was  that  our  losses  were  heavy. 

This  paper  of  Mr.  Dunford,  I  think,  is  most  interesting.  It 
shows  a  successful  operation  on  a  small  scale  with  horses  and 
wagons,  and  a  very  complete  system  of  accounting.  I  think  I 
can  say,  however,  that  there  would  be  no  possibility  of  that 


system  of  accounting  being  successful  for  large  operations. 
For  instance,  we  handle  as  high  as  8000  shipments  per  day, 
and  frequently  send  cars  out  of  our  downtown  depot  011  twenty 
minutes'  headway,  and  we  could  not  check  from  the  platform 
to  the  car;  nor  could  we  check  from  the  car  to  the  platform. 
The  result  is  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of  loss,  and  the  loss  is 
very  expensive.  In  spite  of  all  express  history  and  experience, 
we  had  to  largely  devise  our  own  system  of  accounting.  We 
find  the  old-line  express  companies  very  conservative.  It  is 
hard  to  get  them  out  of  a  rut.  On  the  other  hand,  the  system 
of  accounting  used  by  the  railroad  companies  answered  for  our 
service  verv  well.  In  our  traffic  between  stations  where  we 
were  able  to  put  out  carload  lots,  we  could  afford  to  make  rates 
which  were  less  than  the  steam  roads  were  giving,  and  make 
money  on  it.  The  loss  on  that  class  of  traffic  is  practically 
nothing,  but  the  losses  we  incurred  were  through  express 
operations  where  we  had  to  use  wagons.  We  had  one  line  of 
business  that  was  most  profitable,  and  that  was  the  carriage  of 
beer.  For  illustration,  we  could  take  beer  from  Hastings  down 
to  New  York  and  carry  it  to  New  Rochelle  in  carload  lots  at 
22  cents  a  hundred,  and  get  the  business  away  from  the  railroad 
company,  which  was  charging  only  18  cents.  The  reason  was 
that  the  electric  service  was  more  satisfactory  and  more  eco- 
nomical to  the  brewers,  because  our  cars  moved  so  rapidly  from 
the  point  of  shipment  to  the  destination  that  the  brewers  did 
not  have  to  ice  their  beer,  and  they  could  afford  to  pay  us  more 
than  they  paid  the  steam  railroad  company,  where  the  ship- 
ments were  frequently  delayed  forty-eight  hours  or  more,  even 
in  that  short  haul. 

Another  paper  read  here  speaks  of  traffic  relations  with  the 
old-line  companies  and  railroad  companies  as  being  more  or 
less  impossible.  We  have  found  that  these  companies  are  not 
inclined  to  do  business  with  the  trolley  lines.  (  In  the  other 
hand,  we  have  entered  into  a  number  of  contracts  and  agree- 
ments with  the  steamship  lines.  A  shipper  sending  goods  from 
Yonkers  to  St.  Louis  could  ship  by  the  Metropolitan  Express 
(perhaps  requiring  a  day  or  two  longer  in  transit  )  than  he 
could  by  an  all-rail  route.  We  could  take  freight  from  Yonkers, 
transport  it  to  one  of  the  coast  lines  (more  particularly  the 
Old  Dominion),  and  they,  at  Norfolk,  would  transfer  to  con- 
necting rail  lines,  giving  us  the  advantage  of  a  differential 
rate.  In  this  way  the  shipper  from  Yonkers  paid  no  more  to  send 
his  goods  through  us  than  the  man  who  had  his  freight  at  the 
water  side  in  New  York,  and  he  paid  less  than  the  man  who 
was  three  or  four  blocks  away  from  the  steamship  dock.  The 
railroad  company  divided  with  the  steamship  company  and  the 
steamship  company  divided  with  us ;  so  in  that  respect  we 
were  recognized.  In  fact,  the  Southeastern  Freight  Associa- 
tion put  us  on  their  list,  and  we  were  a  connecting  line  with 
all  the  Southeastern  Freight  Association  lines,  indicating  that 
the  steam  lines  eventually,  and  perhaps  not  far  in  the  future, 
may  be  in  a  frame  of  mind  to  enter  into  relations  with  the 
trolley  companies. 

It  does  seem  to  me,  though,  that  there  ought  to  be  a  way  of 
getting  a  profitable  business  for  street  or  local  lines,  if  those 
lines  confine  themselves  largely  to  freight,  if  they  do  not  go 
too  largely  into  the  wagon  business.  The  express  business  is 
a  craft  by  itself.  There  is  no  use  of  trying  to  go  ahead  and 
devise  your  own  system.  You  have  got  to  get  expert  assist- 
ance if  you  are  going  to  do  a  large  business.  But  if 
you  pick  up  and  deliver  goods  along  your  line  and  do  not 
build  up  a  costly  system  of  operation,  it  seems  to  me  you  are 
bound  to  make  money  from  the  start;  and  after  you  get  your 
business  going,  as  on  the  lines  we  have  heard  about  in  these 
papers,  it  is  not  going  to  be  long  before  the  steam  roads  are 
going  to  be  compelled  to  enter  into  relations  with  you.  We 
have  had  a  number  of  applications  for  terminals  or  connections 
into  the  buildings  of  the  larger  shippers.  In  New  York  City 
this  is  a  different  question  from  that  which  is  presented  with 


436 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


a  country  line,  because  underground  construction  is  so  very 
expensive ;  but  could  we  have  got  sidings  we  could  have  made 
profitable  and  advantageous  arrangements.  You  must  under- 
stand that  in  New  York  City  there  are  many  thousands  of  tons 
of  freight  going  out  and  in  one  building  annually.  For  every 
pound  that  a  department  store  sells  it  must  take  a  pound  in. 
We  found  no  difficulty  as  far  as  we  went  in  that  line  in  getting 
the  shipper  to  agree  to  assume  the  cost,  could  he  get  the  line 
into  his  building.  It  would  be  rather  difficult  to  get  cheaper 
service,  but  you  can  give  more  satisfactory  service  than  there 
is  in  existence  to-day.  You  can't  get  much  cheaper  service 
with  the  short  haul  generally,  because  there  is  so  much  com- 
petition; but  you  can  certainly  give  a  more  satisfactory  ser- 
vice, and  that  appeals  to  the  average  shipper. 

The  President — Mr.  Beebe,  of  the  Auburn  &  Syracuse  Rail- 
road, has  recently  inaugurated  an  express  service  on  his  line. 
We  would  like  to  hear  from  him. 

Mr.  Beebe — The  matter  of  inaugurating  the  express  busi- 
ness has  been  in  charge  of  the  general  manager  and  others, 
and  they  can  say  more  about  it  than  I  can.   In  that  connection 
it  has  occurred  to  me  that  we  have  had  some  interesting  events 
in  the  last  two  months  which  might  affect  our  freight  and  ex- 
press business.   I  understand  in  the  city  of  Rochester  they  are 
having  considerable  difficulty  with  the  city  authorities  regard- 
ing the  entrance  of  express  cars  and  freight  cars  of  the  ex- 
press type  over  the  existing  city  lines.   At  a  convention  of  the 
Mayors  of  various  cities,  held,  I  think,  at  the  instance  of  the 
Mayor  of  Rochester  or  at  his  suggestion  in  the  city  of  Syra- 
cuse during  the  last  week,  there  was  much  discussion  among 
the  gentlemen  present  as  to  what  steps  they  ought  to  take  in 
connection  with  the  entrance  of  interurban  lines,  especially  of 
freight  and  express  business,  into  their  cities.    The  question 
was  discussed  of  taking  some  steps  toward  some  legislation  this 
winter,  or  the  possibility  of  securing  some  legislation.  Of 
course,  all  of  us  are  interested  in  any  such  discussion  or  any 
such  question,  because  we  are  affected  either  in  one  way  or 
another.    Another  interesting  phase  of  this  situation,  sug- 
gested here  in  some  of  these  papers,  is  the  relation  of  the  steam 
railroads  to  the  interurban  trolleys  through  the  recent  action 
of  the  New  York  Central,  the  accounts  of  which,  I  suppose,  all 
have  seen  in  the  daily  press  and  in  the  street  railway  jour- 
nals.   It  is  said  that  that  company  or  its  representatives  or 
those  representing  its  interest,  have  come  into  control  or  are 
acquiring  control  of  a  good  many  of  the  large  trolley  enter- 
prises now  paralleling  their  routes.    The  question  comes  up, 
when  they  do  take  control,  if  they  get  control,  what  stand  they 
will  take  in  connection  with  those  roads  that  connect  with 
them.    That,  of  course,  would  apply  to  Syracuse,  and  it  prob- 
ably would  apply  to  many  other  lines.    It  looks  as  though  this 
coming  winter,  in  the  general  interest  of  the  trolley  roads,  we 
have  got  to  look  after  our  interests  in  connection  with  our  ex- 
press business,  and  that  we  have  got  to  take  some  decided  stand 
and  unite  in  protecting  whatever  rights  we  have  in  that  line. 
If  there  is  a  future  in  that  line  of  business,  it  is  worth  looking 
after,  and,  of  course,  we  will  need  a  united  front  on  the  part 
of  our  organization  to  protect  those  interests. 

Mr.  Robinson — There  is  one  matter  in  connection  with  this 
subject  to  which  I  would  like  to  call  the  attention  of  the  mem- 
bers present,  and  that  is  the  position  the  street  railway  com- 
pany may  find  itself  in  in  case  of  loss  by  fire  or  other  destruc- 
tion, possibly  through  the  negligence  of  the  railroad  company, 
and  possibly  not.  People  on  the  legal  side  of  the  situation 
listen  with  great  pleasure  to  the  engineers'  talk  about  a.  c.  and 
d.  c.  currents.  They  seem  to  handle  them  as  children  would 
toys  in  the  nursery.  I  do  not  wish  to  intimate  that  the  break- 
ing out  of  fires  does  result  from  the  negligence  of  the  em- 
ployees. It  seems  that  such  fires  often  arise  from  the  burning 
out  of  fuses  and  matters  of  that  kind  which  cannot  be  guarded 
against,  but  the  situation  might  be  such  that  a  jury  would  have 


to  say  whether  the  loss  resulted  from  the  negligence  of  the 
company,  either  in  the  construction  or  method  of  operation  of 
the  machinery  or  something  used  in  connection  with  the  cars. 
I  have  not  had  much  experience  in  that  line,  but  I  have  no 
doubt  these  express  cars  at  times  carry  a  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  goods,  and  possibly  one  article  might  be  worth  $300 
or  $500.    The  question  is  where  the  railroad  company  stands 
with  reference  to  such  costly  property  which  is  destroyed  by 
reason  of  fire  which  results  from  some  negligence.    The  re- 
ceipts of  the  express  companies  were  drawn  loosely  in  the  be- 
ginning. It  was  not  until  after  some  actions  went  to  the  Court 
of  Appeals  that  attention  was  given  to  the  construction  of 
those  papers.    The  Court  of  Appeals  has  enunciated  the  doc- 
trine that  a  man  may  contract  against  his  own  negligence,  but 
if  he  attempts  to  make  such  a  contract  he  must  specify  the 
cause  which  he  intends  to  guard  against,  and  that  any  loose 
forms  of  expression  will  not  protect  him  in  cases  where  negli- 
gence has  been  proved.    The  United  States  Courts,  on  the 
other  hand,  say  that  although  a  man  may  make  such  a  contract, 
it  is  against  public  policy  and  it  will  not  be  enforced.  The 
large  express  companies  shipping  to  other  States  have  there- 
fore left  out  the  limitations  in  their  bills  of  lading  as  a  rule, 
omitting  any  stipulation  against  negligence.    The  question  as 
it  involves  the  street  railroad  companies  of  this  State  is  not 
affected  by  the  doctrine  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
should  be  carefully  regarded  in  the  preparation  of  these  receipts. 
A  great  many  railroad  companies  themselves  operate  an  ex- 
press service;  others  contract  with  the  express  companies.  I 
think  it  is  a  grave  question  as  to  whether  a  railroad  company, 
under  the  power  given  it  by  the  statute,  has  power  to  have  a 
large  force  of  wagons  and  men  for  the  purpose  simply  of  trans- 
porting express  matter;  I  think  there  is  some  doubt  about  that 
as  a  legal  proposition.    The  express  companies,  as  a  rule,  are 
better  equipped  and  better  educated  in  their  operation,  and  can 
handle  matter  in  better  shape  than  isolated  companies  engaged 
in  railroad  operation.    It  may  seem  to  be  rather  unkind  to 
select  Mr.  Allen  as  an  example,  but  he  is  the  only  one  who  has 
enlightened  us  much  as  to  this  express  matter.   You  will  find 
in  the  samples  of  forms  used  in  his  express  business  the  cap- 
tion, "Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Electric  Express,"  where  the 
fact  is  left  to  the  imagination  as  to  whether  a  shipper  is  deal- 
ing with  a  railroad  company  or  an  express  company.  The 
liability  clause  says  they  shall  not  be  held  liable  for  loss  or 
damage  outside  of  their  own  lines,  nor  for  any  loss  or  damage 
by  fire.   There  is  no  reference,  you  will  see,  to  any  negligence 
of  the  operating  company,  and  no  stipulation  against  it.   On  a 
fair  construction  of  that  language,  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
word  fire  so  used  would  refer  to  a  fire  which  was  not  caused 
by  negligence,  and  if  there  was  a  fire  in  the  cars  which  was 
caused  by  the  negligence  of  the  motorman  or  the  conductor  the 
company  would  be  liable.    You  will  see  a  few  lines  further 
on  that  the  clause  says :  "Nor  for  the  fault,  negligence,  or  mis- 
hap of  any  connecting  or  intermediate  line,"  thus  looking  after 
his  neighbors  better  than  for  himself.   And  an  attempt  is  also 
made  to  provide  against  a  liability  for  any  amount  exceeding 
$50  in  any  shipment.   I  again  say  the  decision  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  applying  to  this  question  would  not  limit  the  loss  to 
$50  in  case  it  was  proved  the  damage  resulted  from  the  negli- 
gence of  the  company.    I  think  street  railroad  companies  are 
exposed  to  the  risk  of  great  loss  if  they  are  to  carry  very  val- 
uable goods.   Too  much  attention  cannot  be  given  to  the  prep- 
aration of  receipts  which  will  protect  the  company  in  many 
cases  against  fraudulent  claims.   If  the  companies  are  willing 
to  settle  express  losses  without  a  fight — showing  the  same 
readiness  to  settle  and  the  same  liberality  that  they  do  in  all 
accident  cases — my  criticism  falls;  but  for  their  legal  protec- 
tion I  think  these  papers  should  be  prepared  in  a  more  strict 
form  than  they  are  at  present. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


437 


Mr.  McNamara — I  take  the  same  view  of  this  that  Mr.  Rob- 
inson does.  I  think  this  express  business  is  entirely  over- 
rated so  far  as  suburban  companies  are  concerned.  He  has 
pointed  out  where  we  are  likely  to  get  into  trouble.  We  have 
appreciated  for  a  long  while  the  liability  of  our  company  in  re- 
lation to  goods  destroyed  by  fire.  We  had  a  case  of  that  kind. 
The  insurance  companies  under  our  policies  insisted  that  they 
were  not  liable.  I  said:  "You  are  liable  to  us  because  we 
are  liable  to  the  shippers,  because  they  have  sustained  this 
loss."  "But,"  they  said,  "they  cannot  show  you  were  negli- 
gent." I  said:  "They  can  show  our  negligence,  because  their 
goods  were  destroyed  by  a  fire  which  we  might  have  prevented, 
and  which  would  not  have  occurred  if  we  had  been  more  care- 
ful, and  you  must  certainly  pay  us,"  and  they  did  pay  us,  and 
we  settled  with  the  shippers.  I  doubt  whether  for  the  amount 
of  business  of  that  kind  that  we  do,  it  is  worth  while  to  take 
the  risk  we  are  taking,  and  I  don't  know  how  much  longer  we 
will  take  it.  We  have  been  informed  by  the  gentleman  from 
Auburn  that  somebody  is  moving  to  prevent  us  from  operating 
freight  cars  in  the  streets.  We  took  that  question  into  account 
when  we  started  our  freight  business,  and  we  made  our  ex- 
press cars  as  unobjectionable  in  appearance  as  possible,  re- 
sembling closely  a  passenger  car,  no  longer  and  no  higher,  and 
making  no  more  noise. 

The  President — If  there  is  no  further  discussion  of  this  sub- 
ject we  will  take  up  the  report  of  the  committee  on  high-tension 
tests.  This  committee  was  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  of  the 
association  at  the  suggestion,  I  believe,  of  the  State  Board  of 
Railroad  Commissioners.  Mr.  Storer,  the  chairman,  will  pre- 
sent the  report. 

Mr.  Storer  read  the  report  of  the  committee  on  high-tension 
tests,  which  is  printed  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  President — The  work  of  this  committee  is  of  great  im- 
portance to  the  interests  which  this  association  represents,  and 
I  think  the  thanks  of  the  association  are  due  to  the  committee 
for  their  labor,  and  as  they  have  suggested  that  the  committee 
be  continued,  I  don't  see  any  objection  to  it. 

It  was  moved,  and  the  motion  duly  seconded,  that  the  thanks 
of  the  association  be  tendered  to  the  committee  for  their  ser- 
vices, and  that  the  committee  be  continued. 

Mr.  Barnes — I  don't  want  to  occupy  the  time  of  the  conven- 
tion, but  this  matter  was  brought  up  at  the  last  convention, 
and  at  that  time  and  since  then  it  has  been  considered  a  very 
important  subject,  and  one  as  to  which  a  great  many  people 
are  awaiting  the  report  of  this  committee.  Without  wishing 
to  hurry  the  report  of  the  committee  at  all,  it  appears  from  a 
statement  contained  in  the  report  that  a  series  of  tests  indicates 
that  under  certain  possible  conditions  of  high-voltage  trans- 
mission, wooden  poles  may  become  sufficiently  charged  to  ren- 
der them  dangerous.  That  would  indicate  that  the  committee 
has  reached  a  decision  of  the  question  which  was  submitted  by 
the  convention  to  them  for  consideration.  They  still  further 
suggest  a  remedy  for  that  difficulty  which  seems  feasible  and 
a  good  one.  I  fail  to  see  what  they  are  going  to  do  in  the 
future,  and  I  do  not  see  why  action  should  not  be  taken  imme- 
diately if  the  report  is  adopted  by  the  convention. 

The  President — It  seems  to  me  that  at  least  the  report  that 
has  been  made  by  the  committee  should  be  adopted  because  of 
the  recommendations  contained  in  it.  What  action  do  you  want 
to  take,  gentlemen  ? 

Mr.  Storer — Without  wishing  to  take  a  final  stand  in  the 
matter,  our  position  is  that  there  certainly  are  a  good  many 
more  experiments  that  could  be  made  with  different  types  of 
poles  or  different  voltages.  While  we  believe  that  the  results 
obtained  will  be  practically  proportionate  to  the  voltage  used, 
it  may  be  that  the  conditions  on  a  line  100  miles  long  would 
not  fully  coincide  with  those  existing  on  the  short  experimental 
line  which  we  used.  I  don't  know  of  any  conditions  which 
would  vary,  and  yet  there  might  be  such  conditions.    We  have 


endeavored  to  take  this  matter  up  with  the  committee  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  and  we  find  that 
as  individuals  some  of  them  are  in  favor  of  the  recommenda- 
tions or  suggestions  for  the  prevention  of  danger  to  the  public, 
while  others  do  not  favor  them.  We  don't  see  any  objection  ro 
either  of  the  methods  of  prevention  suggested  by  the  commit- 
tee. I  don't  believe  that  they  will  be  obnoxious  from  the  trans- 
portation companies'  point  of  view.  If  Mr.  Barnes  is  satisfied 
with  the  report  of  the  committee  at  this  time  and  is  willing  to 
take  action  on  these  findings,  I  believe  that  the  commitee  would 
offer  no  objection  to  such  action  on  his  part. 

WEDNESDAY  SESSION 

The  convention  assembled  pursuant  to  adjournment,  and  the 
secretary,  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Struble,  read  a  paper  on 
"Block  Signaling  of  Electric  Railway  with  Track  Circuit  Con- 
trol," by  J.  B.  Struble,  of  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Com- 
pany."   This  paper  is  published  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

The  President — Mr.  Barnes  is  perhaps  as  well  posted  on 
block  signals  as  any  man  in  the  State  of  New  York.  I  would 
be  pleased  to  have  Mr.  Barnes  address  the  convention  or  lead 
in  the  discussion  of  this  paper. 

Mr.  Barnes — The  question,  to  my  mind,  is  of  such  impor- 
tance and,  to-day.  is  in  such  a  position  that  I  deemed  it  best 
not  to  present  a  written  discussion  on  the  subject,  for  the 
reason  that  too  much  might  be  said  on  a  subject  which,  to  my 
mind,  covers  such  a  magnitude  of  ground  as  this  one.  The 
question  of  controlling  the  movement  of  trains  is  one  of  vital 
importance  not  only  to  the  electric  railroads  of  this  country, 
but  to  the  steam  railroads.  The  system  of  handling  train  orders 
in  use  at  the  present  time  is  one  which  has  resulted  from  the 
best  efforts  of  the  most  practical  steam  railroad  men  of  this 
country.  That  it  has  its  defects  no  one  will  dispute.  Before 
coming  to  this  convention  I  investigated  an  accident  on  Mon- 
day on  a  steam  railroad  where  two  trains  came  together  head- 
on.  In  the  pockets  of  the  dead  engineer  of  one  of  the  trains  the 
order  was  found,  the  disobedience  of  which  resulted  in  the  col- 
lision. To  my  mind,  that  man  was  guilty  of  no  greater  breach 
of  memory  than  the  man  who  at  night  brings  home  the  letter 
which  his  wife  gave  him  in  the  morning  to  mail.  The  results 
were  more  serious,  on  account  of  the  responsibilities  which  a 
certain  method  of  handling  trains  placed  on  him.  If  the  train 
despatching  system  is  itself  defective,  where  are  we  to  look 
for  more  perfect  control  of  the  movement  of  trains?  Only  to 
some  means  of  block  signals.  I  was  in  hopes  that  the  paper  to 
be  presented  by  the  representative  of  one  of  the  leading  block 
signal  companies  of  this  country  would  be  of  such  a  nature 
that  valuable  information  would  be  given  this  convention  on 
that  subject.  To  put  it  mildly,  I  am  disappointed.  I  don't 
know  that  I  have  anything  further  to  say  at  present,  except 
that  more  intelligent  papers,  papers  conveying  more  informa- 
tion on  this  important  subject,  should  be  expected  at  future 
conventions ;  and  I  will,  for  one,  undertake  at  some  future  time 
to  prepare  a  paper  on  this  subject.  (Applause.) 

Mr.  Potter,  of  the  General  Electric  Company,  then  addressed 
the  convention  on  the  subject  of  the  General  Electric  Com- 
pany's single-phase  motor.  This  motor  was  described  in  the 
Street  Railway  Journal  for  Aug.  27. 

The  President — Gentlemen,  if  there  is  no  objection,  we  will 
only  read  and  discuss  one  more  paper.  There  are  three  other 
papers  on  the  programme.  One  is  practically  a  statistical 
paper,  and  it  is  a  valuable  one.  It  is  entitled  "The  Minimum 
Population  Necessary  to  Make  Interurban  Roads  Pay."  It 
will  be  printed  in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention.  It  has 
been  prepared  by  Mr.  Beardsley,  of  Elmira,  who  has  been  se- 
curing statistics  for  a  year  or  more  from  roads  all  the  way  from 
San  Francisco  to  New  York  from  which  to  compile  this  in- 
formation. Another  paper  is  "The  Relation  of  the  Technical 
School  to  the  Business  and  Profession  of  Electric  Railways," 
by  Prof.  Norris,  of  Cornell  University.    That  has  been  printed 


43« 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


and  distributed  here,  and  will  also  be  printed  in  the  proceedings. 

Prof.  Norris'  paper  was  published  in  the  last  issue.  The 
table  prepared  by  Mr.  Beardsley  and  distributed  at  the  meeting- 
is  printed  in  this  issue  with  the  other  convention  papers. 

The  President — We  will  now  take  up  the  paper  prepared  by 
W.  J.  Davis,  Jr.    (This  paper  is  printed  on  another  page.) 

Mr.  Cole — I  think  that  in  cities  of  the  second  and  third 
class  there  are  two  points  that  will  bear  very  close  investiga- 
tion ;  they  are  the  load  factor  at  the  power  station  and  the  in- 
terest on  the  idle  investment  in  extra  cars,  which  in  cities  of 
the  third  class  runs  up  to  a  considerable  amount.  A  city  of 
the  third  class  will  ordinarily  operate  from  twenty-two  to 
twenty-eight  regular  cars,  and  from  ten  to  twelve  of  what  may 
be  called  regular  extra  ones,  and  on  holidays  and  days  of  cele- 
bration they  will  operate  from  sixty  to  eighty  cars,  if  they 
have  them.  That  necessarily  means  that  the  power  station 
is  being  operated  either  overloaded  or  underloaded  a  good 
portion  of  the  time.  There  are  several  points  which  have  got 
to  be  filled  up  in  the  valleys  between  the  peaks  of  load.  An- 
other feature  is  the  increasing  tendency  to  put  on  very  heavy 
cars  in  cities  of  the  third  class,  even  on  the  shorter  lines.  I 
believe  this  is  wrong,  and  that  a  car  20  ft.  or  22  ft.  long  is 
amply  large  for  operation  on  most  lines,  with  the  exception  of 
.suburban  lines,  for  the  reason  that  a  car  20  ft.  long  will  con- 
sume but  a  small  percentage  of  the  power  required  by  a  36-ft.  to 
38-ft.  car  in  ordinary  operation,  and  because  the  repairs  on  a 
double-truck  car  are  about  75  per  cent  more  than  on  a  single- 
truck  car.  That  is,  you  can  operate  two  20-ft.  cars  on  a  ten- 
minute  schedule  as  against  one  double-truck  car  or  a  38-ft. 
car  on  a  fifteen-minute  schedule,  and  the  expense  of  operation 
is  almost  the  same.  Again,  in  operating  your  two  20-ft.  cars 
you  are  getting  a  more  frequent  schedule,  giving  the  people  a 
more  constant  service  and  increasing  your  riding,  instead  of 
putting  on  the  large,  heavy  cars,  for  which  they  claim  they  are 
increasing  the  weight  so  as  to  take  care  of  collisions.  T  think 
if  that  is  the  case  they  ought  to  design  some  sort  of  a  pneu- 
matic platform  to  take  care  of  the  collisions  and  keep  the 
weight  of  the  cars  down,  because  with  3  tons  or  4  tons  of  in- 
creased weight  the  current  consumption  and  cost  of  operation 
is  extremely  heavy.  Most  of  us  now  are  putting  in  loops 
at  the  ends  of  our  lines,  so  that  a  three-car  train  can  be  oper- 
ated without  the  old  delay  and  obstruction  of  having  to  shift 
the  cars  at  the  end  of  the  line.  A  double  car  with  thirty-six 
seats,  weighing  11.75  tons,  and  operated  with  two  35-hp  mo- 
tors, will  take  about  12,040  watt-hours,  while  a  single-truck 
car  weighing  8  tons  will  take  about  8471  watt-hours.  So  that 
the  same  car,  taking  two  trailers,  will  only  take  12.680,  as 
against  12,040  with  the  double-truck  car,  yet  will  have  a  seat- 
ing capacity  of  sixty-three,  as  against  thirty-eight  in  the  eight- 
wheel  car.  Then  you  have  this  condition,  that  instead  of  hav- 
ing an  expensive  car  of  the  double-truck  variety,  costing  about 
$5,200,  you  have  got  two  trailers,  which,  if  you  want  to  buy 
second-hand,  you  get  very  good  ones  nowadays  for  about  $250. 
In  a  city  of  the  third  class  the  regular  extra  cars  will  average 
about  four  hours  a  day,  but  you  are  paying  interest  on  them 
for  twenty-four  hours  each  day.  I  don't  think  that  an  eight- 
wheel  car  in  a  city  operating  suburban  lines  should  be  equipped 
with  more  than  two  motors  of  35-hp  to  50-hp  capacity.  On 
regular  suburban  lines  where  you  are  operating  18  miles  to  20 
miles  on  a  high-speed  basis,  a  heavier  car  might  be  desirable, 
because  it  is  necessary  for  the  interurban  lines  to  put  the 
weight  into  the  car  on  account  of  high  speed.  In  the  same 
double-truck  car,  having  a  seating  capacity  of  thirty-six,  taking 
it  in  comparison  with  a  trailer,  the  average  watt-hours  per 
mile  with  the  double-truck  car  are  1334:  on  the  single-truck 
car  with  trailer  it  is  1440.  The  average  speed  per  mile  is  9.3 
in  both  cases.  The  average  watt-hours  per  seating  capacity  in 
the  double-truck  car  is  335,  as  against  201  on  the  single-truck 
car.    The  average  watt-hours  per  ton  empty  is  1025  with  a 


double-truck  car,  and  1208  with  a  single-truck  car  with  trailers. 

Mr.  Lewis — I  want  to  ask  Mr.  Cole  his  reason  for  stating 
that  he  doesn't  believe  in  four-motor  equipments  for  city  cars. 
Does  he' wish  to  make  that  unqualified  statement,  or  is  not  that 
it  may  be  very  much  modified  by  local  conditions? 

Mr.  Cole — Of  course,  conditions  alter  cases,  but  in  general 
operation  I  make  that  statement,  because  of  the  following  con- 
ditions :  With  a  road  operating  twenty-four  or  twenty-five 
cars,  the  power  house  is  generally  either  underloaded  or  over- 
loaded, so  that  the  peaks  of  load  are  increasing  all  the  time, 
and  attention  should  be  directed  to  getting  a  better  load  factor 
at  the  station  than  is  usual  in  the  ordinary  city  of  the  third 
class.  One  of  the  principal  reasons  why  the  cost  of  power  is 
so  much  larger  in  a  small  city  than  in  a  large  city  is  that  they 
;an  give  better  attention  to  the  load  factor  and  fill  up  the  val- 
leys between  the  peaks  of  load. 

The  President — We  will  now  take  up  the  Question  Box. 
This  has  been  printed  and  distributed,  and  it  will  be  advisable, 
in  order  to  handle  it  properly,  for  each  member  to  provide  him- 
self with  a  copy.  I  will  request  Mr.  Cole,  the  secretary  and 
treasurer,  to  conduct  the  discussion. 

The  Question  Box,  which  was  published  in  the  last  issue, 
was  then  read. 

(After  the  reading  of  Question  32.) 

Mr.  Barnes — On  the  question  of  block  signals,  I  don't  want 
to  take  up  the  time  of  convention,  but  I  take  it  that  the  pass- 
ing of  these  questions  by  this  convention  gives  a  semi-indorse- 
ment to  them,  or,  rather,  while  not  a  direct  indorsement,  that 
it  carries  some  weight.  Without  detaining  the  convention  too 
long,  I  wish  to  mention  the  fact  that  in  the  answers  to  No.  32, 
I  find  an  argument  in  favor  of  manual  signals,  or  signals  oper- 
ated by  hand.  I  simply  wish  to  say  that  they  are  subject  per- 
haps to  some  of  the  same  objections  as  automatic  signals.  For 
instance,  in  this  city,  before  the  present  efficient  management 
of  this  railroad  company,  I  had  occasion  to  investigate  three 
accidents,  resulting  fatally,  caused  by  the  use  of  manual  block 
signals. 

Question  33  was  then  read. 

Mr.  Barnes — In  answer  to  that  I  wish  to  say  that  no  block 
signal  system  ought  to  attempt  any  such  thing;  that  more  than 
one  car  never  should  under  any  circumstances  be  allowed  in  a 
block.  The  block  system  should  be  arranged  to  accommodate 
the  travel,  not  the  travel  to  accommodate  the  block  signals. 
And  I  want  to  add  to  my  previous  remarks  on  the  block  signal 
system,  that  while  I  suggested  that  the  future  safety  of  opera- 
tion pointed  in  the  direction  of  block  signals,  I  do  not  wish  to 
be  understood  as  referring  to  the  present  block  signals.  I  make 
the  statement  that  with  the  present  block  signals  a  collision 
can  occur  despite  their  use,  and  that  applies  to  block  signals 
on  steam  as  well  as  on  electric  roads.  In  this  connection  it 
should  be  understood  that  any  remarks  which  I  may  make  on 
this  floor  are  spoken  only  in  a  private  capacity,  and  in  no  sense 
as  necessarily  representing  the  opinions  of  the  Railroad  Com- 
mission. 

Mr.  Lewis — Does  Mr.  Barnes  say  he  does  not  approve  of  al- 
lowing more  than  one  car  to  pass  in  the  same  direction  in  the 
same  block  ? 

Mr.  Barnes — I  certainly  do  not.  My  idea  is  that  a  block 
signal  should  be  absolutely  safe.  With  the  permissive  block 
signal  system  as  used  on  steam  railroads,  collisions  do  occur 
which  should  not  occur. 

Mr.  Lewis — It  seems  to  me  that  in  the  operation  of  city  cars 
it  becomes  absolutely  necessary  to  allow  the  passage  of  more 
than  one  car  in  a  block  in  the  same  direction.  The  Schenec- 
tady Railroad  Company  has  been  experimenting  for  the  last 
two  years  with  nearly  every  type  of  signals  which  attempts  to 
serve  the  purpose  stated  in  this  question,  and  with  quite  in- 
different success.  We  are  still  experimenting.  We  hope  to 
discover  some  form  of  apparatus  that  will  solve  the  question, 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


439 


but  so  far  we  have  not  found  the  apparatus,  and  it  seems  very 
probable  that  we  will  have  to  fall  back  on  hand  signals. 

Mr.  Hart,  of  Fall  River — May  I  say  a  word  in  regard  to 
block  signals?  I  had  considered  the  block  signal,  as  the  only 
real  hope  that  we  ever  had  in  regard  to  anywhere  near  a  signal 
that  would  be  operative.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  ray  of  hope 
that  we  had  for  some  device  to  utilize  the  track  circuit  has 
been  blasted  by  the  paper  read  this  morning,  and  no  one  being 
here  to  suggest  any  other  way  to  do  it,  it  seems  almost  as  if  we 
must  drop  back  for  the  handling  of  the  roads  to  about  the  same 
system  as  steam  roads  have  been  using  since  1895  under  the 
new  standard  code.  We  know  that  the  number  of  accidents 
has  been  reduced  about  50  per  cent  from  what  it  was  at  that 
time.  Of  course,  we  cannot  prevent  the  men  violating  their 
train  orders,  and  they  do  violate  them  at  all  times.  I  think 
that  in  a  paper  of  last  year  read  before  this  association,  it  was 
said  that  the  control  of  any  car  or  any  crew  should  be  from 
the  central  office,  allowing  one  man  to  do  the  thinking  for  the 
entire  road,  and  taking  the  control  of  the  road  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  crews.  I  believe  that  would  be  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion. I  will  say  that  on  a  street  railroad  running  25  miles  out 
from  New  Bedford  for  four  years  there  has  been  in  operation  a 
system  of  telephonic  intercommunication,  operated  under  a  set 
of  rules  prepared  for  that  purpose,  and  in  that  time  we  have 
never  had  two  cars  meet  on  a  piece  of  single  track.  They  run 
on  that  line  of  25  miles  on  a  half-hour  schedule,  and  sometimes 
two  express  cars  and  two  or  three  work  trains  are  operated. 
If  there  is  a  new  meeting  point  to  be  made,  they  set  the  two 
signals,  give  the  order  to  the  two  crews  and  allow  them  to  go 
to  the  new  meeting  point.  The  orders  are  entirely  verbal.  The 
order  is  given  to  the  four  men ;  the  conductors  take  it  first,  the 
O.  K.  being  given  by  the  despatcher,  and  the  crew  answering. 
There  are  four  men  to  take  the  signals ;  the  first  two  men  are 
the  conductors.  They  receive  the  order  in  exactly  the  same 
words.  If  an  order  reads  "Smith  and  Jones  will  meet  at  a  cer- 
tain turnout,"  it  is  repeated  by  four  men  in  exactly  the  same 
language,  not  reversing  the  wording.  The  system  is  almost 
identical  with  that  of  the  standard  code  adopted  in  1895 
for  the  use  of  steam  roads,  and  no  deviation  is  made 
from  that. 

The  reading  of  the  Question  Box  was  then  concluded. 

The  President — Gentlemen,  the  next  order  of  business  is  the 
report  of  the  nominating  committee. 

The  officers  nominated  and  elected  were  announced  last  week. 

Mr.  Allen — The  conventions  of  the  New  York  State  Street 
Railway  Association,  it  seems  to  me,  have  grown  to  a  size 
where  it  is  not  practicable  for  many  cities  of  this  State  to  en- 
tertain and  care  for  the  guests,  delegates  and  attendants  at  the 
conventions.  I  am  sure  that  those  who  are  in  attendance  at 
this  convention,  and  who  have  partaken  of  the  hospitality  of 
this  city,  have  had  much  to  excuse  in  the  way  of  hotel  accom- 
modations. That  has  been  true  of  conventions  in  the  past. 
This  matter  has  been  considered  by  the  executive  committee 
during  the  last  year,  but,  through  some  oversight,  was  not  pre- 
sented to  the  convention  at  the  time  of  making  their  report. 
If  I  may  be  pardoned,  I  would  suggest  to  this  convention  that 
for  the  next  annual  meeting  some  hotel  resort  be  selected  where 
sufficient  accommodations  for  all  may  be  secured.  There  is  no 
State  in  the  Union  that  affords  larger  and  better  hotel  resorts 
than  the  Empire  State.  It  is  a  matter  for  the  executive  com- 
mittee or  for  this  association  to  choose  a  meeting  point  at  one 
of  these  resorts.  The  best  convention  the  New  York  State 
Street  Railway  Association  ever  held  was  at  Lake  George,  in 
that  there  was  more  solid,  hard  work  done  at  that  convention. 
It  placed  us  all  under  one  roof ;  the  entertainment  offered  to 
members  and  delegates  was  confined  almost  to  the  ladies.  In 
cities  it  is  a  hard  matter  at  times  to  gather  together  enough 
delegates  to  convene  the  meetings  of  the  association.  There 
is  another  feature.    We  have  in  attendance  at  these  conven- 


tions a  number  of  supply  men.  I  have  talked  with  many  of 
them,  and  I  know  that  the  conveniences  offered  to  them  for  the 
exhibition  of  their  apparatus  have  not  been  what  they  should 
be.  It  is  almost  impossible  in  a  majority  of  the  cities  of  the 
State  to  secure  a  place  where  a  convention  hall  and  an  exhibi- 
tion hall  can  be  fairly  close  together.  In  view  of  these  sugges- 
tions, and  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  association,  I  would 
move  that  we  try  for  the  next  year,  or  for  one  year  at 
least,  the  selection  of  some  of  the  hotel  resorts  for  our  con- 
vention. 

The  motion  was  duly  seconded  and  carried. 

Mr.  Colvin  then  extended  an  invitation  to  meet  next  year  at 
the  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel  at  Caldwell.  It  was  voted  to 
refer  this  invitation,  with  the  date  of  meeting,  to  the  executive 
committee. 

Mr.  Robinson — I  move  that  a  vote  of  thanks  of  the  asso- 
ciation be  extended  to  C.  Loomis  Allen  for  the  great  courtesy 
and  consideration  that  he  has  shown  the  association  in  his  en- 
tertainment of  its  members  through  the  present  session  of  the 
convention. 

The  motion  was  seconded  and  carried  unanimously  by  a 
rising  vote,  amid  great  applause. 

Mr.  Robinson — I  move  that  the  thanks  of  the  association  be 
extended  to  E.  G.  Connette  for  his  efficient  and  courteous  dis- 
charge of  his  duties  and  careful  attention  to  the  affairs  of  the 
association  during  the  past  year. 

The  motion  was  seconded,  and  on  being  put  by  the  secretary 
was  unanimously  adopted. 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Robinson,  duly  seconded,  the  convention 
adjourned  sine  die. 



THE  SOCIAL  FEATURES  OF  THE  UTICA  CONVENTION 


Pleasant  recollections  of  the  Utica  convention  will  always 
remain  in  the  minds  of  those  who  attended  the  meeting,  which 
will  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  ever  held.  The 
hosts  of  the  occasion,  the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway 
Company,  were  most  hospitable  in  their  entertainment  of  the 
delegates. 

In  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  ladies'  entertainment  com- 
mittee extended  an  invitation  to  the  visiting  ladies  to  accom- 
pany them  on  a  trolley  ride  over  the  line  of  the  Utica  &  Mo- 
hawk Valley  Railway  to  Clinton,  where  carriages  were  wait- 
ing for  a  drive  to  the  summit  of  College  Hill  and  about  the 
campus  of  Hamilton  College.  They  were  then  escorted  to  the 
Yahnundasis  Golf  Club,  where  a  luncheon  was  served.  Later 
in  the  afternoon  a  trip  was  made  from  the  Yahnundasis  Golf 
Club  to  Frankfort,  Ilion,  Mohawk,  Herkimer  and  Little  l^alls 
by  electric  car. 

In  the  evening,  the  annual  banquet  was  held  at  Masonic 
Temple ;  the  toastmaster  was  Hon.  John  D.  Kernan,  who  was 
most  felicitous  in  introducing  the  speakers  of  the  evening. 
The  latter  included  E.  G.  Connette,  George  E.  Dunham,  H.  H. 
Vreeland,  Addison  B.  Colvin,  Dr.  M.  Woolsey  Striker,  J.  M. 
Wakeman  and  W.  W.  Cole. 

On  Wednesday  morning  the  ladies  were  given  a  carriage 
drive  through  the  Sauquoit  Valley  to  the  Sadaquada  Golf  Club, 
where  luncheon  was  served,  after  which  there  was  a  trip  to 
the  Oriskany  Battlefield  and  Rome.  They  were  then  met  by 
the  gentlemen,  who  had  concluded  the  business  of  the  fore- 
noon, and  proceeded  to  Summit  Park,  where  an  exten- 
sive clambake  was  given.  The  party  returned  to  the  city  in 
the  evening. 

A  number  of  the  delegates  on  Tuesday  afternoon  spent  con- 
siderable time  in  inspecting  the  new  General  Electric  single- 
phase  motor  car  which  was  running  on  one  of  the  lines  of  the 
Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway,  a  section  7  miles  in  length 
having  been  equipped  with  a  special  alternating-current  trolley 
wire  for  this  purpose. 


440 


STREET 


RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  r6. 


CORRESPONDENCE 

THE  CONTINENTAL  STANDARD  FORM  OF  OPERATING 
REPORT 

Chicago,  Sept.  16,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

Your  editorial  on  "The  Continental  Standard  Form  of  Op- 
erating Report,"  appearing  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal 
of  Sept.  10,  1904,  is  most  interesting  and  instructive.  Person- 
ally, as  a  member  of  the  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Asso- 
ciation of  America,  and  as  a  street  railway  man,  I  take  the 
liberty  of  writing  you  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  article. 
Your  criticisms  of  the  form  of  report,  as  well  as  your  criti- 
cisms of  the  Great  Britain  report  in  August,  1903,  are  just, 
proper  and  to  the  point.  Your  indorsement  of  the  American 
report  and  the  suggestion  that  the  two  European  reports  be 
modeled  after  and  conform  with  the  American,  is  a  strong  in- 
dorsement of  our  work,  which  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  is 
most  gratifying. 

As  you  know,  I  was  in  correspondence  with  Mr.  Dalrymple, 
of  Glasgow,  on  the  question  of  the  Great  Britain  report,  and 
I  hoped  to  be  at  the  Glasgow  convention  when  the  matter  was 
up,  as  the  representative  of  our  association,  but,  unfortunately, 
I  found  it  impossible  to  leave  Chicago.  What  I  especially 
hoped  to  accomplish,  and  what  I  urged  upon  Mr.  Dalrymple, 
was  the  modeling  of  a  report  and  classification  that  would  be 
international  and  world-wide  in  its  application  and  practice. 
I  took  the  position  that  the  American  report  should  answer  all 
the  purposes  of  the  British  or  any  European  report,  that  it  had 
stood  the  test  of  practice  and  had  not  been  found  wanting.  I 
urged  Mr.  Dalrymple  to  follow,  or  at  least  conform  to,  the 
American  report. 

As  you  also  know,  I  discussed  extemporaneously  at  the  Sara- 
toga convention  the  British  report,  endeavoring  to  point  out 
wherein  it  differed  from  the  American  report,  and  wherein  the 
latter,  in  my  judgment,  was  better. 

I  was  not  aware  until  I  read  your  article  that  the  prelim- 
inary work  done  on  the  Continental  report  was  presented  to 
the  July,  1902,  convention  in  London,  neither  did  I  know  that 
the  association  held  conventions  only  every  other  year.  Had  I 
known  of  this  I  would  have  had  you  put  me  in  communication 
with  the  people  working  on  the  report  in  1902,  and  possibly 
something  might  have  come  out  of  it  in  1904. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  not  only  that  an  international  report 
is  desirable  and  necessary,  but  that  every  effort  ought  to  be 
made  to  bring  together  all  those  in  Great  Britain,  the  Con- 
tinent and  America  who  are  interested  in  this  matter,  so  that 
a  form  of  international  report  can  be  agreed  upon. 

Opportunity  has  not  permitted  me  to  study  and  analyze  the 
Continental  report  as  I  would  like  to  do,  but  from  the  little 
time  I  have  devoted  to  it,  I  was  not  at  all  favorably  impressed 
with  it,  and  I  do  not  think  it  compares  with  the  British  report. 
In  addition  to  what  you  have  said  as  to  the  absence  of  the  bal- 
ance sheet,  the  indiscriminate  mixing  of  statistics  with  results 
of  operation,  the  great  amount  of  detailed  information  with 
respect  to  power  plant  statistics,  and  the  absence  of  such  in- 
formation with  respect  to  other  departments,  I  think  there  are 
entirely  too  many  accounts. 

My  idea  of  a  report  is  that  only  the  main  accounts  should 
be  shown  in  "Operating  Expenses,"  and  that  the  thirty-eight 
accounts  of  the  American  report  are  ample  for  that  purpose. 
Anything  more  is  a  sub-division  and  refinement  of  accounts  and 
details  based  on  the  special  conditions  of  operation  according 
to  the  desires  or  demands  of  each  particular  company.  I  do 
not  favor  the  use  of  such  detail  in  the  report,  nor  the  statistics 
of  the  Continental  report  appearing  in  the  standard  report.  A 
report  should  be  comprehensive,  but  concise,  and  a  mass  of 
details  and  statistics  should  not  be  incorporated  in  it,  but  used 
rather  as  building  up  to  the  main  features. 


One  thing  that  I  noticed  in  use  of  the  decimal  system  is  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  detailed  operating  accounts  and  the 
grouping  of  the  headings  have  been  planned  with  the  idea 
not  only  of  following  the  decimal  arrangement,  but  of  group- 
ing departmental  expenses,  so  to  speak,  under  the  nine  differ- 
ent heads.  If  the  departmental  idea  is  followed,  the  three  im- 
portant sub-divisions  of  a  street  railway  company's  operating 
expense  accounts,  viz.,  "Maintenance,"  "Transportation"  and 
"General,"  are  rendered  valueless.  From  the  street  railway 
operating  standpoint,  it  is  all  important  to  know  what  the  dis- 
tribution, as  between  these  three  heads,  is,  and  whether  the 
manager  has  "skinned"  the  "Maintenance,"  been  extravagant 
in  his  "General,"  or  has  not  given  "Transportation"  a  fair  show 
in  the  matter  of  expenditures  in  connection  with  the  proper 
service. 

As  I  said  at  Saratoga,  and  as  all  of  the  reports  of  the  stand- 
ardization committee  will  show,  one  of  the  most  important 
things  that  we  sought  to  accomplish  and  keep  ever  before  us, 
was  the  drawing  of  the  line  between  "Maintenance"  and 
"Operation,"  but  this  question  has  been  entirely  lost  sight  of 
in  the  Continental  form  of  report. 

Pardon  me  for  transgressing  upon  your  valuable  time  with 
such  a  lengthy  letter,  as  I  fear  my  interest  and  enthusiasm  will 
encroach  upon  your  good  nature  and  patience. 

  C.  N.  Duffy. 

BONDING  ON  95-LB.  RAIL 

Sept.  13,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal  : 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  article  in  your  issue  of 
Sept.  3  upon  rails  and  joints  by  William  H.  Cole.  , 

I  wish  to  say,  however,  that  I  should  never  advise  the  use 
of  No.  2  plastic  bonds  upon  a  95-lb.  girder  rail  6l/2-in.  high. 
That  this  bond  is  altogether  too  small  for  the  rail  is  shown 
when  he  says  that  two  of  the  plastic  bonds  "had  very  little 
contact  between  the  fish-plates  and  the  web  of  the  rail."  I  am 
surprised  that  they  had  any  contact  at  all,  and  more  than  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  at  end  of  a  year's  service  they  showed  over 
77  per  cent  of  the  conductivity  of  a  section  of  rail  of  equal 
length.  • 

I  feel  that  Mr.  Cole  is  also  somewhat  unfair  to  the  Chicago 
and  Crown  bonds  since  he  reports  the  use  of  two  of  these  at 
the  joints  of  only  No.  00  size.  This  would  give  a  copper  sec- 
tion of  but  .204  sq.  in.  to  the  joint,  while  the  rail  has  approxi- 
mately gy2  sq.  ins.  and  a  conductivity  which  would  run  from  a 
ratio  of  6l/2  to  1  of  copper  down  to  a  ratio  of  11  to  1  of  copper. 
Under  the  circumstances  the  performance  of  the  bonds  seems 
remarkable,  especially  since  none  of  them  were  applied  to  the 
best  advantage,  since  he  says :  "One  of  the  copper-bonded 
joints  was  actually  loose." 

Proper  maintenance  of  rail  joints  is  absolutely  essential  to 
obtain  good  service  from  any  type  of  bond.  That  these  joints 
were  not  of  best  design  nor  well  maintained  is  shown  when  he 
says:  "All  of  the  fished  joints  showed  appreciable  wear  at  the 
joints,  with  considerable  pounding  as  the  wheels  rolled  over 
them.  One  of  the  fished  joints  required  attention  during  the 
time  of  the  test." 

There  are  several  rail  joints  on  the  market  which  properly 
support  the  base  of  the  rail  and  prevent  wear  or  pounding. 
Had  one  of  these  types  been  used  and  the  bonds  been  of  proper 
section,  the  performance  of  the  bonds  would  have  been  much 
better.  To  show  what  properly  proportioned  plastic  bonds  will 
do  on  a  rail  of  this  description,  I  quote  the  following  from  a 
letter  received  from  the  Dublin  United  Tramways  Company 
recently :  "I  have  much  pleasure  in  informing  you  that  we 
have  used  about  60,000  Edison-Brown  bonds  of  1500-amp.  ca- 
pacity. They  have  been  in  use  for  from  three  to  four  years, 
and  have  been  giving  good  satisfaction  when  properly  applied." 

Harold  P.  Brown. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


441 


A  NEW  THREE-PHASE  STATIC  GROUND  DETECTOR 


INTERESTING  CARS  FOR  ESCANABA,  MICHIGAN 


Static  ground  detectors,  designed  to  enable  the  central  station 
operator  to  determine  at  a  glance  whether  a  ground  exists 
on  a  single-phase  circuit,  have  become  well  recognized  as  a 
necessary  part  of  every  first-class  installation.  These  single- 
phase  instruments  are  entirely  satisfactory  on  two-phase  cir- 
cuits as  well.  For  three-phase  circuits,  however,  although  the 
practice  has  been  to  use  two  or  three  single-phase  instruments 
either  in  separate  cases  or  combined  in  the  same  case,  this 
arrangement  is  open  to  the  objection  that  the  indications  of 
the  pointer  are  not  direct,  some  time  being  required  for  a  per- 
son not  familiar  with  the  instruments  to  determine  what  line 
is  grounded.    It  is  only  recently  that  a  design  has  been  pro- 


Three-Phase  Static 
Ground  Detector 

Ground 

CONNECTIONS  OF  THREE-PHASE  STATIC  GROUND  DETECTOR 

duced  by  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany which  enables  a  ground  in  a  three-phase  circuit  to  be  in- 
dicated directly  by  one  instrument.  This  instrument  is  sup- 
plied for  circuits  of  from  1000  to  50,000  volts  potential. 

Its  method  of  operation  is  indicated  by  the  diagram  of  con- 
nections. It  will  be  seen  that  each  of  the  three  fixed  vanes  is 
connected  to  a  line  of  the  three-phase  circuit.  The  central 
movable  vane  is  electrically  connected  to  the  case,  which  is 
grounded.  When  there  is  no  ground  upon  the  circuit  the  at- 
traction or  pull  upon  the  central  vane  from  each  of  three  fixed 
vanes  is  balanced  and  it  does  not  deflect  from  a  central  posi- 
tion. Should  one  of  the  lines  become  grounded,  and  the  poten- 
tial of  that  line  become  the  same  as  that  of  the  movable  vane, 
there  will  be  no  pull  in  that  direction,  and  the  movable  vane 
will  be  deflected  away  from  the  grounded  line.  The  instrument 
is  reliable  in  its  indications  and  is  not  complicated. 

In  the  diagram  the  three  leads  to  the  ground  detector  are 
shown  with  a  condenser  inserted  between  each  line  and  the  in- 
strument. This  obviates  the  necessity  of  carrying  high-tension 
wires  to  the  front  of  the  switchboard.  Each  of  the  condensers 
consists  of  a  brass  tube  covered  with  insulating  material  and 
placed  within  a  copper  sheath,  the  line  being  connected  to  the 
inner  tube  and  the  lead  to  the  copper  sheath. 

This  ground  detector  is  ornamental  in  appearance.  In  shape 
and  size  it  corresponds  with  the  other  Westinghouse  round 
pattern  switchboard  instruments.  The  interior  of  the  case  is 
given  a  dull  black  finish,  against  which  the  aluminum  vanes 
stand  in  distinct  relief,  while  the  angles  of  deflection  marked 
upon  the  glass  face  form  a  pleasing  geometrical  design. 


Two  cars  lately  delivered  to  the  Escanaba  Electric  Street 
Railway,  of  Escanaba,  Mich.,  by  the  American  Car  Company, 
of  St.  Louis,  are  especially  interesting  on  account  of  several 
unusual  features.  Although  but  28  ft.  over  the  bodies,  they 
are  8  ft.  i'ls-  over  the  sills  and  sill-plates;  this  unusual 

width  allows  the  aisle  to  be  28  ins.  wide,  thereby  providing  a 
large  amount  of  standing  room.  The  windows  are  extra  wide, 
the  distance  between  the  centers  of  the  posts  being  4  ft.  2  1-3 
ins.  The  seats  are  placed  vis-a-vis  with  the  backs  centered 
at  the  side  posts.  The  passenger  compartment  seats  thirty- 
two  persons  and  is  17  it.  4  ins.  long;  the  baggage  compartment 
is  10  ft.  8  ins.  long  and  has  a  sliding  door  on  either  side  with 
40-in.  openings.    The  windows  are  arranged  to  drop  into 


NEW  CAR  FOR  THE  ESCANABA  ELECTRIC  STREET  RAILWAY 
COMPANY 

pockets  in  the  side  walls.  These  pockets  accommodate  double 
sashes,  which  may  be  seen  in  the  view  of  the  interior  on  the 
right-hand  side.  The  double  sashes  assist  largely  to  keep  the 
car  warm  in  winter,  and,  as  the  winters  are  long  and  very  cold 
in  that  region,  this  is  an  excellent  feature.  The  interiors  are 
plainly  finished  in  cherry,  with  bird's-eye  maple  ceilings  neatly 
decorated.  The  baggage  compartment  is  stained  a  cherry 
color  and  provided  with  folding  seats  for  the  use  of  smokers. 
High  folding  gates  guard  the  platform  entrances  when  the 
doors  are  folded  against  the  ends.    The  platform  knees  are  of 


INTERIOR  OF  ESCANABA  CAR 

oak  reinforced  with  angle-iron.  The  height  of  the  platform 
steps  from  the  rails  is  i6y2  ins.,  and  from  the  step-treads  to  the 
platforms  14  ins.  The  cars  are  mounted  on  the  American  Car 
Company's  No.  11-A  trucks,  having  4-ft.  4-in.  wheel-base  and 
33-in.  wheels. 

The  railway  company  operates  yy2  miles  of  lines  at  Escanaba, 
and  reaches  Macabie  and  South  Parks.  Escanaba  has  an  ex- 
cellent harbor  and  a  large  system  of  docks.  It  is  a  large  ore 
shipping  port  and  has  a  population  of  about  ro.ooo. 


442 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13 


PRESIDENT  BANCROFT'S  HANDSOME  PRIVATE  CAR        THE  AMERICAN  CONDUIT  COMPANY  AT  THE  EXPOSITION 


The  private  car  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustrations  was 
built  by  the  G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Company,  of  Cleveland,  for 
President  W.  A.  Bancroft,  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway 
Company,  and  was  recently  placed  in  commission  on  the  sur- 
face lines  which  are  a  part  of  the  company's  extensive  system. 
The  length  of  the  car  over  the  body  is  24  ft.  and  over  the 


Among  the  several  exhibits  of  conduits  and  conduit  construc- 
tion in  the  Palace  of  Electricity  at  St.  Louis  is  that  of  the 
American  Conduit  Company.  This  exhibit  occupies  a  space 
about  50  ft.  long  in  the  west  colonnade  of  the  interior  court. 
This  company,  which  has  offices  in  Chicago,  New  York  and 
Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  shows  here  in  a  very  attractive  manner  the 
use  of  its  bituminized  fibre  conduit  in  underground  electrical 
work. 

This  conduit  is  constructed  by  rolling  layers  of  specially 
prepared  (fibrous)  paper  on  a  mandrel.  The  paper  is  satu- 
rated with  a  bituminous  compound,  which,  under  the  high 
temperature  and  pressures  to  which  it  is  subjected  in  the 


AN -INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  PRESIDENT  BANCROFT'S  CAR 


EXHIBIT  SPACE  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CONDUIT  COMPANY  IN 
THE  PALACE  OF  ELECTRICITY 


bumpers  37  ft. ;  the  width  over  the  side  panels  is  8  ft.  2y2  ins., 
and  the  over-all  dimensions  are  8  ft.  4  ins.  The  car  is  capable 
of  very  high  speeds,  as  it  is  mounted  on  Brill  No.  27-E  trucks, 
having  6-ft.  wheel-base  and  33-in.  wheels.  The  car  is  set  on 
the  trucks  in  a  manner  which  enables  them  to  swing  sufficiently 
to  take  the  short  curves  that  are  encountered  at  corners  of 
some  of  the  narrow  streets  in  the  heart  of  the  city.    The  illus- 


process  of  rolling,  so  unites  the  several  layers  that  the  result- 
ing product  is  a  solid,  stiff  tube,  resembling  very  little  the  orig- 
inal paper  used  in  its  manufacture. 

The  main  feature  of  this  exhibit  in  the  Palace  of  Electricity 
is  a  section  of  a  city  street,  showing  the  details  of  construction 
of  underground  cableways  when  bituminized  fibre  conduit  is 
used.    At  one  end  of  the  section  is  shown  a  manhole,  where 


PRIVATE  CAR  BUILT  FOR  W.  A.  BANCROFT,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  BOSTON  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


trations  give  an  excellent  idea  of  the  tasteful  decorations  and 
the  fine  appointments  of  this  beautiful  car,  making  it  unneces- 
sary to  describe  them  in  detail. 



The  sugar  beet  industry  on  the  line  of  the  Toledo  &  Western 
Railway  will  provide  that  company  with  over  1200  carloads  of 
freight  during  October  and  November,  not  to  mention  heavy 
grain  crops  which  will  be  moved. 


the  twenty  ducts  of  the  group  terminate.  A  side  view  of  the 
conduits  show  them  laid  in  cement,  after  the  method  of  con- 
struction most  usually  followed.  The  end  of  the  trench  in 
which  the  conduits  are  laid  is  also  shown.  This  illustrates  how 
the  successive  layers  of  the  conduits  are  laid,  and  also  the 
method  of  joining  the  successive  7-ft.  lengths  of  conduits. 
This  is  done  by  a  male  and  female  joint  turned  in  a  lathe  to  an 
accurate  fit.    At  the  time  of  construction,  the  female  joint  is 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


443 


dipped  in  a  solution,  which  soon  hardens  and  seals  the  joints 
between  each  of  various  units,  preventing  any  leakage  of  water 
or  gas  into  the  conduit. 

In  this  exhibit  are  also  shown  conduits  of  several  diameters, 
ranging  from  1  in.  to  10  ins.  in  diameter.  Some  of  these  are 
shown  crated  ready  for  shipment.  The  walls  of  the  space  are 
covered  with  numerous  photographs  of  installations  in  Los 
Angeles,  Pasadena  and  other  cities. 

Among  the  claims  of  superiority  of  the  American  bituminized 
fibre  conduit  over  others  is  that  it  is  electrolysis-proof,  non- 
abrasive,  moisture-proof  and  non-corrosive. 

 ♦♦♦   

ONE  OF  THE  INDIANA  UNION  TRACTION  COMPANY'S 
INTERURBAN  BUFFET  CARS  AT  THE 
ST.  LOUIS  EXPOSITION 

On  the  test  track,  just  north  of  the  Transportation  Building, 
is  an  interurban  car  which,  partly  by  reason  of  its  locomotive 
type  of  pilot,  at  once  attracts  the  attention  of  the  visitor.  This 
is  an  electric  buffet  car  built  by  the  Cincinnati  Car  Company,  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio.  It  is  one  of  a  lot  of  twenty  constructed  for 
the  Indiana  Union  Traction  Company,  of  Anderson,  Ind.  The 
others  are  now  in  service  as  limited  cars  on  the  line  for  which 
they  were  constructed. 

The  car  has  a  length  over  all  of  53  ft.  5^  ins.,  being  8  ft. 
6  ins.  over  side  sills.  The  interior  is  divided  into  two  com- 
partments. The  forward  compartment  is  used  as  a  smoker, 
and  is  supplied  with  ten  comfortable  wicker  chairs.  The  rear 
compartment  extends  the  length  of  five  of  the  double  windows 
and  contains  cross  seats.  A  toilet  room  occupies  a  position  to 
the  left  of  the  aisle  in  the  forward  end  of  the  rear  compart- 
ment. The  heater  is  completely  hidden  in  a  room  in  the  rear  of 
the  smoker.  Across  the  aisle  from  the  heater  room  is  a  com- 
partment of  similar  size  used  as  a  buffet  kitchen. 

The  interior  is  finished  in  Honduras  mahogany.  In  general, 
the  finish  is  plain,  paneling  and  molding  having  been  omitted, 


METAL  BRUSH  FOR  CAR  WASHING 

George  A.  Vickery,  of  Lexington,  Mass.,  has  recently  placed 
on  the  market  a  car-washing  brush  with  fountain  attachment, 
which  differs  from  others  in  being  made  of  metal  instead  of 
wood.  Wooden  washing  brushes  are  naturally  subject  to 
shrinkage  or  swelling,  and  frequently  become  so  water-soaked 
as  to  be  useless  long  before  their  time.  A  metal  brush  pos- 
sesses none  of  these  disadvantages  and  consequently  lasts  much 
longer.    The  type  described  is  giving  excellent  service  to  the 


METAL  CAR  BRUSH,  WITH  ATTACHMENT  FOR  SPRAYING 


Lexington  &  Boston  Street  Railway  Company  and  other  Mas- 
sachusetts railways. 

This  metal  brush  is  made  in  three  sections,  consisting  of  a 


but  this  is  partially  relieved  by  marqueterie  work  of  neat  de- 
sign. An  upper  deck  of  the  Pullman  style,  the  head-lining  of 
which  is  given  a  light  blue  finish,  gives  an  effect  of  height  quite 
in  contrast  to  the  low  appearance  of  the  usual  construction. 
The  exterior  of  the  car  is  made  unusually  attractive  by  the 
cathedral  glass  in  the  top  sash  of  the  side  windows  and  of  the 
upper  deck  sash.  The  oval  windows  of  the  buffet  and  heater 
compartments,  too,  add  much  to  the  appearance. 

The  appearance  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  car  is  greatly  en- 
hanced by  the  steel  needle  beams  and  queen  posts.  The  car  is 
mounted  on  Baldwin  trucks  and  is  equipped  with  four  West- 
inghouse  motors,  controlled  by  the  Westinghouse  unit  switch- 
group  system. 


durable  metal  plate  backing  with  socket  attached,  a  rubber 
cushion  and  the  face  or  bristle-holding  member.  The  three 
parts  are  held  together  by  one  center  screw,  allowing  the  face 
and  rubber  cushion  to  be  revolved,  so  as  to  wear  it  even,  by 
loosening  this  screw  and  setting  it  tight  again.  When  the 
bristles  are  worn  out  they  may  be  easily  renewed  without  using 
another  cushion. 


The  Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie  Railway  (steam)  is  taking  active 
steps  to  regain  some  of  the  suburban  business  which  it  has  lost 
to  the  Lake  Shore  Electric  Railway.  It  has  reduced  its  regular 
rates  on  Sundays  below  those  of  the  electric  line.  So  far  the 
new  measure  has  not  been  at  all  effective. 


444 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


A  NEW  WIRE  COUPLING 


A  device  for  coupling  stranded  wires  together,  known  as  the 
Dossert  type  B  joint,  has  just  been  placed  on  the  market  by 
Dossert  &  Company,  of  Xew  York.  Exceptional  claims  are 
made  for  it  as  superior  in  convenience,  cost,  conductivity  and 
durability  to  the  soldered  joint.  The  joint  is  made  of  seven 
parts,  six  of  which  are  in  pairs.  They  consist  of  an  inside 
ring,  an  outside  ring  and  a  compression  nut.    The  remaining 


FIG.  2.-A  1,000,000-CIRC.  MIL  JOINT  WITH  STRANDS  CUT  AWAY 

part  carries  nipples,  on  which  compression  nuts  carrying  the 
wire  properly  prepared  are  screwed.  These  nipples  may  be  in 
the  form  of  crosses  or  tees  or  may  be  cast  on  to  bus-bars  or 
fittings  of  any  kind,  and  will  enable  the  cable  to  be  fastened 
securely  thereto.  The  joint  is  made  in  the  following  way: 
The  end  of  the  cable  is  stripped  the  length  of  the  compression 


FIG.  3.— VIEW  OF  COMPLETE  JOINT 

nut  and  cleaned  in  the  ordinary  manner.  The  compression  nut  is 
■then  slipped  upon  the  cable  together  with  a  small  outside  ring. 
The  outer  strands  of  the  cable  are  then  stripped  and  an  inside 
ring  is  driven  around  the  inner  core  of  strands  with  a  steel 
tube  provided  for  the  purpose,  although  any  expedient  can  be 
employed.  The  inside  ring  is  V  nosed  and  very  readily  driven 
in  place.  The  outer  strands  are  then  molded  back  as  nearly 
as  may  be  to  their  original  position.  This  can  be  done  with  a 
screw-driver,  but  a  steel  tube  provided  for 
the  purpose  is  more  convenient.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  be  particular  about  this  mat- 


FIG.  1. — MANNER  OF  ASSEMBLING  JOINT  FIG.  6. 

ter.  for  if  the  assembly  can  be  made  sufficiently  good  so 
that  the  cable  end  can  be  entered  into  the  nipple,  and  screw 
pressure  applied,  the  parts  will  mould  themselves  at  once  to 
their  correct  positions.  The  application  of  a  joint  of  this 
character  in  the  manner  shown  in  Fig.  i  requires  only  seven 
minutes  on  a  1,000,000-circ.  mil  cable.  Figs.  2  and  3  being- 
actual  pictures  of  the  joint  itself,  display  its  construction  to 
better  advantage.  In  Fig.  2  strands  are  cut  away  so  as  to  show 
the  inside  ring.    Fig.  6  displays  this  joint  and  its  alternative 


soldered   joint    and    underneath    parts    of    the    new  joint. 

The  makers  of  this  joint  have  subjected  it  to  unusual 
tests  before  putting  it  upon  the  market.  On  millivolt- 
meter  test  the  joint  shows  a  conductivity  greater  than  that  of 
an  equal  length  of  wire.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  however,  the 
joint  was  subjected  to  a  test  in  a  welding  transformer,  and  it 
was  found  that  as  the  current  was  gradually  raised  the  wire 
would  melt  before  the  joint  broke  circuit,  thereby  conclusively 
testing  its  continuity.    The  makers  argue  that  no  soldered  joint 


FIG.  4.— RESULT  OF  A  MELT-DOWN  TEST 

could  possibly  stand  this  temperature,  as  the  melting  point  of 
solder  is  much  below  that  of  copper.    (Fig.  4.) 

The  mechanical  strength  of  the  joint  was  tested  in 
a  tension  machine,  where  it  developed  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  strength  of  the  cable  it  united.  (Fig.  5.)  The 
makers  do  not  hesitate  to  guarantee  the  joint  to  stand  50  per 


FIG.  5.— MECHANICAL  TEST  ON  THE  JOIN1 

cent  of  the  strength  of  the  cable,  which  they  claim  is  superior 
to  the  soldered  joint  on  account  of  the  amalgamating  and  de- 
teriorating effect  of  the  solder  on  the  copper. 

It  is  also  asserted  that  the  soldered  joint  well  made  requires 
a  skilled  man,  while  an  ordinary  helper  has  no  difficulty  111 
making  the  Dossert  joint ;  furthermore,  the  soldered  joint  is 
deceptive.  It  may  look  well  soldered  and  yet  be  very  defective 
in  this  respect;  in  fact,  it  may  deceive  even  the  expert.  Further- 


SHOWING  SOLDERED  JOINT  AND  XEW  COUPLING, 
AND     PARTS  OF  THE  LATTER 

more,  the  acid  fluxes,  which  are  commonly,  though  illegiti- 
mately, used,  creep  into  the  cable  strands  and  corrode  them 
and  weaken  the  combination.  Lastly,  the  soldered  joint  is  very 
expensive  in  larger  sizes  and  requires  several  hours  of  time  of 
both  man  and  helper,  a  large  amount  of  solder  and  tape  and 
wastes  a  considerable  length  of  cable,  which  is  very  expensive 
in  the  larger  sizes.  The  new  joint  wastes  no  cable  and  in- 
volves 110  other  expense  than  its  own  cost  and  the  time  of  put- 
ting it  on,  which  can  be  done  in  less  than  ten  minutes, 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


445 


PAPERS  AT  THE  UTICA  CONVENTION 


POWER  PRODUCTION  AND  DISTRIBUTION  ON  THE  METRO- 
POLITAN STREET  RAILWAY  SYSTEM 


BY  M.  G.  STARRETT 
Chief  Engineer  New  York  City  Railway  Company 


[n  order  to  understand  the  conditions  governing  the  economic 
production  and  distribution  of  power  on  the  system  in  question, 
one  must  be  reasonably  familiar  with  the  physical  characteristics 
of  the  area  served  and  its  density  of  population.  A  brief  descrip- 
tion of  this  system  may,  "therefore,  not  lie  amiss. 

The  Metropolitan  system  embraces  all  the  street  surface  rail- 
way lines  in  the  boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx.  Its  lines 
in  the  Bronx  also  extend  widely  into  the  adjoining  county  of 
Westchester,  its  northern  termini,  in  the  villages  of  Tarrytown, 
White  Plains  and  Mamaroneck  being  distant  about  33  miles  from 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  system  at  the  Battery.  Within  these 
limits,  with  about  500  miles  of  track,  it  serves  a  resident  population 
of  nearly  two  and  one-half  millions,  of  which  all  but  about  four 
hundred  thousand  are  south  of  the  Harlem  River. 

The  system  is  separated  into  two  general  divisions  by  the  Har- 
lem River;  the  lines  north  of  the  river  being  operated  independ- 
ently of  those  in  the  borough  of  Manhattan,  although  supplied  with 
power  from  power  stations  common  to  both  divisions. 

These  two  divisions  differ  radically  in  their  physical  characteris- 
tics. The  system  in  Manhattan  is  essentially  and  completely  urban 
with  dense  traffic  on  every  line.  The  main  lines  extend  north  and 
south  over  nearly  the  whole  length  of  Manhattan  Island,  and  by- 
far  the  greater  part  of  the  traffic  is  clone  over  these  longitudinal 
lines.  Crosstown  lines,  2  miles  or  less  in  length,  occur  at  intervals 
of  about  ten  blocks. 

In  the  territory  north  of  the  Harlem  River  different  conditions 
prevail.  The  lines  do  not  follow  a  generally  north  and  south  di- 
rection, but  spread  out,  fanwise,  from  their  points  of  junction  with 
the  Manhattan  lines,  and  run  through  suburban  territory  with 
rather  light  traffic. 

This  system  is  supplied  with  electric  power  generated  at  two  main 
power  stations  and  distributed  through  eleven  sub-stations  over 
nearly  500  miles  of  track.  The  power  stations  are  situated  at 
Ninety-Sixth  Street  and  East  River,  and  at  218th  Street  and  Har- 
lem River,  and  are,  approximately  7  miles  apart.  The  Ninety- 
Sixth  Street  power  station  was  planned  in  1897,  to  furnish  power 
for  the  entire  Metropolitan  system  as  it  then  existed.  The  218th 
Street  power  station  was  planned  two  years  later  by  the  Third 
Avenue  Railway  Company  to  feed  its  lines  on  Manhattan  and  the 
allied  lines  in  the  borough  of  the  Bronx. 

The  electric  distribution  of  the  combined  Metropolitan  street 
railway  system  is  distinctive  as  being  the  largest  polyphase  alter- 
nating-current distribution  for  surface  railways  yet  put  in  operation. 
It  is  also  notable  on  account  of  the  large  amount  of  energy  distrib- 
uted per  square  mile  of  the  territory  served  due  to  the  heavy  traffic 
and  the  large  number  of  lines  in  any  given  area,  especially  in  the 
borough  of  Manhattan. 

When  the  plans  for  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power  station  were 
under  discussion,  the  high-voltage  alternating-current  system  of 
distributing  power  was  not  so  well  known  in  its  application  to  street 
railway  work  as  to-day,  and  the  question  ox  high  tension  alternat- 
ing-current vs.  low  tension  direct-current  distribution  was.  in  gen- 
eral, an  open  one. 

Two  plans  of  distribution  over  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company's  territory  were  considered.  One  of  these  was  by  the 
direct-current  plan  from  two  direct-current  power  stations;  the 
other  was  by  the  alternating-current  plan  of  distribution  through 
sub-stations,  as  afterwards  adopted  and  now  in  operation. 

Without  going  into  the  plans  in  detail,  it  may  be  said  that  the 
preliminary  estimate  for  two  direct-current  plants,  including  the 
real  estate  and  feeder  system  necessary  to  deliver  the  current  at 
the  conductor  rails  was  1,650,000  higher  than  for  one  alternating- 
current  plant  with  six  sub-stations  and  all  feeders  for  a  capacity 
of  26,000  kw.  The  feeders  for  supplying  the  territory  from  the 
two  direct-current  plants  were  estimated  to  cost  $835,000  more  than 
the  sub-stations  and  the  high  and  low  tension  feeders  for  the  poly- 
phase distribution. 

The  territory  served  by  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power  station, 
and  covered  by  the  estimate,  it  is  about  to  miles  long  and  averages 
about  2  miles  wide,  or  [lie  width  of  Manhattan  Island. 

The  foregoing  figures  are  sufficient  to  show  the  reasons,  from  a 
financial  standpoint,  that  led  the  company  to  adopt  alternating- 
current  transmission  from  one  power  house,  distributed  through 
sub-stations,  rather  than  direct-current,  distributed  from  two  or 


more  power  houses.  The  same  considerations  influenced  the  Third 
Avenue  Railroad  Company  towards  the  adoption  of  plans  for  the 
Kingsbridge  power  station,  which  is  of  the  same  general  type  as 
the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power  station. 

The  apparatus  at  these  power  stations,  and  at  the  various  sub- 
stations operated  in  connection  with  them,  has  been  described  in 
length  in  the  technical  papers.  We  will,  however,  refer  to  it 
briefly. 

At  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power  station  the  current  is  generated 
by  3500  kw  General  Electric  generators,  eleven  of  which  are  in- 
stalled and  in  use. 

These  generators  give  a  three-phase  current  at  6100  volts  to 
6400  volts,  25  cycles.  This  is  conducted  by  underground  cables  to 
seven  sub-stations  which  are  of  the  following  capacities: 

Present  Capacity  Ultimate  Capacity 
Location  Kw  Rotaries  Kw  Rotaries 

146th  Street  and  Lenox  Avenue   6  990   

129th  Street  and  Amsterdam  Avenue   4  1,000   

96th  Street  and  First  Avenue   3  990   

65th  Street  and  Second  Avenue   3   1,000  4  1,000 

50th  Street  and  Sixth  Avenue   S      990  4  990 

25th  Street,  between  Lenox  and  Third  Aves.    8      990  S  990 

No.  15  Front  Street   3     990  4  990 

At  the  sub-stations  static  transformers  reduce  to  a  proper  volt- 
age to  supply  rotary  converters  giving  550  volts  on  their  direct- 
current  commutators.  Storage  batteries  are  also  installed  at  the 
sub-stations.  The  direct  current  is  taken  by  underground  feeders 
and  supplied  to  the  conductor  rails  of  the  conduit  system. 

At  the  Kingsbridge  power  station  eight  3500  kw  Westinghouse 
generators  are  installed.  These  generators  give  also  a  three-phase 
current  at  6100  volts  to  6400  volts  at  25  cycles.  Part  of  this  cur- 
rent is  conducted  through  submarine  cables  beneath  the  Harlem 
River  and  by  underground  cables  to  a  sub-station  at  West  Farms, 
another  in  the  city  of  Mt.  Vernon  and  another  in  the  city  of 
Yonkers.    The  sub-stations  are  of  the  following  capacities : 

Present  Capacity  Ultimate  Capacity 
Station                                                   Kw  Rotaries  Kw  Rotaries 

West  Farms    3  1,000  4  1,000 

Mount  Vernon    3     500  4  '  500 

Yonkers    3      500  4  500 

This  power  station  can  also  furnish  current  to  the  sub-stations 
located  at  146th  Street  and  Lenox  Avenue,  and  at  129th  Street  and 
Amsterdam  Avenue;  interchanging  this  load  with  the  Ninety-Sixth 
Street  power  station  as  the  exigencies  of  the  service  may  require. 
Westinghouse  static  transformers  and  rotary  converters  are  used 
at  the  sub-stations  taking  current  from  the  Kingsbridge  power 
station.  Storage  batteries  are  not  installed  in  connection  with 
the  sub-stations  at  West  Farms,  Mt.  Vernon  or  Yonkers,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  other  sub-stations  mentioned. 

In  general  the  arrangement  of  switchboard  and  switches  for 
controlling  the  current  generated  at  these  power  houses,  and  its 
distribution  to  the  various  sub-stations,  is  the  same  for  both  power 
stations.  In  both  power  stations  all  switches  are  manipulated  from 
one  central  point  where  are  located  the  controller  boards  for  the 
generator  circuits  and  for  the  feeder  circuits.  The  feeders  are 
grouped  on  different  bus-bar  sections,  so  that  as  far  as  possible 
feeders  supplying  any  given  sub-station  are  divided  among  the 
various  bus-bar  sub-sections,  in  order  that  if  any  given  bus-bar 
section  is  cut  out  of  service  there  will  still  be  plenty  of  feeders  in 
service  leading  to  each  sub-station.  As  far  as  possible  the  feeders 
supplying  any  given  sub-station  are  run  by  separate  underground 
routes  to  avoid  failure  of  current  supply  to  a  sub-station  in  case 
of  local  conduit  trouble  which  might  cut  off  all  the  feeders  in  one 
conduit. 

To  conduct  the  6600  volt  current  from  the  power  house  to  the 
sub-stations  a  uniform  size  of  three-conductor  lead-covered  cable 
is  employed  throughout.  This  high-tension,  lead-covered  cable 
has  three  stranded  conductors,  each  equivalent  to  No.  0000  B.  &  S. 
gage  wire,  with  insulation  7-32  in.  thick.  The  first  order  of  the 
company  was  partly  for  rubber  insulated,  and  partly  for  paper  insu- 
lated cable.  The  thickness  of  insulation  was  7-32  in.  in  both  cases. 
The  results  witli  paper  insulation  Inning  been  most  satisfactory, 
all  subsequent  orders  placed  for  high-tension  cable  have  specified 
paper  insulation. 

It  was  originally  intended  to  run  the  rotary  converters  at  the  sub- 
stations with  compound-wound  fields,  so  as  to  raise  the  voltage  au- 
tomatically, as  would  a  railway  generator,  as  the  load  rises,  and 
thereby  compensate  for  the  direct-current  line  loss.  This  plan 
would  have  necessitated  the  complication  of  safety  devices  to  pre- 
vent the  rotary  converters  from  running  away  in  case  current  was 
cut  off  the  alternating-current  end,  and  the  direct-current  sttpplv 


446 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


was  continued  to  them.  As  a  temporary  expedient,  the  rotary 
converters  were  started  with  simply  the  shunt  winding  in  use,  and 
it  was  finally  decided  to  do  away  with  the  complication  of  safety 
device  and  to  operate  all  the  rotary  converters  on  the  system  as 
plain  shunt  machines.  The  line  loss  on  the  direct-current  feeders 
is  low  enough  so  that  this  is  done  without  having  an  undue  varia- 
tion in  voltage  on  the  conductor  rails,  and  the  results  have  been 
perfectly  satisfactory. 

In  connection  with  each  sub-station  is  a  storage  battery  with 
a  capacity  of  about  25  per  cent  of  that  of  the  rotary  converter  part 
of  the  plant.  In  charging  these  batteries  a  shunt-wound  booster 
is  used,  which  raises  the  voltage  of  the  sub-station  bus-bars  a  maxi- 
mum of  120  volts.  In  discharging  the  batteries  float  on 
the  line,  discharging  more  or  less  according  to  require- 
ments. Whether  charging  or  discharging  the  momentary  fluc- 
tuations are  smoothed  out  by  the  action  of  the  battery.  In  addi- 
tion to  taking  up  fluctuations  the  battery  is  useful  to  tide  over 
emergencies,  if  there  should  be  an  interruption  of  the  current  sup- 
ply from  the  power  house. 

The  question  of  efficiency  of  a  polyphase  distribution  of  this  kind 
is  one  that  has  been  the  source  of  much  speculation  and  argument. 
On  our  system  we  have  been  able  in  every-day  practice  to  come 
very  near  the  rated  efficiency  of  the  apparatus,  as  shown  by  full  load 
acceptance  tests.  The  system  being  so  large,  it  was  possible  to 
install  large  and  efficient  rotary  converters  (900  kw  being  the  stand- 
ard size  adopted),  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  rotary-converter 
units  in  sufficient  number  at  each  sub-station,  so  that  the  number 
in  use  could  be  accurately  adjusted  to  the  load,  and  all  could  be 
kept  with  a  full,  and  hence  economical,  load  upon  them.  The 
batteries  also  aid  in  keeping  an  economical  steady  load  on  the 
rotary  converters  and  transformers.  We  have  recording  watt- 
meters in  all  the  6600  volt  three-phase  feeders,  leaving  the  power 
house,  and  in  all  the  direct-current  bus-bars  at  the  sub-stations. 
The.  difference  between  the  readings  of  these  wattmeters  for  any 
given  period,  of  course,  should  give  the  efficiency  of  that  part  of 
the  distribution  which  includes  the  high-tension  feeders,  static  trans- 
formers and  rotary  converters,  but  excludes  the  storage  batteries, 
the  batteries  being  connected  to  the  feeders  outside  the  wattmeters. 
This  efficiency  is  found  from  records  to  be  90  per  cent  to  91  per 
cent.  The  loss  in  the  high-tension  feeders  varies  from  3  per  cent 
to  7  per  cent  on  different  lines  at  various  hours  of  the  day. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  electrical  apparatus  used  in  connection 
with  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  power  station  and  its  sub-stations 
is  of  the  General  Electric  Company's  type  and  manufacture,  while 
that  pertaining  to  the  Kingsbridge  power  station  and  its  sub-sta- 
tions is  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company's 
type  and  manufacture ;  this  affords  us  an  opportunity  for  compar- 
ing the  performance  of  the  two  makes  of  apparatus,  which  should 
give  us  some  instructive  and  valuable  data. 

The  electric  generators  at  the  Ninty-Sixth  Street  station  are 
driven  by  vertical  cross-compound  condensing  engines,  built  by  the 
E.  P.  Allis  Company,  directly  connected  to  the  generators.  Sur- 
face condensers  are  used  for  each  engine,  and  all  station  auxiliaries 
are  steam  driven. 

Steam  is  furnished  to  the  engines  by  eighty  Babcock  &  Wilcox 
boilers,  arranged  in  batteries  on  the  first,  second  and  third  floors 
of  the  boiler  house ;  each  battery  is  rated  at  500  hp  nominal. 

The  coal  used  in  this  station  is  taken  from  boats  by  steam  shovel 
and  automatic  conveyors  to  coal  bunkers  in  the  roof  of  the  boiler 
house  having  a  capacity  of  9000  tons.  The  coal  descends  by  grav- 
ity to  the  automatic  stokers  with  which  all  the  boilers  are  equipped. 

The  output  of  this  power  station  has  been,  in  time  of  heaviest 
load,  which  occurs  about  Christmas,  as  high  as  575,000  kw-hour 
per  day.  The  output  during  the  maximum  hour  of  the  day  has 
frequently  gone  as  high  as  36,000  kw,  or  nearly  the  rated  load  for 
the  eleven  generating  units.  The  load  factor  of  this  power  sta- 
tion varies  from  60  per  cent  to  66  per  cent. 

The  coal  consumption  at  this  power  station  is  about  2.8  lbs.  per 
kw-hour.  The  coal  consumption  for  the  maximum  output  above 
mentioned  would,  therefore,  be  718  tons  per  day.  The  total  out- 
put of  this  power  station  for  the  year  ending  Dec.  31  last,  amounted 
to  over  149,000,000  kw-hours. 

The  engines,  boilers  and  piping  in  this  station,  as  well  as  the 
electrical  apparatus  are  so  arranged  that  the  station  can  be  operated 
as  three  independent  stations  if  desired.  It  has  not  been  found 
necessary  to  make  this  sub-division,  however,  and  the  station  has 
thus  far  been  operated  as  one  unit. 

In  the  last  four  years  of  operation  there  have  been  but  two  inter- 
ruptions to  the  steady  delivery  of  electric  current  from  the  Ninety- 
Sixth  Street  power  station,  and  in  both  these  instances  the  trouble 
was  due  to  causes  outside  of  the  power  station  itself. 

The  Kingsbridge  power  station  is  at  present  supplying  current 
to  the  two  northern  sub-stations  on  Manhattan  Island  and  to  the 
sub-stations  at  West  Farms,  Mt.  Vernon  and  Yonkers.  This  sta- 
tion has  only  recently  been  completed,  the  first  unit  having  been 


put  in  operation  about  one  year  ago.  In  its  arrangement  this  sta- 
tion follows  the  same  general  plan  of  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street 
station.  As  before  noted,  the  electric  units  are  of  the  same  size 
and  general  type.  The  generating  units  are  driven  by  vertical 
cross-compound  condensing  engines,  built  by  the  Westinghouse 
Machine  Company,  directly  connected  to  Westinghouse  generators. 
The  steam  is  supplied  by  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers,  arranged  on 
the  first  and  second  floors  of  the  boiler  house  and  set  in  batteries 
of  1000  hp  each.  The  coal  bunkers  are  built  above  the  boilers, 
coal  being  delivered  to  them  by  mechanical  conveyors  and  fed  from 
the  bunkers  by  gravity  to  automatic  stokers  with  which  the  boilers 
are  equipped.  The  condensing  plant  of  this  station  is  of  the  type 
known  as  the  "central  jet  condensing,"  and  is  arranged  in  duplicate, 
as  are  all  of  the  station  auxiliaries.  All  auxiliaries  are  steam 
driven. 

The  following  table  shows  the  space  required  in  boiler  room  and 
in  engine  room  per  kw  of  capacity : 

Ninety-Sixth  Street  Kingsbridge 

Boiler  room    .56  sq.  ft.  .58  sq.  ft. 

Engine  room    .68  sq.  ft.  .58  sq.  ft. 

Totals    1.20  sq.  ft.  1.16  sq.  ft. 

In  these  power  stations  the  arrangement  of  apparatus  is  such 
that  they  are  practically  several  power  stations  under  one  roof. 
The  sub-division  holds  from  boiler  room  to  switchboard. 

The  coal  used  at  these  power  stations  is,  depending  on  the  market, 
sometimes  anthracite,  bu.ckwheat  size,  approximately  12,000  B.  T. 
Us.  per  pound,  and  sometimes  semi-bituminous,  having  a  heating 
value  of  14,500  B.  T.  Us.  The  average  amount  of  water  evapor- 
ated per  pound  of  coal  for  the  twenty-four  hours,  as  measured  by 
water  meters,  is  8^  lbs.  The  water  required  per  kw-hour  at  the 
switchboard  is  about  23  lbs.,  including  all  the  auxiliaries. 

The  cost  of  coal  is  67  per  cent.  The  cost  of  repairs  to  power 
plant  is  7.6  per  cent,  and  the  cost  of  labor  is  19  per  cent  of  the 
total  operating  and  maintenance  cost  of  these  power  stations,  while 
the  yearly  cost  of  repairs  is  about  1.61  per  cent  of  the  first  cost 
of  the  power  plant. 

The  efficiency  of  the  engines  and  generators  taken  as  a  unit,  that 
is,  the  ratio  between  the  indicated  mechanical  hp  and  the  electrical 
hp  at  the  switchboard  averages  about  90  per  cent.  The  line  loss 
between  the  generator  switchboard  and  the  sub-station  switchboard 
is  5  per  cent.  The  conversion  loss  in  the  sub-station  is,  approxi- 
mately 6  per  cent,  while  the  loss  on  the  low  tension  feeders  aver- 
ages approximately  5  per  cent ;  giving  an  efficiency  for  the  whole 
generating  and  distributing  system  of  76  per  cent. 



A  METHOD  OF  HANDLING  INTERURBAN  EXPRESS  MATTER 


BY  GEORGE  DUNFORD 
General  Express  Agent,  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway 


The  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Electric  Express  is  operated  on  the 
same  plan  as  the  old  line  express  companies,  having  offices  and 
express  wagon  service  at  the  following  named  cities  and  villages : 
Rome,  Oriskany,  Whitesboro,  N.  Y.  Mills,  Yorkville,  Utica,  Frank- 
fort, Ilion,  Mohawk,  Herkimer,  Little  Falls,  New  Hartford  and 
Clinton,  There  are  employed  in  the  express  service  thirty-three 
men,  sixteen  wagons  and  three  cars  (two  40-ft.  cars  and  one  24-ft. 
body) . 

The  earnings  for  twelve  months  ending  June  30,  1904,  were  as 
follows : 

Gross  receipts    $36,187.96 

Operating  expenses    22,177.24 

Net  income  from  operation   $14,010.72 

Deductions  for  power  and  interest  on  investment   4,557.91 

Net  income    $9,452.81 

Total  tonnage,  17,208,715  lbs. 
Average  rate  per  100  lbs.,  21.03  cents. 
Gross  earnings  per  car-mile,  41  cents. 
Dollars  per  car-hour,  $4.27. 

Our  loss  and  damage  account  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904, 
with  all  claims  paid,  was  $17.34. 

The  territory  through  which  our  lines  are  operated  is  served 
by  the  old  line  companies  over  the  New  York  Central  Hudson 
River  Railroad,  West  Shore  Railroad,  New  York,  Ontario  and 
Western  Railroad,  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad,  and 
in  addition  the  Erie  Canal.  During  seven  months  of  the  year 
steam  packets  are  operated  upon  the  Erie  Canal  and  picked  up  by 
wagon,  haul  by  boat,  and  deliver  at  destination  by  wagon  the  same 
class  of  express  matter  that  is  handled  by  the  electric  express  at 
the  flat  rate  of  5  cents  per  100  lbs. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


447 


Pohm  E-SW '01- 4ini  Hm 


EXPRESS  REOEIPT 

Utica  and  Mohawk  Valley  Electric  Express. 


-190 


Received  from  _  _   .    1 

By  THE  UTICA  AND  MOHAWK  VALLEY  ELECTRIC  EXPRESS,  the  property  described  below,  In  apparent 
food  order,  except  as  noted  (contents  and  condition  of  contents  ol  packages  unknown),  marked  coDsigned-and  destined 
ej  Indicated  below,  which  said  Company  agrees  to  carry  to  tho  said  destination,  if  on  Us  road,  otherwise  to  deliver  tr- 
ftaother  carrier  on  the  route  to  said  destination.   

Subjeot  to  conditions,  endorsed  on  the  bacK  of  this  Receipt. 


■art*,  Oontlgnae*  and  Destination. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  ARTICLES 


EXPRESS  ORDER 


Utica  and  Mohawk  Valley  Electric  Express, 


THE  UTICA  ft. MOHAWK  VALLEY  ELECTRIC  EXPRESS  will  receive  and  carry  tho  property  marked, 
signed  and  destined  as  indicated  below  to  the  said  destination,  if  on  its  road,  otherwise  will  deliver  to  another  oa 
on  the  route  to  said  destination. 


Subject  to  conditions  endorsed  on  the  bach  of  this  Order. 


Marks,  Com  gnces  and  Oe.tlnitlon. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  ARTICLES 

WEIGHT 
Subject  1q  Cot recllon. 

  Agent. 

FORM  E-500— ORIGINAL  AND  CARBON 


Consignor. 


Stub  of 

Way-Bill  Mo. 

LOCAL 

The  Utica  and  Mohawk  Valle 

FROM 

EXPRESS  WAY-BILL 

y  Flectrir,  Fxprass  l< 

)0_ 

W.  B.  NO. 

TO 

Car  a.  n,  p.  n. 

Cond. 

SHIPPER 

COLLECT" 

Date  190 

From 

To 

FORM  E-501 


fiikm  fc  -jm.   MD-'IM-JOM  ibtt 

Office   


..190    deceived  in  good  order  from  the  UTIGfl  AND  MOHAWK  UflL'LEY  ELECTRIC  EXPRESS^  _  __  

The  following  articles  set  opposite  our  respective  names: 


Office  Prom 

W.  B. 
N.. 

Date 

CONSIGNEE 

DESTINATION 
or 

Street  and  Number 

Articles 

Charges  > 

Advance 
Charges 

Total 
To  Collect 

Prepaid 

Time 
of 
Delivery 

SIGNATUF.E  OF  CONSIGNEE 

1 

1 

2 

2 

3 

3 

Form  E-611-7-12-04-2SB. 


DR. 


FORM  E-508 

UTICA  AND  MOHAWK  VALLEY  ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 

Cash  Receipts. 

   ^  Station  


190 


Date 

of 
W.  B. 

Pro.  No 

W.-B. 
No. 

FROM 

CONSIGNEE 

Express 
Charges 
Collectible 

Advance 
Charges 
Collectible 

Prepaid 
Express 
Forwarded 

Miscel 
eous 

an- 

TOTA 

L 

Form  E-611-7-1&-04-85B. 


CR. 


FORM  E-511— RECEIPTS 

UTICA  AND  MOHAWK  VALLEY  ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 

Disbursements, 

 „  :  ,  ....Station  


.  L90 


DATE 

W.-B. 
No. 

TO 

CONSIGNOR 

Advanc 
Charge 

3 

Miscell 
eous 

Remitta 

ices 

TOTAL 

FORM  E-511— DISBURSEMENTS 


448 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


The  following  forms  and  methods  are  used  in  the  transaction 
of  business : 

Form  E500  is  made  up  in  a  book  of  100  leaves  in  duplicate.  It 
it  distributed  among  the  shippers  and  used  as  their  receipt.  The 
driver  or  agent  receiving  the  shipment,  checks  each  item  on  the 


ter  destined  for  that  station  to  the  agent  or  driver  who  signs  for 
them  on  Form  E-510.  This  is  in  duplicate,  and  is  the  messenger's 
receipt  for  way-bills  and  goods  delivered.  When  the  agent  re- 
ceives the  express  matter  he  also  checks  the  way-bill  on  receiving 
same.     This  makes  a  complete  check  of  all  express  from  shipper 


THE   UTICA   AND  MOHAWK  VALLEY 

Electric    Express  Company. 

Purchasing  Department. 


Haw  reaumt  your  Company  at 


for  the  fotlnwiay  articles  to  lir  fimarded  liy  rthtrn  aprttt 


Signed. 


Addrett 


Deitinaluin 

A£cdI*  Will  tuatrllflt  Hereon  m..-.l.  „ball  It*  l*ur. 
on  -".  1  or  Sent  Forward  <    O.  I>. 

/  herehy  arlmnwleihjr  receipt 

(if  above  order,  


Time, 


I)tilc_ 


FORM  E-519 


Utica  and  lohawk  Valley 

ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 
COPY  OF  DEPOSIT  MEMORANDUM 


HxprcS.   remittance  for.  190  6 

Cu-li  sini  t.,  Cashier.  Mala  oBlce,  Y.  M.  C.  A  Building.  Utica  > 


Nickels  and  Pennies  

Silver  Coin   _  

Gold  Coin   „  

Bills   

Chech 

Total, 

Remiiiance  MUST  t.<*  made  as  dit 


Utica  and  Mohawk  Valley 

ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 


No  

Jixpress 


Station 
190 


Silver  Coin 
Gold  Coin 

Bills 

Cheek 

Total, 

Agent 


Utica  and  lohawk  Valley 

ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 


»»~D0  NOT  DETACH  THIS  RECEIPT  FROM 
DEPOSIT  n 


This  Receipt  will  be  returned  by  Cashier. 

 -   Agent- 

 -  Station 

EXPRESS  REMITTANCE 

FOR 


Amount  $ 


Agents  MUST  fill  up  the  above  blank 
ready  for  Cashier's  Receipt  and  when  re- 
turned it  must  be  kept  on  file  for  use  of 
Auditor. 

Received-  _  _  lyo  

Cashier, 


FORM  E-506 


Form  E-328.  1-1&-'CH.3M. 


M 


190 


No. 


Street, 


Dear  Sir : 

'Please  ship  all  our  Express  Goods  by  the  Electric 
Express  Company. 

Yours  truly. 


FORM  2411 

receipts  from  the  original  marks  on  shipments, 
signing  his  name  for  same.  He  also  detaches  the 
stub  or  duplicate  which  accompanied  the  shipment 
in  the  office  and  delivers  it  to  the  warehouseman, 
who  weighs  the  shipment,  enters  the  weight  and 
checks  same  and  the  stub  is  then  delivered  to  the 
way-bill  clerk.  The  wax-bill  clerk  on  receiv  ing  the 
stub  enters  the  shipment,  weight  and  charges,  col- 
lect or  prepay,  whichever  it  max  lie.  or  Form  E-501 
or  E-502,  winch  are  in  duplicate,  and  which  differ 
only  as  regards  length.   (Form  E-502  is  not  shown.) 

Form  E-501  is  what  is  known  as  a  "Quarter- 
Bill,"  and  is  used  for  small  stations.  Form  E-502 
is  called  tlie  "Half-Hill."  and  is  used  for  the  larger 
stations.  When  the  express  matter  has  been  re- 
ceived  and  way-bills  are  made  out  for  same  and  it 
is  time  to  begin  loading  the  cars,  the  way-bill  clerk 
totals  the  weight 


Form  120.  10M-9-l.'0S. 


Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  j 

ELECTRIC  EXPRESS. 
When  FILLED  forward  J 

To   I: 


At  

When  EMPTY  return 

to  _  


o 


At  _   ' 

Meaaenger  will  remove  thia  Coupon  when 
smpty  can  has  been  delivered. 

VOID  IF  DETACHED. 

jood  for  transportation  of  one  can  milk' 
with  a  maximum  capacity  of  ten  gallons.  ; 


From 
To 


This  Check  willbedetached  from  second  Cou-  « 
pon  by  Messenger  and  forwarded  to  General  o 
Bipress  Agent  with  Form  510  daily.  3 

GEO.  DUNFORD,  | 

M  12202    G^'1- E*p- a*1-  • 


FORM  520 


Utica  and  Mohawk  Valley  Electric  Express. 

^^ECEIPT    FOB    WAY    Itll.I.M    AND    i:.\  I'KF.NS. 


•Hate, 


and    charges  on 
way-bill   and  en- 
ters same  on  office 
register.      T  h  e 
way-bills  are  then  ~s 
delivered    to  the 
messenger    w  ho  -„ 
signs    for    same.  « 
When    the    mes-  * 
senger    has  re- 
ceived   the  way- 
bills,  the  motor- 
man  and  warehouseman  ca 
in  the  car,  the  messenger 
opposite  each  item. 

The  car  being  loaded  proceeds  on  its  route  and  upon  arrival  at 
the  first  station  the  messenger  delivers  way-bills  and  express  m.tt- 


-  :  •  f , 
:  r 

FORM  E-510 

11  oft'  the  shipments  as  they  are  loaded 
making  a  check  mark  on  the  wav-bill 


No. 


Utica  and  Mohawk  Valley 

Electric  Express. 

S   for  Collection. 

$   Charges  for  Return  of  Money. 

$  Total  amount  to  be  returned. 

From 


On 


190 


m 


m 


Bill  to  be  Collected  on  delivery  of  goods. 

Goods  billed  to  


C»-Return  proceeds  In  this  Envelope,  Carefully  Sealeo,  without  de- 
lay. Do  not  deliver  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  goods  accompanying 
this  bill  until  you  receive  pay  therefor ;  and  be  careful  to  notice  nbat 
money  you  receive,  and  us  far  as  practicable  SEND  THE  SAME  AS 
HECEIVED,  and  follow  the  special  instructions  of  the  shippers,  if  any 
are  given  on  the  bills  or  on  the  packages.  If  roods  are  refused,  or  If  the 
parties  cannot  be  found,  notify  the  superintendent  01  the  agent  of  office 
from  whence  received,  with  names  and  dates,  and  await  further  Inatrnc- 

°"rate  for  Return  of  Paid  C  O.  D.'S.,  10  cents  for 
amounts  under  $50  00;  25  Cents  for  Amounts  Over 
$50.00.  make  Regular  w.-b.  for  the  Return  C.  0.  D. 
Charges,  Showing  Charges  for  Return  Collect  or 
Prepaid  as  the  Case  May  Be. 

notice  to  agents. 

Agents  and  all  employes  concerned  are  referred  to  the  Company's 
Rules  and  Instructions  concerning  C.  o„  D.'s  and  will  be  held  to 
strict  accountability  for  compliance  therewith. 


REMARKS. 


Counted  and  Sealed  by 


FORM  E-525 


to  office  at  destination.  After  cheeking  up  is  complete,  the  agent 
enters  each  consignment  on  driver's  sheet,  Form  E-508,  which  is 
a  receipt  from  consignee  and  is  filed  in  the  office  for  further  ref- 
erence. 

When  the  agent  has  delivered  the  shipments  and  collected  the 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


449 


charges  for  the  day's  business,  he  compares  the  driver's  sheet  with 
way-bills  and  if  correct  enters  it  on  cash  book.  Form  E-511  en- 
ables the  auditor  to  make  a  complete  check  of  the  office  at  any 
time  he  may  desire  to  do  so. 

The  cash  book  having  been  written  up  and  balanced  the  agent 
makes  a  report  to  the  cashier  of  railway,  using  form  E-506  in 
making  remittance. 

Forms  E-504  and  E-505  (not  reproduced)  are  a  received  and 
forwarded  abstract  of  way-bill  and  are  made  out  by  agent  at  each 
station  four  times  each  month.  It  is  forwarded  with  all  way-bi'ls 
to  auditing  department.  This  enables  the  auditor  to  check  one 
station  against  another. 

Form  E-516  (which  is  also  not  reproduced),  is  a  correction  in 
duplicate  used  in  case  of  an  error  in  billing.  If  way-bill  clerk 
should  overcharge  or  undercharge  for  shipment,  the  agent  at  des- 
tination fills  nut  this  form  and  sends  it  to  the  general  agent  for 
approval.  An  investigation  is  made  and  if  found  correct  the  gen- 
eral agent  signs  and  returns  copy,  retaining  the  original.  The 
amount  is  credited  or  debited  to  him  at  the  end  of  the  month  on 
monthly  balance  sheet. 

Form  E-510  is  used  in  (he  purchasing  department.  Our  agents 
call  on  the  different  merchants  each  morning  to  ascertain  if  any- 
thing is  needed  from  any  town  on  our  line.  This  order  is  for- 
warded on  the  first  passenger  car  after  order  has  been  received 
and  is  delivered  on  arrival  at  destination.  For  instance  a  merchant 
at  Little  Falls,  wishing  to  purchase  an  article  in  Utica,  22  miles 
from  Utica,  gives  our  agent  at  Little  Falls  an  order  in  the  morn- 
ing and  he  can  receive  the  goods  between  one  and  two  o'clock  the 
same  afternoon. 

Form  E-525  is  an  envelope  accompanying  C.  O.  D.  shipments 
and  is  used  for  the  return  of  the  money. 

Form  520  is  a  milk  ticket,  sold  to  shippers  and  attached  to  t'>e 
can.  When  the  messenger  receives  this  shipment  he  detaches  the 
coupon,  which  is  delivered  to  the  auditor,  the  balance  of  the  tag 
remaining  on  the  can  returns  same,  free  of  charge,  to  shipper,  when 
empty. 

Form  249  is  used  as  a  soliciting  card  and  is  distributed  to  mer- 
chants by  our  agents. 

.  Form  E-509  (not  reproduced)  is  the  monthly  balance  sheet.  It 
is  made  out  by  the  local  agent  at  each  station  and  sent  to  the  gen- 
eral agent,  who  checks  each  period  of  abstract  to  ascertain  if  the 
accounts  of  his  office  are  correct. 

—  

REPORT  ON  HIGH  VOLTAGE  TRANSMISSION  LINES 


BY  S.  B.  STOKER,  H.  O.  ROCKWELL  AND  R.  E.  DANFORTH 
Committee 


The  committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  dangers  incident  to 
high  voltage  power  transmission  lines,  have  the  honor  to  report 
to  you  the  following : 

The  committee,  in  their  investigations,  have  assumed  that  the 
principal  objects  to  be  attained  were  the  determination  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  high  voltage  power  transmission  lines  become 
dangerous  to  the  general  public,  and  also  to  determine,  if 
possible,  the  proper  measures  to  lie  taken  for  the  prevention  of  such 
dangers.  With  this  end  in  view,  and  by  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  C. 
Loomis  Allen,  general  manager,  and  Mr.  W.  J.  Harvie,  E.  E,  of 
the  Utica  &  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company,  of  Utica,  N.  Y., 
a  short  transmission  line  was  erected  and  arrangements  made  to 
conveniently  subject  the  conductors  to  the  worst  possible  condi- 
tions that  might  arise  in  the  operation  of  any  high  voltage  line. 

This  experimental  line  was  built  on  the  railway  company's  prop- 
erty adjacent  to  their  Frankfort  sub-station,  which  is  supplied  with 
20,000  volt,  three-phase,  60-cycle,  alternating-current  power  gen- 
erated at  the  Trenton  Falls  water  power  plant  of  the  Utica  Gas  & 
Electric  Company.  Poles  No.  I,  3  and  6  are  cedar:  poles  No.  2 
and  5  are  chestnut,  and  pole  No.  4  is  of  iron,  being  a  standard 
4  inch,  5  inch,  6  inch  tubular  type,  28  ft.  long.  The  wooden  poles, 
are  35  ft.  in  length  and  set  to  a  depth  of  7  ft.  Poles  No.  2  and  4 
are  set  in  concrete  and  the  others  set  in  earth  in  the  usual  way. 

For  convenience  the  poles  are  numbered  beginning  with  the  one 
adjacent  to  the  sub-station. 

A  double  set  of  cross-arms  are  provided,  the  upper  one  carrying 
four  conductors  and  the  bottom  one  two,  arranged  so  that  the 
wires  on  each  side  of  the  pole  form  an  inverted  triangle  approxi- 
mately 24  ins.  on  ;i  side.  The  wires  on  one  side  of  the  poles  were 
copper  and  those  on  the  opposite  side  aluminum,  all  being  mounted 
on  Locke  No.  too,  chocolate  colored  insulators,  Tests  were  made, 
however,  only  on  the  aluminum  conductors.  The  upper  cross-arm 
was  7  ft.  S  ins.  long,  and  the  lower  one  5  ft.  4  ins.  long,  both 
being  4J4  ins.  by  4  ins.  These  cross-arms  are  set  in  gains  and  fast- 
ened on  with  a  single  bolt  passing  through  the  pole  and  supported 


by  a  one-piece  galvanized  iron  brace  which  is  lag-screwed  to  the 
pole  and  bolted  to  a  small  angle  iron  attached  to  the  arm. 

The  above  is  the  standard  type  of  construction  used  by  the  Utica 
&  Mohawk  Valley  Railway  Company. 

The  cross-arms  on  the  iron  pole  were  held  in  place  by  a  collar 
and  bolts,  no  braces  being  used. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  necessary  high  voltage  current  without 
causing  trouble  to  the  main  transmission  system,  two  330  kw  oil 
insulated,  self-cooling  transformers  were  supplied  and  connected 
so  as  to  receive  current  at  360  volts,  raising  it  to  20,000  volts  for 
use  on  the  experimental  line.  The  transformers  are  V  connected 
so  as  to  transform  from  three-phase  to  three-phase,  giving  regular 
working  conditions.  The  switching  of  the  current  was  all  done 
in  the  low  voltage  side  of  the  transformers  in  which  there  was 
also  connected  three  alternating-current  ammeters  supplied  by  the 
Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  for  use  during 
the  tests.  One  meter  was  connected  in  each  phase.  The  volt- 
meters used  were  of  the  Weston  portable,  alternating-current  type 
and  a  Westinghouse  static  ground  detector  reading  from  0  to  3000 
volts,  all  of  w  hich  had  been  recently  calibrated.  One  of  the  Weston 
meters  had  a  double  scale  for  either  150  or  300  volts  and  the  other 
one  a  double  scale  for  300  or  600  volts. 

In  order  to  approximate  the  conditions  which  might  be  met  by 
a  person  leaning  against  a  pole  and  receiving  a  shock,  due  to 
possible  leakage  through  the  pole  or  over  its  surface,  an  aluminum 
cable  was  wrapped  around  poles  No.  2  and  No.  3  about  6  ft.  from 
the  ground,  three  turns  being  taken  around  each  pole  and  a  con- 
nection to  the  center  of  the  pole  being  made  by  a  large  spike 
driven  into  the  pole  and  around  which  the  ends  of  the  alumnium 
cable  were  fastened.  The  difference  of  potential  between  this 
aluminum  band  around  the  pole  and  the  ground  would  represent 
the  maximum  shock  or  voltage  obtainable  by  any  person  leaning 
against  the  pole  or  coming  in  contact  with  it. 

With  the  line  in  normal  operating  condition,  either  wet  or  dry, 
it  was  impossible  to  find  any  difference  of  potential  between  these 
points  as  determined  either  by  voltmeter  or  by  personal  contact ; 
nor  could  any  be  found  when  different  wires  were  laid  on  cross- 
arms  on  adjacent  poles  until  they  were  tied  to  the  iron  braces. 

With  one  conductor  removed  from  the  insulator  and  lying  on 
top  of  the  cross-arm,  as  well  as  being  connected  to  the  iron  brace, 
no  leakage  was  obtainable  with  the  pole  dry;  with  the  pole  wet 
after  a  twelve  hour's  hard  rain,  the  Weston  voltmeter  showed  a 
difference  of  potential  of  90  volts.  The  shock  obtained  by  per- 
sonal contact  was  somewhat  in  excess  of  this  amount  owing  to  the 
higher  resistance  of  the  human  body  than  that  of  the  voltmeter. 
The  closing  of  the  voltmeter  circuit  between  the  aluminum  band 
wire  and  the  ground  would  materially  reduce  the  shock. 

In  order  to  obtain  severe  conditions  one  of  the  other  conductors 
was  removed  from  its  insulator  on  pole  No.  3,  laid  on  the  cross-arm 
and  connected  to  the  iron  brace  exactly  in  the  same  manner  as 
on  pole  No.  2.  This  arrangement  gave  a  difference  of  potential 
of  20,000  volts  between  the  two  cross-arms  on  pole  No.  2  and  pole 
No.  3,  and  is  the  shortest  path  obtainable  for  the  current  flowing 
through  the  entire  length  of  the  poles  and  the  intervening  ground. 

■  Under  these  conditions,  with  both  poles  soaked  after  a  twelve 
hour's  hard  rain,  the  difference  of  potential  between  the  band  wire 
on  No.  2  pole  and  the  ground  was  270  volts,  and  that  between  the 
band  wire  on  No.  3  pole  and  the  ground  was  170  volts.  This 
difference  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  the  one  showing  the 
higher  difference  of  potential  was  set  in  concrete,  while  the  other 
was  in  wet  earth.  This  shows  that  the  resistance  of  the  concrete 
even  though  wet,  is  considerably  higher  than  that  of  wet  earth. 

As  the  worst  possible  conditions,  the  third  wire  of  this  line  was 
removed  from  its  insulator  and  laid  on  the  cross-arm  supported 
by  the  iron  pole.  It  will  be  noted  that  this  arrangement  gave  all 
three  phases  with  conductors  removed  from  their  insulators  and 
laid  on  the  cross-arms  of  three  consecutive  poles — the  two  wires 
on  the  woorlen  poles  being  in  addition  tied  to  the  iron  braces — 
one  of  the  poles  of  iron  and  the  two  wooden  ones,  water  soaked 
after  a  heavy  rain.  Between  the  band  wire  on  pole  No.  2  and  the 
ground  the  voltmeter  indicated  320;  between  the  band  wire  on 
pole  No.  3  and  the  ground  the  voltmeter  indicated  300;  while  be- 
tween the  iron  pole  and  the  ground  there  was  no  difference  of  po- 
tential— showing  that  although  set  in  concrete  its  base  probably 
extended  through  to  wet  earth,  making  a  good  ground. 

The  voltmeter  was  then  connected  in  circuit  between  the  band 
wire  of  pole  No.  2  and  that  on  pole  No.  3.  showing  a  difference 
of  potential  of  370  volts,  which  by  calculation  from  current  and 
voltmeter  resistance  shows  a  resistance  of  approximately  1400  ohms 
between  these  two  points.  During  a  later  test  after  several  clays 
ol  dr)  weather,  the  poles  having  been  wet  down  with  a  hose, 
the  resistance  of  pole  No.  2  from  the  band  wire  to  the  ground  was 
determined  as  approximately  17R0  ohms,  a  static  voltmeter  being 
used.  This  difference  in  resistance  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
later  test  (he  bodv  of  the  pole  contained  less  moisture  than  in  the 


45<5 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


first  test.  The  latter  test  also  seemed  to  show  that  at  least  75 
per  cent  of  the  total  drop  in  potential  occurred  at  the  point  of 
contact  between  the  brace  or  lag  screw  and  the  pole. 

It  should  be  noted  that  as  stated  previously  the  shock  obtain- 
able by  a  human  being  would  be  considerable  in  excess  of  that  in- 
dicated by  a  Weston  voltmeter  and  would  be  correspondingly  less 
than  that  indicated  by  a  static  voltmeter. 

The  above  results  were  obtained  by  using  a  line  voltage  of 
20,000,  but  the  effect  of  increasing  or  decreasing  the  line  voltage 
would  be  to  modify  the  results  obtained  in  practically  the  same 
proportion. 

The  most  interesting  experiment  performed  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  possible  danger  to  persons  standing  on  the 
ground  and  holding  a  hose  throwing  a  stream  of  water  on  either  a 
trolley  wire  or  a  high  voltage  transmission  line.    For  the  purpose 


 I 

DIAGRAMS  SHOWING  TEST  LINE 


of  this  demonstration  a  fire  engine  was  secured  from  the  village  of 
Frankfort  and  placed  so  as  to  take  water  from  the  Erie  Canal, 
which  is  within  about  300  ft.  of  the  sub-station.  A  line  of  3^- 
inch  hose  with  a  \%  in.  nozzle,  was  carried  to  the  experimental  line, 
the  nozzle  being  placed  at  an  angle  of  about  60  degs.  and  throwing 
the  stream  directly  on  the  600-volt  trolley  wire,  and  later  on  the 
20,000-volt  transmission  wires.  In  neither  case  was  it  possible  to 
obtain  the  slightest  shock  even  while  standing  on  the  rail  or  the 
wet  ground  and  holding  the  brass  nozzle  in  bare  hands.  The 
length  of  the  stream  from  nozzle  to  trolley  wire  was  about  20  ft., 
and  about  30  ft.  to  the  transmission  wires. 

It  was  also  found  that  it  was  impossible  to  short  circuit  the 
20,000-volt  line  even  by  throwing  the  stream  so  as  to  strike  two 
of  the  wires,  which  as  stated  previously  are  only  24  ins.  apart ; 
nor  did  an}'  change  in  the  ammeters  in  circuit  indicate  that  any 
current  passed  between  the  two  wires  over  the  stream  of  water. 

The  series  of  tests  indicate  that  under  certain  possible  condi- 
tions of  high  voltage  transmission,  wooden  poles  may  become  suffi- 
ciently charged  to  render  them  dangerous.  These  conditions  while 
possible  are,  however,  extremely  improbable,  but  it  is  nevertheless 
advisable  that  proper  means  be  devised  for  affording  necessary  pro- 
tection; and  we  therefore  offer  the  following  suggestions  in  rela- 
tion to  such  protection. 


It  was  shown  that  when  the  band  wire  which  was  wrapped 
around  the  wooden  poles  was  grounded  it  was  practically  impossi- 
ble to  obtain  a  shock  by  standing  on  the  ground  and  touching  any 
portion  of  the  pole  below  the  band  wire.  We  therefore  suggest 
that  all  wooden  poles  in  exposed  locations,  which  are  carrying  high 
voltage  transmission  lines,  be  supplied  with  a  metal  band  placed 
tightly  around  the  pole  about  6  ft.  from  the  ground  and  permanently 
and  durably  connected  to  the  ground. 

Where  iron  poles  or  towers  are  used  if  they  are  merely  set  in 
earth,  no  protective  device  of  the  above  character  is  required.  If 
they  are  set  in  concrete  there  might  be  a  slight  shock  obtained  if 
the  concrete  was  very  dry  and  covered  every  portion  of  the  pole 
where  placed  in  the  ground.  This  condition  can  be  avoided  by 
having  the  pole  project  several  inches  through  the  concrete  into 
the  earth.  Galvanized  iron  poles  or  towers  set  in  earth  without 
the  use  of  concrete  are  therefore  preferable  as  regards  safety  from 
accidental  shock  over  any  other  type. 

For  protection  from  possible  danger  due  to  wires  carrying  a 
high  voltage  breaking  in  and  lying  on  the  ground,  we  would  sug- 
gest that  poles  or  towers  in  exposed  places  be  fitted  with  thor- 
oughly and  permanently  grounded  iron  shields  or  brackets  which 
extend  on  each  side  of  each  pole  and  cross-arm  to  a  sufficient 
distance  and  at  a  proper  height,  so  that  a  break  in  the  wire  would 
cause  the  ends  to  come  immediately  in  firm  contact  with  the 
grounded  shields  by  dropping  upon  them.  In  this  case  no  one 
received  a  severe  shock  from  the  broken  ends  which  might  be 
lying  on  the  ground  or  suspended  within  reach,  as  the  wires  would 
be  at  the  same  potential  as  the  earth  on  which  the  person  was  stand- 
ing. 

A  grounded  network  suspended  under  the  transmission  wires,  if 
properly  installed,  would  accomplish  the  same  results. 

The  suggestions  embodied  above  are  the  results  of  experiments 
conducted  on  three  different  occasions  under  widely  varying  con- 
ditions. 

The  committee  feels  that  this  is  a  highly  important  subject  and 
demands  further  investigation  before  final  recommendations  are 


RELATIVE  ECONOMY  IN  THE  OPERATION  OF  LONG  AND 

SHORT  CARS  n  . 



BY  W.  J.  DAVIS,  JR. 
Of  the  General  Electric  Company,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 


In  cities  of  the  first  and  second  classes  the  headway  between 
cars  on  the  principal  lines  is  as  short  as  safe  operation  will  permit, 
and  on  many  of  the  less  important  lines  is  such  that  no  stipulation 
in  travel  will  result  from  further  decrease.  In  such  cases  it  is 
obviously  necessary,  in  order  to  handle  the  traffic,  to  use  long  heavy 
cars  having  the  greatest  seating  capacity  allowed  by  clearance  dia- 
grams and  other  local  conditions.  Not  only  are  the  gross  receipts 
increased  thereby,  but  the  expense  of  operation  is  materially  less 
on  account  of  the  reduced  cost  of  transportation  wages  per  pas- 
senger carried. 

In  cities  of  the  third  class,  however,  the  question  becomes  more 
complicated  and  difficult  of  solution.  In  the  first  place  the 
frequency  of  service  must  be  regulated  with  reference  to  securing 
maximum  patronage ;  secondly ;  the  size  of  the  car  best  suited  to 
the  average  travel  must  be  determined,  consideration  being  given 
to  the  initial  cost  of  equipment  and  to  gross  operating  expenses. 
Finally,  the  above  items  must  be  balanced  one  against  the  other  in 
order  to  make  the  most  economical  selection  of  equipment  and 
schedule. 

This  paper  will  be  limited  in  scope  to  a  discussion  of  power 
consumption  of  cars  of  various  sizes  and  weights,  and  relative  cost 
of  operation  as  applying  to  cities  of  30,000  to  50,000  inhabitants. 
POWER  CONSUMPTION 
It  is  assumed  that  the  cars  will  operate  at  schedule  speed  of 
8.5  m.  p.  h.,  making  6  to  10  stops  per  mile  and  giving  maximum 
speed  of  about  22  m.  p.  h.  on  tangent  level  track.    We  will  consider 
four  sizes  of  car,  having  seats  for  twenty-two,  thirty,  forty  and 
forty-eight  passengers  respectively.    The  following  data  will  apply : 
DESCRIPTION 
Closed  Closed  Closed  Closed 


Type  Trucks                          Single      Max.  Track   Max.  Track  Double 

Length  of  body,  feet                    16  22  28  35 

Length  over  all,  feet                     22  30  37  45 

Seating  capacity                            22  30  40  48 

WEIGHTS 

Pounds  Pounds        Pounds  Pounds 

Car  body                                        6,000  8,400  11,700  18,000 

Trucks                                           4,500  6,700             6,700  12,400 

Equipments                                    4,600  5,200             6,200  7,100 

Passengers                                      3,000  4,000             5,400  6,500 

Totals                                    18,100  24,300  30,000  44,000* 

Tons,  taken                                         9  12                15  22 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


45i 


EQUIPMENT 

Number  of  motors                              2  2  2  2 

Horse-power,  each                                25  35  40  60 

COST 

Car  equipped  complete   $2,550  $3,120  $3,640  $5,650 

POWER 

Watt-hours  per  ton-mile                   140  140  140  140 

Kw-hours  per  car-mile                     1.26  1.68  2.10  3.08 

Average  kilowatt  at  power  house.    10.7  14.3  17.9  26.2 

Maximum  kilowatt  at  starting....       57  70  86  125 

Attention  is  directed  to  the  estimate  of  energy  consumption  as 
shown  above.  The  values  given  are  based  on  wattmeter  tests  and 
indicate  the  average  energy  throughout  the  day  as  recorded  at  the 
power  station  switchboard — modern  equipment,  good  bonding,  ade- 
quate feeder  system  and  capable  handling  of  the  car  being  assumed. 
Observation  has  shown  that  energy  demanded  by  cars  of  equal 
weight  varies  largely  in  different  localities,  in  some  instances  run- 
ning as  low  as  no  watt  hours  per  ton  mile,  and  in  others  reaching 
as  high  as  180  and  even  200  watt  hours  per  ton  mile.  This  wide 
variation  is  due  largely  to  local  conditions,  such  as  obstruction  of 
the  tracks  by  teams,  necessitating  frequent  slow  downs  and  consid- 
erable running  on  resistance,  a  gear  reduction  giving  a  maximum 
speed  too  high  in  proportion  to  the  average  frequency  of  stops,  or 
careless  and  inefficient  handling  of  the  controller  by  the  motorman. 
The  latter  item  is  of  more  importance  than  it  is  ordinarily  credited 
with,  as  trials  with  recording  wattmeters  placed  upon  the  cars 
have  shown  a  possible  saving  of  15  to  20  per  cent  due  to  motorman 
giving  closer  attention  to  track  and  car  conditions  having  an  in- 
fluence on  power  consumption.  The  value  of  140  watt  hours  per 
ton  mile  as  given  above  is  being  regularly  obtained  in  actual  ser- 
vice in  many  places,  but  does  not  include  power  demanded  by  the 
heating  and  lighting  circuits.  The  average  energy  at  the  power 
house  is  seen  to  vary  from  107  kw  for  the  16-ft.  car,  to  26.2  kw  for 
a  35-ft.  car.  Assuming  rate  of  acceleration  of  1.5  to  1.75  m.  p.  h.  per 
second,  power  at  starting  will  vary  from  57  kw  for  the  16-ft.  car 
to  125  kw  for  the  35-ft.  car. 

COST  OF  OPERATION 

For  purpose  of  illustration,  the  writer  has  assumed  operating 
conditions  such  as  would  normally  exist  in  a  city  of  about  40,000 
inhabitants.  The  average  mileage  per  car  per  day  has  been  taken 
at  112,  average  car  mileage  per  day  3650,  cost  of  power,  exclusive 
of  fixed  charges,  1  cent  per  kw-hour,  and  total  wages  of  motorman 
and  conductor  42  cents  per  hour. 

In  making  a  general  comparison  between  long  and  short  cars 
two  cases  must  be  considered,  one  based  on  constant  seat  mileage 
and  the  other  on  constant  car  mileage  per  day. 

CASE  I. 

Number  of  cars  in  service  and  headway  between  them  adjusted 
to  give  constant  seat  mileage  per  day: 

Size  of  car  (length  of  body),  feet         16  22  28  35 

Number  of  seat-miles  per  day...    80,300  80,300  80,300  80,300 

Number  of  car-miles  per  day....      3,650  2,670  2,010  1,670 

Number  of  cars  in  service   33  24  18  15 

Kw-hours  per  day    4,600  4,220         -    3,780  4.4O0 

COST  PER  CAR-MILE  IN  CENTS 

Power-house  expenses                              1.26  1.68  2.10  3.08 

Transportation  wages                                 4.94  4.94  4.94  4.94 

Maintenance,  car  bodies  and  trucks  64  .91  .93  1.06 

electrical  equipment  45  .54  .60  .65 

roadbed   36  .49  .65  .79 

overhead  lines   24  .24  .24  .24 

Salaries  and  general  expenses                    1.30  1.73  2.23  2.84 

Legal  expenses   40  .55  .73  .87 

Total  per  car-mile                          9.59  11.08  1  2.42  14.47 

Total  per  seat-mile  44  .37  .31  .30 

CASE  II. 

Number  of  cars  in  service  and  headway  between  them  constant 
for  all  sizes  of  cars  : 

Size  of  car  (length  of  body),  feet                 16  22  2S  35 

Number  of  seat-miles  per  day                 80,300  109,500        146,000  175,200 

Number  of  car-miles  per  day                   3,650  3,650  3,650  3,650 

Number  of  cars  in  service                           33  33  33  33 

Kw-hours  per  day                                     4,600  5,770  6,860  9,640 

COST  PER  CAR-MILE  IN  CENTS 

Power-house  expenses                              1.26  1.68  2.10  3.08 

Transportation  wages                               4.94  4.94  4.94  4.94 

Maintenance,  car-bodies  and  trucks  64  .91              .93  1.06 

electrical  equipment  45  .54              .60  .65 

"          roadbed   36  .36             .36  .36 

overhead  lines   24  .24             .24  .24 

Salaries  arid  general  expenses                 1.30  1.42  1.56  1.87 

Legal  expenses   40  .  40             .  40  .  40 

Total  per  car-mile   9.59  10.49  11.13  12.60 

Total  per  seat-mile   44  .35  .28  .28 


From  the  above  tabulated  data  it  appears  that  while  the  cost  of 
operation  per  car  mile  increases  directly  with  the  size  of  the  car, 
the  cost  per  seat  mile  decreases.  Also  that  both  of  these  items  are 
diminished  up  to  a  certain  point  by  increase  in  the  number  of  cars 
operated. 

In  cities  of  the  third  class,  the  normal  headway  between  cars  will 
vary  from  five  minutes  on  the  trunk  lines  to  fifteen  minutes  on  the 
suburban  lines.  This  frequency  cannot  be  diminished  without  dan- 
ger of  reduction  in  traffic  as  the  average  able  bodied  citizen  will 
walk  a  mile  rather  than  wait  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour  for 
a  car  to  carry  him  that  distance.  Generally  speaking,  a  16-ft.  or 
18-ft.  car  will  be  found  large  enough  to  handle  the  average  travel, 
extra  cars  being  put  on  during  morning  and  evening  rush  hours. 
There  may  be  cases,  however,  where  the  use  of  a  22-ft.  or  even  a  28- 
ft.  car  for  normal  service  would  be  justified  by  the  necessity  of  mov- 
ing a  large  number  of  passengers  during  hours  of  opening  and  clos- 
ing of  business.  Such  a  case  would  occur  where  the  business  section 
lies  at  one  end  of  the  city  and  the  residence  section  at  the  other  end. 
As  an  example,  assume  that  normal  service  on  a  given  line  requires 
four  16-ft.  cars  operating  on  fifteen  minute  headway,  and  that  for 
two  hours  in  the  morning  and  two  hours  at  night  five  minute  ser- 
vice is  necessary,  calling  for  twelve  cars.  Equal  carrying  capacity 
during  rush  hours  may  be  secured  with  six  28-ft.  cars.  Assuming 
maintenance  of  permanent  way  and  general  expense  charges  to  be 
unchanged,  the  following  comparison  may  be  made: 

16-Ft.  Car     28-Ft.  Car 

Number  of  cars    12  6 

Car-miles  per  day    884  680 

Cost  of  power,  transportation  wages  and  maintenance 

of  equipment  per- car-mile    $0.0729  $0.0857 

Cost  of  power,  etc.,  per  day   64.64  58.28 

Initial  cost  of  cars   30,600  .  21,840. 

Average  kilowatt  at  power  house   128.4  1^7.4 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  saving  in  operation  for  this  par- 
ticular line  of  $6.36  per  day,  or  $2,300  per  annum,  a  reduction  in 
initial  cost  of  rolling  stock  of  about  30  per  cent  and  a  reduction  in 
power  of  15  per  cent.  Another  point  in  importance  not  shown 
by  the  tables  is  that  the  number  of  extra  crews  is  reduced,  thus 
simplifying  arrangement  of  runs  and  introducing  other  small  econo- 
mies in  general  expense. 

It  may  be  broadly  stated  that  when  double  service  is  required 
on  any  line  for  at  least  three  hours  per  day,  the  use  of  long  cars  is 
preferable.  The  operating  cost  will  just  about  equal  that  of  small 
cars  having  equal  aggregate  carrying  capacity,  the  gain  consisting 
in  considerable  decrease  in  cost  of  equipment  and  appreciable  reduc- 
tion in  average  power  consumed. 

Another  condition  favorable  to  the  use  of  long  cars  exists  on 
those  roads  catering  especially  to  holiday  and  pleasure  travel  dur- 
ing the  summer  months.  An  investment  in  thirteen  and  fifteen- 
bench  open  cars  will  obviously  yield  larger  net  income  than  an  equal 
investment  in  seven  and  nine-bench  cars,  although  frequently  a 
combination  equipment  will  be  found  economical,  small  single  truck 
cars  with  two  motors  being  employed  for  normal  daily  service  and 
large  double-truck  cars  mounting  four  similar  motors  held  as  re- 
serve for  special  service.  The  motors  will  thus  be  all  alike  and 
interchangeable  from  one  style  of  equipment  to  the  other. 



THE  QUESTION  OF  FREIGHT 



BY  L.  W.  SERRELL 


The  primary  object  in  the  construction  of  railroads  is  to  move 
both  passengers  and  property  from  place  to  place,  landing  the 
passengers  as  near  as  possible  to  the  place  at  which  they  wish  to 
alight  and  delivering  freight  and  express  matter  at  its  destination. 

The  development  of  the  electric  railway  has  been  very  rapid. 
In  the  early  part  of  1888,  only  86  miles  of  electric  railway  were  in 
operation  in  the  LTnited  States,  using  about  172  cars.  The  census 
report  for  June  30,  1902,  shows  22,589  miles  of  electric  railway, 
using  67,199  cars,  and  requiring  1,298,133  hp  for  its  operation.  The 
total  number  of  passengers  carried  during  the  year  was  nearly 
6,000,000,000,  with  gross  earnings  of  almost  $242,000,000.  This 
enormous  development  has  taken  place  principally  with  the  idea  of 
picking  up  and  dropping  passengers  along  highways,  but  the  electric 
railway  has  long  since  passed  from  a  city  road  and  is  to-day  in 
practical  competition  with  the  steam  railroads.  It  operates  its 
cars  over  private  rights  of  way  at  a  high  speed  between  cities  and 
the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  Albany  and  Chicago  will  be  con- 
nected with  trolley  railways. 

During  most  of  the  time  this  development  has  been  taking  place 
the  idea  of  carrying  freight  has  received  scant  attention,  as  the 
energies  of  electric  railway  managers  have  been  taxed  to  their 


45^ 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


uttermost  to  successfully  handle  the  crowds  of  short  riders.  In 
many  places,  however,  the  municipalities  have  had  an  idea  that 
possibly  this  development  would  in  time  lead  to  the  carrying  of 
freight  through  their  streets  and  they  have  exacted  franchises  pro- 
hibiting such  uses  of  the  highway,  but  with  the  development  of  the 
interurban  road  operating  largely  on  private  rights  of  way,  even 
such  restrictions  cannot  altogether  prevent  the  profitable  handling 
of  interborough  freight. 

The  possibilities  of  freight  business  are  now  so  generally 
recognized  that  it  is  seldom  promotors  present  a  prospectus  for  a 
new  electric  road  which  does  not  include  large  estimated  freight 
receipts,  usually  much  in  excess  of  what  the  roads  will  actually 
earn. 

In  order  to  successfully  handle  freight,  it  must  be  carried  to 
its  destination,  which  is  usually  its  market,  and  up  to  the  present 


An  examination  of  thirteen  steam  railroads  in  the  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania, averaging  in  length  from  10  to  30  miles,  with  steam  rail- 
road connection  and  facilities  for  shipment  without  transfer  from 
cars,  shows  the  average  gross  freight  earnings  per  mile  of  track  per 
annum  $2,270.  Of  this  amount  two-thirds  is  the  product  of  mines, 
and  one-third,  or  about  $750  per  mile  per  annum,  is  made  up  of 
the  products  of  agriculture,  animals,  forests,  merchandise,  manu- 
facturing and  miscellaneous  freight. 

The  Street  Railway  Journal  of  April  18,  1903,  places  the  aver- 
age freight  receipts  at  $650  gross  per  mile  of  track  per  annum, 
and  in  the  Sept.  12,  1903,  issue  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal, 
Mr.  J.  B.  McClary  places  the  average  gross  receipts  of  thirty-seven 
roads  of  the  Middle  West  at  $27,000  per  road  per  annum. 

In  some  sections  of  New  York  State,  the  following  table  gives 
the  average  yield  per  acre  in  tons  for  agricultural  products :  Hay 


SOME  STATISTICS  ON  POPULATION  AS  RELATED  TO  OPERATION  OF  INTERURBAN  ROADS  (JUNE  30,  1902) 
Presented  and  Compiled  by  H.  M.  Beardsley,  of  Elmifa 


Name 

Total 
Population 

Miles 
of  Road 

Pop. 
per  Mile 

Bonds 

Bonds 
per  Mile 

Rate 

Stock 

Divi 
dend 

Total 
Capital- 
ization 
per  Mile 

Passengers 
Carried 

Passengers 
per  Mile 

No. 
Times 
Pop. 

Surplus  over 
Interest 

and  Op.  Ex- 
penses 

Income 

Op.  Exp. 

Per 
Ct. 

A  

K  

C   

D  

E  

F   

G  

H  

I  

K-* 

L  

M  

N  

O  

P   

Q  -- 

R  

S.  ...   

T  

79,893 
61,941 
49,401 
41,044 
45.255 
62,684 
41,508 
36,323 
66,009 
44,119 
f  3,413 
41,156 
45,354 
41,876 
43,345 
80,646 
74.244 
57,992 
30,955 
39,231 

1,071,879 

62.96 
30  50 
38.09 
56.18 
30.OO 
27.60 
18.00 
34.31 
27.70 
37.00 
34  59 
50.00 
36.70 
27.24 
36.12 
76.20 
42.25 
34.53 
30.60 
19.71 

750.34 

1 ,200 
2,03!) 
1,288 

721 
1 ,508 
2,271 
2,3"9 
1,000 
2,383 
1,192 
2,411 

823 
1,233 
1,537 
1 ,200 
1.137 
1,757 
1,680 
1,000 
2,000 

$ 

2,OC0,00G 
1 ,037,000 
1,400,000 
1,00  ■  1,000 
300,000 
490,000 
100,000 
350,000 
400,000 
45,000 
250,000 
1,350,000 
1,267.000 
060,000 
1,000  000 
2,150.000 
920,000 
1.887,500 
750,000 

31,700 
35,040 
36,755 
17,800 
10,000 
17,753 
5,555 
10.201 
14,440 
1,216 
7,227 
27,000 
34,466 
24,229 
27,685 
28,215 
21,775 
54,662 
24,609 

5 
4 

5 

5 

4  and  5 
5 
5 

4  and  5 

5 
5 
5 

5 

5  and  0 

5 
4<A 
4%  and  5 

5 

4  and  5 

5  and  6 

$ 

2,000,000 
000,00  J 

1,000.000 
627,100 
350,000 
150,000 
200,000 
525,000 
600,000 
7:9.000 
520,500 

1.500  000 
731,860 
224.000 
6011,000 
461,237 
920,000 

4,000,000 

1,250,01)0 
500,000 

"6 

6 
3 
8 
5 

.. 
"8 

$ 

63.532 
55,311 
03,009 
28.962 
21.666 
23,185 
10,606 
25,300 
36,1  m 
27,687 
22,275 

144,847 
54,376 
62  385 
45,681 
41,726 
43,550 

170,504 
63,359 
25,368 

6.058,  00 
4,642,836 
4,202,493 
4,436,152 
3,765.154 
2,328,243 
2,204,066 
2,906,377 
6,160.597 
4,013,804 
5,427,947 
3.921,701 
5,031,090 
4,155,206 
4,530,949 
9,849,445 
3,337,148 
5,515.401 
3,057,750 
3,005,635 

89,876,260 

90,224 
119  437 
1 1 1 ,643 

78,963 
125,505 

84.357 
122  448 

H4.05I 
222,404 
108  481 
15r,,922 

7M.434 
136,863 
152,540 
125  000 
129.200 

78,985 
159,727 
119.531 
185,900 

76 
75 
86 

108 
83 
37 
53 
80 
93 
91 
65 
95 

110 
99 

105 

113 
44 
95 

118 
93 

$ 

61,165 
18.970 

Def.  26,787 
19,052 
64,976 
10,613 
28,100 
26,614 
104,341 
66,686 
19,181 
10,500 
18,653 

Def.  5,324 
21,879 
27,637 
102.660 
8,803 
9,714 
48,819 

$ 

381,511.28 
192,799.10 
307,823.73 
213.100  37 
201.248.04 
113,174.96 
116,111.00 
145,092.60 
326,124.59 
196,979.07 
235,171.76 
200  000.00 
202,633  10 
160,865.02 
292,128.57 
388,981.02 
334,932.89 
344  227  40 
169,459.91 
183,878.30 

$ 

220.346  38 
130,349.58 
264,61001 
144,048  99 
121,272.26 
72,061.72 
83,010.28 
100,978.99 
201,783.69 
128,043.09 
203,490.92 
122,000.00 
120,630.05 
133,189  69 
225.249.11 
253.844.13 
186,372  69 
241.049.97 
] 19,745.20 
135,059.63 

57.7 

67.0 

85.9 

67.6 

65.4 

63.7 

75 

69.6 

61.8 

65 

87 

61  - 

60 

82 

77.1 

65.2 

55 

72 

70 

74 

Totals  and  av. 

1,428 

17,400  500 

17,738,697 

46.839 

119,780 

84 

time  electric  railway  companies  have  been  practically  limited  in 
(he  amount  of  freight  handled  to  that  which  is  produced  and  con- 
sumed along  its  own  line  of  road. 

Some  idea  of  the  amount  of  this  business  may  be  gathered  from 
the  following  data  : 

In  New  York  State  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  we  find 
the  following: 

NEW  YORK  STATE 

Receipts  per 

Freight  and  Car  Car-Mile 

Express  Miles  Cents 

Albany    $37,936  49,797  75 

Rochester    28,381  46,764  60 

Newburgh    12,881  16,516  78 

Hudson  Valley    22,190  54,842  40 

Brooklyn  Heights    75,658       '    189,494  40 

Buffalo   89,354  219,672  41 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  above  that  the  freight  receipts  per  car 
mile  are  large. 

The  freight  business  on  electric  roads  in  the  Eastern  West 
has  been  developed  more  than  in  any  other  section  of  the  country. 
For  the  year  ending  April  30,  1903,  I  have  been  able  to  secure  the 
following  information  : 

OHIO 

Freight  Express  Total 

Eastern  Ohio  Traction   $44,000    $44,000 

Toledo  &  Western    23,000    23,000 

Cincinnati,  Georgetown  &  Portsmouth   37.500  $10,200  47,700 

'Cleveland  &  Southwestern   10,000  7,200  17,200 

Lake  Shore  Electric    26,200  4,700  30,900 

No  details  are  obtainable  as  to  car  mileage  or  cost  of  operation. 

No  information  is  published  that  is  absolutely  reliable  for  the 
State  of  Pennsylvania. 

The  following  roads  report  incomes  from  other  sources  than 
passenger  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  as  follows : 

Incomes  Other  than  Passengers 

Altoona  &  Logan  Valley    $29,562 

Lancaster    22,305 

Harrisburg  Traction    40,411 

Lehigh  Valley  Traction    34,193 

It  is  probable  that  these  figures  are  largely  made  up  of  freight 
and  express  receipts. 


V/2  tons;  wheat,  y2  ton;  barley,  1  ton;  oats,  6  tons;  buckwheat, 
1  ton. 

The  amount  of  milk  produced  varies  considerably  with  differ- 
ent sections  of  the  country,  although  usually  the  suburbs  of  large 
cities  are  quite  large  producers  of  milk,  on  account  of  the  city 
demand.  1  have  some  figures  before  me  that  show  about  6500 
gallons  of  milk  per  square  mile  per  annum  for  such  localities. 

It  is  almost  hopeless  for  electric  railways  to  hope  to  handle 
coal,  until  steam  railroads  are  willing  to  entrust  their  coal  cars 
laden  with  coal  to  the  electric  roads  for  delivery.  The  best 
figures  that  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  show  that  there  is  consumed 
for  household  purposes  about  2  tons  of  coal  per  capita  per  annum. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  article  to  deal  with  the  question  of 
freight  rates,  neither  with  the  methods  of  billing  the  same  and 
the  books  of  account,  but  simply  to  discuss  the  freight  business 
that  can  be  secured  under  present  conditions,  and  point  out  some 
methods,  the  adoption  of  which  would  probably  lead  to  large  in- 
creases in  receipts  from  this  source. 

I  have  already  stated  that  the  freight  business  now  done  on 
electric  railways  is  confined  very  largely  to  the  freight  produced 
and  consumed  along  the  line  of  each  individual  road.  This,  of 
course,  includes  a  small  percentage  of  freight  originally  shipped  on 
the  line  of  some  steam  road  and  consigned  to  some  station  on  the 
line  of  an  electric  road,  the  freight  being  broken  in  bulk  and  taken 
by  the  electric  road  to  its  destination. 

There  seems  to  be  a  settled  policy  among  steam  railroads 
to  decline  to  do  business  with  electric  roads  under  any  form  of 
traffic  agreement.  To  illustrate  this  point,  some  time  ago  the 
Delaware  &  Hudson  Railroad  posted  notices  in  all  of  their  stations 
instructing  agents  not  to  receive  freight  consigned  to  any  point  on 
the  Oneonta,  Cooperstown  &  Richfield  Springs  Electric  Railway. 
The  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  recently  positively  refused  to  enter  into 
any  traffic  agreement  with  a  certain  electric  railroad  to  receive  from 
or  deliver  to  it  any  freight,  even  though  by  so  doing  they  would 
have  secured  from  the  electric  road  a  terminus  in  a  city  of  over 
100,000  population.  They  likewise  declined  to  allow  the  electric  rail- 
way to  sell  tickets  from  said  city  to  any  point  on  their  road,  or  to 
sell  tickets  themselves  from  any  of  their  own  stations  over  the 
electric  railway  to  the  large  city  in  question. 

The  Delaware,  Lackawanna  &  Western  Railroad  has  recently 
been  fighting  in  the  Courts  to  prevent  an  electric  railway  putting 
in  a  switch  from  the  center  of  the  highway  that  was  intended  to 
connect  with  their  tracks  to  facilitate  freight  handling. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


453 


One  might  wonder  why  steam  railroads  should  thus  oppose  con- 
nection with  electric-  roads  that  would  result  in  a  profitable  busi- 
ness to  them.  The  answer  is  probably  this.  The  majority  of 
steam  railroads  are  banded  together  through  traffic  associations 
to  maintain  freight  rates  and  prevent  traffic  wars.  These  associa- 
tions exist  throughout  different  sections  of  the  country  and  each 
association  is  made  up  of  the  traffic  managers  of  steam  railroads 
which  belong  to  the  association.  It  is  possible  that  the  proceed- 
ings of  these  associations  are  secret  and  that  they  are  guided  by 
unwritten  laws.  At-  any  rate,  at  the  present  time,  the  associations 
are  accomplishing  good  results  in  maintaining  rates.  There  seems 
to  be  an  understanding  that  the  members  of  the  associations  will 
not  invade  new  territory,  other  than  that  already  occupied,  and  the 
probabilities  arc  that  any  member  of  such  an  association  entering 
into  a  traffic  agreement  with  any  electric  railway  to  receive  from 
them  or  to  deliver  to  them  freight  in  bulk,  shipping  the  same 
through  on  one  bill  of  lading  from  shipping  point  to  destination, 
would  subject  itself  to  a  freight  war  at  some  other  more  important 
point.  This  is  doubtless  the  reason  why  the  steam  railroads  do 
not  dare  to  make  any  traffic  agreement  with  electric  railways  that 
would  result  in  a  profitable  and  increased  business  to  both. 

f  have  recently  received  official  figures  regarding  the  freight 
business  done  on  an  electric  railway  37  miles  long  which  formerly 
was  operated  by  steam  and  was  a  member  of  certain  traffic  associ- 
ation--., and  thus  received  and  delivered  freight  on  one  through  bill 
of  lading  in  the  original  cars.  Since  the  equipment  of  this  road 
and  its  operation  by  electricity,  the  management  have  been  unable 
to  make  any  arrangement  to  pro  rate  the  freight  charges,  but  have 
operated  with  the  advantage  of  through  shipments  in  their  favor, 
each  railroad  charging  its  own  rate.  The  business  done  this  last 
year  under  these  conditions  was  as  follows: 

Freight    $32,000 

Express    5,500 

Milk    3,000 

Total    $40,500 

or  practically  $i,ioo  gross  per  mile  of  track  per  annum,  which  is 
half  as  much  again  as  most  electric  railways  are  able  to  earn  oper- 
ating without  this  advantage.  The  express  receipts  are  large, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  the  arrangement  is  made  with  the  American 
Kxpress  Company  who  do  business  on  the  electric  road  the  same 
as  on  any  steam  road. 

During-  the  past  few  years,  a  number-  of  steam  railroads  have 
purchased  electric  railroads  paralleling  their  own  tracks.  It  has 
generally  been  the  impression  that  these  purchases  have  been  made 
so  that  the  steam  railroads  might  control  important  links  that 
would  prevent  the  formation  of  a  large  system  of  competing  elec- 
tric roads,  but  doubtless  the  steam  railroad  people,  whose  busi- 
ness consists  largely  in  handling  freight,  have  appreciated  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  traffic  organization  being  formed  similar  to  their  own 
among  the  electric  railroads  by  which  freight  could  be  handled 
and  distributed  over  a  large  section  of  country  as  a  greater  men- 
ace to  their  business  than  simply  controlling  some  important  link 
to  prevent  through  passenger  traffic.  It  is  the  writer's  belief  that 
this  possibility  has  not  before  been  brought  home  to  the  managers 
and  owners  of  the  electric  properties  that  exist  to-day.  Suppose, 
for  example,  a  traffic  association  was  formed  having  as  its  members 
all  of  the  electric  railways  that  will  shortly  reach  from  Albany  to 
Chicago,  the  object  of  this  association  being  to  ship  freight  over 
the  electric  road  lines  without  breaking  bulk  to  any  points  in  the 
territory  covered  by  them.  Such  an  association,  properly  organ- 
bed  and  fostered,  would  result  in  far  more  dangerous  competition 
to  steam  railroads  than  any  through  passenger  business  that  can 
ever  be  built  up.  And  it  seems  possible  that  in  the  purchase  of 
important  electric  links  by  steam  railroad  corporations  they  have 
had  in  mind  the  prevention  of  this  development  more  than  any- 
thing else. 

From  the  investigations  the  writer  has  made  regarding  the 
amount  of  freight  now  handled  by  electric  railways  which  has  cov- 
ered a  number  of  individual  cases,  except  in  unusual  cases,  the 
amount  of  this  business  under  present  conditions  will  not  exceed 
$750  gross  per  mile  of  track  per  annum,  and  it  is  the  writer's  belief 
that  the  time  has  now  come  to  organize  a  freight  traffic  association 
among  the  electric  railways  now  operated  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing interchange  of  freight  and  broader  markets  for  the  same, 
and  that  the  establishment  of  such  an  association  is  necessary  if 
the  electric  railways  would  hope  to  largely  increase  the  freight  busi- 
ness thev  are  now  doing. 

♦♦^ 

An  attempt  was  made  to  hold  up  a  street  car  in  Portland,  Ore., 
Monday  evening,  Sept.  5,  and  a  police  officer  was  shot  by  the  dar- 
ing criminal  in  making  the  arrest.  It  is  thought  the  bandit  is  the 
same  person  that  held  up  a  Portland  Heights  car  a  few  weeks  ago. 


BLOCK  SIGNALING  OF  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  WITH  TRACK 
CIRCUIT  CONTROL 

BY  J.  B.  STRUBLE 
Of  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company 

The  system  of  protecting  railway  traffic  by  means  of  signals 
automatically  controlled  by  track  circuits  has  been  in  operation 
on  steam  roads  a  number  of  years,  but  only  recently  has  the  demand 
been  felt  for  a  like  means  for  protecting  electric  traffic. 

As  applied  on  steam  roads,  the  track  circuit  consists  in  insulat- 
ing the  tracks  so  as  to  form  sections  or  blocks.  Across  the  rails 
at  one  end  of  the  section  are  connected  the  terminals  of  a  few  cells 
of  a  gravity  battery,  and  across  the  rails  at  the  other  end  are  con- 
nected the  terminals  of  the  relay. 

A  track  circuit  so  equipped  is  not  applicable  to  a  road  using  di- 
rect-current electric  propulsion,  provided  the  rails  serve  as  return 
conductors  for  the  motor  current,  because  of  the  influence  which 
the  return  current  would  have  upon  the  track  relay,  which  in  turn 
controls  the  circuit  governing  the  position  of  the  signal.  To  over- 
come this  difficulty  it  is  necessary  to  employ  a  current  for  the  track 
circuit  which  has  such  characteristic  difference  from  that  of  direct- 
current  as  will  operate  selectively  upon  the  track  relay.  Alternat- 
ing-current accomplishes  this  because  of  its  ability  to  induce  a  cur- 
rent in  another  circuit  brought  within  its  magnetic  field,  a  property 
not  possessed  by  direct-current. 

The  track  relay  is,  therefore,  of  the  induction  type  and  responds 
to  alternating-current  and  not  to  direct-current.  An  excess  of 
direct-current  cannot  cause  a  wrong  operation  of  the  signal  other 
than  to  cause  it  to  indicate  danger,  for  if  a  fuse  or  other  protective 
device  fails  to  open  the  circuit,  the  relay  coils  would  be  destroyed, 
resulting  in  the  signal  indicating  danger.  With  this  relay  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  residual  magnetism;  in  this  respect  differing  from 
the  direct-current  relay. 

Two  main  feed  wires  bearing  alternating-current  at,  say  60  cycles 
and  2000  volts,  extend  the  length  of  the  system,  and  across  these 
are  connected  the  primaries  of  the  track  circuit  transformers,  the 
secondary  leads  of  which  are  connected  through  low  ohmic  resist- 
ance, across  the  rails  at  the  exit  end  of  each  track  circuit.  Across 
the  rails  at  the  entering  end  are  connected  the  terminals  of  the  in- 
duction relay.  We  now  have  a  circuit  consisting  of  the  secondary  of 
the  transformer,  the  rails  and  the  coils  of  the  track  relay.  Through 
the  track  rails  of  this  circuit  passes  simultaneously  two  kinds  of 
current,  alternating,  induced  by  the  primary  of  the  transformer, 
and  direct,  the  return  from  the  car  motors.  Since  direct-current 
tends  to  make  ineffective  the  alternating-current,  an  impedance 
coil  is  connected  across  the  relay  terminals,  or  the  track  rails; 
this  has  low  ohmic  resistance,  but  high  inductive  resistance  or 
impedance  to  the  passage  of  alternating-current,  and  serves  to  shunt 
the  direct-current  from,  while  compelling  the  alternating-current 
to  pass  through  the  relay. 

In  one  arrangement  of  the  track  circuit  it  is  necessary  to  insert 
insulations  in  but  one  of  the  rails  at  the  end  of  each  section,  the 
other  rail  remaining  continuous  and  serving  as  a  return  conductor 
of  the  motor  current. 

Another  arrangement  is  that  of  continuing  the  use  of  both  rails 
in  their  original  capacity,  while  at  the  same  time  serving  the  pur- 
pose of  block  rails  for  the  operation  of  signals.  This  is  done  by 
applying  insulations  in  one  or  both  rails  at  the  terminals  of  block 
sections  and  connecting  around  these  insulations  by  inductive  bonds. 
These  bonds  are  simply  impedance  coils  of  very  low  ohmic  resist- 
ance, permitting-  the  return  direct  current  to  pass  through  them  but 
impeding  the  passage  of  alternating-current. 

The  track  circuit,  whether  operated  by  direct  or  alternating- 
current,  and  whether  applied  to  steam  or  electric  roads,  has  no  re- 
lation to  the  type  of  signal  which  it  governs.  Signals  are  of  many 
designs  and  are  actuated  manually  or  by  power  in  a  number  of 
different  forms,  but  the  functional  relation  of  the  track  circuit  to 
all  of  them  is  the  same.  i.  e.,  the  signal  is  caused  to  indicate 
danger  as  long  as  the  track  section  which  it  governs  is  occupied 
by  a  pair  of  wheels.  There  are,  however,  usually  certain  conditions 
associated  with  track  circuits  which  make  signals  of  a  certain  type 
preferable. 

Thus  the  alternating-current  track  circuit,  which  applies  almost 
exclusively  to  electric  roads,  is  associated  with  electric  power 
which  is  at  all  points  available  for  the  operation  of  purely  electric 
signals.  Such  signals  are  of  various  types,  but  the  simplest  in  form 
is  that  of  the  direct-acting  solenoid.  This  preferably  uses  for  its 
operation  the  direct-current  of  the  propulsion  system.  Another 
form  is  that  of  the  motor-geared,  using  storage  batteries  which  are 
charged  through  resistance  from  the  trolley  or  third  rail. 

Should  trains  other  than  electric  traverse  the  system  at  times 
when  the  power  is  shut  down,  these  batteries  serve  to  keep  the  sig- 
nals alive  and  operative.     Then  again  a  signal  driven  by  induction 


454 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


motor,  drawing  power  from  the  alternating  mains  which  supply  the 
track  circuits,  has  advantages,  one  of  which  is  that  of  making  the 
signal  system  self-contained  and  independent  of  other  departments 
of  the  road. 

The  important  matter  of  lighting  the  signals  at  night  is  a  valua- 
ble incidental  feature  to  the  alternating-current  track  circuit  system. 
For  this  purpose  the  track  transformers  are  supplied  with  two  sec- 
ondary coils,  thus  securing  any  desired  voltage  for  the  lights. 

Way  stations  may  be  lighted  from  the  signal  mains,  thus  secur- 
ing the  advantage  of  high  voltage  transmission.  Usually  the  size 
of  the  mains  need  not  be  increased  because  of  this  additional  duty, 
because  at  high  voltage  a  wire  of  sufficient  mechanical  strength  has 
a  larger  section  than  that  required  for  supplying  current  to  the  sig- 
nal system. 

The  first  signal  installation  in  service,  using  alternating-current, 
is  that  on  the  North  Shore  Railroad  in  California.  This  was  in- 
stalled by  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company  about  one  year 
ago,  and  has  given  the  best  of  satisfaction.  The  same  company 
is  now  installing  a  similar  and  very  extensive  system  in  the  sub- 
way of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  in  New  York 
City. 

In  developing  this  system  great  care  has  been  used  to  exclude  any 
apparatus  or  feature  of  design,  the  failure  of  which  might  result 
in  a  clear  signal  indication.  This  is  not  a  new  principle  in  signal- 
ing apparatus,  but  it  is  of  such  vital  importance,  and  is,  more- 
over, so  frequently  lost  sight  of,  that  it  will  bear  repetition.  Any 
failure  of  the  apparatus  or  of  the  active  forces  employed,  must  re- 
sult, due  to  the  force  of  gravity,  in  the  display  of  a  danger  signal. 




MAINTENANCE  OF  ELECTRIC  CARS  AND  THEIR  EQUIPMENT 


BY  H.  A.  BENEDICT 
Electrical  arid  Mechanical  Engineer,  United  Traction  Company,  Albany 


The  street  railway  company  of  to-day,  operating  in  each  of  our 
large  cities,  is  formed  in  many  cases  by  the  combination  of  a  number 


short  lines,  requiring  many  stops  with  fast  time,  the  20-ft.  box  car 
mounted  on  single  truck  for  winter  service  and  the  ten  bench  open 
car  mounted  on  a  single  truck  for  summer  service,  have  a  number 
of  points  in  their  favor.  If  it  is  city  service  on  lines  of  10  miles 
or  more,  the  light,  double-truck  box  car  of  28  ft.  or  30  ft.  long  for 
winter  service  and  the  thirteen  bench  open  car  for  summer  ser- 
vice, present  a  number  of  points  in  favor  of  their  adoption.  For 
interurban  service,  the  high  speed,  double-truck  box  car  is  the  only 
type  that  may  well  be  considered,  although  there  is  a  tendency  at 
the  present  time  to  enlarge  upon  this  type  of  car  and  copy  steam 
railways  as  to  size,  weight  and  general  outline  of  car,  giving  the 
interurban  car  the  appearance  of  the  steam  "Pullman"  coach.  If 
this  type  of  car  is  to  be  adopted  for  use  upon  private  right  of  way, 
and  does  not  have  to  be  operated  through  city  streets,  it  then  be- 
comes practically  steam  railroad  operating  conditions,  and  the  ex- 
perience of  steam  roads,  in  the  development  of  their  type  of  car, 
should  be  given  consideration. 

If,  however,  the  interurban  car  is  to  be  operated  not  only  upon 
private  right  of  way  from  one  city  to  another,  but  is  obliged  to  run 
through  city  streets  on  tracks  laid  under  franchises  granted  for 
the  operation  of  street  surface  cars  propelled  by  horses,  it  then 
becomes  a  very  important  question,  should  the  interurban  Car  re- 
semble the  steam  coach  ?  The  public  have  rights  which  must  be 
considered,  and  it  is  the  writer's  opinion  that  the  interurban  car 
which  operates  through  city  streets  should  not  exceed  50  ft.  in 
length  and  should  in  appearance  resemble  the  city  service  car. 

The  standardization  of  trucks  and  electrical  equipment  is  deter- 
mined largely  by  local  conditions  and  the  type  of  car  body.  If 
for  city  service  under  a  20-ft.  body  the  single-truck  with  7  ft.  6 
in.,  or  8  in.  wheel  base,  with  two  40-hp  motors,  should  give  good 
service.  If  for  city  service  on  long  lines,  under  28  ft.  or  30  ft.  car 
bodies,  the  double-truck,  with  4  ft.  6  in.  wheel  base  and  four  motor 
equipment  will  give  satisfactory  service.  The  trucks  for  interur- 
ban cars  have  been  developed  upon  steam  railroad  principles,  and' 
the  standard  adopted  should  follow  closely  those  trucks  developed 
by  many  years  of  experience  upon  high  speed  steam  roads,  such 
changes  being  made  as  is  required  for  the  adoption  of  the  electric 
equipment  which  for  high  speed  necessarily  means  four  motors  of 


Master 
Mechanic 


/Foremari> 
Car 
House 


/Foreiaam. 
Car 
.  House  . 


f BlaelA 

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I  h  ore  in 
[  Machine 
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Electric 
1  Repairs 


/Foremam 

f Foremam 

[Carpenter] 

(    Faint  ] 

V   Shop  J 

V   Shop  J 

/Foreman\ 
Car 
.  House  y 


[CarpeiA 

(  Pit  A 

(  Fit  1 

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f  Black-1 
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Car  Cleaners  »nd  Oilers  Car  Cleaners  and  Oilers  Car  Cleaners  and  Oilers  Car  Cleaners  and  Oilers 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING  ORGANIZATION  OF  MECHANICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  UNITED  TRACTION  COMPANY 


of  railway  companies  each  operating  over  individual  lines  with  its 
special  type  of  car.  In  the  operation  of  such  a  combination  a 
number  of  problems  present  themselves  : 

First — The  adoption  of  standard  types  of  car  bodies. 

Second — Standardization  of  trucks  and  electric  equipment. 

Third — Reconstruction  of  car  houses  and  repair  shops. 

Fourth — Equipment  of  repair  shops. 

Fifth — Organization  of  maintenance  department. 

In  the  adoption  of  standard  types  of  car  bodies  many  local  condi- 
tions are  to  be  considered  and  only  in  a  general  way  can  certain 
characteristics  be  decided  upon.    If  the  car  is  for  city  service  on 


from  50  hp  to  125  hp  each,  as  speed  and  local  conditions  may  re- 
quire. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  a  standard  type  of  car  and  the  rearrange- 
ment of  the  various  lines  to  meet  the  conditions  caused  by  con- 
solidation and  the  demands  of  the  public  for  increased  facilities  for 
transportation,  it  becomes  necessary  to  rearrange  buildings  for  the 
storage  of  such  cars  and  arrange  the  proper  facilities  for  inspection 
and  repairs.  The  remodeled  horse  car  house  which  has  answered 
the  purpose  of  storing  cars  since  the  introduction  of  electricity  is 
no  longer  satisfactory.  In  some  cases  the  local  conditions  may  have 
so  changed  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  change  the  site  of  the  car 
house,  in  which  case  the  problem  is  somewhat  simpler  than  adopt- 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


455 


ing  and  remodeling  the  horse  car  house  for  the  storage  and  inspec- 
tion of  the  standard  types  of  electric  cars. 

In  the  erection  of  a  car  house  the  following  general  points  are 

considered : 
First— The  fire  risk. 

Second — Facilities  for  inspection,  cleaning  and  making  light  re- 
pairs. 

Third — Heating  and  lighting  of  the  car  house. 

The  insurance  companies  have  given  the  subject  of  fire  risks 
on  electric  cars  and  car  houses  considerable  study,  and  the  Board 
of  Underwriters  have  adopted  standard  rules  for  their  protection 
in  the  construction  of  car  houses.  The  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that 
improvements  can  be  made  in  the  construction  of  fireproof  car 
houses.  It  is  necessary  for  economical  operation  in  the  large  cities 
to  have  100  or  more  cars  operated  from  a  given  point.  The  prob- 
lem presented  is,  how  to  reduce  fire  risk  on  the  car  house  which  at 
times  will  contain  half  a  million  dollars  worth  of  rolling  stock.  It 
has  been  found  that  concrete  is  one  of  the  best  fire  proof  materials, 
and  also  a  poor  conductor  of  heat ;  it  therefore  becomes  one  of  the 
best  materials  for  the  construction  of  car  houses.  By  the  use  of 
concrete,  reinforced  with  steel  bars  for  the  roof  and  wall  construc- 
tion, and  introducing  a  4-inch  partition  wall  between  each  track, 
one  practically  has  as  many  fireproof  car  houses  all  contained  in 
one  building,  as  there  are  tracks.  In  a  car  house  constructed  on 
these  lines  the  fire  risk  is  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

For  inspection,  each  track  should  have  a  pit  between  the  rails,  4 
ft.  deep,  extending  from  rail  to  rail.  Upon  the  walls  of  these  pits 
should  be  installed  steam  pipes  for  heating  that  compartment  of  the 
car  house  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  drying  out  the  electric  equip- 
ment. A  narrow  skylight  constructed  of  wire  glass  inserted  in  two 
rows  over  the  side  aisles  of  each  compartment  will  furnish  satisfac- 
tory light. 

REPAIR  SHOP 

The  general  repair  shop  should  be  centrally  located  with  refer- 
ence to  car  houses,  where  all  general  repairs  can  be  done  economi- 
cally and  quickly.  The  general  repair  shop  of  an  electric  road  for 
both  city  and  interurban  service  should  consist  of  a  paint  shop, 
carpenter  shop,  machine  shop,  electric  repair  shop,  blacksmith  shop 
and  truck  shop. 

Floor  space,  light  and  heat  are  the  most  important  factors  in 
the  paint  shop.  The  tracks  should  be  so  arranged  as  to  give  ready 
access  to  cars  so  that  any  car  can  be  removed  without  the  necessity 
of  moving  but  one  or  two  other  cars.  Light  obtained  by  skylights 
in  the  roof  gives  satisfactory  distribution  of  light.  Steam  is  the 
most  economical  and  satisfactory  form  of  heat  for  the  paint  shop. 
The  carpenter  shop,  under  the  same  roof  as  the  paint  shop,  with  the 
same  general  design  as  to  trackage,  light  and  heat,  has  proven  very 
satisfactory.  The  machine  shop,  electric  repair  shop,  blacksmith 
shop  and  truck  shop  can  be  under  the  same  roof  and  arranged  to 
meet  the  local  conditions.  They  should  all  be  upon  one  floor  and 
lighted  by  means  of  skylights  as  well  as  side  windows. 

STOREHOUSE 

All  supplies  required  in  the  operation  of  the  railway  system 
should  be  stored  in  a  building  located  conveniently  to  the  repair 
shop  and  should  be  a  building  devoted  entirely  to  the  storage  of 
supplies  and  separate  from  the  other  buildings. 

The  equipment  of  repair  shops  depends  largely  upon  local  con- 
ditions. The  truck  shop  in  general  should  be  equipped  with  over- 
head traveling  cranes  which  span  at  least  two  tracks.  The  floor 
level  between  the  tracks  should  be  depressed  12  ins.,  and  the  floor 
between  the  rails  of  each  track  should  be  4  ft.  6  ins.  lower  than  the 
tread  of  the  rail,  with  a  light  narrow  gage  track  in  the  bottom  of 
the  pit,  so  formed  for  the  use  of  a  hydraulic  jack.  In  making  re- 
pairs to  motors  the  hydraulic  jack  is  found  to  be  very  useful  with 
those  types  of  motors  which  allow  the  removal  of  the  bottom  half 
of  the  motor,  thus  permitting  the  removal  of  the  fields  and  armature 
without  removing  truck  from  underneath  the  car  body. 

The  electric  repair  shop  should  be  equipped  with  forms  for  mak- 
ing armature  and  field  coils,  and  arrangements  made  for  their  proper 
insulation ;  also  armature  banding  machine  with  other  labor  saving 
devices  depending  upon  the  type  of  electric  equipment  to  be  main- 
tained. 

The  machine  shop  should  be  equipped  with  lathes,  drill  presses, 
a  milling  machine,  a  36-in.  boring  machine,  hydraulic  wheel  press, 
emery  wheel  and  grind  stone  and  such  other  special  devices  as  the 
local  conditions  may  demand. 

In  the  organization  of  a  department  of  maintenance,  the  per- 
sonality of  the  organization  should  be  of  a  high  order.  In  order 
to  obtain  the  best  results  the  men  should  not  only  be  thorough 
mechanics  in  their  respective  lines,  but  should  be  conscientious, 
industrious  and  faithful.  The  following  organization  has  proven 
satisfactory : 

Particular  attention  should  be  given  to  the  inspection  of  cars. 


As  much  depends  upon,  not  only  the  system  of  inspection,  but 
the  care  with  which  cars  are  inspected.  All  cars  should  be  thor- 
oughly inspected  at  least  once  every  twenty-four  hours,  and  records 
should  be  kept  of  such  inspection,  not  only  for  the  benefit  of  the 
master  mechanic  and  foreman,  but  these  records  will  be  found  valua- 
ble in  damage  suits,  in  refreshing  the  memory  of  the  inspector  as 
to  the  condition  of  the  particular  part  of  the  car  in  question  at  the 
given  time  immediately  preceding  the  accident.  The  greater  part 
of  the  inspection  of  cars  must  necessarily  be  done  at  night,  but 
repair  work  at  night  should  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible.  Night 
work  is  generally  found  to  be  expensive  and  unsatisfactory.  When 
a  car  is  reported  by  the  night  inspector  showing  certain  defects, 
at  the  time  the  repairs  are  made  the  following  day,  the  work  of  the 
night  inspector  should  be  checked  by  the  repair  crew  and  the  car 
tested  in  all  details  before  the  car  is  again  placed  in  service,  and 
the  record  of  all  repairs  made  should  be  turned  in  at  the  office  of 
the  master  mechanic.  With  the  individual  mileage  of  the  cars  the 
master  mechanic  is  then  in  a  position  to  know  the  wearing  qualities 
of  all  the  materials  going  into  the  maintenance  of  the  cars. 

Well  designed  electrical  equipment  having  been  installed  to  meet 
the  local  conditions,  the  wearing  parts  of  such  an  equipment  which 
need  the  most  attention  are  the  motor  armature  bearings,  which, 
being  babbit-lined,  lubricated  by  either  oil  or  grease  (preferably  oil), 
need  close  attention  from  the  motor  inspector.  The  quality  of 
babbitt  required  depends  largely  upon  the  conditions  of  operation. 
A  tin  base  metal  consisting  of  about  80  per  cent  tin,  10  per  cent 
antimony  and  10  per  cent  copper  will  give  satisfactory  service  on 
interurban  motors  and  city  service  requiring  high  speed.  A  lead 
base  metal  will  be  found  permissible  under  some  conditions  for 
lining  axle  bearings,  but  will  not  be  found  satisfactory  for  arma- 
ture bearings  where  high  speed  and  heavy  pressure  are  required. 

 —  

FREIGHT  AND  EXPRESS  BUSINESS  ON  STREET  RAILWAYS 

BY  C.  R.  VAN  ETTEN 
General  Freight  Agent,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company. 


The  progress  made  in  handling  property  on  the  street  railway 
lines  is  of  benefit  to  the  public  and  railroads  alike,  the  public  by 
finding  a  cheaper  and  more  satisfactory  method  of  transportation, 
the  railroad  a  new  source  of  profit.  A  study  of  local  conditions 
will  determine  whether  a  street  railway  can  profitably  engage  in 
the  transportation  of  freight.  The  volume,  class  of  traffic,  length 
of  haul,  existing  rates,  and,  if  in  competition  with  another  carrier, 
the  accessibility  of  competing  terminals  and  probable  result  of 
competition  must  be  considered. 

TERMINALS 

Well  located  terminals  for  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  traffic  are 
of  first  importance.  The  best  are  private  sidings  located  on  the 
property  of  carload  shippers.  The  cost  and  maintenance  of  these 
sidings  are  generally  paid  by  the  shipper,  and  once  installed,  a 
steady  business  is  assured.  Public  team  tracks  and  warehouses, 
located  in  the  business  centers  are  also  necessary,  and,  since  ac- 
cessibility of  terminals  influence  the  amount  of  traffic  handled,  the 
expenditure  for  property  located  in  the  heart  of  the  business  dis- 
trict will  be  justified  by  the  increased  tonnage  a  good  location 
commands. 

EQUIPMENT 

Where  tonnage  is  heavy,  the  employment  of  an  electric  locomo- 
tive handling  cars  in  trains  will  effect  economy  in  the  expense  of 
operation.  The  first  cost  of  the  locomotive  will  be  offset  by  saving 
the  expense  of  electrical  equipment  on  cars.  It  is  seldom,  how- 
ever, that  this  class  of  operation  would  be  permitted  on  railroads 
that  do  not  own  private  right  of  way. 

Cars  should  be  of  as  great  capacity  as  structures,  track,  and  clear- 
ance permit.  The  difference  in  cost  of  handling  cars  containing 
fifteen  or  twenty-five  tons  is  small  and  the  revenue  is  increased 
proportionately  to  the  tonnage  carried.  Steel  under-framing,  direct 
air  brakes,  and,  on  cars  with  independent  power,  four  motors  are 
recommended. 

A  desirable  type  of  car  has  drop  sides  18  ins.  to  2  ft.  high,  hinged 
to  the  side  sills.  It  can  be  converted  by  the  crew  from  a  flat  to  a 
gondola  car  in  a  minute's  time,  and  is  available  for  any  class  of 
traffic  that  does  not  require  protection  from  the  weather. 

Hopper  or  peaked  bottom  cars  are  not  desirable,  except  where 
there  is  sufficient  traffic  adapted  to  such  special  construction  to 
keep  them  employed.  Derrick  cars  are  convenient  for  handling 
heavy  machinery,  building  stone,  and  structural  steel.  The  derrick 
with  its  motor  is  located  at  one  end  of  the  car  and  carries  the 
trolley  stand.  It  does  not  greatly  decrease  the  load  space  and 
saves  considerable  time  and  labor.  Box  cars  with  a  double  floor 
handle  ice  in  carloads  without  damage  to  electrical  equipment,  and, 


456 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


by  sealing  the  inside  with  ordinary  flooring,  the  shrinkage  is  min- 
imized. Where  box  cars  effect  delivery  on  main  line  or  carry  small 
lots  of  freight  from  station  to  station,  two  doors  on  each  side  of 
the  car  facilitates  the  loading  and  unloading. 

RATES 

Rates  should  be  arranged  with  a  view  to  securing  all  that  the 
traffic  will  fairly  stand.  The  cost  by  other  methods  of  transporta- 
tion should  be  considered.  In  competitive  territory,  there  is  too 
much  profit  sacrificed  by  the  manipulation  of  rates,  and  a  skillful 
traffic  manager  will  come  to  an  early  understanding  with  his  com- 
petitor. 

The  detention  of  cars,  loading  and  unloading,  must  be  watched 
While  steam  railroads  allow  forty-eight  hours  and  charge  $i  day 
thereafter,  a  like  practice  should  not  be  followed  by  street  rail- 
ways, and  particularly  with  cars  electrically  equipped.  Forty-eight 
hours  is  unreasonable  where  the  haul  is  short  and  practice  shows 
it  is  unnecessary.  On  cars  of  20-ton  capacity,  electrically  equipped, 
it  has  been  found  practicable  to  limit  time  for  loading  and  unload- 
ing to  two  hours,  and  collect  $1  per  car-hour  for  detention  there- 
after. 

In  handling  traffic  under  commodity  rates  where  time  consumed 
in  loading  and  unloading  effected  the  rate  basis,  some  interesting 
records  have  been  made.  Cars  of  paving  block  being  loaded  in 
thirty  minutes,  broken  stone  and  brick  in  thirty-five  minutes  and 
lumber  in  one  hour,  each  with  approximately  twenty  tons.  The 
paving  block  was  unloaded  in  six  minutes,  brick  and  broken  stone 
in  twenty  minutes  and  lumber  in  forty-five  minutes. 

ACCOUNTING 

The  method  of  way-billing  and  accounting  used  by  steam  rail- 
roads is  generally  followed,  but,  as  there  is  no  check  on  traffic  from 
time  receipt  is  given  until  way-bill  is  issued,  the  suppression  of 
duplicate  receipts  may  cover  thefts  for  a  considerable  time.  There 
is  also  opportunity  for  the  forwarding  agent  to  accept  "prepay- 
ment" and  bill  charges  "collect,"  and,  by  selecting  the  shipments, 
this  may  be  worked  for  a  long  time  before  it  is  known  at  the  gen- 
eral office.  On  local  business  the  forwarding  and  receiving  agents 
may  act  in  collusion  and  suppress  way-bills. 

A  system,  that  has  been  suggested  to  do  away  with  these  abuses, 
consists  of  duplicate  receipts  with  stub,  all  bound  in  book  form 
and  consecutively  numbered,  so  that  each  one  must  be  accounted 
for.  The  stub  showing  consignee,  weight  and  charges  goes  to  the 
auditor  when  original  receipt  is  issued  to  the  shipper.  The  dupli- 
cate shows  all  charges  and  goes  with  the  shipment  in  place  of  a 
way-bill.  The  consignee  receipts  for  the  goods  on  the  same  blank, 
which  is  then  forwarded  to  the  auditor,  giving  him  original  entries 
for  the  entire  transaction. 

Street  railways  sometimes  fail  to  take  into  account  items  that 
are  common  to  the  general  operation  and  maintenance  of  the  road, 
charging  only  such  direct  expenses  as  cannot  well  go  elsewhere. 
There  should  be  charged  against  the  expense  of  handling  freight 
a  proper  amount  for  maintenance  of  way,  structures,  equipment 
and  power,  comprehensive  of  the  difference  in  weight  of  cars  and 
miles  traveled. 

EXPRESS 

When  shipments  are  handled  under  a  rate  that  provides  special 
privileges  of  transportation,  with  store  door  collection  and  delivery, 
they  may  properly  be  classed  as  express. 

Steam  railroads  have  demonstrated  that  it  is  more  profitable  to 
let  the  express  companies  operate  on  their  lines  than  to  run  an 
express  department,  the  few  exceptions  being  railroads  now  hand- 
ling their  own  express  profitably,  who  have  extensive  mileage 
through  territory  where  there  is  little  competition. 

Street  railway  companies  are  seldom  justified  in  going  into  the 
express  business,  particularly  if  it  is  possible  to  make  a  satisfactory 
contract  with  one  of  the  express  companies.  The  outlay  for  horses 
and  wagons,  and  expense  of  their  maintenance  and  operation  is 
so  great  that  short  haul  traffic  cannot  stand  rates  high  enough  to 
support  it.  The  large  express  companies  make  their  profit  on  long 
haul  business,  and  35  per  cent  of  their  total  receipts  is  paid  out  for 
expenses  at  terminals.  Since  the  terminal  cost  is  no  greater  on 
a  package  from  New  York  to  Chicago,  with  rate  of  $2.25  per  hun- 
dred pounds,  than  on  a  short  haul  shipment  handled  for  25  cents, 
it  follows  that  a  short  haul  business,  if  taken  by  itself,  would  be  han- 
dled at  a  loss. 

Thousands  of  dollars  have  already  been  lost  in  trying  to  build  up 
a  profitable  short  haul  business.  One  company  thus  engaged  on 
a  street  railway  for  several  years,  after  trying  every  expedient  and 
losing  a  large  sum  of  money,  recently  sold  out  to  one  of  the  large 
express  companies. 

When  satisfactory  arrangements  cannot  be  made  with  a  regu- 
lar express  company  and  there  is  sufficient  traffic  requiring  termi- 
nal collection  and  delivery  that  cannot  be  secured  on  a  freight 
basis,  it  is  preferable,  until  the  business  is  established,  to  engage  a 
resident  drayman  in  each  locality  to  perform  the  terminal  collec- 


tion and  delivery,  for  a  fixed  sum  per  hundred  pounds  or  of  a  per- 
centage of  the  through  rate.  If  the  traffic  will  not  move  at  such 
rates  as  can  then  be  quoted,  it  will  not  justify  the  purchase  and 
maintenance  of  horses  and  wagons. 

AUTOMOBILES 

The  progress  that  has  been  made  with  motor-driven  wagons 
for  handling  property  must  not  be  overlooked.  Within  a  few 
years  they  will  become  an  important  factor  in  handling  short  haul 
traffic,  since  they  can  effect  store  door  collection  and  delivery 
without  breaking  bulk. 

PUBLIC  BENEFITS 

The  transportation  of  property  by  street  railways  is  an  advan- 
tage to  the  community  at  large.  It  reduces  the  delivered  cost  of 
goods  to  the  consumer,  diverts  the  wear  and  tear  of  heavy  trucking 
from  streets,  maintained  at  public  cost,  to  tracks  maintained  by 
the  railway,  and  is  a  factor  in  relieving  street  congestion.  A 
freight  car  40  ft.  long  will  carry  20  tons  of  freight  10  miles  an 
hour.  It  will  take  ten  teams  occupying  five  times  the  street  space, 
three  times  as  long  to  do  the  same  work. 

A  sanitary  and  economic  result  is  accomplished  through  the  dis- 
position of  city  waste  by  street  railways.  A  description  of  the 
method  employed  was  given  in  April  23  issue  of  the  Street  Rail- 
way Journal. 

Steam  railways  and  steamship  lines  are  beginning  to  apply  the 
same  rates  to  stations  located  on  a  street  railway  as  obtain  at 
their  own  terminals,  and  the  charges  of  the  street  railways  are 
paid  by  the  railway  or  steamship  line  that  secures  the  long  haul. 
Factories  thus  save  the  expense  of  cartage  and  secure  all  the  ad- 
vantages they  would  have  if  located  on  the  tracks  of  a  steam  rail- 
way. This  tends  to  encourage  the  location  of  new  industries  at 
points  where  property  is  cheap,  and  the  employees  can  live  con- 
venient to  their  work  with  greater  comfort  and  less  expense  than 
when  crowded  into  the  older  sections  of  the  city. 

Recently  there  have  been  radical  changes  in  the  position  of 
steam  railroads  toward  street  railways.  A  steam  railroad  that 
three  years  ago  threatened  to  cancel  all  traffic  arrangements  with 
a  smaller  line,  which  proposed  to  change  to  electrical  operation, 
is  to-day  considering  the  purchase  of  electric  roads  as  feeders  for 
freight  as  well  as  passenger  traffic.  The  steam  railroad  traffic  man- 
agers are  alive  to  the  possibilities  of  the  street  railway  as  a  carrier 
of  freight,  and,  they  realize,  that  unless  encouraged  as  feeders, 
the  street  railways  will  act  in  combination  as  competitors. 
 ■  ■ 

NEW  FREIGHT  STATION  AT  CINCINNATI 


The  Interurban  Railway  &  Terminal  Company  has  opened  its 
new  freight  and  express  station  on  Sycamore  Street.  The  build- 
ing, which  is  of  brick  and  steel,  has  a  frontage  of  50  ft.  on 
Sycamore  Street  and  extends  back  240  ft.  The  station  adjoins 
the  handsome  passenger  station  and  general  office  building  of  the 
company,  which  was  described  and  illustrated  in  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  of  Nov.  28,  1903.  Heretofore  the  company  used  a  portion 
cf  the  passenger  station  for  its  freight  business,  but  it  proved 
wholly  inadequate  for  the  large  amount  of  business  that  had  been 
worked  up,  and  an  exclusive  freight  station  was  found  necessary. 
In  addition  to  being  used  by  the  three  lines  of  the  Interurban  Rail- 
way &  Terminal  Company,  the  station  will  be  utilized  by  the  Cin- 
cinnati, Dayton  &  Toledo  Traction  Company,  which  heretofore  has 
brought  express  only  as  far  as  the  outskirts  of  Cincinnati  owing 
to  the  difference  in  gage  between  the  tracks  of  the  interurban  com- 
pany and  those  of  the  city  company.  The  company  has  built  two 
special  broad  gage  express  cars  which  will  operate  between  the 
station  and  the  old  station  at  Cumminsville,  where  the  packages  will 
be  transferred  to  cars  on  the  main  line. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  ST.  LOUIS  &  SPRINGFIELD  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

Active  work  on  the  electric  railway  which  is  to  connect  St.  Louis 
with  Springfield  has  been  started  in  Edwardsville,  111.  The  inter- 
urban system  known  as  the  McKinley  syndicate,  and  incorporated 
under  the  titles  of  the  St.  Louis  &  Springfield  Electric  Railway 
Company  and  the  Illinois  Central  Traction  Company,  connect 
Springfield,  Champaign,  Urbana,  Decatur,  Bloomington  and  Carlin- 
ville,  and  are  now  reaching  out  for  St.  Louis.  Beyousset  &  Laing, 
of  Dallas,  Tex.,  have  been  awarded  the  contract  for  the  first  work 
on  the  new  line  from  Staunton  to  Edwardsville,  a  distance  of  19 
miles.  Tracks  in  Edwardsville  are  now  being  laid  along  Second 
and  Purcell  Streets  and  Hillsboro  Avenue.  The  decision  of  the 
company  to  run  from  Edwardsville  via  Staunton  instead  of  Bunker 
Hill,  marked  the  conclusion  of  a  pretty  fight  between  those  towns 
for  the  line.  The  route  is  now  being  surveyed  from  Edwardsville 
south  to  Granite  City. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


457 


FINANCIAL  INTELLIGENCE 


Wall  Street,  Sept.  21,  1904. 

The  Money  Market 

Business  grew  decidedly  more  active  in  the  money  market  dur- 
ing the  week.  Rates  at  the  same  time  reflected  the  heavy  cash 
losses  of  the  local  banks,  hardening  appreciably  for  both  call  and 
time  loans.  At  the  outset  of  the  week  demand  money  was  sup- 
plied abundantly  at  i  per  cent,  but  toward  the  close  the  quota- 
tion advanced  to  2  per  cent,  and  that  is  the  ruling  figure  at  this 
writing.  Time  money  was  considerably  more  active,  owing  to  the 
heavy  trading  in  the  securities'  market,  and  rates  for  all  periods 
were  put  up  14  to  y2  per  cent  above  those  of  a  week  ago.  Sixty- 
day  money,  which  was  obtainable  until  recently  at  2J/2  per  cent, 
has  been  marked  up  to  3  per  cent,  while  ninety-day  loans  now 
command  3K  per  cent.  Over-the-year  funds  are  quoted  at  4  per 
cent.  The  bulk  of  the  week's  business  consisted  of  ninety-day 
maturities  at  3^  per  cent,  the  money  being  supplied  very  largely 
by  foreign  houses  against  exchange  transaction.  The  commer- 
cial paper  market  has  not  perceptibly  changed.  A  limited  supply 
of  high-grade  paper  is  reported,  the  minimum  rate  being  4  per 
cent.  Demand  for  these  accommodations  continues  good,  and 
all  offerings  are  readily  absorbed.  According  to  the  statement 
issued  by  the  Clearing-House  Association  last  Saturday  the  banks 
now  hold  a  surplus  reserve  of  $29,000,000  against  $38,000,000  the 
previous  week,  and  $13,000,000  a  year  ago.  Although  this  item  is 
still  well  above  what  it  has  been  for  corresponding  periods  in  re- 
cent years,  it  is  also  true  that  the  withdrawals  of  cash  for  crop- 
moving  purposes  are  exceptionally  heavy.  The  unusually  high 
level  at  which  all  agricultural  commodities  are  selling  is  the  chief 
reason  why  larger  sums  are  needed  in  the  interior  this  autumn 
than  usual.  It  is  a  question  now  whether,  with  these  withdrawals 
in  prospect  for  another  two  months,  and  with  the  low  Treasury 
reserve  to  prevent  any  relief  measures  from  that  quarter,  the 
money  market  will  get  through  the  autumn  without  something  of 
a  strain.  At  all  events  a  further  rise  in  money  rates  is  fairly 
certain. 

The  Stock  Harket 

Indications  of  a  decisive  check  to  the  upward  movement  have 
appeared  very  plainly  during  the  week  on  the  Stock  Exchange. 
Some  further  advances  have  occurred  in  individual  stocks,  notably 
the  Steel  issues  and  Pennsylvania  Railroad.  But  as  a  rule,  it  has 
been  the  minor  specialties  that  have  gained,  while  the  greater  part 
of  the  list  have  been  slowly  but  surely  receding.  The  Western 
railroad  shares  have  been  sold  on  estimates  of  heavy  damage  from 
recent  cold  weather  in  the  corn  belt.  It  is  the  accepted  belief,  how- 
ever, that  predictions  of  low  corn  yields  put  out  by  so-called  "ex- 
perts," are  very  much  exaggerated  to  suit  speculative  interests. 
The  much  more  solid  reason  behind  the  decline  in  the  Western 
security  group,  is  that  these  shares  were  rather  freely  distributed 
on  the  recent  rise,  and  that  the  motive  for  influential  support  has, 
therefore,  been  withdrawn.  Along  with  this  comes  the  question 
whether  the  advance  in  the  market  has  not  gone  as  far  as  it  ought 
to  for  the  time  being,  in  the  line  of  discounting  outside  business 
recovery.  While  reports  agree  that  some  improvement  has  oc- 
curred in  general  trade,  as  compared  with  several  months  ago,  the 
outlook  for  another  forward  movement  is  still  quite  uncertain. 
The  high  agricultural  prices  will  offset  to  a  large  extent  deficient 
crop  yields,  so  far  as  the  profits  of  the  farm  communities  are  con- 
cerned. But  the  loss  in  railway  grain  freight  will  be  none  the 
less  heavy.  The  prospect  for  railway  earnings  must  be  set  down 
as  less  promising  than  it  was  a  short  while  ago.  Taking  these 
matters  into  account  along  with  the  rapidly  dwindling  bank  re- 
serve, and  remembering  that  at  the  top  of  this  summer's  advance 
prices  of  stocks  had  covered  half  the  ground  lost  during  the  great 
decline  of  1903,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  sentiment  of  caution 
and  hesitation  should  have  now  gained  the  upper  hand  on  the 
Stock  Exchange. 

The  traction  issues  have  shared  in  the  reaction  in  the  general 
market,  with  some  special  weakness  in  Metropolitan  Securities 
and  rather  noticeable  heaviness  in  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit.  The 
announcement  of  another  lot  of  the  Brooklyn  bonds  for  sale 
caused  some  weakness  in  the  market  for  those  securities,  and 
probably  had  more  than  anything  else  to  do  with  the  backward- 
ness of  the  stock.    Liquidation  in  Metropolitan  Securities  followed 


Mr.  Ryan's  declaration  that  no  deal  had  been  arranged  for  the 
transfer  of  the  property.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  negotiations 
are  well  under  way,  and  that  some  definite  announcement  may  be 
expected  before  long.  The  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  shares 
have  been  exceedingly  firm  in  the  week's  dealings. 

Philadelphia 

Traction  shares  in  Philadelphia  are  generally  lower  on  the  week. 
After  350  shares  had  changed  hands  at  48J/2,  American  Railways 
dropped  to  48  on  the  sale  of  80  shares.  Several  hundred  Consoli- 
dated Traction  of  New  Jersey  were  dealt  in  at  72.  Philadelphia 
Electric  went  to  73-16,  receded  to  7,  and  rallied  to  7J/g.  Philadel- 
phia Company  common  was  decidedly  heavy,  declining  from  42% 
to  4154  on  rather  large  transactions.  The  preferred  was  firm, 
however,  rising  nearly  a  point  to  45J/2.  Realizing  sales  were  also 
in  evidence  both  in  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  and  in  Union  Trac- 
tion. The  former  lost  a  half  point  from  16^  to  16.  Union  de- 
clined from  56J4  to  55^,  and  recovered  to  56.  Philadelphia  Trac- 
tion sold  several  times  at  9734- 
Chicago 

Very  little  of  an  interesting  nature  has  transpired  in  Chicago 
street  railway  circles  during  the  past  week.  There  have  been 
some  minor  preliminaries  on  the  part  of  the  city  officials  and 
the  Union  Traction  interests  concerning  the  franchise  matter,  but 
so  far  negotiations  have  not  yet  reached  even  a  tentative  stage  since 
the  summer  vacations  terminated.  It  is  expected  that  Judge  Gross- 
cup  will  inspect  the  Union  Traction  system  early  during  the  com- 
ing week  to  satisfy  himself  concerning  the  nature  of  the  improved 
service  wrought  by  the  expenditures  of  something  like  $500,000 
some  months  ago.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  the  interested 
parties  will  soon  get  together  and  hurry  a  franchise  settlement. 
Trading  has  been  fairly  active  in  the  various  street  railway  issues 
during  the  week.  City  Railway,  on  the  purchase  of  150  shares, 
rose  from  185  to  190.  Fifty  shares  sold  later  at  185,  then  50  were 
taken  at  189%.  A  speculative  movement  in  Union  Traction  com- 
mon carried  the  common  stock  up  from  7  to  8.  Three  hundred 
North  Chicago  sold  at  87,  but  West  Chicago,  after  selling  at  56^, 
dropped  to  55  on  one  transaction  of  10  shares.  Chicago  &  Oak 
Park  common  sold  at  6}i  and  6%.  One  hundred  Metropolitan 
Elevated  common  went  at  21%,  and  odd  lots  of  the  preferred  at 
$gl/2  and  58^.  Northwestern  common,  on  sales  of  550  shares,  de- 
clined from  21  y%  to  2oy2.  Fifty  shares  of  South  Side  Elevated 
sold  at  92. 

Other  Traction  Securities 

The  liquidation  which  has  been  in  progress  for  sometime  past 
in  the  Massachusetts  Electrics  continued  during  the  early  part  of 
the  week,  the  common  getting  down  to  12%  and  the  preferred  to 
58.  Subsequently,  prices  rallied  to  13  and  60  respectively.  Bos- 
ton Elevated  sold  down  to  153  and  back  again  to  154.  West  End 
common  went  as  high  as  92J4,  while  the  preferred  changed  hands 
at  110.  Six  hundred  United  Railways  of  Baltimore  were  dealt  in 
at  an  advance  from  7}i  to  7%.  The  incomes  were  steady  be- 
tween 44%  and  45,  but  the  general  4s  were  rather  heavy,  declin- 
ing from  90J/2  to  90.  Other  Baltimore  transactions  included 
City  &  Suburban  of  Baltimore  5s  at  114,  City  &  Suburban  of 
Washington  5s  at  101^2,  North  Baltimore  5s  at  119^2,  Augusta 
Railway  &  Electric  5s  at  roij^,  Norfolk  Railway  &  Light- 
ing 5s  at  85^,  and  Citizens'  Railway  and  Lighting  of  New- 
port News  5s  at  80.  On  the  New  York  curb,  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  reacted  last  week  from  150  to  145,  and  rallied  to 
I47/4>  7000  shares  changing  hands.  On  Monday  200  shares  sold 
at  147.  New  Orleans  common  rose  from  loy  to  12  on  sales  of 
275  shares,  and  200  of  the  preferred  sold  between  29JX  and  30. 
Washington  Electric  preferred  (500  shares)  was  dealt  in  between 
70  and  72.  The  bonds  were  active,  selling  freely  at  83^  and  later 
at  83. 

Tractions  in  Cincinnati  last  week  were  marked  by  an  almost 
entire  absence  in  the  sale  of  bonds,  which  has  been  heavy  during 
the  past  few  weeks,  but  the  sale  of  several  leading  issues  of  stocks 
was  remarkably  heavy,  this  being  particularly  true  of  Cincinnati, 
Newport  &  Covington.  About  5300  shares  of  the  common  sold 
at  a  range  of  32  to  33/4,  the  opening  and  the  closing  being  both 
at  the  former  figure.  About  1700  shares  of  the  preferred  changed 
hands  with  a  range  of  from  93^2  to  94-^,  the  former  the  close. 
Cincinnati  Street  Railway  continued  active,  about  4200  shares 
selling  at  145  to  146,  the  former  the  close.    Toledo  Railways  & 


458 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


Light  sold  at  20?/>  on  several  small  lots,  and  Detroit  United  at  66^4 
and  67.  Several  small  lots  of  Miami  &  Erie  Canal  sold  at  an 
advance  of      from  former  sales. 

Tractions  were  inactive  in  Cleveland.  Cleveland  Electric  was 
in  stronger  demand  and  267  shares  sold  with  a  range  of  from  73  to 
7^/2.  Northern  Texas  Traction  sold  at  40  and  40^  on  sales 
aggregating  270  shares.  A  small  lot  of  Northern  Ohio  Traction 
&  Light  sold  at  13^.  Northern  Texas  5s  sold  at  84H  for  $7,000 
worth  and  Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago  5s  receipts  at  77  for  $5,000 
worth.  The  deal  for  the  sale  of  large  blocks  of  Northern  Ohio 
Traction  &  Light  4s  to  W.  E.  Hutton  &  Company,  Cincinnati,  is 
still  hanging  fire,  and  as  time  passes  there  is  less  inclination  on  the 
part  of  the  Cleveland  holders  to  accept  the  proposition.  The  earn- 
ings of  the  property  are  showing  satisfactory  gains,  and  they  would 
have  to  decline  33  1-3  per  cent  before  the  fixed  charges  would  be 
in  danger  of  default.  At  present  figures  these  bonds  yield  about 
7^4  per  cent. 

Security  Quotations 

The  following  table  shows  the  present  bid  quotations  for  the 
leading  traction  stocks,  and  the  active  bonds,  as  compared  with 
last  week : 

Closing  Bid 
Sept.  14   Sept.  20 


American   Railways                                                                        48%  47% 

Aurora,  Elgin  &  Chicago                                                          al5  al3 

Boston  Elevated                                                                       153  153 

Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit                                                                 55%  54% 

Chicago  City                                                                            180  185 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (common)                                                  7  7% 

Chicago  Union  Traction  (preferred)                                               31  36% 

Cleveland  Electric                                                                      72%  72% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey                                          72%  71% 

Consolidated  Traction  of  New  Jersey  5s                                    108%  108% 

Detroit  United                                                                          67  66% 

Interborough  Rapid  Transit                                                         148%  *145 

Lake  Shore  Electric  (prefered)                                                       —  al6 

Lake  Street  Elevated                                                                   3%  3% 

Manhattan  Railway                                                                   157. .  *152% 

Masachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (common)                                           12%  13 

Massachusetts  Electric  Cos.  (preferred)                                         59  60 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (common)                                     —  20% 

Metropolitan  Elevated,  Chicago  (preferred)                                   —  57 

Metropolitan  Street                                                                       122  121% 

Metropolitan  Securities                                                                  81%  80 

New  Orleans  Railways  (common)                                               —  10% 

New  Orleans  Railways  (preferred)      30 

New  Orleans  Railways,  4%s                                                            _  741^ 

North  American      91 

Northern  Ohio  Traction  &  Light                                                   14  al4 

Philadelphia  Company  (common)                                                   44%  41 

Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit                                                            16%  15% 

Philadelpria  Traction                                                                    991^  *97% 

St.  Louis  (common)      11 

South  Side  Elevated  (Chicago)      *89% 

Third  Avenue                                                                           122  125 

Twin  City,  Minneapolis  (common)                                                 98%  96% 

Union  Traction  (Philadelphia)                                                       56  55 

United  Railways,  St.  Louis  (preferred)      55 

West  End  (common)                                                                 92i£  92 

West  End  (preferred)                                                                   111%  110 


a  Asked. 
Iron  and  5teel 

Uncertainty  is  still  the  keynote  of  the  steel  trade.  Leading 
authorities  report  that  the  Steel  Corporation  is  keeping  over  three- 
fourths  of  its  pig  iron  capacity  working,  and  that  independent  pro- 
ducers are  making  their  purchases  of  raw  material  freely.  These 
are  signs  that  the  current  output  of  finished  products  is  keeping 
up  well.  But  there  has  yet  been  no  hearty  response  of  new  busi- 
ness to  the  recent  price  reductions,  and  it  is  still  as  great  a  ques- 
tion as  ever  whether  the  concessions  have  gone  far  enough  to 
give  the  needed  stimulus  to  new  orders.  Quotations  are  as  fol- 
lows :  Bessemer  pig  iron  $12.75,  Bessemer  steel  $19  to  $20,  steel 
rails  $28. 

netals. 

Quotations  for  the  leading  metals  are  as  follows:    Copper  12]/, 
to  12^  cents,  tin  28  cents,  lead  4%  cents,  and  spelter  sVs  cents. 


The  Indianapolis  &  Northwestern  Traction  Company  has  found 
that  cheap  excursions  on  Sundays  in  connection  with  the  steam 
roads  pay  well.  No  steam  road  excursions  are  run  from  Indian- 
apolis to  Chicago,  but  specials  are  run  from  Frankfort  and  Lafay- 
ette. The  Traction  line  supplies  the  link  between  Frankfort  and 
Indianapolis  and  does  a  large  business. 


A  DENIAL  FROM  MR.  RYAN  ABOUT  NEW  YORK  CONSOLI- 
DATION 


Because  of  the  many  reports  which  have  been  afloat  in  financial 
circles  regarding  a  Metropolitan  Securities-Interborough  transac- 
tion, Thomas  F.  Ryan  has  issued  a  statement  denying  that  control 
of  the  company  or  an  option  on  its  stock  has  been  given  to  any  one. 
He  has  not,  however,  explained  in  any  way  his  circular  to  the  syn- 
dicate, which  gave  rise  to  all  the  rumors.    Mr.  Ryan  said : 

"I  have  refrained  from  denying  the  many  false  rumors  regard- 
ing Metropolitan  Securities  which  have  been  circulated  during  the 
last  few  months,  except  in  the  case  of  inquiries  by  bona  fide  stock- 
holders, to  whom  I  have  always  made  prompt  replies.  But  the 
papers  have  been  imposed  upon  in  such  a  glaring  manner,  evidently 
by  persons  knowing  their  statements  to  be  false,  that  I  feel  it  my 
duty  to  the  stockholders  of  the  Metropolitan  Securities  Company 
to  say  that  neither  I  nor  any  one  representing  the  management  of 
the  company  has  given  an  option  to  any  one  on  a  majority  or  any 
other  amount  of  its  stock,  or  knows  of  any  such  project,  and  that 
no  one  with  the.  authority  of  the  management  has  entertained  or 
will  entertain  in  (he  future,  with  my  consent,  any  proposition  for 
the  control  of  lln  1  ompany  which  does  not  give  to  every  stockholder 
an  equal  oppoiUinily  of  participation." 



COLORADO  &  SOUTHERN  TO  ELECTRIFY  LINES 


The  important  announcement  is  made  by  the  Denver  &  Southern 
Railroad  Company  that  plans  have  been  made  for  electrifying  part 
of  its  system  extending  from  Denver.  The  question  of  substituting 
electricity  for  steam  on  the  lines  that  will  be  converted  has  been 
under  consideration  for  nearly  three  years,  and  the  announcement 
of  the  changes  to  be  made  comes  only  after  the  most  careful  study 
of  the  problem  both  in  the  East  and  the  West,  and  more  particu- 
larly on  the  lines  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Rail- 
road. 

The  change  of  power  will  be  made  by  the  Denver  &  Interurban 
Railway  Company,  whose  stock  of  $3,000,000  is  owned  by  the  Den- 
ver &  Southern  Company.  The  directors  will  be  the  following 
officials  of  the  Colorado  &  Southern :  Frank  Trumbull,  president ; 
J.  M.  Herbert,  vice-president  and  general  manager;  E.  E.  Whitted, 
general  counsel ;  T.  S.  McMurray,  special  counsel ;  A.  D.  Parker, 
general  auditor,  all  of  Denver,  and  Granville  M.  Dodge,  Edwin 
Hawley  and  Harry  Bronner,  of  New  York. 

The  first  line  of  the  Colorado  &  Southern  to  be  equipped  with  • 
electricity  will  be  that  between  Denver  and  Boulder,  to  be  followed 
with  the  Louisville-Lafayette  line  and  the  Denver,  Golden  & 
Idaho  Springs  line.  The  incorporation  papers  will  cover  the  right 
to  secure  a  franchise  for  terminals  in  Denver  and  to  operate  on 
Denver  streets.  This  latter  plan,  however,  is  not  contemplated  in 
the  immediate  future.  The  question  of  the  use  of  the  trolley  or 
the  third-rail  system  has  not  yet  been  decided. 



MIAMI  &  ERIE  INVESTIGATION  CONTINUED 


The  efforts  of  the  Cleveland  committee  to  settle  the  affairs  of  the 
Miami  &  Erie  Canal  Transportation  Company  out  of  court  by  buy- 
ing up  the  claims  embracing  the  floating  debt,  which  amounts  to 
?bout  $100,000,  have  failed  owing  to  the  refusal  of  some  of  the 
creditors  to  settle  on  the  basis  proposed,  and  as  a  result  the  in- 
vestigation into  the  affairs  of  the  company  before  Referee  Fuller 
will  be  continued.  The  claims  of  the  Cleveland  Construction  Com- 
pany, the  original  plaintiff,  have  been  bought  out  by  Will  Christy 
and  Ralph  A.  Harmon,  and  the  suit  will  be  continued  in  their  name. 
Several  hundred  prominent  men,  among  them  Governor  Myron 
T.  Herrick,  will  be  brought  into  court  to  detail  their  connection 
with  the  company  and  tell  from  whom  they  bought  their  stock 
^nd  what  they  paid  for  it.  All  the  stock  brokers  in  Cleveland  have 
been  subpoenaed  to  appear  in  court  with  their  books  to  show  their 
transactions  in  Miami  &  Erie  Canal  stock,  the  idea  being  to  ob- 
tain the  names  of  the  present  stockholders  in  order  that  they  may 
be  assessed  for  stockholder's  liability. 

The  leading  promotors  of  the  electric  mule  scheme  are  now  work- 
ing on  a  plan  to  induce  the  State  to  sell  them  that  part  of  the  canal 
between  Cincinnati  and  Dayton.  Admitting  that  the  electric  mule 
scheme  is  a  failure,  the  promotors  plan  to  convert  the  canal,  if 
sold  to  them,  into  a  railroad. 


September  24,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


459 


THE  CONSOLIDATION  AT  ALTON 


Final  consolidation  of  the  Alton  Light  &  Traction  Company  with 
the  St.  Louis  &  Granite  City  Railway  was.arranged  in  Alton  last 
week,  and  within  a  short  time  the  Alton,  Granite  City  &  St.  Louis 
Traction  Company  will  own  the  interurban  line  in  course  of  con- 
struction between  Alton  and  St.  Louis,  and  the  Alton  Gas  &  Electric 
Company  will  own  the  electric  lighting,  gas  and  hot-water  heating 
franchises  and  systems  in  Alton.  E.  W.  Clarke  &  Company,  of 
Philadelphia,  have  formally  entered  into  business  relations  with 
the  Allen-Francis  syndicate  of  St.  Louis  and  the  owners  of  the 
Alton  street  railway  system,  the  latter  owning  a  controlling  interest 
in  the  new  company. 

The  Alton  &  Southern  Railway  Company  was  organized  last 
week,  with  headquarters  in  Alton,  as  an  intermediate  company  in 
the  formal  transfer.  The  officers  of  this  company  are :  J.  F.  Porter, 
president;  F.  A.  Allen,  vice-president;  H.  E.  Weeks,  secretary;  J. 
F.  Porter,  treasurer.  J.  S.  Clarke,  a  representative  of  E.  W.  Clarke 
&  Company,  was  in  Alton  to  assist  in  making  the  transfer.  The 
capital  stock  of  the  Alton  &  Southern  is  nominally  $100,000.  The 
new  Alton  Gas  &  Electric  Company  was  organized  with  the  fol- 
lowing officers :  F.  E.  Allen,  president ;  J.  F.  Porter,  vice-presi- 
dent; Geo.  G.  Kuhn,  secretary;  O.  S.  Stowell,  treasurer.  This 
company,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $500,000,  will  take  over  the  gas 
and  electric  plants  and  the  hot-water  heating  system  of  the  old 
company,  leaving  the  street  railway  system  a  part  of  the  interurban 
line. 

The  only  surviving  companies  of  all  the  corporations  organized 
within  the  last  few  years  to  build  the  interurban  line  to  St.  Louis 
will  be  the  Alton,  Granite  City  &  St.  Louis  Company,  with  a  capital 
of  $3,000,000,  and  the  Alton  Gas  &  Electric  Company,  with  $500,000 
capital,  the  latter  being  owned  by  the  former.  It  is  said  that  the 
electric  railway  to  St.  Louis  will  not  be  ready  for  business  until 
early  next  year. 

 ♦♦♦  

SPECIAL  TRAIN  TO  ST.  LOUIS  CONVENTION 


The  transportation  committee  of  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association,  consisting  of  James  H.  McGraw,  H.  H.  Vreeland 
and  Albert  H.  Stanley,  has  arranged  for  a  special  train  to  St. 
Louis,  via  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  leaving  New  York  at  10 
a.  m.  Saturday,  Oct.  8,  and  arriving  at  St.  Louis  the  following  day 
at  1  o'clock. 

The  train  will  consist  of  Pullman  buffet,  smoking  and  drawing- 
room  sleeping  cars,  and  will  stop  at  Trenton,  Philadelphia,  Har- 
risburg,  Pittsburg,  etc.  The  fare  will  be  the  regular  St.  Louis 
Exposition  rates:  For  round  trip  from  New  York,  15-day  limit, 
$26.25;  for  round  trip  from  New  York,  60-day  limit,  $32.35.  There 
will,  of  course,  be  a  proportionate  reduction  in  this  rate  from 
places  south  and  west  of  New  York.  Reservations  may  be  made 
of  Mr.  Colin  Studds,  General  Eastern  Passenger  Agent,  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad,  263  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York. 



MORE  TURBINES  FOR  BOSTON  &  NORTHERN  STREET 
RAILWAY 


The  Boston  &  Northern  Street  Railway  Company  has  placed 
an  order  with  the  General  Electric  Company  for  five  500-kw 
turbo-generators.  The  Massachusetts  Electric  Companies,  which 
controls  the  Boston  &  Northern,  was  one  of  the  first  street  rail- 
way companies  to  make  a  test  of  the  turbine  in  actual  service. 



PROVISIONS  OF  THE  LABOR  SETTLEMENT  IN  NEW  YORK 


The  agreement  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  of 
New  York,  with  its  employers  concerning  the  terms  of  service 
of  the  men  has  been  signed  on  behalf  of  the  men.  As  previously 
stated  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  the  bitterly  contested 
questions  were  the  right  of  priority  of  men  working  on  the  ele- 
vated lines  to  positions  in  the  subway,  and  the  question  of  wages 
of  the  motormen  of  subway  trains.  Failure  to  reach  a  basis  of 
settlement  for  these  questions  threatened  a  strike  at  one  time,  but 
concessions  made  Tuesday,  Sept.  6,  removed  these  fears.  It  was  on 
Friday,  Sept.  10,  that  the  peace  compact  was  finally  signed. 


Under  the  terms  of  the  agreement  motormen  of  the  first  class 
are  to  be  paid  $3.50  a  day  for  ten  hours  or  less.  Men  promoted  to 
be  motormen  are  to  receive  $3  a  day  for  the  first  six  months,  $3.25 
for  the  second  six  months,  and  $3.50  after  one  year.  No  motor- 
men  are  to  be  discharged  for  serving  on  committees  to  present 
grievances  or  for  other  purposes.  They  are  not  to  be  discharged 
without  a  full  hearing.  If  a  man  is  exonerated,  he  is  to  be  rein- 
stated and  paid  full  wages  for  any  term  of  his  suspension  he  may 
have  undergone. 

The  conductors  are  to  receive  $2.10  a  day  for  ten  hours  for  the 
first  year,  $2.25  for  the  second  and  $2.50  after  the  second  year. 
Guards  employed  until  Jan.  1,  1905,  are  to  receive  $1.70  a  day. 
Guards  employed  after  Jan.  1,  1905,  will  be  paid  $1.55  the  first 
year,  $1.70  the  second  year,  $1.80  after  the  second  year,  and  $1.95 
after  the  third  year.  Hand  switchmen  will  receive  $2  per  day  for 
the  first  year,  and  $2.35  after  the  first  year.  Tower  men  will  re- 
ceive $2.40  per  day  of  eight  to  ten  hours  for  the  first  year,  and  $2.50 
afterward. 

Agents  will  receive  $1.75  for  twelve  hours  for  the  first  year,  and 
$2  after  the  first  year.  Platform  men  will  receive  $1.75  for  a  day 
of  twelve  hours.  Gatemen  will  receive  $1.40  for  a  day  of  twelve 
hours  for  the  first  year,  and  $1.55  after  the  first  year. 

Engineers  from  other  roads  who  are  employed  as  motormen  will 
receive  $3. 25  a  day  for  the  first  year  and  $3.50  afterward.  Fifty 
per  cent  of  the  situations  in  the  subway  are  to  be  open  to  the 
motormen,  guards  and  switchmen  on  the  elevated  roads,  pro- 
vided that  number  apply  and  qualify  for  the  work.  Seniority  of 
employment  for  elevated  railroad  men  is  only  allowed  in  the  sub- 
way when  the  men  take  the  same  positions  as  they  occupied  on 
the  elevated  roads.  The  standard  physical  test  is  to  be  the  one 
adopted. 



THE  TRACTION  SITUATION  IN  CHICAGO 


Another  attempt  is  to  be  made  to  settle  the'  franchise  dispute 
between  the  city  of  Chicago  and  the  Union  Traction  Company. 
The  local  transportation  committee  has  decided  to  invite  Judge 
Grosscup  and  the  receivers  and  attorneys  of  the  company  to  ap- 
pear before  the  committee  and  discuss  a  basis  for  negotiations. 

The  new  invitation  to  the  receivers  to  consider  a  franchise  ex- 
tension ordinance  was  based  on  the  correspondence  between  Mayor 
Harrison  and  Judge  Grosscup  which  had  been  sent  to  the  com- 
mittee. After  the  letters  of  the  Mayor  and  the  Judge  had  been 
read  Alderman  Raymer  proposed  the  renewal  of  negotiations.  He 
said  the  committee  realized  that  the  greatest  difficulty  in  the  settle- 
ment of  the  traction  question  was  the  franchise  of  the  Union  Trac- 
tion Company,  but  he  thought  the  decision  of  Judge  Grosscup  in 
the  ninety-nine-year  case  might  open  a  way  for  negotiations.  He 
suggested  that  the  Judge,  the  receivers  and  the  attorneys  be  invited 
to  appear  before  the  committee  at  as  early  a  day  as  possible  to 
discuss  the  question.    The  suggestion  was  adopted. 

The  committee  has  directed  Commissioner  of  Public  Works 
Blocki  to  notify  the  Union  Traction  Company  to  vacate  the  Wash- 
ington and  La  Salle  Street  tunnels  by  Jan.  1,  in  order  that  work  on 
lowering  them  may  begin  early  next  year.  The  committee  has 
adopted  the  plans  presented  by  George  A.  Yuille  for  rerouting 
the  North  and  West  Side  cars  in  the  downtown  district  while  the 
tunnels  are  being  lowered.  The  plans  contemplate  trolley  systems 
on  the  present  cable  loops. 

An  offer  has  been  made  for  a  controlling  interest  in  the  stock 
of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company  by  a  syndicate  represent- 
ing the  Union  Traction  Company.  This  fact  is  admitted  by  John 
J.  Mitchell,  president  of  the  Illinois  Trust  &  Savings  Bank,  and 
J.  H.  Wrenn,  of  J.  H.  Wrenn  &  Company,  brokers.  Mr.  Mit- 
chell is  conducting  the  Chicago  end  of  the  negotiations  and  Mr. 
Wrenn  is  a  member  of  the  protective  committee  of  the  Union 
Traction  Company.  Both  gentlemen  were  in  consultation  with 
R.  R.  Govin  during  his  recent  stay  in  Chicago.  The  price  pro- 
posed to  shareholders  is  said  to  be  $200  a  share  for  91,000  to  103,- 
000  shares  The  large  individual  holdings  which  are  pledged  in 
the  new  move  for  control  include  those  of  Marshall  Field,  John 
J.  Mitchell,  the  Leiter  estate,  the  Hoxie  estate  and  the  Armours. 

One  report  has  it  that  John  A.  Spoor,  president  of  the  Union 
Stock  Yards  &  Transit  Company  and  the  Chicago  Junction  Rail- 
way, has  been  decided  upon  for  president  of  the  Chicago  City 
Railway  Company  should  the  Union  Traction  reorganization  syn- 
dicate succeed  in  getting  a  majority  of  the  South  Side  Company 
stock.  Mr.  Spoor  will  succeed  President  D.  G.  Hamilton  on  the 
City  Railway  directorate.  P.  A.  Valentine,  of  Armour  &  Com- 
pany, will  enter  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Chicago  City  Rail- 
way Company. 


460 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  13. 


A  PECULIAR  SUIT 


The  Hoosac  Valley  Street  Railway  Company,  of  North  Adams, 
Mass.,  is  suing  the  town  of  Williamstown  because  it  established  a 
quarantine  against  its  neighbor,  North  Adams,  excluding  North 
Adams  people  entirely  from  its  boundaries.  This  action  was  taken 
recently  when  there  was  an  outbreak  of  small-pox  in  North  Adams. 
The  railway  company  claims  that  the  quarantine  was  unnecessary 
and  illegal  and  that  the  passenger  traffic  betwen  North  Adams  and 
Williamstown  was  so  far  1  educed  by  it  that  the  company  suffered 
considerable  financial  loss.  Pecuniary  damages  covering  the  amount 
of  this  loss  are  asked.  The  company  argues  that  the  ordinary  pre- 
cautions of  vaccination  and  inspection  should  have  been  held  suffi- 
cient to  preserve  Williamstown  from  infection  by  North  Adams. 



REPORT  OF  ELECTRICITY  ON  CONSOLIDATED  BETWEEN 
MERIDEN  AND  BERLIN 


The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  is  buying  a 
strip  of  land  30  ft.  wide  between  Meriden  and  Berlin,  Conn.,  lying 
alongside  the  tracks  of  the  Hartford  Division  of  the  road  between 
these  places.  No  announcements  have  been  made  as  to  the  pur- 
pose to  which  the  land  will  be  put,  but  it  is  said  that  it  will  be 
used  as  right  of  way  for  a  trolley  or  third-rail  line  between  the 
cities. 



STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys,  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.] 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  SEPTEMBER  13,  1904 

769,698.  Electric  Switch  ;  James  C.  Keller  and  Otto  F.  Kadown, 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  App.  filed  June  10,  1903.  An  electro-magnet  of 
ring  shape  open  at  one  point  and  hinged  at  the  opposite  point, 
draws  together  when  energized  and  by  means  of  connections  moves 
the  switch  tongue  of  a  railway  track. 

769,854.  Trolley  Wheel ;  William  T.  Wilkinson,  Medford,  Mass. 
App.  filed  Dec.  18,  1903.  The  entire  groove  for  the  wire  is  formed 
in  a  removable  tread  portion  confined  between  the  two  side  cheeks. 

769,862.  Guard  for  Third  Rails ;  John  H.  Guest,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
App.  filed  Dec.  12,  1903.  A  protecting  strip  rests  upon  the  third 
rail  and  is  lifted  by  the  shoe  as  the  train  progresses. 

769,900.  Switch  Operating  Device  for  Street  Railways ;  Henry 
S.  Hale,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  App.  filed  Jan.  5,  1903.  Details  of  con- 
struction of  pneumatically  operated  mechanism  on  the  car  for  en- 
gaging levers  in  the  roadbed  to  thereby  throw  the  switch  point  in 
advance  of  the  car. 

769,929.  Railway  Sanding  Device ;  Christian  Allenbach,  Chicago, 
111.  App.  filed  July  5,  1904.  The  hopper  is  provided  with  a  false 
bottom,  packing  interposed  between  the  false  bottom  and  the  adja- 
cent walls  of  the  hopper,  said  hopper  and  false  bottom  being  pro- 
vided with  registering  outlet  openings,  and  a  valve-seat  surround- 
ing the  opening  in  the  hopper,  a  spring-actuated  valve  controlling 
the  opening  and  having  a  sharp  annular  edge  bearing  on  the  valve- 
seat  and  adapted  to  cut  its  way  through  the  flowing  sand  to  become 
seated  and  thereby  prevent  leakage. 

770,040.  Motor  Control  System ;  Charles  E.  Barry,  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.  App.  filed  April  18,  1903.  The  contact  operating  devices 
are  automatically  and  successively  controlled  by  a  number  of  relays 
which  are  adjusted  to  respond  to  certain  successive  increments  of 
counter-electromotive  force  in  the  motor  circuit  as  the  motor  in- 
creases in  speed. 

770,107.  Street  Car;  Charles  B.  Price,  Oakmont,  Pa.  App.  filed 
Dec.  30,  1903.  A  street  car  provided  with  a  receiving  compartment 
extending  along  one  side  thereof,  a  registering  turnstile  between 
said  compartment  and  the  body  of  the  car  and  an  exit  therefrom. 

770,113.  Trolley  Harp;  Edward  D.  Rockwell,  Bristol,  Conn. 
App.  filed  Jan.  13,  1904.  The  construction  permits  a  swivel  move- 
ment of  the  trolley  wheel  and  its  shaft  with  relation  to  the  harp. 

770,132.  Car  Construction;  Henry  F.  Vogel,  St.  Louis.  Mo. 
App.  filed  Jan.  16,  1904.  Relates  to  reinforcing  metal  posts  intro- 
duced between  the  wooden  window-posts  of  a  car ;  also  a  novel  form 
of  car  lines  connected  to  the  reinforcing  posts  and  means  whereby 
the  wooden  window-posts  are  secured  to  the  reinforcing  posts. 

770,158.  Third-Rail  Covering;  Thomas  Buckley,  New  York. 
N.  Y.  App.  filed  April  28,  1904.  A  hinged  roof  over  the  third 
rail  adapted  to  open  and  close  as  the  shoe  passes. 

770,161.  Car  Chair;  George  W.  Chambers,  Newark,  Ohio.  App 
filed  Jan.  2,  1904.    Details  of  a  walk-over  seat. 


NO  STRIKE  ON  LAKE  SHORE  ELECTRIC 


The  matter  of  a  strike  of  the  employees  of  the  Lake  Shore  Elec- 
tric Railway  Company  has  been  grossly  exaggerated.  The  com- 
pany recently  instituted  a  policy  of  retrenchment,  and  consolidated 
the  Sandusky  division  with  the  Cleveland  division,  L.  K.  Burge, 
of  the  Cleveland  division  being  given  charge  of  the  consolidated 
division.  The  report  became  current  that  the  company  intended 
to  cut  the  wages  of  all  employees,  and  the  men  held  a  meeting  and 
asked  the  company  for  a  conference.  There  was  not,  however, 
any  talk  of  a  strike.  The  officials  of  the  company  declared  that 
there  had  been  no  intention  of  cutting  motormen  and  conductors, 
and  explained  that  the  change  made  in  division  was  merely  in 
keeping  with  a  policy  of  retrenchment  that  had  been  rendered  nec- 
essary. 



PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  PHILIP  W.  MOEN,  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  formerly  of  the 
Washburn  &  Moen  Manufacturing  Company,  died  Sept.  12  from 
a  stroke  of  apoplexy.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Worcester  Con- 
solidated Street  Railway  and  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Street  Rail- 
way. 

MR.  W.  C.  SMITH  has  resigned  as  general  manager  of  the 
Pennsylvania  &  Mahoning  Valley  Railway  Company.  He  has 
been  identified  with  this  company  for  three  years,  and  will  return 
to  Pittsburg,  his  former  home,  where  he  is  said  to  have  accepted 
a  better  position. 

MR.  M.  J.  KINCH,  of  Holland,  Mich.,  has  been  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  Green  Bay  Traction  Company,  operating  the  new 
interurban  line  between  Green  Bay  and  Kaukauna,  Wis.,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Fox  River,  and  the  Green  Bay-Depere  line  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river,  to  succeed  Mr.  P.  F.  Goodrich. 

CHANGES  IN  THE  PERSONNEL  of  the  Winnebago  Traction 
Company,  of  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  have  resulted  in  the  retirement  from 
the  company  of  Mr.  Frank  Farquhar,  superintendent,  and  Mr. 
James  Gaffney,  electrical  engineer.  Hereafter  Mr.  John  Davey, 
now  chief  engineer  and  engineer  of  power  station,  will  perform 
the  duties  of  superintendent  and  electrical  engineer. 

MR.  GEORGE  F.  CHAPMAN,  general  manager  of  the  United 
Railways  Company,  of  San  Francisco,  is  visiting  in  the  East.  While 
in  New  York  he  will  consult  with  the  Eastern  owners  of  the  San 
Francisco  company  regarding  the  future  of  the  property.  His  stay 
will  probably  be  prolonged  for  a  month.  Mr.  Chapman,  it  will  be 
remembered,  was  connected  with  the  North  Jersey  Street  Railway 
Company  before  the  absorption  of  that  company  by  the  Public 
Service  Corporation.  • 

MR.  FREDERICK  G.  SYKES,  for  the  last  two  years  electrical 
engineer  of  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company,  of  Schenectady, 
N.  Y.,  has  resigned  from  the  company,  to  take  effect  Oct.  1.  Mr. 
Sykes  will  become  general  superintendent  of  the  Portland  General 
Electric  Company,  of  Portland,  Ore.  Previous  to  his  connection 
with  the  Schenectady  Company,  Mr.  Sykes  was  employed  by  the 
General  Electric  Company  in  installing  the  Sydney  Tramway  sys- 
tem in  Sydney,  Australia.  His  connection  with  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company  followed  his  serving  as  operating  superintendent  of 
the  Brooklyn  Edison  Company. 

.  MR.  GUIDO  PANTALEONI,  for  many  years  manager  of  the 
St.  Louis  office  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company,  has  been  relieved  of  these  duties  to  act  as  the  personal 
representative  of  Mr.  George  Westinghous :  during  the  St.  Louis 
Exposition  in  the  reception  and  entertainment  of  distinguished 
visitors.  He  has  been  appointed  general  southwestern  manager 
of  the  company,  in  which  capacity  his  duties  will  be  with  the  large 
financial  interests  of  the  southwest.  Mr.  Wm.  Clegg.  Jr.,  who  has 
for  the  past  five  years  been  Mr.  Pantaleoni's  associate,  has  been 
advanced  to  the  position  of  special  agent  for  the  handling  of  par- 
ticularly important  contracts  in  this  field.  This  mark  of  the  high 
regard  in  whch  Mr.  Clegg  is  held  by  the  company  is  due  to  his  ex- 
cellent record,  and  to  the  desire  to  leave  him  free  from  the  execu- 
tive duties  coming  upon  a  district  office  manager,  so  that  his 
marked  ability  as  a  salesman  may  have  wider  scope.  Mr.  D.  E. 
Webster  comes  from  the  Denver  office  to  be  acting  manager  of  the 
St.  Louis  office.  During  his  eleven  years  with  the  Westinghouse 
Company,  Mr.  Webster  has  held  a  number  of  important  positions, 
including  that  of  chief  of  the  testing  department  at  East  Fitts- 
burg,  so  that  he  brings  to  his  new  office  ability  as  an  engineer 
as  well  as  commercial  experience. 


Street  (Railway  Journal 


Vol.  XXIV.  NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  1,  1904.  No.  14. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  thi 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago.    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:  Cuyahoga  Building. 

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EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
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Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


The  A.  C.  Motor  at  the  International  Electrical  Congress 

It  is  significant  that  at  the  International  Electrical  Congress 
at  St.  Louis  last  week  the  only  subject  which  was  discussed  at 
the  joint  session  of  all  the  sections  was  that  of  the  application 
of  alternating-current  motors  to  railway  work.  We  say  this 
is  significant  because  it  shows  this  subject  to  be  the  one  con- 
sidered of  most  importance  and  interest  of  any  in  the  entire 
field  of  electrical  activity.  The  address  of  President  Bion  J. 
Arnold  was  intended  as  an  introduction  to  the  subject  which 
was  taken  up  at  the  joint  session,  and  an  able  introduction  it 
was.  It  was,  in  brief,  a  recapitulation  of  the  conquests  of  the 
electric  railway  motor  in  different  classes  of  railway  work  and 


a  forecast  of  what  conquests  we  may  expect  electrical  traction 
to  make  in  the  immediate  future.  President  Arnold  is  not  one 
to  make  predictions  about  what  electrical  traction  will  do  in  the 
future  without  some  fairly  definite  ideas  as  to  how  it  is  going 
to  do  it.  As  he  stated  in  his  address,  those  who  are  most  given 
to  making  brilliant  prophecies  as  to  the  supplanting  of  steam 
locomotives  with  electric  motor  cars  are  those  who  have  the 
least  technical  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome. 
There  is  perhaps  no  one  prominent  in  the  field  of  electric  rail- 
way engineering  who  appreciates  more  strongly  the  advan- 
tages that  steam  locomotives  possess  for  certain  classes  of 
traffic  than  does  Mr.  Arnold.  One  can  see  in  his  address  a 
disinclination  to  yield  to  the  electric  motor  anything  more  than 
its  legitimate  field  in  steam  railroad  work.  Nevertheless,  one 
cannot  read  this  address  without  feeling  that,  great  as  have 
been  the  conquests  of  electrical  traction  the  past  twenty  years, 
and  great  as  have  been  the  investments,  we  are  as  yet  only  at 
the  beginning.  Following  Mr.  Arnold's  introduction  of  the 
subject  was  Dr.  Steinmetz's  clear-cut  analysis  of  the  situation 
as  it  now  appears  to  him.  After  giving  a  history  of  the  reasons 
which  led  to  the  abandonment  in  this  country  of  attempts  to 
make  induction  motors  with  their  shunt  motor  characteristics 
perform  railway  work,  and  an  analysis  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  direct  and  alternating-current  series-commutator  mo- 
tors, he  came  to  the  conclusions  that  the  field  of  the  series, 
single-phase,  alternating-current  railway  motor  would  be  sub- 
urban, interurban  and  long  distance  work  where  rapid  accel- 
eration is  not  of  great  importance.  For  rapid  transit  work  in 
cities  where  rapid  acceleration  is  of  prime  importance,  he 
thought  the  direct-current  motor  would  still  hold  sway. 

In  this  issue  we  are  able  to  present  a  digest  of  this  discussion 
as  well  as  of  all  the  papers  presented  in  Section  F  of  the  In- 
ternational Electrical  Congress,  and  while  we  considered  this 
subject  editorially  at  some  length  in  our  last  issue,  it  is  of  such 
importance  that  a  few  additional  words  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

In  the  first  place  the  discussion  brought  out  that  no  one  ad- 
vocates the  installation  of  the  a.  c.  system  on  the  score  of  the 
superiority  of  the  motor  over  its  direct-current  series  com- 
petitor. The  direct-current  series  motor  is  still  the  better  of 
the  two  as  regards  efficiency,  commutation  and  power  factor. 
The  weight  of  the  d.  c.  motor  and  its  controlling  apparatus  is 
also  less  than  that  of  the  alternating-current  apparatus  with  its 
attendant  step-down  transformer.  We  must,  therefore,  look 
elsewhere  than  in  the  motor  and  its  control  for  any  reasons 
warranting  its  introduction  in  preference  to  the  direct-current 
motor  fed  from  rotary  converter  sub-stations.  The  generating 
and  high-potential  distribution  systems  are  practically  the  same 
for  both  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  motors,  and  this  narrows  the  subject 
down  to  whether  the  sub-station  and  trolley-distributing  system 
furnish  sufficient  reasons  to  warrant  the  introduction  of  the 
new  system.  It  may  be  assumed  from  the  statements  of  the 
manufacturing  companies  that  they  have  brought  the  single- 
phase  alternating-current  motor  to  a  state  of  development 


4&2 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


where  it  is  commercially  operative,  and  it  has  certainly  shown 
itself  capable  of  commutating  the  large  currents  required  for 
accelerating  our  heavy  suburban  cars  and  performing  the  work 
required  without  injurious  heating. 

The  general  consensus  of  opinion  brought  out  at  the  Con- 
gress was  to  the  effect  that,  as  the  alternating-current  motor 
would  owe  its  success  to  its  ability  to  use  potentials  on  the 
trolley  higher  than  those  practical  with  direct-current  motors, 
the  a.  c.  type  of  motor  would  be  limited  to  suburban  ser- 
vice and  the  larger  electric  railway  problems  that  will  come 
up  in  the  future.  In  other  words,  the. alternating-current  mo- 
tor will  not  supersede  the  direct-current  motor,  but  will  rather 
create  a  field  of  its  own,  closed  at  present,  due  to  the  limitations 
of  direct-current  motor  design,  and  thus  broaden  the  field  of 
electric  traction  work  beyond  its  present  scope.  The  dividing 
line  between  the  a.  c.  and  d.  c.  motor  field  will  necessarily  be 
indistinct  with  overlappings  on  either  side,  as  called  for  by  local 
considerations,  but  in  general  it  may  be  stated  that  the  a.  c. 
motor  does  not  show  much  advantage  in  first  cost  or  cost  of 
operation  where  the  units  are  small  and  operate  at  infrequent 
intervals.  For  example,  many  of  our  suburban  roads  operate 
cars  equipped  with  four  50-hp  motors  and  geared  for  a  maxi- 
mum speed  of  40  miles  to  45  miles  per  hour.  Sub-stations  are 
placed  approximately  12  miles  apart,  and  the  copper  consists  of 
two  No.  000  trolleys,  with  no  auxiliary  feeders.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  alternating-current  motor  and  2000-volt  trolley 
in  such  case  would  result  in  no  copper  economy,  as  a  smaller 
wire  than  No.  000  is  hardly  feasible.  The  decreased  cost  of 
the  a.  c.  sub-station  would  here  be  balanced  against  the  in- 
creased cost  of  the  a.  c.  car  equipments,  with  the  result  that 
the  cost  of  the  road  would  be  practically  the  same  in  either 
case.  Where  equipments  are  larger  and  where  more  frequent 
sub-stations  or  heavy  auxiliary  feeder  copper  is  required,  the 
advantage  of  the  high-tension  trolley  becomes  apparent  and 
may  become  a  controlling  factor  in  deciding  upon  the 
system  to  adopt.  In  cases  of  very  heavy  and  frequent 
traffic  there  are  a  number  of  reasons  which  favor  the  d.  c. 
system.  The  New  York  Central  installation  is  a  case  in 
point. 

The  sub-station  used  with  the  alternating-current  motor  is 
being  designed  to  operate  without  attendance,  but  it  is  a  ques- 
tion if  such  a  practice  will  be  looked  upon  with  favor  by  our 
suburban  roads.  The  duties  required  of  an  attendant  are  so 
light  and  infrequent,  and  such  latitude  is  given  in  the  location 
of  sub-stations,  due  to  the  small  drop  in  the  high-tension  trol- 
ley, that  it  is  probable  that  these  sub-stations  will  be  usually 
located  where  supervision  is  available.  The  item  of  sub-station 
labor  for  the  two  systems  in  this  case  may  therefore  be  prac- 
tically the  same.  An  automatically  operated  sub-station  has  an 
attractive  sound,  but  the  actual  operation  of  an  a.  c.  road  may 
show  the  desirability  of  attendance  at  these  points. 

A  fact  not  touched  upon  at  the  Congress  discussion,  but  one 
which  seems  to  us  worthy  of  most  careful  consideration,  is  the 
fact  that  current  collection  on  our  suburban  systems  is  a  seri- 
ous problem,  especially  with  their  continued  development  call- 
ing for  higher  speeds  and  the  possibility  of  using  trains  of  two 
or  more  cars.  With  the  present  trolley,  the  limit  has  practi- 
cally been  reached  with  a  single  40-ton  car  running  at  60  miles 
per  hour,  while  an  unprotected  third  rail  is  a  menace  to  con- 
tinuity of  service  in  our  Northern  States  when  the  traffic  is  in- 
frequent. A  protected  third  rail  adds  at  least  50  per  cent  to 
the  cost  of  a  third-rail  installation,  and  a  first  cost  of  some 
$10,000  per  mile  is  a  serious  burden  to  throw  upon  a  double- 
track  suburban  system.    With  an  alternating-current  trolley 


operating  at  2000  volts  or  3000  volts,  however,  the  possibility 
is  offered  of  using  some  form  of  bow  trolley  which  will  not 
come  off,  and  which  will  permit  an  increase  in  both  the  weight 
and  speed  of  the  train.  The  alternating-current  motor  system, 
therefore,  may  help  solve  the  current-collecting  problem,  which 
has  become  so  serious  when  considering  large  railway  projects 
from  the  direct-current  standpoint. 

Considerable  stress  was  laid  in  the  Congress  speeches  upon 
the  fact  that  alternating-current  motors  for  suburban  work 
possesses  much  greater  advantages  if  they  can  run  over  exist- 
ing d.  c.  systems.  The  relative  merits  of  potential  control 
versus  series  parallel  were  not  entered  into  to  any  extent,  and 
an  article  of  considerable  length  could  be  written  on  this  point 
alone.  The  three-phase  motor  was  discussed  and  received 
stanch  support  from  our  foreign  friends  and  scant  courteous 
consideration  from  American  engineers.  Its  constant-speed 
characteristics,  the  necessity  of  a  double  trolley,  its  poor  power 
factor  and  limited  torque  all  combined,  in  their  opinion,  to  make 
it  unsatisfactory  for  general  railway  work.  The  motor  is  well 
adapted  to  take  care  of  specific  cases,  but  has  not  the  qualifica- 
tions demanded  in  general  railway  work.  The  a.  c.  commuta- 
tor motor  practically  duplicates  the  characteristics  of  the  d.  c. 
series  motor,  and  hence  is  preferable  to  its  three-phase  com- 
petitor. 

Although  the  discussions  at  St.  Louis  were  valuable 
as  bringing  together  at  one  place  considerable  informa- 
tion on  this  subject,  no  entirely  new  light  was  shed 
upon  it.  That  the  alternating-phase  series  motor  will  occupy 
the  places  consigned  to  it  by  the  eminent  engineers  who  are 
responsible  for  its  design  there  can  be  little  doubt,  provided  t.'ne 
commutation  of  these  motors  stands  the  test  of  time.  That  is 
the  crucial  point  which  every  practical  railway  man  is  watch- 
ing with  interest,  and  which,  to  judge  from  their  public  utter- 
ances, is  not  worrying  the  designers  of  these  motors  to  any 
extent. 

Economy  in  Use  of  Air 

Although  the  amount  of  power  required  to  compress  air  for 
air  brakes  is  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  total  power  used 
on  an  electric  road,  there  is  no  reason  why  waste  in  this  detail 
should  be  tolerated  more  than  in  any  other.  We  have  known 
of  but  a  small  number  of  informal  tests  made  to  determine  the 
amount  of  power  used  in  compressing  air  for  electric  railway 
cars,  and  these  tests  have  mainly  served  to  demonstrate  what  a 
great  difference  the  adjustment  of  the  brake  shoes  can  make 
in  the  total  air  consumption.  The  amount  of  power  used  varies 
enormously  from  no  other  cause  than  difference  in  the  amount 
of  slack  which  must  be  taken  up  by  the  air-brake  piston  before 
the  brakes'are  applied.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  the  reason  for 
this  when  one  considers  that  after  the  slack  in  the  brake  rig- 
ging has  been  taken  up,  the  entire  cylinder  space  behind  the 
piston  must  be  filled  with  air  at  the  full  braking  pressure  in 
order  to  apply  the  brakes.  A  few  inches  difference  in  piston 
travel  will  make  a  great  difference  in  the  air  required  to  make 
a  brake  application.  The  point  is  to  keep  down  the  piston 
travel  as  much  as  possible  by  having  as  little  slack  as  possible 
in  the  brake  rigging,  so  that  there  is  but  little  lost  motion,  and 
but  little  space  between  the  brake  shoes  and  wheels  when  the 
brakes  are  released.  It  will  not  do  to  carry  this  close  adjust- 
ment of  brake  shoes  too  far,  however,  because,  as  was  pointed 
out  in  an  article  in  a  recent  issue  of  this  paper,  there 
is  frequently  much  play  between  journal  boxes  and  truck 
frames,  so  that  the  car  wheels  are  crowded  together  more 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


463 


closely  immediately  after  the  brakes  have  been  applied  than 
when  running  with  the  brakes  off.  If  the  brake  shoes  are  ad- 
justed so  as  to  be  close  to  the  wheels  when  the  car  is  standing 
still  immediately  after  the  brakes  have  been  applied,  there  is 
danger  that  brake  shoes  will  bear  on  the  wheels  when  the  car 
is  running,  because  the  wheels  are  then  spread  further  apart. 

Some  figures  giving  the  electrical  energy  consumed  by  the 
air-brake  compressor  on  a  25-ton  car  in  city  service  are  given 
in  another  column;  although,  as  we  have  said  before,  the  con- 
sumption of  air  varies  greatly,  depending  on  the  piston  travel. 
These  figures  probably  represent  fair  average  conditions,  as  the 
tests  were  made  by  an  engineer  whose  practical  knowledge  of 
car  equipment  would  not  permit  him  to  be  led  astray  in  this 
respect.  In  these  tests  the  kw-hours  per  car-mile  used  for  brak- 
ing averaged  .064,  which  is  probably  about  3  per  cent  of  the 
total  power  taken  by  the  car,  although  figures  are  not  given  on 
the  total  power  consumption  of  the  car.  Aside  from  the  ques- 
tion of  current  cost,  the  amount  of  air  required  for  braking  is 
a  very  decided  factor  in  the  amount  of  repairs  needed  on  mo- 
tors and  compressors,  as  the  repairs  on  motors  and  compressors 
should  be  somewhere  near  in  direct  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  air  pumped. 

The  Status  of  the  "Third-Rail  System" 

It  has  been  an  open  secret  for  some  time  that  the  old  Nan- 
tasket  third-rail  line  had  been  practically  abandoned,  but  now 
comes  the  announcement  that  it  has  been  stripped  and  definitely 
given  up,  which  fact  has  naturally  aroused  considerable  com- 
ment. The  high-speed  trolley  line  along  the  beach  has  not 
been  discontinued,  but  only  the  section  used  by  electrics  and 
steam  trains  in  common.  An  official  of  the  New  York,  New 
Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  is  quoted  as  saying  that  the  sys- 
tem was  found  impracticable,  and  that  if  electricity  were  used 
further  as  a  motive  power  it  would  be  in  connection  with  elec- 
tric locomotives,  the  state  of  development  of  which  did  not 
yet  warrant  their  introduction. 

For  several  years  the  third  rail  was  a  fetish  among  electric 
railway  men,  and  it  was  expected  to  work  miracles  at  short 
notice.  As  usually  happens  in  this  work-a-day  world,  the 
miracles  were  not  forthcoming.  There  was  in  fact  no  good 
reason  to  expect  them.  Nevertheless,  we  think  that  our  friends 
of  the  daily  press  are  making  too  much  of  a  rather  small  mat- 
ter. It  is  nothing  unusual  to  find  a  new  method  of  special 
rather  than  general  applicability,  and  on  the  whole,  one  should 
be  thankful  for  the  success  instead  of  lamenting  the  fact  that 
success  is  not  universal.  As  a  matter  of  actual  experience,  the 
third-rail  method  of  supply  has  done  and  is  doing  remarkably 
well  in  the  situations  in  which  success  could  reasonably  be  an- 
ticipated. On  elevated  roads  and  in  subways,  wherever  in  fact 
a  third  rail  could  be  efficiently  insulated,  it  has  done  its  work 
admirably.  It  has  even  done  passably  well  in  special  service 
along  private  rights  of  way,  although  for  such  service  it  has 
seldom  had  the  preference  over  the  overhead  trolley  system. 
Converted  steam  railroad  lines  have  usually  adopted  the  third 
rail  instead  of  the  trolley  on  account  of  collection  difficulties 
with  the  latter,  but  while  the  third  rail  has  answered  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  was  installed,  and  is  the  only  practical 
conductor  for  heavy  traction  under  d.  c.  working,  it  can  hardly 
be  considered  as  entirely  satisfactory  on  lines  having  infre- 
quent traffic. 

The  center  third  rail  as  installed  at  Nantasket  was  laid  very 
low  down,  barely  clearing  the  ties,  and  upon  wooden  insulators. 
Using  a  center  rail,  this  cramped  construction  was  necessary 


to  escape  the  lire  boxes  of  some  of  the  locomotives,  but  the 
wooden  insulators  were  decidedly  risky.  Even  though  such  a 
line  can  be  operated  where  the  leakage  is  severe,  bad  insulation 
is  bound  to  make  trouble  sooner  or  later.  The  wonder  is  that 
the  system  lasted  as  long  as  it  has  under  the  circumstances. 
Although  a  third  rail  placed  laterally  and  suitably  insulated  is 
successful  from  an  operative  standpoint,  when  thus  placed  it  is 
very  difficult  to  arrange  for  a  complicated  system  of  tracks, 
and  is  highly  dangerous  unless  in  some  way  protected.  Ter- 
minal yards  present  serious  and  almost  forbidding  complica- 
tions, to  be  overcome  only  by  great  skill  in  planning  the  condi- 
tions of  operation,  so  that  steam  roads  have  naturally  hesi- 
tated to  adopt  the  plan  even  in  its  latest  forms,  which  are 
vastly  improved  over  the  abandoned  Nantasket  system.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  large  power  is  required,  the  third  rail 
with  its  ample  contact  surface  and  simple  form  of  collector  is 
very  attractive  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  which  beset  it.  It  has 
long  been  clear,  however,  that  it  constitutes  a  special  device 
of  electric  traction  rather  than  a  general  method. 

Ihe  Congestion  Point  in  Car  Headway 

In  connection  with  the  handling  of  St.  Louis  Day  crowds  at 
the  Exposition,  a  point  comes  up  which  is  not  very  well  under- 
stood by  the  general  public,  and  possibly  only  by  those  street 
railway  men  who  have  had  to  do  with  operating  cars  on  very 
short  headway  in  the  largest  cities.  The  point  is,  that  increas- 
ing the  number  of  cars  on  a  given  street  or  route  beyond  a 
certain  point,  instead  of  increasing  the  number  of  passengers 
which  can  be  carried  per  hour,  actually  decreases  the  number 
because  of  the  congestion  which  it  creates  and  the  interference 
of  one  car  with  another.  For  example,  on  the  Olive  Street 
line  in  St.  Louis,  which  is  the  one  receiving  the  heaviest 
World's  Fair  travel,  it  has  been  found  that  a  headway  of  about 
twenty-five  seconds  between  cars  is  the  shortest  that  is  feasible 
if  cars  are  to  maintain  their  schedule  speed  of  about  9  miles 
per  hour  for  the  round  trip  between  Fourth  Street  in  the  down- 
town district  and  the  loop  at  the  Fair  grounds.  If  more  cars 
are  put  on  the  line  so  that  the  headway  is  less  than  twenty-five 
seconds,  the  same  schedule  speed  cannot  be  maintained  because 
of  the  interference  of  one  car  with  another  at  stopping  points. 
By  decreasing  the  speed,  cars  can  be  operated  on  a  shorter 
headway  than  twenty-five  seconds  and,  consequently,  more 
passengers  can  be  carried  per  hour,  provided  there  are  no  de- 
lays, but  there  comes  soon  a  point  where  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  cars  will  not  result  in  any  shortening  of  the  head- 
way— that  is,  cars  will  have  to  move  on  such  a  slow  schedule 
that  no  more  cars  can  be  operated  past  a  given  point  in  a 
minute  than  could  be  operated  if  fewer  cars  were  on  the  line 
and  the  schedule  were  made  faster  to  allow  them  freer  move- 
ment. The  point  where  an  increase  in  the  number  of  cars  on 
a  line  ceases  to  cause  an  increase  in  the  number  of  cars  oper- 
ated past  a  given  point  in  a  given  time  may  be  called  the  "con- 
gestion point"  in  car  headway,  beyond  which  we  cannot  go. 
However,  this  congestion  point  is  not  reached  until  after  sched- 
ule speed  has  been  materially  reduced  from  what  it  ordinarily 
is  on  all  but  the  most  congested  streets.  The  fact  that  some 
streets  are  so  congested  that  it  is  impossible  to  operate  except 
at  a  very  slow  speed,  fits  in  very  well  with  the  fact  that  usually 
it  is  on  such  streets  that  it  is  desirable  to  operate  the  largest 
number  of  cars,  but  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  likely  to  be  the 
case  that  the  very  fact  that  there  are  so  many  cars  on  the 
street  causes  the  congestion  which  necessitates  the  slow  speed. 


464 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


PASSENGER  STATIONS  AND  ENGINEERING  DETAILS  OF 
THE  NEW  YORK  SUBWAY  SYSTEM 


The  approaching  completion  of  the  great  subway  system  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company,  New  York,  is  sur- 
rounded by  the  extreme  interest  that  attends  the  successful 
accomplishment  of  an  enterprise  of  so  great  a  magnitude  and 
of  so  difficult  a  nature.  While  the  work  of  construction  was 
only  begun  something  over  four  years  ago,  ground  having 
first  been  broken  in  March,  1900,  work  of  construction  upon 
the  colossal  undertaking  is  now  practically  completed,  experi- 
mental trains  are  running,  and  within  a  short  time  actual  oper- 
ation will  be  attempted.  Articles  will  be  published  in  an  early 
issue  on  the  power  station,  signal  system  and  rolling  stock, 
while  in  this  number  particulars  are  given  of  the  passenger 
stations  and  general  condition  of  the  work. 

The  construction  of  the  subway  rapid  transit  system  in  New 


KIOSKS  AT  COLUMBUS  CIRCLE 

York  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  wonderful  undertak- 
ings of  an  electric  nature  that  have  of  recent  years  been  made. 
The  engineering  difficulties  met  in  the  construction  work  were 
well  nigh  appalling.  Towering  buildings  along  the  streets  to 
be  traversed  had  to  be  considered,  while  the  streets  themselves 
were  already  occupied  with  complicated  networks  of  sub-sur- 
face structures,  such  as  sewers,  water  and  gas  mains,  electric 
cable  conduits,  electric  surface  railway  conduits,  telegraph  and 
power  conduits,  and  many  vaults  extending  out  under  the 
streets,  occupied  by  the  abutting  property  owners.  On  the 
surface  were  surface  railway  lines  carrying  the  enormously 
heavy  urban  traffic  of  this  city  both  night  and  day,  while  all 
the  thoroughfares  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  were  of  course 
congested  with  vehicular  traffic.  All  of  these  conditions  added 
to  the  difficulties  of  construction,  and  it  is  accordingly  greatly 
to  the  credit  of  the  contractors  that  the  work  has  been  pushed 
so  rapidly  and  is  approaching  completion  with  such  a  general 
harmony  of  details. 

As  has  been  previously  noted  in  the  columns  of  the  Street 
Railway  Journal,  the  general  contract  for  the  construction 
of  the  subway,  system  was  let  by  the  city  to  John  B.  McDonald. 
In  the  organization  of  the  construction  company,  which  was 
known  under  the  title  of  "Rapid  Transit  Subway  Construction 
Company,"  Mr.  McDonald  was  assisted  by  August  Belmont, 


who,  as  president  and  active  executive  head,  perfected  the 
organization,  collected  the  staff  of  engineers  under  whose 
direction  the  work  of  building  the  road  was  to  be  done,  super- 
vised the  letting  of  sub-contracts,  and  completed  the  financial 
arrangements  for  carrying  on  the  work. 

The  equipment  of  the  road  included,  under  the  terms  of  the 
contract,  the  rolling  stock,  all  machinery  and  mechanisms  for 
generating  electricity  for  motive  power,  lighting  and  signaling, 
and  also  the  power  house,  sub-stations  and  the  real  estate  upon 
which  they  were  to  be  erected.  The  magnitude  of  the  task  of 
providing  the  equipment  was  not  generally  appreciated  until 
Mr.  Belmont  took  the  rapid  transit  problem  in  hand.  He 
foresaw  from  the  beginning  the  importance  of  that  branch  of 
the  work,  and  early  in  1900,  immediately  after  the  signing  of 
the  contract,  turned  his  attention  to  selecting  the  best  engi- 
neers and  operating  experts,  and  planned  the  organization  of 
an  operating  company.    As  early  as  May,  1900,  he  secured  the 

services  of  E.  P.  Bryan,  who 
came  to  New  York  from  St. 
Louis,  resigning  as  vice-presi- 
dent and  general  manager  of 
the  Terminal  Railroad  Associa- 
tion, and  began  a  study  of  the 
construction  work  and  plans 
for  equipment,  to  the  end  that 
the  problems  of  operation 
might  be  anticipated  as  the 
building  and  equipment  of  the 
road  progressed.  Upon  the  in- 
corporation of  the  operating 
company,  Mr.  Bryan  became 
vice-president. 

In  the  spring  of  1902  the  In- 
terborough RapidTransit  Com- 
pany, the  operating  railroad 
corporation,  was  formed  by  the 
interests  represented  by  Mr. 
Belmont,  he  becoming  presi- 
dent and  active  executive  head 
of  this  company  also,  and 
soon  thereafter  Mr.  McDonald 
assigned  to  it  the  lease  or  oper- 
ating part  of  his  contract  with 
the  city,  that  company  thereby 
becoming  directly  responsible 
to  the  city  for  the  equipment 
and  operation  of  the  road.  In  the  summer  of  the  same  year, 
the  Board  of  Rapid  Transit  Railroad  Commissioners  having 
adopted  a  route  and  plans  for  an  extension  of  the  subway  under 
the  East  River  to  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  the  Rapid  Transit 
Subway  Construction  Company  entered  into  a  contract  with 
the  city,  similar  in  form  to  Mr.  McDonald's  contract,  to  build, 
equip  and  operate  the  extension.  In  January,  1903,  the  In- 
terborough Rapid  Transit  Company  acquired  the  elevated  rail- 
way system  by  lease  for  999  years  from  the  Manhattan  Railway 
Company,  thus  securing  harmonious  operation  of  the  elevated 
roads  and  the  subway  system,  including  the  Brooklyn  exten- 
sion. 

The  incorporators  of  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
were  William  H.  Baldwin,  Jr.,  Charles  T.  Barney,  August  Bel- 
mont, E.  P.  Bryan,  Andrew  Freedman,  James  Jourdan,  Gardi- 
ner M.  Lane,  John  B.  McDonald,  DeLancey  Nicoll,  Walter  G. 
Oakman,  John  Peirce,  Wm.  A.  Read,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt, 
George  W.  Wickersham  and  George  W.  Young.  The  incor- 
porators of  Rapid  Transit  Subway  Construction  Company  were 
Charles  T.  Barney,  August  Belmont,  John  B.  McDonald,  Wal- 
ter G.  Oakman  and  William  A.  Read. 

The  builders  of  the  road  did  not  underestimate  the  magni- 
tude of  the  task  before  them.  They  retained  the  most  experi- 
enced experts  for  every  part  of  the  work  and,  perfecting  an 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


465 


organization  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  pro- 
ceded  to  surmount  and  sweep  aside  difficul- 
ties. The  result  is  one  of  which  every  citizen 
of  New  York  may  feel  proud.  The  stations 
and  approaches  are  commodious,  and  the 
stations  themselves  furnish  conveniences  to 
passengers  heretofore  not  heard  of  on  intra- 
urban lines.  There  is  a  separate  express 
service,  with  its  own  tracks,  and  the  stations 
are  so  arranged  that  passengers  may  pass 
from  local  trains  to  express  trains,  and  vice 
versa,  without  delay  and  without  payment  of 
additional  fare.  Special  precautions  have 
been  taken  and  devices  adopted  to  prevent  a 
failure  of  the  electric  power  and  the  conse- 
quent delays  of  traffic.  An  electro-pneu- 
matic block  signal  system  has  been  devised, 
which  excels  any  system  heretofore  used, 


VIEWS  IN  CITY  HALL  STATION 

and  is  unique  in  its  mechanism.  Special  emergency  and  fire- 
alarm  signal  systems  are  installed  throughout  the  length  of  the 
road.  At  a  few  stations,  where  the  road  is  not  near  the  sur- 
face, improved  escalators  and  elevators  are  provided.  The  cars 


have  been  designed  to  prevent 
danger  from  fire.  Strength,  utility 
and  convenience  have  not  alone 
been  considered,  but  all  parts  of 
the  railroad  structures  and  equip- 
ment, stations,  power  house  and 
electrical  sub-stations  have  been 
designed  and  constructed  with  a 
view  to  the  beauty  of  their  appear- 
ance, as  well  as  to  their  efficiency. 

The  routes  in  detail  are  as  fol- 
lows:    Beginning  near  the  inter- 
section  of   Broadway   and  Park 
Row,  one  of  the  routes  of  the  rail- 
road extends   under    Park  Row, 
Center  Street,  New  Elm  Street, 
Elm     Street,     Lafayette  Place, 
Fourth    Avenue    (beginning  at 
Astor  Place). Park  Avenue,  Forty- 
Second  Street,  and  Broadway  to 
125th    Street,    where    it  passes 
out   and   over   Broadway  by  an 
elevated  structure  to   133d  Street,  thence  under  Broadway 
again  to  and  under  Eleventh  Avenue  to  Fort  George,  where  it 
comes  to  the  surface  again  at  Dyckman  Street  and  continues 
by  viaduct  over  Nagle  Avenue,  Amsterdam  Avenue  and  Broad- 
way to  Bailey  Avenue,  at  the  Kingsbridge  station  of  the  New 
York  &  Putnam  Railroad,  crossing  the  Harlem  Ship  Canal  on 
a  double-deck  drawbridge.    The  length  of  this  route  is  13.50 
miles,  of  which  about  \y2  miles  are  on  viaduct. 

Another  route,  branching  from  the  above,  begins  at  Broad- 
way near  103d  Street  and  extends  under  104th  Street  and  the 
upper  part  of  Central  Park  to  and  under  Lenox  Avenue,  to 
I42d  Street,  thence  curving  to  the  east  to  and  under  the  Har- 
lem River  at  about  145th  Street,  thence  from  the  river  to  and 
under  East  149th  Street  to  a  point  near  Third  Avenue,  thence 
by  viaduct  beginning  at  Brook  Avenue  over  Westchester  Ave- 
nue, the  Southern  Boulevard  and  the  Boston  Road  to  Bronx 
Park.  The  length  of  this  route  is  about  6.97  miles,  of  which 
about  3  miles  are  on  viaduct. 

At  the  City  (Borough)  Hall  there  is  a  loop  under  the  Park. 
From  143d  Street  there  is  a  spur  north  under  Lenox  Avenue  to 
147th  Street.  There  is  a  spur  at  Westchester  and  Third  Ave- 
nue connecting  by  viaduct  the  Manhattan  Elevated  Railway 
division  of  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company  with  the 


466 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


viaduct  of  the  subway  at  or  near  St.  Ann's  Avenue.  The 
route  of  the  Brooklyn  extension  connects  near  Broad- 
way and  Park  Row  with  the  Manhattan-Bronx  route,  and  ex- 
tends under  Broadway,  Bowling  Green,  State  Street,  Battery 
Park,  Whitehall  Street  and  South  Street  to  and  under  the 
East  River  to  Brooklyn  at  the  foot  of  Joralemon  Street,  thence 
under  Toralemon  Street,  Fulton  Street  and  Flatbush  Avenue  to 


There  is  a  storage  yard  under  Broadway  between  137th 
Street  and  145th  Street  on  the  Fort  George  branch,  another 
on  the  surface  at  the  end  of  the  Lenox  Avenue  spur  at  Lenox 
Avenue  and  147th  Street,  and  a  third  on  an  elevated  structure 
at  the  Boston  Road  and  178th  Street.  There  is  a  repair  shop 
and  inspection  shed  on  the  surface  adjoining  the  Lenox  Ave- 
nue spur  at  the  Harlem  River  and  148th-!  50th  Streets,  and  an 


POUCEVARD 


'         '        /_  \  e.14fTH,  ST._  _L 

■j  *    7  -2  TRACKS 

TRACKS  Private  Double  Cast  Iron 

Property  Circular  Section 


WESTCHESTER  AVE 


W  (13) 

SOUTHERN  j  BOSTON  . 
BOULEVARD  '  "  ROAD" 


PROFILE  OF  RAPID  TRANSIT  RAILROAD,  MANHATTAN  AND  P.RONX  LINES 


Atlantic  Avenue,  connecting  with  the  Brooklyn  tunnel  of  the 
Long  Island  Railroad  at  that  point.  There  is  a  loop  under 
Battery  Park  beginning  at  Bridge  Street.  The  length  of  this 
route  is  about  3  miles. 

The  routes  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  therefore,  may  be 
said  to  roughly  resemble  the  letter  Y,  with  the  base  at  the 


inspection  shed  at  the  storage  yard  at  Boston  Road  and  178th 
Street. 

The  grades  and  curvature  along  the  main  line  may  be  sum- 
marized as  follows :  The  total  curvature  is  equal  in  length  to 
23  per  cent  of  the  straight  line,  and  the  least  radius  of  curva- 
ture is  147  ft.    The  greatest  grade  is  3  per  cent,  and  occurs  on 


southern  extremity  of  Manhattan  Island,  the  fork  at  103d     either  side  of  the  tunnel  under  the  Harlem  River.    On  the 


steel  Beam  A  Concrete  Construction 
feet  * 


PROFILE  OF  BROOKLYN  EXTENSION 


Street  and  Broadway,  the  terminus  of  the  westerly  or  Fort 
George  branch  of  the  fork  just  beyond  Spuyten  Duyvil  Creek, 
the  terminus  of  the  easterly  or  Bronx  Park  branch  at  Bronx 
Park.  The  total  length  of  the  line  from  the  City  Hall  to  the 
Kingsbridge  terminal  is  13.50  miles,  with  47.11  miles  of  single 
track  and  sidings.  The  eastern  or  Bronx  Park  branch  is  6.97 
miles  long,  with  17.50  miles  of  single  track.  The  total  length 
of  the  Brooklyn  extension  is  3.1  miles,  with  about  8  miles  of 
single  track. 

From  the  Borough  Hall,  Manhattan,  to  the  Ninety-Sixth 
Street  station,  the  line  is  four-track.  On  the  Fort  George 
branch  (including  103d  Street  station)  there  are  three  tracks 
to  145th  Street,  two  tracks  to  Dyckman  Street,  and  then  three 
tracks  again  to  the  terminus  at  Bailey  Avenue.  On  the  Bronx 
Park  branch  there  are  two  tracks  to  Brook  Avenue,  and  from 
that  point  to  Bronx  Park  there  are  three  tracks.  On  the  Lenox 
Avenue  spur  to  147th  Street  there  are  two  tracks,  on  the  City 
Hall  loop  one  track,  on  the  Battery  Park  loop  two  tracks.  The 
Brooklyn  extension  is  a  two-track  line. 


Brooklyn  extension  the  maximum  grade  is  3.1  per  cent,  de- 
scending from  the  ends  to  the  center  of  the  East  River  tunnel. 
The  minimum  radius  of  curve  is  1200  ft.  At  each  station  there 
is  a  down  grade  of  2.1  per  cent  to  assist  in  the  acceleration  of 
the  cars  when  they  start. 

The  track  is  of  the  usual  standard  construction  with  broken 
stone  ballast,  timber  crossties  and  100-lb.  rails  of  the  American 
Society  of  Civil  Engineers'  section.  The  crossties  are  selected 
hard  pine.  All  ties  are  fitted  with  tie  plates.  All  curves  are 
supplied  with  steel  inside  guard  rails.  The  frogs  and  switches 
are  of  the  best  design  and  quality  to  be  had,  and  a  special  de- 
sign has  been  used  on  all  curves.  At  the  Battery  loop,  at 
Westchester  Avenue,  at  Ninety-Sixth  Street,  and  at  City  Hall 
loop,  where  it  has  been  necessary  for  the  regular  passenger 
tracks  to  cross,  grade  crossings  have  been  avoided ;  one  track 
or  set  of  tracks  passing  under  the  other  at  the  intersecting 
station  points. 

The  contract  for  the  building  of  the  road  contains  the  fol- 
lowing somewhat  unusual  provision :    "The  railway  and  its 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


467 


equipment  as  contemplated  by  the  contract  constitute  a  great 
public  work.  All  parts  of  the  structure  where  exposed  to  public 
sight  shall  therefore  be  designed,  constructed  and  maintained 
with  a  view  to  the  beauty  of  their  appearance,  as  well  as  to 
their  efficiency." 

It  may  be  said  with  exact  truthfulness  that  the  builders  have 
spared  no  effort  or  expense  to  live  up  to  the  spirit  of  this  pro- 
vision, and  that  all  parts  of  the  road  and  equipment  display 
dignified  and  consistent  artistic  effects  of  the  highest  order. 
These  are  noticeable  in  the  power  house  and  the  electrical  sub- 


The  station  plans  are  necessarily  varied  to  suit  the  condi- 
tions of  the  different  locations,  the  most  important  factor  in 
planning  them  having  been  the  amount  of  available  space.  The 
platforms  are  from  200  ft.  to  350  ft.  in  length,  and  about  16  ft. 
in  width,  narrowing  at  the  ends,  while  the  center  space  is 
larger  or  smaller,  according  to  local  conditions.  As  a  rule,  the 
body  of  the  station  extends  back  about  50  ft.  from  the  edge  of 
the  platform. 

At  express  stations  there  are  two  island  platforms  between 
the  express  and  local  tracks,  one  for  uptown  and  one  for  down- 


28 TH  STREET 


South  Bound  Local 


    Suutli  Bound  Express   


North  Bound  Express 


a:    x     —     x  x 


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: 

North   Bound  Local 


xxx     xxxxxxx     rx  x 


237H  STREET 


PLAN  OF  TWENTY-EIGHTH  STREET  AND  FOURTH  AVENUE  STATION 


stations,  and  particularly  in  the  passenger  stations.  It  might 
readily  have  been  supposed  that  the  limited  space  and  compara- 
tive uniformity  of  the  underground  stations  would  afford  but 
little  opportunity  for  architectural  and  decorative  effects.  The 
result  has  shown  the  fallacy  of  such  a  supposition. 

Of  the  forty-eight  stations,  thirty-four  are  underground, 
eleven  are  on  the  viaduct  portions  of  the  road,  and  two  are 
partly  on  the  surface  and  partly  underground,  and  one  is  partly 
1  in  the  surface  and  partly  on  the  viaduct.  The  underground 
stations  are  at  the  street  intersections,  and,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  instances,  occupy  space  under  the  cross  streets.  At  all 
local  stations  (except  at  110th  Street  and  Lenox  Avenue)  the 
platforms  are  outside  of  the  tracks.  At  Lenox  Avenue  and 
110th  Street  there  is  a  single  island  platform  for  uptown  and 
downtown  passengers.  * 


town  traffic.  In  addition,  there  are  the  usual  local  platforms 
at  Brooklyn  Bridge,  Fourteenth  Street  and  Ninety-Sixth  Street, 
as  shown  in  an  accompanying  view.  At  the  remaining  express 
stations,  namely,  at  Forty-Second  Street  and  Madison  Ave- 
nue, and  at  Seventy-Second  Street,  there  are  no  local  plat- 
forms outside  of  the  tracks,  both  local  and  through  traffic  using 
the  island  platforms. 

The  island  platforms  at  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  Fourteenth 
Street,  and  Forty-Second  Street  and  Madison  Avenue,  express 
stations  are  reached  by  mezzanine  footways  from  the  local  plat- 
forms, it  having  been  impossible  to  place  entrances  in  the 
streets  immediately  over  the  platforms.  At  Ninety-Sixth  Street 
there  is  an  underground  passage  connecting  the  local  and 
island  platforms,  and  at  Seventy-Second  Street  there  are  en- 
trances to  the  island  platforms  directly  from  the  street,  which 


468 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


is  made  possible  by  the  park  area  in  the  middle  of  the  street, 
in  which  is  built  a  commodious  ornamental  station  building 
upon  the  surface.  Local  passengers  can  transfer  from  express 
trains  and  express  passengers  from  local  trains,  without  pay- 
ment of  additional  fare,  by  merely  stepping  across  the  island 
platforms. 

At  Seventy-Second  Street,  at  103d  Street  and  at  116th  Street 
and  Broadway  the  station  platforms  are  below  the  surface,  but 
the  ticket  booths  and  toilet  rooms  are  on  the  surface,  this  ar- 
rangement being  possible  also  because  of  the  park  area  avail- 
able in  the  streets..  At  Manhattan  Street  the  platforms  are  on 


permits  air  to  circulate  and  minimizes  condensation  on  the 
surface  of  the  ceiling  and  walls. 

The  ceilings  are  separated  into  panels  by  wide  ornamental 
moldings,  and  the  panels  are  decorated  with  narrow  moldings 
and  rosettes.  The  bases  of  the  walls  are  buff  Norman  brick. 
Above  this  is  glass  tile  or  glazed  tile,  and  above  the  tile  is  a 
faience  or  tcrra-cotta  cornice.  Ceramic  mosaic  is  used  for 
decorative  panels,  friezes,  pilasters  and  name  tablets.  A  differ- 
ent decorative  treatment  is  used  at  each  station,  including  a 
distinctive  color  scheme.  At  some  stations  the  number  of  the 
intersecting  street  or  initial  letter  of  the  street  name  is  shown 
on  conspicuous  plaques,  at  other  sta- 
^  tions  the  number  or  letter  is  in  the 

*  panel.    At  some  stations  artistic  em- 

blems have  been  used  in  the  scheme 
of  decoration,  as  at  Astor  Place,  the 
beaver;  at  Columbus  Circle,  the  great 
navigator's  Caravel;  at  116th  Street, 
the  seal  of  the  near-by  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. The  walls  above  the  cornice 
and  the  ceilings  are  finished  in  white 
Keene  cement. 

The    ticket    booths    are    of  oak, 
with  bronze  window  grills  and  fit- 


l'LAN  OF  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  STATION  AND  CITY  HALL  LOOP 

the  viaduct,  but  the  ticket  booths  and  toilet  rooms  are  on  the 
surface.  The  viaduct  at  this  point  is  about  68  ft.  above  the 
surface,  and  escalators  are  provided.  At  many  of  the  stations 
entrances  have  been  arranged  from  the  adjacent  buildings,  in 
addition  to  the  entrances  originally  planned  from  the  street. 

The  entrances  to  the  underground  stations  are  enclosed  at 
the  street  by  "kiosks"  of  cast  iron  and  wire  glass,  as  shown 
in  the  view  on  page  464,  and  vary  in  number  from  two  to  eight 
at  a  station.  The  stairways  are  of  concrete,  reinforced  by 
twisted  steel  rods.  At  168th  Street,  at  181st  Street,  and  at  Mott 
Avenue,  where  the  platforms  are  from  90  ft.  to  100  ft.  below 
the  surface,  elevators  are  provided. 

At  twenty  of  the  underground  stations  it  has  been  possible 
to  use  vault  lights  to  such  an  extent  that  very  little  artificial 
light  is  needed.  Such  artificial  light  as  is  required  is  supplied 
by  incandescent  lamps  sunk  in  the  ceilings.  Provision  has 
been  made  for  using  the  track  circuit  for  lighting  in  emer- 
gency if  the  regular  lighting  circuit  should  temporarily  fail. 

The  station  floors  are  of  concrete,  marked  off  in  squares. 
At  the  junction  of  the  floors  and  side  walls  a  cement  sanitary 
cove  is  placed.  The  floors  drain  to  catch  basins,  and  hose  bibs 
are  provided  for  washing  the  floors. 

Two  types  of  ceiling  are  used,  one  flat,  which  covers  the 
steel  and  concrete  of  the  roof,  and  the  other  arched  between 
the  roof  beams  and  girders,  the  lower  flanges  of  which  are  ex- 
posed. Both  types  have  an  air  space  between  ceiling  and  roof, 
which,  together  with  the  air  space  behind  the  inner  side  walls, 


tings.  There  are  toilet  rooms  in  every  station,  except  at  the 
City  Hall  loop.  Each  toilet  room  has  a  free  closet  or  closets, 
and  a  pay  closet,  which  is  furnished  with  a  basin,  mirror,  soap 
dish  and  towel  rack.  The  fixtures  are  porcelain,  finished  in 
dull  nickel.  The  soil,  vent  and  water  pipes  are  run  in  wall 
spaces,  so  as  to  be  accessible.  The  rooms  are  ventilated 
through  the  hollow  columns  of  the  kiosks,  and  each  is  pro- 
vided with  an  electric  fan.  They  are  heated  by  electric  heaters. 
The  woodwork  of  the  rooms  is  oak ;  the  walls  are  red  slate 
wainscot  and  Keene  cement. 

Passengers  may  enter  the  body  of  the  station  without  paying 
fare.  The  train  platforms  are  separated  from  the  body  of  the 
station  by  railings.  At  the  more  important  stations,  separate 
sets  of  entrances  are  provided  for  incoming  and  outgoing  pas- 
sengers, the  stairs  at  the  back  of  the  station  being  used  for 
entrances  and  those  nearer  the  track  being  used  for  exits. 

An  example  of  the  care  used  to  obtain  artistic  effects  can  be 
seen  in  the  views  of  the  City  . Hall  station  on  page  465.  The 
road  at  this  point  is  through  an  arched  tunnel.  In  order  to 
secure  consistency  of  treatment,  the  roof  of  the  station  is  con- 
tinued by  a  larger  arch  of  special  design.  At  168th  Street,  at 
181st  Street  and  at  Mott  Avenue  stations,  where  the  road  is  far 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


469 


beneath  the  surface,  it  has  been  possible  to  build  massive  arches 
with  spans  of  50  ft.  over  the  stations  and  tracks. 

Five  types  of  construction  have  been  employed  in  building 
the  road:  (1)  the  typical  subway  near  the  surface  with  flat  roof 
and  I-beams  for  the  roof  and  sides,  supported  between  tracks 
with  steel  bulb-angle  columns  used  on  about  10.6  miles  or  52.2 
per  cent  of  the  road;  (2)  flat  roof  typical  subway  of  reinforced 
concrete  construction  supported  between  the  tracks  by  steel 
bulb-angle  columns,  used  for  a  short  distance  on  Lenox  Avenue 
and  on  the  Brooklyn  portion  of  the  Brooklyn  extension,  and 
also  on  the  Battery  Park  loop;  (3)  concrete  lined  tunnel  used 
on  about  4.6  miles  or  23  per  cent  of  the  road,  of  which  4.2  per 
cent  was  concrete  lined  open  cut  work,  and  the  remainder  was 
rock  tunnel  work ;  (4)  elevated  road  on  steel  viaduct  used  on 


tunnel,  and  on  the  Battery  Park  loop)  the  felt  water-proofing 
has  been  made  more  effective  by  one  or  two  courses  of  hard- 
burned  brick  laid  in  hot  asphalt,  after  the  manner  sometimes 
employed  in  constructing  the  linings  of  reservoirs  of  water- 
works. 

The  reinforced  concrete  construction  substitutes  for  the  steel 
roof  beams,  steel  rods,  approximating  Ij4  ins.  square,  laid  in 
varying  distances  according  to  the  different  roof  loads,  from 
6  ins.  to  10  ins.  apart.  Rods  ins.  in  diameter  tie  the  side 
walls,  passing  through  angle  columns  in  the  walls  and  the 
bulb-angle  columns  in  the  center.  Layers  of  concrete  are  laid 
over  the  roof  rods  to  a  thickness  of  from  18  ins.  to  30  ins.,  and 
carried  2  ins.  below  the  rods,  thus  imbedding  them.  For  the 
sides  similar  square  rods  and  concrete  are  used  and  angle  col- 


.J)i.wn  Down. 


q     „  _b_.  a  -B  Toilet 


-Down  Down-!-* 


EXPRESS  PLATFORM 


EXPRESS  PLATFORM 


LOCAL  PLATFORM 


about  5  miles  or  24.6  per  cent  of  the  road;  (5)  cast-iron  tubes 
used  under  the  Harlem  and  East  Rivers. 

The  general  character  of  the  flat  roof  I-beam  construction  is 
shown  in  the  view  on  page  471.  The  bottom  is  of  con- 
crete. The  side  walls  have  I-beam  columns  5  ft.  apart,  between 
which  are  vertical  concrete  arches,  the  steel  acting  as  a  sup- 
port for  the  masonry  and  allowing  the  thickness  of  the  walls 
to  be  materially  reduced  from  that  necessary  were  nothing  but 
concrete  used.  The  tops  of  the  wall  columns  are  connected  by 
roof  beams  which  are  supported  by  rows  of  steel  columns  be- 
tween the  tracks,  built  on  concrete  and  cut  stone  basis  form- 
ing part  of  the  floor  system.  Concrete  arches  between  the 
roof  beams  complete  the  top  of  the  subway.  Such  a  structure 
is  not  impervious,  and  hence,  there  has  been  laid  behind  the 
side  walls,  under  the  floor  and  over  the  roof,  a  course  of  two 
to  eight  thicknesses  of  felt,  each  washed  with  hot  asphalt  as 
laid.  In  addition  to  this  precaution  against  dampness,  in  three 
sections  of  the  subway  (viz:  on  Elm  Street  between  Pearl  and 
Grand  Streets,  and  on  the  approaches  to  the  Harlem  River 


BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  STATION 

umns  5  ft.  apart;  the  concrete  of  the  side  walls  is  from  15  ins. 
to  18  ins.  thick,  and  the  rods  used  are  of  both  square  and  twisted 
form. 

In  front  of  the  water-proofing,  immediately  behind  the  steel 
columns,  are  the  systems  of  terra-cotta  ducts  in  which  the  elec- 
tric cables  are  placed.  The  cables  can  be  reached  by  means  of 
manholes  every  200  ft.  to  450  ft.,  which  open  into  the  subway 
and  also  into  the  street.  The  number  of  these  ducts  ranges 
from  128  down  to  32,  and  they  are  connected  with  the  main 
power  station  at  Fifty-Eighth  and  Fifty-Ninth  Streets  and  the 
Hudson  River  by  a  128-duct  subway  under  the  former  street. 

The  construction  of  the  typical  subway  has  been  carried  on 
by  a  great  variety  of  methods,  partly  adopted  on  account  of  the 
conditions  under  which  the  work  had  to  be  prosecuted  and 
partly  due  to  the  personal  views  of  the  different  sub-contrac- 
tors. The  work  was  all  done  by  open  excavation,  the  so-called 
"cut  and  cover"  system,  but  the  conditions  varied  widely  along 
different  parts  of  the  line,  and  different  means  were  adopted 
to  overcome  local  difficulties.  The  distance  of  the  rock  surface 
below  the  street  level  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  manner 
in  which  the  excavation  of  the  open  trenches  could  be  made. 
In  some  places  this  rock  rose  nearly  to  the  pavement,  as  be- 
tween Fourteenth  and  Eighteen  Streets.  At  other  places  the 
subway  is  located  in  water-bearing  loam  and  sand,  as  in  the 
stretch  between  Pearl  and  Grand  Streets,  where  it  was  neces- 
sary to  employ  a  special  design  for  the  bottom. 

This  part  of  the  route  includes  the  former  site  of  the  ancient 
Collect  Pond,  familiar  in  the  early  history  of  New  York,  and 
the  excavation  was  through  made  ground,  the  pond  having 
been  filled  in  for  building  purposes  after  it  was  abandoned  for 


470 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


supplying  water  to  the  city.  The  excavations  through  Canal 
Street,  adjacent,  were  also  through  made  ground,  that  street 
having  been  at  one  time,  as  its  name  implies,  a  canal. 

From  the  City  Hall  to  Ninth  Street  was  sand,  presenting  no 
particular  difficulties,  except  through  the  territory  just  men- 
tioned. At  Union  Square  rock  was  encountered  on  the  west 
side  of  Fourth  Avenue  from  the  surface  down.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  street,  however,  at  the  surface  was  sand,  which  ex- 
tended 15  ft.  down  to  a  sloping  rock  surface.  The  tendency  of 
the  sand  to  a  slide  off  into  the  rock  excavation  required  great 
care.  The  work  was  done,  however,  without  interference  with 
the  street  traffic,  which  is  particularly  heavy  at  that  point. 

The  natural  difficulties  of  the  route  were  increased  by  the 
network  of  sewers,  water  and  gas  mains,  steam  pipes,  pneu- 
matic tubes,  electric  conduits  and  their  accessories,  which 
filled  the  streets;  and  by  the  surface  railways  and  their  con- 
duits.   In  some  places  the  columns  of  the  elevated  railway  had 


nues  to  Bronx  Park  on  the  eastern,  a  total  distance  of  about  5 
miles.  The  three-track  viaducts  are  carried  on  two-column 
bents  where  the  rail  is  not  more  than  29  ft.  above  the  ground 
level,  and  on  four-column  towers  for  higher  structures.  In 
the  latter  case,  the  posts  of  a  tower  are  29  ft.  apart  transversely 
and  20  ft.  or  25  ft.  longitudinally,  as  a  rule,  and  the  towers 
are  from  70  ft.  to  90  ft.  apart  on  centers.  The  tops  of  the 
towers  have  X-bracing  and  the  connecting  spans  have  two 
panels  of  intermediate  vertical  sway  bracing  between  the  three 
pairs  of  longitudinal  girders.  In  the  low  viaducts,  where 
there  are  no  towers,  every  fourth  panel  has  zig-zag  lateral 
bracing  in  the  two  panels  between  the  pairs  of  longitudinal 
girders. 

The  towers  have  columns  consisting,  as  a  rule,  of  a  16-in.  x 
7-16-in.  web  plate  and  four  6-in.  x  %i-in.  bulb  angles.  The 
horizontal  struts  in  their  cross-bracing  are  made  of  four  4-in.  x 
3-in.  angles,  latticed  to  form  an  I-shaped  cross-section.  The 


SIDE  VIEW  OF  MANHATTAN  VIADUCT 


to  be  shored  up  temporarily,  and  in  other  places  the  subway 
passes  close  to  the  foundations  of  lofty  buildings,  where  the 
construction  needed  to  insure  the  safety  of  both  subway  and 
buildings  was  quite  intricate.  As  the  subway  is  close  to  the 
surface  along  a  considerable  part  of  its  route,  its  construction 
involved  the  reconstruction  of  all  the  underground  pipes  and 
ducts  in  many  places,  as  well  as  the  removal  of  projecting 
vaults  and  buildings,  and,  in  some  cases,  the  underpinning  of 
their  walls.  The  concrete  lined  tunnel  work  involved  one  of 
the  most  difficult  problems.  The  tunnel  was  driven  through 
solid  rock  between  Thirty-Third  Street  and  Forty-Second 
Street,  between  104th  Street  and  Broadway,  and  110th  Street 
and  Lenox  Avenue  on  the  east  side  branch,  and  between  157th 
Street  and  Fort  George  on  the  Fort  George  branch,  the  latter 
being  the  second  longest  double-track  rock  tunnel  in  the  United 
States,  the  Hoosac  tunnel  being  somewhat  longer. 

The  elevated  viaduct  construction  extends  from  125th  Street 
to  133d  Street  and  from  Dyckman  Street  to  Bailey  Avenue  on 
the  western  branch,  and  from  Brook  and  Westchester  Ave- 


X-bracing  consists  of  single  5-in.  x  3'/j-in.  angles.  The  tops 
of  the  columns  have  horizontal  cap  angles  on  which  are  riveted 
the  lower  flanges  of  the  transverse  girders;  the  end  angles  of 
the  girder  and  the  top  of  the  column  are  also  connected  by  a 
riveted  splice  plate.  The  six  longitudinal  girders  are  web- 
riveted  to  the  transverse  girders.  The  outside  longitudinal 
girder  on  each  side  of  the  viaduct  has  the  same  depth  across 
the  tower  as  in  the  connecting  span,  but  the  four  intermediate 
lines  are  not  so  deep  across  the  towers.  In  the  single  trestle 
bents  the  columns  are  the  same  as  those  just  described,  but 
the  diagonal  bracing  is  replaced  by  plate  knee-braces. 

The  Manhattan  Valley  viaduct  on  the  west  side  line,  which 
spans  the  ravine-like  depression  at  that  point,  has  a  total  length 
of  2174  ft.  Its  most  important  feature  is  a  two-hinged  arch  of 
i6Sl/2-it.  span,  which  carries  platforms  shaded  by  canopies, 
but  no  station  buildings.  The  station  is  on  the  ground  be- 
tween the  surface  railway  tracks.  Access  to  the  platforms  is 
obtained  by  means  of  escalators.  It  has  three  lattice-girder 
two-hinge  ribs  24 }/2  ft.  apart  on  centers,  the  center  line  of  each 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


47' 


rib  being  a  parabola.  Each  half  rib  supports  six  spandrel  posts 
carrying  the  roadway,  the  posts  being  seated  directly  over  ver- 
tical web  members  of  the  rib.  The  chords  of  the  ribs  are  6  ft. 
apart  and  of  an  H-section,  having  four -6-in.  x  6-in.  angles  and 
six  15-in.  flange  and  web  plates  for  the  center  rib,  and  lighter 
sections  for  the  outside  ribs.  The  arch  was  erected  without 
false  work. 

The  viaduct  spans  of  either  approach  to  the  arch  are  46  ft. 
to  72  ft.  long.  All  transverse  girders  are  31  ft.  4  ins.  long,  and 
have  a  70-in.  x  3/g-m  web  plate  and  four  6-in.  x  4-in.  angles. 
The  two  outside  longitudinal  girders  of  deck  spans  are  72  ins. 
deep  and  the  other  36  ins.    All  are  ^  in.  thick,  and  their  four 


ECONOMY  IN  RAIL  CUTTING 


Almost  every  large  piece  of  track  construction  upon  a  mod- 
ern street  railway  involves  the  laying  down  of  a  certain  amount 
of  special  work.  Even  if  the  job  is  simply  one  of  double-track- 
ing a  city  route,  it  is  rare  indeed  to  encounter  no  cross-overs, 
switches  or  Y's  to  break  the  smoothness  of  a  straight  run  over 
the  line,  while  curves  are  to  be  expected  on  almost  all  routes. 
It  has  grown  to  be  a  practice  among  many  companies,  there- 
fore, to  order  their  special  work  directly  from  the  manufac- 
turers, and  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  great  deal  of  time  and  labor 
during  installation  is  saved  in  this  war. 


STANDARD  STEEL  CONSTRUCTION  IN  TUNNEL 


flange  angles  vary  in  size  from  5  ins.  x  3J/2  ins.  to  6  ins.  x  6  ins., 
and  on  the  longest  spans  there  are  flange  plates.  At  each  end 
of  the  viaduct  there  is  a  through  span  with  90-in.  web  longi- 
tudinal girders. 

Each  track  was  proportioned  for  a  dead  load  of  330  lbs.  per 
lineal  foot  and  a  live  load  of  25,000  lbs.  per  axle.  The  axle 
spacing  in  the  truck  was  5  ft.,  and  the  pairs  of  axles  were 
alternately  27  ft.  and  9  ft.  apart.  The  traction  load  was  taken 
at  20  per  cent  of  the  live  load,  and  a  wind  pressure  of  500  lbs. 
per  lineal  foot  was  assumed  over  the  whole  structure. 



A  movement  is  now  on  foot  to  organize  a  company  for  the 
purpose  of  building  an  electric  railway  at  Rosario,  a  city  of 
ahoul  r 22,000  inhabitants,  in  the  Province  of  Santa  Fe, 
Argentina. 


At  the  same  time  it  is  nearly  always  necessary  in  laying 
track  to  bend  or  cut  certain  rails,  and  appliances  of  this  char- 
acter form  a  part  of  the  tool  equipment  of  every  well  organized 
track  gang.  Formerly  the  accepted  method  of  cutting  off  rails 
was  the  laborious  process  of  hacksawing,  but  this  slow  and 
tedious  operation  has  been  considerably  bettered  by  the  intro- 
duction of  the  circular  rail  saw  operated  by  cranks  and  adjust- 
able for  any  desired  angle  of  cutting. 

In  cases  where  power  is  available  at  the  trolley  wire,  there 
would  seem  to  be  an  opportunity  for  considerable  economy  to  b« 
gained  by  driving  such  saws  by  x/^-hp  500-volt  motors,  thereby 
doing  away  with  the  services  of  at  least  one  man  at  the  crank. 
The  cost  of  power  for  this  work  would  be  almost  insignificant, 
and  the  motor  itself  should  not  cost  much  over  $100  complete, 
with  gearing,  rheostat  and  some  sort  of  fish-pole  arrangement 
for  making  contact  with  the  trolley  wire. 


472 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


GENERAL  DESIGN  AND  FINISH  OF  THE  MODERN 
INTERURBAN  CAR 


BY  EDWARD  C.  BOYNTON 


The  general  dimensions  of  interurban  cars  have  gradually 
increased  until  the  present  standard  approximates  very  closely 
those  of  a  standard  steam  passenger  coach.  The  following  may 
be  said  to  be  average  dimensions : 


Tnterurban  . 

Steam 

Electric  Car 

Passenger  Coach 

Length  over  corner  posts  

40  ft. 

60  ft. 

50  to  52  ft. 

70  ft. 

Extreme  width  outside  

8  ft.  6  in. 

IO  ft. 

Height-top  of  rail  to  top  of  roof  

13  ft. 

14  ft.  3  in. 

Weight  of  car  body  

30,000  lbs. 

40,000  lbs. 

Fig.  1  is  a  side  elevation  and  seating  plan  of  a  type  of  inter- 
urban car  built  but  a  short  time  ago,  and  many  such  cars  are 


modern  interurban  car.  The  principal  dimensions  are  given  on 
the  drawings.  The  body  weighs  about  28,000  lbs.  The  in- 
terior is  divided,  as  shown,  into  a  passenger  and  a  smoking 
compartment,  and  the  total  seating  capacity  is  fifty-four. 

On  a  long  interurban  line  the  necessity  for  a  smoking  com- 
partment is  evident.  On  many  roads  a  baggage  compartment 
is  also  an  absolute  necessity,  and  there  are  cars  in  service  con- 
taining all  three  compartments,  but  more  often  we  find  the  bag- 
gage and  passenger  compartments,  where  the  smokers  are  al- 
lowed to  occupy  the  former,  and  even  seats  or  benches  are  pro- 
vided for  them,  which  can  be  folded  up  against  the  side  of 
the  car. 

The  side  and  end  windows  are  guarded  on  the  outside  by 
five  iron  tube  guards  held  by  suitable  brackets,  which  are 
hinged  so  that  they  may  be  dropped  down  for  the  proper  clean- 
ing of  the  windows. 

On  cars  which  are  to  be  used  where  the  winters  are  some- 
what severe,  extra  sashes  are  provided  for  the  side  windows, 
which  arc  put  on  in  place  of  these  guards  in  winter,  and  they 


Street  Ry.Jo 


FIG.  1. — PLAN  AND  SIDE  ELEVATION  OF  INTERURBAN  CAR  OF  SEVERAL  YEARS  AGO 


still  in  service.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  interior  of  the  car 
is  one  compartment  and  there  are  no  vestibules.  There  are 
two  means  of  entering  the  car — at  one  side  of  each  platform. 

Fig.  2  is  a  photo-engraving  of  the  interior  of  a  similar  car. 
The  ceiling  is  three-ply  bird's-eye  maple  in  the  natural  color 
and  varnished.  All  moldings,  panels,  doors,  etc.,  are  varnished 
cherry.  Register  rods,  signal  cords  and  strap  hangers  are  just 
inside  the  deck  sills.  The  lighting  is  by  electric  lamp  clusters 
along  the  center  line  of  the  ceiling.  The  seats  upholstered  in 
rattan.  The  floor  mats  are  the  stationary  wooden  slats.  The 
heating  is  by  electric  heaters  under  the  seats.  It  is  easily  seen 
that  the  whole  interior  finish  is  of  a  perfectly  plain,  inexpen- 
sive style. 

This  car  is  28  ft.  long  over  end  sills,  and  38  ft.  6  ins.  over  all. 
It  is  8  ft.  3  ins.  wide,  and  the  body  weighs,  approximately, 
17,000  lbs.  The  seating  capacity  is  forty.  The  motor  equip- 
ment may  be  of  sufficient  power,  and  the  gearing  such  as  to 
drive  it  at  a  speed  of  40  m.  p.  h.,  but  the  general  design  is  far 
too  light  for  the  high-speed  interurban  service  now  demanded 
in  many  parts  of  the  country. 

In  Fig.  3  is  shown  the  side  elevation  and  seating  plan  of  a 


serve  to  keep  the  temperature  of  the  car  much  more  comfort- 
able. On  some  of  the  Northwestern  steam  roads  cars  are  in 
use  with  three  window  sashes,  in  the  coldest  weather. 

The  system  of  heating  a  modern  interurban  car  is  usually 
hot  water,  the  heater  being  placed  at  the  left  of  the  front  plat- 
form when  the  car  is  single-ended — i.  e.,  runs  in  one  direction 
only ;  or  sometimes  next  to  the  partition  separating  the  smok- 
ing or  baggage  compartment  from  the  passenger. 

The  principal  reason  for  the  use  of  hot-water  heat  in  prefer- 
ence to  electric,  in  a  large  car,  is  undoubtedly  economy.  In 
such  a  car  the  temperature  must  be  kept  between  60  degs.  and 
70  degs.  As  it  requires  from  20  amps,  to  30  amps,  at  500  volts 
to  maintain  that  temperature  under  average  conditions,  and  if 
we  assume  the  cost  of  power  to  be  about  1  cent  per  kw-hour  at 
the  car,  it  is  readily  seen  that  10  to  15  cents  per  hour  for  heat 
is  very  much  above  the  cost  of  hot  water. 

Considerable  improvement  has  been  made  in  the  method  of 
lighting  the  car.  Not  only  have  the  number  of  lights  been  in- 
creased, but  attention  has  been  given  to  the  proper  distribution 
of  light,  and,  when  possible,  to  its  artistic  arrangement.  The 
lights  are  frequently  placed  along  the  deck  sills,  one  over  each 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


473 


seat,  or  when  the  design  of  the  ceiling  permits,  they  are  ar- 
ranged in  arches  from  side  to  side.  Some  cars  have  recently 
been  lighted  with  small  enclosed  arc  lamps.  The  finest  effect 
in  car  lighting  can  be  seen  in  certain  Pullman  sleeping  or  din- 
ing cars  where  the  steam  train  is  electric  lighted. 

The  photo-engraving,  Fig.  4,  shows  the  interior  of  the  mod- 
ern interurban  car.  The  two  styles  of  ceilings  most  used  art 
the  Empire  and  the  semi-Empire;  the  engraving  shows  the 
latter.  They  are  made  of  three-ply  or  five-ply  veneer,  painted 
and  tinted  in  some  shade  of  green  or  blue,  and  decorated  in 
gold.    All  of  the  interiortfinish  of  the  car,  panels,  doors,  sash 


and  wrecking  tools,  consisting  of  the  usual  saw,  axe,  sledge 
and  bar. 

Standard  railway  signal  lamps,  burning  oil,  and  signal  flags, 
with  proper  sockets  for  holding  either  at  the  ends  of  the  car ; 
iron  cuspidors  for  the  smoking  compartment,  a  manila  floor 
mat  for  the  entire  length  of  center  aisle,  removable  rubber 
mats  for  vestibules,  a  motorman's  tool  box  and  switch  irons, 


FIGS.  2  AND  4.— INTERIOR  OF  OLD  AND  NEW  TYPES  OF  INTERURBAN  CARS 


and  all  moldings  are  of  solid  dark  mahogany,  in  natural  color, 
varnished  and  rubbed  down  in  pumice  stone  and  oil,  to  a  smooth 
dead  finish.  All  metal  trimmings  are  highly  polished  bronze. 
The  seats  shown  in  the  engraving  are  the  latest  type,  high  back, 
reversible,  with  head  roll  and  bronze  corner  grab  handles,  the 
latter  making  hanging  straps  unnecessary.  The  seats  are  up- 
holstered in  white  rattan,  which  many  prefer,  principally  for 
sanitary  reasons.    Probably  as  many  cars  have  the  seats  up- 


steel  spring  clips  and  floor  sockets  for  the  latter  being  pro- 
vided in  the  vestibules.  Illuminated  destination  signs,  visible 
day  or  night,  are  now  coming  into  general  use.  They  are 
usually  outside  the  vestibule  below  the  windows  and  at  one  side 
of  the  center.  Arc  headlights  and  trolley  catchers  are  also 
provided. 

All  high-speed  interurban  cars  are  now  equipped  with  some 
form  of  air  brake,  as  they  are  far  too  heavy  to  be  continually 


l^adllaD^I  l^aalppcl  |^on||DQo|  |<joci|;ciDr>,|  !^aa||aop|  |<jno||Doc>[  |_^aC]i|Dg^ 


Street  Ry.Joumnl 

FIG.  3— SIDE  ELEVATION  AND  PLAN   OF  MODERN   INTERURBAN  CAR 


holstered  in  dark  green  or  blue  or  crimson  plush.  The  register 
rod  is  in  the  usual  position,  and  the  signal  cord  supported  by 
hangers  over  the  center  aisle.  Push  buttons  are  placed  in  each 
side  window  panel,  connected  to  electric  bells  at  each  end. 

An  improvement  long  needed  and  now  generally  included  in 
the  equipment,  is  the  continuous  parcel  or  basket  rack,  shown 
along  each  side  above  the  windows.  Other  important  improve- 
ments or  additions  are  toilet  room,  ice  water,  fire  extinguishers 


braked  by  hand.  The  amount  of  power  provided  varies  from 
200  hp  to  400  hp,  dependent  upon  the  weight  and  speed.  The 
system  of  controlling  the  motors  in  the  higher  powered  cars  is 
usually  the  multiple  unit,  regardless  as  to  whether  they  are  to 
be  run  in  trains  or  not.  This  relieves  the  platforms  of  the 
weight  of  a  heavy  controller,  places  the  latter  under  the  car, 
where  it  is  better  able  to  carry  it,  and  where  there  is  room. 
Some  cars  have  been  recently  built  with  the  above  system 


474 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


ul  control  and  with  solid  vestibules,  allowing  no  means  for 
passing  between  cars  should  they  be  run  in  trains. 

A  marked  improvement  has  been  made  in  car  wiring,  which 
consists  in  separating  the  power  wires  instead  of  placing  them 
in  cables,  and  running  each  wire  in  its  own  fireproofed  duct  or 
molding  under  the  car. 

The  painting  of  the  outside  is  now  according  to  the  M.  C.  B. 
specifications,  and  the  colors  usually  adopted  are  the  same  as 
now  used  by  steam  roads. 



TRAINING  THE  NON-COMMISSIONED  OFFICERS  OF  ENGI- 
NEERING 


Montreal,  Canada,  Sept.  7,  1904. 
Editors  Street  Railway  Journal: 

I  have  been  much  interested  in  reading  your  editorial  on  the 
subject  of  technical  education  for  railway  men,  and  find  myself 
very  much  in  agreement  with  you.  I  am  the  more  interested 
in  this  because,  in  Britain,  we  have  a  group  of  men  whose  ideas 
of  technical  education  are  well  set  out  by  your  remark : — "There 
is  a  tendency  to  train  too  many  men  for  the  duties  of  the  cap- 
tain at  the  expense  of  good  hard  drill  in  the  work  of  the  lieu- 
tenant and  engineers,  not  to  mention  the  lower  grades."  To 
put  it  in  my  own  way,  the  theoretical  training  of  the  "non- 
commissioned" officers  of  engineering  is  in  danger  of  being 
overlooked.  It  is  in  evening  classes  that  these  men  usually 
receive  their  theoretical  instruction,  and  yet,  although  excellent 
work  has  been  done  in  the  past,  there  is  a  tendency  at  the  pres- 
ent time  to  starve  technical  institutions,  polytechnics,  me- 
chanics' institutes,  etc.,  where  such  evening  classes  are  mainly 
carried  on.  It  is  easy  to  see  that  this  has  come  about  from 
the  fact  that  the  experts  on  representative  bodies  controlling 
educational  expenditure  are  mostly  those  who  get  their  living 
entirely  by  teaching.  In  Britain  technicological  teachers  and 
part-time  men  generally  begin  to  feel  that  they  are  not  getting 
fair  play,  and  indeed  attempts  at  some  kind  of  organization  are 
now  being  made  in  order  to  place  their  views  before  the  edu- 
cational authorities. 

For  some  five  years  I  have  been  engaged  in  lecturing  to 
third-year  electrical  engineering  evening  students  at  the  North- 
ampton Institute  or  City  Polytechnic,  London,  and  very  much 
of  the  success  which  I  have  had,  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that  I 
have  been  able  to  give  data  of  problems  and  events  which  have 
cropped  up  in  my  every-day  professional  work.  At  the  City 
Polytechnic  we  are  fortunate  in  having  as  principal  Dr. 
Mullineux  Walmsley  (who,  by  the  way,  has  recently  been  on 
an  educational  tour  through  the  United  States),  and  he  is  one 
of  those  who  believes  that  all  technical  educational  institutions 
should  be  partly  staffed  by  men  engaged  in  outside  work. 

Take  the  simple  case  of  mechanical  drawing  and  machine 
construction,  surely  the  best  man  to  teach  this  is  a  leading 
draughtsman  in  some  local  manufacturing  concern.  I  remem- 
ber that  when  I  attended  evening  classes  some  seventeen  years 
ago,  my  teacher  was  a  leading  draughtsman  with  the  well- 
known  firm  of  Smith,  Beacock  &  Tannett,  of  Leeds.  Being  a 
tool-making  firm,  it  followed  that  the  examples  we  had  given  to 
us  were  largely  in  connection  with  the  design  of  machine 
tools.  As  it  happened  I  was  engaged  during  the  day  on  loco- 
motive work,  and  this  combination  of  practical  work  in  engine 
building  and  theoretical  instruction  in  design  of  machine 
tools  was  to  me  a  great  advantage.  In  the  case  of  elec- 
trical engineering  one  institution  in  any  particular  town  might 
have  as  its  lecturer  a  man  engaged  in  running  an  electric  light- 
ing and  power  or  traction  system,  while  another  institution 
would  probably  have  as  its  instructor  an  expert  in  dynamo  ma- 
chine design,  or  they  could  both  be  engaged  at  the  same  insti- 
tution. Students  or  improvers  would  thus  have  an  opportunity 
of  learning  something  outside  of  their  regular  daily  work,  for 


the  central  station  assistant  could  attend  the  dynamo  design 
class,  and  vice  versa. 

We  have  in  Britain  at  the  present  time  a  strong  movement 
in  favor  of  what  is  called  the  "sandwich"  system  of  engineer- 
ing training,  whereby  a  man  goes  to  college  for  six  months 
and  to  the  works  for  the  next  six  months ;  he  again  returns  to 
college  and  then  to  some  other  or  the  same  works,  and  so  on, 
the  complete  course  extending  over  four  or  five  years.  There 
appears  to  be  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  this  is  an  excellent 
method  of  training,  but  the  difficulty  is  to  get  engineering  firms 
who  will  be  troubled  with  a  batch  pf  students  coming  in  and 
going  out  of  their  works  every  six  months.  Clearly,  if  there 
is  anything  in  this  "sandwich"  system,  then  the  combination  of 
theory  and  practice  by  evening  classes  is  all  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, and  instead  of  the  institutions  where  they  are  carried  on 
being  starved  financially,  they  ought  to  be  helped  with  a  most 
liberal  hand.  The  very  fact  that,  as  I  said  above,  they  are 
largely  engaged  in  training  the  "non-commissioned"  officers  of 
engineering  (the  backbone  of  engineering),  calls  for  liberal 
treatment.  It  will  not  do  to  allow  educational  matters,  at  any 
rate  technological  education,  to  be  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
purely  academical  man,  as  I  fear  is  the  case  in  my  own  coun- 
try, and  perhaps  may  be  in  yours  unless  the  movement  is 
checked. 

With  you,  the  college  professor  does  outside  consulting  work, 
and  in  this  way,  to  some  extent,  keeps  in  touch  with  practical 
work.  We  have  a  little  of  this,  but,  generally  speaking,  it  is 
discouraged,  as  there  is  a  tendency  to  disabuse,  and  the  stu- 
dent's interests  may  suffer.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  professors 
and  full-time  men  should  teach  principles,  and  there  should  be 
attached  to  every  institution  a  certain  number  of  outside  men 
to  give  regular  courses  of  lectures  and  demonstrations  on  prac- 
tical subjects.  Given  proper  encouragement  and  recognition, 
and  let  me  also  whisper,  "adequate  remuneration,"  there  is  no 
reason  why  good  men  should  not  be  attracted  and  another  im- 
portant link  forged  between  theory  and  practice. 

It  may  be  said  that  those  engaged  in  practical  work  could 
not  be  expected  to  give  data  of  their  every-day  problems  and 
work,  but  I  do  not  anticipate  any  difficulty  in  this.  Scientific 
men  and  engineers  have  no  secrets,  and,  in  any  case,  it  is  easy 
to  give  useful  information  without  going  into  personal  or  com- 
mercial details.  Consulting  engineers  travel  around  the  coun- 
try to  an  unusual  degree,  and  are  constantly  seeing  and  in- 
specting new  engineering  works.  A  detailed  description  of 
such  makes  an  interesting  break  in  a  course  of  lectures;  at  any 
rate,  I  find  this  so  with  my  own  students. 

Another  useful  feature  of  this  employment  of  outside  pro- 
fessional men  is  that  they  are  frequently  able  to  advise  the 
students  on  important  points  affecting  their  career.  On  the 
question,  for  example,  as  to  whether  it  is  advisable  to  move 
from  one  branch  of  engineering  work  to  another,  or  to  go 
abroad,  and  so  on.  E.  Kilburn  Scott. 


The  Big  Four  Railroad  (steam)  has  started  a  rate  war 
against  the  encroachments  of  the  Appleyard  system  of  traction 
lines  in  Central  Ohio.  It  is  directed  particularly  at  the  division 
between  Dayton,  Springfield,  Urbana  and  Bellefontaine.  The 
steam  road  recently  improved  its  train  service  between  these 
points,  giving  five  trains  each  way  a  day,  and  it  has  cut  its 
rates  about  50  per  cent  to  meet  those  of  the  traction  lines. 



Street  railway  men  in  the  vicinity  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  are 
telling  an  interesting  story  of  an  electric  car  on  the  Uxbridge 
&  Blackstone  Street  Railway  being  held  up  by  a  countless  num- 
ber of  potato  bugs  (Colorado  beetles)  crawling  over  the  tracks. 
So  many  bugs  were  migrating  from  a  potato  field  near  the 
roadbed  that  the  crew  had  to  get  out  and  shovel  them  off  the 
track.  The  progress  of  the  car  was  interrupted  for  ten 
minutes. 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


475 


NOTES  FROM  MONTREAL,  CANADA 


Many  interesting  innovations  are  in  vogue  upon  the  lines 
and  at  the  shops  of  the  Montreal  Street  Railway  Company, 
Montreal,  Canada.  A  general  policy  of  improvement  has,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  been  in  force  upon  its  system,  much  work 
of  line  and  track  reconstruction  having  recently  been  carried 
out.  Considerable  attention  has  also  been  given  to  shop  work 
by  this  company,  one  of  the  best  equipped  street  railway  shops 
in  Canada  having  been  equipped  for  the  maintenance  of  its 
equipment,  which  at  present  embraces  over  700  cars. 

An  interesting  departure  in  line  construction  work  upon  the 
system  is  to  be  noted  in  the  use  of  old  steel  girder  rails  for 
poles  in  span-wire  construction  in  the  outlying  districts  of  the 
city.  Permanent  way  practice  was  formerly  in  this  city  to  use 
grooved  girder  rails,  but  these  are  being  replaced  by  9-in.  90-lb. 
T-rails,  which  have  been  found  more  suitable  to  the  pre- 
vailing conditions  of  operation.  And  in  the  reconstruction  of 
the  overhead  line  work,  the  availability  of  the  discarded  rails 
for  poles  was  suggested  as  a  result  of  the  desire  for  very  rigid 
and  permanent  construction. 

The  former  girder  rails  were  laid  with  cast-welded  joints, 
and  in  sawing  the  rails  to  remove  them,  the  weld  sections  were 
left  one  upon  the  end  of  each  30-ft.  rail  section.  In  adapting 
the  rails  for  use  as  poles,  these  bulky  cast-welded  joint  sections 
at  the  one  end  proved  particularly  adaptable  and  were  found 
convenient  in  making  foundations,  this  end  being  placed  about 
3  ft.  in  the  ground  and  surrounded  by  a  binder  of  concrete. 
The  holes  are  often  cut  in  solid  rock  and,  in  placing  the  pole, 
were  lined  with  loose  pieces  of  stone,  into  and  around  which 
the  concrete  was  tamped  solid  and  allowed  to  set.  The  result 
is  that  of  a  very  strong  construction,  the  entire  contents  of  the 
hole  uniting  into  one  solid  mass. 

The  rails  are  all  set  with  their  bases  toward  the  sidewalk, 
this  arrangement  being  adopted  for  the  sake  of  appearances ; 
in  some  sections  of  the  city  where  the  streets  are  extremely 
narrow,  the  poles  are  set  within  the  sidewalk,  in  which  case 
the  head  of  the  rail  is  brought  away  from  the  tracks,  while  in 
the  usual  construction,  where  the  pole  is  located  between  the 
sidewalk  and  the  curb,  the  head  of  the  rail  faces  toward  the 
track.  The  groove  in  the  head  of  the  rail  is  in  all  cases  filled 
in  with  wooden  strips,  milled  to  exactly  fit  the  same,  and  bolted 
therein  by  stove  bolts.  Each  rail  is  surmounted  by  a  capping 
of  more  or  less  ornamental  nature,  several  types  of  caps  having 
been  tried,  although  one  of  rather  plain  outline  has  the  prefer- 
ence. The  span  wire  is  carried  by  an  iron-strap  connection 
near  the  top  of  the  pole,  which  surrounds  the  pole  and  receives 
the  eye  of  the  strain  insulator. 

In  the  shops  at  Hochelaga  many  interesting  innovations  are 
also  to  be  found  in  the  form  of  improved  methods.  One  of  these 
is  in  connection  with  the  compressed  air  piping  for  the  cleaning 
of  armatures  and  other  electrical  apparatus  when  sent  to  the 
shop  for  repairs.  This  is,  of  course,  in  accordance  with  the 
latest  practice  in  electric  railway  shops,  the  great  and  im- 
portant possibilities  of  removing  accumulated  dirt,  grease,  etc., 
otherwise  inaccessible,  being  very  well  known. 

The  novelty  in  this  connection  lies  in  convenient  and  handy 
system  of  service  piping  from  which  the  hose  connections  are 
made.  Service  delivery  pipes  from  the  compressor  and  storage 
tank  are  carried  along  the  back  of  each  bench  in  the  electrical 
repair  department  and  are  provided  with  an  outlet  in  front  of 
each  workman.  The  hose  connections  are  made  through  spe- 
cial quick-acting  couplings  which  were  designed  and  built  at 
the  shops,  and  are  interesting.  They  consist  of  brass  sleeves, 
one  fitting  within  the  other,  the  male  connection  on  the  station- 
ary delivery  pipe,  while  the  portion  on  the  hose  is  the  female 
fitting.  In  coupling,  these  are  arranged  to  clamp  together  by 
projecting  pins  upon  the  outside  of  the  male  portion,  fitting 
within  spiral  grooves  in  the  body  of  the  female  fitting,  by  which 


they  may  be  brought  together  as  tightly  as  may  be  desired,  and 
very  quickly  also,  the  pin  and  groove  method  of  clamping  thus 
eliminating  the  use  of  screwed  connections.  A  leather  washer 
prevents  leakage. 

This  arrangement  makes  the  air  supply  so  readily  accessible 
in  all  parts  of  the  shop  that  there  can  be  no  possible  excuse  for 
not  using  it  and  thus  turning  out  electrical  repair  work  not 
thoroughly  cleaned.  The  value  of  this  is  particularly  noticeable 
in  the  cleaning  of  stripped  armatures,  where  it  is  important  that 
they  be  perfectly  clean  before  painting,  preparatory  to  winding. 
On  armatures  that  are  not  rewound,  but  need  only  slight  re- 
pairs, wonderful  results  are  found  possible  in  removing  accu- 
mulated dirt  and  grease  by  air  pressure. 

Another  interesting  device  which  originated  at  the  shops  is 
a  jig  for  use  in  straightening  armature  shafts  without  remov- 
ing them  from  the  lathe.  It  is  the  practice  there  to  center  up 
in  the  lathe  every  armature  that  comes  to  the  shop  and  true  off 
its  commutator ;  in  doing  this  any  irregularity  in  alignment  of 
the  armature  shaft  is  readily  noticeable,  and  it  is  arranged  to 
true  them  without  the  trouble  of  removing  from  the  lathe. 
This  is  accomplished  by  a  special  heating  blast  torch  and 
straightening  clamp  by  which  the  slightest  irregularity  may  be 
removed  with  ease. 

The  clamp  consists  of  a  block  which  is  laid  across  the  lathe 
ways  to  receive  the  downward  pressure  of  the  straightening, 
and  a  special  yoke  which  hooks  under  the  outside  edges  of  the 
bed  so  as  to  straddle  the  work.  The  yoke  is  provided  with  a 
pressure  screw,  with  swiveling  block  at  its  lower  end,  by  which 
pressure  is  applied  to  the  shaft.  When  this  yoke  is  in  position 
the  heating  torch  flame  is  directed  toward  the  bent  portion  and 
the  pressure  applied  as  required.  A  sheet  metal  enclosure  is 
in  this  case  used  to  surround  the  bent  portion  of  the  shaft  and 
retain  the  heat  of  the  torch  as  much  as  possible,  as  a  result  of 
which  the  shaft  is  always  found  to  heat  very  quickly,  so  that 
a  minimum  of  heat  is  transmitted  to  the  core.  The  bending  is 
usually  done  at  black  heat,  raising  to  red  heat  being  found  un- 
necessary. 

Other  innovations  are  to  be  found  in  the  use  of  a  convenient 
little  truck  of  somewhat  different  design,  from  the  usual,  for 
transporting  armatures  around  the  shop  floor ;  this  permits  the 
rule  that  they  shall  not  be  rolled  upon  the  floor  to  be  rigidly 
enforced.  Another  point  of  interest  is  the  introduction  upon 
their  taping  machine,  by  which  armature  coils  are  machine- 
taped,  of  a  universal  chuck  for  guiding  the  coil,  and  also  to 
take  the  pull  and  thrust  of  the  taping  action  off  of  the  operator; 
this  action  is  found,  as  elsewhere,  to  greatly  tire  the  taping 
operators,  especially  in  the  elbows  and  forearm.  The  guiding 
chuck  has  four  jaws  faced  with  rubber  tips  for  protection  to  the 
insulation  of  the  wires,  and  is  arranged  to  quickly  adjust  auto- 
matically to  different  sizes  and  odd  shapes.  It  has  served  to 
greatly  increase  the  output  of  the  machine  and  has  effected  an 
improvement  in  the  quality  of  the  work. 

♦  ♦♦  

The  first  electric  cars  ever  built  entirely  in  the  city  of  San 
Diego  are  nearing  completion  at  the  car  houses  of  the  San 
Diego  Electric  Railway  Company,  at  the  font  of  E  Street. 
Three  of  them  will  soon  be  ready  to  take  their  places  on  the 
various  citv  lines.  General  Manager  Clayton  has  had  a  num- 
ber of  the  old  cars  rebuilt  since  he  came  here,  has  lengthened 
a  number  of  the  old  Fourth  Street  electric  cars,  and  remade 
several  of  the  old  cable  cars  into  the  handsome  double-enders 
now  in  service  on  some  of  the  lines.  All  of  the  rebuilt  cars 
have  double  trucks.  Mr.  Clayton  stated  recently  that  the  com- 
pany has  all  the  single-truck  cars  that  it  would  ever  have  use 
for,  meaning  that  as  soon  as  the  traffic  warranted  it  large  dou- 
ble-truck cars  will  be  put  into  service  and  the  smaller  cars  re- 
served for  emergency  use.  The  three  new  cars  will  be  supplied 
with  double  trucks  and  double  ends,  with  side  seats  on  the  out- 
side capable  of  carrying  twenty  passengers. 


476 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


PENSION  SYSTEMS  FOR  WORKMEN  OF  GERMANY,  WITH 
SPECIAL  REFERENCE  TO  RAILWAY  EMPLOYEES  * 


BY  H.  GORELLA 

Secretary  of  the  German  Street  and  Light  Railway  Accident  Insurance  Guild 

It  is  undeniable  that  the  earnings  of  the  average  working- 
man  are  so  small  that  even  a  few  weeks  absence  from  employ- 
ment, caused  by  sickness  or  accident,  plunges  him  and  those 
dependent  upon  his  daily  wages  into  poverty,  the  result  fre- 
quently being  an  intense  dissatisfaction  with  existing  social 
conditions  which  renders  him  an  easy  prey  to  dangerous  trades 
union  and  political  demagogues. 

Before  1876,  such  workmen's  funds  as  existed  in  Germany 
were  strictly  private  enterprises,  but  on  April  7  of  that  year 
the  first  law  was  passed  providing  certain  methods  of  regulating 
these  funds.  On  Nov.  17,  1881,  the  German  Emperor  recom- 
mended the  Reichstag  to  pass  further  laws  giving  aid  to  sick 
benefit  and  accidental  funds,  as  well  as  providing  for  disability 
and  old-age  pensions.  This  was  the  first  attempt  to  organize  a 
national  pension  system,  and  it  was  believed  that  to  be  suc- 
cessful the  payment  of  dues  would  have  to  be  compulsory  for 
both  employer  and  employee.  The  law  of  June  15,  1883,  called 
for  the  compulsory  insurance  against  sickness  of  all  employees 
in  trade  and  commerce  earning  up  to  2,000  marks  ($500)  a 
year;  that  of  July  6,  1884,  regulated  accident  insurance;  and 
the  law  passed  May  28,  1895,  broadened  the  scope  of  previous 
measures  to  embrace  land,  river  and  sea  transportation  and  the 
mail,  telegraph,  railway,  marine  and  military  departments. 
SICK  BENEFIT  LEGISLATION 

The  last  measure  on  this  subject  went  into  effect  Jan.  1,  1904. 
it  provides  that  in  case  of  prolonged  illness  the  beneficiary 
shall  be  entitled  to  a  benefit  period  of  at  least  twenty-six  weeks ; 
this  embracing  free  medical  service  and  appliances  and  benefit 
payments  equal  to  one-half  of  the  regular  earnings,  if  the  bene- 
ficiary is  unable  to  return  to  work  within  three  days  after  fall- 
ing sick.  Such  benefit  payments  may  be  increased  to  75  per 
cent  of  the  normal  earnings.  The  death  payment  varies  from 
twenty  to  forty  times  the  average  daily  wage.  Two-thirds  of 
the  dues  necessary  to  make  the  forthcoming  payments  are  fur- 
nished by  the  workingmen  and  one-third  by  their  employers. 
The  total  dues  usually  equal  about  4^  per  cent  of  the  earnings 
of  the  laborer  in  the  ordinary  callings  and  rarely  reach  6  per 
cent. 

ACCIDENT  INSURANCE 

The  accident  insurance  law,  which  has  been  in  force  since 
June  30,  1900,  provides  for  cases  where  persons  are  injured  or 
killed  in  the  course  of  their  regular  occupation  through  no 
fault  of  their  own.  Beginning  with  the  fourteenth  week  after 
the  accident,  the  injured  person  receives  in  connection  with  the 
sick  benefit  fund,  free  medical  attention  and  appliances,  and, 
during  the  time  of  total  incapacity  for  labor,  payments  equal  to 
two-thirds  of  his  regular  income.  The  payments  for  the  first 
fourteen  weeks  are  made  from  the  sick  benefit  fund.  If  the  in- 
jured person  is  capable  of  earning  anything  at  some  lighter 
work,  the  benefit  payments  are  reduced  in  proportion.  In  ex- 
treme cases  the  payments  may  equal  the  ordinary  wages  of  the 
person  injured.  In  case  of  death  the  heirs  receive  an  amount 
equal  to  one-fifteenth  of  the  annual  wages  of  the  deceased,  the 
minimum  being  50  marks  ($12.50),  and  further  payments  in 
the  form  of  installments,  which  vary  in  amount  from  20  per 
cent  to  60  per  cent  of  the  annual  earnings  of  the  deceased.  The 
cost  of  the  accident  insurance  must  be  borne  entirely  by  the 
various  employers'  associations. 

DISABILITY  INSURANCE 

The  disability  insurance  law,  which  has  been  in  1  operation 
since  Jan.  1,  1900,  grants  pensions  to  all  insured  persons  who 
have  reached  a  certain  age  or  are  incapable  of  continuing  their 

*  Abstract  of  report  presented  at  the  Vienna,  1904,  meeting  of  the  Inter- 
national Street  Railway  and  Light  Railways'  Association. 


work.  Disability  pensions  are  payable  to  all  permanently  dis- 
abled persons'  who  have  paid  dues  for  200  weeks ;  also  to  those 
temporarily  disabled  for  the  period  they  are  unable  to  do  any 
work.  Old-age  pensions  are  granted  when  the  beneficiary  is 
seventy  years  old  and  has  paid  dues  for  1200  weeks. 


Annual 
Wages 

Weekly  Pay- 
ments up  to 
Dec.  31,  1910 

Annual  Old 
Age  Pensions 

Annual  Disability 
Pensions 

Class  I  

$87.50 

$  -035 

$27.50 

$40  to  $40. 3 0* 

Class  II  

137-50 

.05 

35-oo 

31.50  "  67.50* 

Class  III 

212.50 

.06 

42.50 

33.60  "  83.25* 

Class  IV  

287.50 

•075 

50.00 

33-55  "  97-5o* 

Class  V   

0v.287.50 

.09 

57-5o 

37.50  "  125.00* 

Maximum  pa'd  only  after  the  age  of  fifty  years. 


Each  old-age  pension  is  made  up  of  an  annual  contribution 
of  $12.50  from  the  State,  besides  the  amount  furnished  by  the 
insurance  guild.  The  disability  pensions  are  also  made  up  of 
an  annual  contribution  of  $12.50  and  money  furnished  by  the 
insurance  guild.  No  payments  are  made  to  the  injured  person 
from  either  the  accident  or  invalid  fund  during  such  time  as 
he  may  be  in  jail  or  live  abroad. 

Payments  for  this  class  of  insurance  are  shared  equally  by 
employer  and  employee. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  THREE  INSURANCE  METHODS 

At  present  10,500,000  people  in  Germany  are  insured  against 
sickness,  19,100,000  against  accident,  and  14,000,000  against 
old  age  and  permanent  disability.  Between  1885  and  1903, 
$558,250,000  was  disbursed  for  sick  benefits,  $232,750,000  for 
accident  payments,  and  $213,500,000  for  old  age  and  disability 
insurance.  In  this  period  the  working  classes  received  $375,- 
000,000  more  than  they  paid  in.  The  daily  cost  of  all  three 
classes  of  insurance  is  now  $312,500,  and  the  value  of  the  prop- 
erty owned  by  the  insurance  guilds,  $375,000,000. 

No  one  who  has  examined  the  workings  of  the  system  can 
doubt  that  its  introduction  has  been  of  great  benefit  to  the 
working  classes  as  well  as  to  the  country  in  general.  Formerly 
the  sick  workingman  could  not  afford  to  pay  for  proper  med- 
ical treatment,  and  long  illness  resulted  frequently  in  his 
pauperization  and  consequent  loss  of  citizenship.  Now  his  in- 
surance guild  secures  for  him  the  best  medical  attendance, 
offers  him  a  hospital  built  for  his  special  use,  and  by  paying 
benefit  fees  to  his  family  relieves  him  of  all  financial  worry. 
The  fact  that  he  will  not  become  a  public  charge  in  old  age 
also  does  much  to  raise  his  moral  tone,  especially  as  all  these 
advantages  are  largely  due  to  his  own  efforts  and  do  not  bear 
the  stigma  of  charity.  A  further  good  result  of  the  system  is 
the  construction  of  cheap  sanitary  dwellings  for  working  peo- 
ple, the  insurance  guilds  alone  having  invested  over  $100,- 
000,000  for  that  purpose. 

CLASSIFICATION   OF  THE  INSURANCE 

Some  kinds  of  labor  are,  of  course,  more  dangerous  than 
others,  and  legislators  have  endeavored  accordingly  to  group  the 
various  funds  so  that  each  trade  would  carry  its  proper  burden. 
This  has  been  accomplished  quite  fully  in  sick  benefit  and  acci- 
dent insurance,  but  no  attempt  has  been  made  along  such  lines 
in  old-age  insurance.  In  small  communities  the  sick  benefit 
guilds  comprise  numerous  callings,  but  in  the  large  cities  there 
are  separate  societies  for  each  trade.  These  latter  form  part 
of  organizations  known  as  Berufsgenossenschaften  (In- 
surance Guilds),  which  are  combinations  of  allied  trades  ex- 
tending throughout  the  Empire.  Disability  and  old-age  insur- 
ance is  grouped  according  to  districts.  The  direct  management 
of  all  funds  is  in  the  hands  of  voluntary  officers  elected  by  the 
employers  and  workingmen. 

SUPERVISION 

The  supervision  of  sick  benefit  funds  lies  with  the  local  au- 
thorities and  not  with  the  State.  Accident  and  old-age  funds, 
however,  are  supervised  by  the  State  Insurance  Bureau,  which 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


477 


has  its  headquarters  in  Berlin.  The  common  courts  suffice  to 
decide  all  disputes  in  sick  benefit  cases,  but  for  accident  and 
invalid  funds  there  are  boards  of  arbitration,  consisting  of  two 
employers,  two  workingmen  and  a  chairman  appointed  by  the 
State.  The  State  Insurance  Bureau  is  the  court  of  last  resort. 
Whenever  possible  the  decisions  are  in  favor  of  the  injured, 
as  every  effort  is  made  to  encourage  the  working  classes  to 
take  advantage  of  the  system. 

STREET  RAILWAY  INSURANCE  SICK  BENEFITS 
All  railway  employees  earning  less  than  2,000  marks  ($500) 
a  year  are  compelled  to  join  the  communal  or  local  trade  in- 
surance guild,  unless  they  are  already  insured  in  some  other 
organization  operated  in  compliance  with  the  law.  However, 
a  workingman  may  join  a  second  guild  if  he  so  desires;  nor  is 
there  anything  to  prevent  employees  who  earn  more  than  2,000 
marks  ($500)  a  year  from  insuring  against  sickness.  In  cases 
of  this  kind  the  employer  is  not  obliged  to  pay  any  part  of 
the  dues. 

As  the  law  requires  in  most  cases  that  only  employers  having 
fifty  or  more  men  must  establish  a  sick  benefit  fund,  the  larger 
railway  companies  alone  possess  such  funds.  The  employer 
can  be  compelled,  however,  to  establish  a  fund  if  the  local 
authorities  convince  the  supervising  officials  that  one  is  neces- 
sary. The  railway  companies  must  pay  one-third  of  the  dues. 
If  there  is  not  enough  money  in  the  treasury  to  pay  sick  benefit 
costs  after  the  employees  are  paying  4  per  cent  of  their  average 
earnings,  the  deficit  must  be  covered  by  the  employer. 

The  founding  of  an  individual  sick  benefit  fund  is  considered 
advantageous  to  the  employer,  as  it  gives  him  more  influence 
in  the  management  of  the  fund  than  would  be  the  case  where 
the  latter  is  in  the  hands  of  the  local  authorities.  As  a  general 
thing,  such  private  undertakings  are  of  more  benefit  to  the 
worker,  as  they  pay  higher  amounts  and,  when  necessary,  for  a 
longer  period  than  the  twenty-six  weeks  required  by  law.  The 
funds  are  managed  by  committees,  in  which  the  employees  have 
two  representatives  to  the  employer's  one. 

ACCIDENT  INSURANCE 
In  accordance  with  the  law  of  June  30,  1900,  all  railway  em- 
ployees (including  mechanics)  earning  less  than  3,000  marks 
($750)  a  year  are  subject  to  accident  insurance,  which  covers 
work  in  the  shops  as  well  as  on  the  lines.  The  carrier  of  street 
and  light  railway  accident  insurance  is  a  kind  of  co-operative 
organization,  founded  Oct.  1,  1885,  known  as  the  Strassen-und- 
Kleinbahn  Berufsgenossenschaft  (Street  and  Light  Railway 
Accident  Insurance  Guild),  with  headquarters  in  Berlin.  One 
of  the  by-laws  of  this  organization  permits  the  insurance  of 
operating  employees  earning  up  to  5,000  marks  ($1,250)  per 
annum,  and  the  voluntary  insurance  of  other  employees.  All 
expenses  for  the  insurance  required  by  law  are  borne  by  the 
companies. 

DISABILITY  INSURANCE 

All  employees  over  sixteen  years  old  and  earning  less  than 
2,000  marks  ($500)  a  year  are  subject  to  disability  insurance. 
As  previously  stated,  money  for  this  purpose  goes  into  general 
funds,  over  which  the  railway  companies  have  little  control. 
The  cost  of  this  insurance  is  equally  divided  between  the  com- 
pany and  its  employees.  The  former  receives  coupons  upon 
making  payments,  and  these  in  turn  are  given  to  the  employees 
every  pay  day  as  receipts  to  be  pasted  in  a  special  book  issued 
for  that  purpose. 

The  figures  for  1903  of  the  Strassen-und-Kleinbahn  Berufs- 
genossenschaft show  that  the  average  wages  of  the  employees 
of  the  railways  forming  the  association  were  $300  a  year,  and 
that  the  employers'  annual  contribution  per  worker  was  about 
3.3  per  cent  of  that  amount.  The  railway  companies  are  not 
permitted,  of  course,  to  take  this  money  from  the  wages  of  their 
employees,  and  that  they  do  not  do  so  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
since  1890  the  average  annual  wages  have  increased  from  $200 
to  $300. 


ORGANIZATION  AND  METHODS  OF  THE  STRASSEN-UND-KLEIN- 
BAHN BERUFSGENOSSENSCHAFT 

This  society,  when  founded  in  1886,  numbered  only  sixty-nine 
street  railways,  employing  18,500  persons,  and  paying  total 
wages  of  about  $2,225,000.  It  now  numbers  380  railways,  in- 
suring 69,318  employees,  who  earn  annually  about  $15,000,000. 
Up  to  Dec.  31,  1903,  the  society  had  paid  out  $7,750,000  to  sat- 
isfy accident  claims,  paying  on  an  average  $56  to  each  claimant. 
The  affairs  of  the  society  are  managed  by  a  committee  of  nine, 
who  are  elected  by  delegates  from  the  companies,  and  serve 
without  pay,  but  are  granted  traveling  expenses.  All  members 
are  allowed  one  vote  for  every  $5,000  up  to  $50,000  paid  in 
wages  annually,  and  an  additional  vote  for  every  $25,000  above 
the  last-named  amount. 

As  some  lines  are  operated  by  electricity  or  steam  and  others 
by  animal  traction,  the  liability  of  accident  varies  with  the  con- 
ditions, and  the  rules  of  the  association  therefore  call  for  a  re- 
adjustment in  rates  every  five  years.  If  a  member  is  dissatis- 
fied with  the  new  rate  a  protest  must  be  filed  with  the  committee 
within  fourteen  days.  If  the  claim  is  not  granted  the  case  may 
be  appealed  to  the  State  Insurance  Bureau  for  final  adjudi- 
cation. 

The  State  Insurance  Bureau  has  caused  a  number  of  regula- 
tions to  be  passed  designed  to  prevent  accidents,  and  the  asso- 
ciation acts  as  a  sort  of  guardian  over  its  members  to  see  that 
such  regulations  are  obeyed.  If  an  offending  company  does 
not  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  government  inspector  or  the 
association,  it  is  given  a  rating  of  greater  hazard  and  its  acci- 
dent dues  increased  in  proportion.  If  it  is  already  in  the  most 
hazardous  class,  its  dues  may  be  increased  up  to  100  per  cent. 
Employees  who  fail  to  comply  with  the  regulations  may  be 
fined  up  to  $1.50  upon  notice  of  the  association  to  the  em- 
ployee's sick  benefit  organization. 

All  fatal  accidents  and  those  requiring  more  than  three  days' 
absence  from  work  must  be  reported  to  the  association  and  the 
local  police.  The  latter  make  a  detailed  investigation  and  send 
a  copy  of  their  report  to  the  association,  which  appoints  a  com- 
mittee of  three  to  decide  what  assistance  is  necessary  after  the 
fourteen  weeks'  period,  during  which  the  injured  person  is 
cared  for  by  the  sick  and  death  benefit  fund.  The  association, 
however,  may  take  complete  charge  of  the  patient  at  once  if 
deemed  advisable,  and  the  sick  benefit  fund  gives  the  payments 
due  the  injured  man  to  the  association,  which  in  turn  makes  to 
the  patient's  family  whatever  payments  are  required  by  law. 
These  payments  vary  according  to  the  patient's  condition,  of 
which  the  association  is  kept  informed  by  the  local  authorities. 
Should  the  injured  person  be  dissatisfied  with  the  amounts  al- 
lowed, an  appeal  may  be  taken  before  a  board  of  arbitration, 
and  finally  before  the  State  Insurance  Bureau.  That  the  de- 
cisions of  the  association  are  made  in  all  fairness  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  not  more  than  10  per  cent  of  its  rulings  are 
reversed. 

During  the  last  five  years  the  expenses  of  the  association 
were  as  given  in  the  following  table : 


Year 

Total 
Expenses 

Percentage  Cost  for  Each  Form  of  Outlay 

Accidents 

Accident 
Investi- 
gations 

Arbitration 

Accident 
Prevention 

Manage- 
ment 

Reserve 
Fund 

1899  

#74,574 

83-4 

3-3 

i-7 

I. 

IO-6 

1900  

88,594 

83- 

3-5 

2.2 

.6 

IO.7 

1901  

122,800 

81.4 

2.8 

1.7 

•4 

9.2 

4-4 

1902  

146,01 1 

83.7 

3-i 

1-4 

.1 

9- 

8. 

3-6 

I903  

164,812 

80.7 

3- 

i-5 

.1 

6.7 

The  annual  premiums  for  every  $1,000  insurance  were  as 
follows:  1899,  $7.22;  1900,  $7.31;  1901,  $8.93;  1902,  $10.89; 
1903,  10.95.  The  cost  per  person  insured  was  almost  $2.50  in 
1903,  but  the  regulations  provide  that  no  increases  are  to  be 


478 


Street  railway  Journal. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


made  in  this  per  capita  tax  after  it  reaches  $4.50,  the  intention 
being  to  call  upon  the  reserve  fund  if  necessary  to  cover  any 
deficit.  Upon  reaching  this  maximum,  the  total  sick  and  acci- 
dent cost  to  the  members  of  the  association  would  equal  about 
3.5  per  cent  of  the  wages  paid  to  their  employees. 

The  scope  of  the  association  was  enlarged  by  the  law  of  June 
30,  1900,  granting  it  the  right  to  insure  railway  officials  against 
criminal  prosecutions  and  to  pay  pensions  to  those  dependent 
upon  them.  While  this  insurance  is  purely  voluntary,  many 
railway  officials  are  ready  to  take  advantage  of  it,  as  insuring 
in  the  association  is  expected  to  prove  cheaper  than  in  the 
private  companies,  and  larger  pensions  can  be  paid  than  are 
provided  by  the  workingmen's  pension  laws.  The  association 
is  now  preparing  estimates  for  this  class  of  insurance. 

THE  PRESENT  STATUS  OF  WORKMEN'S  INSURANCE  IN  OTHER 
EUROPEAN  COUNTRIES 

The  insurance  laws  passed  in  Germany  during  recent  years 
have  not  failed  to  attract  the  attention  of  neighboring  coun- 
tries, and  an  international  workingmen's  insurance  congress 
was  organized  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  similar  laws 
throughout  Europe.  The  last  session  of  this  congress  was  held 
in  1902,  at  Diisseldorf.  The  reports  and  proceedings  of  that 
meeting  show  plainly  that  Germany  is  very  far  ahead  of  other 
countries  in  the  development  of  pension  systems  for  the  work- 
ing classes.  Where  such  systems  have  been  introduced,  par- 
ticularly where  the  organizations  are  voluntary,  the  benefits 
have  been  far  less  than  is  granted  by  the  compulsory  insurance 
in  Germany.  In  other  countries  there  is  much  protest  against 
compulsory  insurance,  but  it  is  a  fact  that  in  Germany,  where 
the  good  consequences  of  such  laws  are  being  experienced,  very 
little  is  heard  to-day  about  compulsion  or  criticism  of  the  gov- 
ernment for  interfering  in  matters  of  this  nature.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  results  have  been  so  good  that  the  system  is  being 
broadened  from  year  to  year,  and  bids  fair  to  meet  with  con- 
stantly increasing  success. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Gorella  presented  statistics  on  the  status 
of  different  classes  of  insurance  in  Continental  countries. 
■  ♦♦♦  


TWO  OTHER  PAPERS  AT  THE  VIENNA  CONVENTION 


Among  the  other  papers  presented  a  few  weeks  ago  at  the 
Vienna  meeting  of  the  International  Tramways  and  Light  Rail- 
way Association  was  one  by  Mr.  Bjorkegren,  of  the  Grosse 
Berliner  Strassenbahn,  on  measures  for  neutralizing  the  in- 
fluence of  stray  railway  currents  on  electrical  instruments,  and 
another  by  R.  H.  Scotter,  of  London,  on  street  and  light  rail- 
way law  in  different  countries. 

Mr.  Bjorkegren  divided  the  disturbances  by  railway  currents 
into  two  classes — those  caused  by  the  inductance  of  transmis- 
sion lines  and  leakage  of  motor  fields,  the  effects  of  which  may 
be  considered  negligible  beyond  a  few  hundred  feet,  and  the 
far  more  serious  variations  in  the  earth's  magnetic  field  due  to 
return  circuits.  Included  under  the  last  cause  are  the  currents 
set  up  between  adjacent  railway  lines  supplied  from  the  same 
power  station  owing  to  difference  of  potential  in  the  return 
circuits.  Mr.  Bjorkegren  then  described  a  number  of  instru- 
ments devised  to  reduce  the  variations  caused  by  such  stray 
currents,  and  also  described  the  changes  his  company  had  made 
in  the  construction  of  several  lines  to  avoid  influencing  the  pre- 
cision instruments  in  nearby  physical  laboratories. 

Mr.  Scotter's  paper  presented  some  interesting  points  for 
discussion.  Attention  is  called  to  the  public's  desire  for  high 
speed  in  city  transit,  this  often  resulting  in  the  extensive  build- 
ing of  elevated  and  subway  lines,  for  which  franchises  are 
readily  granted  by  the  municipal  authorities  without  pausing 
to  consider  how  ruinous  the  new  lines  may  prove  to  the  longer 
established  surface  railway.  The  members  of  the  association 
should  make  it  their  duty  to  collect  all  available  data  on  this 
subject  for  the  education  of  franchise-giving  bodies,  so  that 


street  railways  will  run  less  risk  of  losing  business  they  are 
entitled  to  handle.  The  question  of  municipal  operation  is  also 
worthy  of  careful  consideration.  Mr.  Scotter  said  that  not  all 
of  the  municipal  lines  in  England  had  proved  successful.  Many 
of  the  municipalities  are  heavily  in  debt,  and  the  frequent 
political  changes  make  responsible  and  economical  manage- 
ment impossible.  Another  unpleasant  feature  is  the  unwilling- 
ness of  municipalities  to  grant  running  rights  to  adjoining 
railways.  On  the  subject  of  freight  handling,  Mr.  Scotter  said 
that  such  traffic  was  permitted  on  street  railways  only  by  spe- 
cial permission  of  Parliament.  Light  railways  may  carry 
freight,  but  very  few  running  on  public  roads  have  found 
any  advantage  in  doing  so.  Mr.  Scotter  thinks  that  freight 
transportation  should  be  taken  up  wherever  possible,  basing 
his  belief  on  the  experience  of  companies  who  have  given  par- 
ticular attention  to  the  development  of  this  business. 


POWER  USED  BY  BRAKES 


The  amount  of  power  required  by  air  brakes  in  every-day  ser- 
vice has  been  investigated  but  little.  The  power  required  is 
small,  to  be  sure,  as  compared  with  the  total  power  required  by 
a  car.  Nevertheless,  it  is  interesting  to  know  the  value  of 
these  small  items.  Through  the  courtesy  of  James  D.  Tanner, 
of  the  Tanner  Electric  Brake  Company,  of  Cleveland,  it  is 
passible  to  give  here  the  results  of  some  tests  on  power  re- 
quired for  operating  brakes  on  cars  in  commercial  service. 
These  tests  were  made  by  H.  M.  Wheeler,  instructor  in  Lewis 
Institute,  Chicago,  formerly  in  charge  of  tests  in  the  engineer- 
ing department  of  the  Chicago  Union  Traction  Company. 
These  tests  were  made  with  the  object  of  determining  the 
energy  consumption  of  an  independent  air-brake  compressor 
in  ordinary  service,  and  from  this  to  learn  how  much  saving 
in  electrical  energy  could  be  gained  by  the  use  of  a  new  type 
of  electric  brake  which  was  being  developed  by  Mr.  Tanner. 
Leaving  aside  any  question  of  possible  economies  that  might 
be  brought  about  by  a  radically  new  type  of  brake,  these  tests 
are  of  value  to  the  electric  railway  engineer  as  regards  the  air 
brake,  because  they  afford  definite  information  on  a  subject 
regarding  which  there  is  little  or  no  published  data.  The  car 
upon  which  the  air-brake  tests  were  made  was  a  double-truck 
city  car,  equipped  with  four  G.  E.-70  motors,  and  weighing, 
approximately,  25  tons.  The  air  brakes  were  supplied  with  the 
latest  type  of  Christensen  motor-driven  compressor.  To  meas- 
ure the  amount  of  electrical  energy  supplied  to  the  compressor 
motor  an  ammeter  and  voltmeter  were  connected  in  the  motor 
circuit.  The  time  the  motor  operated  in  seconds  was  measured 
by  a  stop  watch.   The  summary  of  the  two  tests  is  as  follows : 


Round  trip,  miles  

Running  time,  minutes  

Number  of  stops  

Stops  per  mile  

Total  time  pumping  

Per  cent  of  time  pumping  

Total  kw-hours  at  car  

Total  kw-hours  at  power-house  

Number  of  times  pump  operated  

Average  voltage  at  car  

Average  voltage  at  power  station  

Kilowatts  at  car  during  pumping  

Kilowatts  at  power-house  during  pumping  

Average  kw-hours  at  car  for  each  pumping  

Aver,  kw-hours  for  each  pumping  at  power-house 

Average  amperes  during  pumping  

Average  time  for  each  pumping,  seconds  

Kw-hours  per  car  mile  for  braking  

Kw-hours  per  car  hour  for  braking  


Test  No.  1 

Test  No.  2 

11.88 

11.88 

92 

85 

130 

107 

11 

9, 

18'  22" 

26']  30" 

20 

31 

•5293 

•7584 

.6229 

•9034 

27 

33 

467 

461 

55o 

55o 

i-73 

1.72 

2.03 

2.05 

.0196 

.023 

.0231 

.0274 

3-70 

3.70 

41 

48 

•0525 

.076 

.406 

•637 

The  automatic  governors  started  to  pump  at  45  lbs.  gage 
pressure  and  cut  out  at  60  lbs. 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


4?9 


A  glance  over  the  test  sheet,  which  it  is  not  necessary  to  re- 
produce here  in  full,  shows  that  the  pump  operated  from  a 
maximum  of  fifty-seven  seconds  to  a  minimum  of  thirty  sec- 
onds each  time,  the  average  being  forty-one,  as  given  in  the 
summary.  The  number  of  stops  to  each  time  of  pumping  was 
from  ten  to  three ;  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  ran  four,  five 
and  six  stops.  The  car  was  comparatively  new  in  service, 
having  been  in  operation  twenty-four  days.  From  the  number 
of  stops  per  mile  it  will  be  seen  the  test  was  made  in  city  ser- 
vice on  crowded  streets.  Figuring  it  on  a  basis  of  kw-hours 
per  stop,  test  No.  1  required  .0478  kw-hours,  and  test  No.  2, 
0084  kw-hours  per  stop. 

A  test  of  a  double-truck  22}4-ton  car  in  suburban  service, 
with  two-motor  equipment  and  the  new  type  of  electric  brake 


NEW  FORM  OF  SPRAGUE-GENERAL  ELECTRIC  AUTOMATIC 
RELAY  TRAIN  CONTROL  FOR  BOSTON 
ELEVATED  RAILWAY 


The  form  of  train  control  recently  installed  on  twenty-four 
new  cars  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  embodies  some  novel 
and  interesting  features. 

This  control  employs  magnetic  switches  or  contactors  of 
the  standard  General  Electric  type,  controlled  from  the  master 
controller,  but  are  also  governed  automatically  by  a  current 
relay  or  "throttle"  connected  in  the  motor  circuit  so  that  the 
accelerating  current  of  the  motors  is  substantially  constant. 
This  is  accomplished  by  having  small  auxiliary  interlocking 
contacts  on  certain  of  the  contactors  (see  Figs.  4  and  5),  so 


■Ser/es/sfr  Po/nt 


fa//Ser/es3 


Paro//e/  /st.Po/ntsf 


Para//e/ Vs£  Po/nt  8 


-^-Q-W — op-op-op  1£ 


fu//Paro//e/ 

S4- 


FIG.  1.— CIRCUIT  COMBI- 
NATIONS OF  MOTORS 


FIGS.  2  AND  3.— CONTACTOR  UNITS    WITH    INTERLOCKING  CONTACTS 


Auxi/iary 
Contact's 


lOperot/ng 
C01I- 


From  Mo2 W/re 
Master  Contro//er 


Tnrott/e  /Te/ay 
/ 


From  Motor 

_  Accelera  t  ingr  tvfre  No  I 
From  Master  Contro//e' 


Tnird /9o//  Shoes 


FIG.  4. —  WIRING  DIAGRAM,  SHOWING  CONTACTS  AND  RELAYS 


referred  to,  was  made  about  the  same  time.  The  brake  was 
of  a  type  taking  electrical  energy  from  the  storage  battery  of 
the  car,  which  was  charged  from  the  trolley.  With  this  brake 
kw-hours  per  stop  were  .0009  under  extreme  conditions. 

 ♦♦♦  

A.  L.  Neereamer,  traffic  manager  of  the  Columbus,  Delaware 
&  Marion  Electric  Railroad  Company,  of  Columbus,  is  respon- 
sible for  a  very  handsome  little  book  entitled  "Through  the 
Heart  of  Ohio."  The  book  contains  a  description  of  the  con- 
struction work  on  this  line,  also  numerous  illustrations  of  im- 
portant points  of  interest,  including  views  in  the  several  at- 
tractive summer  resorts  which  are  touched  by  the  system.  The 
road  is  now  in  full  operation  between  Columbus  and  Marion, 
and  occupies  a  strong  position  in  the  very  center  of  the  great 
system  of  Ohio  interurban  roads,  providing  the  logical  entrance 
to  Columbus  for  lines  building  to  both  Cleveland  and  Toledo. 
The  system  was  thoroughly  described  in  a  recent  issue  of  the 
Street  Railway  Journal. 


The  executive  committee  of  the  Ohio  Interurban  Railway 
Association  was  entertained  a  few  evenings  ago  at  the  Dayton 
Country  Club,  West  Milton,  by  Edward  Spring,  superintend- 
ent of  the  Dayton,  Covington  &  Piqua  Traction  Company. 


arranged  and  connected  that  the  contactors  will  be  always 
energized  in  a  definite  succession.  Starting  with  the  motors 
in  series  with  all  resistance  in  circuit,  the  resistance  is  cut  out 
step  by  step,  then  the  motors  are  connected  in  parallel  with  all 
resistance  in,  and  the  resistance  again  cut  out  step  by  step. 
This  succession  is  always  followed  whether  the  master  con- 
troller is  turned  on  slowly  or  thrown  directly  to  the  full  "on" 
position.  The  progression,  however,  never  goes  beyond  the 
point  indicated  by  the  position  of  the  master  controller  handle, 
and  its  rate  is  absolutely  governed  by  the  throttle  relay  (Fig. 
7,  upper  part),  so  that  the  advance  is  not  made  faster  than 
will  keep  the  current  in  the  motors  within  the  prescribed  limit. 

One  of  these  throttle  relays  is  provided  with  each  car  equip- 
ment, so  that  while  the  contactors  on  all  cars  of  a  train  are 
controlled  from  the  master  controller  at  the  head  of  the  train 
as  to  the  application  and  removal  of  power,  the  rate  of  pro- 
gression through  the  successive  steps  is  limited  by  the  relays 
on  each  car  independently,  according  to  the  adjustment  and 
current  requirements  of  that  particular  car. 

A  particularly  noteworthy  feature  of  the  control  is  the 
method  of  accomplishing  the  series-parallel  connection  of  the 
motors.  This  is  by  the  so-called  "Bridge"  method  of  connec- 
tions, which  are  arranged  so  that  the  circuit  through  the  mo- 


48o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


tors  is  not  opened  during  the  transition  from  series  to  parallel, 
and  so  that  the  full  torque  of  both  motors  is  preserved  at  all 
times  from  the  series  to  the  full  parallel  connection.  The  re-* 
suit  is  a  perfectly  smooth  acceleration  and  absence  of  the  jerk 
noticeable  in  ordinary  series-parallel  controls  when  passing 
from  series  to  parallel,  especially  with  as  large  motors  as  are 
used  on  modern  elevated  cars. 

The  circuit  combinations  of  the  motors  are  shown  in  Fig.  1. 
The  connections  are  the  same  as  usual,  with  separate  resist- 
ances for  each  motor,  up  to  the  position  "Full  Series  A."  The 
next  combination  places  a  bridge  connection  between  the  mo- 
tors, inside  of  the  resistances,  and  opens  the  shunts  around  the 
resistances,  as  in  "Full  Series  B."  The  next  step  ("Parallel 
1st  Point  A")  makes  a  ground  connection  on  No.  1  motor  and 
trolley  connection  on  No.  2  motor  resistances,  which  places 
each  motor  across  line  potential  with  resistance  in  each  circuit, 
giving  parallel  connection — the  bridge  connection  becoming 


There  are  five  circuits  leading  from  the  master  controller 
and  five  corresponding  train'  wires  for  this  control  proper. 
There  is  also  a  sixth  circuit  in  the  train  line  which  is  used  for 
an  emergency  cut-off  (Fig.  7,  lower  part),  to  be  described 
later.  The  five  circuits  comprise  one  for  forward  direction, 
one  for  reverse,  one  each  for  series  and  parallel,  and  the  fifth 
for  controlling  the  acceleration. 

When  the  master  controller  is  moved  to  its  first  position  (say 
forward),  the  forward  direction  wire  is  energized,  which 
throws  the  reverser  to  its  forward  position,  and  when  so  thrown 
energizes  contactors  in  the  main  or  trolley  leads  to  the  motors. 
At  the  same  time  the  series  contactor  is  energized  and  the  cir- 
cuit through  the  motors  is  completed  in  series,  with  all  resist- 
ance in  circuit,  giving  a  slow  speed  forward.  In  this  position 
no  further  action  is  produced.  When  the  master  controller  is 
moved  to  its  second  position,  a  circuit  is  completed  through 
the  accelerating  wire  (No.  1),  see  Figs.  4  and  5,  in  addition 


C-Z6  Controller 
rpriA/ord  Reverse 


C-Z6  Controller 
For  w&rd  fte^erse 
,% 


FIG.  5:— WIRING 


DIAGRAM  OF  COMPLETE  CAR  CONNECTIONS,   SHOWING   IN   DETAIL   THE   METHOD    OF   PRODUCING  THE 
AUTOMATIC  ACTION  OF  THE  CONTACTORS 


an  equalizer  between  points  of  substantially  equal  potential. 
This  bridge  connection  is  then  opened  ("Parallel  1st  Point 
B")  and  resistance  cut  out  as  usual  ("Full  Pa-rallel"). 

The  wiring  diagram,  Fig.  5,  gives  the  complete  car  connec- 
tions, showing  in  detail  the  method  of  producing  the  auto- 
matic action  of  the  contactors. 

The  master  controller,  Fig.  6,  consists  of  a  single  cylinder 
with  handle  directly  connected  thereto.  The  handle  is  moved 
in  one  direction  to  give  forward  movement  of  the  car,  and  has 
four  positions  in  this  direction,  corresponding  to:  (1),  switch- 
ing position  in  series,  giving  a  slow  movement;  (2),  accel- 
erating position  series;  (3),  lap  position  in  parallel;  and  (4), 
accelerating  position  parallel.  There  are  but  two  positions  in 
the  reverse  direction  corresponding  to  the  two  first  mentioned 
for  forward.  The  handle  is  returned  to  the  central  or  "off" 
position  by  a  spring  so  that  the  power  is  cut  off  whenever  the 
motorman  releases  the  handle. 


to  the  above  circuits,  which  energizes  the  contactor  shunting 
the  first  resistance  step,  the  current  also  passing  through  the 
fine  wire  coil  and  the  contacts  of  the  throttle  relay.  The  plunger 
of  this  relay  has  a  lost  motion,  so  that  an  appreciable  time 
is  required  to  move  it,  and  this  time  is  adjusted  to  be  the  same 
as  that  required  by  the  contactor  in  closing  its  contact.  These 
two  devices  thus  operate  simultaneously.  The  contactor,  being 
lifted,  shifts  its  operating  coil,  by  means  of  the  auxiliary  con- 
tacts carried  on  its  stem,  into  the  circuit  through  the  series 
contactor  above  mentioned,  which  maintains  it  in  the  closed 
position  independent  of  the  circuit  that  has  lifted  it.  At  the 
same  time  the  throttle  relay  has  opened  the  lifting  or  accel- 
erating circuit.  The  shunting  of  the  resistance  step  by  the 
contactor  causes  an  increased  current  to  flow  through  the 
motor  circuit  and  through  the  heavy  coil  of  the  throttle  relay, 
which  is  sufficient  to  hold  the  relay  plunger  in  its  raised  posi- 
tion, and  so  keeps  the  accelerating  circuit  open  until  the  motors 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


by  speeding  up  cause  the  current  to  diminish  enough  to  allow 
the  relay  plunger  to  drop.  Circuit  is  then  established  through 
the  contactors  shunting  the  second  resistance  step  (the  first 
contactor  having  shifted  this  circuit  also),  and  these  contac- 
tors are  energized  and  the  relay  again  lifted  and  held  up  by  the 
increased  current,  and  so  on  until  all  the  resistance  is  cut  out. 

When  the  master  controller  is  moved  to  the  third  position, 
the  parallel  circuit  is  established,  and  the  bridge  contactor  and 
then  the  parallel  contactors  closed  and  the  motors  connected 
in  the  multiple  arrangement.  When  the  master  controller  is 
moved  to  its  fourth  or  "full-on"  position,  the  resistance  is  cut 


FIG.  6—  MASTER  CONTROLLER  SWITCHES 

out  step  by  step  as  in  series.  These  same  successive  actions 
are  produced  if  the  master  controller  is  thrown  to  the  full-on 
position  directly,  as  the  interlocking  contacts  prevent  an  ad- 
vance circuit  being  established  before  the  proper  preliminary 
action  has  taken  place. 

If  at  any  point  during  the  acceleration,  the  master  controller 
is  moved  to  its  "lap"  position,  the  existing  positions  of  the 
contactors  are  maintained,  but  the  further  progression  is  ar- 
rested so  that  the  motorman  can  limit  the  acceleration  to  as 
slow  a  rate  as  desired,  but  he  cannot  exceed  the  predetermined 
rate  for  which  the  relay  is  adjusted. 

The  sixth  wire  in  the  train  line  above  referred  to,  providing 
an  emergency  cut-off,  is  connected  to  a  switch  in  the  motor- 
man's  cab  and  to  trip  magnets  on  the  t«p  of  the  cut-out  switches 
(Fig.  7,  lower  part)  provided  on  each  car  of  the  train.  All  of 
the  control  circuits  for  each  car  pass  through  its  individual 
cut-out  switch,  and  when  the  motorman  operates  the  emer- 
gency switch  in  his  cab  all  of  the  cut-out  switches  on  the  train 
are  opened,  thus  cutting  off  power  on  all  of  the  cars. 

A  further  automatic  protection  is  provided  by  the  cut-off 
relay  shown  in  Figs.  2  and  6.  This  relay  has  its  coil  connected 
to  the  lead  from  the  collecting  shoes  of  the  respective  car,  and 
its  contacts  are  so  connected  in  the  contactor  circuits  that  in 
case  of  failure  of  power  to  the  car,  such  as  would  be  caused 
by  passing  over  a  dead  section  of  rail,  this  relay  is  de-ener- 
gized and  causes  the  control  circuits  on  that  car  to  be  thrown 
back  to  series  position  with  resistance  in,  and  when  power  is 
restored  the  control  progresses  automatically  step  by  step  to 
its  former  advanced  position.  This  prevents  any  surging  or 
overloading  on  such  occasions. 

The  master  controller,  illustrated  in  Fig.  6,  is  of  small  dimen- 
sions and  occupies  but  very  little  space  in  the  cab.  One  of  the 
contactor  units  with  interlocking  contacts  is  shown  in  Figs.  2 


and  3.  The  cars  weigh  approximately  35  tons  each  and  are 
equipped  with  two  GE  68  motors  geared  to  a  maximum  speed 
of  about  40  miles  per  hour.  The  acceleration  is  adjusted  to 
approximately        miles  per  hour  per  second. 



RAILWAY  GUIDE  BOOK  AND  PASSENGER  REGULATIONS 
IN  SYDNEY,  AUSTRALIA 

It  is  unfortunate  that  so  many  urban  and  interurban  railway 
companies  fail  to  realize  how  much  additional  traffic  could  be 
gained  both  from  the  local  public  and  strangers  by  distributing 
a  booklet  giving  the  intending  traveler  a  clear  idea  of  the  dif- 
ferent routes  and  connections  of  the  system,  the  headway  on 
each  route  at  various  parts  of  the  day,  and  the  time  and  cost 
required  to  reach  a  given  point. 

An  excellent  example  of  such  a  booklet  is  the  publication 
issued  monthly  by  the  New  South  Wales  Government  Tram- 
ways, of  Sydney,  Australia.  Here  the  tramways  cater  for  a 
population  of  about  500,000,  carrying  last  year  over  137,000,000 
passengers.  The  time  table  is  sought  for  principally  by  visitors 
to  the  city ;  regular  travelers  being  familiar  with  them  do  not 
look  for  them  to  the  same  extent.  In  this  book,  96  pages,  2-)4 
ins.  x  4  ins.,  particulars  are  given  of  all  the  tramway  services, 
and,  where  necessary,  the  steamer  or  train  connections.  In 
addition,  there  is  included  a  small  map,  showing  the  railway 
system,  with  the  names  of  the  important  places.  Cars  run 
strictly  in  accordance  with  the  schedule,  and  when  alterations 
are  made  on  holidays  or  other  special  occasions,  brief  particu- 
lars are  adyertised  of  the  changes  in  service.  At  a  number  of 
places  throughout  the  system  larger  maps,  3  ft.  3  ins.  x  2  ft. 
6  ins.,  are  exhibited,  together  with  sheet  time  tables  in  bold 
type. 

Some  of  the  tramway  by-laws  given  in  this  booklet  should 
make  interesting  reading  for  strenuous  advocates  of  govern- 
ment ownership.  The  Sydney  system  is  owned  by  the  govern- 
ment of  New  South  Wales,  and  is  controlled  by  a  Railroad 
Commission,  which  has  authorized  the  enforcement  of  some 
strict  by-laws,  a  few  of  which  are  quoted  herewith : 

Smoking  is  strictly  prohibited  in  or  upon  any  carriage,  or  plat- 
form thereof,  not  set  apart  for  the  purpose ;  and  any  person  who 
persists  in  smoking  after  being  requested  by  a  passenger  or  warned 
by  any  officer  employed  on  the  tramway  to  desist,  shall  be  liable 
to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £2,  and  may  be  removed  from  the  car- 
riage by  any  such  officer. 

Any  person,  unless  authorized  by  the  Commissioners,  who  shall 
post  or  stick  any  placard  or  bill  within  or  on  any  of  the  tramway 
property  or  premises,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £2. 

Any  person  who  shall  assault  or  wilfully  impede  any  officer  or 
servant  of  the  Commissioners  in  the  execution  of  his  duty,  shall  be 
liable  to  a  fine  not  exceeding  £5- 

No  person  except  a  passenger  or  intending  passenger  shall  be 
allowed  to  enter  or  mount  upon  any  carriage ;  and  any  person 
holding  or  hanging  by  any  part  of  a  carriage,  or  getting  into  or 
upon  or  quitting  any  carriage  while  in  motion,  or  attempting  to  do 
so,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £2. 

Any  person  who  shall  prevent  a  passenger  from  getting  in  or  out 
of  any  carriage,  except  when  in  motion,  or  obstruct  any  passenger 
in  such  ingress  or  egress,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding 
£5. 

Any  person  entering  a  tram  car  after  being  informed  by  the 
conductor  that  the  same  is  full,  or  having  entered,  refusing  to  leave 
at  the  request  of  the  conductor,  may  be  removed  from  such  tram 
car  by  any  employee  of  the  Commissioners,  and  will  be  liable  to  a 
penalty  not  exceeding  £2. 

Any  passenger  who  shall  remain  upon  the  front  platform  of  any 
electric  motor  car  after  having  been  requested  to  leave  the  same  by 
the  driver,  conductor  or  other  authorized  officer  of  the  Commission- 
ers, shall  lie  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £2. 

Any  passenger  who  shall  place  his  or  her  foot  or  feet  upon  any 
seat  or  part  of  a  seat  in  any  railway  or  tramway  carriage,  shall 
be  liable  to  a  penalty  not  exceeding  £2. 

Several  pages  are  devoted  to  rates  of  fare  for  adults,  chil- 
dren, school  pupils  between  twelve  and  eighteen  years  of  age, 
technical  college  and  university  students,  workmen's  and  mili- 
tary fares,  owl  cars,  special  excursions  and  the  like. 


482 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


WOOD-WORKING  TOOLS  FOR  STREET  RAILWAY  REPAIR 

SHOPS 

With  the  growing  importance  of  the  repair  shop  for  street 
railways,  the  selection  of  machine  and  wood-working  tools  has 
become  one  of  more  than  ordinary  importance.  Not  only  is  it 
found  necessary  to  maintain  carefully  equipped  shops,  but  the 
exigencies  of  modern  repair-shop  conditions  also  demand  re- 
sults far  beyond  the  standards  provided  in  the  older  types  of 
tools.  In  this  direction  a  representative  of  this  paper,  during 
a  recent  visit  to  the  shops  of  the  S.  A.  Woods  Machine  Com- 
pany, Boston,  Mass.,  was  impressed  with  the  high  standard  of 
excellence  attained  by  that  company  in  the  manufacture  of 
wood-working  machinery.  Various  classes  of  wood  tools, 
especially  adapted  to  street  railway  work  and  car-body  repairs, 
as  well  as  for  the  production  of  stock  for  various  other  uses, 
were  examined,  and  the  development  of  labor-saving  equipment 
was  everywhere  apparent. 

Lack  of  space  forbids  the  mention  in  detail  of  each  machine 
shown,  but  particularly  prominent  were  the  Woods  drop-table 
variety  moulder  and  No.  302  vertical  hollow-chisel  mortiser. 

The  former  is  a  characteristic  machine  for  the  production  of 
irregular  moldings  and  variety  woodworking.  The  table  is  in 
two  sections,  the  front  section  lowering  73/2  ins.  below  the  back 
or  fixed  table,  permitting  stock  of  greater  curve  or  sweep  to 
be  worked  than  it  would  be  possible  to  handle  otherwise  and 
retaining  the  cutters  close  to  the  boxes,  thus  eliminating  vibra- 
tion and  insuring  superior  results. 

The  latter  is  probably  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  com- 
pany's new  hollow-chisel  mortisers,  of  which  several  types  are 
built  for  varying  classes  of  work.  This  machine  is  successfully 
cutting  square  mortises  as  small  as  %  m->  a  new  departure  in 
machine  work,  but  one  of  great  importance.  The  lack  of  suc- 
cess in  this  direction  with  earlier  machines  has  been  a  serious 
limitation,  since  sash  and  similar  work  requiring  J^-in.  cuts 
have  necessarily  been  worked  on  a  lighter  machine  than  that 
suited  to  the  heavier  mortising  of  the  sills  or  general  car-body 
work.  This  is  in  marked  contrast  to  the  mortiser  referred  to, 
which,  by  its  special  design  and  construction,  is  adapted  to 
small  work,  with  provision  to  handle  the  heavy  material.  It 
uses  chisels  up  to  il/2  in.  square  without  the  least  inconvenience 
or  effort,  owing  to  the  transverse  travel  or  movement  of  the 
chisel  carriage  across  the  timber  or  sill,  while  the  latter  re- 
mains in  position. 

In  addition  to  its  stability,  in  which  respect  this  machine  re- 
sembles a  metal-working  tool,  it  has  the  same  provisions  for 
taking  up  of  wear,  etc.,  as  are  to  be  found  in  the  latest  types  of 
iron-working  tools.  This  is  a  very  commendable  innovation 
for  machinery  of  this  class,  as  recent  conditions  of  rapid  pro- 
duction have  brought  upon  the  wood-working  tool  often  more 
severe  conditions  of  operation  than  are  elsewhere  experienced, 
even  upon  iron-working  tools  using  the  high-speed  tool  steels. 
It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  a  wood-working  tool,  with  the 
blades  or  knives  slightly  dulled,  will  require  many  times  more 
power  to  operate  than  when  the  knives  are  sharp,  while  the  use 
of  green  or  knotty  timber  produces  even  greater  strains  upon 
the  mechanism,  which  must  manifestly  be  taken  care  of,  if 
satisfactory  operation  is  to  be  expected. 

In  the  minor  features  of  the  machine,  the  arrangements  pro- 
vide for  easy  adjustments,  attract  attention.  It  is  probable 
that  no  tools  are  more  adequately  provided  in  this  respect ; 
reduction  of  time  of  handling  is  thereby  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
an  important  factor  in  this  work.  The  wide  range  of  adjust- 
ments also  makes  possible  the  cutting  of  gains  and  end  tenons 
upon  car  sills  and  other  heavy  timber  work  that  would  be  very 
difficult  otherwise. 

The  Woods  fast-feed  planers  and  matchers,  timber  sizers 
and  straight  molding  machines  are  also  favorably  known  in 
many  of  the  latest  equipped  shops. 

The  finish  given  to  all  of  these  tools  is  worthy  of  remark ; 


all  castings  are  carefully  rubbed  down  and  done  in  an  egg- 
shell finish,  which  produces  a  most  attractive  result  and  also 
greatly  facilitates  the  keeping  clean  of  the  various  parts. 

—  ♦♦♦  s  

THE  CIRCLE  SWING  AND  AIR  SHIP 


A  popular  novelty  in  the  line  of  amusement  apparatus  is  the 
circle  swing  and  air-ship  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion. This  device,  which  is  made  by  the  Traver  Circle  Swing 
Company,  of  New  York,  was  first  operated  during  the  summer 
of  1903  in  Electric  Park,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  where  it  met  with 
immediate  success.  At  present  there  are  installations  in  ser- 
vice in  Revinia  Park,  controlled  by  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  Company ;  Elitch  Gardens,  Denver,  Col. ;  Salt 
Palace,  Salt  Lake  City ;  the  Chutes,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. ;  Luna 
Park,  Coney  Island,  N.  Y. ;  Coney  Island,  Cincinnati,  and  many 
other  places. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  features  of  the  ride  in  the  circle 


THE    CIRCLE   SWING    AT    SALT    LAKE  CITY 


swing  is  the  ease  with  which  the  cars  move,  there  being  abso- 
lutely no  noise  or  vibration.  Another  feature  is  the  pleasing, 
cooling  effect  produced  by  the  rapid  flight  through  the  summer 
air.  The  passengers  are  seated  in  narrow,  pointed  cars,  which 
are  lifted  slowly  and  gracefully  into  the  circle.  Gradually, 
however,  the  machine  moves  faster,  the  cars  gain  momentum 
and  the  passengers  are  rapidly  swung  forward.  When  the  cars 
have  been  lifted  to  their  utmost  height  and  the  limit  of  speed 
attained,  the  power  is  slowly  reduced  and  the  speed  lessened  to 
permit  the  cars  to  return  gently  to  the  ground. 

All  parts  of  the  circle  swing,  including  the  tower,  shaft, 
trusses  and  cables,  are  made  of  steel.  All  exposed  parts  are 
galvanized  to  prevent  rust.  The  car  seats  are  made  of  rattan, 
stiffened  with  iron  and  upholstered  in  fine  red  leather.  The 
machine  is  built  with  a  factor  of  safety  of  twenty  to  one,  and 
speed  regulation  is  secured  by  an  electric  controller,  which 
gives  absolute  control  under  all  conditions.  The  cars  are 
swung  by  j^-in.  steel  cables  capable  of  holding  16  tons  in  each 
car,  and  are  loaded  from  a  circular  platform  built  of  concrete. 
Everv  circle  swing  is  designed,  built  and  erected  under  the 
supervision  of  the  company's  engineers,  complete  for  operation. 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


483 


FUSE  EXHIBIT  OF  THE  H.  W.  JOHNS-MANVILLE  COMPANY 
AT  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION 


An  inspection  of  the  exhibition  of  Sachs  "Noark"  enclosed 
fuses  and  fuse  devices,  made  by  the  H.  W.  Johns-Manville 
Company,  in  the  Electrical  Building  at  St.  Louis  Exposition, 
impresses  the  observer  at  once  that  the  enclosed  fuse,  as  an 
electrical  accessory,  has  obtained  a  permanent  position  in  the 
electrical  field. 

While  the  exhibit  is  not  large,  it  is  thoroughly  representa- 
tive, and  shows  to  excellent  advantage  the  various  enclosed 
fuse  devices  of  different  types  and  styles  manufactured  by  this 
company.  It  is  mounted  on  a  large  display  board,  rising  from 
the  center  of  a  handsome  oak  table.  Over  all  is  suspended  an 
enormous  enclosed  fuse,  duplicating  the  actual  device  in  every 
particular,  and  attracts  the  eye  of  even  the  casual  visitor,  as  it 
can  be  seen  long  before  the  exhibit  is  reached.    Mounted  on 


terrific  explosion,  while  the  enclosed  fuse — in  that  quiet  man- 
ner which  has  won  for  it  the  approval  of  discerning  engineers 
— opens  the  circuit,  so  that  unless  one  looked  at  the  indicator, 
with  which  all  Sachs  "Noark"  fuses  are  equipped,  it  would  be 
impossible  to  know  whether  the  fuse  had  blown  or  not. 

The  exhibit  certainly  stands  with  the  very  best  of  the  ex- 
hibits of  electrical  accessories  at  the  Fair,  and  is  unquestion- 
ably worthy  of  close  inspection.  Much  credit  for  the  attractive 
appearance  of  this  display  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  G.  D.  Pogue, 
of  the  electrical  department  of  the  St.  Louis  branch  of  the 
H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Company,  who  has  full  charge  of  the 
exhibit. 




ELECTRIC-HYDRAULIC  BLOCK-SIGNAL  FOR  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAYS 


FUSE  EXHIBIT  AT  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION 

both  sides  of  the  display  board  are  the  different  styles  of  fuse 
blocks  equipped  with  their  respective  fuses ;  one  side  of  the 
board  being  covered  with  220-volt  devices,  while  the  other  pre- 
sents the  higher  potential  appliances.  The  display  of  blocks 
and  fuses  is  very  comprehensive,  including  every  standard 
block  and  fuse  manufactured  by  the  company. 

Placed  upon  th,e  table  on  each  side  of  the  display  board  and 
also  on  the  floor  underneath  the  table,  is  a  complete  line  of  fuse 
and  service  boxes,  with  the  now  well-known  lobster-claw  fuse- 
clamping  arrangement;  and  also  a  line  of  car  equipment  fuse 
boxes,  subway  boxes,  etc.  A  feature  which  is  by  no  means 
the  least  attractive,  both  to  the  layman  and  others,  is  the  actual 
demonstration  which  is  given  from  time  to  time  of  the  opera- 
tion of  open  and  enclosed  fuses.  The  exhibit  includes  a  testing 
box  containing  an  open  fuse  block  and  a  Sachs  "Noark"  en- 
closed fuse  block.   The  open  fuse  is  first  blown  with  the  usual 


S.  H.  Harrington,  of  New  York,  has  recently  brought  out  a 
block-signal  system  for  electric  railways,  the  operation 
of  which  is  based  upon  the  combined  use  of  electric  and 
hydraulic  power,  the  latter  being  employed  for  storing 
any  desired  number  of  signal  movements  to  insure  oper- 
ation even  if  the  electric  current  is  cut  off.  The  pump 
of  the  hydraulic  accumulator  is  situated  in  the  base  of 
the  signal  post,  and  its  plunger  is  connected  with  a 
small  motor  supplied  by  the  line  current.  Should  the 
signal  ever  become  inoperative,  the  blade  is  automati- 
cally pulled  to  an  angle  of  30  degs.  and  a  green  light 
displayed.  This  is  a  cautionary  signal,  and  allows  the 
car  to  proceed  under  reduced  speed  to  the  next  signal. 

The  means  for  setting  and  clearing  this  signal  when 
a  car  enters  or  leaves  a  block  consist  of  a  short  rail 
similar  to  a  guard-rail  placed  at  a  suitable  distance  in 
front  of  the  signal,  which  is  normally  set  at  danger. 
This  short  rail  is  movable  on  a  pivot,  and  when  a  car- 
wheel  flange  passes  between  it  and  the  traffic  rail  the 
circuit  is  closed,  thereby  energizing  the  magnets  of  an 
electrically  operated  double  valve.  This  operation  lifts 
the  valve  and  admits  fluid  from  the  accumulator  to  the 
plunger  chamber,  causing  the  plunger  to  operate  and 
set  the  signal  to  60  degs.,  indicating  safety. 

After  the  car  has  passed  the  block  and  entered  the 
protected  section,  the  valve  is  released  and  the  signal 
consequently  returns  to  danger  position  and  is  locked 
until  the  car  has  passed  out  of  the  protected  section.  At 
the  end  of  the  section  is  located  a  second  pivoted-rail 
arrangement,  so  that  the  passing  of  the  car  flange  be- 
tween it  and  the  traffic  rail  releases  the  electrical  locking 
device,  which  permits  the  next  car  arriving  in  front  of 
the  signal  to  restore  it  to  safety  on  entering  the  block. 

The  blade  of  the  signal  contains  five  incandescent 
lamps,  which  show  white  lights  when  the  signal-arm  is 
at  an  angle  of  60  degs.,  or  safety,  and  red  lights  when 
the  blade  is  horizontal,  or  at  danger.    As  an  additional 
source  of  light  and  as  a  precaution  in  the  event  of  the  ex- 
tinguishing of  the  blade  lights,  the  signal  contains  an  oil  lamp 
which  is  capable  of  burning  seven  consecutive  days  without  re- 
filling.   All  the  operating  mechanism  is  contained  inside  the 
post,  thus  reducing  the  chances  of  the  signal  becoming  inopera- 
tive.   It  is  also  sealed  to  prevent  tampering. 


The  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  has  submitted  a  report 
of  its  business  for  the  quarter  ending  June  30,  which  shows 
good  increases  on  account  of  the  World's  Fair.  Passengers 
for  the  quarter  numbered  5,889,746,  against  4,451,164  last  year. 
The  number  of  trips  last  quarter  exceeded  the  corresponding 
quarter  of  last  year  by  more  than  3000,  77,743  trips  having  been 
made,  against  74,563.  The  gain  over  the  previous  three  months 
of  the  present  year  also  shows  a  .great  increase  of  traffic. 


4«4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


PROPOSED  ASSOCIATION  OF  CLAIM  AGENTS 


One  of  the  steps  which  will  undoubtedly  be  taken  at  the  St. 
Louis  convention  will  be  the  organization  of  claim  agents  of 
different  street  railway  companies.  The  movement  has  been 
discussed  for  several  years,  but  took  tangible  form  some  time 
ago  when  William  A.  Dibbs,  claim  agent  of  the  New  York 
City  Railway  Company,  sent  to  a  number  of  street  railway 
companies  a  circular,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

Several  of  the  claim  agents  in  this  vicinity  have  for  a  number  of 
years  past  been  corresponding  with  one  another  relative  to  claim- 
ants and  their  methods.  It  has  been  found  to  be  of  mutual  bene- 
fit, not  only  to  the  agents  but  to  the  roads.  A  system  of  the 
magnitude  of  yours  no  doubt  meets  with  a  number  of  maligners 
and  repeaters.  Information,  of  course,  regarding  them  will  help 
your  defense.  Why  not  start  an  association  of  street  railway 
claim  agents  under  the  same  auspices  as  the  steam  railway  claim 
agents ;  have  semi-annual  conventions,  discuss  the  different  topics  of 
business,  and  advance  ideas  for  the  betterment  of  the  office  work 
and  its  branches?  If  you  are  interested,  I  would  be  glad  to  get 
an  expression  of  your  views. 

A  large  number  of  favorable  replies  have  already  been  re- 
ceived, and  a  meeting  of  those  interested  will  be  held  in  St. 
Louis  to  consider  the  organization  of  a  permanent  body.  All 
street  railway  claim  agents  are  eligible  to  the  new  association. 
As  some  companies  may  not  have  received  the  original  circu- 
lar, this  paper  has  been  requested  to  state  that  all  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  proposed  movement  are  invited  to  participate  in 
proposed  meeting  at  St.  Louis,  looking  to  the  organization  of 
an  association  of  claim. agents.  An  announcement  will  be  made 
on  Wednesday,  Oct.  12,  the  first  day  of  the  American  Street 
Railway  Association  meeting,  of  the  place  and  time  of  the  pro- 
posed meeting  of  the  claim  agents. 

♦  ♦♦ 

BAND  RESAWING  MACHINE 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  band  resawing  ma- 
chine of  medium  capacity  brought  out  by  the  J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan 
Company,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  It  is  intended  for  general  re- 
sawing  in  fine  lumber. 

Some  of  its  most  salient  points  are  worth  careful  considera- 


B.AND  RE-SAW  OF  MEDIUM  CAPACITY 


tion.  The  upper  wheel  is  mounted  on  a  heavy  column,  reducing 
all  tendency  to  vibration  and  insuring  great  speed.  The  im- 
proved tension  on  the  blade  is  very  sensitive  and  reliable,  and 
uniform  on  all  occasions.  The  lower  wheel  is  solid,  thus  lessen- 
ing circulation  of  dust,  increasing  momentum  and  preventing 
the  upper  wheel  from  overrunning  it.    The  upper  wheel  has  a 


lateral  adjustment  to  keep  the  saw  on  its  proper  path  without 
stopping  the  machine. 

The  feed  is  variable,  and  rolls  will  open  to  receive  stock 
24  ins.  wide  and  8  ins.  thick.  The  inside  rolls  can  be  locked 
in  position  and  the  outside  ones  instantly  moved  to  or  from 
the  saw  by  a  lever,  and  are  gaged  by  an  accurate  quadrant. 
The  rolls  can  be  tilted  12  degs.  and  clamped  for  any  angle 
work.  The  machine  has  other  mechanical  features  that  recom- 
mend it  very  highly  to  all  having  resawing  to  do. 

 *+»  

WEED-CUTTING  BRUSH  FOR  RAILWAYS 

Charles  D.  Smith,  who  is  connected  with  the  Wisconsin 
Rapid  Transit  Company,  Fond  du  Lac,  Wis.,  has  invented  a 
metallic  wire  brush  that  may  be  readily  adjusted  to  either  end 
of  a  car  to  keep  the  space  between  the  rails  clear  of  plant 
growth.  When  in  use  the  brush  is  dropped  so  that  wires  will 
just  scrape  the  ground,  and  when  the  car  is  in  motion  the  brush 
will  effectively  cut  the  weeds.  The  apparatus  is  very  flexible 
and  can  be  adjusted  to  any  desired  position. 

— ;  *^*~  

A  REAR  GUARD  FOR  STREET  CARS 

C.  A.  Willard,  of  St.  Louis,  has  devised  an  apparatus  which 
is  intended  to  prevent  some  of  the  accidents  caused  by  passen- 
gers attempting  to  cross  the  street  behind  a  car  when  another 
car  is  approaching  on  the  opposite  track.  This  apparatus  con- 
sists of  a  safety  guard  operated  by  compressed  air,  which  ex- 
tends out  in  the  rear  of  the  rear  platform  so  as  to  prevent  per- 
sons from  crossing  the  street  immediately  behind  a  car  when 
another  car  is  approaching  in  the  opposite  direction.  A  signal 
is  displayed  on  the  dashboard  of  the  car  which  indicates 
whether  the  guard  is  out  at  the  rear,  the  idea  being  that  if  the 
motorman  of  a  car  approaching  in  the  opposite  direction  does 
not  see  this  signal  he  must  proceed  with  great  caution.  Both 
the  guard  in  the  rear  and  the  target  or  signal  on  the  dashboard 
are  illuminated  when  the  car  is  lighted,  thus  rendering  them 
of  value  at  night  as  well  as  by  day.  Mr.  Willard  expects  to 
have  an  exhibit  of  this  device  in  the  Transportation  Building, 
Aisle  E,  No.  5455,  during  the  street  railway  convention  at  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 

 ♦♦♦  

ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  CAR  LUNCH  ROOMS  FOR 
EMPLOYEES 

The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  through  General  Manager 
McCulloch,  has  established  street  car  lunch  rooms  at  the  Olive 
Street  loop  at  the  World's  Fair  for  the  convenience  of  its  em- 
ployees. Capt.  McCulloch  has  inaugurated  the  lunch  rooms  as 
an  experiment,  and  should  they  prove  successful,  he  will  place 
cars  on  all  of  the  through  lines.  The  motormen  and  conductors 
think  highly  of  it  and  are  steady  patrons.  Two  negro  waiters, 
faultlessly  clad  in  white,  serve  the  sandwiches  and  coffee  to 
the  men,  who  stand  on  the  outside.  The  plan  is  a  great  time- 
saver,  for  it  does  away  with  the  necessity  of  the  men  making 
arrangement  for  securing  their  luncheon  while  on  regular  runs. 
In  many  cases  it  was  found  they  would  leave  their  cars  to  go 
into  a  restaurant  to  get  a  prepared  lunch  or  meet  some  member 
of  the  family  who  would  be  in  waiting  for  them  at  a  designated 
spot.    Thus  they  were  often  called  from  thei%cars. 

 ♦♦♦  

Some  of  the  photographs  taken  at  the  recent  Utica  meeting 
of  the  New  York  State  Street  Railway  Association  and  deliv- 
ered during  the  convention  have  faded  out.  The  photographer, 
A.  P.  Zintsmaster,  of  Herkimer,  N.  Y.,  states,  however,  that 
he  will  replace  any  of  these  faded  photographs  by  a  perfect  one 
if  the  purchasers  of  the  photographs  will  return  the  faded  ones 
to  him.  Mr.  Zintsmaster  is  a  photographer  with  an  excellent 
reputation,  which  he  is  desirous  to  maintain. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  ELECTRICAL  CONGRESS- 
SECTION  F 


MONDAY,  SEPT.  12. 
The  first  meeting  of  Section  F,  that  on  electric  transportation, 
of  the  International  Electrical  Congress,  was  held  on  Monday, 
Sept.  12.  Dr.  Louis  Duncan,  chairman  of  the  section,  announced 
that  the  first  paper  to  be  presented  was  that  by  Philip  Dawson  on 
electric  traction  on  British  railways.  This  is  presented  in  abstract 
below : 

DAWSON,  ON  "ELECTRIC  TRACTION  ON  BRITISH  RAILWAYS" 
Owing  to  the  stringent  regulations  imposed  by  the  Government 
and  the  very  densely  populated  districts  which  railways  traverse, 
tbe  capitalization  of  English  lines  is  an  exceedingly  heavy  one, 
amounting  to  about  £1,184,000  for  22,078  miles  of  railway,  both 
single  and  double  track.  The  percentage  of  net  receipts  to  total 
paid-up  capital  is  decreasing,  owing  to  increased  taxation  and  com- 
petition of  electric  tramways.  The  author's  opinion  as  to  the  rem- 
edy is  the  judicious  adoption  of  electric  traction.  He  classifies 
railway  traffic  as  follows :  Short-distance  suburban  and  interur- 
ban ;  long-distance  main  line,  and  goods  traffic.  The  first  class 
is  extremely  favorable  for  the  adoption  of  electricity,  and  the 
others  may  furnish  some  instances  where  it  would  be  feasible.  The 
Mersey  Railway  is  cited  as  an  example  of  the  beneficial  effect  of 
electrification  of  a  steam  line.  While  only  installed  last  year,  in 
six  months  the  train  mileage  was  increased  from  155,000  to  401,- 
000,  and  the  number  of  passengers  from  2,844,708  to  4,153,777.  Even 
better  results  have  been  secured  on  the  Milan- Varese  railroad. 

The  author  shows  that  electricity  is  the  only  hope  of  suburban 
and  short-distance  interurban  systems.  Their  introduction  has  re- 
sulted in  an  increase  of  schedule  speeds,  and  he  does  not  doubt 
that  from  12  miles  to  15  miles  per  hour  will  be  allowed  at  no 
distant  date.  The  accelerating  ability  of  the  electric  cars  con- 
tributes to  good  schedule  speed.  The  steam  lines  benefit  by  elec- 
trification in  that  they  have  advantages  over  tramways  in  not  hav- 
ing to  operate  in  congested  districts,  and  they  have  a  greater  dis- 
tance between  stops.  The  small  number  of  journeys  per  head  of 
population  in  London  is  an  evidence  of  poor  facilities  for  travel. 
These  were  129  in  1901,  as  compared  with  223  in  Berlin,  and  320  in 
New  York. 

There  are  certain  conditions  which  must  be  fulfilled  by  a  system 
of  electric  traction. 

1.  Sub-stations  with  moving  machinery  should  be  few  in  number, 
and  these  should  require  little  attendance. 

2.  The  number  of  conductors  supplying  current  to  trains  should 
be  few  and  capable  of  unlimited  extension,  hence  the  use  of  a  third 
rail  is  not  possible. 

3.  It  must  be  possible  to  take  from  a  single  conductor  sufficient 
current  to  haul  one  or  more  fast  trains  between  feeding  points. 

4.  It  is  very  desirable  that  the  system  should  be  applicable  to 
main  line  as  well  as  to  suburban  systems. 

5.  It  should  be  possible  to  operate  trains  at  any  speed  so  as  to 
make  up  lost  time. 

6.  Controlling  apparatus  must  be  simple  and  high-pressure  con- 
ductors must  not  be  in  dangerous  positions. 

7.  If  a.  c.  motors  are  used  the  power  factor  must  be  high  and  the 
motors  must  permit  of  high  rates  of  acceleration. 

8.  In  some  cases  the  motors  might  be  used  to  return  current  to 
the  line,  but  in  any  case  they  must  be  reversible  and  applicable  for 
braking  purposes. 

The  paper  enlarges  upon  these  points,  giving  the  reasons  for  the 
conclusions  and  the  requirements  of  a  satisfactory  overhead  con- 
ductor, which  is  strongly  advocated  as  the  only  practicable  means 
of  conveying  current  to  the  trains.  A  considerable  amount  of 
attention  is  given  to  the  current  collector,  and  a  sliding  bow  ar- 
rangement is  preferable,  as  it  is  simple  and  does  not  need  excessive 
pressure  against  the  conductor. 

A  number  of  advantages  are  claimed  for  electric  traction  over 
steam,  an  important  feature  being  that  much  greater  traction  is 
secured  for  less  weight  upon  the  drivers.  Among  other  important 
advantages  are  the- decreased  wear  upon  the  permanent  way,  the 
possibility  of  multiple-unit  control,  the  reduced  number  and  required 
skill  of  operatives  and  the  possible  high  rates  of  acceleration.  Up 
to  the  present  time  comparatively  little  has  been  done  in  the  di- 
rection of  introducing  electric  traction  upon  steam  lines  in  Great 
Britain,  but  progress  is  being  made  and  with  satisfactory  results. 
DISCUSSION  ON  DAWSON'S  PAPER 

In  the  discussion  which  followed  Mr.  Dawson's  paper  it  was 
brought  out  by  Mr.  Ward  Leonard  that  high  capitalization  is  not 
necessarily  an  indication  of  poor  earning  ability,  as  some  American 
roads  have  even  higher  capitalization  per  mile  than  the  amount 


reported  for  England.  The  important  point  in  operating  a  road  is 
to  utilize  to  the  highest  degree  the  investment  in  the  road,  that  is  to 
operate  so  as  to  produce  the  maximum  ton-miles  per  mile  of  track. 
In  this  country,  by  the  increase  of  power  employed  relative  to  the 
investment  the  cost  of  transporting  a  ton  for  1  mile  has  been  re- 
duced to  about  one-quarter  what  it  was  fifteen  years  ago.  Here  is 
where  the  electric  power  has  its  great  advantage  in  that  unlimited 
power  is  possible  for  a  given  investment  in  track.  Mr.  Leonard 
also  stated  that  it  was  fortunate  that  where  there  are  many  grades, 
water  power  is  prevalent,  and  that  a  locomotive  of  50,000  lbs.  draw- 
bar pull  was  required.  This  at  about  30  miles  an  hour  would  mean 
about  4000  hp. 

Another  feature  of  the  discussion  was  the  distinction  made  by 
Mr.  Sprague  between  the  fields  of  application  of  steam  and  electric 
traction.  Concentration  of  traffic  and  multiplicity  of  units  justify 
the  adoption  of  electricity.  Long  runs  with  infrequent  stops  are 
not  suited  to  electric  traction.  The  application  of  electricity  is 
simply  a  power  distribution  proposition,  and  nothing  new  is  created 
by  its  use.  As  illustration  of  these  points,  Mr.  Sprague  cited  the 
case  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  which  will  use  electricity 
for  all  trains  within  35  miles  of  the  center  of  the  city.  This  will 
be  used  for  all  trains,  because  two  systems  are  not  possible  on  the 
same  track,  and  electricity  is  best  adapted  to  all  but  the  through 
trains.  It  was  shown  that  England  will  adapt  electricity  when  com- 
pelled to,  because  on  account  of  the  expense  it  will  be  impossible  to 
duplicate  existing  lines.  Electricity  offers  the  only  solution  of  the 
problem  of  increasing  present  facilities. 

Mr.  Leonard  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  England  mail  and 
express  matter  are  classed  as  freight,  while  in  America  they  are 
charged  to  the  passenger  service,  and  these  facts  must  be  borne 
in  mind  when  comparing  conditions  in  the  two  countries. 


The  paper  of  J.  B.  Entz,  on  the  storage  battery  in  electric  railway 
service,  was  then  read  in  abstract : 

ENTZ,  ON  "STORAGE  BATTERIES" 

The  principal  application  of  batteries  to  electric  railway  systems 
is  made  at  the  generating  stations,  at  distribution  sub-stations 
and  directly  connected  to  points  on  a  direct-current  distributing  line. 
The  objects  of  such  installations  are  to  store  electrical  energy  at 
efficient  and  convenient  periods  and  to  return  it  when  most  useful, 
generally  at  periods  of  increasing  or  heavy  load.  The  author  shows 
how  a  battery  results  in  increased  economy  and  reliability  of  oper- 
ation and  classifies  the  reasons  for  installing  batteries  as  follows : 

1.  Reasons  affecting  investment. 

2.  Reasons  affecting  economy  of  operation. 

3.  Reasons  affecting  reliability  and  public  convenience  and  safety. 
The  point  is  made  that  there  is  usually  some  part  of  a  station 

load  which  can  be  carried  by  a  battery  without  increasing  the  total 
cost  of  the  installation  and  that  sometimes  it  is  good  engineering 
to  go  to  greater  expense  to  insure  economy  and  reliability  of  oper- 
ation. 

The  economies  resulting  from  the  use  of  batteries  in  power  sta- 
tions and  sub-stations  are  due  to  the  improved  load  factors  in  the 
various  pieces  of  generating  and  transforming  apparatus.  The 
efficiency  of  a  battery  for  "peak  work,"  which  will  have  an  output 
between  15  per  cent  and  20  per  cent  of  the  total  output  of  the 
station,  amounts  to  about  85  per  cent  as  a  minimum,  which  is  but 
3  per  cent  of  the  output  of  the  station.  This  amount  should  be 
more  than  offset  by  the  increased  efficiency  of  boilers,  engines,  lines 
and  rotaries.  The  author  estimates  the  total  gain  due  to  the  use 
of  the  battery  to  be  from  15  per  cent  to  20  per  cent.  He  also  makes 
the  point  that  as  the  plates  of  the  storage  battery  are  constantly 
renewed  the  battery  is  in  as  good  form  at  the  end  of  a  period  of 
years  as  at  the  beginning. 

The  most  important  argument  made  by  the  author  for  the  use 
of  the  storage  battery  is  that  it  is  entirely  reliable  as  a  reserve. 
Its  uses  in  this  connection  are  tabulated  as  follows  : 

1.  The  entire  load  of  a  power  house  may  be  carried  for  from 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  to  several  times  that  period  even  during 
the  time  of  heaviest  load. 

2.  At  a  sub-station  the  rotaries  can  lie  slni(  down  for  an  indefinite 
period  of  time,  the  battery  floating  on  the  line. 

3.  The  batteries  can  take  care  of  sudden  excessive  loads  due  to 
unusual  congestion  of  traffic. 

4.  They  will  take  care  of  short  circuits  on  the  line. 

5.  At  night  the  entire  machinery  of  a  station  can  be  shut  down 
and  current  cut  off  the  a.  c.  lines  for  inspection  and  repair. 

6.  The  batteries  make  it  possible  to  buy  power  from  another  line 


486 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


at  times  when  it  may  be  spared  and  at  constant  and  controllable 
rate. 

The  author  discusses  the  matter  of  boosters  for  forcing  the  bat- 
tery to  charge  and  discharge  as  desired.  Such  boosters  may  be 
either  hand  or  automatically  controlled.  The  former  are  employed 
where  a  constant  voltage  is  not  necessary,  but  if  the  battery  is  to 
be  used  in  parallel  with  generating  machinery  of  a  constant  or 
rising  characteristic,  some  automatic  device  is  necessary.  The  auto- 
matic excitation  of  the  booster  field  is  accomplished  by  including 
an  exciting  coil  in  the  working  circuit.  The  exciting  coil  must  be 
neutralized  by  another,  so  that  with  any  predetermined  average 
output  of  the  station  the  booster  shall  neither  add  nor  oppose  its 
voltage  to  that  of  the  battery.  In  order  to  make  such  a  combina- 
tion as  stable  as  possible,  another  main-current  coil  has  been  in- 
cluded in  the  generator  circuit  so  that  an  increase  of  current  fall- 
ing upon  the  generator  following  an  increase  of  outside  load  would 
further  affect  the  battery  and  cause  it  to  discharge. 

The  paper  also  describes  the  methods  used  for  magnifying  the 
effects  of  variations  in  the  generator  load  upon  the  booster  excita- 
tion. One  of  these  is  a  counter  electro-motive  force  generator 
which  derives  its  field  excitation  from  a  field  coil  placed  in  the  gen- 
erator circuit,  said  coil  being  so  adjusted  that  the  average  generator 
load  produces  an  e.  m.  f.  equal  to  and  opposed  to  that  of  the  sta- 
tion voltage,  so  that  under  such  conditions  the  battery  is  neither 
charging  or  discharging.  An  increase  in  the  generator  output  in- 
creases the  voltage  of  the  counter  e.  m.  f.  generator,  which  in  turn 
increases  the  booster  excitation.  The  reverse  effect  results  from 
a  lowering  of  the  generator  load. 

The  other  method  of  regulation  is  by  means  of  an  electro-mechan- 
ical device  which  varies  the  pressure  upon  groups  of  carbon  discs 
connected  in  the  manner  of  a  Wheatstone  bridge,  with  the  excit- 
ing field  coil  of  the  booster  connected  in  the  position  of  the  gal- 
vanometer. By  the  compression  of  one  or  the  other  groups  of 
disc  current  is  passed  through  the  booster  field  coil  in  such  a  di- 
rection as  to  produce  the  desired  effect. 

The  author  concludes  by  discussing  the  proper  construction  of 
a  battery  for  railway  service.  He  states  that  the  positive  plates 
should  be  of  the  "Plante"  type,  while  the  negative  plates  are  pref- 
erably of  the  "paster"  type.  The  development  of  the  active  lead 
should  be  made  in  such  an  amount  that  it  will  provide  secure  re- 
ceptacles for  the  retaining  of  the  active  material,  and  the  necessary 
further  corrosion  of  the  active  lead  for  the  purpose  of  replacing 
active  material  carried  away  should  not  interfere  with  the  mechani- 
cal strength  nor  the  conductivity  of  the  plate. 

DISCUSSION  ON  ENTZ'S  PAPER 

The  paper  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Sprague  and  Edstrom. 

In  the  discussion  upon  Mr.  Entz's  paper  great  stress  was  laid 
upon  the  fields  of  application  of  this  class  of  device.  It  was  shown 
that  in  stations  of  small  capacity,  and  therefore  with  fluctuating 
load,  the  battery  is  almost  a  necessity.  Sub-stations  come  under 
this  class,  as  they  are  virtually  small  stations,  regardless  of  the 
original  source  of  the  power.  In  this  country  it  is  a  debatable 
matter  as  to  whether  storage  batteries  shall  be  used  or  not  in  large 
stations.  In  Europe  there  no  question  about  this  as  a  rule, 
for  the  stations  are  small  and  hence  furnish  the  proper  conditions 
for  an  efficient  application  of  batteries.  In  very  large  stations 
abroad  the  storage  battery  is  not  used  as  much  as  formerly. 


TUESDAY'S  SESSION. 

On  Tuesday  morning  a  joint  meeting  of  Section  B  (general 
applications)  and  Section  F  (electric  transportation)  was  held 
for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the  question  of  alternating-current 
motors  as  applied  to  electric  traction,  particularly  with  reference 
to  the  use  of  a  single-phase  current  on  the  trolley  system  and 
the  adaptability  of  various  types  of  motors  to  this  condition. 

Mr.  C.  P.  Steinmetz,  chairman  of  Section  B,  called  the  meeting 
to  order  and  announced  the  general  object  of  the  joint  meeting, 
stating  that  the  papers  would  all  be  presented  before  commenc- 
ing the  general  discussion.  Mr.  B.  J.  Arnold  was  then  intro- 
duced and  read  his  paper  entitled  "Some  Early  Work  in 
Polyphase  and  Single  Phase  Electric  Traction."  He  reviewed 
the  general  development  of  the  application  of  polyphase  currents 
to  electric  traction  and  told  how,  as  early  as  in  1896,  shortly  after 
the  appearance  of  the  rotary  converter  commercially,  he  first 
proposed  to  use  this  type  of  apparatus  in  railway  work  on  a  pro- 
jected line  called  the  Wisconsin  Inland  Lakes  &  Chicago  Electric 
Railway.  This  road  was  not  built,  but  a  few  months  later  he 
made  use  of  the  idea  in  connection  with  the  Chicago  &  Milwau- 
kee Electric  Railway  and  installed  in  1898  the  first  rotary  con- 
verter system  used  in  connection  with  electric  railway  work.  In 
1899  he  commenced  the  development  of  the  present  Arnold  sys- 
tem, which  was  discussed  in  detail  in  his  paper.  His  general 
scheme  is  to  make  use  of  single-phase  motors  and  to  employ  an 
air  storage  system  to  be  used  in  starting  and  stopping  the  car,  the 


motor  running  continuously  at  maximum  load  and  efficiency. 
The  speed  of  the  car  is  controlled  by  accelerating  or  retarding 
the  parts  usually  known  as  rotor  and  stator,  by  means  of  com- 
pressed air,  in  such  a  manner  as  not  only  to  regulate  the  speed 
of  the  car,  but  also  to  restore  the  kinetic  energy  of  the  car  when 
stopping  and  to  utilize  this  stored  energy  in  starting  again. 

In  June,  1903,  the  first  experimental  machine  was  ready  and  a 
successful  trial  trip  was  made.  As  the  apparatus  used  on  this 
occasion  was  more  or  less  of  a  makeshift,  it  was  considered  de- 
sirable to  defer  further  tests  until  a  complete  equipment  could  be 
constructed.  This  was  ready  in  December,  1903,  but  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  a  few  days  before  the  date  set  for  public  tests.  A 
new  equipment  was  built  and  on  Aug.  3,  1904,  a  successful  trial 
run  was  made. 

STEINMETZ,  ON  "ALTERNATING-CURRENT  MOTORS" 

After  the  presentation  of  Mr.  Arnold's  paper,  Dr.  Louis  Dun- 
can (chairman  of  Section  F)  announced  that  the  next  paper  would 
be  that  of  Mr.  C.  P.  Steinmetz,  entitled  "Alternating-Current 
Motors."  Mr.  Steinmetz  then  read  one  of  his  characteristic 
papers.  As  it  contained  much  mathematical  development  of  the 
general  theory  of  the  various  types  of  alternating-current  motors, 
it  was  read  in  part  only,  the  general  equations  being  shown  and 
then  the  application  to  the  various  types  developed,  together 
with  the  corresponding  speed  and  torque  curves.  The  motors 
considered  were  the  following: 

Polyphase  Motors  and  Motors  of  Similar  Type 

(1)  Polyphase  induction  motor. 

(2)  Single-phase  induction  motor. 

(3)  Single-phase  condenser  motor. 

(4)  Polyphase  shunt  motor. 

(5)  Polyphase  series  motor. 

Single-Phase  Commutator  Motors 

(1)  Single-phase  series  motors. 

(2)  Compensated  series  motor.    (Eickemeyer  motor.) 

(3)  Repulsion  motor.    (Thomson  motor.) 

It  was  shown  that  the  maximum  power  factors  of  the  comma- 
tating  motors  are  decidedly  higher  than  those  of  corresponding 
induction  motors,  and  that,  therefore,  the  same  power  factor  as 
in  the  induction  motor  can  be  secured  in  the  commutating  motor 
with  a  much  larger  air  gap.  This  is  a  decided  advantage  in  elec- 
tric railway  work.  The  compensated  motor  is  intermediate  be- 
tween the  repulsion  and  the  series  motors,  but  rather  nearer  the 
former  for  low  speeds  and  to  the  latter  at  high  speeds;  that  is,  its 
torque  is  high  in  starting  and  at  low  speeds,  but  does  not  fall  off 
as  rapidly  at  high  speeds  as  that  of  the  repulsion  motor.  Induc- 
tion motors  are  essentially  constant  speed  motors.  The  repul- 
sion motor  is  a  low  speed  motor,  the  series  motor  a  high  speed 
motor,  while  the  compensated  or  Eickemeyer  motor  is  intermedi- 
ate between  the  repulsion  and  series  motors,  approaching  the 
former  at  low  speeds  and  the  latter  at  high  speeds. 

DERI,  ON  "SINGLE-PHASE  MOTORS" 

The  next  paper  presented  was  that  by  Mr.  Max  Deri,  entitled 
"Single-Phase  Motors."  This  paper  was  read  in  abstract  by  Mr. 
W.  I.  Slichter.  The  author  reviewed  the  essential  functions  and 
relations  of  modern  single-phase  motors  (of  the  commutator 
type)  with  the  idea  of  facilitating  a  comparison  of  the  working* 
conditions  and  commutating  requirements  of  the  different  sys- 
tems. Some  new  points  of  view  were  presented  and  some  new 
methods  of  construction  were  shown. 

LATOUR,  ON  "COMMUTATION" 

Mr.  Deri's  paper  was  followed  by  that  of  Mr.  Marius  Latour, 
which  was  entitled  "Commutation  of  Direct  and  Alternating- 
Current  Machines."  Mr.  Latour  read  his  paper  in  person  and 
discussed  in  general  the  essential  features  of  similarity  and  differ- 
ence in  the  commutation  of  motors  on  direct  and  alternating- 
current  circuits. 

BRAGSTAD,  ON  "REPULSION  MOTORS" 

Mr.  Steinmetz  then  read  in  abstract  from  the  original  manu- 
script the  paper  of  Dr.  O.  S.  Bragstad,  entitled  "Theory  and 
Operation  of  Repulsion  Motors."  This  paper  was  largely  mathe- 
matical and  cannot  be  briefly  reviewed.  Dr.  Bragstad  stated 
that  commutator  motors  for  alternating  currents  have  become  of 
great  interest  within  recent  years,  mainly  because  of  the  demand 
for  a  single-phase  railway  motor,  but  that  a  broad  field  would 
also  be  found  for  other  purposes  where  speed  regulation  is  re- 
quired. The  repulsion  motor  is  of  special  interest,  not  only  in 
itself,  but  also  in  that  it  marks  a  transition  stage  to  the  different 
forms  of  compensated  motors.  The  general  theory  of  the  repul- 
sion motor  was  developed  in  considerable  detail  under  the  usual 
assumption  that  the  magnetic  resistance  is  constant  for  all  mag- 
netic circuits  and  that  the  iron  losses  are  proportional  to  the 
square  of  the  magnetic  induction.    The  results  of  the  mathemati- 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


487 


cal  development  were  represented  graphically  by  a  series  of  dia- 
grams. 

DANIELSON,  ON  "COMPENSATED  REPULSION  MOTORS" 
The  next  paper,  also  read  by  Mr.  Steinmetz,  in  abstract  from  the 
original  manuscript,  was  that  of  Mr.  Ernst  Danielson,  entitled 
"Theory  of  the  Compensated  Repulsion  Motor."  Like  that  of 
Dr.  Bragstad,  this  paper  is  very  mathematical  and  the  matter  con- 
tained can  not  be  very  well  presented  in  a  condensed  form.  The 
general  analytical  theory  of  the  repulsion  motor  was  developed. 
Leakage  was  considered  and  the  formulas  for  the  calculation  of 
current,  torque,  and  lag  with  known  voltage,  brush  position  and 
speed  were  given.  The  formulas  developed  were  those  used  by 
the  Allmanna  Svenska  Elektriska  Aktielolaget,  of  Westeras, 
Sweden,  for  figuring  repulsion  motors. 

LINCOLN,  ON  "SINGLE-PHASE  RAILWAY  PROBLEMS" 
Mr.  Paul  M.  Lincoln  then  read  his  paper  on  "Transmission  and 
Distribution  Problems  Peculiar  to  the  Single-Phase  Railway." 
Among  other  things,  Mr.  Lincoln  pointed  out  the  fact  that,  as  far 
as  the  transmission  line  is  concerned,  the  true  criterion  of  voltage 
strain  is  that  which  exists  between  any  conductor  and  ground, 
and  not  that  between  any  two  conductors.  If  the  terminal  volt- 
age be  so  adjusted  that  the  insulation  strains  to  ground  be  made 
the  same,  then  to  transmit  a  given  amount  of  power  a  given  dis- 
tance at  a  given  loss  will  require  no  more  copper  by  the  single- 
phase  line  than  that  required  by  the  three-phase  line. 

NIETHAMMER,  ON  "A.  C.  AND  D.  C.  TRACTION" 
Upon  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  paper  that  of  Dr.  F. 
Niethammer  entitled  "Alternating  versus  Direct-Current  Trac- 
tion" was  presented  in  printed  form  without  being  read. 

In  this  paper  Prof.  Niethammer  described  all  of  the  different 
electric  railway  systems,  viz. :  direct-current,  three-phase,  single- 
phase,  with  commutator  motors ;  current  changers,  such  as  the 
Ward-Leonard  and  Heilman ;  single-phase  induction  motors,  such 
as  those  of  C.  E.  L.  Brown  and  Arnold ;  constant  direct-current 
systems  and  storage  batteries.  Tables  were  then  given  of  maxi- 
mum speed,  acceleration,  horse-power  of  motors,  etc.,  for  different 
classes  of  service,  and  examples  taken  from  roads  representative  of 
each  class  of  service.  He  then  discussed  the  design  of  the  differ- 
ent types  of  motors  for  each  of  the  different  systems,  especially 
for  the  different  alternating-current  systems,  and  gave  a  second 
table  showing  weight,  dimensions,  gear  ratios,  etc.,  for  the  standard 
direct-current,  single-phase  and  three-phase  motors  of  the  different 
European  manufacturers.  He  then  discussed  starting  torque, 
speed  variation  and  braking  for  the  different  types  of  motors,  also 
different  methods  of  gearing  and  controlling,  the  latter  accom- 
panied by  a  table  showing  the  weights  of  various  controllers.  Dif- 
ferent forms  of  current-collectors  were  also  described  and  com- 
pared 

DISCUSSION 

The  discussion  was  opened  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Scott,  who  advocated 
the  three-phase  as  against  the  single-phase  system.  Every  three- 
phase  generator  is  a  three-crank  engine,  and  with  transformers 
connected  in  delta,  if  one  breaks  down  the  system  can  still  be  oper- 
ated, while  if  the  transformer  breaks  down  in  the  single-phase 
system  the  system  is  shut  down.  With  the  single-phase  system 
you  have  a  pulsating  torque,  while  in  the  three-phase  system  and 
in  the  direct-current  system  you  have  a  constant  torque. 

Mr.  Lamme  stated  that  the  problem  of  single  phase  electric  trac- 
tion is  considerably  affected  by  the  opinion  of  the  electrical  pub- 
lic, which  opinion  is  based  largely  upon  experience  with  alter- 
nating-current motors  of  various  kinds.  One  point  of  confusion 
is  that  many  engineers  fail  to  understand  why  the  single-phase 
commutating  motor  can  have  a  large  air  gap  and  also  a  high 
power  factor.  In  the  commutating  type  of  motor  the  current 
represents  torque  regardless  of  the  power  factor,  whereas  in  the 
induction  motor  a  low  power  factor  means  a  low  torque.  He 
advocated  the  use  of  the  straight  series  motor. 

Mr.  Steinmetz,  in  referring  to  the  relative  advantages  of  single- 
phase  and  polyphase  motors,  said  the  single  phase  tends  to  syn- 
chronize much  more  strongly  than  the  polyphase  induction  motor, 
so  that  while  the  polyphase  induction  motor  might  be  used  in 
electric  railway  work,  the  single  phase  induction  motor  is  not 
directly  applicable.  The  single  phase  commutating  motor  is  ad- 
vantageous. In  this  motor  the  limit  of  torque  is  the  magnetic 
saturation.  In  action  this  motor  approaches  the  direct-current 
series  motor;  that  is,  the  torque  is  proportional  to  the  square  of 
the  current,  while  in  the  polyphase  motor  it  is  more  directly  as  the 
current.  As  regards  systems  of  distribution,  the  polyphase  sys- 
tem is  generally  used  here  but  is  not  so  common  abroad.  The 
polyphase  system  has  the  advantage  in  stationary  motor  work 
and  the  generators  are  somewhat  smaller  and  more  efficient.  T11 
answer  to  the  argument  by  Mr.  E.  K.  Scott  regarding  running 
on  a  delta-connected  three-phase  system  with  one  transformer 


burned  out,  Mr.  Steinmetz  brought  out  the  point  that  equal  safety 
could  be  secured  in  the  single-phase  system  by  employing  two 
transformers  instead  of  one.  In  electric  railway  work  the  single- 
phase  system  is  simpler  and  must  be  employed.  A  two-phase 
system  might  be-  used  by  connecting  one  phase  on  each  track  of 
a  two-track  road,  but  it  would  be  a  difficult  and  a  complicated 
system.  With  modern  engineering  methods  the  single-phase  rail- 
way system  will  improve. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Armstrong,  in  referring  to  the  question  of  a  three- 
phase  versus  a  single-phase  system,  said  that  it  is  necessary  to 
consider  the  commercial  aspect.  At  present  there  are  one-half  a 
billion  kilowatts  of  rotary  converters  and  three-phase  railway 
apparatus  installed.  This  must  be  used  as  far  as  possible,  and  it 
is  therefore  necessary  to  use  25-cycle  motors  at  present.  The 
great  amount  of  lighting  at  the  present  time  supplied  by  railway 
power  houses,  and  also  the  power  supplied  to  stationary  motors, 
must  be  also  taken  into  consideration.  For  the  present  it  appears 
that  the  three-phase  generating  apparatus  will  be  used  with  a 
transformation  to  two-phase  at  the  sub-stations  and  the  railway 
load  divided  on  the  two  phases. 

Mr.  Steinmetz  also  said  that  it  is  necessary  to  consider  the 
present  state  of  the  art  and  the  conditions  now  existing.  It  will 
probably  be  necessary  for  some  time  to  come  to  operate  cars  on 
Soo-volt  direct-current  circuits  within  city  limits,  and  therefore  the 
new  alternating-current  motors  for  electric  railway  work  must  be 
so  constructed  that  they  will  operate  equally  well  on  the  direct 
current  city  systems  and  on  the  alternating-current  system  used 
beyond  the  city  limits.  The  alternating  current  commutator  mo- 
tor may  be  made  to  meet  these  conditions. 

Mr.  Lamme  said  that  in  the  original  single-phase  railway  built 
recently  by  the  Westinghouse  Company,  the  frequency  was  162-3, 
but  the  standard  frequency  of  to-day  is  25  cycles,  in  order  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  machinery  already  installed.  Four  motors 
are  used  on  a  car,  operating  in  series  on  a  direct-current  circuit  in 
the  city,  and  either  in  series  or  in  parallel  on  an  alternating- 
current  circuit  beyond  the  city  limits. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Armstrong  stated  as  regards  frequency,  that  a  15- 
cycle  equipment  has  been  already  installed  and  placed  in  opera- 
tion. Another  point  is  that  of  the  standardization  of  line  voltages 
on  the  trolley  circuit.  Both  2200  and  3300  volts  have  been  used 
and  both  will  probably  be  standard  voltages  for  the  present. 

Mr.  P.  M.  Lincoln,  in  referring  to  the  trolley  line  voltage,  said 
that  with  present  installations,  1100  volts  would  generally  be  as 
high  as  would  be  advisable,  but  with  the  new  types  of  line  ma- 
terial 2200  and  3300  volts  will  be  found  perfectly  satisfactory. 

Sections  B  and  F  then  adjourned  to  meet  at  10  a.  m.  on  Wednes- 
day, Sept.  14,  in  Festival  Hall  at  the  World's  Fair. 


WEDNESDAY'S  SESSION 

This  was  a  combination  meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Electrical  Engineers  and  the  Institution  of  Electrical  Engineers  of 
Great  Britain,  with  sections  B  and  F,  and  constituted  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Institute.  President  B.  J.  Arnold,  of  the  A.  I.  E.  E., 
called  the  meeting  to  order.  The  meeting  was  not  a  part  of  the 
congress,  but  President  Arnold  extended  an  invitation  to  all  mem- 
bers of  the  congress  to  take  part  in  the  discussion.  He  called 
attention  to  the  session  as  a  joint  meeting  of  the  A.  I.  E.  E.  and 
the  I.  E.  E.,  of  Great  "Britain,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  this 
would  not  be  the  last  of  such  meetings,  but  that  there  might  be 
many  of  them  in  the  future.  President  R.  Kaye  Grey,  of  the  In- 
stitution of  Electrical  Engineers,  of  Great  Britain,  then  took  the 
chair,  and  President  Arnold  delivered  his  annual  address  as  presi- 
dent of  the  A.  I.  E.  E.,  abstracted  below : 

Eleven  years  ago  we  met  in  Chicago  under  the  auspices  of  a 
great  exposition.  To-day  we  are  gathered  again  at  a  greater  ex- 
position. At  the  time  of  the  Chicago  meeting  engineers  were 
strenuously  advocating  the  use  of  electricity  on  street  railways 
and  elevated  work.  The  Chicago  Exposition  Intermural  road  was 
the  first  instance  of  the  application  of  electricity  to  large  traffic. 
The  interval  between  these  two  expositions  has  been  one  of  ex- 
tensive activity  in  interurban  and  suburban  work.  The  traffic  on 
these  lines  has  enormously  increased  over  the  steam  road  figures. 
We  now  aspire  to  enter  the  steam  road  field.  The  question  is 
whether  the  advantages  are  greater  than  the  difficulties  to  be  over- 
come. It  has  been  proven  that  suburban  traffic  of  a  steam  road 
is  a  legitimate  field  for  the  introduction  of  electricity,  as  for  in- 
stance, the  New  York  Central  and  Pennsylvania  terminals,  in  New 
York  City.  The  best  conditions  for  electrical  operation  are  many 
units  at  even  intervals.  The  power  now  required  by  a  car  is  small 
compared  to  that  taken  by  a  steam  train.  A  more  economical 
method  of  producing  power  is  required  before  electricity  will  be- 
come fully  applicable  to  steam  lines.  Tn  some  cases,  with  water 
power  available,  the  power  is  cheap  enough  for  electrical  operation 
at  the  present  time. 


488 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


When  the  traffic  is  dense  enough  the  ideal  equipment  for  electri- 
cal operation  would  be  six  tracks  arranged  in  pairs  for  different 
classes  of  traffic  moving  at  the  same  speed  on  each  pair  of  tracks. 
This  condition  only  exists  in  a  few  cases.  In  most  places  the  traffic 
is  too  light.  No  general  law  can  be  laid  down  on  account  of  vary- 
ing conditions.  In  all  cases  the  relative  cost  of  operation  must  be 
carefully  analyzed. 

Electricity  will  be  the  power  ultimately.  At  first  terminals  will 
be  equipped,  due  to  lessened  operating  expense  or  the  demands  of 
the  public  for  better  service.  Then  electric  feeders  for  trunk 
lines  will  follow  and  finally  the  trunk  lines  operating  between  elec- 
trically equipped  terminals  will  be  changed  over  to  the  new  power. 
Many  advantages  will  accrue,  such  as  increased  passenger  revenue, 
a  high  class  freight  service  not  possible  now,  and  lower  cost  of 
power  as  time  goes  on. 

The  principal  problem  is  the  transmission  of  power  and  voltage 
on  the  trolley  and  the  solution  seems  near.  Heretofore  the  necessity 
of  rotaries  has  precluded  the  equipment  of  trunk  lines,  but  the 
alternating-current  motor  has  made  it  more  probable  due  to  the 
decrease  of  first  cost  and  the  improved  transmission. 

It  is  only  seventeen  years  since  the  first  electric  road  was  equipped 
and  yet  the  horse  and  cable  have  practically  disappeared,  the 
suburban  railway  has  become  a  great  factor  in  our  daily  life,  and 
the  total  investment  in  electric  industries  reaches  $4,000,000,000. 
Steam  will  hold  its  own  on  trunk  lines  for  some  years,  but  at 
present,  trunk  lines  in  the  United  States,  Switzerland,  Sweden  and 
Italy  are  figuring  on  electric  operation,  and  the  future  looks  prom- 
ising. 

President  R.  Kaye  Grey,  of  the  Institution  of  Electrical  Engi- 
neers, of  Great  Britain,  moved  that  a  vote  of  thanks  be  tendered 
President  Arnold  for  his  able  address.  The  motion  was  seconded 
by  Col.  R.  E.  Crompton,  senior  vice-president  of  the  Institution  of 
Electrical  Engineers,  of  Great  Britain,  and  carried  by  acclamation. 

The  subject  for  discussion  at  this  meeting,  "Different  Methods 
and  Systems  of  Using  Alternating-Current  in  Electric  Railway 
Motors,"  was  taken  up,  Dr.  Charles  P.  Steinmetz  ODcning  the  dis- 
cussion. Mr.  Steinmetz  reviewed  at  some  length  the  development 
of  the  alternating-current  railway  motor,  starting  with  the  early 
work  of  Messrs.  Rudolph  Eickemeyer  and  Charles  Van  Depoele, 
and  leading  up  to  the  latest  type — the  compensated  commutator 
motor.  He  discussed  the  characteristics  of  the  direct-current 
series  railway  motor,  the  polyphase  induction  motor  and  the  com- 
mutator alternating-current  motor,  and  their  adaptability  to 
different  classes  of  railway  work,  these  classes  being  ordinary  city 
street  service,  rapid  transit  service,  as  on  elevated  and  under- 
ground tracks ;  suburban  and  interurban  service,  trunk  line  pas- 
senger service  and  long  distance  freight  service. 

For  city  service  the  characteristics  of  the  direct-current  series 
motor  are  best,  on  account  of  its  enormous  torque  at  starting,  its 
rapid  acceleration  and  maintenance  of  torque  from  the  limit  of 
acceleration  to  the  free  running  speed.  These  features  were  absent 
in  the  induction  motor.  This  latter  type  of  machine  cannot  com- 
bine very  high  acceleration  with  high  efficiency  at  free  running,  or 
with  the  ability  to  run  efficiently  at  low  speeds.  The  alternating- 
current  commutator  motor,  however,  while  having  not  quite  such 
good  characteristics  as  the  direct-current  series  motor,  is  well 
adapted  for  city  service.  The  problem  and  conditions  in  rapid 
transit  service  are  the  same  as  those  in  city  service,  except  that  the 
units  are  larger,  the  speeds  higher  and  stops  are  not  so  frequent 

In  interurban  and  suburban  work  there  are  fewer  stops,  so  that 
rapidity  of  acceleration  is  of  less  importance  and  a  lower  torque  of 
acceleration  will  do,  but  the  same  surplus  torque  is  required  as  in 
city  service,  because  the  voltage  cannot  be  maintained  so  nearly 
constant  in  interurban  lines  as  in  the  city.  The  induction  motor 
being  most  sensitive  to  voltage  variation  (the  torque  varying  as 
the  square  of  the  voltage)  is  not  at  all  adapted  to  interurban  and 
suburban  service,  the  maximum  torque  which  the  motor  can  give 
cannot  much  exceed  the  acceleration  torque  without  spoiling  the 
characteristics  of  the  motor,  and  while  the  motor  will  run  at  con- 
stant speed  regardless  of  voltage  fluctuations,  an  excessive  drop  in 
voltage  will  cause  it  to  "break  down"  and  refuse  to  carry  the  load. 
The  alternating-current  commutator  motor,  however,  appears  to 
be  pre-eminently  constituted  for  this  class  of  work. 

In  trunk  line  passenger  service,  the  rate  of  acceleration  at  pres- 
ent obtained  by  means  of  steam  locomotives  is  much  lower  than 
that  obtained  in  everyday  practice  for  electric  railways,  and  as 
excessive  acceleration  torque  does  not  need  to  be  sustained  up  to 
high  speeds  in  this  class  of  service,  it  is  a  field  where  alternating- 
current  commutator  motors  should  be  employed  and  possibly  induc- 
tion motors  if  the  question  of  voltage  maintenance  does  not  inter- 
fere. 

In  trunk  line  freight  service  the  same  considerations  come  in, 
except  that  the  speeds  are  relatively  low  and  the  train  weights  are 
enormous,  so  that  here  more  than  in  any  other  class  of  work  it  is 
essential  to  have  a  very  large  surplus  torque  available  in  order  to 


start  the  train  or  to  hold  it  on  an  up  grade.  For  this  service,  there- 
fore, as  in  interurban  service,  the  motor  must  run  efficiently  at  light 
loads  and  be  able  to  give  a  very  high  torque,  although  it  need 
not  carry  this  torque  up  to  high  speeds. 

Mr.  Steinmetz  then  pointed  out  that  on  account  of  the  enormous 
mileage  of  direct-current  railways  already  existing  in  cities,  this 
type  of  equipment  would  always  remain ;  consequently,  long  dis- 
tance motors,  that  is  to  say  motors  running  over  connecting  links 
between  different  city  systems,  must  be  able  to  operate  on  the  direct- 
current-systems.  The  alternating-current  commutator  motor  is 
highly  advantageous,  since  it  possesses  this  peculiar  characteristic. 
He  also  expressed  theropinion  that  since  25  cycles  had  been  adopted 
as  the  lowest  alternating-current  frequency,  and  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  25-cycle  generating  apparatus  now  in  use,  alternating-cur- 
rent railway  motors  must  be  built  for  that  frequency.  Dr.  Stein- 
metz expressed  the  belief  that  the  alternating-current  motor  would 
not  make  any  very  serious  inroads  into  the  field  occupied  by  the 
direct-current  motor.  He  thought  the  alternating-current  ma- 
chine will  develop  a  field  of  its  own,  just  as  alternating-current 
transmission  and  distribution  have  supplemented  rather  than  dis- 
placed direct-current  distribution. 

Mr.  B.  G.  Larame  continued  the  discussion.  In  the  development 
of  the  direct-current  motor  for  traction  work  a  process  of  elimin- 
ation brought  out  the  series  motor  as  the  best  type.  Its  torque  in- 
creases faster  than  the  current  and  it  gave  a  cushion  action  to  the 
car.  The  next  bothersome  problem  in  railway  work  was  transmis- 
sion of  power  to  the  car.  Motor  generators  were  tried  in  sub- 
stations with  some  success,  but  the  rotary  converter  was  out  of  the 
question  on  125  to  133  cycles.  Even  at  60  cycles  the  design  was 
difficult  and  the  machine  cumbersome.  At  Niagara  a  compromise 
between  4000  and  2000  alternations  per  minute  gave  us  the  25  cycles 
now  so  common.  In  1894  the  converter  was  adopted  as  an  emer- 
gency necessity.  In  1895  the  Westinghouse  Company  tried  two 
75-hp  motors,  single-phase,  with  rheostatic  control,  but  they  were 
abandoned.  Next,  motors  of  100  hp  wound  for  several  speeds, 
were  tried,  both  being  of  the  induction  type.  The  next  experi- 
ments were  with  a  single-phase  commutator  motor  of  10  hp,  and 
162-3  cycles  frequency.  Two  of  these  were  run  on  a  car  for  a 
while  with  400  volts  on  the  trolley,  but  the  results  were  unsatisfac- 
tory and  the  work  was  dropped.  The  work  was  again  taken  up  in 
1897,  wfren  several  motors  of  30  to  40  hp  were  tried.  Finally  in 
1900  and  1901  a  motor  of  100  hp  was  operated  successfully  on  162-3 
cycles,  and  in  September,  1902,  the  first  public  announcement  of  a 
single-phase  system  was  made  before  the  A.  I.  E.  E.,  in  a  paper 
describing  the  proposed  Baltimore  &  Washington  Electric  Rail- 
way. Many  objections  were  raised,  principally  directed  at  the 
commutator.  It  is  of  interest  that  one  of  these  motors  ran  con- 
tinuously, day  and  night,  under  full  load  for  nine  months  on  60 
frequency,  without  showing  the  slightest  sign  of  trouble  at  the  com- 
mutator. 

The  Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  line  has  adopted  the  alternating- 
current.  In  the  terminal  cities  direct-current  is  used  with  rheo- 
static control  with  four  motors  in  series  outside  of  this,  the  four 
motors  are  in  parallel  and  control  is  accomplished  by  means  of 
transformer  taps. 

Now  looking  at  the  problem  in  general,  several  points  are  in 
favor  of  single-phase  motors.  Only  one  overhead  conductor  is  re- 
quired. The  motors  are  mostly  of  series  type,  which  gives  good 
operating  characteristics  and  permits  of  the  operation  on  direct- 
current.  The  single-phase  motor  can  also  utilize  potential  control, 
doing  away  with  rheostatic  losses.  In  trunk  line  operation  the 
question  of  frequencies  does  not  enter,  as  a  system  of  this  kind 
can  afford  to  adopt  its  own  frequency  irrespective  of  others  in  use 
at  points  on  its  lines. 

Dr.  E.  V.  Drysdale  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  main  advantage 
of  the  single-phase  commutator  motor  was  the  ability  to  operate  on 
direct  and  alternating-current  equally  well.  In  starting  a  car  from 
rest,  not  power,  but  force,  is  required.  In  the  steam  locomotive 
the  force  is  applied  direct,  and  with  electricity  we  must  install  a 
line  to  furnish  force  in  starting,  and  power  in  running.  The 
Ward-Leonard  system  is  ideal  in  this  respect,  furnishing  force  for 
starting,  with  large  current  and  low  voltage  by  variation  of  the  ex- 
citation on  the  generator. 

Mr.  B.  J.  Arnold  at  this  point  said  that  although  he  must  give 
the  credit  to  Mr.  Lamme  for  the  first  announcement  of  a  purely 
single-phase  system,  yet  he  must  take  credit  for  the  first  construc- 
tion of  an  electric  railway  using  single-phase  motors. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Sprague  continued  the  discussion.  The  future  of  the 
adoption  of  electricity  on  trunk  lines  appears  hopeful.  It  will  not 
be  because  of  more  efficient  or  economical  operation  or  esthetic  con- 
siderations, but  only  by  financial  necessity.  The  best  finance  will 
dictate  the  purchase  and  control  of  competing  electric  roads. 

President  Elihu  Thomson  gave  some  historical  points  on  repul- 
sion motors.  The  discussion  was  carried  over  to  Friday  morning 
before  Section  F. 


October  i,  1904.]  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  489 


THURSDAY'S  SESSION 
At  the  meeting  on  Thursday,  there  was  no  discussion  and  four 
papers  were  read  by  title :  "The  Mono-Railway,"  by  F.  P.  Bahr ; 
"The  Railway  Booster,"  by  Dr.  Rasch ;  "The  History  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway,"  by  F.  J.  Sprague,  and  "The  Wilkesbarre  &  Hazel- 
ton  Railway,"  by  L.  B.  Stillwell. 

STILLWELL,  ON  "THE  WILKESBARRE  &  HAZLETON  RAILWAY" 

Mr.  Stillwell's  paper  stated  that  the  Wilkesbarre  &  Hazelton 
Railway  is  the  first  railway  of  any  considerable  length  in  America 
to  be  equipped  for  commercial  use  with  the  protected  third  rail. 
The  most  noteworthy  features  in  the  railroad  and  its  equipment 
are : 

(1.)  The  use  of  a  contact  rail  covered  by  plank  guard  to  pro- 
tect it  against  snow  and  sleet,  and  to  prevent  accidental  contact 
by  people  crossing  the  track  or  walking  near  it. 

(2.)  The  elimination  of  all  grade  crossings. 

(3.)  The  fact  that  it  traverses  a  rugged  and  mountainous  coun- 
try, level  stretches  of  roadbed  being  practically  insignificant,  while 
there  are  several  stretches  of  3  per  cent  grade  not  less  than  4 
miles  in  length. 

(4.)  The  use  of  cars  weighing  42  tons,  net,  without  passenger 
load,  and  equipped  with  four  motors  of  125  hp  (one  hour  rating) 
each. 

(5.)  Brake  equipment  so  designed  that  no  one  accident  to  any 
part  of  the  rigging  can  render  all  brakes  inoperative. 

(6.)  The  use  of  a  portable  converter  station  in  the  form  of  a  car 
carrying  transformers,  converters  and  necessary  switch  gears. 

(7.)  The  use  of  a  soldered,  not  riveted,  rail  bond. 

The  composition  of  the  contact  rail  is  as  follows  :  Carbon,  not 
to  exceed  10  per  cent;  manganese,  55  per  cent;  phosphorus,  8  per 
cent ;  sulphur,  10  per  cent ;  silicon,  3  per  cent.  Its  conductivity 
is  equivalent  to  pure  copper  having  about  one-eighth  its  cross- 
section.  The  construction  of  this  road  was  described  in  March 
7,  1903,  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  so  that  only  a  brief 
abstract  of  the  operation  will  be  given. 

During  the  winter  of  1903-1904  cars  were  operated  from  6  a.  m. 
until  after  midnight,  upon  headway  which  at  no  time  was  less  than 
one  hour.  Notwithstanding  this  infrequent  service,  there  were 
but  two  instances  in  which  any  serious  delay  occurred  by  reason 
of  formation  of  sleet  on  the  contact  rail.  Upon  one  occasion  a 
car  was  delayed  one  hour  and  fifty  minutes.  Another  time,  a  car 
lost  on  round  trip  twenty-eight  minutes.  Partial  formation  of  sleet 
on  the  contact  rail  which  occurred  in  these  cases  would  have  been 
greatly  reduced,  if  not  eliminated,  had  the  guard  been  even  2  ins. 
wider.  The  addition  of  a  vertical  plank  attached  to  the  posts 
which  carry  the  top  guard  would  secure  effective  protection  against 
sleet  from  that  side  of  the  track,  but  on  the  other  hand  it  would 
tend  to  cause  an  accumulation  of  snow  around  and  upon  the  con- 
tact rail.  The  success, of  the  guard  used  was  in  a  large  measure 
due  to  its  open  front  and  back  permitting  the  wind  to  drive  snow 
through  the  space  between  the  contact  rail  and  guard. 

The  shoe  has  been  very  satisfactory,  although  some  trouble  was 
experienced  in  shoes  breaking,  due  to  failure  to  maintain  an  accu- 
rate alignment  of  the  third  rail  The  shoe  has  been  somewhat 
modified  since  its  original  design,  so  as  to  make  a  weak  point  at 
which  it  will  break  in  case  it  strikes  any  of  the  supporting  posts 
instead  of  tearing  away  the  entire  support.  At  high  speed,  the 
shoe  has  less  tendency  to  jump  than  the  link  type  shoe.  The  cur- 
rent per  motor  cars  has  frequently  exceeded  400  amps,  per  shoe, 
and  there  has  been  no  appreciable  sparking. 

RASCH,  ON  "BOOSTERS" 

'flic  paper  by  Dr.  Rasch  was  largely  mathematical  in  its  char- 
acter, and  was  a  discussion  of  the  best  method  of  regulating  a 
booster. 

SPRAGUE,  <>N  "ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  HISTORY" 
"The  History  of  the  Electric  Railway,"  by  Mr.  Sprague,  was  a 
very  valuable  contribution  to  street  railway  literature,  and  de- 
scribed the  salient  points  in  the  history  from  the  time  of  Davenport 
to  the  present.  The  early  part  of  this  paper  will  be  reproduced  in 
the  next  issue  of  this  paper. 


FRIDAY'S  SESSION 

On  Eriday  morning  Section  F  held  a  joint  session  with  Sec- 
tion G  for  the  discussion  of  Prof.  G.  F.  Sever's  paper  on  "Elec- 
trolysis of  Underground  Conductors."  Prof.  Sever  presented  an 
abstract  of  his  paper,  giving  a  brief  summary  of  the  situation 
in  the  United  States. 

SEVER,  ON  "ELECTROLYSIS" 

Experts  in  this  country  are  greatly  -divided  as  to  the  cure  and 
modification  of  the  trouble.  The  data  of  the  paper  were 
collected  by  Messrs.  Waterman,  Stil well  and  Sever,  and  tables 
were  made  from  replies  received  from  102  street  railway  compa- 
nies from  29  cities  and  from  the  opinions  of  22  experts.  The 
information  from  the  street  railways  comprised  the  date  of  com- 


mencing operation,  miles  of  track  operated,  weight  of  rails,  style 
of  bonds,  size  and  number  per  joint,  return  feeders,  attachmem 
of  pipes  to  bus,  rails  or  both,  electrical  drainage,  number  of 
power  stations,  minimum  line  volts,  nature  of  pipe  joints  and 
soil,  parts  corroded,  extent  and  nature  of  damage,  remedy  ap- 
plied and  effects  produced. 

The  most  interesting  replies  are  to  the  question  of  remedy 
applied  and  results  attained.     A  few  answers  are  given  below: 

1.  Some  electrolysis,  no  remedy.  2.  Larger  bonds.  3.  Analy- 
sis showed  rust  and  not  electrolysis  as  cau.  e  of  decay.  4.  Proved 
decay  due  to  earth  corrosion.  5.  Return  feeders.  6.  Some  elec- 
trolysis; installed  return  feeders;  less  trouble.  7.  Ignored.  8. 
Better  bonds.  9.  Renewed  bonds;  At  Madison,  Wis.,  the  pipes 
were  tapped  to  the  station  and  no  more  trouble  was  experienced. 

In  the  table  of  replies  from  the  twenty-nine  cities  the  following 
points  were  asked: 

Was  electrolysis  encountered?  What  was  the  effect  upon  pipes? 
Was  blame  placed  on  railway  company?  (This  question  was 
always  answered  in  the  affirmative.)  What  remedy  was  suggested 
and  applied?    Was  legal  action  taken? 

Among  remedies  suggested  and  applied,  five  cities  called  for 
double  trolley,  but  in  no  case  was  it  applied.  Others  suggested 
better  return,  more  bonds  and  return  feeders. 

Peoria,  111.,  Dayton.,  Ohio,  and  Richmond,  Va.,  reported  legal 
action  taken.  In  Peoria  the  decision  was  again;  t  the  railway 
company,  but  the  case  is  still  open.  In  Dayton,  Judge  Brown 
told  both  parties  to  get  together  and  adjust  the  trouble  between 
them. 

The  third  table  concerns  various  points  in  municipal  ordinances 
regarding  electrolysis.     The  questions  asked  were  the  following: 

1.  What  system  is  required?.  2.  Are  taps  from  pipe  to  rail 
and  negative  bus  allowed?  3.  Is  electrical  drainage  in  positive 
area  allowed?  4.  Are  railway  companies  liable  for  corrosion? 
5.  What  maximum  positive  or  negative  potential  difference  be- 
tween rail  and  adjacent  pipes  is  allowed?  6.  What  drop  per  mile 
is  allowed  in  return,  and  what  total  drop  is  allowed? 

In  Battle  Creek  and  Atlantic  City  no  taps  from  the  rail  to  pipes 
or  the  negative  bus  are  allowed.  The  positive  difference  of  poten- 
tial allowed  in  various  places  is  from  a  quarter  of  a  volt  to  a  volt, 
the  negative  difference  being  the  same. 

The  leakage  current  allowed  in  various  places  varies  from  o 
to  1  amp.  per  pipe.  In  Chicago  8.8  volts  drop  is  allowed  per 
mile  of  return  circuit,  other  cities  specifying  from  3.3  to  6.6 
volts.  Most  of  the  cities  require  a  return  circuit  of  not  less  cur- 
rent carrying  capacity  than  the  positive  feeders.  Of  fifty  cities 
with  which  Prof.  Sever  corresponded,  only  ten  report  any  trouble 
from  electrolysis. 

The  opinions  of  twenty-two  experts  are  also  tabulated  mainly 
from  testimony  in  Peoria,  Dayton  and  other  places.  Most  of 
them  are  of  the  opinion  that  electrolysis  can  be  stopped  with  the 
rail  return  still  in  use.  Among  the  remedies  suggested  are  the 
double  trolley,  a  return  booster,  more  efficient  return  and  insulat- 
ing pipe  joints. 

DISCUSSION  ON  SEVER'S  PAPER 

Dr.  Louis  Duncan  opened  the  discussion,  and  thought  Judge 
Brown,  of  Dayton,  had  the  best  idea  of  a  remedy,  that  is  joint 
action  by  both  parties  concerned. 

John  Hesketh,  Esq.,  was  of  the  opinion  that  mutual  action 
was  necessary  for  the  abatement  of  the  evil,  and  it  was  as  much 
the  duty  of  the  company  liable  to  damage  to  protect  itself  as  it 
was  of  the  tramway  company  to  provide  protection.  One  water 
company  to  his  knowledge  had  laid  service  pipes  within  3  ins. 
of  the  rail,  thus  directly  inviting  electrolysis.  All  efforts  to  pre- 
vent damage  by  specifying  return  drops  must  take  account  of 
length  of  line.  It  is  not  only  the  difference  of  potential  that 
causes  damage,  but  also  the  ampere  carrying  capacity  of  leakage 
path,  and  hence  some  definite  form  of  tes*  should  be  pr-scribed. 

In  Germany  the  method  specified  is  that  the  drop  shall  be  taken 
between  the  rail  and  the  earth  nearest  to  it.  An  expression  on 
this  subject,  as  to  remedies,  should  be  called  for  from  scientific 
bodies  throughout  the  world. 

Professor  F.  D.  Caldwell  said  that  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  two 
questions  arose:  first,  whether  or  not  to  guard  against  trouble 
where  current  leaves  the  pipes  or  to  keep  the  current  away  from 
them  altogether;  and  second,  how  much  current  can  be  permitted 
to  flow  without  serious  damage?  The  entire  problem  varies  with 
the  soil  encountered,  regarding  its  electrical  resistance. 

This  closed  the  discussion  and  Section  F  adjourned  to  its  own 
meeting  room,  where  the  discussion  011  the  methods  of  applying 
alternating  current  to  traction  was  continued  from  Wednesday's 
session  in  Festival  Hall  at  the  Fair  grounds. 

DISCUSSION  ON  "ALTERNATING-CURRENT  MOTORS" 

The  discussion  was  opened  by  Dr.  Louis  Duncan,  chairman. 
The  speaker  noted  three  quite  distinct  traction  fields  now  success- 


490 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


cully  operating  by  electricity;  namely,  tramway  service,  city  train 
service  and  interurban  service.  In  all  of  tbese  fields  the  elec- 
tric operation  gives  better  and  more  economical  service  than 
steam,  cable  or  any  other  system  heretofore  employed. 

In  the  tramway  system  a  large  number  of  small  units  are  con- 
stantly in  operation,  and  consequently,  notwithstanding  the  nu- 
merous stops  and  great  variations  in  speed  due  both  to  this  fre- 
quent stopping  and  to  the  curvature  and  gradients  of  the  track, 
the  load  factor  remains  quite  constant  and  high.  With  this  good 
load  factor  the  copper  is  economically  used.  The  success  of  the 
cable  car  was  due  to  just  such  conditions  as  give  rise  to  a  high 
load  factor  in  a  district  of  limited  extent.  With  the  introduction 
of  the  multiple  unit  control,  city  train  operation  became  possible. 
Here  again  a  good  load  factor  obtains.  In  both  of  these  classes 
of  traction,  it  is  of  utmost  importance  to  be  able  to  rapidly  ac- 
celerate up  to  the  desired  speed.  Interurban  systems  require 
frequent,  good  and  economical  service.  Here  the  load  factor 
is  good  in  the  generating  station,  but  is  often  poor  in  both  the 
sub-station  and  the  lines.  In  this  last  field  the  necessity  for  the 
use  of  alternating-current  is  most  strongly  felt.  Transmission 
of  power  by  alternating-current  and  the  use  of  rotary  converter 
sub-stations  has  made  it  possible  for  the  direct-current  railway 
motor  to  be  successfully  used  in  this  service.  But  the  next 
logical  step  is  the  use  of  alternating-current  direct  on  the  car, 
thus  doing  a  way  with  the  constant  attendance  required  at  sub- 
stations and  greatly  simplifying  the  apparatus  as  a  whole. 

A  good  load  factor  may  be  maintained,  yet  a  poor  cost  factor 
may  result,  cost  factor  being  defined  as  the  ratio  of  the  cost  of 
operation,  under  the  actual  conditions  of  operation,  to  the  cost 
of  operation  under  full  load  for  continuous  running.  It  is  very 
obvious  that  this  factor  must  vary  greatly  with  the  character 
of  the  load  moved.  For  example,  if  it  is  uncertain  just  when 
excessive  power  will  be  required,  more  boilers  and  other  equip- 
ment must  constantly  be  held  in  readiness  to  furnish  power, 
while  if  it  were  known  that  at  a  certain  time  and  for  a  definite 
period  a  given  additional  amount  of  power  would  be  required, 
then  this  extra  power  would  only  have  to  be  used  at  this  time. 
For  all  of  the  remaining  time  the  extra  machinery  would  require 
no  attendance  or  fuel. 

For  trunk  line  service,  displacing  the  steam  locomotive,  little 
can  at  present  be  expected.  Here  neither  the  expense  can  be 
decreased  nor  the  facilities  increased,  while  with  present  systems 
a  great  deal  of  trouble  would  be  introduced.  In  special  cases 
when  the  traffic  is  so  heavy  and  frequent  that  the  steam  locomo- 
tive cannot  well  take  care  of  it,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  tunnel,  in  Baltimore,  the  electric  operation  of  trains 
is  very  advantageous.  Again  in  the  case  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  and  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  not  only  is  elec- 
trical operation  much  better,  but  absolutely  necessary  both  be- 
cause of  underground  service  and  of  legal  requirements.  Yet 
these  examples  do  not  in  any  way  point  to  the  early  adoption  of 
electric  train  operation  on  trunk  lines. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Sprague  continued  the  discussion  and  expressed  him- 
self as  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  one  overhead  wire  was  all 
that  was  possible  on  account  of  the  necessity  for  simplicity.  The 
direct-current  series  motor  is,  and  always  will  remain  superior 
to  the  alternating-current  motor  from  the  considerations  of 
weight,  efficiency,  reliability  and  torque,  and  considered  by  it- 
self alone,  while  the  alternating-current  is  liable  to  cause  more 
trouble  in  insulating  conductors.  The  sub-stations  are  not  as 
much  farther  apart  with  alternating-current  as  would  appear. 
The  distance  cannot  increase  even  in  direct  proportion  to  voltage. 
With  the  higher  voltages  used  with  alternating-current  the  lia- 
bility of  shocks  to  passengers  on  account  of  leakage  is  greater, 
especially  in  stormy  weather.  On  trunk  lines  the  money  avail- 
able should  be  used  on  feeders  rather  on  main  line  work,  but 
electrical  operation  of  terminals  is  becoming  a  necessity  irrespec- 
tive of  cost. 

Mr.  B.  G.  Lamme  spoke  next.  He  stated  that  one  of  the  ad- 
vantages of  alternating-current  is  that  it  permits  the  use  of  low 
voltage  motors,  using  even  as  low  as  125  volts,  witnout  difficulty. 
The  alternating-current  motor  comes  in  when  railway  motors 
design  is  well  understood,  and  thus  one  can  avoid  many  troubles 
which  arose  in  direct-current  work.  The  liability  to  shocks  is  less 
instead  of  more  as  the  higher  voltage  will  arc  through  ice  and 
sleet  on  a  track  much  more  quickly.  There  is  only  about  I 
per  cent  as  much  electrolysis  with  alternating-current  as  with  di- 
rect-current, and  this  is  liable  to  be  an  important  factor  in  many 
cases.  The  starting  and  acceleration  with  alternating-current  is 
largely  inductive,  and  this  with  the  abolishment  of  rheostatic 
losses,  considerably  improves  the  load  factor. 

Mr.  E.  Kilburn  Scott  advocated  the  polyphase  induction  motor. 
In  England,  simplicity  of  apparatus  is  of  prime  importance,  and 
polyphase  induction  motors  without  commutators  are  the  sim- 
plest form.      Single-phase   commutator   motors  are  necessarily 


heavier,  than  polyphase  motors  for  like  service.  Thus  if  one  has 
a  certain  service  that  requires  a  50-ton  locomotive  equipped  with 
polyphase  induction  motors,  to  operate  with  single-phase  com- 
mutator motors  would  require  a  locomotive  weighing  about  85 
tons.  With  single-phase  commutator  motors,  in  case  the  torque 
is  insufficient  to  start  the  motor,  a  bad  short-circuit  will  result 
in  the  commutated  coils  due  to  the  transformer  action  of  the  fields. 
In  trunk  line  service  the  multiplicity  of  conductors  is  not  so  great 
a  disadvantage  as  most  think,  as  it  is  necessary  to  eliminate 
all  complicated  overhead  work  anyhow,  no  matter  whether  one 
or  two  trolleys  are  used.  In  polyphase  working  if  one  trans- 
former in  a  sub-station  breaks  down  the  other  two  will  carry  the 
load,  while  in  single-phase  it  is  necessary  to  provide  duplicate 
equipment  for  this  purpose. 

Mr.  H.  Ward  Leonard  continued  the  discussion  by  briefly  stat- 
ing the  requisites  necessary  in  the  successful  and  economical 
handling  of  trains.  The  plant  must  embody:  (a)  A  single-phase 
generating  and  conducting  system;  (b)  means  on  the  train  for 
converting  this  single-phase  current  of  transmission  into  suitable 
form  for  using  in  the  train  motor;  (c)  means  on  the  train  for 
varying  the  voltage,  as  applied  to  the  train  motors,  from  zero  to 
maximum  value  without  the  use  of  rheostats  or  other  wasteful 
devices.  As  is  well  known,  the  Ward-Leonard  system  embraces' 
the  above  points,  and  consists  of  a  single-phase  synchronous 
motor  driven  continuously  direct  from  the  single-phase  current 
on  the  trolley,  and  driving  a  shunt  generator  which  supplies  di- 
rect-current to  the  train  motors.  The  train  motors  are  controlled 
by  varying  the  field  excitation  of  the  direct-current  generator. 
By  such  means  a  uniform  and  gradual  application  of  current 
may  be  given  to  the  motors  without  entailing  any  rheostatic 
losses  other  than  that  of  the  direct-current  generator's  field  cir- 
cuit. Now  for  light  service  the  direct  application  of  the  single- 
phase  alternating-current  to  the  car  motors  is  advantageous.  For 
heavy  traffic,  however,  the  above  described  system  is  far  supe- 
rior. Besides  the  great  advantage  in  control  by  means  of  this 
system,  there  is  a  further  advantage  of  no  little  importance  in 
the  ability  to  return  power  to  the  line  during  retardation  in  speed, 
all  the  way  from  maximum  speed  down  to  zero.  This  is  probably 
the  only  system  successfully  embodying  such  features. 

The  Swedish  Government,  a  couple  of  years  ago,  investigated 
the  feasibility  of  changing  the  power  of  its  roads  from  steam  to 
electricity.  As  the  investigation  of  the  expert  engineers  pro- 
ceeded, they  first  eliminated  direct-currents  entirely,  and  later 
all  but  single  -  phase  alternating  -  currents.  In  their  report 
it  was  shown  that  a  saving  of  $2,000,000  per  annum  would  be 
secured  by  the  adoption  of  the  Ward-Leonard  system  over  any 
other  practical  system  then  developed.  The  expert  engineers 
who  investigated  the  direct  use  of  single-phase  alternating-cur- 
rent motors  for  train  service,  reported  unfavorably  each  for  dif- 
ferent reasons,  viz.:  too  high  voltage,  too  severe  sparking  and 
too  complicated  mechanism. 

Both  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  use  almost  exclu- 
sively the  Ward-Leonard  system  in  the  control  of  turrets  on  ships 
in  the  navy.  Here,  if  any  place,  sure  and  precise  working  must  be 
had.  The  moving  platform  at  Paris,  in  1900,  weighing  3000  tons, 
was  operated  and  controlled  by  this  system.  A  single-phase  current 
at  14,000  volts  has  been  used  successfully  directly  on  the  trolley, 
and  further,  the  complete  control,  including  braking,  was  secured 
by  only  one  lever  on  a  locomotive  operated  from  such  trolley.  In 
comparing  this  system  with  that  of  one  using  sub-stations,  it 
is  obvious  that  a  large  saving  in  both  attendance  and  apparatus 
is  possible. 

In  America  a  combination  of  policy,  patents  and  business  seems 
to  carry  an  inertia  sufficient  to  make  it  almost  impossible  for 
a  weak  company  or  an  individual  to  develop  his  particular  sys- 
tem, however  meritorious  his  device  may  be,  while  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent  the  situation  is  much  more  favorable  to 
individual  developments.  In  conclusion,  it  is  quite  clear  that 
whatever  system  becomes  universal,  it  will  be  one  using  only  one 
trolley  wire. 

Mr.  B.  J.  Arnold,  remarked  that  the  alternating  currents  of  high 
voltage  can  be  used  direct  without  the  use  of  a  transformer,  and 
he  did  not  see  any  advantage  in  the  possibility  of  using  low 
voltage  motors  as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Lamme.  The  problem 
demands  some  type  of  single-phase  variable  speed  motor.  Poly- 
phase current  is  out  of  the  question,  due  to  the  two  trolleys. 
Simplicity,  first  cost  of  installation  and  maintenance  will  finally 
determine  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

Mr.  Henry  Dikler  took  exception  to  Mr.  Steinmetz's  statement 
in  Wednesday's  session,  that  the  polyphase  system  was  unsuccess- 
ful. The  Italian  three-phase  railways  were  giving  eminent  sat- 
isfaction, and  in  fact  were  accepted  by  the  government  two  months 
before  the  expiration  of  the  specified  trial-operating  period.  No 
one  would  think  of  polyphase  current  for  street  railways,  but  for 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


high  speeds  it  is  very  satisfactory.  For  heavy  railway  work  two 
speeds  are  amply  sufficient  for  all  service. 

Mr.  A.  H.  Armstrong  said  that  the  chief  objections  to  polyphase 
induction  motors  are  their  constant  speed,  limited  output  and  poor 
power  factor.  On  most  roads  there  are  more  or  less  steep  grades 
and  variable  speed  is  absolutely  necessary. 

Mr.  Alexander  Zelewsky,  of  Buda  Pest,  Hungary,  took  up  the 
discussion,  speaking  in  German.  It  is  generally  stated  that  a 
series  motor  is  most  suitable  for  railway  purposes,  because  of  the 
inherent  relation  between  torque  and  speed.  The  polyphase  in- 
duction motor  whose  behavior  is  similar  to  that  of  the  direct-cur- 
rent motor  does  not  meet  railway  service  requirements.  In  dis- 
cussing the  induction  motor  for  heavy  locomotives  and  still  heavier 
trains,  a  somewhat  different  phase  is  presented  than  in  the  cases 
of  street  car  or  similar  service.  For  heavy  trunk  service  accurate 
time  schedule  must  be  kept.  A  motor  whose  speed  depends  upon 
the  voltage  and  torque  is  sensible  to  grade  and  load,  and  in  order  to 
maintain  the  schedule,  recourse  must  continually  be  had  to  the  con- 
troller, to  regulate  the  speed.  If  the  control  for  single-phase 
motors  is  inductive  and  is  much  used,  it  is  at  the  expense  of  a 
lowered  power  factor,  while  if  ohmic  resistance  is  used,  energy  is 
again  lost.  If  the  polyphase  motor  is  used  the  speed  will  not  vary 
with  the  voltage  or  load,  provided  the  capacity  of  the  motor 
is  not  exceeded.  In  high  speed  service  the  air  resistance  rises 
rapidly,  so  that  the  ratio  between  operating  torque  and  acceler- 
ating torque  requirements  is  not  so  unfavorable  as  with  street 
railways.  Therefore  an  induction  motor  with  sufficient  starting 
torque  can  be  designed. 

Polyphase  induction  motors  operate  at  full  torque  at  almost  syn- 
chronous speed,  and  are  thus  capable  of  accelerating  in  a  shorter 
time  than  the  series  motor  with  a  torque  falling  as  the  speed  rises. 
In  through  service  stops  are  less  frequent  and  the  losses  of  elec- 
trical power  occasioned  by  controllers  is  quite  small.  One  great 
advantage  of  the  polyphase  induction  motor  is  its  ability  to  restore 
power  to  the  line.  The  space  and  weight  of  a  railway  motor  is 
quite  limited.  The  polyphase  induction  motor  has  constant  torque 
and  no  commutator,  so  has  these  great  advantages  over  single-phase 
motors.  If  a  transformer  is  used,  conditions  are  worse  from  both 
the  added  weight  and  low  efficiency  caused  by  the  variable  torque. 

The  Valtellina  railway  in  northern  Italy  has  been  operated  for 
two  years,  using  polyphase  induction  locomotives  of  1200  normal 
hp,  with  the  utmost  satisfaction.  In  Canada  a  combined  polyphase 
and  direct-current  system  is  to  be  built  by  Ganz  &  Company,  for 
local  and  interurban  service.  All  present  were  invited  to  inspect 
the  Valtellina  road. 

Mr.  B.  G.  Lamme  called  attention  to  the  Swedish  State  railways 
as  spoken  of  by  Mr.  H.  Ward-Leonard.  Very  recently  the  Swed- 
ish Government  has  ordered  Lamme  motors  for  use  with  18,000 
volts  on  the  trolley.  One  thing  that  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  in 
alternating-current  work  is  the  rail  loss.  This  usually  runs  from 
four  to  seven  times  the  loss  with  direct-current  with  equal  currents 
in  the  rail,  and  at  25  cycles  per  second. 

Mr.  P.  M.  Lincoln  added  to  this  last,  that  with  1000  volts  alter- 
nating-current the  rail  loss  is  less  than  with  direct-current  at  500 
volts  due  to  less  current  flowing  and  the  possibility  of  locating  sub- 
stations closer  together. 

Mr.  C.  P.  Steinmetz  replied  to  Mr.  Dikler  in  regard  to  poly- 
phase motors.  Polyphase  motors  are  inherently  good  machines, 
but  the  single-phase  commutator  motor  is  far  superior.  The  poly- 
phase induction  motor  is  only  good  at  one  particular  speed.  At 
other  speeds  its  efficiency  and  power  factor  are  low.  The  large  air. 
gap  required  by  railway  men  gives  poor  power  factor  in  the  induc- 
tion motor,  and  on  half  speed  (in  concatenation)  the  current  con- 
sumption is  greater  than  at  full  speed,  thus  giving  only  one  efficient 
speed.  The  Ward-Leonard  system  offers  excellent  control,  but 
the  problem  is  not  one  of  control  merely,  but  rather  the  ability  to 
start  quickly  and  run  efficiently.  With  the  rheostatic  control  on 
alternating-current  the  rheostat  is  on  only  from  one-quarter  to  one- 
sixth  of  the  time,  and  the  extra  power  consumption  as  compared 
with  the  voltage  contral  is  insignificant.  Thus  one  is  not  losing  as 
much  advantags  as  might  seem  to  be  lost  by  the  use  of  rheostatic 
control  with  the  single-phase  commutator  motor. 

Mr.  F.  J.  Sprague  corrected  M.  H.  Ward-Leonard  in  his  defi- 
nition of  multiple  unit  control.  The  multiple  unit  control  is  not 
a  control  of  motors  on  different  cars  from  one  controller  with 
full  current  in  the  train  line,  but  is  a  control  by  controllers  on  each 
car  from  any  point  in  the  train.  The  direct-current  motor  consid- 
ered as  a  motor  only,  is  superior,  and  will  remain  superior  to  the 
alternating-current  motor. 

Messrs  Sprague,  Zekwsky,  Steinmetz  and  Scott  made  a  few  re- 
marks on  minor  points,  and  the  discussion  was  brought  to  a  close 
by  Mr.  B.  J.  Arnold  in  a  few  words  in  which  he  expressed  himself 
gratified  to  see  the  tendency  toward  the  use  of  single-phase  motors. 

The  paper  by  Mr.  R.  A.  Parke  on  "Braking  High  Speed 
Trains,"  was  read  by  title,  and  the  meeting  adjourned. 


PARKE,  ON  "BRAKING  HIGH-SPEED  TRAINS" 

lii  this  paper  Mr.  Parke  referred  to  the  testimony  given  by 
him  at  the  New  York  &  Portchester  Railway  hearing,  about  three 
years  ago,  that  electric  trains  might  be  stopped  in  regular  service 
from  a  speed  of  60  miles  an  hour  by  what  is  commonly  known 
as  the  "emergency  application"  of  the  quick-action  air  brake.  It 
is  obvious  that  if  increased  expense  is  justified  in  increasing  the 
rate  of  acceleration,  as  has  been  the  experience  during  the  past 
few  years,  expense  in  increasing  the  stopping  efficiency  is  also 
warranted.  Experiments  show  a  declining  ratio  of  friction  to  the 
pressure  of  the  shoes  at  increased  speeds.  For  the  same  brake- 
shoe  pressure  the  friction  at  60  miles  an  hour  is  about  one-half 
that  when  the  speed  is  20  miles  an  hour.  Other  causes  result  in 
a  reduction  of  the  brake-shoe  friction  during  a  continued  appli- 
cation of  the  brakes,  so  that  in  train  braking  to  secure  the  same 
rate  of  retardation  there  should  be  an  increased  pressure  of  the 
brake-shoes  upon  the  wheels  to  correspond  with  the  reduced  rate 
of  friction  occurring  at  the  higher  speeds.  Moreover,  an  appli- 
cation of  the  brakes  which  will  produce  a  given  rate  of  retardation 
at  one  speed,  without  danger  to  the  rolling  stock  or  discomfort 
to  the  passengers,  may  also  be  applied  at  any  other  speed  with  no 
more  danger  or  discomfort.  The  high-speed  brake  was  designed 
more  particularly  for  use  upon  high-speed  trains,  and  it  employs 
a  considerably  greater  brake-shoe  pressure  in  emergency  appli- 
cations than  that  of  the  ordinary  quick-action  brake,  to  more 
nearly  realize  the  rate  of  retardation  obtained  in  the  emergency 
application  of  the  quick-action  brake  upon  trains  of  lower  speeds. 
At  such  a  high  speed  as  60  miles  an  hour,  however,  even  the 
emergency  application  does  not  develop  greater  brake-shoe  fric- 
tion than  does  a  full  service  application  of  the  quick-action  brake 
at  a  speed  of  20  miles  an  hour.  It  is  true  that  the  service  appli- 
cation is  attended  by  a  comparatively  gradual  application  of  the 
brake-shoe  pressure,  while  the  emergency  application  develops 
the  greater  brake-shoe  pressure  very  quickly;  but  experience  and 
observation  seemed  fully  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  the  re- 
duced rate  of  friction  at  the  higher  speeds  would  permit  the  use 
of  even  the  high-speed  brake  without  noticeable  shock  or  dis- 
agreeable sensation. 

Experiments  in  the  use  of  the  high-speed  brake  upon  passenger 
trains  have  amply  confirmed  the  writer's  views  upon  this  subject 
and  demonstrated  the  absence  of  disagreeable  effect  as  well  as  the 
highly  increased  rate  of  retardation  in  employing  the  emergency 
application  of  the  high-speed  brake  for  stops  in  high-speed  train 
service.  The  time  and  distance  saved  in  such  stops  permit  the 
employment  of  the  maximum  speed  up  to  a  comparatively  short 
distance  from  the  stopping  point  and  cause  the  train  to  be  brought 
to  a  quick,  smooth  stop  in  much  less  than  half  the  time  and  dis- 
tance required  for  an  ordinary  service  stop. 

That  the  shortened  running  time  and  increased  efficiency  of 
high-speed  train  service — particularly  local  express-train  service — 
by  the  employment  of  such  higher  rate  of  retardation,  may  be 
attained  at  a  small  fraction  of  the  expense  at  which  a  lesser  im- 
provement in  such  efficiency  can  be  obtained  through  the  in- 
creased acceleration  resulting  from  extending  the  multiple-control 
system  from  the  use  of  motors  upon  one-half  the  cars  in  the  train 
to  their  application  to  all  of  them,  seems  hardly  open  to  doubt. 
The  neglect  to  take  advantage  of  this  higher  rate  of  retardation 
would  seem  to  be  attributable  chiefly  to  the  long-established  doc- 
trine that  emergency  applications  must  not  be  employed  for  ser- 
vice stops,  under  far  different  conditions.  It  is  to  be  understood 
that  such  a  doctrine  still  applies,  with  all  its  force,  to  the  operation 
of  passenger  trains  at  moderate  speed,  as  well  as  to  freighi-train 
service.  It  is  only  under  the  special  conditions  of  uniform  op- 
eration at  high  speeds — not  less  than  50  miles  an  hour — that  the 
recommendation  of  a  most  powerful  application  of  a  most  power- 
ful brake,  in  all  stops,  properly  applies. 

In  addition  to  the  advantage  of  effecting  a  reduction  of  from 
50  to  75  per  cent  in  the  time  and  distance  required  by  a  service 
application  of  the  brakes,  a  collateral  advantage  of  material  im- 
portance is  the  much  greater  accuracy  of  the  stop. 

Electric  train  service  furnishes  exceptional  conditions  for  at- 
taining the  maximum  retardation,  as  well  as  the  maximum  rate  of 
acceleration — though  for  different  reasons.  Where  trains  are 
drawn  by  steam  locomotives  the  conditions  existing  at  the  loco- 
motive and  the  variable  load  carried  in  the  tender  involve  limit- 
ing the  braking  power  so  that  the  retarding  force  is  considerably 
inferior  to  that  realized  upon  the  cars.  Where  electricity  is  em- 
ployed, the  motive  power  is  applied  directly  to  the  cars  them- 
selves in  such  a  manner  that  the  maximum  braking  efficiency  may 
be  obtained  as  well  upon  motor  as  upon  other  cars,  and  the  whole 
train  is  thus  subject  to  the  maximum  rate  of  retardation. 

An  exceedingly  important  element  of  braking  efficiency  is  the 
character  of  the  brake-shoes  applied  to  the  wheels.  Extensive 
experiments  have  demonstrated  a  very  wide  variation  in  the  fric- 
tional  quality  of  brake-shoes  of  different  materials,  and,  further, 


492 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


a  marked  difference  in  the  friction  of  the  same  brake-shoe  upon 
wheels  of  different  materials.  It  is,  in  general,  found  that  the 
maximum  frictional  resistance  occurs  in  the  application  of  soft 
cast-iron  shoes  to  chilled  cast-iron  wheels,  and  the  friction-pro- 
ducing quality  generally  declines  as  harder  brake-shoe  materials 
are  employed.  It  should  not  be  concluded,  however,  from  this 
general  relation  of  the  hardness  of  the  brake-shoe  mate- 
rials to  the  frictional  quality,  that  soft  material  only  should 
be  employed  in  brake-shoes.  The  question  is,  to  a  large  extent, 
a  commercial  one.  Increased  pressure  upon  the  harder  shoes 
involves,  of  course,  somewhat  increased  wear;  but  when,  in  each 
case,  the  brake-shoe  pressure  is  so  adapted  to  its  frictional  quality 
that  the  maximum  retarding  friction  is  acquired,  the  practical 
question  resolves  itself  into  the  relative  cost  of  initial  installa- 
tion and  of  subsequent  maintenance — to  which  must  be  added  due 
consideration  of  trouble  and  annoyance  arising  from  the  neces- 
sity of  frequent  attention. 

Within  the  past  two  or  three  years,  two  different  series  of  ex- 
periments with  the  high-speed  brake  have  furnished  most  inter- 
esting and  important  information  bearing  upon  this  subject.  In 
one  series,  soft  cast-iron  brake-shoes  were  employed  with  chilled 
cast-iron  wheels.  In  the  other  the  "Diamond  S"  form  of  brake- 
shoe  (of  hard  cast-iron,  with  steel  inserts)  was  used  with  steel- 
tired  wheels.  Otherwise,  the  conditions  were  fairly  comparable, 
the  tests  being  conducted  in  the  same  general  locality.  In  the 
case  where  soft  cast-iron  shoes  were  employed,  the  initial  air- 
pressure  in  the  brake-cylinder  was  about  85^  lbs.,  which  became 
reduced,  toward  the  end  of  the  stop,  to  60  lbs.  In  the  tests  with 
the  Diamond  S  brake-shoe,  the  initial  air-pressure  on  the  brake- 
cylinder  was  also  about  85^2  lbs.,  which,  by  the  use  of  special 
high-speed  reducing  valves,  became  reduced  to  a  final  minimum 
of  from  about  69  lbs.,  from  a  speed  of  80  miles  an  hour,  to  about 
78  lbs.,  in  stopping  a  six-car  train  from  a  speed  of  50  miles  an 
hour.  Moreover,  in  some  instances,  a  brake-cylinder  pressure  of 
75  lbs.  or  more  occurred  in  applications  of  the  brakes  at  speeds 
of  20  miles  per  hour  (and  even  less),  without  producing  wheel- 
sliding  of  an  injurious  character  or  exceeding  that  which  oc- 
curred with  the  use  of  the  soft  cast-iron  brake-shoe,  when  the 
final  minimum  air-pressure  in  the  brake-cylinder  was  but  60  lbs. 
The  stopping  distances  were  phenomenally  short  in  the  tests  with 
the  Diamond  S  brake-shoe,  averaging  602  ft.  from  a  speed  of  50 
miles  an  hour,  982  ft.  at  60  miles  an  hour,  and  1334  ft.  at  70  miles 
an  hour — the  shortest  authenticated  stops  on  record. 

In  the  case  of  a  service  employing  single  cars,  the  advantage 
of  an  automatic  brake  practically  disappears  and  more  simple 
forms  of  apparatus  may  be  employed  to  advantage;  but,  where 
two  or  more  cars  are  assembled  in  trains,  and  particularly  in 
high-speed  trains,  the  necessity  of  providing  for  the  contingency 
of  train  partings  permits  but  the  one  prudent  and  safe  course  of 
employing  an  automatic  brake,  and,  thus  far,  the  automatic  air 
brake  alone  has  become  safely  established  as  meeting  all  the 
requirements  of  service.  The  necessity  of  the  most  efficient  high- 
speed.train  service  requires,  in  addition,  the  most  forcible  appli- 
cation of  the  most  efficient  form  of  automatic  air  brake — the 
emergency  application  of  the  "high-speed"  brake. 



LONDON  LETTER 


(From  Our  Regular  Correspondent.) 

For  some  time  past  there  have  been  somewhat  lugubrious  tales 
going  about  as  to  the  mishaps  to  the  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire 
electrification  scheme,  and  it  seemed  to  the  writer  only  proper 
that  a  report  of  a  personal  inspection  of  the  whole  system  would 
do  much  to  set  aside  these  rumors.  The  writer  can  now  therefore 
confidently  state  that  it  is  quite  true  that  the  contractors  have 
been,  for  reasons  over  which  they  had  no  control  whatever,  some- 
whatunfortunatein  their  power  house  experiences.  These,  however, 
have  been  confined  solely  to  the  engines,  two  of  them  having  unfor- 
tunately been  accidentally  damaged.  Soon  after  commencing  to 
operate,  the  crank  shaft  of  one  of  the  engines  gave  way,  and  on 
removing  it,  it  was  seen  that  a  complete  fracture  had  taken  place, 
the  reason  being  easily  traceable  to  a  flaw  in  the  steel  which  must 
have  been  there  from  the  moment  the  bloom  was  made  in  Shef- 
field, although  completely  out  of  sight  during  the  whole  process 
of  manufacture.  The  Sheffield  firm  that  supplied  the  forging  at 
once  supplied  the  engine  maker  with  another  forging  which  has 
now  been  manufactured,  and  the  engine  is  to-day  running  and  doing 
good  service.  Another  of  the  engines  through  some  unknown 
cause — probably  from  starting  with  water  in  the  cylinders — ■ 
broke  down,  one  of  the  cylinders  being  completely  fractured. 
This  necessitated  another  long  delay  while  a  complete  new  cylinder 
was  being  supplied,  but  this  engine  is  also  now  entirely  repaired 
and  in  daily  service.    The  electrical  equipment  of  the  station  and 


of  the  line,  and  the  trains  themselves,  have  given  absolutely  no 
trouble  of  any  seriousness  from  the  first,  but  owing  to  two  of  the 
generating  units  being  put  out  of  action  it  was,  of  course,  absolutely 
impossible  for  the  Lancashire  &  Yorkshire  Railway  Company  to 
operate  the  whole  system.  During  this  time,  therefore,  that  only 
two  units  out  of  the  four  were  available,  a  service  of  only  six 
trains  has  been  used,  but  for  the  past  month  or  so  nine  trains 
have  been  put  in  service  and  are  in  daily  successful  operation,  and 
the  complete  service  of  twelve  trains  will  very  soon  be  adopted. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  no  trouble  at  all  has  arisen  out  of  the 
system  which  has  been  adopted,  and  everyone  on  the  line  speaks 
in  the  highest  terms  of  the  success  which  has  been  achieved,  which 
has  only  been  militated  against  by  the  unfortunate  and  totally  un- 
foreseen accidents  to  the  engine  units.  While  figures  are  as  yet 
unavailable,  it  is  confidently  stated  that  extremely  good  results 
have  been  achieved  and  that  the  traffic  on  the  line  from  Liverpool 
to  Southport  and  Crossens  has  been  largely  augmented  and  already 
receipts  in  that  branch  show  that  the  adoption  of  electricity  was 
a  wise  step  and  will  lead  to  great  economies  in  operation,  and  to 
much  larger  traffic  receipts  without  any  increase  in  terminal  facili- 
ties. There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  for  the  time  being  the  Lan- 
cashire &  Yorksire  Railway  has  saved  vast  future  expense  in  not 
being  required  to  increase  its  terminal  facilities  in  Liverpool,  which 
with  the  increasing  traffic  on  this  branch  of  the  line  would  have  been 
absolutely  necessary  in  the  near  future. 

The  Wakefield  and  district  tramcars  have  commenced  running, 
and  everything  appears  to  be  in  thorough  working  order.  The 
center  from  which  the  routes  from  Wakefield  radiate  is  the  Bull 
Ring  or  market  place,  and  there  will  be  a  regular  service  from  that 
place  to  Belle  Vne  and  Sandal,  Horbury  and  Ossett  and  Outwood, 
Lofthouse,  and  Leeds.  A  branch  to  Rothwell  will  shortly  be 
opened,  and  within  a  short  time  the  system  will  couple  up  with 
Normanton,  Casleford,  Pontefract  and  Knottingley. 

The  site  of  the  old  General  Hospital,  in  Summer-lane,  Birming- 
ham, is  being  utilized  for  the  erection  of  the  new  electrical  sup- 
ply station  to  furnish  the  power  for  the  comprehensive  system  of 
municipal  trams.  The  task  is  a  heavy  one,  for  the  general  level 
was  a  high  one,  and  excavation  has  had  to  be  carried  to  a  depth  of 
40  ft.  The  estimated  cost  of  the  new  power  station  and  installing 
the  cables  will  reach  £400,000.  When  completed  the  system  will 
help  to  bring  about  a  revolution,  not  only  in  the  tramway  traffic, 
but  also  in  the  lighting  of  the  city. 

Commencing  on  Oct.  3,  the  Edinburgh  &  District  Tramways 
Company,  Limited,  is  to  inaugurate  a  quick  parcel  express  delivery, 
and  for  this-  purpose  central  premises  have  been  secured  at  5  and 
7  West  Register  Street,  and  altered  to  suit  the  requirements  of 
a  central  parcel  receiving  office.  This  latest  enterprise  of  the  com- 
pany will  no  doubt  be  largely  taken  advantage  of,  not  only  by  mer- 
chants of  the  city,  but  by  the  general  public.  It  will  also  enable 
small  merchants  to  meet  the  demands  of  their  customers  more 
readily. 

Accrington  is  promoting  a  bill  in  Parliament  to  work  its  tram- 
ways, the  Corporation's  own  system,  which  will  shortly  revert  to 
it  on  the  expiration  of  the  lease  to  the  company  which  has  been 
working  it.  The  trams  will  be  driven  by  electricity,  the  power 
being  supplied  by  the  Corporation's  own  installation.  Considera- 
ble extensions  are  intended  to  be  through  Church  and  Oswaldwistle 
and  along  the  main  thoroughfares  towards  Burnley.  The  Corpor- 
ation lines  are  at  present  between  6  and  7  miles,  which,  with  the 
Haslingden  and  Rawtenstall  sections  owned  by  the  company  at 
present  working  the  system,  make  a  total  length  of  over  11  miles. 
This,  with  the  extension,  will  be  increased  to  about  13  miles. 

The  financial  difficulties  connected  with  the  tramways  track 
which  is  to  cross  the  Ribble  estuary  near  Lytham,  and  thus  con- 
nect Southport,  Lytham,  St.  Amies,  Blackpool  and  Fleetwood  by 
tram,  have  been  satisfactorily  arranged.  Sir  Hiram  Maxim  is  the 
chief  supporter  of  the  scheme,  and  the  firm  of  Vickers,  Maxim  & 
Co.  are  to  construct  the  transport  bridge  over  the  channel  to  the 
land  on  each  side  of  the  Ribble.  Tenders  have  been  invited, 
and  there  is  every  prospect  of  an  early  start  being  made  on  the 
work. 

The  tramways  sub-committee  of  the  Dewsbury  Town  Council 
has  recommended  the  purchase  of  the  electric  tramways  worked 
by  the  Yorkshire  (Woollen  District)  Tramways  Company,  Limited, 
at  a  price  of  £52,500,  the  concern  to  be  leased  to  the  company  for 
a  term  of  thirty  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  it  will  belong 
to  the  corporation.  The  recommendation  was  adopted,  and  bor- 
rowing powers  were  ordered  to  be  sought. 

At  the  half  yearly  meeting  of  the  North-Eastern  Railway  Com- 
pany, the  chairman,  Viscount  Ridey,  said  that  from  the  point  of 
view  of  traffic  the  newly  electrified  lines  had  been  very  satisfactory, 
but  of  course  the  novelty  of  the  system  had  caused  them  to  be  beset 
with  a  great  many  difficulties,  which,  though  being  surmounted 
gradually,  were  real  difficulties  both  as  to  the  safety  of  their  work- 
men and  the  public  and  the  passengers,  and  the  convenience  of 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


493 


patrons  on  the  line.  They  had  been  fortunate  in  their  expert 
advisers,  and  altogether  they  had  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with 
the  progress  which  they  had  made,  and  he  did  not  know  but  that 
the  feeling  generally  was  that  under  difficult  circumstances  they 
had  given  an  improved  service  on  that  part  of  the  system.  They 
worked  an  enormous  number  of  passengers  to  Whitley  Bay  and 
down  to  the  coast,  and  the  reports  he  had  made  of  the  numbers 
carried  and  the  hours  people  had  to  wait  to  return  to  Newcastle, 
showed  that  the  traffic  they  had  to  deal  with  was  almost  beyond 
their  means.  So  far  as  profit  and  loss  was  concerned  it  was  too 
early  to  speak.  It  was  impossible  to  have  accurate  figures ;  53,402 
miles  were  run  in  the  half  year  up  to  June  30,  and  the  expenditure 
was  £4,911,  but  they  must  remember  that  a  good  deal  of  that  ex- 
penditure included  the  experimental  running  both  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  their  own  officers  and  for  the  education  of  those  who  were 
to  be  in  charge  of  trains.  The  capital  for  the  conversion  of  the 
line  was  £  186,000.  If  he  came  to  the  passengers  carried  he  would 
take  the  two  weeks  ending  July  11,  1903,  and  July  9,  1904,  for  com- 
parison, making  all  allowances  for  the  fact  that  one  week  might 
have  been  fine  and  the  other  wet.  The  number  of  bookings  be- 
tween all  stations  had  increased  by  25  per  cent,  and  the  money 
22  per  cent.  With  reference  to  the  difficulties  which  had  beset 
them,  they  were  considering  most  carefully  all  the  plans  that  could 
be  thought  of  by  their  experts  for  the  purpose  of  averting  the  dan- 
ger of  the  live  rail,  as  well  as  promoting  the  convenience  of  their 
passengers. 

A  special  meeting  of  the  tramways  committee  of  Newcastle 
Corporation  was  held  recently  to  consider  the  resignation  of  A.  E. 
le  Rossignol,  engineer  and  general  manager  of  the  tramways. 
The  committee  having  heard  that  Mr.  le  Rossignol  had  received 
the  offer  of  an  important  and  lucrative  appointment  abroad,  re- 
gretfully agreed  to  accept  his  resignation.  Mr.  le  Rossignol  super- 
intended the  construction  of  the  Newcastle  Corporation  tramways 
on  behalf  of  the  engineer,  Mr.  Hopkinson,  and  was  recommended 
by  him  to  be  the  manager  and  engineer  of  the  new  system.  Mr. 
le  Rossignol  was  accordingly  appointed,  and  has  performed  the 
duties  since  the  opening  of  the  tramways. 

Douglas,  Isle  of  Man,  is  following  its  great  rival,  Blackpool,  in 
a  novel  social  experiment.  Children  of  school  age  are  to  be  pro- 
vided with  tramway  coupons  at  greatly  reduced  fares,  so  that 
those  who  dwell  at  a  distance  from  school  may  take  farthing  rides 
to  and  fro.  Probably  this  will  not  be  all  loss  in  a  place  like 
Douglas,  which  has  its  very  slack,  out-of-season  times,  when  elec- 
tric trams  had  better  take  farthing  passengers  than  none  at  all ; 
but  the  proposal  was  mooted,  not  in  the  interests  of  the  corporation, 
but  for  the  sake  of  the  school  children. 

A  little  over  two  months  ago  the  Alvaston  Osmaston  and  Mid- 
land Station  routes  of  the  new  Derby  electric  tramways  were 
opened  to  the  public,  and  recently  the  remainder  of  the  routes  in- 
cluded in  the  contract  let  to  J.  G.  White  &  Company,  of  London,  was 
formally  inaugurated,  viz. :  Burton  Road,  Normanton  Road  and 
Dairy  House  Road.  Early  in  the  afternoon  the  Mayor,  accompa- 
nied by  many  members  of  the  Corporation,  and  a  number  of  ladies, 
travelled  over  the  routes  in  special  cars,  returning  to  the  new 
offices  in  Victoria  Street,  which  were  opened  with  some  ceremony, 
Alderman  F.  Duesbury,  the  chairman  of  the  tramways  committee, 
unlocking  the  door.  Afternoon  tea  was  served  in  this  commodious 
building,  and  the  members  of  the  committee  availed  themselves  of 
the  opportunity  of  presenting  to  Alderman  Duesbury  a  Derby 
Crown  china  vase  to  commemorate  the  event  and  as  a  mark  of 
appreciation  of  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  him  in  the  trans- 
formation of  the  tramway  system  of  the  borough. 

A  further  meeting  of  the  tramway  reconstruction  committee,  of 
Perth  Town  Council,  has  been  held.  Mr.  Dawson,  of  Kincaid, 
Manville,  Waller  &  Dawson,  was  present.  The  report  by  the  firm 
on  the  offers  received  for  the  reconstruction  of  the  Perth  tramways 
was  submitted,  from  which  it  appeared  that  the  cost  of  recon- 
struction would  amount  to  a  sum  close  on  £44,000.  It  is  esti- 
mated that,  allowing  for  engineers'  fees,  the  purchase  of  the  old 
tramway  concern  from  the  company  and  the  Parliamentary  ex- 
penses, that  the  cost  of  the  reconstructed  tramway  in  Perth  will 
amount  to  £68,000.  The  committee  is  also  considering  the  use  of 
petrol  'buses. 

The  tramways  committee  of  the  Manchester  City  Council  has 
resolved  to  provide  a  number  of  covered  cars  to  run  on  routes 
where  their  use  is  or  may  be  made  practicable.  One  or  two  routes 
are  crossed  by  bridges,  which  are  too  low  for  these  vehicles.  In 
other  cases  it  is  possible  to  lower  the  roads  under  certain  bridges, 
so  as  to  allow  the  passage  of  covered  cars.  It  is  not  to  be  under- 
stood that  open-topped  cars  are  in  future  to  be  covered  in.  What 
is  intended  is  that  by  a  gradual  introduction  of  the  sheltered  vehi- 
cles there  shall  be  a  reasonable  proportion  of  them,  giving  much 
better  provision  than  at  present  exists  for  protecting  passengers 
from  inclement  weather.  The  covers  for  the  cars  will  all  be  made 
in  the  new  workshops  of  the  Tramways  Department  at  the  Hyde 
Road  shed,  where  they  will  be  fitted  to  existing  cars. 


It  will  be  of  interest  to  know  that  the  Electric  Railway  &  Tram- 
way Carriage  Works  are  now  manufacturing  a  Brill  type  of  truck. 
As  is  well  known,  this  enterprising  firm,  which  was  one  of  the  first 
to  build  electric  cars  in  Great  Britain,  have  never  gone  in  for  the 
manufacture  of  trucks,  being  content  to  put  on  the  thousands  of 
cars  which  they  have  already  supplied,  such  trucks  as  were  speci- 
fied. They  chiefly  used  the  Brill  trucks,  all  of  which  were  imported 
from  America.  It  has  gradually  been  forced  upon  them,  however, 
that  to  be  able  to  compete  with  the  lower  prices,  and  also  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  certain  engineers  who  desire  a  completely 
British  product,  that  it  would  be  absolutely  necessary  for  them  to 
build  a  truck  of  their  own.  Arrangements  have  therefore  been 
made  at  their  extensive  Preston  works,  and  a  department  inaugu- 
rated by  which  an  absolutely  British  made  truck  of  the  Brill  type 
is  being  manufactured  by  them.  Already  a  large  number  have 
been  made  and  delivered. 

There  has  been  of  late  some  little  talk  of  a  project  for  provid- 
ing the  Kentish  coast  with  an  electric  railway.  Parliamentary 
powers  will,  of  course,  have  to  be  sought  and  obtained,  in  the  usual 
way,  and  probably  there  will  be  a  sharp  tussle  in  the  committe  room 
when  the  scheme  gets  there.  The  proposed  line  is  to  be  constructed 
on  the  overhead  system,  and  will  have  a  length  of  about  70  miles, 
commencing  at  Ramsgate  and  ending  at  Hastings,  so  that  a  por- 
tion of  Sussex  is  taken  into  the  plan.  The  places  to  be  served  in- 
clude Sandwich,  Deal,  Walmer,  Dover,  Folkestone,  Shorncliffe 
Camp,  Hythe  and  Winchelsea,  with  a  few  others. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  scheme  should  receive  the  support  of  the 
military  authorities,  inasmuch  as,  if  carried  to  a  successful  issue, 
it  will  facilitate  the  rapid  movement  of  troops,  artillery,  etc.,  along 
a  portion  of  the  south  coast.  The  financial  part  of  the  project 
has  been  elaborately  worked  out,  but  its  consideration  may  be  post- 
poned for  the  present.  From  the  outline  here  given  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  scheme  is  a  somewhat  ambitious  one,  possessing  features, 
or,  at  all  events,  a  feature,  interesting  to  others  than  those  who 
reside  in,  or  occasionally  visit,  the  districts  proposed  to  be  traversed 
by  the  Cinque  Ports  Electric  Railway. 

After  prolonged  negotiations,  an  agreement  has  been  drawn  up 
between  the  Salford  and  the  Bury  Corporations  for  the  interchange 
of  tramway  traffic,  and  this  will  be  formally  signed  in  the  course 
of  the  next  few  days.  The  Salford  Corporation  under  existing 
agreements  has  control  of  the  tramways  in  Prestwich  and  White- 
field.  The  Whitefield  tramways  were  opened  eighteen  months 
ago,  or  rather  that  part  of  them  lying  between  the  Prestwich  boun- 
dary and  the  Whitefiild  railway  station.  There  has  been  consid- 
erable delay  in  the  completion  of  the  lines  to  the  Bury  boundary 
owing  to  trouble  between  the  Whitefield  Urban  District  Council 
and  the  company  running  the  steam  trams  from  Whitefield  to  Bury. 
The  differences,  however,  have  now  been  settled,  and  the  Salford 
Corporation  has  prepared  the  track  and  erected  the  overhead  equip- 
ment, and  the  route  will  be  opened  very  shortly. 

The  Devonport  &  District  Tramway  Company  has  now  completed 
the  system  of  tramways  for  which  the  company  and  the  Corpora- 
tion have  obtained  powers,  the  last  section  to  be  completed  having 
been  examined  by  Maior  Druitt,  a  Board  of  Trade  inspector.  The 
line  runs  from  Milehouse  to  Ford,  being  a  continuation  of  the  St. 
Levan  Road  section.  The  road  has  been  made  by  the  Corpora- 
tion, and  has  been  laid  with  a  single  line  with  loops  by 
the  company.  At  the  official  inspection  Major  Druitt  was 
accompanied  by  J.  C.  Tozer  and  Alderman  J.  Goodman,  chair- 
man and  vice-chairman  of  the  Corporation  tramways  committee ;  R. 
J  Fittall,  town  clerk;  J.  F.  Burns,  borough  surveyor,  and  J.  W. 
Endean,  general  manager  Devonport  &  District  Tramways  Com- 
pany. Although  the  powers  of  the  company  and  Corporation  are 
now  exhausted,  it  is  proposed  to  apply  for  permission  to  extend 
the  St.  Budeaux  section  to  the  parish  church,  which  will  be  a 
great  convenience  to  the  rate  payers  in  that  part  of  the  town. 

The  London  County  Council  is  introducing  the  double-deck  elec- 
tric tram  cars,  the  necessary  change  having  been  ordered  for  sixty 
cars  at  a  cost  of  £80  each.  It  is  computed,  that  the  double-deck 
car  will  earn  from  £130  to  £150  more  per  annum  than  the  vehi- 
cles with  open  tops.  Unfortunately,  however,  on  two  or  three  of 
the  South  London  routes  the  available  height  under  railway  bridges 
precludes  the  adoption  of  a  roof  over  the  tops  of  cars. 

Recently  at  Bruce,  Castle  Park,  a  section  of  tramway  line  con- 
structed on  the  overhead  trolley  system  along  2  miles  of  main  road, 
from  Lordship  Lane,  Tottenham,  to  Woodgreen,  was  opened  by 
Sir  Francis  Cory-Wright,  chairman  of  the  tramway  and  light  rail- 
ways committee,  of  the  Middlesex  County  Council.  The  under- 
taking thus  inaugurated  represents  only  a  very  small  portion  of  a 
plan  promoted  by  the  Middlesex  County  Council,  which  when  com- 
pleted will  provide  a  cheap  and  easy  means  of  transit  over  50  miles 
ot  trunk  roads  under  its  jurisdiction.  The  routes  chosen  com- 
prise the  four  radial  highways  from  Willesden  to  Wembley, 
Cricklewood  to  Edgeware,  Highgate  to  High  Barnet,  and  Wood- 
green  to  Enfield,  together  with  cross-routes  linking  the  main  lines 
together  at  various  points.     Three  of  the  routes  extend  into  the 


494 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


neighboring  county  of  Hertford,  where  the  County  Council  has 
also  promoted  light  railways.  Running  powers  have  been  granted 
over  the  Walthamstow  Light  Railways,  so  that  the  area  of  the 
whole  electric  tramway  enterprise  north  of  the  metropolis  extends 
from  Willesden  in  the  west  to  Woodford  in  the  east,  the  London 
Count}'  boundary  practically  serving  as  the  southern  frontier,  while 
towards  the  north  the  benefits  of  electric  traction  will  be  carried 
as  far  as  Watford  on  the  one  hand  and  Chestnut  on  the  other. 

The  Middlesex  County  Council,  having  constructed  the  line,  re- 
solved to  lease  it  for  a  term  of  years,  until  1930,  to  the  Metropoli- 
tan Electric  Tramways  (Limited),  which  furnish  the  rolling  stock 
and  the  entire  electric  equipment  of  the  undertaking,  an  arrange- 
ment which  relieves  the  Middlesex  County  authorities  from  the 
costly  necessity  of  constructing  power  stations.  An  average  of  4^ 
per  cent  on  the  council's  expenditure  is  paid  by  way  of  rent;  out 
of  the  gross  receipts  the  company  receives  an  average  of  4^2  per 
cent  on  its  capital  expenditure,  and  the  net  revenue  is  divided  be- 
tween the  Council  and  the  company  in  the  proportion  of  45  per  cent 
to  the  Council  and  55  per  cent  to  the  company. 

The  Huddersfield  Corporation  has  put  on  trial  for  the  first  time 
an  electric  coal  wagon  for  the  haulage  of  coal  from  the  Hillhouse 
coal  chutes,  Huddersfield,  to  a  distant  part  of  the  borough.  The 
suggestion  that  the  Corporation  should  become  coal  carriers  is  not 
a  new  one,  though  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  no  other  Cor- 
poration has  up  to  the  present  undertaken  work  of  that  nature  for 
private  individuals.  In  1880  the  Corporation  obtained  powers  in 
its  Act  of  Parliament  to  convey  coal  over  the  tramways.  The 
lines  were  laid  of  a  sufficient  width,  and  with  a  proper  depth  of 
groove  to  receive  the  railway  trucks,  but  owing  to  the  numerous 
sharp  curves  on  the  tram  routes  the  original  idea  was  abandoned. 
The  idea  lay  dormant  until  a  year  or  two  ago,  when  it  was  revived 
by  the  present  chairman  of  the  tramways  committee.  Though 
operations  are  at  present  designed  to  serve  only  one  firm —  Martin, 
Sons  &  Co.,  Limited,  the  well-known  cloth  manufacturers,  of  Well- 
ington Mills,  Lindley— they  must  be  extended,  and  it  is  quite  proba- 
ble that  the  coal  required  at  the  gas  and  electricity  (light  and 
power)  stations  will  be  conveyed  from  the  coal  chutes  by  the  same 
means  at  no  distant  date.  Messrs.  Martin's  works  are  situated 
nearly  tfA  miles  from  the  Hillhouse  coal  sidings,  at  Huddersfield, 
the  gradient  rising  all  the  way.  Their  average  consumption  of  coal 
the  year  through  is  about  40  tons  a  day.  The  haulage  hitherto  has 
been  done  solely  by  team  labor,  ten  or  a  dozen  horses  and  carts 
being  almost  continuously  in  use  in  the  service,  causing  great 
wear  and  tear  of  the  reads,  and  occasionally  congestion  of  traffic 
over  important  tram  routes.  Negotiations  between  the  tramways 
committee  and  Messrs.  Martin  were  set  on  foot  with  a  view  to  the 
conveyance  of  the  coal  by  tram.  The  difficulty  lay  in  getting  elec- 
tric coal  trucks  up  to  tlie  coal  chutes,  which  occupy  ground  belong- 
ing to  the  railway  companies.  The  companies,  however,  readily 
consented  to  the  laying  of  the  necessary  track,  and  a  length  of 
about  400  yds.  of  line  was  laid  from  the  Bradford  Road  Section  of 
the  Corporation  tramways  by  way  of  Whitestone  Lane  to  the  coal 
depot  at  Hillhouse  for  the  purpose  of  the  coal  traffic.  The  whole 
ol  tin-  Huddersfield  tramways  is  thus  opened  out  for  such  traffic 
if  necessary.  At  the  Lindley  end  Messrs.  Martin  have  at  their  own 
expense  laid  the  requisite  line  from  the  Salendine  Nook  Section  of 
the  Corporation  tramways,  that  the  coal  may  be  delivered  at  their 
works.  The  two  trucks  which  are  to  be  used  for  the  carriage  of 
the  coal  are  in  appearance  very  much  like  an  ordinary  railway 
coal  truck,  and  of  a  similar  carrying  capacity,  about  10  tons 
each.  The  wagons  have  been  built  by  Milnes,  Voss  &  Company, 
of  Birkenhead,  and  are  mounted  upon  radial  trucks,  of  the 
Brush  Electrical  Engineering  Company.  These  give  a  longer 
wheel  base,  and  serve  the  purpose  of  a  single  truck  for  hill- 
climbing  properties,  while  giving  the  qualities  of  the  bogie,  in  being- 
able  to  get  easily  round  curves  without  undue  strain  upon  any  part 
of  the  mechanism.  Each  vehicle  is  equipped  with  two  No.  80 
Westinghouse  motors,  approximately  of  45  hp  each,  with  four 
Westinghouse-Newall  magnetic  brakes,  powerful  hand  brakes  and 
sanding  gear.  The  coal  is  delivered  into  the  wagons  direct  from 
the  chute  and  discharged  direct  into  the  coal  store  of  the  mills 
witli  the  minimum  of  labor,  and  thence  carried  to  automatic  stokers. 

A.  C.  S. 

 ♦♦♦  

The  Toledo,  Urban  &  Interurban  Company,  of  Findlay,  Ohio,  has 
had  plans  and  specifications  prepared  for  a  new  power  house  and 
has  already  broken  ground  for  the  building,  which  is  to  be  located 
at  Findlay.  The  plans  were  prepared  by  E.  Darrow,  the  company's 
consulting  engineer.  The  company,  through  C.  F.  Smith,  general 
manager,  is  asking  for  proposals  on  three  1500-hp,  cross-compound 
condensing  engines,  to  run  at  94  r.  p.  m.,  to  be  operated  with  an 
initial  steam  pressure  of  T75  lbs.  In  connection  with  these  engines  • 
are  three  1000-kw  25-cycle  generators  and  sub-station  apparatus 
for  33,000-volt  transmission. 


PARIS  LETTER 


A  definite  start  has  been  made  on  the  new  electric  railway  up 
the  slopes  of  Mont  Blanc.  The  line  commences  at  the  terminal 
station  of  the  Le  Fayet  Road,  and  following  the  southern  slopes 
of  the  mountain  will  have  its  present  proposed  terminus  at  the 
Col  de  l'Aguille  du  Gouter,  12,140  ft.  above  sea  level.  The  continu- 
ation of  the  line  to  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  some  3000  ft.  higher, 
is  reserved  for  a  later  project.  The  total  length  of  the  line  is  18^ 
km,  of  which  some  3  km  will  be  in  tunnel.  Meter  gage  will  be 
used,  and  the  rails,  weighing  40  lbs.  per  yard,  will  be  laid  on  metal 
ties.  The  maximum  speed  is  23.2  per  cent,  and  rack  construction 
will  be  employed.  The  speed  up  the  steeper  grades  will  be 
miles  per  hour,  and  on  lighter  grades  about  8  miles  per  hour.  A 
th  ree-pbase  locomotive  of  14  tons  will  be  used  with  two  4-ton  trail- 
ers. The  summer  traffic  will  be  handled  by  ten  trains  daily,  each 
accommodating  eighty-four  passengers.  The  cost  of  the  line  is 
estimated  to  be  about  $2,200,000. 

The  discussion  at  the  Vienna  convention  of  the  International 
Congress  on  the  subject  of  trail  cars  possesses  a  particular  interest 
in  Paris,  owing  to  the  general  use  in  that  city  of  double  deck  cars. 
These  cars  are  being  abandoned  in  Paris,  however,  and  outside 
the  city  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  two  or  more  trailers  coupled  at 
rush  hours. 

The  engineer  specially  charged  with  the  supervision  of  street 
railway  affairs  by  the  French  Government  has  just  left  Paris  to- 
gether with  a  municipal  commission  on  a  trip  to  New  York,  St. 
Louis,  Chicago  and  other  principal  cities  of  the  United  States  in 
order  to  inquire  closely  into  the  conditions  affecting  the  tramway 
interests  in  America.  As  your  readers  will  remember,  the  whole 
of  the  tramway  and  omnibus  situation  in  Paris  is  coming  again  to 
the  front,  the  reason  being  the  ruinous  competition  afforded  by  the 
new  Metropolitan  lines.  There  are  very  few  tramway  lines  in  the 
Paris  district  which  are  doing  at  all  well,  and  some  are  in  an  ex- 
tremely critical  condition.  One  of  these  is  the  Compagnie  de 
l'Est  Parisien,  which  is  being  permitted  for  the  moment  to  run  a 
trolley  service  on  the  Rue  du  Quatre  Septembre,  in  place  of  the 
Diatto  contact  system  first  laid  down.  The  city  authorities  are 
endeavoring  to  force  the  company  to  replace  the  contacts  which 
were  taken  up  when  work  on  the  new  No.  3  Metropolitan  line  was 
commenced,  and  the  company  wishes  to  throw  the  onus  of  the 
change  on  to  the  city.  There  is  a  strong  feeling  against  the  replac- 
ing of  the  contacts,  because  of  their  danger  to  traffic.  Altogether 
things  are  at  a  deadlock  on  this  point.  The  franchises  of  certain 
of  the  traction  companies  expire  in  a  few  years  and  their  end, 
under  the  present  regime,  is  only  being  hastened  by  the  Metropoli- 
tan lines,  with  their  two  to  three  minute  service. 

While  traction  engineers  in  the  United  States  are  installing 
Curtis  and  Westinghouse  turbine  plants,  in  France  attention  is 
being  attracted  to  the  Swiss  firm  of  Brown,  Boveri  &  Company, 
which  is  supplying  the  18,000  hp  for  the  St.  Ouen  power  station  of 
the  Metropolitan  Railway.  In  addition  this  firm  is  also  supplying 
quite  a  few  alternating  current  units  of  several  hundred  kilowatts' 
output  to  various  plants  in  France.  The  Curtis  turbine  has  not  yet 
made  its  appearance  here,  but  two  groups  will  shortly  be  installed 
at  Nice,  of  800  kw  each. 

Notwithstanding  the  continual  increase  in  traffic  on  the  Metro- 
politan lines,  the  General  Omnibus  Company,  which  is  the  one  com- 
pany most  seriously  affected  by  the  competition,  reports  receipts 
this  year,  up  to  Sept.  10,  of  31,227,308  frs,  which  is  an  increase  over 
■the  same  period  of  1903  of  106,208  frs. 

The  Orleans  Railway  Company,  whose  electric  extension  was 
described  in  your  Aug.  6  issue,  contemplates  the  handling  of  its 
freight  traffic  as  well  as  the  passenger  traffic  by  electric  means,  as 
far  as  the  limits  of  the  third  rail  at  Juvisy.  To  do  this  the 
Orleans  Company  will  require  a  much  larger  number  of  locomo- 
tives than  is  at  present  in  use.  It  is  stated  that  an  attempt  will 
be  made  to  use  the  gearless  locomotives  of  the  Central  London 
Railway,  which  machines  have  been  laying  practically  idle  since 
the  adoption  of  train  control  cars  by  this  company. 

Owing  to  the  very  great  increase  in  the  numbers  of  passengers 
carried  by  the  Belgian  State  lines  in  and  around  Brussels,  there  is  a 
great  congestion  of  traffic,  especially  in  the  departure  and  arrival  of 
trains  in  the  Belgian  capital.  A  paper  scheme  for  an  underground 
railway  company  has  existed  for  some  time,  and  attempts  are  now 
being  made  to  bring  the  project  to  a  head.  The  density  of  traffic 
at  Brussels  requires  the  establishment  of  an  underground  or  ele- 
vated electric  system. 

Ganz  &  Company,  who  equipped  the  Valtellina  line  in  northern 
Italy  with  the  three-phase  system  of  traction,  have  just  delivered 
three  new  locomotives  for  this  line.  The  locomotives  have  three 
motor  axles  and  a  free  axle  at  either  end.  Ready  for  service 
they  weigh  62  tons  each,  and  have  a  length  of  H.54  meters  be- 
tween buffers.     The  wheel  base  is  9.5  meters,     The  motors  are 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


495 


double,  that  is,  they  comprise  a  high  and  a  low  tension  motor  on 
the  same  axle  and  in  a  common  frame.  The  commercial  speeds  are 
64  and  32  km  per  hour,  according  to  whether  the  high-tension 
motor  alone  is  in  circuit  or  whether  the  low-tension  motor  is  con- 
nected in  cascade  with  it.  The  tractive  efforts  respectively  at 
the  above  speeds  are  3500  kg  and  6000  kg.  Each  locomotive 
develops  about  1600  effective  hp.  The  current  is  3000  volts  three- 
phase,  at  15  cycles  per  second. 

The  problem  of  electric  traction  applied  to  long  distance  steam 
railroads  is  attracting  just  now  a  great  deal  of  attention  in  Italy, 
where  it  is  thought  that  a  large  reserve  of  energy  in  the  form  of 
abundant  waterfalls  could  be  turned  to  excellent  account  at  com- 
paratively slight  cost.  The  Swedish  Government  is  also  taking  up 
this  subject  very  seriously  in  view  of  the  vast  reserve  of  hydraulic 
force  in  the  country.  Experiments  are  to  be  made  in  electric  trac- 
tion on  the  State  line  between  Stockholm  and  Jarfra.  A  tempo- 
rary power  station  is  to  be  installed  at  Tomteboda.  Estimates 
for  the  transformation  have  been  requested,  and  four  important 
firms,  viz.,  Siemens-Schukert,  Allgemeine,  Oerlikon  and  the  Brit- 
ish Westinghouse  Company  have  already  presented  bids  for  the 


SINGLE-PHASE  SYSTEM  FOR  BLOOMINGTON,  PONTIAC  & 
JOLIET  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 

A  contract  has  just  been  made  by  the  Bloomington,  Pontiac  & 
Joliet  Electric  Railway  Company  for  two  cars  to  be  equipped  with 
the  new  General  Electric  Company's  single-phase,  alternating-cur- 
rent motors.  These  are  to  be  used  on  the  20  miles  of  line  which 
this  company  expects  to  have  completed  by  the  end  of  the  year  be- 
tween Pontiac,  111.,  and  Dwight.  The  cars  will  be  supplied  by  the 
American  Car  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  one  of  the  cars  being  that  on 
exhibition  in  the  Transportation  Building  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition.  As  it  is  not  expected  that  the  cars  on  this  road  will 
be  required  to  operate  over  direct-current  trolley  lines,  the  series 
parallel  method  of  control  will  not  be  used,  potential  control  being 
used  instead.  The  manager  of  the  company  is  F.  L.  Lucas,  who 
is  also  manager  of  the  Pontiac  Light  &  Water  Company.  The  road 
is  being  constructed,  and  the  engineering  work  is  being  done  by  the 
Arnold  Electric  Power  Station  Company,  of  Chicago.  Cars  will  be 
supplied  at  2300  volts,  25  cycles,  from  a  generator  in  the  plant  of  the 
Pontiac  Light  &  Water  Company,  the  generator  feeding  direct 
to  the  trolley  line.  A  considerable  saving  over  any  other  method 
of  construction  has  been  made  possible  by  the  use  of  alternating- 
current  motors  on  this  particular  road,  this  being  a  case  where  it 
was  desirable  to  keep  down  the  investment  to  the  lowest  point  pos- 
sible. . 


NEW  HAVEN  ABANDONS  THIRD  RAIL 


The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  Company  is 
dismantling  its  third-rail  line  between  Nantasket  Junction  and 
Braintree,  and  the  announcement  is  made  that  the  electrical  equip- 
ment and  operation  of  its  suburban  lines  will  not  be  undertaken 
until  the  invention  of  new  appliances  or  the  perfection  of  those  now 
existing  makes  such  a  step  more  feasible.  An  assertion  by  Presi- 
dent Mellen,  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  road,  has 
discouraged  the  hopes  of  residents  of  Boston  that  electricity  would 
soon  be  adopted  as  the  motive  power  of  lines  into  the  new  South 
Station. 

"We  have  not  yet  been  able  to  make  definite  plans  for  electrical 
equipment,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  we  shall  be  able  to  do  so  right 
away,"  said  Mr.  Mellen. 

"The  trolley  and  the  third-rail,"  another  official  is  quoted  as  say- 
ing, "have  been  found  impracticable  for  our  system,  and  if  elec 
tricity  is  further  used  bj  our  road  for  motive  power  it  will  probably 
be  in  the  form  of  an  electric  locomotive,  although  the  electric  loco- 
motive has  not  yet  reached  an  efficiency  warranting  its  present  adop- 
tion." 

The  Nantasket  branch  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford 
road  was  equipped  with  the  third-rail  several  years  ago  as  an  ex- 
periment. It  is  now  stated  that  while  the  third-rail  system  has 
proved  satisfactory  on  that  section  of  the  line  between  Nantasket 
Junction  and  Pemberton,  where  only  the  electrically  equipped  cars 
arc  operated,  on  the  other  section  of  the  line,  between  Nantasket 
Junction  and  Braintree,  where  steam  trains  also  have  been  run, 
the  step  has  proved  a  failure.  For  tin's  reason  the  Braintree-Nan- 
tasket  Junction  equipment  is  now  being  abolished. 
President  Mellen,  when  pressed  to  be  specific,  said: 
"Whatever  experiments  are  decided  upon  will  take  place  at  the 
New  York  end,  where  the  problem  is  being  worked  out  in  connec- 
tion with  the  subway.  Whatever  is  decided  upon  with  reference 
in  this  and  to  the  Pennsylvania  tunnel  will  govern  the  electrical 
plans  not  only  of  our  road,  but  of  all  the  other  large  roads  in  the 
country." 


ANNOUNCEMENT  FOR  SUPERINTENDENTS  AND  ENGINEERS 

OF  WAY 


In  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  Sept.  17,  announcement  was 
made  of  the  proposed  changes  in  the  constitution  of  the  American 
Railway,  Mechanical  &  Electrical  Association,  so  that  this  asso- 
ciation could  include  superintendents  and  engineers  of  way.  F.  G. 
Simmons,  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
who  has  been  heading  the  movement  to  secure  some  kind  of  an 
organization  of  way  men,  has  just  issued  a  circular  which  explains 
the  present  situation  as  follows : 

"The  efforts  expended  to  date  in  the  attempt  to  organize  the 
superintendents  and  engineers  of  way  have  resulted  in  three  propo- 
sitions looking  to  this  end. 

"The  first,  which  appears  to  be  the  most  popular,  would  require 
the  reorganization  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association 
and  its  division  into  sub-organizations  covering  the  different  depart- 
ments of  the  work. 

"The  second  proposition  contemplates  an  amalgamation  with  the 
present  'American  Railway,  Mechanical  &  Electrical  Association,' 
and  the  necessary  expansion  of  the  work  of  that  organization. 

"The  third,  and  the  original  intention,  was  an  independent  organ- 
ization, but  the  concensus  of  opinion  is  very  much  against  this  idea 
as  multiplying  to  too  great  an  extent  the  various  expenses  incident 
to  the  annual  meeting  of  the  street  railway  interests,  also  as  tend- 
ing to  strip  the  parent  organization  of  all  its  functions. 

"There  is  little  hope  of  very  much  being  accomplished  at  the  com- 
ing meeting  in  October,  by  the  main  association,  although  it  is 
more  than  probable  the  matter  will  receive  careful  consideration, 
and  in  order  that  something  may  be  accomplished  during  the  ensu- 
ing year  it  is  proposed  to  extend  the  scope  of  the  American  Rail- 
way, Mechanical  &  Electrical  Association,  so  as  to  take  in  the 
'way'  men,  and  thereby  provide  for  the  preparation  ot  two  or  three 
articles  concerning  the  work  of  this  important  branch  of  the  elec- 
trical railway  business. 

"Future  action  of  the  parent  association  would  lie  in  no  wise 
affected  by  this  step,  and  a  year's  preparatory  work  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  'way'  men  provided  for." 



A  UNIQUE  POWER  PLANT  SALE 


Probably  there  has  never  before  been  such  an  opportunity  to  pur- 
chase equipment  for  a  power  plant  as  is  open  now  in  connection 
with  the  disposal  of  the  service  station  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase 
Exposition.  This  plant  was  described  in  "The  Engineering 
Record"  of  Jan.  23,  Feb.  27,  and  June  4  of  the  current  year,  and 
also  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal.  It  has  a  capacity  of  about 
14,000  hp,  and  was  designed  and  built  to  illustrate  the  best  practice 
in  plants  of  such  size.  The  equipment  must  be  removed  at  the 
close  of  the  exposition  and  will  be  sold  in  whole  or  in  part  for 
immediate  delivery  when  the  Fair  is  over.  It  was  designed  and 
installed  by  Westinghouse,  Church,  Kerr  &  Company,  of  New  York, 
who  will  dispose  of  it,  and  has  demonstrated  its  efficiency  by  con- 
tinuing in  steady  operation  for  twenty-four  hours  a  day  since  the 
opening  of  the  Exposition. 

The  equipment  was  all  new  and  has  been  used  just  enough  to 
insure  the  good  condition  of  all  parts.  The  present  purpose  of 
calling  attention  to  this  sale  is  to  make  known  the  great  variety 
of  equipment  which  central  stations  will  be  able  to  secure.  There 
are  four  vertical  cross-compound  engines,  with  38- in,  and  76-in, 
cylinders,  54-in.  stroke,  fitted  with  Monarch  safety  stops.  Two 
of  these  engines  are  direct  connected  to  General  Electric  2000-kw 
generators,  and  two  of  them  to  Westinghouse  generators  of  the 
same  capacity.  These  are  three-phase,  25-cycle,  6600-volt  machines 
of  the  revolving  field  pattern.  Steam  is  furnished  by  sixteen  400- 
hp  Babcock  &  Wilcox  boilers  equipped  with  Roney  stokers. 

The  auxiliary  apparatus  will  probably  be  particularly  attractive 
to  a  large  number  of  central  station  managers.  It  includes  a 
Worthington  Admiralty  pattern  boiler  feed  pump,  twro  Worthington 
compound  feed  pumps,  two  Cochrane  feed-water  heaters  and  puri- 
fiers, four  14-  ft.  mechanical  draft  fans,  each  driven  by  a  Chandler 
&  Taylor  automatic  engine,  two  Worthington  elevated  jet  con- 
densers, a  Worthington  vertical  dry  vacuum  pump  and  two  Wor- 
thington horizontal  fly-wheel  vacuum  pumps,  sixteen  Seymour  fans 
driven  by  a  Westinghouse  compound  engine,  three  Worthington 
volute  centrifugal  pumps,  three  Westinghouse  80-kw  exciter  units, 
a  switchboard  and  all  the  appurtenances,  and  a  40-ton.  80-ft,  3- 
motor  Niles-Bement-Pond  crane.  Tn  addition  there  is  a  large 
amount  of  steam  and  water  piping,  valves,  gages,  traps  and  appara- 
tus used  in  the  I  Tolly  system  for  returning  condensed  water  to 
the  boilers. 


496 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  RAILWAYS  COMPANY  GENERAL 


The  report  of  the  Railways  Company  General  for  the  year  ended 
June  30,  1904,  has  just  been  made  public.  It  shows  earnings  as 
follows : 

1904  1903 

Income  for  year   $45,901  $7S>532 

Expenses,  rent,  taxes,  etc   7,482  7,445 

Net  profit    $38,419  $68,087 

Previous  surplus    85,957  17.870 

Total  surplus    $124,376  $85,957 

The  general  balance  sheet  as  of  June  30,  1904,  compares  as  fol- 
lows : 

ASSETS 

1904  1903 

Cash    $84,639  $30,076 

Due  from  sub.  companies   60,990  108,419 

Bonds  sub.  companies   787,300  593,132 

Capital  stock  sub.  companies   242,723  256,090 

Other  securities  owned   284,459  120,825 

Sundry  underwritings    24,500  183,865 

Furniture,  fixtures,  etc   1,910  4,366 

Capital  stock  R.  Co.  Gen.  in  hands  of  trust  34.000  34,000 

Unpaid  stock  sub   28,000  28,000 

Total    $1,548,522  $1,358,677 

LIABILITIES 

Capital  stock   $1,200,000  $1,200,000 

Notes  due                                                   224,145  72,917 

Surplus                                                       124,377  85,957 

Total    $1,548,522  $1,358,677 

President  E.  R.  Dick,  in  his  annual  report,  says : 
"The  net  operations  of  the  various  trolley  lines  owned  and  con- 
trolled by  this  company  have  been  unsatisfactory.  The  unprece- 
dented severity  of  the  last  winter,  especially  in  Michigan,  caused  a 
loss  in  receipts  accompanied  by  heavy  increased  expense  for  opera- 
tion. The  necessity  of  improvements  to  the  Michigan  Traction 
Company,  added  to  expenditures  forced  upon  that  company  by  the 
cities  of  Kalamazoo  and  Battle  Creek,  required  the  expenditure  of 
$164,191.  The  Michigan  Traction  Company  has  been  compelled  to 
build  various  extensions  in  Michigan,  and,  in  order  to  secure  a  first 
mortgage  bond  that  would  be  collateral,  the  Michigan  Traction  Ex- 
tension Company  was  organized  and  all  new  mileage  constructed 
under  its  charter.  The  entire  capital  stock  of  the  Michigan  Trac- 
tion Extension  Company  was  delivered  to  the  Michigan  Traction 
Company  in  consideration  of  the  Traction  Company  leasing  the 
Extension  Company  under  a  lease,  the  terms  of  which  guarantee 
interest  on  the  Extension  Company's  bonds.  As  the  entire  capital 
stock  of  the  Extension  Company  is  owned  by  the  Traction  Com- 
pany, all  earnings  would  go  into  the  treasury  of  the  Michigan  Trac- 
tion Company.  As  additional  security  for  the  Traction  Extension 
loan,  the  second  mortgage  bonds  of  the  Michigan  Traction  Com- 
pany have  been  deposited  with  the  trustee  of  the  Extension  mort- 
gage. 

"For  the  various  sums  advanced  for  improvements,  extensions 
and  equipment,  there  have  been  delivered  to  the  Michigan  Traction 
Company  first  mortgage  collateral  trust  bonds  of  the  Michigan 
Traction  Extension  Company  amounting  to  $326,000.  which  are 
held  in  the  treasury  of  the  Railways  Company  General.  The  new 
mileage  built  during  the  last  year  has  resulted  in  considerable  in- 
crease of  gross  earnings,  while  the  additional  equipment  and  im- 
provements to  the  property  have  resulted  in  a  considerable  decrease 
in  the  ratio  of  operating  expenses,  so  that,  in  case  no  ill  luck  such  as 
the  severity  of  last  winter  takes  place,  it  is  probable  that  the  Michi- 
gan Traction  Company  will  not  only  be  self-supporting,  but  will 
begin  to  pay  back  to  the  Railways  Company  General  the  money 
which  the  latter  has  been  compelled  to  advance  in  past  years. 

"In  answer  to  inquiries  from  various  directions  as  to  the  unsat- 
isfactory showing  made  by  the  Railways  Company  General,  the 
management  can  only  state  that  the  operation  of  small  indepen- 
dent trolley  lines  would  seem  to  be  as  difficult  and  as  unsuccessful 
as  the  operation  of  the  small  independent  steam  lines  as  they  ex- 
isted thirty  years  ago,  and  that  practical  results  will  not  be  realized 
until  consolidations  are  forced  upon  them  either  by  bankruptcy 
proceedings  or  by  amicable  agreement  between  the  various  con- 
necting lines,  and  further,  the  absolute  impossibility  of  selling  to 
the  investing  public  the  bonds  of  these  small  trolley  lines,  makes 
it  necessary  for  any  surplus  over  and  above  their  bonds  to  be  put 


back  into  the  property  in  order  to  make  improvements  and  exten- 
sions required  by  the  normal  growth  of  the  companies. 

"The  policy  of  your  management  is,  if  possible,  to  arrange  for 
the  consolidation  of  the  various  controlled  trolley  lines  in  order 
that  net  returns  shall  improve  and  the  present  unsalable  securities 
in  the  treasury  of  the  company  be  replaced  by  those  that  can  be 
negotiated.''' 


AMERICAN  LIGHT  &  TRACTION  REPORT 


The  American  Light  &  Traction  Company  reports  for  the  period 
extending  from  July  t,  1901,  to  July  31,  1904,  as  follows:  Earnings 
on  stock  owned,  $2,735,105 ;  interest  on  loans,  etc.,  $249,891 ;  gross 
earnings,  $2,984,996;  expenses,  $72,282;  net  earnings,  $2,912,714; 
dividends  paid  on  preferred  stock  (6  per  cent),  $1,549,167;  un- 
divided profits,  $1,363,547. 

The  statement  of  assets  and  liabilities  as  of  Aug.  1,  1904,  shows: 
Assets — Stocks  of  subsidiary  companies  owned  (cost)  $12,244,595; 
bonds,  $100,345;  bills  receivable,  $1,651,977;  earnings  (due  A.  L. 
&  T.  Co.),  $961,197;  interest,  $20,441;  miscellaneous  stocks  owned 
(cost),  $99,104;  office  furniture  and  fixtures,  $1,025;  cash  on  hand, 
$362,562;  total,  $15,441,247.  Liabilities — Preferred  stock,  $9,396,- 
900;  common  stock  outstanding,  $4,680,800;  undivided  profits  to 
date,  $1,363,547;  total,  $15,441,247. 

The  company  has  not  yet  published  separately  its  statement  of 
earnings  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  July  31,  last,  but  by  adding  the 
results  of  operations  for  the  two  last  preceding  years  and  deduct- 
ing the  totals  from  those  contained  in  the  current  statement  for 
three  years  the  following  results  are  arrived  at  for  1904 : 

1904.  1903.  Increase. 

Gross  earnings    $1,099,600     $1,092,063  $7,537 

Operating  expenses    27,135  25,078  2,057 

Net  earnings    $1,072,465     $1,066,985  $5,480 

Preferred  dividends    563,815         528,337  35,478 

Surplus    $508,650       $538,648  *$29,998 

*Decrease. 

The  surplus  for  the  year  is  equal  to  approximately  11  per  cent 
on  the  $4,680,800  outstanding  common  stock. 



THE  GREAT  FALLS  &  OLD  DOMINION  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY 


The  grading  of  the  Great  Falls  &  Old  Dominion  Electric  Rail- 
road is  completed  for  half  the  distance  between  Washington  and 
Great  Falls.  The  distance  covered  by  the  graded  roadbed  is  7^4 
miles,  reaching  to  a  point  between  Lewinsville  and  Langley.  The 
rails  have  been  laid  across  the  Aqueduct  bridge  and  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  bridge  accomplished  at  a  cost  of  $60,000.  Many  addi- 
tional supports  had  to  be  put  in,  and  over  the  canal,  on  the  west 
side,  a  complete  truss  was  built  to  insure  the  safety  of  the  struc- 
ture. At  the  southern  end  of  the  bridge  a  large  fill  has  been  made, 
widening  the  approach  to  the  bridge,  so  that  there  will  be  plenty  of 
room  for  the  new  tracks  without  interfering  with  traffic  on  the  road- 
way. A  large  excavation  has  been  made  in  the  hillside  at  the 
Virginia  end  of  the  bridge,  wherein  a  car  shed  or  freight  station 
will  be  erected.  The  power  house  will  be  constructed  at  the  base 
of  the  hill  east  of  Rosslyn,  near  the  Potomac,  where  the  Baltimore 
&  Ohio  Railroad  will  run  in  a  siding  to  supply  coal  direct  at  the 
plant.  The  scope  of  many  of  the  details  of  the  work  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  decision  of  the  question  whether  the  company  will 
be  permitted  to  run  its  proposed  crosstown  line  in  the  district.  If 
the  franchise  is  granted  the  trackage  arrangements  will  be  different 
from  those  contemplated  for  the  road  without  city  connections. 
If  the  line  is  to  be  suburban  solely,  the  trains  from  Virginia  will 
be  run  across  the  bridge  to  the  base  of  the  wall  at  the  foot  of 
Thirty-Seventh  Street,  from  which  they  will  have  to  be  backed 
out  again.  But  if  the  crosstown  line  becomes  a  reality,  the  city 
cars  will  run  across  the  bridge  and  around  a  loop  on  the  Virginia 
side,  and  the  suburban  cars  will  stop  at  a  passenger  station  which 
will  be  erected  there.  Incoming  and  outgoing  passengers  would  be 
transferred  from  one  line  to  the  other  under  the  shelter  of  this 
station.  On  the  portion  of  the  grading  yet  to  be  accomplished 
there  will  be  four  bridges,  besides  a  viaduct  400  ft.  long  at  Difficult 
Run.  This  viaduct  will  reach  an  altitude  of  60  ft.  at  the  highest 
point.  Bids  have  been  received  for  the  completion  of  the  balance 
of  this  work,  and  the  contract  will  probably  be  awarded  this  month. 


October  i,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


497 


CONTRACT  AWARDED  FOR  NEW  PENNSYLVANIA  LINE 

The  Scranton,  Factoryville  &  Tunkhannock  Electric  Railway 
Company  has  given  the  contract  for  the  building  and  equipping  of 
30  miles  of  line  from  North  Main  Avenue,  Scranton,  to  Tunkhan- 
nock, via.  Factoryville,  Clark's  Green,  Glenburn,  Dalton  and  La 
Plume,  with  a  spur  to  Lake  Minola,  to  the  American  Limestone 
&  Cement  Company,  a  Pennsylvania  corporation,  for  the  sum  of 
$950,000.  The  line  will  be  built  over  private  right  of  way,  all  of 
which  has  been  secured,  and  will  carry  freight  as  well  as  passen- 
gers. Construction  work  will  not  be  commenced  before  next  spring. 
A  station  will  be  built  on  North  Main  Avenue,  Scranton,  within  50 
ft.  of  the  line  of  the  Scranton  Railway  Company.  Eventually 
the  line  is  to  be  extended  to  Williamsport.  Among  those  interested 
in  the  new  company  are  Deputy  Attorney-General  Fleitz,  James  P. 
Dickson,  J.  P.  Suisher  and  L.  P.  Carter,  of  Scranton.  The  officers 
of  the  American  Limestone  &  Cement  Company,  whose  plant  is  at 
Turbotsville,  Pa.,  are:  C.  D.  Eaton,  of  Berwick,  president;  J.  H. 
Catterall,  of  Berwick,  vice-president  and  secretary ;  Harry  E.  Long, 
treasurer ;  L.  D.  Dodge,  general  manager ;  W.  C.  Farrington,  gen- 
eral superintendent. 



EXHIBIT  OF  THERMIT  RAIL  WELDING  IN  ST.  LOUIS 


The  Goldschmidt  Thermit  Company  has  arranged  to  give  daily 
exhibitions  of  its  system  of  rail-joint  welding  during  the  con- 
ventions at  St.  Louis,  Oct.  10  to  15.  These  demonstrations  will 
be  given  in  a  space  adjoining  the  exhibit  of  the  company,  which 
is  in  the  Metals  Pavilion,  opposite  the  south  corner  of  the  Mines 
and  Metallurgy  Building,  and,  if  necessary,  more  than  one  exhi- 
bition will  be  given  each  day.  The  company  wishes  to  demon- 
strate in  this  way  to  those  delegates  who  have  not  seen  a  thermit 
reaction,  the  simplicity  and  quickness  of  the  process. 

 +++  

TERRIBLE  ACCIDENT  TO  AN  ELECTRIC  CAR  NEAR  BOSTON 


An  outward  bound  electric  car  from  Boston  to  Melrose,  Mass., 
containing  thirty-two  passengers,  was  blown  to  pieces  at  8  o'clock 
Wednesday  evening,  Sept.  21,  near  the  corner  of  Wyoming  Avenue 
and  Main  Street,  Melrose,  by  striking  a  50-lb.  box  of  dynamite  that 
had  fallen  off  an  express  wagon. 

Six  persons  were  killed,  three  more  died  of  their  injuries  within 
an  hour,  and  nineteen  others  on  the  car  were  taken  to  the  two  hos- 
pitals suffering  from  all  sorts  of  wounds.  At  least  a  score  of 
people  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  explosion  were  treated  for 
cuts  from  flying  glass  and  splinters. 

The  driver  of  the  express  wagon,  when  he  discovered  that  the 
box  had  dropped  off,  rushed  back  to  get  it,  but  before  he  got  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  box  the  car  came  along  and  was  blown  up. 



CHICAGO  TUNNELS  AND  LOCAL  TRANSPORTATION 


The  Chicago  tunnels  having  been  ordered  lowered  by  an  Act 
of  Congress  because  of  the  obstruction  they  offer  to  navigation, 
the  city  of  Chicago  is  now  taking  steps  to  accomplish  this.  This 
is  a  matter  in  which  the  street  railway  companies  are  vitally  inter- 
ested, as  they  occupy  all  the  tunnels  with  tracks.  Two  of  these 
tunnels  are  owned  by  the  city,  and  the  third  by  one  of  the  com- 
panies. The  idea  is  to  have  the  tunnels  vacant  so  that  they  can 
be  removed  or  altered  by  Jan.,  1905.  The  local  transportation 
committee  has  been  submitted  two  reports  by  experts  on  problems 
connected  with  tunnel  lowering.  One  of  these,  by  George  W.  Jack- 
son, one  of  the  prominent  engineers  of  Chicago,  relates  especially 
to  the  tunnel  lowering  proposition,  and  the  other  report,  by  George 
A.  Yuille,  with  whom  street  railway  men  are  familiar,  relates  to 
the  routes  for  cars  and  methods  of  operating  after  tunnels  shall 
have  been  abandoned.  The  report  of  George  W.  Jackson  recom- 
mends the  abandonment  of  the  La  Salle  and  Washington  Street 
tunnels  and  their  destruction.  He  takes  the  position  that  it  would 
cost  more  to  lower  the  tunnels  and  widen  them  than  to  destroy 
the  old  tunnels  altogether  and  build  new  tunnels  either  in  the  pres- 
ent locations  or  on  other  streets.  Pie  favors  the  construction  of 
new  double  roadway  tunnels  having  grades  not  to  exceed  4  per 
cent  to  take  the  place  of  the  present  tunnels.  A  new  subway  could 
be  constructed  at  either  Clark  or  Dearborn  or  at  La  Salle  Street, 
if  necessary,  though  extra  precautions  would  have  to  be  taken  at 
La  Salle  Street  properly  to  protect  the  city's  present  water  tunnel. 
In  other  respects  the  construction  at  La  Salle  Street  would  be 


easier  owing  to  the  unobstructed  condition  of  the  river  as  compared 
with  either  Clark  or  Dearborn  Streets.  The  cost  of  destroying  the 
La  Salle  and  Washington  Street  tunnels,  filling  the  approaches  with 
clean  sand,  and  constructing  bulkheads  inside  of  the  established 
dock  lines  in  the  tunnels,  he  estimates  at  $155,000.  The  cost  of  a 
subway  2800  feet  in  length  at  either  Dearborn,  Clark  or  La  Salle 
Streets  is  estimated  at  $1,170,000,  and  the  cost  of  a  similar  subway 
at  Washington,  Madison  or  Monroe  Streets,  $1,090,000.  He  sub- 
mits plans  for  subway  loops  connecting  the  north  and  west  sides  of 
the  down-town  district.  These  plans,  however,  are  somewhat  ten- 
tative, as  the  exact  routes  across  the  river,  he  states,  can  be  altered 
He  concludes  with  the  following  recommendations : 

"1st.  That  the  La  Salle  and  Washington  Street  tunnels  be  de- 
stroyed immediately,  and  that  bascule  bridges  be  constructed  as 
soon  as  practical  at  these  points. 

"2d.  My  opinion  is  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  a  comprehensive 
subway  system,  as  well  as  modern  double  roadway  bascule  bridges 
located  about  St.  Clair  Street  for  boulevard  purposes ;  at  La  Salle 
Street,  Franklin  Street.Washington-  Street  and  Monroe  Street.  The 
rapid  opening  and  closing  of  the  modern  lift  bridges  reduces  to  a 
minimum  the  delay  of  traffic  crossing  the  river,  and  navigation  in  the 
river  as  compared  to  the  old  style  draw-bridge.  Five  new  bridges  can 
be  built  for  an  amount  not  exceeding  two  million  dollars  ($2,000.- 
000),  including  about  foity-five  hundred  (4500)  ft.  of  viaduct." 

He  says :  "In  conclusion,  I  beg  leave  to  suggest  that  plans  be 
drawn  for  a  comprehensive  traction  subway  of  terminal  loops  to 
provide  for  the  handling  of  all  traffic  between  Michigan  Avenue, 
Halsted  Street,  Twelfth  Street  and  Chicago  Avenue,  my  opinion 
being  that  if  a  traction  subway  is  to  be  built,  it  should  be  planned 
on  a  scale  sufficient  to  meet  the  city's  future  needs.  The  construc- 
tion of  two  new  tunnels  to  take  the  place  of  the  present  tunnels 
will  afford  no  additional  advantages  in  the  matter  of  relieving 
the  congestion  in  the  down-town  district,  unless  bascule  bridges 
are  built'  at  various  points  and  a  number  of  surface  car  lines  re- 
routed. The  La  Salle  and  Washington  Street  tunnels  were  con- 
structed about  thirty-five  years  ago,  when  the  city  had  less  than  a 
fourth  of  its  present  population.  If  the  tunnels  were  necessary 
then  to  meet  the  needs  of  transportation,  it  seems  evident  that  they 
must  be  supplanted  with  new  bridges  or  a  comprehensive  traction 
subway  system  of  loops  in  the  territory  described. 

The  report  submitted  by  George  A.  Yuille  gave  a  plan  for  oper- 
ating cars  from  the  north  and  west  sides  into  the  down-town  dis- 
trict after  the  down-town  cable  loops  are  abandoned  because  of  the 
removal  of  the  tunnels.  This  plan  is  to  haul  the  cable  trailers  be- 
hind short  electric  motor  cars  from  points  short  distances  north 
and  west  of  the  river.  The-  receivers  of  the  Chicago  Union  Trac- 
tion Company  object  to  this  plan  because  of  the  difficulty  of  oper- 
ating electric  motor  cars  with  trailers  in  the  down-town  district 
and  up  the  grades  approaching  the  bridges,  and  wish  to  string 
trolley  over  the  cable  lines  and  handle  all  traffic  with  regular  elec- 


NEW  YORK,  NEW  HAVEN  &  HARTFORD  BUYS  ANOTHER 
ELECTRIC  ROAD-NEGOTIATING  FOR  STILL  MORE 


The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  pursuing  its 
policy  of  buying  street  railway  lines  which  parallel  its  existing 
tracks,  and  which  are  becoming  dangerous  competitors  for  pas- 
senger traffic,  bought,  Sept.  22,  the  Worcester  &  Blackstone  Valley 
Street  Railway,  a  road  17  miles  long  running  between  Worcester 
and  Whitinsville.  The  purchase  price  has  not  been  made  public. 
The  road  was  started  in  1895,  and  before  cars  were  put  in  opera- 
tion it  went  into  the  hands  of  receivers.  Four  years  ago  it  came 
under  the  control  of  Matthew  J.  Whittall,  of  Worcester,  Mass., 
and  since  that  time  it  has  been  extended  and  conducted  success- 
fully. When  the  property  was  sold,  the  old  officers  all  resigned 
and  were  replaced  by  men  whose  names  have  not  been  announced. 

The  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  is  said  to  be 
negotiating  for  the  purchase  of  the  Middletown  Street  Railway, 
of  Middletown,  Conn.  It  is  said  that  the  company  will,  if  it 
secures  control  of  the  Middletown  Company,  extend  the  Portland 
line  to  connect  with  the  line  from  South  Glastonbury  into  Hartford, 
and  thus  lay  the  foundation  for  a  belt  line  on  both  sides  of  the 
river.  It  is  said  they  will  also  get  possession  of  the  charter  now 
held  for  a  line  from  the  end  of  the  Wethersfield  line  to  Middletown 
by  way  of  Cromwell  and  that  the  cars  will  cross  on  the  Air  line, 
instead  of  on  the  highway  bridge,  where  an  extra  toll  of  3  cents 
is  now  charged,  so  that  travel  is  greatly  restricted.  It  is  also  said 
that  a  line  is  planned  for  East  Hampton.  It  is  desirable  to  have 
the  Middletown  Street  Railway  Company's  lines  in  order  to  carry 
out  the  plan  to  build  from  Hartford  to  Middletown. 


498 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  14. 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  TACOMA 


W.  S.  DIMMOCK 


An  interesting  example  of  several  different  types  of  railways 
which  are  successfully  operated  under  one  management  is  that  of 
Tacoma,  Wash.,  where  the  Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company 
and  the  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway  Company  have  the  same 
managing  officials.  These  properties  cofnbine  cable,  trolley,  third- 
rail  and  steam  lines,  operating  passenger  and  freight  business  over 
city,  suburban  and  interurban  roads.  The  general  management 
is  vested  in  Stone  &  Webster,  of  Boston,  the  owners,  but  the  active 
and  detailed  control  of  the  systems  is  in  the  capable  hands  of  W. 
S.  Dimmock,  who  occupies 
the  position  of  manager  in 
both  companies.  The  diver- 
sity of  the  lines  and  the 
variety  of  equipment  and  ser- 
vice call  for  a  careful  con- 
sideration of  details  and  a 
broad  and  liberal  policy  with 
employees  and  the  public,  and 
Mr.  Dimmock's  wide  experi- 
ence has  specially  fitted  him 
for  the  work.  He  was  for- 
merly connected  with  steam 
road  operation  and  entered 
the  electric  railway  field  in 
1892,  in  Omaha,  where  he 
was  general  manager  of  the 
Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  and 
the  Omaha  &  Southern  Rail- 
ways   for    about    six  years. 

In  1900  he  left  Omaha  and  assumed  the  general  management 
of  the  Richmond  Passenger  &  Power  Company,  of  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  controlling  lines  in  Richmond  and  Petersburg 
and  an  interurban  road  between  the  two  cities.  Pie  left 
this  position  in  July,  1901,  to  go  with  Stone  &  Webster,  of 
Boston,  and  a  month  later  was  appointed  manager  of  the  Tacoma 
Railway  &  Power  Company,  at  Tacoma,  Wash.  In  January  of  the 
following  year,  in  addition  to  the  duties  with  the  Tacoma  system, 
he  was  made  manager  of  the  third-rail  Seattle  &  Tacoma  Inter- 
urban Railway,  which  had  commenced  operation  in  Sept.,  1901, 
and  is  now  known  as  the  Puget  Sound  Electric  Railway. 

The  growth  of  a  heavy  freight  traffic  between  the  two  companies 
demanded  a  change  of  the  gage  of  the  Tacoma  lines  from  3  ft. 
6  ins.  to  standard  gage,  and  this  work,  involving  87  miles  of  track, 
has  been  successfully  and  economically  carried  out  during  the  past 
year.  The  alterations  involved  changing  all  the  trucks  and  splic- 
ing the  axles,  and  this  work  has  been  done  in  the  shops  of  the 
Tacoma  Railway  &  Power  Company.  The  widening  of  the  gage 
has  given  the  company  an  opportunity  to  improve  its  roadbed,  and 
there  is  hardly  a  rail  in  use  that  was  in  place  two  years  ago. 
Double-truck  modern  cars  have  replaced  the  single-truck  cars  for- 
merly in  use,  and  in  many  cases  two  old  16-ft.  cars  have  been 
spliced  to  form  a  large  and  serviceable  double-truck  car. 

On  the  suburban  lines  of  the  Tacoma  Railway  a  large  freight 
business  has  been  developed,  lumber,  cord  wood  and  coal  being 
hauled  in  car  load  lots.  The  freight  business  on  the  Puget  Sound 
Electric  Railway  between  Tacoma  and  Seattle  is  handled  in  exact 
accordance  with  steam  road  methods  and  has  reached  good  propor- 
tions. All  the  freight  equipment  is  of  standard  steam  road  con- 
struction. In  connection  with  the  main  third-rail  line  is  a  logging 
road  branch  which  is  operated  by  steam  locomotives. 

A  novel  feature  of  the  freight  business  of  the  interurban  is  a  re- 
frigerator line,  which  lias  recently  been  established  for  a  meat  pack- 
ing company  in  Tacoma.  Exceedingly  large  cars  are  used,  they 
being  of  sufficient  height  to  allow  the  beef,  which  is  dressed  in 
halves,  to  be  run  in  on  tracks  and  suspended  vertically.  Two  of 
these  cars  are  now  in  use,  and  eight  more  are  being  built.  This 
service  is  an  unusual  one  for  an  electric  railway,  but  it  is  being 
carried  on  very  successfully. 

"Mr.  Dimmock  is  now  on  a  tour  of  the  Eastern  cities. 


STREET  RAILWAY  PATENTS 


[This  department  is  conducted  by  Rosenbaum  &  Stockbridge, 
patent  attorneys.  140  Nassau  Street,  New  York.]  , 

UNITED  STATES  PATENTS  ISSUED  SEPT.  20,  1904 
770,464.  Convertible  Car ;  Walter  H.  Hoven,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah.  App.  filed  June  29,  1904.  Consists  of  windows  filling  the 
spaces  between  the  side  posts,  and  each  consisting  of  an  upper  and 
a  lower  sash,  the  lower  sash  being  adapted  to  be  pushed  upward 
beside  the  upper  sash,  and  both  sashes  adapted  to  be  swung  upon 
a  hinge  inward  and  upward  and  attached  to  the  ceiling  of  the  car. 


The  cross-seats  have  a  removable  section  in  the  middle  to  provide 
an  aisle  extending  throughout  the  length  of  the  car. 

770,698.  Railway  Car;  Isaac  W.  Phelps,  New  Bedford,  Mass. 
App.  filed  Nov.  21,  1903.  Hangers  pivoted  to  one  side  of  the  car 
and  to  a  longitudinally- extending  guard  rail,  are  so  located  as  to 
normally  support  the  rails  between  the  side  standards  of  the  car 
and  the  grab  handles,  and  a  lug  and  catch  for  securing  the  rail 
in  either  raised  or  lowered  position. 


PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  HOWARD  FRAVEL,  superintendent,  and  Claude  Conelo, 
master  mechanic  of  the  Dayton  &  Western  Traction  Company,  of 
Dayton,  Ohio,  have  resigned  from  the  company. 

MR.  JACOB  HILL  BYRNE,  secretary  of  the  Lancaster  &  York 
Furnace  Electric  Railway  Company,  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  was  mar- 
ried last  week  in  Lancaster  to  Miss  M.  Deborah  Allwein,  of  that 
city. 

MR.  GEORGE  G.  MULHERN,  formerly  general  superin- 
tendent of  the  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  has  resigned 
as  a  director  of  the  company,  and,  it  is  stated,  has  sold  his  stock 
111  the  company.  His  resignation  as  director  has  been  accepted, 
but  his  place  has  not  been  filled.  Mr.  Mulhern  is  candidate  for 
Sheriff  of  Cuyahoga  County  on  the  Republican  ticket. 

MR.  A.  W.  BRADY  has  been  elected  president  of  the  Indiana 
Union  Traction  Company  and  the  Indianapolis  Northern  Traction 
Company  to  succeed  Mr.  George  F.  McCulloch,  who  tendered  his 
resignation  at  a  meeting  of  the  directors  held  in  Philadelphia  last 
week.  Mr.  Brady  has  been  general  counsel  as  well  as  vice-presi- 
dent of  both  companies,  and  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  prop- 
erties and  the  duties  of  his  new  office.  Mr.  McCulloch  has  been 
elected  president  of  the  boards  of  directors  of  the  companies,  and 
will  continue  to  be  identified  with  their  management.  Mr.  Brady 
will  reside  in  Anderson.  Mr.  W.  Kelsey  Schoepf,  of  Cincinnati, 
was  elected  vice-president  and  Mr.  W.  C.  Sampson  re-elected  secre- 
tary-treasurer. 

MR.  THOS.  FARMER,  for  the  past  year  superintendent  of  the 
G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Company,  and  previously  superintendent  of  mo- 
tive power  of  the  Detroit  United  Railway  Company,  has  opened 
an  engineering  office  in  the  Electric  Building,  Cleveland.  It  is 
Mr.  Farmer's  intention  to  make  a  specialty  of  inspecting  cars  in 
process  of  construction  at  the  various  car  manufacturing  plants,  and 
if  desired,  to  furnish  specifications  under  which  they  are  to  be  built. 
This  is  a  branch  of  engineering  that  has  never  been  specialized  by 
any  individual  or  firm,  but  is  one  for  which  Mr.  Farmer  is  especially 
trained.  In  addition  to  his  connection  with  the  Kuhlman  Company, 
be  held  the  position  of  superintendent  of  motive  power  and  car 
shops  of  the  Detroit  United  Railways  for  a  period  of  nine  years, 
and  the  experience  gained  in  that  time  in  practical  operation  of 
rolling  stock,  coupled  with  previous  experience  in  car  building, 
makes  him  exceptionally  well  fitted  to  prepare  the  work  which  he 
has  undertaken.  Mr.  Farmer  already  has  the  clientage  of  a  number 
of  the  large  roads,  some  of  which  have  abandoned  their  old  manner 
of  inspection  in  favor  of  the  methods  he  presents,  which  cover 
among  other  good  points  a  daily  report  to  the  purchaser  as  to  the 
progress  of  the  work.  Mr.  Farmer  was  the  founder  and  first 
president  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical  As- 
sociation, and  is  also  a  member  of  the  Detroit  Engineering  Society. 

MR.  OLIVER  SHIRAS,  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  popu- 
lar of  the  representatives  of  the  British  Westinghouse  Company  in 
England,  has  resigned  his  position  with  that  company  and  has  re- 
turned to  New  York  to  take  up  an  important  new  position  as 
electrical  superintendent  of  parent  and  subsiduary  companies  of 
the  International  Nickel  Company,  of  New  York.  Mr.  Shiras  has 
been  in  England  for  about  four  years,  having  occupied  the  position 
as  manager  of  one  of  the  branch  offices  of  the  British  Westing- 
house  Company,  during  which  time  he  has  become  extremely  well 
known  and  popular  with  electrical  engineers  and  managers  of  tram- 
way companies  in  that  country.  Mr.  Shiras  was  graduated  from 
Cornell  University  in  June,  1897,  taking  the  degree  of  mechanical 
and  electrical  engineer,  afterwards,  up  to  the  year  1900,  acting  as 
assistant  to  the  chief  engineer  of  the  New  York  Telephone  Com- 
pany. Mr.  Shiras,  when  in  England,  acted  as  president  of  the 
Cornell  Club,  of  London,  and  was  recently  given  a  dinner  by  that 
association,  at  which  were  present  about  seventy-five  of  his  most 
intimate  associates  and  friends,  who  gave  him  a  most  hearty  send 
off,  and  indulged  to  their  hearts'  content  in  the  Cornell  yell,  a  pro- 
ceeding which  seemed  to  take  his  English  friends  by  storm.  The 
meeting  was  presided  over  by  Mr.  J.  G.  White,  of  New  York  and 
London,  and  many  speeches  were  made  expressing  great  regret  at 
Mr.  Shiras'  departure  for  iMew  York.  Mr.  Shiras  will  hereafter 
have  his  headquarters  at  3  Exchange  Place,  New  York. 


INDEXED 

Street  (Railway  Journal 

Vol.  XXIV.  NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  8,  3  904.  No.  15. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago:    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    92S>  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:    Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,   Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 


Cable  Address,  "'Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn.  London"— Lieber's  Code 

used. 

ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 
Entered  as  second-class  matter  at  the  New  York  Post  Office. 


EDITORIAL  NOTICE 

Street  railway  news,  and  all  information  regarding  changes  of  officers,  new 
equipments,  extensions,  financial  changes  and  new  enterprises  will  be  greatly 
appreciated  for  use  in  these  columns. 

All  matter  intended  for  publication  must  be  received  at  our  office  not  later 
than  Tuesday  morning  of  each  week,  in  order  to  secure  insertion  in  the 
current  issue. 

Address  all  communications  to 

STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 
114  Liberty  Street,  New  York. 


Our  Twentieth  Anniversary 

With  this  issue  the  Street  Railway  Journal  is  twenty 
years  old.  Our  first  number  was  published  in  November,  1884, 
at  the  dawn  of  the  electric  railway  industry,  and  the  paper  has 
grown  in  size  and  importance  continually  since  that  time  with 
the  motive  power  whose  development  it  has  so  faithfully  chron- 
icled. We  may  perhaps  be  pardoned  if,  at  the  outset  of  this,  the 
largest  number  ever  published  of  any  technical  or  trade  paper, 
we  refer  to  the  differences  between  this  publication  now  and 
twenty  years  ago.  The  change  from  less  than  500  annual  pages 
to  nearly  7000  was  not  made  suddenly,  but  like  that  of  the  elec- 
tric railway  industry,  was  a  gradual  development,  accompanied 
by  a  painstaking  effort  to  serve  the  street  railway  companies 
of  the  country  to  the  best  of  our  ability. 


Although  many  of  our  very  early  numbers  were  devoted 
largely  to  the  subject  of  the  horse,  we  tolerated  horse  railroad- 
ing only  for  lack  of  better  things.  It  has  always  been  a  source 
of  pride  with  us  that  we  were  among  the  first  to  recognize  the 
importance  to  both  the  railway  companies  and  the  general  pub- 
lic of  the  introduction  of  improved  motive  power,  and  that  we 
strenuously  advocated  first  the  cable  and  then  electricity  when 
the  first  was  used  only  in  a  few  cities  in  the  far  West  and  the 
latter  was  still  in  the  experimental  stage.  The  work  of 
Sprague.  Van  Depoele  and  other  pioneers  soon  raised 
the  electric  railway  to  a  predominant  position  in  the 
field.  Nevertheless,  the  general  acceptance  of  the  over- 
head system  by  city  councils  and  the  general  public 
in  the  early  days  was  reached  only  after  a  long  and 
arduous  educational  campaign  in  which  this  paper  played  no 
small  part.  Then  followed  the  various  problems  of  operation, 
and  as  each  has  arisen  this  paper  has  attempted  to  assist  in 
their  solution  by  presenting  the  testimony  of  different  experts 
upon  the  topics  under  discussion  and  describing  the  practice 
on  various  roads.  .We  have  been  able  to  do  this  only  through 
the  uniform  courtesy  and  generosity  with  which  street  railway 
managers  have  met  our  requests  for  information.  And  we 
wish  on  this  occasion  to  express  our  appreciation  of  the  great 
assistance  which  we  have  always  received  from  them  and  our 
readers  in  general,  of  their  leniency  toward  our  shortcomings, 
and  the  broad  policy  which  has  always  characterized  them  in 
their  dealings  with  the  technical  press. 

This  Number  and  Its  Contributors 

No  more  fitting  way,  it  has  seemed  to  us,  was  possible  to  com- 
memorate the  twentieth  anniversary  of  this  paper  than  by  the 
publication  of  a  series  of  articles  on  the  achievements  of  those 
early  workers  who  have  made  the  electric  railway  what  it  is  to- 
day. During  the  past  twenty  years  history  has  been  made 
rapidly  and  our  columns  have  been  taxed  to  record  the  progress 
of  events.  During  this  time  both  the  publishers  of  the  paper 
and  its  readers  have  lead  a  strenuous  life.  Neither  has  taken 
much  time — we  certainly  have  not — to  cast  a  look  backward  and 
consider,  even  as  briefly  as  has  been  necessary  in  this  issue,  the 
services  of  those  who  gave  to  the  field  during  the  early  years 
their  best  thought  and  efforts.  Yet  what  a  glorious  record  it  is  ! 
And  how  greatly  has  the  structure  of  the  modern  industry  de- 
pended for  its  stability  upon  the  firm  foundations  of  corpora- 
tion law  and  electrical  science  laid  by  those  pioneers  in  both 
horse  and  electric  traction  of  the  early  days.  It  is  true  failures 
were  encountered,  at  times  progress  was  along  wrong  lines  and 
steps  had  to  be  retraced,  but  as  a  whole  the  development  has 
been  so  rapid  that  the  practice  of  twenty  or  even  ten  years  ago 
seems  now  most  antiquated. 

In  view  of  the  extent  to  which  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Ex- 
position has  been  described  and  illustrated  in  previous  issues 
of  this  paper,  as  well  as  in  the  outside  press,  we  have  not 
thought  that  it  was  necessary  to  devote  any  additional  space 


5  00 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


in  this  issue  to  it.  To  obtain  even  a  superficial  idea  of  its  im- 
portant features,  a  visit  to  St.  Louis  is  necessary,  and  we 
strongly  recommend  such  a  trip  to  all  who  can  possibly  arrange 
it,  as  one  of  the  best  educational  helps  which  this  country  af- 
fords. Our  own  previous  articles  on  the  street  railway  ex- 
hibits at  the  Fair  have  called  attention  to  the  most  important 
objects  of  railway  interest  at  St.  Louis.  We  have  also  de- 
scribed at  considerable  length,  earlier  in  the  year,  the  street 
railway  systems  of  St.  Louis,  so  that  in  the  article  on  them  in 
this  issue  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  do  more  than  describe 
the  general  situation  in  St.  Louis  and  mention  briefly  some  of 
the  most  interesting  features  of  the  system. 

The  Development  of  the  Industry 

The  list  of  contributors  to  this  number  is  so  large  and  each 
is  so  prominent  in  the  field  discussed  by  him  that  no  attempt 
will  be  made  in  this  editorial  to  refer  individually  to  any  of  the 
several  articles.  Nevertheless,  it  might  be  appropriate  to  point 
out  briefly  the  principal  directions  in  which  the  street  railway 
of  to-day  differs  from  that  of  even  a  decade  ago,  when  electric 
traction  had  won  a  predominant  position  in  the  transportation 
field,  but  when  the  methods  of  operation  varied  but  little  from 
those  of  the  preceding  horse  car  days. 

In  the  first  place,  we  see  a  most  striking  difference  in  the 
form  of  street  railway  corporation.  Consolidation  has  been 
the  order  of  the  day,  and  the  cities  in  which  there  is  more  than 
one  organization  supplying  local  street  railway  transportation 
are  now  extremely  rare. 

With  the  increase  in  size  of  the  street  railway  corporations, 
there  has  been  an  increase  rather  than  a  decrease  in  the  atten- 
tion given  to  the  employee  and  the  opportunities  afforded  for 
individuality  and  recognition  of  meritorious  work.  The  dis- 
cipline, or,  to  use  a  better  word,  the  government  of  the  men,  is 
based  now  in  all  progressive  companies  upon  scientific  princi- 
ples. Instead  of  being  one  of  a  large  number  from  whom  a 
mediocre  or  passable  performance  is  expected,  the  modern  man- 
ager gives  every  opportunity  to  each  employee  to  distinguish 
himself  by  meritorious  service,  and  recognition  of  this  kind  is 
often  stimulated  by  prizes  for  the  economical  use  of  current, 
freedom  from  accidents  and  in  other  ways.  The  result  has 
been  to  create,  as  one  writer  in  this  issue  has  happily  put  it,  a 
new  guild  or  craft  of  intelligent,  ambitious  workmen,  which 
cannot  but  have  a  most  important  and  beneficial  effect  on  the 
body  politic. 

Great  as  have  been  the  changes  in  the  human  side  of  the 
electric  railway,  the  improvement  in  the  mechanical  and  elec- 
trical departments  has  advanced  with  equal  steps.  The  cars 
have  grown  longer  and  heavier,  and  the  semi-convertible  type 
has  been  introduced  to  supply  the  demand  for  a  car  which 
would  be  suitable  for  both  summer  and  winter  service.  The 
changes  in  motors  have  been  principally  in  the  direction  of  im- 
proving their  mechanical  construction.  The  track  has  also 
been  made  more  substantial,  although  the  principal  improve- 
ment in  the  permanent  way  department  during  the  last  ten 
years  has  been  in  the  development  of  durable  special  work. 
Power  station  design  has  been  greatly  modified,  and  promises 
to  undergo  still  further  changes  during  the  next  few  succeed- 
ing years.  The  modern  power  station  dates  practically  from 
the  "Intramural"  power  house  of  1893,  at  which  the  first  large 
direct-connected  direct-current  unit  ever  installed  was  put  in 
operation.  The  evolution  of  the  turbine  during  the  past  year 
has  given  an  enormous  incentive  to  the  manufacturers  of  re- 
ciprocating engines  to  supply  the  most  economical  machine 


which  they  can  build,  while  the  gas  engine  looms  up  in  the 
background  as  a  possibly  formidable,  although  as  yet  compara- 
tively untried,  competitor  to  the  reciprocating  and  rotary 
engine. 

One  can  hardly  realize  that  it  is  less  than  eight  years  since 
any  serious  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  uniform  system  of 
accounting,  but  no  review  of  the  development  of  the  industry 
would  be  complete  without  a  reference  at  least  to  this  im- 
portant achievement.  Not  only  have  the  methods  of  account- 
ing been  placed  on  a  scientific  basis,  but  by  the  introduction 
of  the  car-hour  unit  as  well  as  the  car-mile,  the  street  railway 
manager  has  been  afforded  a  double  basis  for  comparison, 
which  experience  has  shown  to  be  extremely  useful. 

Operating  Voltage 

In  possibly  only  one  important  respect  has  there  been  no 
radical  change  in  electric  railway  work  during  the  past  twenty 
years.  Electric  railways  have  steadily  been,  and  still  are,  the 
slaves  of  a  low-working  voltage.  In  fifteen  years  of  enor- 
mously rapid  physical  growth,  during  which  the  electric  motor 
has  revolutionized  rapid  transit  completely,  the  customary  volt- 
age of  operation  has  risen  by  hardly  more  than  10  per  cent  or 
15  per  cent,  unless  one  takes  into  account  the  very  early  and 
quickly  abandoned  trial  of  400  volts.  There  is,  of  course, 
reason  for  this  moderation,  in  that  500  volts,  the  nominal  stand- 
ard, was  for  some  years  assumed  to  be  safe  so  far  as  danger 
to  human  life  was  concerned.  But  while  not  highly  dangerous, 
this  pressure  is  certainly  capable,  as  unfortunate  chances  have 
shown,  of  causing  fatal  results,  although  custom  and  the  stand- 
ardization of  motor  equipments  tend  to  preserve  it  even  up  to 
the  present.  This  moderate  voltage  has  been  thus  retained, 
and  it  constitutes  at  once  a  serious  limitation  and  an  incentive 
for  improved  methods  of  distribution.  It  is  the  old  struggle  of 
the  electric  lighting  industry  over  again,  with  somewhat  simi- 
lar results. 

Large  amounts  of  current  can  be  transmitted  to  motors,  fixed 
or  moving,  only  at  great  expense  for  copper  and  at  great  loss 
of  energy.  Hence,  as  traffic  over  electric  lines  grew  heavier, 
the  problem  of  getting  the  power  to  the  motors  became  pro- 
gressively more  and  more  serious.  But  during  the  early  stages 
of  electric  traction,  while  cars  were  yet  light  and  speeds  low, 
the  simplest  methods  were  reckoned  the  best,  and  additional 
copper  was  installed  when  it  became  necessary.  Before  long, 
electric  roads  began  to  expand  into  the  second  stage  of  their 
development,  passing  from  mere  tramways  to  the  dignity  of  im- 
portant interurban  service,  and  thus  increasing  in  length  to  an 
extent  that  greatly  aggravated  the  difficulties  of  distribution. 

Just  as  this  juncture  began  the  sensational  growth  of  long- 
distance power  transmission,  marked  by  the  advent  of  poly- 
phase apparatus.  Up  to  a  dozen  years  ago,  there  was  no  feasi- 
ble method  available  for  the  transmission  of  power  for  railway 
or  any  other  purposes.  The  best  that  could  be  done  in  a  rail- 
way plant  was  to  raise  the  voltage  and  let  it  go  at  that,  and  as 
lines  grew  longer  this  proved  to  be  an  expensive  remedy.  One 
of  the  early  suggestions  for  relief  was  the  adoption  of  the 
three-wire  distribution  which  had  proved  so  successful  in  light- 
ing work,  with  1000  volts  thus  utilized  for  transmission,  while 
individual  motors  still  worked  at  500  volts.  The  method  was 
tempting,  but  proved  a  failure  in  practice.  Street  car  traffic  is 
so  irregular  in  amount  and  distribution  that  proper  balancing 
has  uniformly  proved  impracticable  for  general  service,  and 
for  lack  of  it  unusual  strains  are  imposed  on  the  motors  and  the 
item  of  repairs  goes  up.    In  fact,  one  has  regretfully  to  write 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


down  the  three-wire  system  as  a  failure  unless  for  some  special 
cases. 

Hut  power  transmission  hy  polyphase  alternating  current  was 
quite  another  matter  and  relieved  electric  traction  from  some 
very  embarrassing  limitations.  The  first  uses  of  power  trans- 
mission, however,  did  not  come  about  through  a  deliberate 
effort  to  reduce  the  difficulties  of  distribution,  but  from  a  sim- 
ple and  natural  desire  to  cut  down  the  cost  of  power  required 
by  a  railway  system,  through  the  substitution  of  transmitted 
hydraulic  power  for  steam  power  in  driving  the  generators. 
To  the  best  of  our  knowledge,  this  was  at  the  Taftville  installa- 
tion a  little  over  ten  years  ago,  and  from  it  sprang  the  im- 
portant system  of  polyphase  distribution  which  has  been 
adopted  on  so  many  roads.  The  rotary  offered  so  simple  and 
direct  a  means  of  getting  current  from  the  transmission  cir- 
cuit that  practically  no  other  attempt  has  ever  been  made  in 
this  countrv  to  work  distribution  sub-stations  in  any  other  way. 
On  long  lines  the  rotary  offered  relief  from  Ohm's  tribute  10 
copper  and  robbed  the  distribution  of  its  terrors  on  interurban 
lines,  and  while  somet:mes  applied  without  sufficient  provoca- 
tion, has  had  a  highly  stimulating  effect  on  the  long-distance 
railway. 

The  Single-Phase  System 

We  do  not  intend  to  discuss  in  this  issue  whether  the  rotary 
converter  is  to  be  relegated  to  the  scrap  pile  or  is  still  to  con- 
stitute an  important  feature  of  our  power  distribution  systems. 
This  subject  was  treated  extensively  at  the  meeting  last  month 
of  the  International  Electrical  Congress,  a  report  of  which  was 
published  in  our  last  issue,  and  was  discussed  editorially  in 
that  and  the  preceding  number.  Independent  of  its  desirability 
or  non-desirability  on  city  systems  or  on  heavy  trunk  lines  run- 
ning a  frequent  service,  it  certainly  can  be  figured  out  that  a 
single-phase  motor  system  presents  many  advantages  in  dis- 
tribution and  can  be  installed  on  long  lines  with  admirable  re- 
sults in  economy.  This  fact,  combined  with  the  ability  of  the 
alternating  equipments  to  work  over  direct-current  distributing 
systems,  will  give  the  system,  in  our  opinion,  a  wide  field  in 
electric  traction  work.  Of  course,  there  is  a  natural  disposi- 
tion to  wait  until  the  roads  first  installed  have  made  a  definite 
showing  of  some  sort,  but  this  fact  only  quickens  one's  interest 
in  results.  One  of  the  strong  points  claimed  for  the  alternating 
system  is  its  very  ready  applicability  to  roads  already  having 
transmission  plants,  and  we  believe  that  the  temptation  to  try 
the  experiment  will  be  very  strong.  Street  railway  men  have 
heretofore  always  displayed  a  very  keen  interest  in  improve- 
ments, and  have  been  by  no  means  slow  to  try  them.  We  shall 
hope  ere  long  to  be  able  to  present  to  our  readers  actual  re- 
sults from  the  single-phase  railway  motors,  and  await  them 
anxiously. 

Very  heavy  traction  service,  with  short  train  intervals,  as 
we  have  already  intimated,  is  governed  by  somewhat  different 
conditions.  There  is  less  objection  to  the  third  rail  and  to  the 
cost  of  labor  of  attendants  at  sub-stations  and  other  circum- 
stances which  are  favorable  to  d.  c.  operation.  Fortunately, 
in  the  New  York  Central  installation  the  adaptability  of  d.  c. 
equipments  to  a  service  of  this  kind  will  be  thoroughly  deter- 
mined, and  we  believe  with  eminently  satisfactory  results.  It 
is  therefore  with  a  feeling  of  confidence  that  the  glorious  record 
of  electric  railway  development  which  we  have  seen  in  the  past 
will  be  continued  in  the  future  that  we  look  forward  to  the 
events  of  the  next  few  years. 

In  this  cursory  review  of  the  present,  we  have  dwelt  per- 
haps more  strongly  on  the  present  status  of  the  a.  c.  motor  and 


the  opportunities  afforded  by  it  for  an  increase  in  operating- 
voltage  than  on  any  other  branch  of  railway  work,  but  it  has 
been  simply  because  this  feature  i>  of  paramount  railway 
interest  at  present.  We  do  not  depreciate  the  efforts  which 
are  being  successfully  made  in  other  fields  of  endeavor,  notably 
in  power  station  design  and  car  construction  ;  each  w  ill  add  its 
quota  to  the  successful  road  of  the  future.  Nor  do  we  believe 
that  the  single-phase  system  is  the  panacea  for  all  of  the  elec- 
trical ills  of  the  railway  industry.  Nevertheless,  we  feel  con- 
fident that  it  will  ultimately  furnish  the  solution  for  many  of 
the  difficulties  in  electrical  distribution  which  we  are  experi- 
encing to-day. 

The  Subway 

As  the  early  part  of  this  volume  is  devoted  to  a  record  of  the 
early  days,  it  seems  quite  appropriate  that  the  later  pages 
should  treat  of  the  present.  No  more  striking  example  of  the 
ability  of  electric  power  to  cope  with  city  transportation  exists 
in  this  country  than  in  the  magnificent  underground  transit 
system  which  is  now  being  completed  in  New  York  City.  The 
publishers  of  this  paper  have  been  fortunate  in  being  able  to 
secure  for  this  issue  an  account  of  the  four  principal  features 
of  the  subway  construction  which  are  interesting  from  a  trans- 
portation standpoint.  The  articles  by  Messrs.  Van  Vleck  and 
Still  well,  respectively,  on  the  power  station  and  electrical  fea- 
tures of  the  system,  and  the  two  articles  on  cars  and  the  block- 
signal  system  which  have  been  built  and  installed  under  the 
direction  of  George  Gibbs  will,  we  are  confident,  prove  of  the 
greatest  engineering  value  to  the  street  railway  industry. 

The  construction  of  the  power  station  for  the  operation  of 
the  subway  involves  man}'  triumphs,  both  in  steam  and  electric 
engineering.  The  plant  is  notable  for  the  interesting  arrange- 
ment of  coal  bunkers  and  economizers,  and  the  provisions 
which  have  been  made  for  the  use  of  superheated  steam.  An 
interesting  construction  feature  is  also  the  location  of  each  of 
the  six  225-ft.  brick  stacks  upon  the  structural-steel  frame  work 
of  the  building  so  as  to  save  space  in  the  boiler  room  below. 
The  engines,  which  are  of  the  Manhattan  type,  have  the  un- 
usually large  ultimate  capacity  of  it, 000  hp,  and  are  direct 
coupled  to  alternating-current  generators  of  7500-kw  capacity. 
The  high-tension  alternating-current  distribution  system,  in- 
volving the  use  of  rotary  converter  sub-stations,  is  used,  and 
many  unusual  provisions  have  been  made  to  provide  absolute 
reliability  of  operation.  An  extreme  refinement  is  to  lie  noted 
in  the  provision  of  an  automatic  signaling  system  for  instantly 
turning  off  power  from  the  third  rail  in  case  of  accident.  A 
repetition  of  the  Paris  subway  disaster  is  rendered  impossible, 
both  on  account  of  the  use  of  the  steel  cars  and  also  the  pro- 
vision for  lighting  the  subway  independent  of  the  power-feeder 
circuits. 

The  construction  of  the  new  steel  cars  is  worthy  of  careful 
study  by  those  interested  in  rolling  stock,  on  account  of  the 
novel  method  of  supporting  the  floor  load  of  the  car  from  the 
side  framing — a  radical  departure  from  previous  methods  of 
car  construction.  In  this  way  the  weight  of  the  car  has  been 
kept  down  to  that  of  equivalent  wooden  construction.  In  other 
details  also,  such  as  the  arrangement  of  the  motorman's  cab. 
car  wiring,  etc.,  these  cars  are  improvements  over  anything 
that  has  heretofore  been  built.  The  block-signal  system  in- 
stallation is  one  of  the  most  complete  that  has  ever  been  in- 
stalled, and  introduces  the  use  of  main  novel  ami  interesting 
features.  A  study  of  this  great  installation,  embracing  the  per- 
fection of  skill  in  both  the  electrical  and  mechanical  fields,  w  ill 
prove  both  interesting  and  profitable. 


1 


THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


SO  much  attention  has  been  given  to  the  electric  railways 
of  St.  Louis  in  these  columns  the  past  two  years  that 
it  is  not  now  necessary  to  go  into  any  extended  discus- 
sion of  them,  but  rather  to  give  a  brief  summary  of  the  situa- 
tion, enlarging  on  a  few  things  not  before  described.  Since 
the  American  Street  Railway  Association  met  in  St.  Louis  in 
1896  great  changes  have  been  made,  both  in  the  organization 


Railway  Company,  Missouri  Railroad  Company,  the  Southern 
Electric  Railroad  Company,  and  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban 
Railway  Company.  Since  then  the  long-talked-of  consolidation 
has  taken  place,  and  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  controls 
all  the  lines  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  save  those  of  the  St.  Louis 
&  Suburban  Railway  Company.  A  map  of  the  lines  of  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company  is  published  on  the  opposite  page.  In. 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  PARK  AND  VANDEVENTER   STATION  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


and  physical  equipment  of  the  street  railway  properties.  In 
1896  there  were  no  less  than  six  important  street  railway  com- 
panies operating  in  the  city.  These  were  the  Lindell  Railway 
Company,  the  Union  Depot  Railroad  Company,  the  National 


A  36-IN.  AND  70-IN.  X  60-IN.  ENGINE  AND  GENERATOR  IN  THE 
STATION  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


addition  to  the  lines  shown  on  the  map,  the  company  owns  am 
interurban  line  to  Creve  Coeur  Lakes,  which  lie  to  the  west  of 
the  city. 

Of  the  suburban  or  interurban  electric  lines  outside  of  the 


COOLING  TOWERS  OF  THE  CENTRAL  STATION-ST.  LOUIS 
TRANSIT  COMPANY 


5°4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


be  given  of  the  Transit  Company's  system  only, 
especially  of  those  features  which  will  attract 
the  most  attention  from  the  visiting  street  rail- 
way manager. 


ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


CAR  HOISTS  IN  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  SHOPS 


city  limits,  the  St.  Louis  &  Sub- 
urban Railway  Company  controls  the 
greatest  mileage,  the  St.  Louis  Tran- 
sit Company  coming  next.  The  St. 
Louis,  St.  Charles  &  Western  Rail- 
road Company  is  the  only  remaining 
company  in  the  field,  anil  this  com- 
pany does  not  control  its  entrance  to 
the  city,  but  transfers  passengers  to 
the  Easton  Avenue  line  of  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company,  and  to  the 
St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Com- 
pany at  the  city  limits. 

As  all  of  these  systems  have  been 
quite  fully  discussed  in  these  columns 
during  the  past  twelve  months,  it  has 
in  it  been  considered  necessary  to  fol- 
low the  usual  custom  in  tins  issue  of 
publishing  extended  descriptions  of 
them.    Instead,  a  few  particulars  will 


The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  which  controls 
all  the  street  railway  lines  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
except  those  owned  by  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban 
Railway  Company,  operates  358.65  miles  of  single 
track,  occupying  176.41  miles  of  street.  The  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company  is  the  lessee  of  the  street 
railway  properties  controlled  by  the  United  Rail- 
ways Company  of  St.  Louis.  The  United  Rail- 
ways Company  of  St.  Louis  is  a  corporation 
formed  in  1898  for  taking  over  numerous  small 
companies  which  make  up  the  consolidation.  The 
St.  Louis  Transit  Company  was  formed  about  a 
year  later,  in  March,  1899,  to  lease  all  the  lines 


KXTKRIOR  OF  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSn   COMPANY'S  SHOPS 


THE  BOILER  ROOM  OF  THE  PARK  AND  VANDEVENTER  POWER  HOUSE  OF 
THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


controlled  by  the  United  Railways  Com- 
pany. The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  un- 
der this  lease,  is  obliged  to  pay  the  United 
Railways  Company  interest  on  the  outstand- 
ing bonds  of  the  United  Railways  Company. 
The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  is  to  make 
all  extensions  and  improvements,  receiving 
in  payment  securities  of  the  United  Rail- 
wavs  Company.  It  is  unnecessary  to  go  into 
details  as  to  the  amount  of  bonds  and  stock 
outstanding,  as  the  situation  can  be  summed 
up  by  the  statement  that  for  1903  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company  paid  in  the  shape  of 
interest  and  rentals  $2,844,119,  which  is  ap- 
proximately $7,800  per  mile  of  track.  The 
operations  of  the  company  for  the  past  three 
years  show  a  deficit,  although  for  1903  the 
deficit  was  a  nominal  amount  compared 
with  previous  years.  The  total  rolling 
stock  of  the  company  is  figured  at  1500 
cars.  This  includes  the  old  equipment 
and    450    new    cars    purchased    to  take 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


5o5 


care  of  World's  Fair  traffic.  Last  winter  the  maximum  number  of  cars  in 
service  on  the  rush-hour  schedule  was  893.  On  World's  Fair  opening  day 
1000  cars  were  operated.  Up  to  the  time  of  writing  this  article  the  World's 
Fair  crowds,  even  on  the  days  of  the  largest  attendance,  have  at  no  time 
taxed  heavily  the  regular  facilities  of  the  company  for  handling  them. 

The  greater  part  of  the  power  used  in  the  operation  of  the  St.  Louis 
Transit  Company's  system  is  generated  as  direct  current.  Naturally,  one 
of  the  first  changes  after  the  consolidation  was  a  rearrangement  of  the  com- 
pany's power  generating  system.  This  was  done  by  abandoning  a  number 
of  direct-current  power  stations,  enlarging  very  greatly  the  power  station 
at  Park  and  Vandeventer  Avenues,  first  built  by  the  Lindell  Railway  Com- 
pany, and  building  a  new  combined  direct  and  alternating-current  station  at 
Salisbury  Street,  near  North  Broadway.  About  a  year  before  the  opening 
of  the  Fair  the  plans  were  drawn  for  a  large  alternating-current  station  to 
be  located  in  East  St.  Louis,  where  coal  would  be  cheap  and  coal  blockades 
unlikely.  This  plan  was  not  carried  out,  however,  as  a  contract  was  made 
to  rent  a  certain  amount  of  power  during  the  World's  Fair  season  from  the 
Union  Electric  Light  & 
Power  Company,  which 
was  building  a  large  al- 
ternating-current station 
on  the  river  front,  about 
one-third  of  a  mile  north 
of  the  Eads  Bridge.  The 
same  c  o  m  p  a  n  y  also 
agreed  to  sell  a  certain 
amount  of  power  to  the 
World's  Fair,  and  feeders 
were  installed  for  that 
purpose.  The  World's 
Fair,  however,  did  not 
require  as  much  power  as 
expected,  and  the  Union 
Light  &  Power  Com- 
pany's plant,  although 
completed,  was  not  in  the 
best  shape  to  furnish 
power  continuously,  so 
that  the  large  3500-kw 
Allis-Chalmers  unit  in 
the  World's  Fair  power 
plant  has  been  supplying 
the    St.    Louis  Transit 


TRANSFORMER  TEST  OF  ARMATURE 


GENERAL  VIEW  OF  INTERIOR  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  SHOPS 


ST.  LOUTS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  STANDARD  CAR 


Company's  sub-station  with  power 
up  to  the  time  that  the  decorative 
lighting  is  turned  on  at  the  Exposi- 
tion. The  largest  power  plant  of 
the  company  is  that  at  Park  and 
Vandeventer  Avenues,  and  this  is 
also  the  largest  direct-current  rail- 
way generating  station  in  the  West. 
The  total  rsted  capacity  of  this  sta- 
tion is  16,950  kw,  all  of  which  is 
taken  out  over  an  immense  direct- 
current  switchboard  having  record- 
ing wattmeter  and  other  totalizing 
instruments  of  30,000-amps.  capac- 
ity. Some  of  the  smaller  units  at 
this  station  have  1  ecu  used  as  boos- 
ters for  feeding  tin-  long  line  to  the 
Creve  Coeur  Lakes  during  excep- 
tionally heavy  summer  traffic.  On 
one  occasion  two  generators  wrte 


506 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


Section  A-A. 


Street  Ry.Jourua] 


PLAN  OF  BOTTOM  FRAMING  OF  CAR— ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


Street  Ry.Journal 


PLAN  OF  STANDARD  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR-ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


put  in  series  as  boosters,  adding  their  voltage  to  the  regular 
station  voltage,  giving  a  voltage  of  about  1700  on  the  boosted 
feeder  at  the  station.  This  station  is  notable  for  the  large  cool- 
ing towers  for  condensing  purposes,  the  entire  station  being 
designed  to  operate  condensing  with  artificially  cooled  water. 
A  large  amount  of  coal  storage  was  provided  at  this  plant,  but 
considerable  difficulty  has  been  experienced  with  spontaneous 
combustion. 

The  other  principal  station  of  the  company,  known  as  the 
Northern  Station,  has  both  alternating  and  direct-current  gen- 
erators. This  station  has  a  rated  capacity  of  6900  kw,  of  which 
2400  kw  is  in  three-phase,  6600-volt,  25-cycle  current.  The 
principal  sub-stations  are  at  Delmar  and  DeBalivere  Avenues, 
near  the  Fair,  at  South  Broadway,  and  on  Locust  Street,  near 
Eighteenth  Street,  the  latter  being  a  new  sub-station  designed 
to  use  rented  power.  This  sub-station  is  described  more  fully 
in  another  article.  Besides  the  two  principal  power  houses,  the 
company  has  been  obliged  to  operate  part  of  the  time  a  direct- 
current  plant  at  Geyer  and  Missouri  Avenues,  built  by  the 
Union  Depot  Railroad  Company,  and  another  fairly  modern 
direct-current  plant  belonging  originally  to  the  Cass  Avenue 
&  Fair  Grounds  Railway  Company. 

That  feature  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company's  property 


which  will  probably  be  of  most  interest  to  the  visiting  street 
railway  men  is  the  new  repair  shop  at  Park  and  Vandeventer 


ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  MOONLIGHT  CAR 
Avenues.    This  shop  was  built  with  the  idea  of  centralizing  at 
one  place  the  entire  repair  work  of  the  system.  Whatever 


October  8,  1904. ] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


507 


opinions  various  managers  may  hold  as  to  the  advisability  of  the  centraliz- 
ing of  repair  work  in  one  shop,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  for  centralized 
repair  work,  this  shop  stands  as  one  of  the  best,  if  not  the  best,  in  the  coun- 
try in  its  equipment  for  doing  the  work  for  which  it  is  designed.  The  prin- 
cipal strong  points  about  this  shop  are  the  car  hoists  with  which  all  the 
repair  tracks  are  equip- 
ped, the  facilities  for 
handling  material  by 
means  of  overhead  trav- 
elers, and  the  uniform 
lighting  of  the  whole 
shop.  The  company  made 
all  of  its  own  trucks  for 
the  450  new  cars  recently 
purchased,  and  its  facili- 
ties for  truck  manufac- 
ture arc  very  complete. 
The  repair  shop  has 
twenty-seven  repair 
tracks.  The  entrance  to 
all  of  these  tracks  is 
gained  by  a  transfer 
table  running  along  one 
side  of  the  building.  Each 
repair  track  is  designed 
to  accommodate  one  car. 
Part  of  the  repair  tracks 
have  pits  and  part  have 
not,  as  all  the  more  re- 
cent   equipment    of  the 

company's  design  is  to  be  handled  from  above  entirely, 
without  pit  work.  The  car  hoists  consist  of  motor  oper- 
ated screw  jacks,  the  four  screw  jacks  being  worked 
simultaneously  by  a  sprocket  chain  driven  by  a  motor.  All 


INTERIOR  OF  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S 
STANDARD  CAR 


ST. 


LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  STANDARD 
REAR  PLATFORM 


ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  CINDER  CAR 

the  hoisting  mechanism  is  underneath  the  floor.  The  en- 
tire shop  is  served  by  an  overhead  traveler  system  for  carry- 
ing motors  and  heavy  material.  The  hoisting  in  connec- 
tion with  the  overhead  traveler  system  is  done  by  compressed 
air  hoists,  which  raise  the  material  and  deliver  it  to  the  chain 
hoists.   The  latter  require  no  hose  connection  and  can  be  moved 


to  any  point  in  the  shop.    Air  hoists  are  placed  at  all  points 
where  lifting  or  lowering  is  to  be  accomplished.    The  accom- 
panying engravings  from  photographs  give  a  good  idea  of  these 
shops,  which  are  well  worth  careful  study  on  the  part  of  visit- 
ing street  railway  men  be- 
cause of  the  care  with  which 
many    details    have  been 
worked  out. 

The  rolling  stock  consists 
main])'  of  double-truck  cars, 
as  the  St.  Louis  street  rail- 
ways were  among  the  first 
to  adopt  the  double-truck 
car  extensively  for  city  ser- 
vice. Many  peculiar  styles 
of  early  double-truck  cars 
can  be  found. 

The  standard  car  of  the 
company   is   shown    in  the 
opposite      engraving.  As 
mentioned    before,    450  of 
these  cars  were  ordered  of 
the  St.  Louis  Car  Company 
in  order  to  put  the  system  in 
good  shape  to  handle  World's 
Fair  traffic.    They  are  un- 
usually wide  as  city  cars  av- 
erage, and  have  wide  aisles, 
even  though  equipped  with  cross  seats.    The  front  platform  is 
intended  only  for  the  motorman.    The  rear  platform  is  of  the 
well-known  Dupont  type  in  its  extreme  form,  being  so  long  that 
two  railings  have  been  placed  across  it  for  the  support  of  stand- 
ing passengers.    The  car  is  semi-convertible,  intended  both  for 
winter  and  summer  use.    The  window  sashes  drop  into  side 


5o8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.   No.  15. 


pockets  and  they  are  of  a  special  design,  which  makes  it  possi- 
ble to  remove  a  sash  instantly  without  taking  out  screws  or 


EXTERIOR  OF  COMPRESSING  STATION- 


feed  through  a  reducing  valve  into  auxiliary  reservoirs  main- 
tained at  about  45  lbs.  pressure  per  square  inch,  and 
these  auxiliary  reservoirs  supply  air  through 
the  motorman's  valves  to  the  brakes  only. 
The  storage  air-brake  system  was  adopted  be- 
cause it  was  believed  to  be  simpler,  more  re- 
liable and  lower  in  cost  of  maintenance  than 
independent  motor-driven  compressors  on  each 
car.  The  compressing  stations  at  various 
points  on  the  system  are  designed  to  operate 
automatically,  and  with  only  a  small  amount 
of  attention  each  day,  without  requiring  the 
continuous  services  of  an  attendant. 

Besides  the  regular  rolling  sto:k,  the  com- 
pany has  two  types  of  car  for  special  uses 
which  are  of  interest  and  are  illustrated  here. 
One  of  these  is  called  the  "moonlight  car," 
and  is  used  summer  evenings  for  resort  traffic. 
ST.  LOUIS  transit  COMPANY  They  are  without  a  roof,  and  have  simply  a 

canvas  canopy  which  can  be  stretched  overhead.    They  are  ex- 
eedingly  popular  warm  summer  evenings  in  St.  Louis.  The 


*mmm 


PORTABLE  COMPRESSING  STATION— ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT 
COMPANY 


COMPRESSING  UNIT— ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


bolts.  The  motors  with  which  these 
cars  are  equipped  are  oil-bearing 
Westinghouse  No.  95,  arranged  to  be 
handled  and  inspected  from  above  en- 
tirely. The  car  has  a  seating  capacity 
of  fifty. 

The  Westinghouse  storage  air-brake 
system  used  on  the  St.  Louis  Transit 
Company's  cars  is  also  a  matter  of 
present  interest  to  street  railway  men, 
as  this  was  the  first  large  street  rail- 
way company  to  decide  to  adopt  the 
storage  air-brake  system  for  all  its 
cars.  The  air  is  compressed  to  a 
pressure  of  300  lbs.  per  sq'iare  inch  at 
compressing  stations  located  at  car 
houses  or  terminals  of  the  line.  Pass- 
ing these  points  each  round  trip,  the 
cars   stop   and  connect   the  storage 

reservoirs  on  the  car  with  the  compressing  station  by  means 
of  hose  connections  located  alongside  the  track.  The  storage 
reservoir  on  the  car  instantly  rises  to  compressing  station  pres- 
sure.   The  large,  high-pressure  storage  reservoirs  on  the  car 


WASHINGTON  AVENUE  LOOP  IN  ST.  LOUIS 


seating  capacity  is  large,  being  ninety-six.  The  other  special 
car  referred  to  is  a  large  car  used  in  hauling  cinders.  These 
cars  are  arranged  with  side  dump  and  are  used  to  deliver  cin- 
ders from  the  power  stations  to  the.  various  customers, 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


509 


THE  NEW  CENTRAL  SUB  STATION  OF 
THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


by  charles  a.  hobein 
Electrical  Department  St.  Louis  Transit  Company 


T 


HE  power  for  the  St.  Louis  street  railways  in  1899  was 
derived  from  eleven  power  houses.  In  this  year  the 
companies  were  consolidated,  forming  the  St.  Louis 


built,  so  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1903  the  company 
was  operating  but  four  generating  stations  and  one  sub-station. 
These  were:  (1)  the  Central  Station,  which  was  the  remodeled 
station;  (2)  the  Northern  Station,  which  was  the  new  power 
house;  (3)  the  old  Union  Depot  Railway  power  house,  and 
(4)  the  old  Cass  Avenue  Railway  power  house.  The  two  latter 
were  only  operated  during  the  morning  and  evening  rush  hours. 
The  addition  of  rolling  stock  to  handle  the  World's  Fair  traffic 
required  added  power,  and  a  contract  was  entered  into  with 


6-3- 


Lin.'  ^wiifh  Uutitiy  Suit,  )'     Lin.  t  ■.ut.  li  lwt:irj  t>*itih 


[LUtULU  

iUUIULIL 

I  llllJLmf^IULpJllJ 

n 

Converter    l|  i|]  Blower  II         t|  rr 

SittrtiiiK  HrtfttlTransforaitri  r — 'j  Tr^nsformn 

ILL' 


MMJUUfl 


100U  Kw. 
Converter 


f,  ^ 

t  •  X 

 T 

■-— --  -1 

1 

PLAN  VIEW  OF  CONVERTER  FLOOR 
SHOWING  LOCATION  OF  APPARATUS 


FIG.  1.— PLAN  OF  CENTRAL  SUB-STATION 


the  Union  Electric  Light  &  Power  Company  to  furnish  alter- 
nating current  at  6600  volts,  25  cycles,  from  its  new  power 
station  which  was  but  recently  completed.  This  power  was  to 
be  delivered  to  three  sub-stations  of  the  Transit  Company,  one 
of  which,  Delmar  sub-station,  was  already  in  operation.  The 
plans  contemplated  installing  two  1000-kw  rotaries  in  the  Cass 
Avenue  power  house,  thus  shutting  down  the  steam  plant  at 
that  place;  also  the  building  and  installing  at  a  point  as  near 
the  center  of  load  of  the  system  of  a  central  sub-station  con- 


CROSS  SECTION 
SHOWING  LOCATION  OF  APPARATUS 

FIG.  2.-  CROSS  SECTION  OF  SUB-STA  TION 

Transit  Company.  Four  cable  lines  were  changed  to  electric, 
and  in  the  next  few  years  the  power  houses  were  gradually 
shut  down.    One  was  greatly  enlarged  and  a  new  power  house 


FIG.  3.— EXTERIOR  OF  SUB-STATION 

taining  seven  1000-kw  rotaries  and  a  5000  amp.  hour  I   \"lt 

storage  battery. 

It  is  the  purpose  "I  this  paper  to  deal  with  the  latter  problem. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


An  extensive  investigation  located  the  center  of  load  at  Four- 
teenth and  Olive  Streets.  The  station  was  built  three  blocks 
west  and  one  block  north  of  this  point.  Central  station  (a 
direct-current  plant),  which  was  then  pulling  the  entire  down- 
town section  of  the  system,  was  4  miles  southwest  of  this  cen- 
ter. Northern  station,  an  alternating  and  direct-current  plant, 
was  3  miles  directly  north,  and  Delmar  sub-station  7^  miles 
southwest  of  Northern.  Preliminary  figures  revealed  the  very 
remarkable  fact  that  if  this  sub-station  were  built,  enough 
feeder  copper  could  be  taken  down,  and  sold  as  scrap,  to  go  a 
great  ways  toward  paying  for  the  sub-station  and  equipment, 
exclusive  of  the  battery.   In  the  design  of  this  station,  the  time- 


culation.  The  battery  floors  have  a  slope  of  1  ft.  from  front  to 
rear  of  building  to  facilitate  drainage.  In  the  rear  of  the  lower 
room  is  a  sump  to  receive  the  drainage.  The  water  is  raised 
from  this  point  to  the  sewer  by  means  of  a  centrifugal  pump 
direct  connected  to  a  i-hp  motor,  located  on  the  air-chamber 
floor.  The  battery  floors  are  covered  with  a  layer  of  brick 
laid  flat  and  grouted  and  covered  with  pitch.  Rooms  arc 
lighted  by  incandescent  lamps,  the  sockets  being  tightly  corked 
with  wax  to  prevent  the  acid  from  entering  and  short-circuiting 
them.  All  I-beams  are  entirely  surrounded  with  concrete  to 
protect  them  from  acid  action. 

The  air-chamber  floor  is  on  a  level  with  the  street.    It  has 


FIG.  4.— GENERAL  VIEW  OF  MACHINERY  FLOOR— ST.  LOUIS  SUB-STATION 


honored  custom  of  erecting  a  fine  and  elaborate  building  has 
not  been  followed,  but  instead  a  neat  and  substantial  building, 
arranged  to  accommodate  the  necessary  apparatus,  has  been 
erected.  Its  plan  is  shown  in  Fig.  1,  a  cross  section  in  Fig.  2, 
and  an  exterior  view  in  Fig.  3.  Below  the  street  level  are  two 
floors  to  accommodate  the  battery.  These  rooms  are  each  56 
ft.  wide  and  155  ft.  long.    Each  contains  294  cells. 

Foundations  of  the  building  are  entirely  of  concrete  and  rest 
upon  bed  rock.  The  battery  rooms  are  divided  in  the  middle 
by  a  5-ft.  concrete  wall,  which  extends  from  the  lower  floor  to 
the  floor  line  of  the  air  chamber,  where  it  widens  at  a  suitable 
angle  to  a  width  of  10  ft.,  and  supports  the  two  30-in.  brick 
walls,  6  ft.  6  ins.  apart,  which  extend  to  the  rotary-converter 
floor  to  form  the  machine  foundations.  Suitable  openings  left 
in  the  concrete  and  brick  walls  permit  of  passage  and  air  cir- 


the  two  30-in.  brick  machine  foundation  walls  dividing  it  into 
three  parts;  two  rooms,  each  24  ft.  x  155  ft.,  and  a  6-ft.  6-in. 
passage  under  the  machines.  The  east  room  is  air-tight  and 
forms  the  air  chamber  proper.  The  blowers  discharge  into 
this  chamber,  and  the  transformers  and  reactive  coils  located 
directly  above  receive  their  cooling  air.  Flues  left  in  the 
foundation  walls  convey  air  to  the  floors  of  the  battery  rooms, 
and  it  is  discharged  through  flues  in  the  opposite  side  wall  to 
the  outside.  The  supply  is  regulated  by  means  of  dampers  in 
the  supply  flues.  The  air  chamber  contains  the  incoming  line 
cables,  high-tension  bus-bar  compartments,  current' transform- 
ers, potential  transformers,  barriers,  etc.,  which  may  be  seen 
in  an  accompanying  photograph.  The  other  room  is  used  for 
storage,  and  also  contains  the  battery  room  drainage  discharge 
pump,  water-tilling  apparatus  and  field  rheostats.    The  main 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


5" 


floor  is  8  ft.  above  the  street  level,  and  contains  the  rotary  con- 
verters, switchboard,  transformers,  reactive  coils,  oil  switches, 
blowers  and  two  motor-driven  boosters  for  controlling  the 
battery. 

The  plan  as  carried  out  was  to  bring  alternating  current  in 
on  one  side  of  the  station  through  transform- 
ers and  converters  to  the  switchboard,  and 
conduct  out  direct  current  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  station,  as  shown  in  the  general 
view,  Fig.  4. 

The  converters,  as  will  be  seen,  were  ar- 
ranged in  a  row  in  the  center  of  the  build- 
ing, the  alternating-current  apparatus  being- 
placed  on  one  side  of  the  center  and  the 
switchboard  on  the  other.  The  battery  boos- 
ters can  be  seen  in  the  front  of  the  building. 
Fig.  5.  A  20-ton  crane  serves  the  converter 
floor,  and  articles  can  be  picked  from  a  wagon 
driven  in  on  the  air-chamber  floor.  An  18-ft. 
square  opening  in  one  corner  of  the  converter 
floor  gives  access  to  the  wagon.  Smaller 
openings  through  the  battery  floors  allow  of 
the  crane  lowering  or  raising  articles  from 
these  floors. 

The  batteries,  Fig.  6,  consist  of  a  total 
of  588  cells,  294  in  series  forming  one 
battery.  Their  combined  capacity  is  5000- 
kw-hours.  The  cells  are  the  Electric 
Storage  Battery  Company's  type  G-79, 
and    each    is    6    ft.    long,    22    ins.  wide, 


load  which  it  would  have  to  do.  Therefore,  the  arrangement 
shown  in  Fig.  8  was  advised  by  the  battery  company.  "R"  is  a 
rotary,  "B"  the  booster,  and  "L"  the  load.  The  booster  shunt 
field  rheostat  is  arranged  so  that  it  is  possible  to  reverse  the 
current  in  the  field  winding-.    It  is  seen  that  there  is  a  storage 


FIG.  5.— ROTARY  CONVERTERS  AND  BATTERY  BOOSTERS— CENTRAL  SUB-STATION 


containing  seventy-seven   plates,  1; 


and  as  deep, 
square   and  }/% 


in.  thick.  The  boosters  are  of  252-kw  capacity,  driven  by  360- 
hp  direct-connected  motors.  The  battery  is  intended  to  be 
floated  on  the  station  bus.  Boosters  are  compound-wound  and 
have  the  same  effect  as  differential  boosters.   This  was  to  have 


FIG.  6. — BATTERY  ROOM 

been  arranged  as  follows :  Fig.  7  shows  a  common  arrangement 
of  a  compound-wound  booster,  connected  to  act  with  a  differ- 
ential effect.  "B"  represents  the  booster,  and  "R"  a  generator 
or  rotary  converter,  while  "L"  "L"  represent  the  motors  on  load 
on  the  system.  The  shunt  field  of  the  booster  opposes  the 
series  field.  It  is  easily  seen  that  this  arrangement  could  not 
be  used  in  this  case,  as  it  is  impossible  to  build  a  series  field 
on  a  booster  of  large  enough  capacity  to.  carry  the  entire  stalimi 


cell  and  some  resistance  in  series  with  the  equalizer  "E."  This 
battery  is  so  connected  that  when  current  is  flowing  in  the 
equalizer,  as  indicated  by  the  arrow,  the  equalizer  battery  is 
charging.  This  equalizer  battery  is  the  weak  point  of  this 
arrangement.  It  is  impossible  to  maintain  it  in  its  most  efficient 
state,  it  being  either  overcharged  or  undercharged  and  quickly 
wears  out. 

A  happy  solution  has  been  found  for  this  problem,  and  it 
possible  to  entirely  dispense  with  the  booster  series  winding 
by  the  use  of  the  new  carbon  regulator  recently  gotten  out  by 
the  Electric  Storage  Battery  Company.  Its  operation  is  as 
follows:  Around  the  station  bus  (Fig.  9)  which  carries  the 
rotary  output  is  placed  a  "U"-shaped  piece  of  iron  "M."  This 
the  bus  magnetizes  and  causes  to  move  the  lever  "H,"  which  is 
pivoted  at  "O."  "S"  is  a  restoring  spring.  The  moving  of  the 
lever  causes  one  or  other  of  the  two  carbon  pack  resistances 
to  be  compressed,  lowering  the  resistance  of  the  circuit  and 
causing  current  to  flow  through  the  field  at  the  exciter  "E."  The 
wire  at  "X"  is  connected  at  the  center  point  of  the  main  battery, 
and  is  positive  to  one  battery  terminal  and  negative  to  the 
other.  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  when  the  lever  "H"  moves 
and  compresses  the  other  carbon  pack,  current  flows  in  the 
opposite  direction  through  the  exciter  field,  and  it  follows  that 
the  booster  field  is  likewise  reversed,  the  booster  having  an 
opposite  effect  on  the  battery  to  what  it  had  in  the  first  case. 

Distilled  water  must  be  supplied  the  battery.  This  installa- 
tion requires  about  1800  gallons  per  week.  The  cost  of  gas 
and  water  to  produce  distilled  water  forms  quite  an  item  in  the 
operating  expense  account. 

Power  is  delivered  to  the  station  over  four  three-conductor 
lead-covered  cables.  Each  conductor  is  0000  B.  &  S.  stranded 
cable.  These  cables  enter  below  the  level  of  the  street  and  are 
brought  up  into  the  air  chamber,  and  run  on  concrete  barrier 
shelves,  Fig.   to,  until  they  are  opposite  their  respective  oil 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


switches,  located  upon  the  floor  above.  They  then  are  belled 
out  and  the  individual  conductors  pass  into  the  switches.  The 
necessary  current  transformers,  potential  transformers,  dis- 
connecting switches  and  static  discharges  are  located  in  this 
air  chamber.    Each  phase  is  entirely  separated  from  the  others 


<3 


directly  across  the  station  bus  without  the  field  rheostat  in 
series  with  it  and  reverses  the  field.  When  this  is  accom- 
plished the  switch  is  thrown  up.  The  equalizer  and  negative 
busses  are  located  in  the  passage  directly  beneath  the  machines. 
There  are  no  negative  wires  on  the  main  switchboard  except 
the  instrument  potential  wires  and  those  necessary  for  board 
lights. 

The  boosters  are  switched  in  with  the  battery  on  the  negative 
side.    The  necessary  switches  are  located  on  two  isolated 


FIG.  7.— COMMON  ARRANGEMENT  OF  BOOSTER 


Street  By.Jouin.il 


Suv.  l  Ry.Juiirnal 


FIG.  9.— NEW  ARRANGEMENT  OF  CONNECTIONS 

by  concrete  barriers.  From  the  line  switch  the  wires  drop  to 
the  high-tension  bus-bars.  These  are  located  in  a  concrete 
compartment  in  the  air  chamber,  which  runs  through  its  entire 
length.  A  good  idea  of  the  barriers,  high-tension  bus  compart- 
ment and  wiring  may  be  obtained  from  the 
Fig.  10.  High-tension  bus  consists  of  ij4-in. 
x  2-in.  copper.  Studs  through  the  back  sup- 
port the  bus  and  form  connecting  terminals. 
The  large  openings  in  the  face  of  the  com- 
partment give  access  to  bus  sectionalizing 
switches.  The  smaller  square  ones  mark  the 
location  of  bus  supports.  From  the  bus,  leads 
rise  to  the  machine  oil  switches  and  the  cur- 
rent is  lead  from  these  to  1100-kw  three  to 
six-phase  static  transformers.  The  reactive 
coils  are  located  at  one  side  of  the  transform- 
ers, and  on  top  of  each  is  mounted  a  starting 
panel  equipped  with  two  three-pole  double- 
throw  switches. 

The  machines  are  started  from  the  alter- 
nating-current side,  and  thus  the  bother  of 
synchronizing  is  dispensed  with.  One-third, 
two-third  and  full-voltage  taps  are  taken 
from  the  secondary  side  of  the  trans- 
former to  the  starting  panel.  Field 
break-up  switches  are  located  on  the 
machine  frames.  They  consist  of  four- 
pole  double-throw  switches  and  break  the 
series  of  threes.  To  start,  the  field  is 
one-third-voltage  current  is  supplied  to  the  machine.  When  it 
reaches  full  speed  it  is  given  a  field,  and,  if  the  machine  has 
built  up  in  the  right  direction,  the  two-third  and  full-voltage 
currents  are  supplied  in  succession.  Should  the  machine  build 
up  wrong  the  field  switch  is  put  down.   This  connects  the  field 


FIG.  8.— ARRANGEMENT  FIRST  PROPOSED 

panels  and  are  so  arranged  that  either  booster  may  be  operated 
with  either  battery. 

The  four  blowers  are  driven  by  induction  motors,  each  blower 
furnishing  20,000  cu.  ft.  of  air  per  minute. 

The  oil  switches  are  motor-operated  and  double-break.  The 
oil  chambers  are  enclosed  in  concrete  compartments,  each  phase 
being  separate.  The  operating  motor  is  located  on  top  of  the 
compartment.  All  oil-switch  control  leads,  current  and  poten- 
tial-transformer secondaries  are  delivered  to  the  switchboard 
through  conduit  laid  in  floor. 

The  switchboard  is  of  blue  Vermont  marble.  It  consists  of 
four  alternating-current  line  panels,  eight  alternating-current 
rotary  panels,  eight  direct-current  rotary  panels,  two  booster- 


field  up 
left  open 


into 
and 


FIG.  10.— CONCRETE  BARRIERS 

motor  panels,  two  battery  panels,  two  load  panels,  and  thirty-six 
direct-current  feeder  panels.  The  line  panels  are  each  equipped 
with  an  ammeter,  a  three-phase  balanced-induction  wattmeter, 
oil-switch  control  switch,  overload  relays,  signal  lamps  and 
voltmeter  plug  receptacle.  The  alternating-current  converter 
panels  each  have  an  ammeter,  power-factor  indicator,  oil-switch 
control  switch,  relays  and  signal  lamps.    Each  direct-current 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


5i3 


rotary  panel's  equipment  is  as  follows :  Circuit  breaker,  am- 
meter, rheostat  operating  mechanism,  two  double-throw  quick- 
break  main  switches,  auxiliary  switch  and  a  two-point  plug 
receptacle.  Booster-motor  panels  contain  circuit  breaker,  am- 
meter, starting  switch,  one  single-pole  double-throw  main 
switch  and  auxiliary  switch.  The  battery  panel  is  equipped 
with  circuit  breaker,  ammeter,  ten-point  potential  receptacle, 
two  double-throw  switches  and  auxiliary  switch.    The  load 


the  lower  bus  of  20,000-amp.  capacity,  at  the  points  of  maxi- 
mum cross  section.  If  it  is  desired  to  put  the  battery  on  cer- 
tain feeder  sections  or  one  machine  alone  on  certain  sections, 
it  can  be  done  by  simply  using  this  upper  bus.  The  oil  switches, 
board  signal  lamps  and  relays  are  operated  from  125- volt  mains 
supplied  by  a  55-cell  i7-amp.-hour  auxiliary  battery. 

The  station  was  erected  and  designed  by  the  engineering  de- 
partments of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  according  to  the 


REPRESENTATIVE  VIEW  OF  ST.  LOUIS— OLIVE  STREET  LINE    HANDLING  WORLD'S  FAIR  TRAFFIC  ON  TULY  4.- 1904 


panels  hold  two  astatic  ammeters,  two  differential  voltmeters, 
one  20,000-amp.  wattmeter  and  one  10,000-amp.  wattmeter. 
Feeder-panel  equipment  consists  of  circuit  breaker,  ammeter 
and  one  single-pole  double-throw  quick-break  main  switch. 
The  direct-current  feeders  leaving  these  panels  are  of  round 
copper  rods,  I  in.  diameter,  carried  along  the  wall  on  special 
brackets  to  a  terminal  pole  outside  the  building.  The  rod  con- 
struction may  be  clearly  seen  in  the  photographs. 

The  switchboard  supports  two  positive  busses  of  J4~in,  x 
10-in,  copper.    The  upper  bus  is  of  10,000-amp.  capacity,  and 


plans  of  A.  B.  duPont,  general  manager  of  the  company  at  thai 
time.  L.  P.  Crecelius,  the  company's  electrical  engineer,  super- 
intended the  designing  ami  construction  of  the  station. 

The  original  plan  of  installing  seven  iooo-kw  rotaries  in  the 
Central  sub-station  has  been  changed.  Six  iooo-kw  units  are 
now  operating  at  that  place,  and  the  seventh  was  installed  in 
Delmar  sub-station.  Work  is  now  progressing  on  the  installa 
tion  of  two  iooo-kw  and  one  300-kvv  rotary  in  the  Cass  Avium 
station,  and  three  iooo-kw  votaries  in  a  sub-station  al  4000 
South  Broadway. 


514 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIY.    No.  15. 


S.  L.  NELSON 


T.  C.  PENINGTON 


W.  A.  SMITH 


October  8, 


1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


515 


Si6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


T.  J.  MULLEN 


H.  H.  ADAMS 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STREET  RAILWAY 

ASSOCIATION 


THE  FOUNDING  OF  THE  STREET  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION 


BY  HARDIN  H.  LITTELL 


LOOKING  back  over  twenty-two  years  one  sees  great 
changes  in  the  street  railway  world.  Many  persons 
have  grown  almost  to  manhood  who  would  not  know 
what  horse  cars  meant  nowadays  unless  they  visited  New 
York  City. 

In  the  early  days  of  my  street  railways  experience  it  was 
my  custom  to  spend  my  vacations  visiting  the  larger  cities  and 
calling  upon  railway  men  who  were  entitled  to  the  honor  of 
having  a  good  street  railway  system.  The  more  I  saw  of  the 
various  systems  and  separate  interests,  the  more  I  felt  the  need 
for  a  mutual  acquaintance  and  common  bond  of  fraternity 
based  on  social  intercourse  and  friendly  interchange  of  in- 
formation and  ideas.  In  the  year  1881,  on  one  of  my  trips,  I 
paid  a  visit  to  Col.  H.  M.  Watson,  president  of  the  Buffalo 
Street  Railroad  Company,  and  S.  S.  Spaulding,  president  of 
the  Buffalo  East  Side  Railway  Company. 

During  our  conversation  the  subject  of  forming  a  society  or 
association  of  street  railway  men  was  discussed.  In  both  of 
these  gentlemen  I  found  strong  advocates  of  such  a  measure. 
On  the  same  trip,  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  it  was  my  pleasure  to 
meet  D.  F.  Longstreet,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Union 
Railroad  Company  of  that  city.  Mr.  Longstreet  entered  earn- 
estly into  the  plan  of  forming  an  association.  He  took  it  upon 
himself  to  work  up  an  interest  in  the  movement  among  his 
many  friends  in  the  railway  business  in  the  East.  Julius  S. 
Rugg,  of  the  Highland  Street  Railway  Company,  of  Boston, 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  matter  and  rendered  valuable  assist- 
ance. Walter  A.  Jones,  of  the  New  Williamsburg  &  Flatbush 
Railroad  Company,  of  Brooklyn,  also  became  much  interested. 
I  also  took  up  the  subject  either  in  person  or  by  letter  with 
Julius  S.  Walsh,  president  of  the  Citizens  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, of  St.  Louis;  George  B.  Kerper,  president  of  the  Walnut 
Hills  &  Eden  Park  Railway  Company,  of  Cincinnati;  Col. 
Thomas  Lowry,  president  of  both  the  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
Streets  Railway  Companies;  Charles  B.  Clegg,  president  of  the 
Oakwood  &  Dayton  Railway  Company,  of  Dayton,  Ohio,  and 
many  others  actively  engaged  in  the  management  of  railway 
properties.  I  first  asked  about  ten  prominent  street  railway 
men  to  join  me  in  a  call  for  the  first  meeting. 

Some  of  them  assented,  others  were  of  the  opinion  that  if 
the  call  went  out  signed  by  a  number  of  persons,  some  who  had 
not  been  requested  to  unite  in  the  call  might  feel  slighted  and 
an  element  of  jealousy  would  be  the  result.  A  good  attendance 
at  the  first  meeting  was  much  desired.  So,  after  deeply  con- 
sidering the  matter,  I  issued  the  call,  dated  Louisville,  Ky., 
Nov.  8.  1882,  for  the  first  meeting  to  be  held  in  far-away  Bos- 
ton on  Dec.  12,  1882.  Tt  required  considerable  nerve  to  ask 
people  in  the  South  and  West  to  go  to  Boston  at  that  wintry 
season  of  the  year.  But  I  sent  out  the  call  and  waited,  I  con- 
fess, with  some  anxiety  for  the  extent  of  the  response. 

Replies  began  to  arrive  within  a  day  or  two,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  success  of  the  meeting,  numerically  at  least,  was 
assured. 

We  gathered  at  Young's  Hotel,  in  Boston,  on  Dec.  12,  1882, 


and  id  us  from  the  South  it  was  like  journeying  to  the  North 
Pole.  I  had  not  expected  to  have  to  call  the  meeting  to  order, 
but  the  duty  devolved  upon  me,  and  at  2:15  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon we  met.  I  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  those 
present :  "Nearly  all  branches  of  industry  and  trade  have  their 
organizations,  and  it  has  long  been  to  me  a  matter  of  surprise 
that  the  many  street  railway  companies  have  not  organized  an 
association  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all  parties  interested  in 
this  mode  of  traffic." 

We  all  were  gratified  to  observe  fifty-six  of  the  leading  street 
railway  men  of  the  country  in  attendance,  while  twenty-two 
more  sent  letters  or  telegrams  indicating  their  hearty  sympathy 
and  support. 

I  recall  that  one  of  the  very  first  speakers  made  reference  to 
the  proud  fact  that  at  that  time,  in  this  country  and  Canada, 
there  were  415  street  railways,  owning  and  operating  over 
3000  miles  of  track,  employing  35,000  men,  running  18,000 
cars,  using  100,000  horses,  which  annually  devoured  150,000 
tons  of  hay  and  11,000,000  bushels  of  grain.  Compare  these 
glorious  figures  with  the  totals  of  to-day  to  gain  an  idea  of  the 
growth  and  transformation  of  the  street  railway  business.  It 
has  declined  in  only  one  respect — horses. 

But  the  horse  was  King  in  the  old  days.  I  recall  the  sug- 
gestion, at  our  first  session,  that  there  should  be  kept  at  the 
central  or  head  office  of  the  new  association  "correct  informa- 
tion concerning  the  state  of  the  horse,  hay  and  grain  markets 
in  the  different  sections  of  the  country,  so  that  reliable  in- 
formation concerning  all  these  vital  interests  can  be  obtained 
at  all  times."  Over  twenty  years  have  passed  since  then,  and 
so  swiftly  has  the  street  railway  business  progressed  that  the 
question  of  the  horse,  hay  and  grain  is  now  purely  a  metropoli- 
tan problem,  restricted  to  New  York  City. 

The  opening  session  at  Boston  was  devoted  to  perfecting  the 
roll  of  the  fifty-six  street  railway  men  present,  to  appointing 
a  committee  on  constitution  and  by-laws  and  to  general  dis- 
cussion of  practical  questions  of  interest  to  street  railway  men, 
such  questions  as  track  construction  and  roadbed.  In  fact,  the 
meetings  in  the  early  history  of  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association  were  more  distinguished  than  some  of  their  suc- 
cessors for  earnest  discussions  of  a  great  many  very  important 
matters.  All  the  business  was  not  rushed  through  in  a  session 
or  two.  Matters  were  not  abruptly  expedited  in  a  few  hours 
to  clear  the  way  for  a  grand  hurrah.  There  was  plenty  of 
time  for  business,  and  also  there  was  plenty  of  time  for  other 
pleasures.  Great  good  came  of  these  old-time  discussions,  and 
we  learned  a  lot  from  one  another  in  those  early  years  when 
we  took  up  and  talked  over  problem  after  problem  in  street 
railway  work. 

The  committee  on  constitution  and  by-laws  was  composed  of 
Charles  Cleminshaw,  of  Troy;  Col.  Thomas  Lowry,  of  Minne- 
apolis; Walter  A.  Jones,  of  Brooklyn;  the  Hon.  Moody  Mer- 
rill, of  Boston;  D.  F.  Longstreet,  of  Providence,  and  the  writer. 
We  reported  the  constitution  and  by-laws  at  the  second  session 
on  Wednesday,  Dec.  13,  1882.  The  discussion  over  its  adop- 
tion was  full  of  interest.  Men  spoke  as  they  thought,  ami 
there  was  a  free  exchange  of  excellent  ideas.  D.  F.  Longstreet 
was  the  author  of  the  constitution  and  by-laws.    He  had  pre- 


5i8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


viously  prepared  them,  and  they  were  adopted  with  very  little 
alteration.  Then  came  the  election  of  officers,  as  follows : 
President,  Hardin  H.  Littell,  of  Louisville,  Ky. ;  first  vice-presi- 
dent, William  H.  Hazzard,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  second  vice- 
president,  Calvin  A.  Richards,  of  Boston,  Mass. ;  third  vice- 
president,  George  B.  Kerper,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  secretary 
and  treasurer,  Wm.  J.  Richardson,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  mem- 
bers of  the  executive  committee,  Julius  S.  Walsh,  of  St.  Louis, 
Mo. ;  Charles  Cleminshaw,  of  Troy,  N.  Y. ;  Col.  Thomas  Lowry, 
of  Minneapolis,  Minn. ;  James  K.  Lake,  of  Chicago,  111. ;  D.  F. 
Longstreet,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  first  member  of  the  association  was  the  Naumkeag  Street 
Railway  Company,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  whose  president,  Abner 
C.  Goodell,  Jr.,  was  number  one  in  stepping  up  to  the  treasurer 
and  paying  the  $40  admission  fee  and  annual  assessment. 

Following  the  adjournment  of  the  association  was  a  banquet 
at  Young's  Hotel.  It  was  held  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  was  tendered  by  the  presidents  of  the  street  railway  com- 
panies of  Boston.  We  enjoyed  it  mightily.  Col.  Thomas  Lowry 
was  christened  "Colonel"  on  that  occasion,  and  the  title  has 
stuck  to  him  valiantly  ever  since.  We  adjourned  to  meet 
again  at  Chicago,  111.,  on  October  9,  1883.  As  president,  under 
directions  from  the  association,  I  appointed  committtees  on 
track  construction,  propelling  power,  buildings,  labor  and 
wages,  collection  of  fares,  removing  snow  and  ice,  horseshoe- 
ing, heating  and  lighting.  Papers  were  prepared  on  these  sub- 
jects and  were  read  and  discussed  at  the  October  meeting,  the 
second  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Street  Railway  As- 
sociation. 

It  was  long  ago — almost  quarter  of  a  century.  As  I  look 
over  the  list  of  those  present  at  that  first  meeting  I  find  many, 
many  have  passed  away.  It  was  an  earnest  little  gathering, 
full  of  enthusiasm  and  the  spirit  that  makes  for  progress  and 
development.  It  did  its  work  conscientiously.  If  Time  were  to 
arrange  its  reincarnation  for  a  brief  adjourned  session,  I  feel 
sure  this  first  meeting  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Asso- 
ciation would  adopt  a  resolution  "pointing  to  itself  with  pride." 


THE  EARLY  MEETINGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STREET  RAIL- 
WAY ASSOCIATION 

BY  THOMAS  LOWRY 


(HAVE  your  request  that  I  write  a  short  article  regarding 
the  early  meetings  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Asso- 
ciation. I  could  write  or  say  almost  anything  and  would 
find  none  to  contradict,  as  of  the  original  organizers  of  the 
association,  and  its  members  assembled  at  annual  meetings 
many  years  later,  I  do  not  find  any  familiar  names. 

I  am  still  "in  the  business"  and  do  not  see  any  prospect,  nor 
have  I  any  inclination,  toward  getting  out  of  it.  As  Fred 
Douglas  said :  "I  was  wid  'em  in  de  beginnin' ;  I'se  wid  'em 
now,  and  I  stays  wid  'em  to  de  end."  I  remember  well  the  dis- 
cussions engaged  in  at  the  early  meetings  by  Littell,  of  Louis- 
ville ;  Hazzard,  of  Brooklyn ;  Calvin  A.  Richards,  of  Boston ; 
Kerper,  of  Cincinnati;  Walsh,  of  St.  Louis;  Longstreet,  of 
Providence ;  Lake,  of  Chicago ;  Cleminshaw,  Holmes,  Rugg, 
Samuel  Little,  of  Boston ;  Watson,  of  Buffalo,  and  a  host  of 
others  whose  names  I  cannot  now  recall.  They  discussed  pro- 
pelling power,  track  construction,  buildings,  horseshoeing,  re- 
pairs of  track,  "Is  salt  necessary,  and  is  it  injurious  to  horses 
and  detrimental  to  public  health,"  stables  and  care  of  horses, 


cable  system,  conductors  and  drivers,  heating  and  lighting, 
taxes  and  many  other  problems  then  deemed  difficult  of  solu- 
tion, and  all  with  reference  to  the  operation  of  street  railways 
by  horses. 

At  the  meeting  of  1883,  in  Chicago,  the  chairman  of  the 
commitee  on  "track  construction,"  Charles  Hathaway,  of 
Cleveland  (one  of  the  first  and  best  contractors  for  building 
street  railways),  suggested  that  "when  the  traffic  is  very  heavy 
we  should  recommend  heavy  tram  rails  from  40  to  45  lbs.  to  the 
yard,  and  well  spiked  to  stringers,  with  good  cast  or  wrought- 
iron  joint  plates  at  the  end  of  the  rails."  Further  in  the  report, 
he  says :  "We  would  not  recommend  T-rail  except  where  it  can 
be  used  on  the  sides  of  a  street  where  there  is  comparatively 
little  travel,"  etc.  Later  the  "groove  rail"  was  introduced,  and 
is  now  used  in  many  of  our  principal  cities.  It  is  now  con- 
ceded by  those  best  informed  that  a  T-rail  properly  laid  is  bet- 
ter for  the  city  and  the  company  than  any  other  rail  in  use. 
In  the  best  constructed  roads  the  T-rail,  80  lbs.  to  the  yard,, 
60  ft.  long,  with  welded  joints,  laid  on  concrete,  without  ties, 
is  used,  and  is  conceded  the  best  form  of  construction  now 
in  use. 

I  think  it  was  at  the  convention  held  at  Minneapolis  in  1889 
that  electricity  was  first  discussed  seriously  as  a  motive  power. 
The  next  year  at  Buffalo  the  first  paper  for  discussion  was 
"A  Perfect  Street  Railway  Horse,"  and  I  then  stated,  in  a  few 
remarks  before  the  convention,  that  "it  would  be  the  last  con- 
vention to  seriously  consider  horses  for  the  operation  of  street 
railways."  The  small  cars,  10  ft.  and  12  ft.  long,  with  a  single 
truck  and  63/2-ft.  wheel  base,  then  considered  a  luxury  in  Bos- 
ton, New  York,  Chicago  and  other  large  cities,  have  been  re- 
placed in  many  cities  (New  York  and  Chicago  being  the  prin- 
cipal exceptions)  by  large  passenger  cars,  in  some  cases  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  the  best  passenger  coaches  on  well-equipped 
steam  roads.  Power  plants  for  street  railways  are  now  being 
built  with  capacity  to  operate  hundreds  of  miles  of  road  from 
one  station.  I  cannot  predict  for  the  future,  but  am  ready  to 
believe  anything  in  the  line  of  street  railway  development  and 
advancement.  I  am  in  full  accord  with  the  sentiment  some 
one  wrote : 

"What  on  earth  we're  coming  to 
Does  anybody  know? 
For  everything  has  changed  so  much, 
Since  twenty  years  ago.' 

 ♦♦♦  

SKETCH  OF  THE  WORK  OF  THE  AMERICAN  STREET  RAIL- 
WAY ASSOCIATION 

BY  T.  C.  PENINGTON 

THE  real  value  of  the  work  of  an  organization  can  be 
judged  better  after  the  lapse  of  some  years  than  at  the 
time  its  history  is  being  made.  The  American  Street 
Railway  Association  now  has  enough  years  behind  it  so  that 
some  intelligent  opinion  can  be  formed  of  what  this  body  has 
done  for  the  local  transportation  industry.  A  glance  through 
the  reports  of  the  twenty-two  annual  meetings  of  the  associa- 
tion, beginning  with  its  first  meeting  in  Boston,  in  1882,  im- 
presses one  strongly  with  the  almost  complete  change  in  men 
and  methods  that  has  taken  place  since  that  time.  It  is  notable, 
however,  that  in  spite  of  these  changes,  the  general  character 
of  the  association  has  remained  the  same. 

The  first  convention  was  held  at  Young's  Hotel,  Boston, 
Dec.  12  and  13,  1882.   The  owners  and  managers  of  street  rail- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


519 


ways  convened  at  that  time  in  response  to  a  circular  letter  sent 
out  by  H.  H.  Littell,  of  Louisville,  who  addressed  the  letter  to 
all  the  street  railway  companies  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  at  the  request  of  a  number  of  other  street  railway  men 
also  interested  in  the  movement.  The  first  meeting  of  the 
association  being  entirely  for  the  purpose  of  organization,  no 
papers  were  read  and  there  were  no  discussions  save  regarding 
matters  of  organization. 

At  the  second  convention,  which  was  held  in  Chicago,  in 
October,  1883,  the  list  of  papers  discussed  gives  the  reader  of 
the  present  day  the  first  insight  into  the  subjects  which  most 
interested  the  street  railway  men  of  twenty-one  years  ago. 
Some  of  the  subjects  are  of  as  much  interest  to-day  as  then; 
others  have  not  been  heard  of  for  many  years  in  convention 
because  of  the  disappearance  of  horse  traction.  Among  the 
former  class  of  subjects  which  are  still  of  interest,  we  see 
"Track  Construction,"  "Street  Railway  Buildings"  and  "Col- 
lection of  Fares."  "Removing  Snow  and  Ice"  is  a  subject 
which  is  still  of  interest,  but  is  not  by  any  means  such  a  prob- 
lem as  it  was  in  horse  car  days.  For  a  number  of  years  it  has 
not  been  considered  worthy  of  discussion  at  an  annual  conven- 
tion because  the  majority  of  companies  now  have  settled  down 
to  fairly  satisfactory  systematic  means  of  battling  with  snow 


H.  H.  LITTELL,  WILLIAM  H.  HAZZARD, 

President,1882-1883  President,1883-1884 

and  ice.  "Labor  and  Wages"  is  another  subject  still  discussed, 
though  somewhat  in  the  abstract;  while  "Horseshoeing"  and 
the  "Heating  and  Lighting  of  Cars"  belong  strictly  to  past  ages 
as  subjects  for  convention  discussions. 

The  early  papers  on  track  construction  look  strange  to  mod- 
ern eyes.  For  example,  the  T-rail  was  objected  to  in  the  paper 
on  "Track  Construction"  at  this  convention,  and  not  on  the 
grounds  of  paving  difficulties  either.  The  girder  rail  was 
brought  up  in  discussion  as  a  new  thing  at  this  convention, 
although,  of  course,  such  a  rail  had  been  in  use  on  cable  roads 
for  some  time  previous.  In  all  discussions  on  track  work  it 
was  quite  evident  that  the  old  types  of  flat  rails  laid  on  stringers 
were  the  usual  construction.  At  that  time  San  Francisco  cable 
roads  had  been  in  operation  ten  years  and  the  State  Street  cable 
in  Chicago  had  just  been  started  for  traffic.  There  were  nat- 
urally many  references  to  possible  changes  of  motive  power 
from  horses  to  something  better  in  the  future.  Some  expressed 
the  belief  that  the  cable  road  was  to  be  the  road  of  the  future. 
This  was  but  natural,  as  at  that  time  the  cable  was  the  only 
thoroughly  successful  mechanical  motive  power  for  street  rail- 
ways. Some  expressed  great  faith  in  the  future  of  steam  mo- 
tors, and  electricity  was  referred  to  as  a  rather  uncertain  pos- 
sibility, although,  naturally,  with  not  any  great  enthusiasm  over 
the  results  of  the  crude  experiments  which  were  then  being 
tried. 


At  the  third  annual  meeting,  held  in  New  York  City,  Octo- 
ber, 1884,  we  find  a  great  deal  of  attention  given  to  the  question 
of  track  cleaning  in  winter  and  the  use  of  salt.  A  strong  senti- 
ment against  the  use  of  salt  had  sprung  up  in  many  cities.  The 
whole  subject  was  gone  over  very  thoroughly,  and  many  re- 
ports on  the  results  of  scientific  investigations  were  brought  in 
as  evidence,  all  of  which  seemed  to  show  that  there  was  no 
cruelty  to  horses  or  detriment  to  the  public  health  in  the  use  of 
salt  on  the  tracks  in  winter.  The  information  supplied  by  the 
association  on  this  subject  was,  no  doubt,  of  much  value  to 
the  members  who  had  to  combat  a  certain  amount  of  public 
prejudice  on  this  question.  Naturally,  the  motive  power  re- 
ceived much  attention,  just  as  it  does  in  these  days,  and  the 
report  of  the  committee  on  stables  and  the  care  of  horses  drew 
out  a  lengthy  discussion,  which  compares  favorably  as  to  the 
technical  and  practical  knowledge  shown,  with  discussions  in 
recent  conventions  on  the  motive  power  of  the  present.  The 
discussion  on  track  was  confined  mainly  to  the  stringer  con- 
struction before  spoken  of,  with  brief  references  to  the  girder 
rail  necessary  for  cable  traffic.  One  of  the  features  of  this 
meeting  was  a  report  of  a  committee  on  "Electricity  as  a  Mo- 
tive Power,"  this  being  the  first  meeting  at  which  this  subject 
was  discussed  seriously  and  at  any  length.    Naturally,  the  in- 


CALVIN  A.  RICHARDS.  JULIUS  S.  WALSH, 

President,1884-1885  President,1885-18SG 

formation  given  to  the  convention  on  this  subject  was  very 
vague.  At  this  meeting  Calvin  A.  Richards,  of  Boston,  made 
some  glowing,  but  prophetic,  utterances  about  the  future  of 
electricity  as  a  motive  power  for  street  railways.  Not  only  on 
this  occasion,  but  at  several  succeeding  conventions,  Mr.  Rich- 
ards expressed  eloquently  his  faith  in  the  new  motive  power. 
To  all  objections  he  had  the  one  answer,  "Wait."  One  cannot 
but  admire  the  enthusiastic  faith  of  Mr.  Richards  in  electricity 
as  a  motive  power,  especially  since  he  was  not  a  technical  man, 
and  formed  his  conviction  not  through  any  scientific  knowl- 
edge, but  drew  his  general  conclusions  from  the  conquests  that 
electricity  had  already  made  in  other  fields.  The  first  formal 
report  of  the  cable  system  as  a  motive  power  was  given  to  this 
convention.  A  matter  of  considerable  historical  interest  to  our 
friends,  the  Accountants,  is  the  fact  that  a  report  was  made  by 
a  committee  on  a  "Uniform  System  of  Accounts,"  giving  a 
classification  which  had  in  view  the  same  object  as  the  modern 
classification  of  the  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Association 
of  America. 

At  St.  Louis,  in  [885,  "Diseases  Common  to  Car  Horses" 
still  occupied  the  first  and  most  prominent  place  on  the  pro- 
gramme. If  the  electric  railway  engineer  of  to-day  thinks  he 
has  a  monopoly  on  all  the  technical  problems  and  perplexities 
ever  connected  with  street  railroading,  let  him  read  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  and  other  conventions  regarding  the  care  and  treat- 


520 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


ment  of  horses.  He  will  realize  that  after  all  the  technical 
problems  involved  are  different  in  kind  rather  than  magnitude. 
The  "Progress  of  Electricity  as  a  Motive  Power"  was  reported 
upon,  but  the  report  was  mainly  historical,  and  brought  out 
very  little  of  practical  interest  with  reference  to  more  recent 
experiments  on  a  commercial  scale.  In  the  discussion  of  this 
report  a  letter  was  read  from  a  street  railway  company  in  Bal- 
timore which  had  been  operating  two  cars  on  the  Daft  system 
since  Sept.  1,  1885.  This  letter  answered  a  number  of  questions 
regarding  the  practical  working  of  the  system,  and  seemed  to 
indicate  that  electric  traction  was  at  last  approaching  commer- 
cial success.  The  progress  of  the  cable  system  was  also  re- 
ported on,  and  a  paper  and  discussion  on  track  work.  The 
committee  on  rules  regarding  conductors  and  drivers  made  a 
report  at  this  meeting,  which  was  discussed  at  length.  Here 
again  we  see  the  beginning  of  a  movement  which  resulted  at 
the  last  convention  in  the  recommendation  of  a  set  of  standard 
rules. 

At  Cincinnati,  in  1886,  the  convention,  for  the  first  time,  dis- 
cussed a  paper  on  "The  Care,  Prevention  and  Settlement  of 
Accidents."  A  short  and  rather  informal  discussion  on  the 
"Care  and  Cleaning  of  Cars"  at  the  previous  convention 
brought  out  an  extended  report  at  tliis  convention  on  the  "Sani- 


T  HO  MAS  W.  ACKLEV,  CHARLES  H.  HOLMES, 

President,1886-1887  Presidcnt,1887-1888 


ceedings  of  the  convention  were  given  over  to  this  subject. 
Discussion  of  electricity  as  a  motive  power  was  for  the  first 
time  taken  up  in  an  engineering  way.  Previous  reports  on  this 
subject  at  earlier  conventions  had  mainly  taken  the  form  of  an 
outline  of  what  had  been  already  done,  without  going  into  the 
engineering  problems  involved  in  the  construction  of  an  electric 
railway.  Besides  the  thorough  committee  report  on  this  sub- 
ject, a  long  discussion  took  place.  In  those  days  it  was  a  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  the  storage  battery,  overhead  trolley  or  un- 
derground conduit  electric  railway  system  would  eventually 
win  out.  Some  of  the  best  engineers  expressed  the  opinion  that 
each  of  the  three  systems  would  eventually  have  its  place  in 
street  railway  work.  William  Wharton,  who  was  on  the  com- 
mittee making  the  report  on  electricity  as  a  motive  power,  this 
year,  invited  the  members  of  the  convention  to  see  the  opera- 
tion of  a  storage-battery  car  exploited  by  a  company  in  which 
he  was  interested  in  Philadelphia.  F.  J.  Sprague  was  also 
present  at  this  convention  and  was  invited  to  participate  in  the 
discussion.  He  did  not  commit  himself  to  any  one  of  the  three 
systems  mentioned,  but  was  firmly  convinced  that  the  electric 
motor  had  come  to  stay.  Charles  J.  Vandepole  was  also  in- 
vited to  take  part  in  the  discussion,  which  he  did,  giving  some 
ten  cities  in  which  electric  roads  had  been,  or  were  being  con- 


GEOKGE  I!.  KEEPER,  THOMAS  LOVVKi', 

President,1888-1889  President,1889-1890 


tary  Condition  of  Street  Cars,"  and  also  another  on  "The  Ven- 
tilation, Lighting  and  Care  of  Cars."  Considerable  discussion 
took  place  as  to  the  advisability  of  heating  cars,  but  at  this 
stage  of  street  railway  history  most  of  the  large  companies  in 
the  North  had  adopted  the  practice  of  heating  because  of  the 
•additional  traffic  that  they  derived  by  having  cars  warm.  The 
committee  reporting  on  "The  Progress  of  Cable  Motive  Power" 
was  able  to  get  together  a  much  more  useful  compilation  of 
definite  engineering  information  about  cable  roads  than  had 
been  before  possible,  because,  by  this  time,  cable  roads  had  been 
installed  in  San  Francisco,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis, 
Kansas  City  and  Los  Angeles.  The  committee  on  "The  Prog- 
ress of  Electric  Motive  Power"  was  also  able  to  give  much 
more  complete  and  definite  information  about  experimental 
electric  railways  than  had  been  given  at  any  previous  conven- 
tion. Much  was  said  about  the  Baltimore  &  Hampden  line  of 
the  Baltimore  Union  Passenger  Railway  Company,  mentioned 
at  the  previous  convention.  This  company  seemed  to  have 
made  a  more  favorable  impression  upon  members  of  the  con- 
vention than  any  of  the  other  roads  which  were  being  operated 
experimentally  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  at  that 
time. 

In  1887  the  association  met  at  Philadelphia,  and  by  this  time 
electric  motive  power  was  assuming  such  an  important  place 
on  the  street  railway  horizon  that  at  least  one-third  of  the  pro- 


structed  by  his  company.  This  convention  was  not  without 
divers  other  representatives  of  electric  railway  systems  which 
were  in  the  experimental  state.  There  were  short  papers  and 
discussions  on  "Roadway  Construction"  and  "Legal  Decisions," 
but  for  the  main  part  the  convention  of  1887  was  given  over 
to  motive  power  subjects. 

At  Washington,  in  1888,  there  was  somewhat  of  a  reaction 
from  the  great  amount  of  attention  given  to  the  discussion  of 
electricity  as  a  motive  power  at  the  previous  convention.  As 
one  of  the  members  remarked,  "I  am  a  practical  fellow  and  I 
run  a  railroad  with  horses."  While  the  discussion  of  cable 
and  electricity  was  interesting  to  many  companies  about  to 
make  a  change,  there  were  still  many  members  whose  chief  in- 
terest still  lay  with  the  horse  car  system,  and  who  were  evi- 
dently dissatisfied  with  having  mechanical  traction  occupy  the 
whole  time  of  the  convention.  Accordingly,  this  convention 
was  somewhat  more  evenly  balanced  as  regards  the  variety  of 
subjects  discussed  than  its  predecessor.  The  report  of  a  com- 
mittee on  "The  Conditions  Necessary  to  the  Financial  Success 
of  Cable  Power"  analyzed  this  subject  in  a  much  more  scien- 
tific manner  than  had  been  done  before  in  the  discussion  of 
cable  power.  This  report  took  up  the  conditions  necessary  to 
the  financial  success  of  cable  power  and  the  volume  of  business, 
engineering  and  mechanical  construction,  engines  and  winding 
machinery.    In  fact,  the  report  was  a  complete,  though  brief, 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


521 


review  of  cable  practice  at  that  time.  On  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  cable  roads  then  in  operation  in  the  United  States,  there 
were  many  intelligent  cable  road  engineers  at  this  convention, 
who  took  part  in  the  discussion.  The  proceedings  of  this  year, 
therefore,  form  one  of  the  most  valuable  contributions  to  cable 
road  literature  to  be  found.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  advent  of 
electricity  the  proceedings  would  have  been  referred  to,  to  a 
very  much  greater  extent,  in  after  years  than  they  have.  The 
committee  on  "Location  and  Construction  of  Car  Houses  and 
Stables"  presented  a  long  report  that  was  of  much  interest  to 
the  horse  car  contingent,  but  the  rumblings  of  the  new  motive 
[tower,  electricity,  which  were  becoming  so  distinctly  audible 
at  this  convention,  created  a  thirst  for  information  about  it 
that  made  it  difficult  to  keep  the  convention  away  from  that 
subject.  The  committee  on  "Street  Railway  Taxation"  reported 
for  the  first  time  at  this  convention,  and  the  subject  is  one 
which  we  have  still  with  us.  Street  railway  mutual  fire  insur- 
ance had  been  talked  of  at  nearly  every  convention  since  the 
beginning,  but  for  various  reasons  the  movement  never 
amounted  to  anything.  Although  there  was  no  set  paper  nor 
report  on  this  subject  at  the  Washington  convention,  electricity 
as  a  motive  power  did  not  fail  to  receive  considerable  discus- 
sion. Many  representatives  of  various  systems  were  present, 
and  enough  of  these  gentlemen  were  allowed  the  floor  so  that 
the  non-technical  street  railway  man  of  those  days  must  have 
been  left  in  a  wonderful  state  of  bewilderment  after  the  dis- 
cussion was  over.  F.  J.  Sprague  again  addressed  the  conven- 
tion this  year,  telling  of  the  progress  he  and  his  company  had 
made  during  the  year.  From  this  discussion  it  appeared  that 
an  immense  amount  of  progress  in  electric  traction  had  been 
made  during  the  year  and  street  railways  were  going  into  the 
business  on  every  hand. 

In  1889  Minneapolis  was  the  place  of  meeting.  A  subject 
of  permanent  interest,  namely,  a  "Street  Railway  Employees' 
Mutual  Benefit  Society,"  was  reported  upon  and  discussed.  It 
is  unnecessary  to  say  that  a  number  of  street  railway  companies 
have  since  adopted  the  plan  of  organizing  or  allowing  their  em- 
ployees to  organize  mutual  benefit  and  relief  associations,  and 
are  financially  giving  considerable  assistance  to  such  associa- 
tions. By  this  time  the  success  of  electricity  as  a  street  rail- 
way motive  power  was  sufficiently  assured  and  established  so 
that  the  discussions  were  on  an  entirely  different  basis  from 
those  preceding.  For  the  two  years  previous,  the  clamor  of  the 
advocates  of  various  tried  and  untried  electric  railway  systems 
had  been  annoying  to  some  of  the  horse  car  men,  who  came  to 
the  convention  primarily  to  learn  useful  points  as  to  the  practi- 
cal every-day  operation  of  their  roads.  Electric  traction  hav- 
ing been  by  1889  installed  by  a  number  of  companies,  it  was 
possible  to  compare  it  with  cable  traction,  and  in  a  report  on 
the  "Conditions  Necessary  to  the  Financial  Success  of  Elec- 
tricity as  a  Motive  Power,"  the  comparative  cost  of  cable  and 
electric  construction  were  analyzed  and  a  number  of  figures 
were  given  as  to  the  cost  of  electric  operation.  While  most  of 
these  figures  would  hardly  bear  scrutiny  in  the  light  of  to-day, 
after  fifteen  years  of  experience,  they  were  undoubtedly  of  con- 
siderable help  to  the  companies  considering  a  change  of  motive 
power  at  the  time  they  were  given.  The  report  concluded  with 
the  statement  "that  electricity  as  a  motive  power  is  as  far 
ahead  of  the  cable  as  the  cable  was  an  advance  over  horses." 
Many  of  the  members  were  inclined  to  question  this  statement 
for  a  number  of  years  after  it  was  made,  but  it  has  since  been 
demonstrated  to  be  true.  As  the  first  Sprague  road  at  Rich- 
mond, which  was  started  in  operation  the  early  part  of  1888, 


had  been  a  subject  of  so  much  interest,  and  had  received  so 
much  attention  from  street  railway  men,  the  association  can 
perhaps  be  pardoned  for  giving  the  floor  to  a  representative  of 
the  Sprague  Company,  who  explained  at  length  why  local  con 
ditions  and  111151113.115.  gement  at  Richmond  were  responsible  for 
a  rather  dilapidated  state  of  the  electric  railway  there.  How- 
ever, electric  traction  needed  no  apology  by  that  time.  H.  A. 
Everett,  of  Cleveland,  told  of  operating  thirty  motor  cars  to 
his  full  satisfaction  on  the  East  Cleveland  road.  Mr.  Monks, 
of  Boston,  told  of  the  successful  beginnings  of  electric  traction 
on  the  West  End  road,  and  some  one  from  every  part  of  the 
country  reported  successful  operation  by  electricity.  The  use 
of  "Motors  Other  Than  Animals,  Cable  and  Electric"  was  dis- 
cussed and  reported  upon,  but  with  no  more  evidence  that  a 
successful  motor  could  be  found  than  in  the  report  of  the  year 
previous.  The  horses  were  not  all  dead  yet,  however,  and 
came  in  for  a  small  amount  of  attention  in  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee on  "Food  and  Care  of  Hcrses." 

In  1890,  at  Buffalo,  the  convention  opened  with  the  report 
of  a  committee  on  "Perfect  Street  Railway  Horses,"  but  the 
discussion  was  rather  limited,  and  the  association  proceeded 
to  the  consideration  of  mechanical  motive  power.  In  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  "Electric  Motive  Power  Technicallv  Con- 


HENRY  M.  WATSON,  JOHN   G.  HOLMES. 

lJresident,lSSI0-18!U  President,lS91-lS92 

sidered,"  we  find  much  more  inclination  to  go  into  the  details 
of  electrical  operation  and  maintenance  than  at  any  previous 
meeting.  The  cost  of  maintenance  of  electric  motors,  which 
was  naturally  a  question  of  much  interest  and  speculation,  was 
taken  up  in  this  report  and  definite  figures  were  given  as  to  the 
cost  and  life  of  various  parts  of  electrical  equipment.  An  elec- 
tric line  which  had  been  in  operation  for  over  a  year  in  Buffalo, 
offered  an  opportunity  for  inspection,  and  some  exhibits  of 
electric  cars  and  appliances  were  made  at  the  Cold  Spring  car 
house.  There  was  some  discussion  on  a  report  concerning  the 
"Relative  Cost  of  Motive  Power  for  Street  Railways,"  and 
this  question  was  more  extensively  discussed  at  later  conven- 
tions. "Plans  for  Development  of  Traffic"  and  the  subject  of 
"Public  and  State  Treatment  of  Corporations"  took  up  the  re- 
mainder of  the  time  at  this  convention. 

In  1891  Pittsburg  was  the  place  of  meeting.  By  this  time 
electric  traction  had  gained  such  an  established  foothold  that 
three  of  the  five  papers  were  given  to  subjects  pertaining  to 
electric  traction.  Of  the  two  papers,  one  was  on  "A  Year's 
Progress  of  Cable  Motive  Power,"  and  the  other  a  continua- 
tion of  previous  report  mi  "Public  and  State  Treatment  of  Cor- 
porations." There  was  still  much  discussion  as  to  whether  the 
overhead  trolley,  underground  conduit  or  storage-battery  sys- 
tem would  be  the  coming  system,  but  in  the  meantime  the  over- 
head trolley  was  going  up  everywhere,  with  the  exception  of  a 


522 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


few  experimental  roads.  At  this  convention  the  relative  costs 
and  advantages  of  cable,  electric  and  horse  motive  power  were 
analyzed  more  thoroughly  than  ever  before,  and  while  each 
system  had  its  advocates,  the  conclusion  seemed  to  be  reached 
that  for  very  heavy  traffic  the  cable  afforded  the  most  econom- 
ical motive  power;  for  moderate  traffic  electricity  was  consid- 
ered the  most  desirable,  and  for  very  light  traffic  horse  traction 
would  be  the  only  motive  power  justified.  As  this  was  the  first 
convention  at  which  horse  traffic  received  no  attention,  other 
than  to  compare  it  with  other  methods,  the  year  1891,  as  far 
as  the  work  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  was 
concerned,  marked  the  end  of  the  era  of  horses  as  street  car 
motive  power,  except  that  at  later  conventions  the  cost  of  horse 
traction  as  compared  with  cable  and  electric  was  considered. 

The  Cleveland  convention  in  1892  was  decidedly  an  electrical 
affair.  It  is  notable  that  this  was  the  first  convention  at  which 
the  return  circuit  received  formal  attention.  "Street  Railway 
Roadbed  and  Underground  Wiring"  brought  up  the  question 
of  rail  bonds,  supplementary  return  wires  and  other  means  of 
improving  the  conductivity  of  the  rail  return,  and  a  discussion 
of  these  subjects  has  been  live  matter  ever  since.  At  this  con- 
vention a  very  interesting  historical  review  of  the  events  lead- 
ing up  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Asso- 


D.  F.  LONGSTREET,  HENRY   C.  PAYNE, 

President,1892-1893  President,1893-1894 


ciation  was  given  by  D.  F.  Longstreet,  of  Denver.  Mr.  Long- 
street's  account  of  the  cold  reception  with  which  his  idea  of 
forming  an  American  Street  Railway  Association  had  met 
among  some  of  the  Eastern  street  railway  companies  is  amus- 
ing and  surprising  in  these  days  when  the  advantages  of  organ- 
ization and  the  exchange  of  ideas  are  better  appreciated  than 
in  the  early  days.  There  were  indeed  many  local  jealousies 
which  tended  to  prevent  such  an  organization  being  formed. 
The  report  on  roadbed,  before  mentioned,  brought  out  the  fact 
that  street  railway  companies,  with  the  advent  of  electric  trac- 
tion, were  being  obliged  to  entirely  discard  old  ideas  in  track 
work  and  adopt  the  most  substantial  girder  rail  construction. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  companies  were  beginning  to  find 
out  what  terribly  weak  spots  the  joints  in  ordinary  track  were 
under  electric  traction.  At  this  meeting  the  advantages  of  the 
T-rail  began  to  be  generally  recognized,  and  the  inability  to 
adopt  it  in  many  cities  regretted  by  the  companies  which  could 
not  use  it.  It  was  also  at  this  convention  that  the  possibility 
of  using  continuous  track  with  joints  welded  or  riveted  which 
would  not  provide  in  any  way  for  contraction  or  expansion, 
first  became  apparent  from  the  reported  results  of  experiments 
on  continuous  track.  One  of  the  most  valuable  features  of  this 
convention  was  the  comparative  data  of  the  operating  expenses 
of  a  number  of  cable  and  electric  roads.  In  this  report  the 
conclusion  was  reached  by  the  committee  that  the  cable  road 


had  reached  a  stage  where  but  little  room  was  left  for  improve- 
ment, but  that  electric  systems  would  continue  to  increase  in 
efficiency  until  all  rivals  were  outdistanced;  a  conclusion  which 
we  now  see  to  be  entirely  sound.  "Standards  for  Electric 
Street  Railways"  was  a  subject  reported  upon,  and,  among 
other  things,  a  standard  method  of  accounting  was  recom- 
mended, so  we  see  again  the  beginning  of  the  Street  Railway 
Accountants'  Association  of  America.  The  committee  natur- 
ally found  it  very  difficult  to  recommend  any  dimensions  of 
parts  as  standard,  and  the  impossibility  of  standardizing  at  that 
time  can  be  easily  seen  by  glancing  over  the  suggested  dimen- 
sions for  various  parts,  nearly  all  of  which  have  been  increased 
in  practice  of  later  years.  The  report  even  went  into  the  ques- 
tion of  rating  of  motors  at  length,  but  this  branch  of  the  sub- 
ject has  never  been  followed  up  further  by  the  American  Street 
Railway  Association,  but  has  been  left  to  the  American  Insti- 
tute of  Electrical  Engineers. 

In  1893,  the  year  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  at 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  was  chosen  as  a  place  near  enough  to  the 
Exposition  for  convenience,  and  yet  far  enough  away  to  keep 
the  convention  free  from  its  distractions.  An  extended  report 
and  considerable  discussion  was  had  on  "Power  House  En- 
gines."   A  committee  on  "The  Best  Method  of  Heating  and 


JOEL  HURT,  H.  M.  LITTELL, 

President,1894-1895  President,  1895-1896 

Lighting  Cars"  discussed  mainly  the  heating  question.  At 
that  stage  of  street  railway  development,  it  was  mainly  a  ques- 
tion between  stoves  and  electric  heaters.  "The  Use  of  the 
T-Rail  on  Paved  Streets"  received  attention  again,  and  was 
discussed  at  length.  "The  Use  of  Storage  Batteries  as  Auxil- 
iaries to  Power  Stations"  was  for  the  first  time  brought  up  in  a 
street  railway  convention  this  year.  Before  this  time  storage 
batteries  had  been  mainly  considered  as  the  possible  sources 
of  motive  power  carried  on  the  car.  Direct-connected  engine 
and  generator  units  were  just  coming  into  use  for  railway 
power  stations  in  1893,  and  a  report  made  on  this  subject  was 
therefore  very  timely.  The  report  illustrated  some  of  the  few 
large  direct-connected  railway  generators  in  operation  at  that 
time.  This  year  practicaly  marked  the  end  of  the  belt-driven 
period  on  electric  railway  generators. 

In  1894  the  association  went  South  to  Atlanta.  The  year 
previous  there  had  been  a  notable  increase  in  the  length  of 
papers  and  reports,  and  at  the  Atlanta  convention  the  pro- 
gramme was  even  more  crowded.  "The  Use  of  the  T-Rail  on 
Paved  Streets"  was  again  taken  up,  and  a  report  giving  the 
cities  in  which  the  T-rail  is  used  in  paved  streets  has  proven  of 
much  value  to  street  railway  companies  in  securing  municipal 
permission  to  lay  the  T-rail.  The  report  included  data  from 
twenty-six  cities  using  the  T-rail.  Many  cities  were  not  in- 
cluded and  others  have  since  adopted  it.   Perhaps  the  gradual 


(  )CTOBER  8,  1904.] 

evolution  of  the  street  railway  business  was  better  shown  in 
no  other  way  than  by  the  reading  at  this  convention  of  a  report 
on  "Mail,  Express  and  Freight  Service  on  Street  Railway 
Cars."  A  number  of  papers  on  special  mechanical  and  elec- 
trical subjects,  by  manufacturers  and  others,  were  accepted  at 
this  convention  for  insertion  in  the  minutes.  Both  air  and 
electric  brakes  began  to  be  pushed  prominently  to  the  front. 
Perhaps  after  all,  one  of  the  most  important  reports  was  that 
by  H.  I.  Bettis  on  "A  Uniform  System  of  Street  Railway  Ac- 
counts." While  reports  of  a  similar  nature  had  been  previously 
presented,  this  brought  matters  to  a  head,  so  that  probably  the 
direct  result  of  this  report  was  the  organization  of  the  account- 
ants, which  took  place  a  little  over  two  years  later. 

The  Atlanta  convention -brings  us  down  to  the  past  decade, 
and  it  is  probably  unnecessary  to  outline  as  fully  the  work  of 
the  association  within  that  time,  because  this  work  is  better 
known,  and  also  because  it  is  not  as  easy  to  judge  of  its  per- 
manent value.  Accordingly,  in  the  review  of  the  past  ten 
years,  mention  will  be  made  principally  of  such  features  of  the 
work  as  lasted  through  several  conventions. 

At  the  convention  of  1895,  which  was  held  in  Montreal,  the 
question  of  transfers  received  more  attention  than  at  previous 


ROBERT  McCULLOCH,  ALBION  E.  LANG, 

President,1896-1897  President,lS97-1898 

conventions,  and  it  may  be  said  in  general  that  this  question  of 
transfers  and  how  best  to  prevent  their  abuse  and  misuse  has 
received  much  more  attention  during  the  past  ten  years  than 
formerly,  because  of  the  great  increase  in  size  of  the  street  rail- 
way systems  operated  under  one  management,  due  to  consolida- 
tions and  the  suburban  extensions  resulting  from  the  adoption 
of  electric  traction.  Conditions  of  the  past  ten  years  have 
necessitated  transfer  systems  which  were  unthought  of  in  days 
when  there  were  many  different  companies  operated  in  a  city 
and  transfers  were  not  expected.  Transfer  problems  are  there- 
fore of  comparatively  recent  origin,  and  the  transfer  has  been 
heard  from  several  times  in  conventions  since  the  rather  com- 
plete discussion  given  to  it  at  Montreal. 

The  convention  returned  to  St.  Louis  again  in  1896.  Among 
the  more  prominent  subjects  at  this  convention  was  that  of 
track  and  track  joints.  Cast  welding  was  at  this  time  just  en- 
tering the  field.  A  report  on  the  design  of  power  stations  to 
produce  the  most  economical  results  summarized  briefly  the 
best  practice  at  that  time,  and  it  is  of  interest  to  compare  this 
with  a  report  on  the  same  subject  by  the  same  author  before 
the  Saratoga  convention  in  1903,  when  the  plans  for  a  mam- 
moth alternating-current  generating  station,  5000-kw  steam 
turbines,  was  presented  as  representing  the  most  advanced 
modern  practice.  The  report  of  1895  outlined  a  power  station 
in  which  the  maximum  size  of  the  units  was  1500  kw,  and  in 


523 

general  it  was,  of  course,  a  much  simpler  piece  of  engineering 
than  the  one  of  1903. 

At  the  convention  at  Niagara  Falls  in  1897,  reports  on  the 
use  of  multiphase  current  transmission  and  the  application  of 
storage  batteries  to  electric  traction,  showed  what  progress 
electric  railway  engineering  was  making,  but,  after  all,  perhaps 
the  report  of  most  lasting  value  presented  was  that  on  municipal 
ownership  of  street  railways,  in  which  European  conditions 
were  analyzed  very  thoroughly  and  the  drawbacks  of  municipal 
ownership  in  the  present  state  of  American  municipal  politics 
pointed  out. 

In  1898  the  convention  again  went  to  Boston,  the  city  of  its 
birth.  One  of  the  principal  subjects  for  discussion  at  this  con- 
vention was  a  comparison  of  single  and  double-truck  cars.  This 
question,  which  was  practicaly  brought  up  the  first  time  at 
Boston,  has  always  provoked  considerable  discussion  whenever 
touched  upon  since  in  convention.  A  change  in  the  general 
sentiment  regarding  double-truck  cars  has  been  noticeable,  both 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  and  on  the  streets  of 
American  cities,  for,  as  we  all  know,  there  has  been  a  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  double-truck  cars.  Maintenance  and 
inspection  of  equipments  was  also  given  considerable  attention. 


CHARLES  S.  SERGEANT  JOHN  M.  ROACH, 

President,1898-1899  President,1899-l'Jl>0 

At  this  convention  a  report  was  discussed  on  "To  What  Ex- 
tent Should  Street  Railway  Companies  Engage  in  the  Amuse- 
ment Business?"  Beginning  with  1893,  there  had  been  a  great 
deal  of  activity  among  street  railway  companies  providing 
pleasure  resorts  for  inducing  traffic.  It  was  not  until  1898, 
however,  that  this  branch  of  the  business  was  sufficiently  recog- 
nized to  be  given  a  place  on  the  convention  programme. 

The  convention  met  again  in  Chicago  in  1899.  Maintenance 
of  equipment,  track  construction  and  train  service  were  the 
principal  operating  subjects  discussed,  and  a  paper  on  "Invest- 
ments in  Street  Railways,  How  They  Can  Be  Made  Secure  and 
Remunerative,"  received  considerable  attention. 

At  Kansas  City,  in  1900,  "double-truck  cars"  again  came  up 
for  extended  discussion.  The  work  in  this  convention  was  alsn 
notable  because  of  the  amount  of  information  regarding  paint- 
ing and  maintenance  of  car  bodies  which  it  drew  out. 

The  convention  at  New  York  in  1901  was  notable,  not  only 
for  the  size  of  the  attendance,  but  for  the  size  of  the  published 
proceedings.  The  increasing  importance  of  interurban  roads 
was  manifested  at  this  convention  by  the  attention  given  to  a 
paper  on  "The  Relation  of  Interurban  Roads  to  City  Roads," 
which  was  a  review  and  discussion  of  traffic  agreements  be- 
tween city  and  interurban  lines.  Another  paper  indicating  the 
importance  of  the  interurban  road  was  one  on  block  signals. 

Ever  since  the  association  has  started  there  has  been  some 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


524 

attempt  to  get  nearer  to  standards  in  street  railway  equipment. 
Committees  have  reported  from  time  to  time  on  standard 
nomenclature  and  standard  dimensions  for  various  parts  of  the 
equipment.  The  convention  at  New  York  goes  down  into  his- 
tory as  notable  for  having  had  presented  to  it  the  first  report 
recommending  standard  forms  and  dimensions  for  many  things 
in  connection  with  electric  railway  equipment.  Other  reports 
of  a  similar  nature  were  presented  in  succeeding  years,  and  at 
the  last  convention  the  matter  was  practically  turned  over  to 
the  new  American  Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Asso- 
ciation, but  the  report  at  New  York  forms  an  important  mile 
post  in  the  history  of  the  attempt  to  adopt  electric  railway 
standards.  That  more  progress  has  not  been  made  in  this  direc- 
tion is  due  to  the  inherent  difficulty  of  introducing  standards 
among  electric  railway  companies  at  the  present  time. 

At  Detroit,  in  1902,  the  convention  met  amid  distinctly  in- 
terurban  surroundings,  at  the  center  of  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant interurban  systems  in  the  country.  Although  subjects 
pertaining  purely  to  the  operation  of  interurban  roads  had  not 
previously  occupied  as  large  a  portion  of  convention  pro- 
grammes as  might  be  expected,  considering  the  very  rapid 
growth  of  interurban  roads  recently,  the  general  trend  of  all 
discussions  at  Detroit  showed  plainly  what  an  important  part 
the  operation  of  interurban  systems  is  taking  in  the  electric 
railway  interests.  Freight  and  express  business  as  carried  on 
by  interurban  roads  formed  the  basis  of  an  extended  report 
presented  to  the  Detroit  convention.  The  adjustment  of  dam- 
age claims  has  received  more  attention  the  last  few  years  than 
formerly,  and  was  one  of  the  prominent  topics  at  Detroit.  That 
Ibis  quest  ion  is  receiving  an  increasing  amount  of  attention  at 
conventions  is  probably  due  to  the  tendency  of  the  times  toward 
an  increasing  number  of  unjust  damage  claims  and  the  allow- 
ance of  exorbitant  damages  by  juries  for  personal  injuries  not 
due  to  the  fault  of  the  company. 

When  the  convention  met  at  Saratoga  in  1903,  there  had 
sprung  up  during  the  year  a  new  organization  which  is  mani- 
festly destined  to  make  considerable  change  in  the  character 
oi  convention  programmes  in  the  future.  The  American  Rail- 
way Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  will  doubtless  have 
given  to  it  by  common  consent  the  discussion  of  the  mechanical 
subjects  connected  with  street  railway  operation.  Although 
the  Saratoga  convention  is  not  old  enough  in  history  so  that  a 
fair  judgment  can  be  formed  as  to  things  it  did,  which  will  be 
of  lasting  benefit,  one  matter  was  brought  to  a  head  which  has 
been  running  through  convention  proceedings  ever  since  the 
organization  of  the  association,  namely,  that  of  standard  rules. 
As  the  proper  conclusion  of  several  years'  work  of  a  committee 
mi  standard  rules,  the  Saratoga  convention  adopted  a  standard 
set  of  street  and  interurban  rules  for  the  government  of  con- 
ductors and  motormen,  and  recommended  that  these  rules  be 
adopted  by  all  companies  in  the  business,  at  the  same  time 
recognizing  that  improvements  will  probably  be  made  from 
time  to  time  in  the  rules  as  adopted. 

In  a  brief  sketch  of  this  kind  it  is  manifestly  impossible  to 
mention  in  detail  many  excellent  reports  and  papers  on  various 
subjects  which  have  been  presented  from  time  to  time,  and 
which  form  a  mine  of  valuable  information.  It  has  been  possi- 
ble only  to  simply  call  attention  to  papers  and  discussions  which 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 

represented  general  tendencies  in  various  directions  of  activity, 
noting  the  beginnings  of  certain  movements  and  following 
them  through  the  history  of  the  association. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  said  that  a  general  review  of  the 
work  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  for  the  past 
twenty-two  years  shows  that  the  progress  of  the  art  has  been 
so  rapid  that  the  conventions  are  merely  mile  posts  on  the  road 
of  progress.  As  is  fitting  in  a  conservative  body  like  the  Amer- 
ican Street  Railway  Association,  many  of  the  new  things  have 
not  been  brought  up  in  convention  until  they  have  beeh  tried 
on  a  large  scale  in  actual  street  railway  practice.  It  would  not 
be  profitable  for  the  association  to  take  valuable  time  in  con- 
ventions for  the  discussion  of  suggested  improvements  which 
have  not  demonstrated  their  worth;  the  proceedings  of  the 
association  are  therefore  necessarily  a  little  behind  the  real 
progress  of  the  street  railway  art.  In  the  discussion  of  new 
inventions,  beginning  with  the  introduction  of  mechanical  trac- 
tion as  a  substitute  for  horses,  and  ending  with  the  steam  tur- 
bine as  a  substitute  for  reciprocating  engines,  there  has  always 
been  one  element  in  the  association  eager  to  discuss  the  new 


WALTQJ5  II.  HOLMES,  H.  H.  VREELAND, 

Presfdent,1900-l!l01  Presid'ent,1901-1902 

and  untried,  and  another  protesting  against  such  a  policy  and 
desiring  to  confine  the  convention  proceedings  to  questions  of 
operation  and  existing  appliances.  These  two  elements  have 
so  balanced  each  other  that  the  association  has  never,  in  the 
long  run,  given  any  undue  amount  of  time  to  the  discussion  of 
the  very  new  things,  and  at  the  same  time  has  not  been  behind 
in  the  march  of  progress. 

The  preceding  remarks  are  all  historical.  I  would  in  a  few 
words  criticise  a  weak  point  in  our  conventions.  While  we  all 
like  a  "good  time"  and  enjoy  very  much  the  hospitality  of  our 
friends  who  invite  us  to  their  respective  cities,  don't  you  think. 
Reader,  we  should  give  a  little  more  time  to  business?  or  in 
other  words,  "business  first,  pleasure  afterwards."  Let  us  be 
prompt  to  attend  the  business  sessions  and  stay  until  adjourn- 
ment, help  the  business  along  by  giving  our  mite  to  the  dis- 
cussions. We  owe  to  the  company  which  sends  us  as  delegates 
attendance  at  all  sessions,  and  also  to  the  gentlemen  who  spend 
days  and  weeks  getting  up  papers  for  our  enlightenment,  and 
hereafter  let  us  work  first  and  play  afterward.  The  writer  en- 
joys a  "good  time"  as  well  as  any  one,  and  perhaps  is  entitled 
to  as  much  of  this  criticism  as  any  one,  but  let  us  all  try  and 
attend  to  business  first  in  the  future  and  then  visit  with  our 
friends,  very  many  of  whom  we  only  see  once  a  year. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  INDUSTRY 


IN  HORSE  CAR  DAYS 


BY  C.  DENSMORE  WYMAN 


ONE  may  plead  guilty  to  having 
witnessed  and  actively  partici- 
pated to  a  greater  or  less  ex- 
tent in  the  discussions,  plans 
and  actual  work  incident  to  the 
evolution  of  the  modern  elec- 
tric railway  without  such  a 
plea  being  accepted  as  a  con- 
fession of  great  age,  or  with- 
out characterizing  its  maker 
as  a  person  properly  to  be 
styled  after  the  fashion  of 
newspaper  reference  as  the 
"Oldest  Inhabitant."  As  a  single  life  time  spanned  the  gap  be- 
tween the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  laying  of  the 
first  rail  of  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railway,  the  dean  of  the 
steam  railroad  fraternity,  so  the  period  of  experiment  and  en- 
deavor covering  the  development  of  the  modern  street  and 
interurban  car  has  been  a  marvelously  brief  one,  when  we 
consider  the  importance  of  such  a  step  in  the  economic  history 
and  development  of  urban,  and  suburban  communities. 

It  seems  but  yesterday  that  the  ponderous  and  aldermanic 
omnibus,  as  if  weighted  with  the  memories  of  its  distinguished 
ancestry,  lumbered  over  the  streets  of  New  York  and  refused 
for  a  time  to  yield  its  place  to,  what  it  apparently  considered, 
the  impertinent  and  "smartish"  street  car  that,  with  business 
directness,  hastened  along  an  iron  way  to  its  destination,  in- 
stead of  winding  over  the  cobbles  and  through  the  dust  of  the 
ordinary  city  highway.  But  the  horse  car,  with  its  modem 
conveniences  and  more  rapid  pace,  soon  found  such  favor  with 
the  public  as  to  become  a  necessity  for  general  city  transporta- 
tion service,  and  the  'bus  was  relegated  to  the  limbo  of  the 
outgrown  and  the  superseded.  And  later,  in  answer  to  the 
demand  for  a  more  rapid  means  of  transit  than  could  lie  af- 
forded by  animal  power,  came  the  cable  and  the  electric  trolley 
car  to  work  in  like  manner  the  downfall  of  its  horse-propelled 
predecessor. 

These  changes,  to  be  sure,  have  taken  place  with  various 
overlappings,  as  though  the  representatives  of  each  were  loath 
to  part  company,  and  in  Xew  York  the  tinkle  of  the  street  car 
bell  yet  mingles  with  the  brazen  clamor  of  the  trolley  car  gong, 
while  over  the  water  the  tram  is  yet  regarded  as  savoring  less 
of  gentle  ancestry  and  position  than  the  old-fashioned  'bus, 
and  is  thus  securing  a  tardy  recognition. 

The  step  from  the  omnibus  as  a  means  of  regular  city  transit 
to  the  horse  car  was  more  deliberately  taken  than  that  from 
the  latter  to  the  electric  trolley,  but  this  was  largely  due  In  the 
fact  that  when  that  form  of  traction  asked  admission  to  the 
field  hitherto  occupied  by  the  omnibus  lines,  questions  of  fran- 
chise, involved  in  the  granting  of  rights  to  lav  permanent 
tracks  in  city  streets,  exciterl  widest  discussion  and  not  a  little 
opposition.  Even  in  our  land  and  age  of  accelerated  motion 
and  restless  genius,  there  was  great  disposition  to  hesitate  be- 
fore granting  such  privileges;  for,  although  omnibus  companies 
bad  been  given  charters  for  regular  routes  in  some  of  the  larger 
municipalities,  such  charters  did  not  involve  the  placing  of  a 


permanent  style  of  construction  in  the  cities'  highways,  and, 
hence,  did  not  invite  special  criticism,  either  for  legal,  business 
or  aesthetic  reasons.  The  change  proposed  was  a  radical  one, 
and  such  changes  alwajs  excite  apprehension  as  to  final  results. 
When  Rowland  Hill's  penny-post  scheme  had  gained  such  sup- 
port as  to  be  very  seriously  considered  in  Parliament,  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  the  greatest  financial  minister  of  his  day,  was  its 
strongest  opponent  and  prophesied  nothing  but  loss  and  failure 
as  a  result.  In  the  light  of  the  present  status  of  street  railway 
franchise  questions  and  the  benefits  which  have  accrued  to  the 
cities  of  the  country  in  which  liberal  charters  for  urban  trans- 
portation privileges  have  been  granted,  it  is  amusing  to  read 
the  prophesies  of  danger  and  hazard  to  the  public,  presented  in 
the  newspapers,  legislative  and  municipal  halls  at  the  time  the 
street  railroad  companies  were  seeking  street  rights,  as  sure  to 
come  if  cities  should  be  gridironed  by  street  railway  tracks. 

The  steam  railroads,  aided  financially  and  in  other  ways  by 
the  States  and  towns  which  they  proposed  to  traverse,  secured 
legislative  permission  to  condemn  property  and  acquire  rights 
of  way  before  the  street  railroads  entered  the  field.  But  when 
the  latter  sought  to  operate  within  cities  upon  streets  dedicated 
to  public  purposes  and  hitherto  used  in  common  by  vehicle 
owners  and  'bus  proprietors,  they  encountered  vigorous  opposi- 
tion, and  were  obliged  to  meet  and  overcome  legal  and  social 
arguments,  the  echoes  of  which  have  not  entirely  died  away. 

Those  of  us,  therefore,  who  were  actively  engaged  in  the 
horse  car  business  may  claim  that  the  years  covering  the  in- 
troduction and  development  of  that  species  of  urban  traction 
were  the  arena  in  which  was  fought  out  many  of  the  broad 
questions  incident  to  the  general  city  transportation  question, 
and  that  no  given  period  has  been  more  prolific  in  the  discus- 
sion and  settlement  of  problems,  the  wise  solutions  of  which 
have  made  for  the  growth  and  enlargement  of  the  great  urban 
communities  of  the  country. 

When  the  writer  first  became  connected  with  one  of  the 
horse  railways  in  the  city  of  Xew  York  there  was  no  Railroad 
Commission  in  the  State.  No  general  railway  enactments  by 
which  a  street  railroad  might  incorporate  and  acquire  rights 
to  do  business  had  been  passed,  and  companies  were  obliged  to 
operate  very  largely  under  special  acts  which  from  time  to  time 
had  been  passed  by  the  Legislature  covering  their  privileges 
and  limitations.  Accident  law,  too,  as  applied  to  happenings 
of  that  sort  in  connection  with  street  railway  transportation, 
was  meager  and  confusing,  and  the  great  dictum  of  "Stop, 
look  and  listen"  had  not  been  enunciated. 

The  decade  from  1874  to  1884  may  be  fairly  considered  the 
period  of  greatest  development  in  horse  car  history,  for  during 
that  time  the  street  railroads  of  the  progressive  cities  of  the 
country,  responding  to  the  demands  for  improved  cars  and 
more  frequent  service,  introduced  and  adopted  many  conven- 
iences in  the  form  and  style  of  vehicles  and  in  their  practical 
operation,  and  thus  secured  favorable  recognition  and  a  liberal 
patronage. 

In  Yew  York  City  at  the  close  of  the  period  named,  there 
was  hardly  an  avenue  traversing  Manhattan  Island  from  north 
to  south,  below  Fifty-Ninth  Street,  which  did  not  have  upon  it 
and  give  its  name  to  a  horse  railway  line,  and  many  of  the 
crosstown  lines  in  I  lie  metropolis  bad  already  been  pro  jected 
or  built.  Some  twelve  or  fifteen  separate  and  independent  com- 
panies were  serving  an  insistent  and  critical  public,  and,  with 


526 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


one  or  two  exceptions,  all  were  prosperous  and  progressive. 

The  securities  of  these  companies  had  not  the  honor  of  a 
place  on  the  active  list  of  Stock  Exchange  offerings,  and  while 
for  this  reason  they  lost  the  advantage  of  being  easily  bought 
and  sold,  they  avoided  the  hazard  of  manipulation  for  stock 
jobbing  purposes  and  did  not  figure  in  the  daily  record  of  the 
ups  and  downs  of  bull  and  bear  movements ;  but  their  dividends 
were  as  even  tenored  as  the  jingle  of  the  nickel  in  the  fare 
box,  and  they  were  held  strong  and  fast  by  cautious  investors 
and  financial  institutions. 

During  this  period,  improvements  in  constructions  of  cars, 
such  as  the  monitor  roof,  the  present  style  of  coupling,  the  cash 
register,  the  open-sided,  cross-seated  summer  car  and  many 
other  innovations,  which  in  form  enlarged  and  strengthened 
are  used  to-day  in  our  electric  cars,  were  introduced  and 
adopted. 

The  principles  of  general  organization  were  studied  and  ap 
plied,  and  out  of  the  desire  of  street  railroad  managers  to  dis 
cover  what  was  best  in  that  direction,  and  to  secure  such  ex- 
change of  opinion  and  judgment  as  would  make  for  the  discov- 
ery of  the  best  practice,  was  born  the  American  Street  Rail- 
road Association,  that  organization  which  has  borne  such  mag- 
nificent fruit  since  its  first  meeting  in  1882.  Xor  can  we  fail 
to  mention  that  street  railroad  literature  came  into  being  dur- 
ing horse  car  days,  and  we  who  have  been  so  long  the  bene- 
ficiaries of  the  journals  devoted  to  the  interests  of  our  kind 
of  transportation  business  cannot  acknowledge  in  too  strong 
terms  the  debt  we  are  under  to  thess  publications. 

We  cannot  forget  that  in  horse  car  days  very  many*  of  the 
questions  affecting  labor  and  the  problems  of  the  relations  of 
employer  to  employed  were  as  calmly,  patiently  and  studiously 
considered  as  they  have  ever  been  at  any  time  by  the  managers 
and  directors  of  corporations,  and  the  general  lines  of  con- 
clusion in  regard  to  the  rights  of  labor  and  the  rights  of  the 
employer  reached,  after  much  study  and  some  conflicts,  during 
horse  car  days,  remain  unimpeached  for  the  present  time.  It 
is  perhaps  notable  that  in  the  city  of  New  York,  since  the  time 
of  the  last  general  clash  between  the  horse  car  employees  and 
the  companies,  no  strike  or  serious  railroad  conflict  has  oc- 
curred. 

One  is  tempted  while  writing  of  the  horse  car  days  to  name 
the  men  whose  far-sightedness,  business  intelligence,  public 
spirit,  and  whose  financial  faith  solved  in  such  an  excellent 
manner  for  their  day  the  question  of  urban  transportation.  It 
was  their  work  which  gave  such  an  impetus  to  the  territorial 
expansion  of  the  cities  of  our  country,  and  which  added  so 
greatly  to  the  wealth  and  comfort  of  their  inhabitants,  but  the 
limits  of  this  brief  reminiscence  will  not  permit  the  inclusion 
of  so  splendid  a  roster. 

One  characteristic  of  the  horse  railroad  director  and  manager 
of  the  period  covered  by  memory  of  the  writer  must  not  be  left 
unmentioned,  and  that  is  the  lively  expectation  that  his  open 
and  willing  mind,  universally  evidenced  by  his  constant  search 
for  some  better  motive  power  for  cars  than  that  afforded  by 
horses.  He  was  above  everything  else  progressive,  and  was 
ready  to  adventure  time  and  money  to  discover  a  more  rapid 
and  a  better  source  of  power  than  he  had  at  hand,  and  the 
records  of  the  annual  meetings  of  the  association  bear  witness 
to  the  many  discussions  had  by  the  representatives  of  the  horse 
car  companies  as  to  the  feasibility  of  employing  as  a  motor, 
steam,  electric,  cable  or  compressed  air.  In  the  investigation 
of  each  of  these  motive  powers  the  early  railway  companies 
spared  neither  time  nor  money,  and  it  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
penetration  and  zeal  of  the  horse  car  manager  that  when  once 


a  demonstration  had  been  made,  even  in  the  crudest  way,  that 
cable  or  electric  power  could  be  utilized  practically  for  the  pro- 
pelling of  cars,  he  exhibited  comparatively  no  hesitation  in 
making  the  change. 

"From  the  days  of  the  first  grandfather  everybody  has  re- 
membered a  golden  age  behind  him,"  but  we  sometimes  are 
tempted  to  despise  the  old  and  simple  as  cheap  and  unimportant. 

The  days  covering  the  organization  of  the  horse  car  com- 
panies, and  the  development  of  their  business,  and  ending  with 
the  change  of  their  motive  power  to  cable  and  electric  traction, 
were  days  potential  in  all  that  has  gone  to  produce  the  present 
improved  status  of  the  art  or  science  of  street  railroading.  If 
we  wish  to  characterize  them  broadly,  we  might  say  they  were 
days  covering  the  discovery  of  the  broad,  general  principles  of 
street  railroad  organization  and  methods,  while  the  present 
regime  is  more  concerned  with  questions  of  technique,  of  scien- 
tific engineering  and  of  comparative  statistics. 

Viewed  in  perspective  and  without  any  disposition  to  mag- 
nify the  excellencies  or  to  forget  the  deficiencies  of  the  horse 
car  era,  we  can  but  acknowledge,  as  we  look  back  over  its 
work,  that  it  presents  a  most  interesting  chapter  of  a  fruitful 
period  in  the  history  of  street  car  transit  for  cities  and  towns, 
and  that  to  the  skillful,  energetic  and  public-spirited  men  en- 
gaged in  the  business  at  that  time,  not  only  are  we  who  remain 
in  the  line  of  work  which  they  projected  and  instituted,  but  all 
citizens  in  town  and  country,  indebted  for  the  enlarged  and 
multiplied  utilities  brought  within  their  reach  during  the  last 
few  years  in  the  line  of  better  urban  and  interurban  trans- 
portation. 

"Still  o'er  the  earth  bastes  Opportunity, 
Seeking  the  hardy  son]  that  seeks  for  her." 


EARLY  ELECTRIC  RAILROADING  IN  NEW  ENGLAND 

BY  E.  C.  FOSTER 

SIXTEEN  years  ago,  at  the  beginning  of  the  electric  rail- 
road development  in  New  England,  I  was  connected 
with  the  Lynn  &  Boston  Railroad  Company,  in  the 
capacity  of  superintendent.  Amos  F.  Breed,  of  Lynn,  was 
president  of  the  company,  and  E.  Francis  Oliver,  of  Boston, 
was  the  treasurer.  Our  corporation,  like  most  other  street 
railway  companies  of  that  time,  was  controlled  by  the  presi- 
dent, treasurer  and  their  friends,  the  balance  of  the  securities 
being  distributed  among  local  people. 

I,  personally,  am  not  familiar  with  the  first  negotiations 
which  took  place  relative  to  the  equipment  of  our  system  with 
electricity,  because  they  were  taken  up  by  our  president  and 
treasurer  and  discussed  at  considerable  length  with  Gen.  Eu- 
gene Griffin,  who  then  represented  the  Thomson-Houston  Elec- 
tric Company,  and  is  now  vice-president  of  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company.  The  subject  was  first  seriously  considered  in 
the  year  1887,  when  it  was  proposed  to  build  and  equip  elec- 
trically 1  mile  of  track  located  on  Ocean  Avenue,  in  the  town 
of  Revere,  where  now  are  the  famous  Revere  Beach  and  the 
world  renowned  State  bath  house  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

At  that  period  Revere  Beach  was  used  as  a  recreation  resort 
by  the  people  of  Boston  and  vicinity  in  only  a  limited  way,  and 
for  a  long  time  the  Revere  Street  line  was  the  only  one  run- 
ning to  the  beach.  This  road  had  formerly  been  operated  by  a 
steam  dummy.  Subsequently  a  second  connection  to  the  beach 
from  the  main  line,  which  extended  between  Lynn  and  Boston, 
was  constructed  by  the  way  of  Beach  Street,  Revere,  from 
Broadway,  and  when  in  1887  electricity  was  proposed,  the  plan 
was  to  build  an  electric  line  on  Ocean  Avenue,  connecting  these 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


527 


two  lines — namely,  Revere  Street  and  Beach  Street,  and  ex- 
tending even  further  than  Beach  Street,  in  the  direction  of 
Boston,  making  the  distance  to  be  equipped  about  1  mile. 

Many  conferences  were  held  between  Gen.  Griffin  and  other 
representatives  of  the  General  Electric  Company,  and  Messrs. 
Breed  and  Oliver.  Mr.  Breed  was  very  conservative  and  Mr. 
Oliver  an  ultra-conservative,  and,  as  they  had  nursed  the  prop- 
erty from  a  non-dividend  paying  one,  with  the  stock  selling  at 
75  cents  per  share  to  a  par  value  of  $100,  they  were  naturally 
inclined  to  be  cautious  and  conservative. 

One  of  the  most  serious  objections  that  they  had  to  the  equip- 
ment of  the  line  electrically  was  the  height  of  the  car  floor 
above  the  rail,  made  necessary  by  the  use  of  two  motors  of  the 
F-30  type.  This  elevation  created  a  possible  danger,  in  their 
minds,  to  the  passengers,  especially  to  ladies  and  children,  when 
entering  and  alighting  from  the  car,  and  many  earnest  and 
sincere  conferences  were  held  on  this  particular 
subject  after  all  other  points  had  been  decided 
upon.  I  remember  very  well  that  our  treasurer 
was  very  much  concerned  about  this  one  particu- 
lar feature.  But  after  due  consideration,  it  was 
decided  to  build  this  experimental  line  and  equip  it 
electrically.  The  equipment  consisted  of  but  one 
car,  and  that  an  open  cross-seat  car,  as  the  line 
was  to  be  operated  during  a  short  period  in  the 
summer  season. 

After  all  details  had  been  arranged  and  every- 
thing was  satisfactorily  adjusted,  the  construction 
of  the  track  was  commenced  and  prosecuted  vigor- 
ously until  the  road  was  completed.  The  equip- 
ment of  the  car  was  also  undertaken  by  the  Thom- 
son-Houston Company,  and  Mr.  Ballard,  then  one 
of  the  trusted  employees  of  the  Thomson-Houston 
Company,  and  now  one  of  the  chief  operating  su- 
perintendents of  the  mechanical  department  of  the 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company,  was  put  in 
charge  of  this  work.  There  were  many  obstacles 
to  be  overcome,  but  they  were  successfully  sur- 
mounted by  Mr.  Ballard  and  his  associates,  so  that 
on  July  4,  1888,  the  line  was  put  in  operation.  The  power  for 
propelling  the  car  was  purchased  from  the  North  Shore  Elec- 
tric Company,  which  was  controlled  and  operated  by  the  Thom- 
son-Houston Company. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  such  conveniences  for  car  repairs 
as  are  in  existence  to-day.  For  instance,  we  had  no  pit,  and 
any  work  required  on  the  motors  had  to  be  done  by  the  me- 
chanic laying  upon  his  back  in  the  dust  underneath  the  car  and 
working  in  that  position. 

The  equipment,  as  I  recall  it,  cost  $3,200  for  one  pair  of 
motors  of  15-hp  capacity  each.  They  were  very  heavy  and 
cumbersome,  yet  they  furnished  the  motive  power  for  the  mov- 
ing of  the  car  with  as  many  people  as  could  be  packed  upon  it, 
and  as  the  road  was  something  of  a  novelty,  it  being  one  of  the 
first  roads  equipped  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts  by  electricity, 
the  patronage  at  times  was  very  great. 

The  cost  of  duplicate  parts  for  repairs  was  something  enor- 
mous, but  we  were  inexperienced,  and  not  knowing  the  actual 
cost,  believed  that  they  were  all  right.  I  recall  very  well  that 
we  paid  $7  for  a  trolley  wheel  such  as  we  are  purchasing  to-day 
for  from  52  cents  to  58  cents  each,  and  all  other  duplicate  parts 
were  charged  for  in  the  same  ratio.  This  condition  prevailed 
for  a  time,  as  every  one  connected  with  street  railways  was  a 
horse  railway  man,  and  not  having  had  any  experience  elec- 
trically, depended  entirely  upon  technical  men  and  believed 


that  any  price  that  was  charged  for  repair  parts  was  all  right. 

Subsequently,  a  second  line  was  equipped  by  the  Lynn  & 
Boston  Railroad  Company,  that  operating  over  Union,  Rock- 
way,  Hollinsworth,  High  Rock  Avenue,  Essex  and  Market, 
Oxford  Street  and  Central  Avenue.  This  road  formed  a  belt 
line  about  2  miles  in  length,  and  ascended  a  grade  of  about 
9  per  cent  and  descended  one  of  12%  per  cent.  When  this 
line  was  equipped  and  put  in  operation  it  seemed  to  the  ordinary 
person  that  the  power  contained  within  the  motor  was  almost 
beyond  comprehension.  It  did  not  seem  credible  that  a  car 
without  any  visible  power  could  glide  along  as  it  did,  ascending 
and  descending  grades  with  absolute  safety.  This  line  was 
often  referred  to  at  that  time  by  the  experts  of  the  Thomson- 
Houston  Company  as  an  example  of  what  electricity  could 
accomplish  as  a  motive  power,  and  was  visited  by  many  railway 
managers  from  different  parts  of  this  country  and  abroad. 


Subsequently,  a  third  line,  that  from  Central  Square  to 
Nahant  Beach,  was  equipped  and  operated.  This  line  was 
constructed  under  the  supervision  of  an  engineer  named  Jones, 
who  since  that  time  has  represented  the  General  Electric 
Company  in  South  Africa. 

After  operating  the  line  on  Revere  Beach  during  the  summer 
season  and  commencing  to  operate  the  line  over  the  "Highland 
Circuit,"  as  it  was  commonly  called  in  Lynn,  during  the  winter 
season,  many  obstacles  were  encountered  in  the  way  of  snow 
and  ice,  and  the  question  arose  whether  a  snow  plow  could  be 
operated  by  electricity  or  not. 

An  experiment  was  tried  in  our  shops  in  Chelsea,  under  the 
supervision  and  management  of  H.  E.  Farrington,  then  master 
mechanic,  who  conceived  the  idea  of  building  a  snow  plow 
somewhat  upon  the  lines  of  the  old-time  horse  plow.  The  plow 
was  operated  by  two  F-30  motors,  connected  with  the  axle  by 
sprocket  chains,  thereby  reducing  the  efficiency  very  materially. 
This  type  of  plow  has  continued  to  be  operated  up  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  with  many  modifications.  Although  the  plow  of  to- 
day, as  operated  by  motors  attached  directly  to  the  car  axles, 
is  much  greater  in  capacity  and  contains  many  modern  im- 
provements, the  first  idea,  as  in  many  other  machines  of  great 
importance  in  the  commercial  world  to-day,  has  simply  been 
improved,  but  not  materially  changed  in  design. 

The  third  problem  was  that  of  crossing  a  steam  railroad 


THE  FIRST  ELECTRIC  CAR  ON  THE  LYNN  &  BOSTON  RAILWAY 


528  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


track.  At  that  time  all  the  gates  protecting  the  general  public 
at  such  crossings  were  of  the  single  rigid  arm  type,  and  it  was 
impossible  to  lower  and  elevate  them  without  striking  the  wires, 
and  as  the  steam  railroads  had  the  authority  to  maintain  the 
gates  as  they  did,  the  electric  cars  had  to  coast  across  the  steam 
tracks.  A  young  man  living  in  Lynn  conceived  the  idea  of  over- 
coming this  difficulty  by  the  erection  of  four  posts — two  on  each 
side  of  the  steam  railroad  track,  those  two  on  each  side  being 
connected  by  a  double  steel  truss,  with  space  between  the  two 
trusses  to  admit  of  the  lowering  and  elevation  of  the  gates. 
The  posts  were  14  ins.  square,  and  the  truss  was  about  4  ft.  in 
height,  and  of  sufficient  strength  to  support  its  own  weight,  so 
that  it  made  a  very  formidable  looking  structure  in  the  street. 
The  young  man  who  conceived  this  idea  believed  that  he  had  a 


AN   ELECTRIC  SNOW-PLOW  OF  1889 


fortune  in  sight,  but,  like  many  other  unfortunate  inventors,  he 
was  doomed  to  disappointment,  and  subsequently  took  down 
the  structure  at  his  own  expense,  as  he  had  erected  it.  Some 
other  active-minded  person  had  conceived  the  idea  of  putting 
a  hinged  extension  on  two  of  the  arms  of  the  gate,  so  that  in 
reality  the  arm  of  the  gate  was  reduced  in  length  by  about  15 
ft.,  and  would  pass  by  the  trolley  wire  when  being  lowered  or 
elevated.  This  was  such  a  simple  device  that  every  one  won- 
dered why  somebody  else  had  not  thought  of  it  long  before. 
As  an  evidence  of  the  importance  of  this  subject  it  might  lie 
said  that  the  problem  had  previously  been  submitted  to  the 
engineers  of  the  Thomson-Houston  Company,  and  they  had 
given  it  up,  not  knowing  how  to  solve  it. 

Many  other  difficulties  which  presented  themselves  to  the 
operating  man  were  gradually  overcome,  and  to-day  have  be- 
come nothing  but  commonplace  events.  The  method  of  con- 
necting the  rails  at  that  time  was  crude,  but  the  problem  was 
not  a  difficult  one  to  solve.  There  were  many  other  questions 
in  connection  with  the  operation  of  the  electric  railroad  at  the 
early  date  which  none  but  those  who  had  to  do  with  the  opera- 
tion can  realize.  The  Crescent  Beach  Division  of  the  Lynn  & 
Boston  Railroad  Companv.  ment'oned  above,  was  the  first  elec- 
tric railway  built  by  the  Thomson-Houst  jn  Company,  and  the 
first  instance  of  carrying  passengers  for  hire  in  street  cars  by 
electric  power  in  Massachusetts,  as  well  as  one  of  the  first  to 
be  operated  in  the  United  States. 



"The  crude  experiments  already  made  with  electricity  as  a 
motive  power  in  propelling  cars  clearly  foreshadows  the  in- 
evitable application  of  the  new  motor  to  our  immediate  inter- 
ests,"— From  Chicago  Meeting,  t88j. 


THE  EARLY  WORK  OF  THE  DAFT  COMPANY 


BY  LEO  DAFT 

AFTER  a  number  of  experi- 


ments in  the  line  of  electric 
traction  during  1881-2,  the 
Daft  Electric  Company,  of 
which  the  writer  was  the 
founder,  deeming  it  advis- 
able to  meet  the  often  ex- 
pressed disbelief  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  running  several 
trains  in  parallel  by  a  prac- 
tical demonstration,  hastily 


built  two  more  small  loco- 
motives in  addition  to  the  two  which  had  been  running  on  the 
short  narrow  gage  track  in  the  yard  of  the  Greenville  factory 
for  several  months,  and  in  December,  1882,  made  almost  daily 
public  tests  with  the  four  motors  running  parallel.  Curiously 
enough,  that  which  seemed  to  occasion  most  comment  among 
the  street  railroad  men  was  running  the  machines  in  opposite 
directions  on  four  sections  of  the  same  track. 

While  of  small  dimensions,  these  motors  could  hardly  be 
called  toys,  since  one  of  them  was  frequently  made  to  tow 
a  flat  car  loaded  with  3  or  4  tons  of  iron,  and  as  they  were 
single-reduction  sprocket  geared,  the  armatures  were  not  in- 
frequently suspected  of  smoking  and  other  bad  habits. 

The  control  was  by  commuted  fields  and  carbon-rod  rheo- 
stats, and  the  brakes  were  electric  of  the  bipolar  moving-core 
variety.  The  track  was  16-lb.  rail  of  22-in.  gage,  and  spiked 
on  ties  projecting  well  above  the  ballast,  without  any  attempt 
at  other  insulation. 

Seeking  opportunities  for  more  practical  work,  early  in  1883 
the   writer  designed  the   electric   locomotive   "Ampere"  for 


FIG.  1. — DAFT  MOTOR  "AMPERE" — 1883 


trial  on  the  Mount  McGregor  steam  railroad  at  Saratoga,  and 
during  the  summer  of  that  year  equipped  about  i%  miles  of 
that  road  with  a  35-lb.  third  rail,  mounted  on  resinized  wood 
blocks  in  the  center  of  the  track,  with  soft  rubber  insulation 
under  the  foot  of  the  rail  and  bolt  heads.  The  pressure  was 
130  volts,  and  except  in  drenching  rains  the  leakage  was  in- 
significant. The  best  work  of  this  motor  consisted  in  towing 
an  ordinary  day  coach  containing  sixty-eight  passengers,  mak- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


529 


ing  a  load  altogether  of  some  17  tons  over  a  curve  of  about 
100  ft.  radius  on  a  gradient  of  93  ft.  per  mile.  An  accident  due 
to  the  breaking  of  a  temporary  coupling  occurred  on  the  first 
day  of  public  running,  but  after  repairs  were  made  the  "Am- 
pere" continued  running  intermittently  for  two  or  three  weeks. 

This  motor  was  double-belt  reduction,  with  both  drivers  en- 
gaged from  a  countershaft  under  the  body,  and  was  controlled 
by  grouping  the  commuted  field  windings  in  various  ways  by 
means  of  the  controller  shown  on  the  switchboard  in  Fig.  1. 
The  other  switches  were  for  brake  and  main  cut-off,  or 
"canopy"  switch.  The  electric  pendulum  brakes  are  clearly 
shown  in  the  cut,  which  is  from  a  photograph  taken  in  the  fac- 
tory yard. 

Following  this  experiment,  two  or  three  small  show  roads 
were  equipped  by  the  Daft  Company  in  1884,  and  were  operated 
by  the  motors  "Paccinnotti"  and  "Volta"  at  the  Iron  Pier, 
Coney  Island,  and  the  Mechanics'  Fair,  Boston.  In  these  cases 
the  drivers  were  insulated  from  the  shaft  on  one  side  and  the 
current  obtained  from  the  outer  rails.  Some 
35,000  passengers  were  carried  in  each  case 
during  the  season. 

Among  the  visitors  to  the  Coney  Island  ex- 
hibit was  one  of  the  most  progressive  street 
railroad  men  in  America,  the  late  T.  C. 
Robbins,  then  general  manager  of  the  Balti- 
more Union  Passenger  Railroad,  who  lost 
no  time  in  communicating  with  the  Daft 
Company,    and    early    in    1885    invited  the 


the  friendly  efforts  of  Mr.  Robbins  the  powers  were  obdurate, 
and  the  writer  had  to  return  again  to  New  York,  after  a  stormy 
conference,  with  a  contract  embodying  some  modifications  of 
the  original  terms,  and  his  heart  "in  his  shoes." 

But  the  worst  was  to  come.  When  the  designs  for  the  mo- 
tors and  other  apparatus  were  well  under  way,  a  hasty  sum- 
mons from  Mr.  Robbins  called  the  writer  to  Baltimore,  only  to 
learn  that  an  eminent  scientist  had  been  consulted  by  one  of 
the  more  timid  directors,  and  after  carefully  examining  the 
road  had  declared  that  "the  man  who  undertakes  to  operate 
this  section  by  electricity  in  the  present  state  of  the  art  is  either 
a  knave  or  a  fool"  (  !),  ami  such  was  the  power  of  this  really 
eminent  man's  name  that  the  directors  were  a  unit  in  firmly 
declining  to  allow  their  "business  reputation  to  be  trifled  with" 
by  engaging  in  what  appeared  in  the  light  of  this  opinion  as  a 
"wildcat  contract."  Vainly  the  writer  argued  that  the  weight 
of  failure  would  rest  almost  entirely  on  the  construction  com- 
pany ;  the  directors  were  deaf  alike  to  argument  or  entreaty, 


FIG.  2.— INSULATOR  USED  AT  I1A  LTIMORE,  1885^ 


FIG 


-DAFT  UNDER-TRAILING  CONTACT  USED  IN  BALTIMORE  IN  18S6 


writer  to  visit  Baltimore  with  a  view  to  equipping  the  Balti- 
more &  Hampden  branch  of  the  road  with  electric  tractors. 
In  a  subsequent  letter  to  the  Daft  Company,  Mr.  Robbins  de- 
scribed this  branch  in  the  following  terms:  "There  are  not  2 
miles  of  street  railroad  in  the  country  more  difficult  to  operate 
owing  to  the  unprecedented  grades  and  curves,"  and  again: 
"There  are  not  300  ft.  of  level  track  at  any  one  point  on  the  road. 
The  grades  vary  from  nothing  to  350  ft.  to  the  mile,  with  curves 
from  40  ft.  to  70  ft.  radius  on  heavy  grades."  The  curve  diffi- 
culty was  further  increased  by  the  broad  gage  of  5  ft.  4J/  ins., 
then  common  in  Baltimore.  Altogether,  the  prospect  for  an 
initial  contract  was  so  far  from  alluring  the  writer  had  no 
difficulty  in  disguising  his  enthusiasm.  But  like  the  old  wood- 
chuck  story,  the  road  "had  to  be  there,"  so  he  returned  to  New 
York  with  the  first  really  business  railroad  proposition  yet  re- 
ceived, in  the  shape  of  a  proposal  for  the  Daft  Company  to 
equip  with  two  independent  motors  and  the  necessary  track 
equipment  and  wait  for  payment  until  the  road  should  have 
heen  in  satisfactory  operation  for  one  year!  If  the  more  or 
less  gentle  reader  ran  imagine  the  true  nature  of  this  proposi- 
tion in  those  days  he  must  be  another  Kipling.    But  in  spite  of 


and  the  day  was  practically  lost  when  that  sturdy  old  nobleman, 
T.  C.  Robbins  (for  in  the  Emersonian  sense  I  know  no  other 
word  that  fitly  describes  him),  stood  in  the  breach  and  gave 
the  directors  the  alternative  of  carrying  out  the  agreement  or 
losing  their  general  manager.  They  did  not  lose  their  mana- 
ger; and  but  a  few  months  afterward  the  eminent  scientist  rode 
over  the  entire  line  during  a  heavy  thunderstorm  in  half  the 
time  previously  taken  by  the  horse  cars,  and  the  writer  regrets 
to  add  that  an  irreverent  conductor  actually  collected  his  fare  ! 
At  the  end  of  the  first  year  of  operation  the  equipment  was  for- 
mally accepted,  the  remainder  of  the  purchase  price  paid,  and 
an  order  was  given  by  the  company  for  additional  motors  and 
other  material. 

The  "Morse"  and  "Faraday"  were  first  delivered,  and  were 
simply  dummy  cabs  equipped  with  series  motors,  having  com- 
muted fields  for  grouping,  as  previously  described.  They  were 
single  reduction,  with  cut-steel  pinions  and  cut  cast-iron  gears, 
weighed  about  2T<  tons  each,  and  collected  current  from  the 
third  rail  by  means  of  phosphor-bronze  double  flanged  wheels, 
resiliency  mounted,  and  with  ample  provision  lor  lateral  mo- 
tion.   The  cars  were  of  the  then  standard  16-ft.  type,  weighing 


53° 

some  5500  lbs.,  and  occasionally  carried  seventy-five  passengers. 
For  various  reasons  it  was  necessary  to  place  the  power  house 
at  the  Baltimore  end  of  the  track,  where  two  Daft  dynamos 
were  belted  up  to  a  jackshaft  which  was  run  by  an  Atlas  16-in. 
x  24-in.  medium-speed  engine,  and  it  should  be  noted  that  an 
automatic  cut-out  formed  part  of  the  equipment.  With  the 
dynamos  always  connected  in  series  the  normal  voltage  was 
260.  The  35-lb.  third  rail  was  supported  on  the  now  familiar 
umbrella  insulator  with  wooden  block  standards  baked  and 
saturated  with  resin,  Fig.  2 ;  the  leakage  was  small  except  dur- 
ing the  violent  rain  storms,  peculiar  to  that  region,  when  the 
foot  of  the  third  rail  was  occasionally  submerged  for  200  ft.  or 
300  ft.,  but  without  interfering  with  the  traffic.    The  rails  were 


FIG.  4.-THE  "BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN"  NO.  1,  USED  ON  NEW 

bonded  with  tinned  copper  wire,  riveted  to  the  web  with  tinned 
copper  rivets. 

Much  of  the  work  of  installing  both  power  house  and  track 
was  confided  to  the  now  well-known  engineer,  Horatio  A.  Fos- 
ter. His  host  of  friends  well  know  with  what  characteristic 
thoroughness  and  ability  his  share  of  the  work  was  performed. 

After  the  first  year  the  equipment  was  increased  by  two 
more,  and  somewhat  stronger  motors,  and  in  the  holiday  rush 
hours  a  two-car  train  was  occasionally  used.  The  normal  mile- 
age of  each  motor  was  75  per  day.  The  first  under  contact 
trailing-arm  device,  designed  and  patented  by  the  writer,  is 
shown  in  operation  in  Fig.  3,  and  was  used  at  long  crossings 
early  in  1886. 

On  Aug.  15,  1885,  the  road  first  began  regular  operation, 
though  the  motor  "Morse"  had  made  many  experimental  trips, 
and  on  the  morning  of  that  day  the  motor  "Faraday,"  piloted 
by  Guy  M.  Gest,  the  "father  of  the  motormen,"  who  had  been 
indefatigable  for  some  time  in  training  men  for  all  kinds  of 
work  and  being  generally  a  host  in  himself,  pulled  out  of  the 
yard  with  a  16-ft.  car  in  tow,  containing  some  forty  passengers; 
and  the  first  commercial  electric  railroad  in  America  had  hung 
up  its  shingle  !  Among  the  passengers  was  John  K.  Cowen, 
then  chief  counsel  to  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  who  sug- 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 

gested  that  the  first  nickel  taken  by  the  conductor  should  be 
given  to  the  writer,  and  accordingly  this  was  done  at  the  end 
of  the  return  trip,  together  with  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  Cowen 
and  signed  by  the  conductor,  J.  T.  Parrish,  which  is  now  in  the 
writer's  possession. 

The  road  continued  in  successful  operation  for  four  years, 
or  until  the  fall  of  1889. 

While  the  work  of  equipping  the  Baltimore  road  was  pro- 
gressing the  writer  had  been  making  experiments  with  a  view 
to  the  use  of  electric  traction  on  the  elevated  railways  in  New 
York,  and  to  that  end  had  designed  a  locomotive  more  am- 
bitious than  anything  yet  attempted,  which  was  finished  at  the 
Greenville  factory  early  in  May,  1885.  This  was  the  "Benja- 
min Franklin"  No.  1,  con- 
sisting of  a  heavy  boiler- 
plate frame  containing  the 
motor,  pivoted  at  one  end 
and  adjustable  by  means  of 
a  pivoted  vertical  screw  at 
the  other  for  convenience  of 
raising  the  cut-steel  pinion 
out  of  mesh  with  the  cast- 
steel  gears  on  the  driving 
axle. 

The  gearing  was  single 
reduction,  the  two  steel-tired 
drivers  were  48  ins.  diame- 
ter, the  trail  wheels  were  33 
ins.  diameter,  and  the  frame 
was  surmounted  by  a  dummy 
cab,  shown  in  Fig.  4,  made 
from  photograph  taken  on 
the  Ninth  Avenue  track  at 
Fourteenth  Street.  The  con- 
trol was  by  means  of  com- 
muted fields,  similar  to  that 
of  the  "Morse,"  and  partly 
by  external  resistance ;  the 
yoke  ELEVATED  RAILWAY  pressure  was  at  first  about 

300  volts,  but  this  was  later 
increased  by  the  addition  of  another  dynamo  to  the  two 
already  installed,  and  the  three  in  series  increased  the 
pressure  to  about  450  volts,  which  necessitated  the  use  of 
further  external  resistance  in  starting.  The  power  house 
was  an  abandoned  sugar  refinery  on  Fifteenth  Street,  and 
was  equipped  by  the  Daft  Company  with  a  Wright-Corliss 
engine,  supplied  with  steam  from  boilers  formerly  used  by  the 
refining  company.  Permission  having  been  obtained  several 
months  before  to  use  the  track  of  the  Ninth  Avenue  Elevated 
from  Fourteenth  to  Fiftieth  Streets,  a  distance  of  about  2 
miles,  including  several  gradients,  the  work  of  placing  a  60-lb. 
third  rail  supported  on  umbrella  insulators,  was  completed  in 
June,  1885,  and  during  the  following  month  the  "Ben  Franklin" 
began  running  experimentally  at  night,  the  road  at  that  time 
being  clear  of  traffic  between  10  p.  m.  and  4  a.  m.,  towing  two, 
three  and  occasionally  four-car  trains.  The  third  rail  being 
rough  and  rusty,  caused  the  phosphor-bronze  collecting 
wheels  to  make  so  fine  a  pyrotechnic  display  that  on 
more  than  one  occasion  the  policemen  threatened  to  arrest 
the  entire  crew  for  an  incendiary  attempt,  but  after 
clambering  up  the  lattice  pillars,  the  crew  in  charge  of  the  en- 
tire section  naturally  declining  to  open  the  station  gates,  they 
were  deterred  by  the  suave  address  of  our  good  friend,  G.  W. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


October  8,  1904. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


53 1 


Mansfield,  who  courteously  intimated  that  the  penalty  of  step- 
ping on  the  track  was  instant  electrocution.  The  experimental 
running  was  continued  at  frequent  intervals  until  December, 
1885,  and  again  during  a  part  of  the  summer  of  1886.  The  best 
work  done  by  this  motor  was  towing  a  four-car  train  from 
Fourteenth  to  Fiftieth  Streets,  including  the  long  gradient  of 
1.86  per  cent  from  Forty-second  to  Fiftieth  Streets,  in  nine 
minutes,  as  shown  by  the  records.  The  motor  was  of  about 
75  nP.  weighed  %l/2  tons,  and  much  too  light  for  any  regular 
four-car  traffic,  besides  being  obviously  defective  in  other  par- 
ticulars. 

During  the  summer  of  1888  the  "Ben  Franklin"  was  partially 
reconstructed  at  the  Greenville  works,  two  extra  drivers  being 
'added  and  the  four  coupled  by  connecting  rods,  rendering  the 
whole  wheel  base  available  for  traction,  and  a  much  larger  mo- 
tor substituted  for  the  one  of  1885,  besides  other  changes,  in- 
cluding the  use  of  intermediate  external  resistance  in  control, 
and  the  former  third  rail  having  been  disposed  of,  a  copper  rod 
y$  in.  diameter  was  placed  on  improved  umbrella  insulators 
for  the  entire  distance,  and  at  the  side  instead  of  the  center  of 
the  track. 

A  fourth  dynamo  was  installed  at  the  power  house,  and 
in  October,  1888,  the  experiments  were  resumed  with 
higher  pressure  and  much  better  results  generally.  Pre- 
vious to  placing  the  motor  in  the  dummy,  Prony  brake  tests 
were  made  in  the  power  house,  resulting  in  a  development  of 
128  hp.  For  some  two  or  three  weeks  of  probation  the  new 
"Ben  Franklin"  was  required  to  run  only  at  night,  during  stop 
hours  as  before,  since  the  admirably  cautious  Col.  Hain,  then 
general  manager  of  the  road,  to  whose  uniform  courtesy  and 
kindliness  the  writer  wishes  to  bear  tribute,  was  naturally 
averse  from  risking  interruption  of  traffic  until  he  had  "seen 
how  the  thing  worked,"  was  at  last  prevailed  upon  to  allow  the 


torman,  no  such  interruption  occurred,  though  those  who  took 
part  in  the  work  will  remember  moments  of  dramatic  intensity 
which  they  would  not  again  willingly  encounter. 


FIG.  5.— "BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN"   OF  1887-8,  ON  NEW  YORK  ELEVATED  RAILWAY 


running  to  continue  during  the  day  upon  two  imperative  con- 
ditions:  First,  that  the  train  should  only  be  operated  by  the 
writer  himself  or  his  chief  assistant,  F.  H.  Reed,  and  secondly, 
that  in  the  event  of  the  least  interruption  to  the  regular  traffic 
the  motor  anil  equipment  should  be  immediately  removed  and 
all  privileges  considered  at  an  end.  The  records  of  the  Ninth 
Avenue  Elevated  Railway  for  that  period  show  that  though  the 
running  with  a  four-car  train  was  continued  between  the  reg- 
ular steam  trains  and  during  rush  hours  for  several  weeks  in 
October  and  November  of  1888,  with  the  writer  acting  as  1110- 


F1G.  6.-MOTOR  CAR  IN  ORANGE,  N.  J.,  WITH  MOTORS 
UNDER  CAR 

The  mention  of  Mr.  Reed's  name  in  connection  with  the  ele- 
vated railroad  work  affords  the  writer  an  opportunity  to  pay  a 
tribute  to  his  sterling  worth.    For  nearly  five  years,  during  the 
most  strenuous  of  the  pioneer  days,  much  of  the  time  as  chief 
assistant,  he  showed  an  ability,  in- 
genuity and  devotion  to  duty  under 
the  most  trying  circumstances,  which 
the  writer  can  only  recall  with  warm 
admiration,    and    which  qualities, 
added    to    his    unflinching  loyalty, 
have  properly  resulted  in  a  success  at 
which  his  host  of  friends  rejoice. 

When  the  day  running  had  been 
continued  for  a  week  or  two  the 
writer  was  summoned  to  the  general 
manager's  office  and  thus  accosted  by 
its  genial  occupant:  "We  see  you 
can  yank  an  empty  train  out  of  the 
switch  at  Fourteenth  Street  and 
jump  it  up  to  Fiftieth  Street  in  time 
to  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  others, 
but  how  about  a  train  with  people 
hanging  on  to  the  straps?"  In  re- 
ply the  writer  stated  his  willing- 
ness to  submit  to  any  tests  Col. 
Hain  thought  it  fair  to  impose  under  the  circumstances, 
and  it  was  agreed  that  a  flat-car  train,  loaded  with  rail- 
road iron  to  the  weight  of  an  ordinary  loaded  four-car  train, 
should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Daft  Company  for  day- 
light running  to  demonstrate  the  ability  of  the  motor  in  com- 
mercial work.  This  being  done,  during  one  endless  day  it  was 
towed  up  and  down  the  entire  section,  between  the  steam 
trains,  while  the  writer  stood  at  the  controller  with  bis  hair 
growing  grayer  at  the  end  of  every  trip.  Those  who  know  the 
difference  between  a  "live"  train  filled  with  alert  swaying 


532 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


FIG. 


TRAINS  PASSING  ON  BALTIMORE  ROAD 


cars  "with  motors  on  the  platform,"  as  has 
been  stated  several  times,  but  always,  with  one 
single  exception,  where  it  has  been  the  rule 
to  place  them  ever  since.  The  exception  was 
one  open  car  for  the  Los  Angeles  road,  in 
which  case  the  motor  was  placed  in  the  center 
in  a  compartment  which  required  the  sacrifice 
of  two  seats  for  that  purpose.  Two  cars  for 
Ithaca,  five  for  Mansfield,  Ohio,  and  twenty 
for  Asbury  Park  were  practically  of  the  same 
design — that  is,  motors  underneath  the  cars, 
cut-steel  pinions  and  cut  cast-iron  gears. 

The  Asbury  Park  road  was  opened  in  Sep- 
tember, 1887,  and  the  equipment  of  twenty- 
cars  was  required  to  meet  the  heavy  fluctua- 
tions of  traffic  incident  to  a  crowded  summer 


bodies,  and  on  easy  springs,  and  a  "dead"  one  made 
up  of  almost  springless  flat  cars  loaded  with  immovable 
material,  will  understand  the  predicament.  That  the  colonel 
was  having  his  little  joke  was  attested  by  the  two  steam  loco- 
motives held  in  the  switches  at  each  end,  ready  to  pull  the  elec- 
tric train  out  of  the  way  at  short  notice  in  case  it  broke  down ; 
but  their  services  were  not  needed,  and,  much  to  the  colonel's 
surprise,  the  train  pulled  into  the  switch  at  Fourteenth  Street 
after  the  day's  run  "with  all  colors  flying."  The  daylight  run- 
ning with  the  ordinary  four-car  train  was  continued  for  some 
weeks  longer,  and  then  as  a  further  trial  night  work  was  re- 
sumed, with  the  object  of  testing  the  ultimate  capacity,  of  the 
motor  on  the  gradient  between  Forty-second  and  Fiftieth 
Streets  by  adding  cars  to  the  limit. 

This  was  done  until  a  train  of  eight  cars  was  successfully 
hauled  over  the  section  at  a  mean  speed  of  io  miles  per  hour, 
anil  up  the  gradient  of  1.86  per  cent  at  7  miles  per  hour. 

Returning  to  earlier  street  car  work,  in  1886  a  car  was 
equipped  for  the  first  section  of  the  Orange  Cross  Town  line, 
which  ran  on  that  section  for  a  short  time,  was  equipped  with 
the  motor  underneath  the  car  and  with  double-reduction  cut- 
steel  pinions  and  cut  cast-iron  gears,  and  was  not  only  elec- 
trically lighted,  but  provided  with  electrical  push  buttons  and 
bell  for  the  convenience  of  passengers.  Fig.  6  is  from  an  old 
engraving  of  this  car,  which  is  chiefly  referred  to  as  evidence 
that  the  Daft  Company  never  then  or  at  any  other  time  equipped 


FIG.  8.- 

resort. 
March, 


-MOTOR  CAR  ON  ASBURY  PARK  ROAD-1887-F.  H.  REED 
AS  MOTORMAN 


The 


FIG.  9.— DAFT  MOTOR  CARS  IN  TRAIN— LOS  ANGELES-1887 


track  was  a  belt  line  of  4  miles  in  length.  In 
after  the  road  had  been  running  some  eighteen 
months,  a  fifty-five-hour  test  for  general  per- 
formance, with  fourteen  cars  running,  was 
made  by  the  well-known  expert  mechanical 
engineer,  F.  E.  Idell.  From  this  report,  pub- 
lished in  the  "Stevens  Indicator"  for  April, 
1889,  the  following  is  extracted: 

"With  a  power  plant  capable  of  driving 
twenty  cars,  and  running  but  fourteen,  the 
cost  of  motive  power  per  car,  in  use,  was 
about  $3.13  per  day  of  seventeen  to  eighteen 
hours.  This  includes  interest  and  deprecia- 
tion on  the  cost  of  the  power  plant,  motors 
under  the  cars  and  overhead  system,  wages  of 
two  engineers  and  two  firemen,  coal,  oil,  waste 
and  water. 

"If  twenty  cars  were  run,  the  cost  of  motive 
power  would  be  $2.68  per  day.  If  horses  were 
used,  140  to  200  would  be  necessary  for  the 
same  service,  and  the  cost  of  keeping  these 
would  be  at  least  50  cents  per  day  per  horse, 
or  $5  per  car  per  day.  Consequently  at  Asbury 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


533 


Park  the  electric  road  is  being  run  at  one-half 
the  cost  that  a  horse  road  would  be  in  the  same 
locality."  Fig.  8  is  from  a  photograph  show- 
ing a  car  on  this  road. 

Early  in  1886  an  application  was  received 
from  the  promoters  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Knox- 
ville  &  St.  Clair  Railway  to  consider  its  equip- 
ment by  electricity,  and  the  writer,  looking 
over  the  proposed  route,  found,  among  other 
appalling  features,  a  gradient  of  over  15  per 
cent  and  ten  curves  of  short  radius  on  consid- 
erable gradients,  together  with  a  conduit  of 
some  800  ft.  long  at  the  lower  terminus.  The 
total  ascent  in  the  miles  of  track  was  500 
ft.,  and  the  curve  difficulty  was  further  ag- 
gravated by  the  gage  of  5  ft.  2l/z  ins.,  then 
standard  in  that  region.  No  mechanical 
tractor    for   street    railways   had  anywhere 


FIG.  10. — MOTOR  TRAIN  ON  15  PER  CENT  GRADIENT- 
IT  TTS  BURG,  1887-8 

been  built  capable  of  such  work,  and  the  proposal  ought 
to  have  been  promptly  rejected  as  prohibitive;  indeed,  the 
writer  strongly  objected  to  the  undertaking  as  too  much  in  the 
nature  of  "tempting  Providence,"  but  rash  promises  had  been 
made  and  an  offer  of  several  thousand  dollars  advance  payment 
sufficing  to  turn  the  scale,  a  contract  was  signed  which  for 
sheer  hardihood,  to  call  it  by  no  harsher  name,  is  probably  un- 
equaled  in  the  annals  of  street  railway  practice. 

In  a  winter  climate  such  as  that  of  Pittsburg,  gradients  of 
12  and  is  per  cent  cannot  lie  safely  negotiated  with  a  motor 
and  trailer  aggregating  n  or  12  tons  without  special  devices, 
and  a  rack  rail  was  accordingly  provided  on  the  heaviest  grad- 
ients, with  which  an  adjustable  cast-steel  sprocket  wheel  was 
made  to  engage,  when  occasion  required,  by  means  of  an  at- 
tachment under  the  motorman's  control. 

The  five  motors  required  for  the  proposed  schedule  were 
provided  with  four  33-in.  drivers,  connected  with  quartered- 
connecting  rods  and  toggle-geared  brakes,  double-reduction  cut- 
steel  gearing,  and  weighed  about  5  tons.  After  the  usual  delays 
incident  to  early  work,  two  of  the  motors  were  delivered  in 
August,  1887,  but  owing  to  troubles  in  road  construction  it  was 
not  until  the  following  March  that  the  road  began  carrying 
passengers,  and  the  few  succeeding  months  were  full  of  the 
tribulations  which  might  have  been  anticipated  from  such  an 
attempt.  At  length  it  was  brought  into  fairly  regular  opera- 
tion, largely  owing  to  the  indomitable  courage,  skill  and  un- 


FIG.  11.— MOTOR  TRAIN  CHANGING  FROM  TROLLEY  TO  CONDUIT— PITTSBURG,  1887-8 


wearying  perseverance  of  Robert  McA.  Lloyd,  who  was  placed 
in  charge  by  the  writer,  and  of  whom  it  is  his  pleasure  and 
privilege  to  say  that  during  Mr.  Lloyd's  connection  of  some 
four  years  with  the  Daft  Company,  he  invariably  displayed 
that  high-minded  thoroughness  in  his  work  and  indifference  to 
personal  considerations  which  marks  the  man  of  worthy 
achievement  the  world  over,  and  has  since  made  him  a  leader 
in  his  calling. 

Illustrating  some  of  the  events  of  that  strenuous  time,  the 
following  extracts  from  the  engineer's  reports  may  lie  of  in- 
terest: "Finding  a  core  contact  in  No.  3  armature  while  she 
was  down  the  road  with  a  car,  we  took  out  No.  5  motor  and 
pulled  back  a  carload  of  people  witli  Xo.  3  in  tow,  the  whole 
train  of  17  tons  ascended  the  12  per  cent  gradient  at  the  usual 
speed  and  neither  the  motor  nor  generators  seemed  to  mind  it. 
Pm  not  afraid  to  tackle  any  of  the  hills  after  that."  On  one 
occasion  a  motorman  neglected  to  let  down  the  sprocket  while 
descending  the  15  per  cent  grade,  and  the  result  is  described  by 
the  engineer  in  his  report  dated  Aug.  15,  1888,  as  follows:  "The 


FIG.  12. — DOUBLE  TROLLEY  CAR  ON   BLOOMFIELD   ROAD— 1SS7-S 

motor  and  car,  with  all  the  wheels  locked,  slid  to  the  bottom, 
over  one-third  of  a  mile,  on  a  perfectly  dry  rail." 

Figs.  10  and  11  give  some  idea  of  why  ibis  interesting  per- 


534 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


formance  was  possible.  It  will  doubtless  be  understood  that 
the  writer  has  omitted  mention  of  the  magnificent  work  of 
Sprague,  Van  Depoele,  Short,  Knight-Bentley  and  others,  sim- 
ply because  he  was  requested  to  review  some  of  his  own  work 
only,  and  has  already  exceeded  his  allotted  space. 


EARLY  EXPERIMENTS  IN  BOSTON 

BY  CHARLES  S.  SERGEANT 

IN  1886  Henry  M.  Whitney  undertook  the  development  of 
large  tracts  of  land  in  Brookline  by  the  construction  of  a 
wide  boulevard  to  provide  access  to  and  through  this  land 
from  the  city  of  Boston,  there  being  but  little  of  the  land  con- 
veniently adjacent  to  railroad  stations,  or  provided  with  any 
other  means  of  transit.  This  boulevard  was  laid  out  by  Messrs. 
Olmstead,  the  noted  landscape  gardeners,  as  an  extension  of 
Beacon  Street,  Boston.  It  had  an  average  width  of  160  ft.,  and 
was  divided  into  sidewalks,  planting  spaces  for  trees,  two  drive- 
ways— one  of  30  ft.  and  one  of  50  ft.  in  width — a  bridleway  of 
20  ft,  and  a  reservation  for  a  street  railway  of  20  ft.  To  pro- 
vide street  railway  service  two  companies  were  incorporated  in 
1887 — the  West  End  Street  Railway  Company  and  the  Suburban 
Railway  Company;  these  companies  shortly  became  consoli- 
dated. The  original  intention  was  to  have  this  street  car  line  ex- 
tend directly  on  Beacon  Street,  through  the  Back  Bay  section  of 
Boston,  and  a  proposition  was  made  that  on  reaching  the  Com- 
mon at  Charles  Street  the  tracks  should  be  placed  in  the  Com- 
mon in  a  sunken  way,  in  a  manner  not  to  deface  that  beautiful 
park,  but  this  portion  of  the  plan  was  not  realized.  Beacon 
Street  in  the  Back  Bay  was  not  considered  to  be  a  suitable 
route  for  a  street  railway,  and  the  plan  was  therefore  changed 
and  the  location  diverted  via  West  Chester  Park  (now  Massa- 
chusetts Avenue)  and  Boylston  Street  to  Park  Square,  near 
the  Public  Garden. 

While  these  plans  were  maturing,  Mr.  Whitney  and  his  asso- 
ciates acquired  a  controlling  interest  in  the  capital  stock  of 
seven  of  the  eight  horse  railroads  then  serving  Boston  and  its 
immediate  suburbs.  The  line  omitted  was  the  Lynn  &  Boston, 
which  entered  Boston  through  Chelsea,  thence  passing  over  the 
tracks  of  the  Boston  companies.  These  eight  street  railways 
were  then  consolidated  with  the  newly-formed  West  End  Street 
Railway  Company.  On  Nov.  12  and  19.  1887,  the  consolidation 
was  completed  and  the  operation  of  the  properties  taken  over 
by  Mr.  Whitney  and  his  associates,  Mr.  Whitney  being  the 
president  of  the  West  End  Street  Railway  Company.  The  re- 
turns of  these  several  companies  to  the  Board  of  Railroad  Com- 
missioners, for  the  year  ending  Sept.  30,  1886,  showed  that  in 
all  they  ran  by  horse-power  15,105,000  car-miles,  and  carried 
86,250,000  revenue  passengers.  The  business  of  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway  Company  (now  operating  these  properties), 
for  the  year  1903,  shows  a  car-mileage  of  47,688,000,  and  reve- 
nue passengers  carried  233,500,000. 

As  soon  as  the  railroads  were  consolidated  in  1887,  the  ques- 
tion of  a  change  in  the  method  of  propulsion  of  cars  was  taken 
up.  Certain  experiments  were  being  conducted  at  that  time 
with  storage-battery  cars,  but  they  had  been  so  unsuccessful  as 
to  point  to  the  use  of  a  different  power,  and  the  best  available 
seemed  to  be  the  cable  system.  It  was  practically  decided, 
therefore,  to  introduce  a  cable  system  in  Boston.  Engineers 
were  secured,  the  preparation  of  plans  was  commenced,  land  was 
acquired  for  the  power  houses,  and  it  would  have  soon  resulted 
in  the  provision  of  a  cable  system  for  Boston  if  at  this  time 


Mr.  Whitney's  attention  had  not  been  directed  to  the  overhead 
trolley  system,  particularly  the  road  which  had  just  been  put 
in  successful  operation  in  Richmond,  Va.  In  1888,  therefore, 
Mr.  Whitney  and  his  associates  visited  Richmond  and  saw 
what  had  been  done  there.  They  also  investigated  the  so-called 
"Bentley-Knight  underground  conduit  system,"  and  returning 
to  Boston  abandoned  the  idea  of  introducing  cable  roads.  They 
planned  as  the  first  electric  line  the  equipment  of  the  tracks  of 
the  West  End  Street  Railway  with  the  Sprague  overhead  trol- 
ley system,  from  Brighton,  Allston  and  Reservoir  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Back  Bay  at  the  Charlesgate,  and  from  that  point 
to  Park  Square  they  proposed  to  introduce,  and  did  introduce, 
the  Bentley-Knight  conduit  system.  A  sketch  showing  a  cross 
section  of  this  system  is  appended.  The  length  of  this  under- 
ground conduit  system  was  about  8200  ft. ;  that  of  the  line  from 
the  Charlesgate  to  the  Reservoir  was  16,333  ft->  and  from 
Charlesgate  to  Oak  Square,  Brighton,  was  24,330  ft.  These 


EARLY  SPRAGUE  CAR  IN  BOSTON 


lines  were  opened  and  operation  commenced  in  January,  1889, 
the  plows  for  the  conduit  system  being  attached  to  the  incoming 
car  and  the  trolley  removed  from  the  overhead  wire  at  the 
Charlesgate.  The  early  operation  of  this  road  was  attended 
with  many  exasperating  failures,  as  well  as  amusing  incidents. 
Engineers  surveying  in  the  street  not  infrequently  burnt  up 
their  metal  tapes  by  allowing  them  to  drop  into  the  slot  of  the 
conduit;  tampering  with  the  conductors  therein  by  the  small 
boy  with  a  wire  was  frequent,  and  as  no  drainage  system  was 
provided,  many  failures  occurred  from  that  cause.  The  diffi- 
culties with  the  conduit  system  continued  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  was  finally  abandoned,  the  conduit  was  removed  and  the 
overhead  trolley  was  substituted. 

In  February,  1889,  the  West  End  Street  Railway  Company 
contracted  with  the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Company  to 
electrically  equip  a  line  from  Harvard  Square,  Cambridge,  to 
Bowdoin  Square,  Boston,  to  be  operated  on  the  single-trolley 
system.  Twenty  cars  for  this  line  were  supplied  by  the  Thom- 
son-Houston Company.  There  was  very  serious  opposition  to 
the  introduction  of  overhead  wires  in  the  city  of  Boston,  and 
it  was  only  by  the  operation  of  these  short  sections  and  the 
demonstration  made  by  them  of  the  safety  and  comparatively 
unobjectionable  features  of  the  system  that  public  opinion 
finally  sanctioned,  piece  by  piece,  the  complete  introduction  of 
the  overhead  trolley  system.  Volumes  might  be  written,  setting 
forth  the  many  phases  in  which  this  opposition  took  form,  and 
perhaps  the  old  officials  and  employees  of  the  horse  railways 


(  )CTOBER  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


535 


were  the  most  skeptical  of  any  as  to  the  electric  system  becom- 
ing a  success.  The  earlier  operations  were  all  attended  with 
heavy  net  losses,  but,  as  the  electric  companies  met  and  over- 
came one  failure  after  another,  it  became  apparent  to  the  pub- 
lic that  electric  motive  power  was  to  revolutionize  street  transit, 
and  the  early  opposition  ceased,  except  as  to  certain  localities. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  for  the  fiscal  year  1888-89,  °f  a 
total  car-mileage  of  16,500,000,  525,000  miles  were  operated  by 
electric  motive  power,  two-fifths  of  this  being  mileage  of  trailer 
cars;  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1892  that  the  electric-mile- 
age constituted  one-half  of  the  total  car-miles.  The  last  mile- 
age of  horse  cars  in  Boston  was  operated  as  late  as  the  year 
1901,  although  for  some  years  prior  to  that  but  one  unimportant 


SECTION  OF  1SENTLEY-KNIGHT  CONDUIT  AS  LAID  IN  BOSTON 

line  was  equipped  with  horse  power.  This  line  was  that 
through  Marlborough  Street,  Boston,  in  the  residential  Back 
Bay  district,  and  so  persistent  was  the  opposition  to  the  intro- 
duction in  that  street  of  electric  power  that  the  line  was  finally 
abandoned  and  the  tracks  removed. 

From  the  commencement  of  operation  with  electric  power 
very  careful  accounts  were  kept  of  the  many  failures  and  of  the 
costs  of  maintenance,  and  for  the  first  few  years  the  most 
sanguine  of  men  could  not  have  demonstrated  from  the  results 
obtained  any  possible  economic  future  for  the  trolley  system. 
The  enlightened  and  energetic  manner  in  which  the  various 
difficulties  occurring  were  overcome  by  the  engineers  of  the 
electric  companies  constitutes  one  of  the  marvels  of  nineteenth 
century  progress,  probably  without  a  counterpart  in  any  other 
industry.  It  was  also  extremely  difficult  to  determine  the  prob- 
able earning  capacity  of  electric  lines.  When  they  became 
fairly  reliable  in  operation  they  were  so  much  preferred  by  the 
public,  as  one  line  after  another  was  equipped,  that  they  showed 
a  phenomenal  rate  of  earnings  per  car-mile ;  but,  as  more  and 
more  of  the  system  became  equipped,  the  competition  of  the 
different  lines  restored  them  to  a  more  nearly  common  level, 
and  the  earlier  estimates  of  the  marvelous  earning  power  of 
electric  cars  met  a  sad  collapse.  The  gradual  method  of  intro- 
ducing electric  power  made  it  a  comparatively  easy  matter  for 
the  company  to  care  financially  for  the  shrinkage  in  value  of 
the  horse  equipment,  which  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  under 
discussion  consisted  on  the  West  End  system  of  about  9000 
horses. 

Among  the  earlier  amusing  incidents  may  be  mentioned  that 
of  a  wise  and  dignified  city  official,  who,  having  seen  for  the 
first  time  an  overhead  trolley  car  in  operation,  expressed  great 
surprise  that  the  company  did  not  provide  stronger  and  more 
sturdy  trolley  poles,  for  he  believed  that  those  employed  to 
push  the  cars  were  altogether  too  light.  Others  were  certain 
that  disaster  would  result  because  no  provision  was  made  in 
the  overhead  trolley  wires  for  expansion  and  contraction,  and 
those  who  were  certain  that  they  felt  shocks  and  electric  thrills 
whenever  they  boarded  an  electric  car  are  too  numerous  to 


mention,  fortunately,  the  most  conservative  were  at  last  con- 
vinced of  the  utility  and  necessity  of  the  overhead  system,  but 
there  are  probably  few  to-day  who  reflect  upon  the  remarkable 
revolution  it  has  made  in  the  development  of  the  territory 
served. 



THE  EARLY  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  WORK  OF  WERNER 
VON  SIEMENS 


So  much  has  been  said  of  the  early  electric  railway  experi- 
ments of  Werner  von  Siemens  in  Germany  that  some  particu- 
lars of  the  first  electric  road  in  Germany  may  be  of  interest. 
This  road  was  placed  in  service  May  31,  1879,  on  a  specially 
constructed  belt  line,  300  111  (about  983  ft.)  long,  at  the  Berlin 
Trades  Exposition. 

The  engraving  on  the  next  page  shows  the  first  electric  train 
on  this  line.  It  was  made  up  of  an  electric  locomotive  and 
three  small  cars.  The  capacity  of  the  locomotive  at  150  volts 
was  about  3  hp,  and  its  speed  was  7  km  (4.2  miles)  an  hour. 
Power  was  taken  from  a  third  rail,  consisting  of  a  flat  iron 
bar  placed  between  the  running  rails.  The  latter  were  bonded 
and  served  for  the  return  circuit.  On  the  iron  frame  of  the 
locomotive  was  mounted  longitudinally  a  bipolar,  drum  arma- 
ture, direct-current  motor  connected  to  gearing  giving  a  speed 
reduction  of  1 :2.45.    The  motor  was  controlled  by  operating  a 


CAR  USED  IN  1S81  ON  THE  GROSS-LICHTERFELDE  LINE.  TAKING 
CURRENT  FROM  ONE  RAIL  AND  USING  THE  OTHER  FOR 
THE  RETURN  CIRCUIT 

lever  which  cut  resistances  in  or  out  of  circuit.  As  the  motor 
was  not  reversible,  changes  in  the  direction  of  the  locomotive 
were  obtained  by  employing  two  conical  gears  mounted  on  a 
common  axis  and  arranged  to  engage  with  a  third  conical 
gear.  The  running  direction  depended  upon  what  pair  of 
gears  were  permitted  to  mesh  with  each  other.  The  wooden 
covering  of  the  otherwise  open  motor  served  as  a  seat  for  the 
motorman. 

Despite  the  fact  that  this  experimental  railway  proved  very 
successful,  86,398  passengers  being  carried  safely  between  May 
31  and  Sept.  30,  1879,  the  public  showed  little  confidence  in 
electric  traction.  Werner  von  Siemens,  however,  was  fully 
alive  to  the  possibilities  of  the  new  traction  method,  and  finally, 
after  repeated  rebuffs,  the  firm  of  Siemens  &  Halske  obtained 
permission  to  build  a  line  in  Gross  Lichterfelde,  near  Berlin. 
This  line  was  completed  for  public  use  on  May  16,  1881.  The 
motors  were  operated  at  180  volts.  One  of  the  running  rails 
was  used  for  the  power  circuit  and  the  other  for  the  return. 
The  rails  possessed  no  insulation  other  than  that  furnished  by 
the  wooden  ties  upon  which  they  were  laid.    To  prevent  short- 


536 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


circuiting  through  the  axles,  every  wheel  tire  was  insulated 
from  the  hub  by  a  wooden  band.  The  current  passing  through 
the  tire  was  transmitted  to  a  metal  bushing  through  metal 
springs  or  brushes,  whence  it  was  taken  to  the  motor.  The 
latter  was  connected  to  the  axle  through  spiral  wire  ropes  run- 
ning over  rope  sheaves.  The  direction  of  running  was  changed 
by  reversing  the  polarity  of  the  motor.  This  equipment  was 
capable  of  40  km  (24  miles)  an  hour.  The  car,  which  is  shown 
on  the  previous  page,  could  carry  twenty-six  passengers. 

In  the  same  year,  1881,  von  Siemens  exhibited  at  the  Paris 
Exposition  an  electric  railway  employing  an  overhead  current 
collecting  scheme  which  embraced  the  use  of  a  split  tube  car- 
rying current  and  a  contact  pencil  which  slid  along  the  aper- 
ture in  the  tube.  The  following  year,  von  Siemens  built  an 
overhead  line  in  Charlottenburg,  using  rolling  contact.  The 
sliding  trolley  bow,  now  so  commonly  used  on  the  Continent, 
was  first  employed  on  the  Gross-Lichterfelde  road  in  1887. 

While  the  overhead  system  electric  railways  made  rapid 
progress  in  the  United  States,  very  strong  opposition  was  mani- 
fested toward  them  in  Europe,  and  resulted  in  the  installation 
of  quite  a  number  of  lines  operated  by  accumulator  batteries. 
Recognizing  that  neither  this  method  nor  a  surface  contact 
system  were  commercially  practicable,  Siemens  &  Halske 
evolved  a  side  conduit  system,  which  was  first  installed  at 


THE  DIFFICULTIES  WHICH  CONFRONTED  THE  EARLY  „ 
ENGINEERS 


ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVE  AND  THREE  CARS  FIRST  OPERATED  ON  MAY  31,  1879,  AT 
THE  BERLIN  TRADES  EXPOSITION 


Budapest  in  1889,  and  employed  a  complete  metallic  circuit 
with  V-shaped  angle-iron  bars  for  the  conductors. 


"To  move  a  large  numbers  of  cars,  as,  for  instance,  upon  the 
Third  Avenue  or  Broadway  lines  in  New  York  City,  the  elec- 
trical conductor  must  be  of  great  size,  if  the  current  is  of  low 
tension;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  a  small  or  moderate  sized 
conductor  be  used,  the  current  must  then  be  of  dangerously 
high  tension.  *  *  *  No  electric  car,  or  any  self-propelled 
vehicle,  will  climb  grades  of  more  than  6  per  cent  in  slippery 
weather,  with  absolute  certainty.  If  we  go  beyond  6  per  cent 
we  must  have  some  artificial  adhesion ;  we  must  introduce  some 
rack  on  the  road,  or  cables,  which  have  a  positive  motion. 
Anyone  who  attempts  to  guarantee  a  self-propelled  vehicle  on 
grades  of  more  than  7  per  cent  will  most  certainly  lose  his 
reputation." — From  Philadelphia  Meeting,  1887. 


BY  W.  E.  BAKER 

YOU  have  very  kindly  asked  me 
to  write  a  few  lines  in  regard 
to  some  of  the  troubles  under 
which  the  engineers  labored 
during  the  early  electric  rail- 
road work  in  Boston.  It  is  not 
always  pleasant  to  recall  the 
troubles  of  the  past  unless,  as 
in  this  case,  they  have  been 
happily  overcome.  Many  of 
the  experiences  and  troubles 
with  the  early  equipments  are 
now  either  forgotten  or  only  remembered  in  times  of  leisure. 
For  the  most  part  it  keeps  us  all  busy  to  keep  up  with  the 
progress  in  electric  traction.  Electric  railroading  has  made 
rapid  history  in  the  last  fifteen  years.  Time  slips  along  so  fast 
as  measured  by  the  development  of  electric  traction,  in  its 
many  and  varied  directions,  that  what  happened  only  a  few 
years  ago,  measured  by  the  time  interval,  seems  almost  a  cycle 
since  when  timed  by  the  progress 
made  in  the  electric  traction  field. 

The  questions  which  were  trouble- 
some in  the  days  of  1889,  when  per- 
mission to  use  the  overhead  wire  in 
Boston  was  first  granted,  interest  us 
no  more.  We  no  longer  ask,  Will 
this  be  a  method  of  city  transporta- 
tion that  will  displace  the  horse  car 
and  the  cable?  Can  it  be  operated  at 
a  reasonable  expense?  Is  it  safe? 
Will  it  be  attractive  to  the  public? 
These  were  then  the  questions  of  deep 
interest. 

One  of  the  principal  troubles  in 
those  days  was  adverse  opinion,  both 
lay  and  technical.  Such  is  commonly, 
or  it  might  be  said  always,  the  case 
with  attempts  to  introduce  radical 
changes,  particularly  in  transporta- 
tion methods  or  in  improved  machin- 
ery. The  advent  of  electricity  for 
traction  purposes  had  many  and  de- 
termined opponents.  The  "deadly  trolley"  was  a  by-word.  It 
was  a  menace  to  life  and  limb.  The  escaping  current  would 
pursue  people  to  their  destruction  while  they  followed  the 
peaceful  tenor  of  their  way. 

The  story  that  one  man  had  captured  some  of  it  in  his  cellar 
and  was  operating  some  mechanical  contrivance  was  largely 
advertised  and  exaggerated. 

Every  credit  should  be  given  to  the  men  with  courage  and 
public  spirit  who  faced  the  objections  and  the  failures  of  the 
early  and  costly  experiments  with  storage  batteries  and  under- 
ground conduits,  until  the  positive  advantages  had  become  evi- 
dent, hostility  had  ceased,  and  the  "trolley"  had  become  a  rec- 
ognized factor  in  the  progress  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is 
still  doubtful  whether  the  full  force  of  the  social  changes  which 
this  progress  is  sure  to  bring  about  is  yet  fully  realized. 

Macaulay,  in  describing  the  social  condition  in  England  in 
1685,  states  that  the  chief  cause  which  made  the  fusion  of  the 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


537 


different  elements  of  society  so  imperfect  was  the  extreme 
difficulty  which  our  ancestors  found  in  passing  from  place  to 
place,  and  that  of  all  inventions  (the  alphabet  and  the  printing 
press  alone  excepted)  those  which  have  abridged  distance  have 
done  most  for  the  civilization  of  our  species. 

In  the  list  of  civilizing  inventions  the  trolley  must  occupy 
one  of  the  foremost  places.  In  the  early  days  of  America,  the 
Indian  trail  through  the  primeval  forest  was  the  forerunner 
of  the  highway ;  after  this  came  the  path  blazed  by  the  pioneer, 
scarcely  more  distinct  or  passable  than  the  Indian's  trail ; 
finally,  rude  highways  were  constructed  for  the  use  of  carts, 
and  barely  100  years  ago  had  they  become  sufficiently  improved 
for  the  use  of  carriages  and  stages.  We  may  safely  venture 
the  statement  that  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  all  other 
methods  of  public  travel  did  not  promote  the  original  purpose 
of  highways  as  much  as  did  the  use  to  which  the  street  railway 
car  subjects  them.  There  is  no  known  method  of  conveyance 
by  which  such  large  numbers  of  passengers  can  be  transported 
through  the  streets  or  highways  with  so  much  convenience, 
expedition  and  safety  to  themselves  and  to  their  fellow  travel- 
ers, and  with  so  little  noise,  confusion  and  dirt  as  by  the  elec- 
tric railway. 

To  America  is  due  the  credit  of  invention  both  of  the  horse 
railway  and  of  its  successor,  the  electric  railway ;  and  to  Amer- 
ica belongs  the  fullest  development  of  intramural  transporta- 
tion ;  and  to  no  locality  in  America  should  more  credit  be 
given,  or  have  greater  changes  been  wrought  by  the  carrying- 
out  successfully  of  the  latest  ideas  and  achievements  in  this 
direction  than  to  the  city  of  Boston  and  its  suburbs,  where  the 
first  great  development  took  place. 

Of  course,  there  were  many  difficulties  of  detail  to  contend 
with  in  the  early  days,  but  they  were  all  troubles  that  merely 
required  a  short  experience  for  the  most  part  for  correction. 
However  imperfect  were  the  early  motors  and  their  accom- 
panying appliances,  such  as  overhead  wire,  trolleys,  controlling 
devices,  etc.,  they  contained  the  essential  germ  of  the  prin- 
ciples that  had  only  to  be  developed  in  detail  to  reach  the  pres- 
ent satisfactory  performance. 

Time  is  too  short  to  dwell  upon  the  difficulties  which  then 
seemed  large,  but  which  now  look  small.  The  only  use  that 
should  be  made  of  them  to-day  is  that  they  should  encourage 
us  to  look  forward  within  the  next  decade  or  so  to  further 
great  improvement  in  intramural  transportation.  That  this 
will  come  about,  those  who  have  been  acquainted  with  its  de- 
velopment have  had  for  many  years  no  doubt.  In  fact,  the 
handwriting  is  plain  upon  the  wall.  Electricity  has  displaced 
the  horse;  it  has  already  started  in  its  career  to  displace  the 
steam  locomotive. 


THE  INCEPTION  OF  THE  CONDUIT  SYSTEM  IN  NEW 
YORK  CITY 

BY  M.  G.  STARRETT 

ON  Aug.  1,  1904,  the  New  York  City  Railway  Company 
had  725  horse  cars  and  117  miles  of  horse  car  track 
still  in  operation.  This  extended  use  of  animal 
power  for  street  railway  service  often  creates  some  surprise 
on  the  part  of  the  visitor  to  New  York,  exceeding,  as  the  fig- 
ures do,  both  in  number  of  cars  and  mileage  all  the  rest  of  the 
country.  Properly  to  understand  the  reasons  for  the  use  of 
the  conduit  system  on  the  main  longitudinal  lines  and  prin- 
cipal cross-town  lines  on  Manhattan  Island  and  animal  power 


on  practically  all  of  the  other  divisions,  it  is  necessary  to  re- 
hearse briefly  the  history  of  passenger  transportation  in  New 
York  during  the  later  eighties  and  early  nineties. 

About  this  time  the  syndicate  which  subsequently  organized 
the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company  commenced  the 
purchases  and  consolidations  which  later  brought  under  one 
head  all  of  the  surface  transportation  systems  in  New  York 
(.  ity  and  which  are  now  operated  by  the  New  York  City  Rail- 
way Company.  At  that  time  the  overhead  trolley  was  exten- 
sively used  in  all  the  larger  cities  both  in  the  East  and  in  the 
West,  and  was  recognized  everywhere  as  the  then  most  ap- 
proved form  of  surface  traction.  Unfortunately,  however,  for 
the  future  of  this  form  of  electric  power  on  Manhattan  Island, 
there  existed  in  New  York  in  1890,  as  at  present,  a  widespread 
popular  prejudice  against  overhead  wires  of  all  kinds,  nor 
was  this  entirely  unreasonable.  The  commercial  interests  of 
the  city  had  necessarily  required  a  myriad  of  electrical  circuits 
exceeding  that  in  other  cities;  and  the  telegraph,  telephone, 
electric  light,  stock  exchange  and  other  wires  which  had  been 
installed  during  the  growth  of  the  city  were  carried  almost 
entirely  overhead.  The  Edison  Illuminating  Company,  it  is 
true,  had  established  an  underground  feeder  system,  but  all  of 
the  other  wires  were  suspended  from  rude  poles  or  immense 
wooden  structures  erected  on  the  tops  of  buildings,  so  that 
Broadway  and  some  of  the  other  main  avenues  of  the  city, 
with  their  single,  double  or  triple  lines  of  gigantic  poles  and 
numberless  cross-arms,  presented  an  appearance  not  unlike  that 
of  a  treeless  forest. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  Mayor  Grant,  who  was  inaugurated 
in  1889,  was  to  commence  a  crusade  against  these  aerial  wires. 
The  companies  were  ordered  to  put  their  wires  underground 
or  abandon  their  circuits  entirely,  and  under  the  direction  of 
the  Mayor  the  offending  poles  were  chopped  down  with  an 
energy  befitting  the  most  enthusiastic  middle-age  iconoclasts. 
The  means  adopted  were  severe  and  arbitrary,  but  were  at 
least  effective,  and  as  the  city  administration  had  the  support 
of  the  public  at  large,  who  objected  to  overhead  wires  from 
both  aesthetic  and  practical  reasons,  the  result  was  extremely 
efficacious.  This  crusade  effectually  estopped  any  trolley  con- 
struction south  of  the  Harlem  River,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  line  belonging  to  the  Union  Railway  Company.  This 
line,  about  half  a  mile  in  length,  was  built  on  138th  Street  in 
September,  1892,  and  was  the  first  electric  railway  in  the  city 
of  New  York. 

In  Chicago,  San  Francisco  and  other  cities  throughout  the 
country,  cable  traction  was  at  that  time  extensively  used,  and 
for  the  Broadway  line,  which  had  what  was  then  considered 
an  enormous  traffic  over  a  comparatively  short  line,  this  seemed 
the  best  power  then  available  and  was  adopted.  The  Broad- 
way cable  line  was  opened  from  the  Battery"  to  Central  Park 
in  July,  1893,  and  w^as  so  successful  that  plans  were  immedi- 
ately made  for  extensions  through  Columbus  and  Lexington 
Avenues  to  Harlem.  The  cost  of  both  construction  and 
operation  of  the  cable  system,  however,  was  so  great  that  it 
was  recognized  that  its  application  must  be  confined  to  lines 
of  the  first  importance,  and  that  a  more  flexible  and  economical 
system  must  be  found  for  the  remaining  lines  of  the  system. 

In  the  effort  to  find  a  motive  power  which  would  be  satis- 
factory for  some  of  the  streets  where  cable  could  not  be  used, 
Mr.  Crimmins,  then  president  of  the  Metropolitan  Traction 
Company,  proposed  to  install  overhead  wires  on  the  Sixth 
Avenue  surface  line,  which  runs  beneath  the  elevated  structure 
throughout  its  whole  length.    It  was  argued  with  reason  that 


538 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


there  could  be  no  logical  objection  to  overhead  trolley  wires 
in  such  a  location,  but  so  great  opposition  developed  that  the 
project  was  abandoned,  and  with  it  all  hopes  of  the  further 
use  of  the  overhead  trolley  system  on  the  island  of  Manhattan. 

The  situation  then  facing  the  officers  of  the  Metropolitan 
Traction  Company  was  a  serious  one,  as  the  leases  and  pur- 
chases of  a  large  number  of  lines  had  been  made  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  introducing  some  improved  form  of  motive  power. 
Finally,  in  November,  1893,  the  company  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  the  Board  of  Railroad  Commissioners,  offering 
a  prize  of  $50,000  for  a  system  of  street  railway  propulsion 
superior  to  the  cable  and  the  trolley : 

On  streets  where  the  lines  are  straight  and  the  business  is  heavy 
the  cable  system  is  the  most  economical  yet  invented.  For  general 
use  in  a  city,  winding  about  through  the  streets  following  the 
routes  of  travel  which  the  public  wish  to  pursue,  it  is  impracticable. 
You  require  straight  routes  for  cable  roads.  We  have,  in  addition 
to  the  lines  upon  which  the  cable  will  be  laid,  over  80  miles  of 
street  railroads  now  operated  with  horses  all  below  the  Central 
Park.  It  is  to  these  lines  in  particular  that  we  now  desire  to  direct 
your  attention. 

Up  to  the  present  time  the  only  system  whose  practicability  has 
been  demonstrated  is  the  overhead  trolley.  We  are  well  aware, 
however,  that  its  application  in  the  streets  of  New  York  would  not 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  community.  What  we  most  desire 
now  is  to  hasten  the  development  and  perfection  of  a  better  system. 
We  therefore  submit  the  following  proposition : 

First.  We  will  set  aside  the  sum  of  $50,000  to  be  awarded  as  a 
prize  to  any  person  who  shall,  before  March  1,  1904,  submit  to  your 
honorable  board  an  actual  working  system  of  motive  power  for 
street  railway  cars  demonstrated  to  be  superior  or  equal  to  the 
overhead  trolley. 

Second.  The  qualities  necessary  to  meet  this  requirement  shall 
be  left  to  your  decision ;  but  with  the  present  state  of  the  art,  a 
system  to  win  the  award  must  necessarily  approximate  the  trolley 
as  a  standard  of  economy  in  operation,  but  should  be  without  the 
features  objectionable  to  the  public  that  are  in  it. 

Third.  We  shall  exact  no  rights  in  the  invention  in  return  for 
the  $50,000,  and  shall  have  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  making 
of  the  award  further  than  to  pay  any  expenses  which  your  hon- 
orable board  may  deem  it  necessary  or  wise  to  incur,  either  in  the 
employment  of  experts,  the  giving  of  hearings,  or  the  conduct  of 
experiments — this  in  order  that  no  effort  may  be  spared  to  achieve 
the  desired  result. 

Hundreds  of  schemes  were  submitted  to  the  officers  of  the 
company,  but  nothing  practical  resulted  from  this  offer. 

Foreseeing  that  any  efforts  of  this  kind,  depending  upon  out- 
side inventive  talent,  would  be  futile,  and  induced  by  the  fact 
that  a  short  underground  conduit  line  was  in  successful  opera- 
tion in  Budapest,  though  under  radically  different  conditions 
than  existed  in  New  York,  the  company  decided  to  experiment 
with  this  system.  As  the  Railroad  Commissioners  had  stated 
that  they  were  unable  to  act  as  judges  of  the  prize  competition 
without  legislative  action,  the  Metropolitan  Company,  early  in 
1894,  withdrew  its  offer  of  a  prize,  and  working  in  conjunction 
with  the  General  Electric  Company,  proceeded  to  develop  its 
conduit  plans.  * 

The  Lenox  Avenue  line  in  Harlem  was  the  scene  of  the  trial. 
The  conduit  on  this  line  was  built  for  the  cable  system,  but 
was  easily  adapted  for  the  purpose  of  the  experiment  which 
was  most  thoroughly  conducted.  The  line  was  equipped  with 
twelve  cars  and  operation  was  begun  in  1895. 

The  electrical  construction  first  used  on  this  line  differed 
materially  in  its  details  from  the  type  in  use  to-day.  Heavy 
channel  sections  were  used  as  electrical  conductors  and  were 
supported  by  insulators  carried  on  pillars  built  up  from  the 
bottom  of  the  manholes.  The  insulators  were  of  a  distinctly 
inferior  type,  and  the  line  was  operated  with  only  300  volts 
difference  of  potential  between  the  conductors. 


FIRST  FORM  OF  CONDUIT  ON 
LENOX  AVENUE 


Troubles — due  to  the  low  voltage  employed,  to  the  failures 
of  insulators  and  especially  to  the  defective  form  of  plows  or 
current-collectors — were  numerous  and  can  only  be  appre- 
ciated by  those  directly  engaged  in  the  work.  Gradually, 
however,  the  causes  of  the  troubles  were  located,  proper  reme- 
dies applied,  and  the  line  was  gotten  into  operative  shape  after 
the  type  of  the  insulators  had  been  changed,  the  generators 
and  motors  had  been  rewound  for  the  standard  voltage  and 
the  current-collectors  or  plows  redesigned. 

Shortly  previous  to,  or  concurrent  with,  the  Lenox  Avenue 
experiment  several  trials  had  been  made  with  storage-battery 
cars,  a  surface-contact  system  and  with  compressed-air  motors. 
The  storage-battery  cars  were  tried  on  the  Second  Avenue  and 
Madison  Avenue  lines,  but  with  indifferent  success.  Nothing 
came  from  the  trial  of  the  surface-contact  system,  and  the 
experiments  with 
compressed-air  mo- 
tors did  not  promise 
enough  at  that  time 
to  insure  their  seri- 
ous consideration  by 
the  officials  of  the 
company. 

About  this  time 
F.  S.  Pearson,  the 
chief  engineer  of  the 
Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company, 
went  to  Budapest 
and  made  a  thorough 
inspection  and  exam- 
ination of  the  conduit  system  as  installed  and  operated  in  that 
city.  His  report,  together  with  the  results  of  the  operation  of 
the  Lenox  Avenue  conduit  line,  resulted  in  the  decision  to  ex- 
tend the  conduit  system  to  the  principal  lines  of  the  company, 
and  early  in  the  summer  of  1897  construction  work  was  begun 
on  the  Madison  Avenue,  Second  Avenue,  Amsterdam  Avenue, 
Eighth  Avenue  and  Twenty-Third  Street  lines. 

The  form  of  construction  employed  was  a  modification  of 
that  used  for  the  cable  system,  being  shallower  and  somewhat 
lighter.  All  details  of  the  original  Lenox  Avenue  line  were 
redesigned  and  adapted  to  the  conditions  found  to  exist  in 
New  York  City.  The  insulators  were  suspended  from  the 
slot  rail,  the  conductor  bar  section  was  changed  and  consid- 
erably reduced  in  weight,  while  new  rail  sections  were  also 
designed  for  both  slot  rails  and  tram  rails.  Another  impor- 
tant improvement  consisted  in  the  method  of  building  the 
conduit.  In  cable  construction  and  in  the  first  underground 
electrical  work  the  conduit  was  built  from  the  bottom  up ;  that 
is,  the  foundations  for  the  yokes,  which  were  of  brick,  were 
first  installed,  after  which  the  yokes  were  placed  upon  them 
and  lined  up.  The  track  rails  and  slot  rails  were  then  laid  on 
the  yokes  and  aligned,  after  which  the  concrete  was  packed 
around  formers  which  were  carried  from  yoke  to  yoke.  The 
method  adopted  in  1897  and  since  used  is  most  easily  defined 
as  being  from  the  top  down ;  that  is,  the  rails  are  supported  in 
position  by  timbers  over  the  trench,  the  yokes  are  put  in  place 
and  attached  to  the  rails,  and  the  cement  is  then  packed  around 
formers,  as  before. 

The  conduit  system  is  installed  to-day  practically  in  the 
same  form  as  in  1897,  but  few  changes — and  those  minor 
ones — having  been  made.  The  spacing  of  the  cleaning  man- 
holes is  shorter  now,  and  some  few  slight  changes  have  been 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


539 


made  in  the  concrete  sections  and  forms  to  facilitate  and 
cheapen  the  construction,  but,  in  all  essentials,  the  system  is 
the  same  to-day  as  in  1897. 

Particulars  of  the  cost  of  this  work  have  been  published 
heretofore  and  do  not  call  for  repetition  here,  but,  in  a  general 
way,  it  can  be  stated  that  this  form  of  construction  costs  from 
$90,000  to  $125,000  per  mile  of  single  track,  varying  with  the 
amount  of  special  work  included  and  also  with  the  street  con- 
ditions. 

It  is  very  evident  that  only  lines  with  heavy  traffic  would  be 
justified  in  adopting  this  system,  and  there  are  many  of  the 
crosstown  lines  to  which,  on  account  of  the  excessive  first  cost, 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ELECTRIC  TRACTION  ON  THE 
PACIFIC  COAST 


MODIFIED  FORM  OF  CONDUIT  INTRO- 
DUCED IN  1895 

it  is  not  adapted.  For  this  reason  extensive  experiments  have 
been  made  during  the  past  five  years  with  two  forms  of  motive 
power,  compressed  air  and  storage  batteries,  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  a  system  of  propulsion  which  should  be  suited  to 
the  demands  of  the  crosstown  lines  and  which  still  would  not 
be  prohibitive  in  its  first  cost. 

The  storage-battery  system  of  traction  was  given  a  thorough 
trial  on  the  Thirty- Fourth  Street  Crosstown  line,  while  the 
compressed-air  motors  were  given  an  equally  exhaustive  test 
on  the  Twenty-Eighth  and  Twenty-Ninth  Streets  line.  The 
results  were  unsatisfactory  in  both  cases,  and  the  operation  of 
cars  by  these  methods  was  discontinued;  and  to-day  the  un- 
derground conduit,  as  developed  through  the  Lenox  Avenue 
line  experiments,  and  perfected  and  installed  on  over  200 
miles  of  track,  remains  the  only  system  of  improved  motive 
power  in  use  by  the  surface  cars  on  the  island  of  Manhattan. 

Various  modifications  of  the  New  York  system  have  been 
made  in  London,  Paris,  Berlin  and  other  Continental  cities. 
These  modifications  have  been  mainly  in  the  structure  of  the 
yokes  and  other  parts  of  the  system  required  to  conform  to 
local  conditions,  while  the  main  features  of  the  system  as  de- 
veloped here  have  been  adopted  in  every  instance. 

The  conduit  system  has  both  advantages  and  disadvantages, 
as  compared  with  the  overhead  trolley  system.  All  the  elec- 
tric part  of  the  construction  is  underground,  therefore  the  feed 
wires  and  electric  conductors  are  protected  from  damage  by 
wind  and  weather,  and  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  the  electric 
conductors  is  somewhat  reduced  as  compared  with  the  over- 
head trolley  system.  On  the  other  hand,  the  cleaning  of  dirt 
from  the  conduit  and  manholes  is  an  added  expense,  and  the 
presence  of  the  center  slot  complicates  the  construction  of 
special  track  work  and,  of  course,  the  expense  of  its  installa- 
tion and  maintenance.  The  absence  of  all  construction  above 
the  surface  of  the  street  is,  of  course,  advantageous  from  an 
aesthetic  point  of  view,  while  all  possible  danger  to  the  public 
from  accidental  contact  with  the  electric  conductors  is  avoided. 

Occasionally  during  severe  winter  weather  some  trouble  is 
experienced  from  the  accumulation  of  ice  and  snow  in  the 
conduit  and  in  the  handholes  around  the  insulators,  but  serious 
trouble  has  never  occurred  during  the  seven  years  that  the 
system  has  been  in  operation. 


i 


BY  GEORGE  B.  WILCUTT 

THE  development  of  the  elec- 
tric system  of  street  railways 
on  the  Pacific  Coast  has  dif- 
fered somewhat  from  that  in 
many  other  sections  of  the 
country  in  that  it  has  replaced 
the  cable  system  to  a  consid- 
erable extent.  The  earliest 
transportation  facilities,  as 
elsewhere,  were  furnished  by 
'buses,  which  in  due  time  were 
replaced  by  the  steam  dummy 
and  horse  car,  which  San 
Francisco,  as  the  metropolis  of  the  coast,  was  the  first  city  to 
introduce.  The  first  steam  dummy  line  in  that  city  was  opened 
in  July,  i860,  and  it  was  followed  in  1862  and  later  years  by 
various  horse  lines,  by  which  the  steam  dummies  were  event- 
ually replaced. 

This  was  the  character  of  transportation  facilities  on  the 
coast  until  September,  1873,  when,  through  the  inventive 
genius  of  A.  S.  Hallidie,  the  cable  system  of  street  railways 
was  perfected  and  rendered  a  complete  success,  enabling  the 
many  heavy  grades  prevailing  in  San  Francisco  to  be  readily 
surmounted.  Railroad  companies  and  capitalists  were  not  slow 
to  avail  themselves  of  its  advantages,  and  from  that  date  until 
1892  a  number  of  cable  roads  were  constructed — converting,  in 
many  instances,  hitherto  inaccessible  districts  into  the  most 
beautiful  and  valuable  residence  sections.  Horse  lines  were 
replaced  by  the  cable  system  as  far  as  practicable,  as  it  was 
found  that  the  operating  expense  per  car-mile  was  somewhat 
reduced,  while  the  carrying  capacity  of  the  car  was  increased 
more  than  two-fold,  thus  meeting  satisfactorily  the  city's  in- 
creasing requirements. 

While  this  condition  prevailed  in  San  Francisco,  other 
coast  cities  were  not  idle.  Cable  road  construction  predomi- 
nated between  the  years  1885  and  1889,  on  account  of  heavy 
street  grades  or  imperfections  of  the  electric  system,  the 
earliest  cable  line  outside  of  San  Francisco  being  opened  in 
Los  Angeles  in  October,  1885.  This  was  followed  by  others 
in  Oakland,  Seattle,  Tacoma,  Portland,  San  Diego  and  Spokane, 
which  were  completed  between  the  years  1886  and  1889.  In 
most  of  these  cases  the  roads  were  mediums  for  placing  real 
estate  upon  the  market,  and  as  the  expense  of  standard  con- 
struction was  prohibitive,  special  methods  were  introduced  to 
lessen  the  cost — proving  unsatisfactory  in  the  majority  of 
cases. 

The  earliest  recorded  electric  line  on  the  coast  was  that  at 
Los  Angeles — built  on  the  Daft  system — opened  for  traffic 
about  January,  1887.  It  was  some  3  miles  in  length,  of  both 
single  and  double-track  construction,  and  equipped  with  sep- 
arate motor  and  trail  cars.  The  trolley  was  of  the  "traveler" 
(four-wheel  carriage)  type,  and  by  means  of  a  double  trolley 
wire  provided  both  for  the  feeder  and  return  current.  Side- 
pole  construction  at  curves  in  place  of  the  bracket  construction 
was  apparently  also  a  matter  of  interest  in  those  days.  In  the 
railway  journals  of  that  time  the  speed  of  the  cars  is  given  at 
T2  miles  per  hour,  and  as  a  further  matter  of  interest  we  find 
it  stated  that  as  many  as  500  passengers  were  carried  per  day. 
The  road  is  also  referred  to,  apparently  as  an  exceptional  case, 


54Q 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


as  carrying  1500  persons  upon  three  cars  in  an  afternoon.  Like 
other  electric  lines  of  that  period,  it  was  found  to  be  unreliable, 
resulting  in  suspensions  of  traffic  of  uncertain  durations,  and 
after  an  existence  of  a  few  months  it  was  disposed  of  to  other 
railroad  interests  and  eventually  reconstructed. 

Other  coast  cities  were  not  far  behind  Los  Angeles  in  early 
experiments  with  electric  traction,  for  during  the  year  1888 
lines  were  opened  in  San  Jose,  Sacramento  and  San  Diego. 
These  were  followed  a  year  later  by  others  in  Seattle,  Tacoma, 
Portland  and  Spokane. 

The  line  in  San  Jose  was  the  first  on  the  Pacific  Coast  of  the 
underground  conduit  type  (Fisher  system),  and  was  some  8 
miles  in  extent.  The  conduit  carried  both  feeder  and  return 
conductors,  the  track  rails  not  being  utilized  for  the  latter  pur- 
pose. In  a  short  time  various  difficulties  were  experienced, 
resulting  in  defective  insulation,  with  consequent  loss  of  power, 
and  about  one  year  later  the  system  was  abandoned  and  the 
road  reconstructed  to  the  overhead  system. 

The  electric  road  in  Sacramento  was  also  of  interest,  for  it 
was  the  first  trial  on  the  coast  of  the  storage  battery  for 
street  car  propulsion.  The  equipment  consisted  of  a  single 
car,  furnished,  as  it  was  reported,  by  a  Philadelphia  company 
for  experimental  purposes,  but  the  system  proved  no 
more  satisfactory  for  the  purpose  there  than  elsewhere.  It  is 
of  further  interest  to  note  that  at  a  later  date  the  lines  in  Sacra- 
mento were  the  first  on  the  coast  to  be  operated  by  current, 
generated  by  water-power  and  transmitted  from  a  distance. 

The  line  in  San  Diego  was  of  interest  as  being  one  of  the 
first  to  be  constructed  by  John  C.  Henry,  that  pioneer  engineer, 
who,  with  others,  labored  and  aided  greatly  in  developing  elec- 
tric traction. 

The  San  Francisco  &  San  Mateo  Railway  was  the  pio- 
neer electric  line  of  San  Francisco,  its  construction  being 
commenced  in  1891,  and  the  road  opened  for  traffic  in  April, 
1892.  One  feature  of  this  line  was  heavy  grades,  it  hav- 
ing one  of  about  10  per  cent,  regularly  operated  in  both 
directions,  and  a  second  one  of  about  15  per  cent,  used  by 
descending  cars  only.  In  the  latter  case,  special  de- 
vices, such  as  a  drag  and  also  a  counterweight  system,  were 
adopted,  but  proved  unsatisfactory  and  were  early  abandoned, 
since  which  time  the  car  brakes  alone  have  been  relied  upon. 
This  line,  which  was  some  21  miles  in  extent,  of  both  single 
and  double-track  construction,  was  laid  out  through  a  sparsely 
settled  portion  of  the  city  and  its  suburbs,  and  as  its  track  and 
equipment  was  not  of  the  best,  and  its  route  paralleled  other 
railroads  in  great  part,  its  business  did  not  prove  satisfactory, 
resulting  in  the  road  coming  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver  after 
being  in  operation  some  two  years.  It  was  later  purchased  by 
the  bondholders,  rebuilt  and  equipped  with  modern  rolling 
stock. 

The  completion  of  the  first  electric  line  in  San  Francisco  was 
followed  a  few  months  later  (in  October,  1892)  by  that  of  the 
Metropolitan  Railway,  some  11  miles  in  extent.  Heavier 
grades  prevailed  on  this  road  than  on  the  San  Mateo  line,  it 
having  a  number  running  from  10  per  cent  to  13.8  per  cent,  over 
which  the  cars  were  regularly  operated.  The  cars  of  this  line 
were  originally  equipped  with  the  Robinson  radial  truck,  but 
as  they  were  unable  to  fill  the  requirements  of  operation  over 
the  many  curves  and  heavy  grades  which  existed  they  were 
soon  discarded.  As  the  latter  road  was  built  through  a  more 
populous  route  than  its  predecessor,  its  business  was  fairly  sat- 
isfactory, and  some  two  years  later  it  was  acquired  by  a  larger 
company,  whose  lines  it  paralleled. 


Up  to  this  time  the  older  railway  companies  of  San  Francisco 
had  been  investigating  the  electric  system,  but  realizing 
that  it  was  largely  in  an  experimental  state,  they  preferred  to 
delay  the  reconstruction  of  horse  lines  and  retain  the  cable  sys- 
tem, whose  advantages  had  been  demonstrated,  until  the  suc- 
cess of  the  electric  system  was  more  fully  assured. 

In  1892  plans  were  inaugurated  and  adopted  by  several  of 
the  older  lines  to  replace  both  horse  and  cable  with  electric 
power,  and  also  to  construct  new  lines  under  that  system.  In 
1893  the  consolidation  of  many  of  these  companies  hastened 
these  plans,  and  from  that  date  to  1896  the  construction  of 
electric  lines  was  pushed — over  80  miles  of  single  track  having 
been  constructed  during  those  years.  This  construction  has 
been  continued  until  at  present  186.88  miles  of  single-track  elec- 
tric lines  are  under  operation  in  San  Francisco,  and  about  2000 
miles  upon  the  Pacific  Slope. 

The  character  of  early  track  work  on  the  coast,  as 
elsewhere,  was  very  light,  so  that  it  had  to  be  replaced  in  a 
comparatively  short  time,  but  recent  construction,  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases,  has  been  substantial. 

Single-truck  cars  were  originally  in  favor,  but  the  many 
advantages  of  the  double  truck  has  resulted  in  that  pattern 
coming  into  general  use.  The  cars  are,  in  great  part,  of  the 
combination  open  and  closed  type,  which  has  been  found  par- 
ticularly adapted  to  the  requirements  of  this  coast,  and  which 
avoids  the  necessity  of  a  double  equipment,  so  often  required  in 
other  localities.  Many  of  the  cars  are  equipped  with  air  brakes, 
especially  those  running  upon  the  higher  speed  suburban  lines. 
Others  have  both  wheel  and  track  brakes,  the  latter  proving  a 
very  useful  accessory.  The  brake  feature  is  an  important  one 
in  the  operation  of  electric  cars  upon  the  Pacific  Coast,  for 
with  the  comparative  absence  of  snow  and  ice,  heavy  grades 
may  be  readily  surmounted  or  descended — a  condition  which 
would  be  impossible  in  Eastern  cities.  Grades  of  5  per  cent 
are  of  frequent  occurrence,  while  many  steeper  grades,  rang- 
ing as  high  as  14J/2  per  cent,  are  regularly  operated  over  by 
means  of  the  car  motors  only.  In  certain  instances,  however, 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  employ  special  devices  to  oper- 
ate cars  over  heavy  grades,  and  in  San  Francisco  a  grade  of 
about  25  per  cent  and  a  little  over  600  ft.  in  length  is  overcome 
by  such  means. 

Despite  the  general  absence  of  snow  and  ice,  "greasy"  tracks 
are  occasionally  experienced,  necessitating  the  general  use  of 
sand  boxes,  with  which  most  cars  are  abundantly  equipped. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  electric  railways  the  current  was  gen- 
erated by  use  of  stationary  steam  engines,  but  the  utilization 
of  the  water-power  supplies  of  the  coast  received  early  atten- 
tion. One  of  the  first  roads  to  be  operated  by  such  means  was 
the  East  Side  Railway  Company,  some  14  miles  in  length,  ex- 
tending from  Portland,  Ore.,  to  Oregon  City.  The  portion  ad- 
jacent to  the  latter  terminal  (some  7  miles  in  length)  was  put 
in  operation  in  May,  1893,  by  current  generated  by  direct-cur- 
rent generators  at  railway  voltage. 

The  economy  of  water-power  having  been  fully  demon- 
strated, the  transmission  of  current  from  more  remote  sources 
of  supply  naturally  followed,  and  in  July,  1895,  the  electric  road 
in  Sacramento  was  operated  by  such  method.  The  power  was 
transmitted  from  Folsom,  some  24  miles  distant,  where  the 
current  was  generated  at  800  volts,  and  raised  by  step-up  trans- 
formers to  11,500  volts  for  transmission  to  Sacramento.  In  the 
latter  city  it  was  reduced  and  converted  to  railway  voltage. 
At  about  the  same  date  the  railway  lines  in  Portland,  Ore., 
were  operated  from  Oregon  City,  about  13  miles  distant,  by  a 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


54i 


current  generated  and  transmitted  at  6000  volts,  and  converted 
for  use  by  rotary  converters. 

The  subject  of  long-distance  transmission  of  power  has 
since  that  date  received  considerable  attention  by  electrical 
engineers,  and  the  distances  of  such  steadily  increased,  until  at 
the  present  time  the  street  railway  lines  of  Oakland,  Cal.,  one 
of  the  largest  systems  on  the  coast,  are  being  operated  by  cur- 
rent transmitted  at  50,000  volts  for  a  distance  varying  from  150 
to  200  miles. 

The  scope  of  the  electric  traction  service  has  been  greatly  in- 
creased, for,  while  at  first  the  business  was  generally  restricted 
to  passenger  traffic  only  and  over  limited  territory,  at  the  pres- 
ent time  many  interurban  lines  are  in  full  operation,  paralleling 
steam  lines  in  many  cases,  and  in  others  acting  as  useful  feed- 
ers for  same,  their  business  involving  both  passenger  and 
freight  traffic. 

A  number  of  additional  interurban  lines  are  in  course  of  con- 
struction, with  others  in  contemplation,  and  there  is  every  in- 
dication that  before  many  years  the  Pacific  Coast  will  be  well 
supplied  with  such  and  that  they  will  prove  an  important  factor 
in  the  development  of  its  resources. 


THE  COLUMBIAN  INTRAMURAL  RAILWAY 


BY  BION  J.  ARNOLD 


THE  Columbian  Intramural 
Railway  was  brought  into 
existence  by  a  party  of  men 
who  believed  that  a  railway 
of  some  character  upon  the 
grounds  of  the  World's  Co- 
lumbian Exposition,  held  at 
Chicago  in  1893  to  commem- 
orate the  four  hundredth  an- 
niversary of  the  discovery  of 
America,  would  be  a  paying 
investment.  Various  plans 
were  proposed,  but  the  con- 
cession from  the  Exposition 
to  construct  the  road  was  finally  given  to  a  corporation  known 
as  the  Western  Dummy  Railroad  Company.  It  was  understood 
that  electricity  was  to  be  employed  as  the  motive  power,  and 
that  this  road  would  be  an  experiment  on  a  large  scale,  tending 
to  prove  or  disprove  the  claims  of  electricians  regarding  the 
merits  of  electricity  for  the  propulsion  of  heavy  trains.  After 
the  formalities  incident  to  such  an  important  concession  had 
been  completed,  steps  were  taken  for  the  construction  of  the 
road. 

It  was  at  first  proposed  that  the  capital  should  come  mainly 
from  residents  in  Chicago,  but  the  requisite  funds  were  finally 
furnished  principally  by  Boston  and  New  York  capitalists,  who 
were  willing  to  take  great  risks  to  ascertain  the  truth  regarding 
the  electrical  propulsion  of  trains.  The  road  was  built  by  the 
Western  Dummy  Company,  as  a  construction  company,  and 
after  the  road  was  completed  it  was  turned  over  to  the  Colum- 
bian Intramural  Railway  Company  as  the  operating  company. 

The  problem  which  confronted  the  engineers  intrusted  with 
the  construction  of  this  road  was  somewhat  unique,  inasmuch 
as  it  involved  the  construction  of  an  elevated  railway  which, 
if  financially  successful,  must  eafn  sufficient  money  to  pay  for 
itself  during  but  m'x  months  of  operation.  It  was,  therefore, 
necessary  to  construct  as  economically  as  possible  and  to  secure 


as  much  of  the  machinery  as  practicable  upon  a  rental  or  loan 
basis. 

In  order  to  construct  a  safe  but  inexpensive  elevated  struc- 
ture, and  one  which  could  be  easily  dismantled,  wood  was  used 
almost  entirely,  and  steel  was  employed  only  for  girders  and 
the  rails.  The  structure  was  built  of  12-in.  x  12-in.  pine  tim- 
bers, provided  with  timber  footings  at  their  bases,  and  extend- 
ing upward  a  distance  of  from  12  ft.  to  15  ft.,  where  they  car- 
ried cross  sills.  Upon  these  cross  sills  were  supported  standard 
15-in.  I-beams.  The  object  attained  by  using  these  I-beams 
was  that  of  utilizing  standard  stock  material  that  could  be 
disposed  of  after  the  road  was  dismantled  at  as  near  the  orig- 
inal cost  as  practicable. 

In  order  to  properly  cover  the  grounds  and  pass  between  the 
various  buildings,  the  road  necessarily  had  many  curves,  and 
was  provided  with  a  loop  at  each  end.  The  operation  of  the 
trains  was  thus  continuous,  which  made  the  best  possible  ar- 
rangement for  handling  large  numbers  of  people  and  for  the 
operation  of  electrical  trains,  for  at  that  time  the  motor-car 
system  was  used  and  the  multiple-unit  system  had  not  come  into 
existence. 

The  structure  was  equipped  with  the  first  example  of  third- 
rail  construction  in  this  country.  The  third  rail  was  of  the 
same  section  as  that  used  for  the  track  rails — that  is,  60  lbs. 
per  yard,  was  supported  on  creosoted  wood  blocks,  and  was 
carried  on  the  inside  of  the  tracks,  18  ins.  from  the  inside  track 
rail  and  6  ins.  above  it.  Parallel  to  this  third  rail  was  another 
rail,  also  insulated,  which  extended  three-fifths  of  the  distance 
from  the  power  house  to  the  further  terminus,  and  which  was 
used  as  a  feeder.  The  two  conductor  rails  were  bonded  to- 
gether. The  actual  length  of  the  line  was  14,800  ft.  of  double 
track  and  1900  ft.  of  single  track.  There  were  ten  stations 
in  all. 

Each  motor  car  was  equipped  with  four  GE  2000  motors, 
which  were  geared  so  as  to  work  up  to  a  maximum  speed  of 
35  miles  an  hour.  They  were  controlled  by  a  series-parallel 
controller  with  three  running  points,  viz.,  all  motors  in  series; 
two  parallel  groups  of  two  motors,  and  all  four  motors  in 
parallel.   The  controller  was  operated  by  compressed  air. 

The  power  house  consisted  of  as  many  kinds  of  machinery 
as  there  were  manufacturers  represented.  It  was,  therefore,  a 
somewhat  difficult  plant  to  construct,  not  only  on  account  of 
the  mechanical  difficulties  encountered,  but  from  the  fact  that 
all  of  the  machinery  was  loaned  to  the  railway  company,  and 
therefore  deliveries  could  not  be  hurried  in  the  ordinary  ways 
of  handling  such  work. 

While  the  power  plant  contained  one-belted  unit  of  about 
1000  hp.  the  remainder  of  the  generators  were  direct-connected 
units.  This  station  was  the  first  to  employ  heavy  direct-con- 
nected units,  the  largest  unit  being  of  1500-kw  capacity,  direct- 
connected  to  a  cross-compound  engine.  Oil  was  used  for  fuel 
in  the  power  house  and  proved  very  satisfactory,  although 
somewhat  more  expensive  than  coal,  which  was  prohibited  by 
the  requirements  of  the  Exposition. 

The  effects  of  the  operation  of  this  road  and  its  success  in 
handling  heavy  trains  were  such  that  it  attracted  the  attention 
of  steam  railroad  owners  and  proved  to  be  the  forerunner  of 
the  typical  elevated  railway  of  to-day. 

At  that  time  both  the  South  Side  Elevated  Railway  and  the 
Lake  Street  Elevated  Railway,  of  Chicago,  were  being  operated 
with  steam  locomotives,  while  the  Metropolitan  Railway,  of  the 
same  city,  was  under  construction  and  designed  to  be  operated 
by  steam.  The  first  and  most  important  effect  of  the  Intramural 


54^ 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


results  was  made  evident  in  an  alteration  of  the  plans  of  the 
Metropolitan  system  so  that  electricity  was  adopted  and  the 
contract  for  steam  locomotives  was  canceled.  The  next  result 
was  the  design  and  construction  of  the  Northwestern  Elevated 
Railway,  of  Chicago.  This  was  the  first  elevated  railway  that 
was  ever  designed  exclusively  for  electricity,  except  the  In- 
tramural road,  although  the  first  to  adopt  electricity  after  the 
Intramural  road  was  the  Liverpool  Overhead  road  in  England. 

Soon  after  this  the  use  of  steam  locomotives  was  abandoned 
on  the  South  Side  Elevated  Railway,  of  Chicago,  and  electricity 
adopted.  The  Lake  Street  Elevated  soon  followed,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years  the  Manhattan  Elevated,  of  New  York, 
was  equipped.  To-day  the  entire  elevated  railway  systems  of 
this  country  and  of  Europe  are  equipped  with  electricity,  and  I 
believe  it  is  fair  to  claim  that  the  Intramural  Railway,  at  Chi- 
cago, was  the  chief  element  which  led  to  this  result. 

 ♦♦♦  

PIONEER  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  WORK  OF  THE  WESTING- 
HOUSE  COMPANY 

BY   B.   G.  LAMME 

THE  Westinghouse  Company  took  up  the  development  of 
railway  apparatus  as  early  as  1888,  although  it  did  not 
put  apparatus  on  the  market  until  the  early  part  of 
1890.  The  persons  who  were  particularly  interested  in  the  de- 
velopment of  this  early  work  were  George  Westinghouse, 
Albert  Schmid,  Philip  Lange,  Oliver  B.  Shallenberger,  H.  P. 
Davis,  N.  W.  Storer  and  the  writer.  Albert  Schmid  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Westinghouse  Works,  then  at  Garrison  Alley, 
Pittsburg,  and  he  was  intimately  in  touch  with  the  general  de- 
signs of  the  apparatus,  particularly  the  mechanical  features. 
Philip  Lange,  during  the  early  development,  was  superintend- 
ent of  the  detail  department,  and  was  directly  interested  in  the 
controllers,  switching  appliances  and  other  details.  Mr.  Shall- 
engerber  was  the  electrician  of  the  company,  and  as  such  was 
more  or  less  interested  in  the  work,  but  Mr.  Shallenberger's 
duties  were  primarily  in  the  direction  of  alternating-current 
apparatus,  and  he  did  not  have  as  direct  contact  with  the  devel- 
opment of  the  railway  apparatus  as  other  engineers.  H.  P. 
Davis  became  actively  interested  in  this  work  in  the  early  part 
of  1891,  working  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Lange  in  the  detail 
department.  Mr.  Storer  did  not  become  actively  engaged  in 
this  work  until  about  1892  or  1893,  although  he  was  in  close 
touch  with  it  previous  to  this,  in  the  testing  room.  The  writer 
was  actively  engaged  in  the  early  development  of  the  work 
from  the  start. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1889,  Albert  Schmid  informed  me  that 
the  Westinghouse  Company  was  planning  to  take  up  actively 
the  manufacture  of  a  direct-current  railway  system,  and  he  in- 
structed me  to  immediately  begin  the  study  of  the  various  sys- 
tems and  apparatus  already  on  the  market,  especially  the  rail- 
way motor  itself.  He  told  me  that  I  should  be  prepared  to 
furnish  electrical  data  for  a  suitable  railway  motor  as  soon  as 
any  definite  instructions  were  given  out  that  a  line  of  apparatus 
was  to  be  built.  These  instructions  were  carried  out,  and  as 
the  entire  line  of  work  was  new  to  the  company,  I  necessarily 
came  in  touch  with  the  detail  work  as  well  as  with  the  motor 
itself.  The  electrical  designs  of  the  various  early  motors  were 
prepared  by  me  under  Mr.  Schmid's  instruction,  and,  as  indi- 
cated above,  the  characteristic  mechanical  features  of  the  de- 
signs were  furnished  by  Mr.  Schmid.  E.  C.  Means,  at  that 
time  chief  draughtsman  of  the  company,  also  assisted  Mr. 
Schmid  in  the  general  features  of  the  design. 


In  the  early  part  of  1890,  W.  L.  R.  Emmet,  the  well-known 
engineer,  now  prominently  identified  with  the  General  Electric 
Company,  was  employed  by  the  Westinghouse  Company  to 
take  up  actively  the  development  work  on  the  d.  c.  railway 
system  which  this  company  was  then  preparing  for  the  market. 
Mr.  Emmet  had  formerly  been  employed  on  similar  work  with 
the  Sprague  Company.  After  the  first  Westinghouse  double- 
reduction  system  had  been  placed  upon  the  market  and  was  in 


NO.  3  RAILWAY  MOTOR 


successful  commercial  operation,  Mr.  Emmet  severed  his  con- 
nection with  the  Westinghouse  Company. 

A  great  number  of  ether  engineers  have  been  more  or  less 
interested  in  the  development  of  the  Westinghouse  railway 
system,  particularly  in  later  work.  It  may  be  of  interest  to 
note  that  most  of  the  above-mentioned  engineers  are  still  in 
the  employ  of  the  Westinghouse  interests  and  in  close  touch 
with  modern  developments  in  this  line  of  work. 

Taking  up  the  development  of  the  motor  in  the  proper  order, 
it  should  be  noted  that  in  1888-9  the  Westinghouse  Company 
did  some  work  on  adaptation  of  the  Tesla  motor  to  street  car 
work.  This  work  was  experimental  and  never  reached  the 
stage  of  true  commercial  test.  The  motors  were  the  type  of 
Tesla  motors  then  being  built,  with  polar  primaries  and  dis- 


NO.  3  MOTOR  ARMATURE 

tributed  short-circuited  secondaries.  Such  motors,  of  course, 
did  not  have  suitable  characteristics  for  traction  service.  This 
line  of  work  was  abandoned,  and  a  short  time  afterward  the 
development  of  the  direct-current  system  was  actively  taken  up. 

As  stated  before,  in  the  latter  part  of  1889  the  company 
planned  to  get  out  a  direct-current  system.  This  work  was 
pushed  through  rapidly,  and  early  in  1890  a  direct-current  rail- 
way system  was  completed  for  shop  tests,  and  the  first  motors 
were  put  in  service  on  July  3  of  that  year,  on  the  Pleasant  Val- 
ley line  in  Pittsburg.  The  motor  was  a  two-pole  machine,  with 
cast-iron  field  and  surface-wound  armature,  like  all  practical 
motors  at  that  time.  The  field  was  wound  with  two  sets  of 
coils,  and  speed  regulation  was  obtained  by  the  sectional  field 
method  in  which  two  coils  were  in  series  for  lowest  speed,  and 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


543 


one  coil  was  short-circuited  for  increased  speed.  About  300 
of  these  motors  were  put  on  the  market. 

The  control  system  used  with  these  motors  was  straight 
rheostatic,  except  the  short-circuiting  of  one  field  winding  for 
higher  speed.  The  armatures  were  connected  permanently  in 
parallel,  and  the  field  windings  of  the  different  motors  on  the 
car  were  in  parallel.  No  attempt  was  made  to  equalize  the 
armatures,  as  there  was  apparently  but  little  unbalancing  in 
these  machines,  probably  due  to  the  very  large  air  gaps. 

These  early  motors  had  the  gears  enclosed  in  cases.  The 
motor  was  double  reduction.  The  general  type  of  this  motor 
was  very  similar  to  that  of  the  other  systems  in  commercial 
operation  at  the  same  time. 

The  controller  consisted  of  a  wooden  drum  with  metal  strips 
on  the  outside.  The  general  appearance  was  similar  to  the 
Sprague  controller,  but  the  steps  were  principally  for  rheo- 
static control  instead  of  commutated  fields. 

The  rheostats  put  out  with  these  early  motors  are  worthy 
of  mention.  These  rheostats  were  peculiar  in  the  fact  that  they 
were  made  of  copper  wire  instead  of  high  resistance  ma- 
terial. Three  coils  were  used.  Each  coil  was  made  in  the 
form  of  a  thin  cylinder.  The  three  coils  were  of  different  sizes, 
so  that  they  could  be  assembled  in  concentric  form  with  air 
spaces  between.    The  reason  for  adopting  this  design  was  that 


NO.  4,  OR  GEARLESS  MOTOR 


a  very  simple  construction  was  permitted,  as  the  coils  were 
wound  of  commercial  cotton-covered  wire  on  the  simplest  kind 
of  former  and  were  then  taped.  It  was  considered  that  while 
the  resistance  of  copper  was  comparatively  low,  yet  the  heat 
conductivity  of  such  wires  was  very  great,  and  that  a  very 
considerable  rheostatic  capacity  could  be  obtained  without  ex- 
cessive weight.  Such  a  rheostat  was,  of  course,  costly,  prin- 
cipally on  account  of  the  material  in  it.  This  rheostat  gave 
fairly  satisfactory  results  and  was  practically  as  good  a  piece 
of  apparatus  as  many  other  parts  of  the  system.  On  account 
of  the  cost  of  the  material  in  this  coil,  steps  were  soon  taken 
to  design  a  cheaper  rheostat,  and  various  forms  were  gotten 
out  for  test,  some  of  which  soon  superseded  the  copper-coil 
rheostats. 

Shortly  after  the  No.  1  motor  was  gotten  out,  the  No.  2  mo- 
tor was  also  put  on  the  market.  This  was  very  similar  to  the 
No.  1,  except  that  it  was  for  narrow  gage. 

In  the  summer  of  1890,  while  the  No.  1  and  No.  2  motors 
were  being  put  on  the  market  and  given  tests  for  commercial 
service,  the  Westinghouse  Company  was  engaged  on  the  de- 
sign of  a  single-reduction  motor,  as  it  was  the  impression  of 
the  company's  engineers  that  if  a  suitable  single-reduction  mo- 
tor could  be  obtained  it  would  drive  the  double-reduction  mo- 
tors out  of  the  market.  Two  of  these  single-reduction  motors 
were  brought  through  in  the  fall  of  1890  and  given  long-con- 


tinued shop  tests,  and  were  then,  in  January,  1891,  put  on  a 
car  on  the  Second  Avenue  line  in  Pittsburg  for  the  test  of  com- 
mercial service.  These  first  motors  were,  except  in  minor  de- 
tails, the  same  as  the  Westinghouse  No.  3  motor,  which  was 
shortly  afterward  put  on  the  market.  This  No.  3  Westinghouse 
single-reduction  motor  was  a  noteworthy  one  in  many  respects, 
in  that  it  embodied  many  of  the  features  which  have  since  been 
adopted  almost  universally  in  street  car  construction.  The  fol- 
lowing features  were  used  in  these  early  motors : 

( 1 )  The  motor  had  four  poles. 

(2)  The  poles  were  radial. 

(3)  Poles  were  placed  at  an  angle  of  45  degs.  from  the  hori- 
zontal or  vertical. 

(4)  The  poles  were  placed  inside  the  yoke  and  were  en- 
tirely surrounded  by  the  yoke. 

(5)  The  yoke  also  extended  over  the  projecting  end  of  the 
field  coils,  thus  protecting  them  from  injury. 

(6)  There  was  one  field  coil  on  each  pole. 

(7)  The  coils  were  wound  without  shells  or  bobbins  and 
were  insulated  after  being  wound. 

(8)  The  field  frame  served  to  enclose  the  motor.  (The 
No.  3  motor  was  not  entirely  enclosed,  but  there  were  end 
covers  on  the  lower  half  of  the  machine.) 

(9)  The  poles  were  very  highly  saturated  at  the  face,  thus 
reducing  the  cross  induction  and  preventing  change  in  lead. 

(10)  The  armature  was  slotted. 

(11)  The  slots  were  open. 

(12)  The  core  was  drum  wound. 

(13)  The  coils  were  machine  wound. 

( 14)  The  present  well-known  two-circuit  or  series  type  of 
winding  was  used,  allowing  two  brush  arms  on  a  four-pole 
machine  without  cross  connections  on  the  winding  or  commu- 
tator. The  two  brush  arms  were  on  the  upper  side  of  the 
commutator. 

The  following  features  have  since  been  adopted  in  street 
railway  motors : 

(1)  Entirely  enclosed  frame. 

(2)  Laminated  poles. 

(3)  Bolted-in  poles. 

(4)  Pole  faces  partly  cut  away  to  obtain  saturation  and  to 
prevent  cross  induction. 

(5)  Bearings  carried  by  the  field  frame  instead  of  by  a  sep- 
arate surrounding  frame. 

Also  improvements  in  shape  of  armature  coils,  ventilation 
of  armature  core,  etc. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  number  of  features  embodied  in 
the  No.  3  motor,  which  has  been  adopted  in  modern  practice, 
was  very  great  compared  with  the  number  of  features  which 
has  since  been  added  in  railway  motors. 

The  control  system  on  these  early  No.  3  motors  was  practi- 
cally the  same  as  used  with  the  No.  1  and  No.  2. 

These  No.  3  motors,  like  the  No.  1  and  No.  2,  had  cast-iron 
field  frames  and  poles.  The  motors  were  rather  heavy  for 
their  output,  although  the  weight  per  horse-power  was  about 
the  same  as  for  the  No.  1.  The  amount  of  material  which  was 
idle  electrically  or  magnetically  011  the  No.  3  motor  was  rather 
small  compared  with  the  amount  of  such  material  in  the  No.  1 
and  No.  2. 

After  the  No.  3  motor  had  been  developed  sufficiently  to 
show  that  it  was  a  commercial  machine,  a  design  for  a  gearless 
motor  was  taken  up.  The  first  gearless  motor  put  out  was 
called  the  No.  4.   It  was  also  a  cast-iron  machine  and  was  rela- 


544 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


tively  very  heavy.  The  speed  of  the  25-hp  No.  4  motor  was 
about  200  revolutions  at  normal  load. 

This  No.  4  motor  was  an  enclosed  motor  and  had  four  poles, 
two  salient  and  two  consequent.  The  armature  was  directly  on 
the  car  axle,  and  the  field  frame  also  had  its  bearings  directly 
on  the  car  axle. 

A  small  number  of  these  motors  was  built  and  given  the 
test  of  commercial  service.  Some  of  them  were  operated  for 
a  year  or  so.  The  motors  operated  well  enough,  but  were  too 
heavy  to  be  commercial.    Track  constructions  in  those  days 


NO.  12-A  MOTOR 


were  very  inferior  to  present  practice,  and  the  motors,  in  addi- 
tion to  being  rigidly  mounted  on  the  axle,  were  very  much 
heavier  per  horse-power  than  modern  motors. 

On  account  of  the  great  weight  of  the  No.  4  gearless  motor, 
a  smaller  and  lighter  six-pole  motor  was  gotten  out.  This  was 
called  the  No.  5.  It  was  of  about  the  same  capacity  as  the  No. 
4,  but  was  about  two-thirds  the  weight.  The  frame  was  of 
cast  iron,  practically  enclosing  the  machine.  There  were  four 
salient  poles  and  two  consequent,  the  latter  being  at  the  top 
and  bottom.  A  few  of  these  motors  were  built  and  given  the 
test  of  commercial  service,  but  experience  had  shown  that  the 
gearless  motor  was  not  a  suitable  one  for  street  railway  ser- 
vice, due  principally  to  mechanical  considerations.  Therefore 
no  further  attempts  were  made  to  develop  the  gearless  motor 
for  ordinary  light  traction  service. 

The  No.  3  motor  was  made  in  three  ratings,  viz :  20  hp,  25 
hp  and  30  hp.  The  general  construction  of  these  three  motors 
was  the  same,  the  difference  being  principally  in  the  amount 
of  copper  in  the  armature  and  field  windings.  There  was  also 
a  demand  for  a  motor  of  somewhat  greater  capacity,  and  a 
40-hp  of  similar  design  was  gotten  out.  This  was  a  rather 
special  motor,  and  but  few  were  sold. 

After  the  No.  3  had  been  in  the  market  for  some  time  and 
had  proven  a  great  success,  there  was  a  demand  for  a  motor  of 
similar  capacity  and  electrical  features,  but  of  considerably 
smaller  dimensions.  In  1893  a  new  motor  was  designed  which 
contained  many  of  the  principal  features  of  the  No.  3  motor, 
but  was  of  much  less  weight  and  somewhat  different  construc- 
tion of  frame.  This  was  called  the  No.  12  motor.  A  later 
modification  of  this  was  called  the  12-A.  The  No.  12  was  a 
cast-iron  machine,  like  the  No.  3,  but  was  without  the  surround- 
ing frame,  the  bearings  being  carried  by  the  field  frame  of  the 
motor  itself.  The  motor  was  practically  enclosed,  like  modern 
motors.  The  armature  contained  about  half  as  many  slots  as 
the  No.  3  armature,  and  there  were  two  coils  side  by  side  per 
slot.  Otherwise  the  motor  was  very  similar  to  the  No.  3.  This 
motor  and  its  successor,  the  No.  12-A,  were  made  in  three 
ratings,  viz:  25  hp,  30  hp,  standard  speed,  and  30  hp,  slow 
speed.  The  12-A  motor  contained  almost  all  the  prominent 
features  of  the  present  types  of  railway  motors,  the  principal 


difference  being  that  it  had  cast-iron  poles  and  yokes,  while 
present  designs  of  motors  have  cast-steel  yokes  with  laminated 
poles. 

The  next  important  motor  gotten  out  by  the  Westinghouse 
Company  for  street  railway  service  was  called  No.  38.  This 
motor,  with  its  modifications,  the  38-A  and  38-B,  contained 
some  departures  from  the  12-A  in  the  use  of  cast-steel  field 
with  laminated  poles  cast  in,  and  an  armature  winding  with 
three  coils  per  slot  instead  of  two  or  one.  This  motor  was  de- 
signed in  1894.  It  can  be  considered  the  pioneer  of  the  present 
cast-steel  motors  with  laminated  poles.  It  was  put 
jk\  on  the  market  in  the  spring  of  1895. 

jB  A  somewhat  later  motor,  built  on  lines  similar 

Mm  to  the  No.  38,  was  the  No.  49,  rated  at  35  hp.  This 

'  I  had  cast-steel  yoke  with  laminated  poles  cast  in. 

PM        In  later  motors  for  street  railway  service  gotten 
^^^^^      out  by  the  Westinghouse  Company,  the  bolted-in 
H  pole  construction  has  been  adopted  instead  of  the 

^        cast-in  poles,  and  many  other  features  have  been 
more  fully  developed. 

The  above  gives  a  general  description  of  the 
various  types  of  motors  gotten  out  up  until  about 
1897,  and  covers  only  those  which  were  given  com- 
mercial tests.  A  number  of  experimental  motors  were  built, 
especially  about  1890-91,  which  were  never  put  upon  the  mar- 
ket, and  in  some  cases  were  simply  built  for  obtaining  cer- 
tain data.  , 

About  the  time  that  the  No.  1  motor  was  gotten  out,  some 
tests  were  made  on  driving  street  cars  by  means  of  friction 
wheels.  A  motor  was  built  and  placed  upon  a  truck  in  the 
shop,  for  making  such  tests.  This  motor  was  of  the  consequent- 
pole  type,  similar  to  the  well-known  Weston  type  of  machine, 
with  four  field  coils  and  two  consequent  poles.  The  armature 
was  geared  to  a  countershaft,  and  to  the  countershaft  was  at- 
tached two  friction  rollers  or  wheels,  which  bore  down  upon 
the  car  wheels,  each  roller  lying  between  two  car  wheels.  This 


NO.  12-A  ARMATURE 


construction  was  given  certain  shop  tests,  but  was  found  to  be 
rather  inflexible  and  was  very  noisy.  It  was  decided  that  it 
would  not  be  a  suitable  article  for  commercial  service,  and  was 
therefore  not  given  the  outside  tests. 

A  series  of  tests  was  also  made  on  the  use  of  magnetic  gear- 
ing. Grooved  wheels  were  used,  the  grooves  being  in  the  shape 
of  Vs.  By  means  of  magnetizing  coils  on  the  axles  or  shafts 
a  magnetic  field  was  set  up  between  these  driving  gears.  Tests 
were  made  to  determine  the  power  that  could  be  transmitted  by 
this  device,  but  it  was  found  that  it  would  be  insufficient  for 
the  torque  which  would  be  necessary  for  street  car  service. 

A  considerable  number  of  experiments  were  made  with  dif- 
ferent methods  of  street  car  regulation,  such  as  commutated 
fields,  sectional  field  coils,  etc.  A  series  of  tests  was  made 
with  commutated  fields,  three  field  coils  being  used  in  somewhat 
the  same  manner  as  the  Sprague  system.   This  system  of  regu- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


545 


lation  was  found  to  be  unsuitable  with  the  Westinghouse  No.  1 
and  No.  2  motors,  due  principally  to  the  fact  that  commutated 
field  control  is  not  satisfactory  except  where  the  field  inductions 
can  be  worked  over  a  relatively  wide  range.  No.  1  and  No.  2 
motors  being  of  cast  iron,  it  was  found  that  there  was  not  any 
particular  advantage  in  using  the  commutated  field  method  of 
control.  There  was  found  to  be  a  slight  advantage  in  the  use 
of  the  sectional  field  method  with  two  field  coils,  one  being 
large  and  the  other  comparatively  small.  These  two  coils  were 
in  series  for  starting  and  for  lower  speeds,  but  for  higher 
speeds  the  smaller  coil  was  short-circuited.  Tests  were  also 
made  with  the  sectional  field  method  with  several  coils,  all 
being  in  series  at  start  and  short-circuited  successively  for 
higher  speeds. 

With  the  No.  3  motor  straight  rheostatic  control  was  used, 
previous  to  the  introduction  of  series-parallel  control,  as  it  was 
considered  that  the  sectional  field  method  did  not  present  suffi- 
cient advantage  to  compensate  for  the  extra  complication  of 
eight  field  coils  instead  of  four. 

Some  mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  rheostats  and 
controllers  used  with  the  early  system.  All  the  early  commer- 
cial controllers  were  of  the  drum  type  and  were  placed  on  the 
car  platform.  As  stated  before,  the  first  controller  was  straight 
rheostatic,  with  one  notch  for  short-circuiting  one  field  coil. 
Several  variations  in  constructional  features  of  this  controller 
were  gotten  out  and  put  on  the  market. 

In  1891-2  considerable  work  was  done  in  the  direction  of 
using  series-parallel  connection  of  the  motors,  for  determining 
whether  speed  control  in  this  manner  was  feasible.  This  work 
was  carried  out  in  connection  with  the  No.  3  motors.  In  the 
early  part  of  1892  a  series  of  tests  was  made,  both  in  the  shop 
and  in  service,  with  a  pair  of  these  controllers,  and  shortly 
afterward  this  method  of  control  was  put  on  the  market  by  the 
Westinghouse  Company.  The  series-parallel  method  of  con- 
trol soon  became  so  thoroughly  established  that  it  was  practi- 
cally the  only  street  car  control  manufactured  by  the  company. 
There  have  been  many  modifications  and  improvements  in  the 
series-parallel  controller  since  first  brought  out  by  the  com- 
pany, among  them  being  the  addition  of  the  magnetic  blow-out, 
but  the  drum  construction  placed  on  the  platform  has  been 
retained,  except  for  very  large  equipments. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  first  rheostat  made 


t  -  . — 

-  HMUl 

NO.  38  MOTOR  ARMATURE 

by  the  Westinghouse  Company  for  street  car  work,  this  con- 
sisting of  concentric  copper  coils.  This  was  soon  superseded 
by  a  rheostat  made  of  iron  wire  spirals  in  a  supporting  frame 
and  covered  with  a  heavy  wire  netting  with  a  rather  large 
mesh.  This  rheostat,  on  account  of  its  appearance,  was  named 
the  "bird-cage"  type.  The  use  of  this  rheostat  was  continued 
for  a  considerable  period,  but  was  then  superseded  by  a  rheo- 
stat made  of  iron  strap  wound  in  spirals  on  supporting  shells. 
A  number  of  these  spirals  were  assembled  together  in  one 
frame.  This  was  a  more  substantial  rheostat  than  the  "bird- 
cage" type,  and  was  soon  used  almost  exclusively.  The  adop- 
tion of  the  series-parallel  control  reduced  the  size  of  rheostat 


required,  and  thus  to  a  certain  extent  simplified  the  problem  of 
its  construction. 

One  difficulty  found  with  the  early  No.  3  motors  was  in  un- 
balanced armature  currents  with  two  or  more  motors  per  car. 
The  armatures  of  these  motors  were  connected  in  parallel  and 
the  field  coils  were  also  paralleled,  instead  of  each  armature 
being  connected  in  series  with  its  own  field.  It  was  therefore 
found  necessary  to  equalize  the  motors  by  adjusting  the  air 
gaps.  This  was  done  by  putting  sheet-steel  strips  between  the 
two  halves  of  the  yoke.    Two  ammeters  were  connected  in  the 


NO.  38  STEEL  MOTOR 

armature  circuits,  and  the  fields  were  adjusted  until  both  am- 
meters averaged  the  same  over  the  working  range  of  the  cur- 
rent. This  arrangement  was  later  abandoned  in  favor  of  the 
present  connection,  by  which  each  armature  is  in  series  with 
its  own  field,  thus  automatically  producing  the  required  bal- 
ancing action. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  which  developed  in  the 
early  street  railway  service  was  in  connection  with  the  mica 
on  the  No.  3  motors.  The  first  few  motors  had  mica  about 
1-32  in.  thick  between  bars.  In  those  days  the  mica  was  not 
split  and  then  built  up,  as  in  present  practice,  but  was  generally 
punched  out  of  solid  pieces  and  was  extremely  hard.  This 
1-32-in.  mica  appeared  to  work  in  a  very  satisfactory  manner, 
but  as  it  was  thinner  than  the  usual  practice  on  the  No.  1  and 
No.  2  motors,  about  1-16-in.  thickness  was  then  adopted  for  the 
No.  3  motors.  Practice  soon  showed  that  this  mica  would  not 
wear  satisfactorily  and  there  was  continued  trouble  due  to  it. 
It  was  soon  determined  that  if  the  mica  was  cut  down  below 
the  surface  of  the  copper  the  motor  would  work  satisfactorily 
until  the  copper  wore  down  to  the  level  of  the  mica.  This 
showed  conclusively  that  the  trouble  was  with  the  mica.  We 
then  went  back  to  the  1-32-in.  mica,  and  had  very  little  trouble, 
particularly  as  we  had  begun  to  build  up  the  mica  of  thin 
sheets,  somewhat  like  present  practice.  It  is  interesting  to 
note  this  early  experience  in  cutting  the  mica  below  the  copper, 
in  view  of  similar  practice  in  some  modern  large  motors.  It 
has  been  announced  as  a  great  discovery  that  cutting  the  mica 
below  the  copper  was  a  great  improvement  in  large  street  car 
motors.  In  fact,  it  is  an  improvement  if  the  mica  in  such 
motors  is  giving  trouble  due  to  lack  of  proper  wearing  quali- 
ties, but  the  purpose  of  cutting  down  the  mica  on  these  late 
motors  is  to  accomplish  the  same  results  as  in  this  early  ex- 
perience above  cited. 

In  1892  two  single-phase  motors  of  about  10  hp  were  built 
by  the  Westinghouse  Company  for  determining  the  possibilities 
of  using  alternating  current  for  traction  work.  These  motors 
were  designed  for  2000  alternations  per  minute  and  about  200 
volts.  They  were  of  the  series  type,  with  commutators,  and 
had  a  relatively  large  number  of  poles.  These  were  placed 
upon  a  car  and  tested  on  a  short  piece  of  track  with  some  very 
s^ort  curves  and  rather  steep  grades.  Tests  showed  that  the 
motors  were  not  powerful  enough  to  operate  the  car  on  the 


546 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


curves  and  grades,  also  the  track  was  very  poorly  built  and  not 
properly  bonded,  and  the  voltage  drop  in  the  rails  was  exces- 
sive. A  very  small  generator  was  used  for  these  tests,  and  its 
capacity  was  insufficient  for  the  service.  On  the  car  a  trans- 
former served  to  transform  from  about  400  volts  on  the  trolley 
to  that  required  for  the  motors.  There  were  several  taps  on 
this  transformer,  and  by  means  of  several  single-pole  switches 
the  voltage  could  be  varied  to  the  motors. 

There  did  not  appear  to  be  sufficient  field  for  such  a  system 
and  it  was  decided  not  to  undertake  any  larger  motors.  It  was 
considered  at  that  time  that  such  a  system  would  be  ideal  for 
locomotive  work,  but  as  there  were  no  such  projects  in  view 
then,  no  work  was  done  in  building  large  motors  of  this  type. 

In  the  early  part  of  1895  the  problem  of  the  use  of  polyphase 
motors  for  traction  service  was  taken  up  and  a  pair  of  such 
motors  were  built  and  tested  at  the  East  Pittsburg  works. 
These  motors  were  built  for  25  cycles  and  of  a  nominal  capacity 
of  75  hp  each.  The  primaries  and  secondaries  were  wound  for 
500  volts,  and  the  winding  of  the  rotating  part  was  connected 
in  three  collector  rings.  These  motors  were  designed  to  be 
used  with  both  rheostatic  and  with  tandem-parallel  control,  and 
shop  tests  were  made  with  both  methods  of  speed  control.  With 
the  tandem  connection  half  speed  was  obtained  by  connecting 
the  secondary  of  one  motor  to  the  primary  of  the  other  in  the 
now  well  known  manner.  The  results  obtained  with  these 
motors  on  shop  tests  indicated  that  they  could  not  compete 
with  the  standard  direct-current  systems  as  regards  perform- 
ance, etc.,  besides  requiring  the  complication  of  two  trolleys. 

Two  100-hp  polyphase  motors  were  also  designed  in  the  latter 
part  of  1895,  and  were  built  and  given  shop  tests  on  a  short 
track  just  outside  the  East  Pittsburg  shops.  These  motors 
were  started  and  regulated  by  means  of  variation  of  the  voltage 
supplied,  such  variation  being  obtained  by  means  of  a  two- 
phase  induction  controller.  It  was  also  found  that  this  system 
would  not  compare  favorably  in  economy  with  the  direct-cur- 
rent system,  and  after  a  series  of  tests  it  was  abandoned. 
Among  other  experiments  with  these  100-hp  motors,  they  were 
wound  for  two  numbers  of  poles,  so  that  they  could  be  run  effi- 
ciently either  at  full  speed  or  at  half  speed.  This  was  found 
to  be  more  economical  than  the  single-speed  equipment,  but  yet 
did  not  compare  favorably  with  the  direct-current  system. 
These  polyphase  motors  also  were  tried  with  variable-speed 
gears  of  various  kinds,  but  were  not  found  satisfactory. 

Since  1896  the  development  of  the  electric  traction  motors 
by  the  Westinghouse  Company  has  been  along  fairly  well 
established  lines,  except  in  the  single-phase  system,  which  the 
company  has  lately  put  upon  the  market.  Some  polyphase- 
motor  equipments  have  been  built  and  installed  for  haulage  of 
canal  boats  on  the  Miami  &  Erie  Canal.  This  has  been  about 
the  only  radical  departure  from  standard  direct-current  systems 
which  the  company  has  bad  in  commercial  service  for  any  long- 
continued  period. 

1   ♦♦♦  

"We  are  impressed  at  once  with  the  national  importance  of 
the  street  railway  interests,  and  this  feeling  grows  deeper  and 
broader  as  we  consider  the  financial  relations  of  our  calling 
with  the  millions  involved ;  the  varied,  useful  and  indispensable 
relations  it  sustains  to  the  well-being  of  every  person  in  every 
city  and  every  town  of  any  importance  in  the  whole  land;  the 
mighty  factor  it  has  become  in  making  or  unmaking  values  in 
properties  of  all  kinds;  and  especially  does  this  feeling  become 
almost  overwhelming  when  we  consider  to  what  grand  pro- 
portions this  industry  has  grown  during  a  lifetime  of  the  young- 
est of  our  members." — From  Washington  Meeting,  1888. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  .OF  THE  RAILWAY  SWITCHBOARD 


BY  W.  E.  HARRINGTON 


THE  development  of  the  mod- 
ern railway  switchboard  is 
an  interesting  illustration  of 
the  great  advances  made  in 
electrical  engineering.  The 
switchboard  used  in  the  early 
days  was  crude  and  lacking 
in  almost  every  respect  the 
completeness  of  detail  of  that 
of  to-day.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
doubtful  whether,  if  we  omit 
the  veneering  of  the  modern 
board,  a  layman  would  be 
able  to  distinguish  the  improvements  which  have  been  em- 
bodied during  the  past  fifteen  years  in  the  direct-current  boards. 
The  changes  have  been  along  lines  dictated  by  experience;  a 
little  here,  a  little  there.  The  introduction  of  alternating  cur- 
rent for  power  transmission  in  large  stations  has  brought  about 


EARLY  TYPE  OF  WOODEN  SWITCHBOARD— ALBANY 

a  class  of  switchboard  that  stands  aloof  from  the  average  and 
most  extensively  extensively  used  types. 

The  early  switchboards  were  mounted  on  wooden  frames, 
set  close  to  the  wall,  and  were  equipped  with  round  copper  bus- 
bars, bird-cage  rheostats  with  loose  spiral  wound  iron  or  Ger- 
man silver  resistance  wires,  fuse  blocks,  ammeters  of  ques- 
tionable character,  incandescent  lamps  for  voltmeters,  and 
plugs  instead  of  switches. 

The  writer  remembers  distinctly  the  first  installation  made 
by  the  old  Sprague  Company  at  Atlantic  City,  N.  J.,  in  1889 ; 
the  generators  were  of  60-kw  capacity  and  were  shunt  wound. 
Where  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  compound  the  generators, 
the  method  of  connecting  the  equalizers  was  a  serious  problem, 
with  only  a  brief  reference  in  S.  P.  Thompson's  book  on 
"Dynamo  Electric  Machinery"  as  a  guide.  The  practice  in 
many  quarters  was  to  use  three-pole  switches  for  -)-,  —  and 
equalizers.  The  writer  has  seen  in  basements  of  some  of  the 
largest  power  stations  that  were  erected  ten  years  ago,  thou- 
sands of  feet  of  copper  cable  installed  to  provide  an  exact  and 
equivalent  length  of  equalizer  between  generators. 

The  modern  switchboard  is  one  that  is  built  upon  the  fol- 
lowing general  lines: 

Single  pole  switch,  with  equalizer  and  negative  switch  at  gen- 
erator. 

Iron  frame,  slate  or  marble  panels. 
Flat  bus-bars,  high  and  low  pressure. 
Single  pole,  double  throw  switches. 
Ammeters. 

Automatic  magnetic  circuit-breakers. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


547 


Rheostats  away  from  board. 

Negative  panel. 

Wattmeters. 

Main  ammeter. 

Voltmeter,  one  for  bus-bar. 

Voltmeter,  one  for  generators. 

The  double-deck  switchboard,  with  the  generator  panels  on 
the  lower  deck  and  feeders  on  the  upper  deck,  permits  of  the 
easiest  disposition  of  the  wiring  distributing. 

The  lower  deck  is  usually  from  6  ft.  to  9  ft.  from  the  wall  of 
building,  thus  permitting  the  upper  deck  to  be  set  back  for  a 
railed  walkway  in  front,  and  sufficient  room  is  left  in  the  rear 
for  the  connections. 

Angle-iron  framing  with  smooth  slate  oil  finish  and  the  in- 
struments mounted  directly  thereon,  meets  with  the  greatest 
favor.  Great  care  should  be  exercised  in  the  selection  of  the 
slate  to  see  that  it  is  free  from  metallic  veins.  Marble  makes 
a  handsome  board,  but  exceedingly  difficult  to  keep  clean  and 
free  from  oil  stains.  Flat  bus-bars  permit  of  ready  extension 
by  adding  more  bars,  and  by  using  single-bolted  clamps  excel- 
lent conductivity  is  obtained.  Good  mechanical  workmanship, 
neatness  and  the  orderly  arrangement  of  leads  can  be  secured 
by  the  construction  described  above,  making  the  modern  board 
absolutely  fireproof  and  free  from  those  electrical  troubles  so 
frequent  in  the  earlier  forms. 

Two  sets  of  bus-bars,  one  for  the  usual  operating  power  sta- 
tion voltage,  the  other  for  a  higher  voltage,  and  obtained  either 
by  running  certain  generators  at  a  higher  voltage  or  by  the 
use  of  boosters,  secure  a  flexibility  in  the  transmission  of  en- 
ergy. This  is  extremely  necessary  in  railway  work,  with  its 
fluctuating  loads  which  shift  from  one  feeder  to  another  from 
day  to  day ;  in  fact,  from  hour  to  hour.  The  introduction  of 
two  bus-bars  has  given  a  much  simpler  and  less  expensive 
aspect  to  the  old  question  of  copper  distribution  with  its  large 
investment  features. 

The  later  designs  of  direct  motor-driven  boosters,  self-con- 


Autumatic  magnetic  circuit  breakers  have  undergone  a  most 
interesting  series  of  changes.  If  there  is  any  one  detail  fol- 
lowing fashion  in  electrical  engineering  practice,  it  is  the  use 
of  automatic  magnetic  circuit 
breakers.  The  present  style  is 
to  employ  laminated  contacts, 


BACK  VIEW  OF  SINGLE  GEN- 
ERATOR PANEL— OCT.  6,  1892 


FRONT  VIEW  OF  SINGLE  GEN- 
ERATOR PANEL— OCT.  6,  1892 


FRONT  AND  BACK  VIEWS  OF  SWITCHBOARD  MADE  UP  OF  TWO  GENERATOR 

PANELS— JUNE  18,  1892 


tained  and  mounted  upon  a  common  base,  have  also  introduced 
a  feature  in  railway  power  transmission  that  cannot  be  ignored 
by  a  progressive  manager.  The  use  of  single-pole,  double- 
throw  switches  with  the  split  pattern  blade,  spring  connected, 
not  only  permits  making  better  contacts  and  greater  ease  in 
manipulation,  but  also  a  quick  snap  "break." 


although  they  are  expensive,  delicate  in  contact  adjustment 
and  liable  to  burn  out.  The  knife-blade  type  of  automatic  mag- 
netic circuit  breakers  with  broad,  ample  final  "break"  on  car- 
bon, has  proven  its  trustworthiness,  low  first 
cost  and  correspondingly  lower  maintenance 
and  operating  cost.  The  writer  is  familiar 
with  one  case  alone  where  the  difference  in 
first  cost  of  the  circuit  breaker  was  6o  per  cent 
in  the  prices  of  the  laminated  and  blade  types. 

Another  interesting  application  of  circuit 
breakers  is  the  employment  of  two  breakers 
connected  in  multiple  instead  of  one,  the  two 
combined  equal  in  capacity  to  the  one  that 
ordinarily  would  be  installed.  In  all  cases 
where  this  method  of  installation  has  been 
practiced  excellent  results  have  been  obtained, 
and  at  a  materially  lower  cost.  The  price  of 
an  automatic  magnetic  circuit  breaker  of  large 
capacity  is  considerably  more,  proportionate- 
ly, than  that  of  two  combined,  each  of  one- 
half  the  capacity  of  the  larger  size. 

Ammeters  with  shunts,  illuminated  dials, 
"dead  beat,"  jeweled  bearings,  immune  to  the 
effects  of  stray  lines  of  force,  accurate  and 
positive  in  reading,  have  become  a  feature  of 
our  modern  switchboard,  although  they  are  not  appreciated  as 
one  would  expect  of  such  an  important  and  essential  detad. 
Another  feature  is  the  use  of  rheostats  with  special  resistance- 
metals,  disposed  to  provide  for  expansion  and  contraction,  and 
with  leads  to  the  contacts  and  switch  handle,  which  permit  the 
housing  and  mounting  of  the  rheostats  at  a  point  which  is 


548 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


away    from   the   immediate   proximity   of   the  switchboard. 

The  wattmeter  has  become  such  an  important  feature  in  a 
power  station  that  it  should  be  treated  as  a  special  feature.  No 
switchboard  should  have  less  than  two  to  permit  of  frequent 
adjustment  and  calibration,  particularly  if  two  bus-bars  at  dif- 
ferent voltages  are  used.  The  use  of  two  illuminated  dial  volt- 
meters has  become  standard,  as  it  permits  the  ready  and 
accurate  balancing  of  generator  voltages  before  "throwing 
into  bus." 

Large  stations,  such  as  have  been  erected  in  recent  years  in 
New  York,  have,  of  course,  adopted  the  refinements  of  switch- 
board construction,  such  as  the  use  of  skeleton  operating 
boards  with  the  circuits  shown  in  diagram,  and  the  generators 
represented  by  the  burning  of  incandescent  lamps.  The 
switches  and  breakers  on  these  boards,  breaking  large  currents 
in  oil  contained  in  brick  compartments  and  operated  electrically 
and  away  from  the  operator,  are  representative  of  the  highest 
development  in  switchboard  practice.  Boards  of  this  character 
have  been  so  fully  described  in  the  columns  of  the  Journal 
that  it  is  not  necessary  to  go  into  further  detail. 

 ♦♦♦  


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  INTERURBAN  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAY 


BY  HENRY  A.  EVERETT 


.IN  1892  Will  Christy,  of 
Akron,  suggested  to  me  the 
construction  of  an  inter- 
urban  electric  railway  to 
operate  between  Cleveland 
and  Berea,  a  distance  of 
about  12  miles.  This  was 
the  first  long-distance  elec- 
tric line  which  was  seri- 
ously considered  by  me, 
and  I  declined  to  take  it  up, 
because  at  that  time  it 
seemed  an  unusual  venture 
to  attempt  the  construction 
of  an  electric  line  through 
so  sparsely  settled  a  territory.  Within  the  next  six  months, 
with  his  usual  tenacity  of  purpose,  Mr.  Christy  got  me  to  em- 
bark in  the  undertaking  to  connect  Cleveland  and  Akron  elec- 
trically by  building  the  Akron,  Bedford  &  Cleveland  Railway. 
The  distance  between  the  two  cities  is  about  35  miles.  The 
cost  of  construction  was  $22,000  per  mile  of  track,  including 
equipment,  and  in  order  to  interest  the  investing  public  the 
property  was  bonded  at  less  than  one-half  the  cost,  namely, 
$10,000  per  track-mile.  We  endeavored  to  dispose  of  the  first 
mortgage  bonds  on  this  line  in  all  the  money  centers  from 
Boston  to  Chicago,  but  were  politely  turned  down,  the  under- 
taking being,  to  quote  the  language  of  a  well-known  New  York 
firm,  "a  very  ambitious  project." 

The  Akron,  Bedford  &  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  was  prob- 
ably one  of  the  first  interurban  electric  roads  constructed  for 
high  speed.  It  was  laid  with  a  56-lb.  rail,  the  then  steam  rail- 
road standard,  and  was  expected  to  operate  at  a  speed  of  20 
miles  an  hour  between  cities.  The  through  traffic  on  the  line 
was  large,  and  three-quarters  of  the  revenue  came  from  pas- 
sengers going  from  one  terminal  to  the  other.  The  earnings 
started  upon  a  basis  of  a  little  less  than  $3,000  per  mile  of  track, 
and  I  am  pleased  to  say  at  present,  after  ten  years  of  opera- 
tion, they  have  grown  to  $7,000  per  track-mile,  and  are  steadily 


but  not  greatly  increasing  for  the  present  year.  At  the  time 
of  the  construction  the  two  competing  steam  roads,  which  were 
then  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  were  charging  $1.20  one  way 
between  Cleveland  and  Akron.  The  Akron,  Bedford  &  Cleve- 
land inaugurated  a  charge  of  $1  for  the  round  trip,  or  60  cents 
one  way.  Then  the  steam  roads  commenced  the  sale  of  excur- 
sion tickets  at  the  rate  of  75  cents  per  round  trip,  good  on  their 
high-speed  trains,  but  the  trolley  business  showed  a  constant 
and  steady  increase.  Undoubtedly  a  considerable  part  of  the 
electric  traffic  was  due  to  the  abominable  location  of  all  of  the 
steam  railroad  passenger  stations  in  Cleveland.  The  total  traf- 
fic of  both  steam  roads  is  now  as  great  as  it  ever  was,  and  the 
Akron,  Bedford  &  Cleveland  division  earnings  are  fourteen 
times  greater  than  the  passenger  earnings  between  these  two 
cities  of  the  steam  competing  railroad  companies. 

After  the  construction  of  the  Akron,  Bedford  &  Cleveland 
Railway  we  built  the  Cleveland,  Painesville  &  Eastern,  which 
has  earned  its  fixed  charges  each  year  since  construction,  but 
hardly  any  surplus  for  the  stock,  as  it  was  constructed  at  a 
time  when  prices  were  very  high,  and  a  large  amount  of  money 
was  expended  in  eliminating  dangerous  steam  railroad  cross- 
ings. This  line  is  one  that  serves  a  very  desirable  residence 
district,  and  naturally  requires  very  careful  attention. 

When  operation  is  commenced  on  our  lines  an  account  is 
started  during  the  first  month  called  "Injuries  and  Damages 
Account,"  and  each  succeeding  month  a  percentage  of  the  gross 
receipts  is  charged  to  this  account.  During  ten  years  of  ex- 
perience we  have  found  that  from  2  per  cent  to  4  per  cent  is 
amply  sufficient  for  all  claims  of  this  kind,  and  that  this  plan 
avoids  great  variations  in  the  operating  expense  account. 

Since  the  construction  of  the  earlier  roads  we  have  developed 
the  Lorain  &  Cleveland,  the  Sandusky  &  Interurban,  and  have 
purchased  the  Toledo,  Fremont  &  Norwalk,  all  of  which  have 
been  consolidated  into  the  present  Lake  Shore  Electric  Rail- 
way, operating  from  Cleveland  to  Toledo.  This  latter  road  is 
one  of  the  longest  through  electric  roads  in  this  country,  and 
we  are  much  gratified  with  the  number  of  through  passengers 
carried  on  it.  There  is,  of  course,  a  very  material  difference  in 
the  running  time  between  the  steam  roads  and  the  electrics, 
but  we  find  that  a  number  of  our  patrons  prefer  the  trolley  be- 
cause of  the  frequency  of  the  cars,  which  enables  them  in 
many  cases  to  reach  their  destination  more  quickly  than  if  they 
waited  for  a  steam  train.  The  Lake  Shore  Electric  track-mile 
earnings  were  originally  not  as  large  as  we  expected,  but  since 
we  put  in  the  connecting  link  from  Lorain  to  Norwalk  there 
has  been  a  decided  increase. 

We  also  built  the  electric  line  between  Detroit  and  Toledo 
complete  except  the  power  house,  but  we  found  it  necessary 
to  dispose  of  this  road  before  it  was  put  in  operation  electrically. 
It  is  now  owned  by  the  Grand  Trunk  Railway. 

We  have  also  been  interested  in  the  syndicates  which  built 
the  Southern  Ohio,  now  called  the  Cincinnati,  Dayton  &  To- 
ledo ;  the  Aurora,  Wheaton  &  Chicago,  the  Washington  &  An- 
napolis, the  New  York  &  Long  Island  Traction  Company,  the 
Springfield  &  Xenia  Traction  Company,  the  Scioto  Valley  Trac- 
tion Company,  the  Richmond  &  Petersburg  Traction  Company, 
and  were  associated  in  combining  the  properties  in  and  about 
Detroit,  now  comprising  the  Detroit  United  Railway. 

The  present  hold  up  in  the  money  market  will  probably  prove 
to  be  very  beneficial  to  the  ultimate  success  of  all  interurban 
trolley  properties,  as  their  promotion  in  the  past  has  often  been 
induced  by  real  estate  or  other  local  interests  in  the  territory 
to  be  developed  rather  than  on  the  direct  return  from  the  capi- 
tal invested. 


(  )CTOBER  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


549 


We  have  found  that  a  combination  of  an  electric  lighting 
service  with  an  electric  railway  system  possesses  a  very  decided 
advantage  to  both  interests,  and  believe  that  the  future  of  sub- 
urban trolley  roads  is  an  assured  success.  The  recent  acquisi- 
tions in  New  York  and  Connecticut  by  steam  railroads  of  com- 
peting trolley  systems  will  undoubtedly  prove  of  great  value  to 
the  electric  railway  transportation  interests,  as  it  will  undoubt- 
edly give  an  important  impetus  to  electrical  construction. 

-MM — 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  STREET  RAILWAY  ACCOUNTING 
DURING  THE  PAST  TWENTY  YEAES 


BY  C.  NESBITT  DUFFY 


FROM  the  time  the  "bob-tail" 
car  with  its  fare-box  attach- 
ment was  supplanted  by  the 
double-platform  car  equipped 
with  a  fare  register,  through 
the  evolution  of  the  con- 
struction and  operation  of 
cable,  electric  and  interurban 
roads,  giving  to  the  world 
the  modern  transportation 
methods  now  enjoyed,  street 
railway  accounting  has  kept 
pace  with  and  abreast  of 
every  improvement  in  the  art,  and  played  its  part  in  the  de- 
velopment thereof. 

In  the  transition  from  the  use  of  animal  to  mechanical  trac- 
tion, many  accounting  problems  presented  themselves.  In 
solving  these  problems,  the  development  of  accounting  work 
and  its  importance  and  value  was  first  accorded  recognition 
and  appreciation.  The  record  of  the  cost  of  the  different 
items  that  entered  into  the  construction  and  equipment  of 
cable  and  electric  roads,  the  work  of  keeping  the  de- 
tails of  construction  so  that  any  information  desired  in 
connection  therewith  could  be  readily  supplied,  and  the 
presentation  of  results  of  operation  under  the  new  conditions, 
taxed  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  the  accountant  to  the  utmost. 
Not  only  was  it  of  vital  importance  to  know  and  compare  re- 
sults with  old  conditions,  but  also  as  to  specific  conditions  with 
respect  to  the  economy  and  efficiency  of  the  use  of  different 
types  of  apparatus,  of  which  there  were  many,  in  the  early  days 
of  electric  railways.  It  was  these  facts  that  enabled  manage- 
ments to  decide  as  to  whether  or  not  roads  should  be  converted 
from  animal  to  mechanical  traction,  and  if  converted,  what 
should  be  the  character  of  the  track  and  line  construction, 
power  plant  apparatus  and  car  equipment. 

In  the  development  of  street  railway  accounting  during  the 
past  twenty  years,  the  "Standard  System  of  Electric  Railway 
Accounting,"  covering  classification  of  construction  and  equip- 
ment accounts,  classification  of  operating  expense  accounts, 
and  the  "Standard  Form  of  Report,"  including  balance  sheet 
with  classification  of  assets  and  liabilities,  description  of  road 
and  equipment,  together  with  mileage,  traffic  and  miscellaneous 
statistics,  has  been  formulated  and  put  in  practice.  This  sys- 
tem has  become  the  standard,  not  only  of  the  railways,  but  of 
the  National  Association  of  Railroad  Commissioners  and  the 
United  States  Census  Bureau. 

Under  the  "Standard  System"  the  items  of  cost  representing 
the  investment  of  a  street  railway  company's  capital  in  road 
and  equipment,  the  items  of  income  and  expense  in  connection 
with  the  operation  of  the  property,  the  financial  condition,  and 


the  results  of  operation,  are  clearly  and  comprehensively 
shown,  establishing  a  fixed  uniform  basis  that  admits  of 
analysis  and  comparison,  alike  for  the  management,  the  in- 
vestor and  the  public,  where  before  there  was  no  fixed  uniform 
basis,  bringing  about  confusion,  results  that  were  not  only  un- 
satisfactory, but  misleading. 

To  fully  appreciate  the  force  of  this  statement  it  is  only  nec- 
essary to  examine  the  published  reports  of  the  street  and  inter- 
urban railways  in  the  leading  financial  manuals,  such  as 
"American  Street  Railway  Investments,"  "Poor's  Manual  of 
Railroads"  and  other  publications  of  similar  character,  the  an- 
nual reports  of  the  State  Boards  of  Railroad  Commissioners, 
who  exercise  supervision  over  the  books  and  accounts  of  rail- 
ways and  use  the  standard  system,  or  the  published  report  of 
the  United  States  Census  Bureau,  of  statistics  gathered  con- 
cerning the  street  railways  of  the  United  States  for  the  1900 
census,  and  compare  that  report  with  the  report  of  the  [890 
census. 

The  importance  and  value  of  the  accounting  department  of  a 
railway  property  is  to-day  recognized  and  appreciated;  this  is 
one  of  the  marked  features  of  the  development  of  the  work 
during  the  past  twenty  years.  The  result  has  been  that 
the  operating  and  accounting  departments  of  railways  have 
been  brought  in  closer  touch  with  each  other,  to  the  mutual 
advantage  and  benefit  of  both  departments,  and  the  distinct 
betterment  of  the  railways. 

The  "bookkeeper"  of  the  days  of  horse  railways  has  given 
way  to  the  "accountant"  of  the  present  day,  upon  whom  rests 
the  responsibility  of  not  only  "accounting"  for  the  assets  and 
liabilities,  the  earnings  and  expenses,  but  of  being  able  to  give 
the  reasons  therefor,  and  of  upholding  the  principles  involved 
and  the  methods  followed.  An  eminent  philosopher  has  said : 
"The  skill  of  keeping  accounts  is  a  business  of  reason  more 
than  arithmetic."  "Reason"  must  of  necessity  be  the  founda- 
tion and  enter  into  the  application  of  accounting  principles, 
the  analysis  of  accounts,  the  preparation  and  presentation  of 
statements,  or  in  explanations  of  cause  and  effect  in  connection 
with  accounts. 

The  "accountant"  of  the  present  day  must  needs  be  thor- 
oughly posted  on  the  affairs  of  the  company,  have  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  operation  of  the  railway  in  all  its  depart- 
ments, closely  study  the  special  local  conditions  which  are  a 
part  of  the  operation  of  every  road,  so  that  the  accounting 
problems  involved  may  be  correctly  solved  and  the  conditions 
of  operation  clearly  and  comprehensively  set  forth. 

The  development  of  street  railway  accounting  work  has 
reached  such  a  scope  and  extent  that  the  grasp  of  the  affairs 
of  the  company,  as  well  as  the  operation  of  the  property,  is  at 
all  times  within  the  hands  of  the  accounting  officer  in  charge, 
and  he  is  usually  able  to  furnish  any  information  that  may  be 
required  or  desired  promptly,  or  readily  answer  any  question 
which  may  be  asked. 

The  sphere  of  usefulness  and  the  value  of  accounting  work 
has  greatly  expanded  under  these  conditions,  resulting  in 
methods  and  systems  that  are  practical  and  thorough  in  appli- 
cation, as  well  as  economical  in  operation.  The  advantages  of 
modern  methods  of  commercial  business  and  the  introduction 
of  labor-saving  devices  have  been  made  use  of  to  a  large  extent. 
Duplication  of  work  and  expenditure  of  labor  that  is  unneces- 
sary or  that  yields  no  returns  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Although 
not  a  producer  of  "gross  earnings,"  a  properly  organized  and 
efficient  accounting  department  becomes  an  increaser  of  "net 
earnings." 

To  the  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Association  of  America, 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


especially  to  those  who  were  instrumental  in  organizing  the 
association  in  the  year  1897,  who  unsparingly  and  unselfishly 
gave  to  the  association,  the  calling  it  represents  and  the  in- 
terests it  stands  for,  their  time,  energy,  best  thought  and  what- 
ever ability  they  may  have  possessed,  to  the  broad-minded  and 
liberal  managers  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association 
for  their  support  and  encouragement,  to  the  Association  of 
Railroad  Commissioners  for  their  hearty  co-operation,  and  to 
the  representative  street  railway  publications  for  their  valued 
assistance,  all  credit  is  due  for  what  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  development  of  street  railway  accounting  during  the  past 
twenty  years. 

 ►   

THE  NEW  CRAFTSMAN 

BY  H.  H.  VREELAND 


ASTONISHING  as  is  the  story  of  the  physical  growth  of 
the  industry  of  which  this  periodical  is  the  blue-book, 
and  marvelous  as  are  the  inventions  it  has  provoked 
and  made  useful,  they  are,  to  me,  less  interesting  than  the  little 
thin  thread  of  human  interest  that  is  woven  into  the  story  of 
the  growth  and  transformation  of  the  last  twenty  years.  I 
hope  that,  in  a  moment  like  this,  devoted  to  the  proclamation 
of  purely  material  achievements,  this  human  interest  may  not 
be  lost  sight  of. 

Even  to  those  of  us  intimately  associated  with  the  daily 
routine  of  street-passenger  transportation  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  the  results  accomplished  ( now  that  they  are 
massed  for  inspection)  read  like  a  romance.  No  other  purely 
American  activity  makes  any  such  showing.  I  say  "purely 
American"  advisedly,  for  one  may  in  truth  claim  that  in 
this  particular  art  we  have  shown  the  way;  our  devices  and 
methods  are  the  standard  for  the  world  outside.  We  conceived 
the  idea  and  invented  the  means  of  making  it  safe,  expeditious 
and  profitable.  All  the  topics  relating  to  how  this  was 
done  and  how  it  grew  are,  1  am  informed,  to  be  treated  else- 
where by  others.  They  have  arranged  the  data  showing  the 
fabulous  physical  growth  during  the  past  twenty  years.  The 
pleasant  duty  that  has  been  assigned  to  me  of  writing  a  few 
words  in  the  strange  eventful  history  of  which  this  number  of 
the  Journal  is  to  be  the  record,  will  not.  unfortunately,  submit 
to  exact  tabulation,  since,  unhappily,  the  subject  has  not  as 
yet  received  the  attention  devoted  to  "car  mileage,"  "passen- 
gers carried,"  "cost  of  maintenance,"  "kilowatt-hours,"  "possi- 
ble speed"  and  all  the  rest  of  it. 

My  topic,  as  I  have  intimated,  concerns  a  thin,  fine  skein 
worked  into  this  wonderful  carpet  of  achievement;  here  quite 
plain;  there  invisible,  but  always  inextricably  woven  into  the 
beautiful  pattern  and,  to  my  way  of  thinking,  by  no  means  the 
least  beautiful  thread  of  them  all.  It  relates  to  the  class  of 
craftsmen  which  this  wonderful  physical  creation  called  into 
existence  and  developed  by  selection.  We  called  to  our  aid  a 
great  army  of  "miscellaneous  labor"  and  have  welded  it  into  a 
distinct  craft,  which  compares  favorably,  in  our  great  cities,  in 
intelligence,  public  spirit  and  utility,  with  its  brothers,  the  Fire 
and  Police  Departments.  Like  these  two  armies  of  public  ser- 
vants, our  men  perform  (not  occasionally  as  emergency  de- 
mands, but  daily  and  hourly)  a  public  service  of  far-reaching 
consequence.  The  class  for  which  I  speak  has  become  an 
essential  reliance  of  the  citizens  of  every  great  center  of  popu- 
lation in  America,  and  on  its  sobriety  and  integrity  daily  de- 
pend the  lives  of  millions  of  people  and  the  security  of  millions 
of  property.    On  its  efficiency  and  promptness,  without  other 


guarantee  than  the  public  faith  in  it,  the  orderly  conduct  of 
the  business  of  our  great  army  of  bread-winners  is  based.  With 
the  same  confidence  that  one  turns  on  the  bath  faucet  in  the 
morning  or  the  gas  key  at  night,  men  regulate  their  presence 
here  or  there,  at  given  hours,  in  implicit  confidence  that  our 
men  are  at  their  posts  performing  their  appointed  duty.  This 
highly  disciplined  army  is  larger  to-day  than  the  United  States 
army,  numbering  133,000  men,  and  the  vast  majority  of  its 
members  are  in  a  fixed  employment,  enabling  them  to  marry 
and  raise  families  in  decency  and  comfort.  When  one  con- 
templates the  establishment  of  a  class  of  workers  as  large  as 
this,  secure  in  decent  employment,  it  shows  the  beneficent  work 
of  street  railway  development  from  a  new  angle.  I  wish  it 
could  be  matched  by  the  sowers  of  discontent,  whether  it  be 
in  printed  appeal  or  whispered  promises  of  impossible  condi- 
tions. The  steadying  of  a  self-supporting  army  of  citizens  like 
the  street  railway  employees  of  the  United  States  is  a  civic 
contribution  to  the  life  of  the  State  that  the  managers  of  the 
industry  throughout  America  should  be  prouder  of  than  all  the 
money  they  have  amassed. 

All  this  seems  very  significant  to  me,  because  I  remember  a 
different  state  of  affairs.  When  I  was  drafted  from  a  steam 
road  and  took  charge  of  what  was  then  the  Metropolitan  sys- 
tem, I  found  that  so  far  as  the  men  were  concerned  it  was  a 
system  in  name  alone.  Unification  had  gone  on  in  all  other  re- 
spects than  this.  Here  was  chaos.  The  employees  were  an 
unorganized  rabble,  without  status  or  pride,  or  the  security 
which  makes  for  both,  recruited  at  haphazard,  depending  for 
their  employment  on  political  influence  or  the  whimsical  power 
of  petty  superiors  deficient  in  moral  sense  or  any  regard  for 
justice  and  right. 

The  demoralization  consequent  on  this  condition  of  affairs 
can  be  imagined  and  some  idea  had  of  the  morale.  When 
the  idea  was  fixed  fast  that  the  abolition  of  this  sys- 
tem was  no  temporary  shift  the  results  were  marvelous. 
To  abolish  the  system  was  the  act  of  an  hour.  To 
drive  home  and  fix  in  the  consciences  of  the  men  that  it  was  a 
permanent  reform  has  been  from  that  day  to  this  a  daily  duty, 
because  all  those  active  elements  that  make  for  cynicism  and 
doubt  in  the  minds  of  working  men  require  a  daily  antidote. 
The  means  to  create  a  class  feeling  and  pride  did  not  then 
exist,  and  it  was  necessary  to  invent  them.  To  supply  this 
want  my  men,  numbering  then  some  4000  and  odd,  formed  an 
association,  for  the  purpose  of  social  intercourse  and  mutual 
aid.  That  little  mustard  seed  has  grown  into  a  towering  tree, 
and  year  by  year  has  spread  its  branches  far,  until  now  under 
its  shade  not  only  the  opportunity  of  social  intercourse  but  life 
insurance  and  old-age  pensions  have  come  to  rest.  The  suc- 
cess of  these  men  in  this  little  social  and  economic  effort  has 
had  the  effect  of  stimulating  similar  efforts  among  their  widely 
scattered  brothers,  and  while  it  is  true  that  imitation  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  slowly  realized  benefits,  the  work  is  still 
on  the  way,  and  it  is  my  hope,  which  must  be  shared  by  every 
one  who  has  had  the  good  of  his  fellow-workers  at  heart,  that 
it  will  go  on  spreading  and  growing  until  the  example  fur- 
nished by  the  street  railway  employees  of  New  York  City  is 
copied  everywhere. 

In  the  brief  space  allotted  to  generalizations  of  this  kind,  it 
is,  of  course,  impossible  to  give  in  detail  all  the  results  of  a 
work  of  this  kind,  but  no  opportunity  should  be  lost  of  bringing 
home  to  the  minds  of  those  who  have  our  great  street  railway 
properties  in  charge,  the  realization  that  the  reflex  influences 
on  their  property  of  such  efforts  are  in  some  respects  often 
srreater  in  their  beneficence  than  those  secured  to  the  men 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


551 


themselves.  Without  loyalty  and  pride  of  class  there  can  be  no 
true  co-operation,  and  to  my  mind  co-operation  can  only  be 
secured  by  enlightened  insistence  that  anything  that  benefits 
a  property  and  elevates  it  in  the  public  mind  also  contributes 
to  the  dignity  and  distinction  of  the  labor  it  employs.  As  show- 
ing the  recent  steadying  influence  of  class  pride  among  the  men 
I  am  most  familiar  with,  it  can  be  stated  that  as  the  personnel 
quadrupled  in  numbers,  dismissals  diminished  even  more  rap- 
idly. It  is  a  fact  that  to-day,  with  15,000  employees,  the  dis- 
missals for  breaches  of  rule  and  incompetence  are  actually  less 
in  number  than  they  were  when  New  York  City  roads  em- 
ployed a  little  over  2000  men.  They  have  gone  down  from  as 
high  as  300  a  month  to,  in  one  instance,  less  than  30. 

I  plead  this  individual  instance  in  proof  of  the  fact  that 
when  the  employment  is  elevated  and  the  conditions  of  labor 
dignified  and  made  secure,  it  attracts  from  the  community 
at  large  a  class  of  honest  wage-earners  who  are  in  times  of 
stress  a  reliance  to  be  depended  on.  The  New  York  men  since 
they  have  beer)*together  have  collected  over  $200,000 ;  they  have 
paid  but  in  sick  benefits  $90,000 ;  they  have  paid  death  claims 
of  $43,000.  They  have  invested  $27,000  of  their  surplus  money 
in  the  bonds  of  the  property  which  they  operate,  and  all  this 
they  have  accomplished  without  the  demoralizing  patronage 
of  their  employer. 

As  I  look  back  over  the  past  twenty  years,  fully  cognizant 
of  the  great  physical  change  they  record,  I  am  still  unconvinced 
that  in  that  alone  is  there  cause  for  pride.  The  growing  neces- 
sities of  the  great  public  duty  we  have  to  perform  have  brought 
into  being  a  new  class  of  workingmen,  yearly  becoming  more 
distinguished.  When  one  stops  to  think  of  the  demands  made 
to-day  on  the  intelligence  and  physical  alertness  of  the  motor- 
man  or  conductor  of  a  public  vehicle,  having  under  his  control 
a  force  and  the  mechanism  for  its  manipulation  unknown 
twenty  years  ago,  amazement  over  the  physical  development 
is  replaced  by  wonder  at  the  sudden  development  of  this  new 
and  efficient  guild  of  craftsmen. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  RAILWAY  MOTOR  DESIGN 


BY  S.  T.  DODD 


WITHIN  the  limits  of 
such  an  article  as  this 
it  would  be  impossible 
to  sketch,  historically, 
the  rise  and  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  many 
types  of  railway  mo- 
tors which  have  ap- 
peared on  the  market 
in  the  last  twenty 
years;  therefore,  the 
writer  does  not  propose 
to  do  more  than  to 
comment  on  the  various  features  which  characterize  the  rail- 
way motor  of  to-day,  and  to  trace,  as  far  as  possible,  their  first 
use  and  the  necessities  which  developed  them.  The  course  of 
this  development  divides  itself,  naturally,  into  two  main 
periods.  The  first  period,  prior  to  1895,  during  which  the 
rough  mechanical  characteristics  of  the  modern  railway  mo- 
tor were  worked  out.  The  changes  in  design  during  this 
period  are  bold,  prominent  and  easily  identified.  The  series 
winding,    spur    gearing,    the    carbon    brush,    the  multi- 


polar field,  the  iron-clad  armature,  were  developed  in 
this  period,  and  were  developments  which  demanded  the 
taste  and  skill  of  the  mechanical  engineer  rather  than  the 
application  of  electrical  formula  or  refinements  of  mathematical 
calculation.  The  second  period,  covering  the  last  ten  years, 
introduces  many  men  of  specialized  training,  whose  education 
in  university  and  shop  had  taken  place  during  the  early  devel- 
opment of  the  electrical  industry.  The  changes  in  this  period 
are,  if  anything,  more  interesting  than  those  in  the  former,  but 
consist  rather  in  refinements  of  design  and  economy  of  space, 
material  and  labor,  in  the  introduction  of  devices  for  getting 
greater  output  from  the  same  size  of  motor,  and  in  a  more  in- 
timate study  of  the  problems  related  to  the  calculation  and  pre- 
determination of  service  characteristics. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  early  attempts  at  the  ap- 
plication of  electricity  to  the  transportation  problem  were  Tjased 


FIG.  1. -BRUSH  RAILWAY  MOTOK-18S4-S6 

on  the  application  of  existing  stationary  motors  and  dynamos 
to  railway  service,  and  while  the  work  of  Edison,  Field,  Daft 
and  Van  Depoele  were  of  value  in  the  development  of  the  prob- 
lem, the  writer  has  always  considered  that  the  work  of  Bentley 
&  Knight,  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1884,  introduced  one  of  the 
first  permanent  characteristics  of  the  modern  railway  motor, 
in  the  series  connection  of  armature  and  field,  which  gives  the 
drooping  characteristic,  demanded  by  railway  work. 

On  July  26,  1884,  Bentley  &  Knight  put  into  operation  their 
first  electric  car  on  Central  Avenue,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  The 
motor  was  suspended  under  the  car  and  was  a  Brush  No.  6 
machine,  with  armature  and  field  connected  in  series,  similar 
to  that  shown  in  Fig.  1,  with  the  exception  that  the  first  con- 
nection to  the  car  axles  was  by  coiled  steel-wired  belts  instead 
of  by  gearing.  The  generator  was  a  Brush  No.  7  machine,  of 
the  open-coil  armature  type,  about  500  volts  and  20  amps.,  full- 
load  capacity.  The  troubles  developed  during  the  next  year  in 
gearing,  conduit  and  generator  and  motor,  caused  them  to  make 
a  decided  change  in  most  of  the  characteristics  of  their  nexi 
installation,  but  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  motor  suspension 
under  the  car  and  the  series  connection  were  features  which 
were  never  abandoned,  and  must  be  considered  permanent  from 
this  time. 

To  appreciate  the  conditions  of  the  art  at  that  time,  we  would 
note  that  Field  and  Edison,  in  1883,  were  operating  a  locomo- 
tive with  a  shunt-wound  motor,  geared  by  bevel  gearing  and 
belting,  and  taking  current  from  an  exposed  third  rail  at  75 
volts.  Leo  Daft,  upon  his  locomotive  "Morse,"  in  1885,  on  the 
Baltimore  Union  Passenger  Railway  Company,  was  using  a 
compound-wound  8-hp  motor  at  125  volts,  with  exposed  third 
rail  for  conductor.  Frank  J.  Sprague,  in  1885,  was  experi- 
menting with  electric  traction  on  the  elevated  railways  in  New 
York,  and  we  would  note  again  that  he  was  using  a  shunt- 
wound  motor,  with  a  compound  coil  at  right  angles  to  the  field 


552 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


for  neutralizing  the  armature  reaction.  Two  permanent  fea- 
tures, however,  were  introduced  by  Mr.  Sprague  in  these  ex- 
periments in  18S5.  One  was  the  flexible  suspension  of  the 
motor,  carrying  the  weight  of  the  motor  directly  upon  the  axle 
on  one  side  and  spring  suspended  to  the  truck  frame  on  the 


FIG.  2.— SPRAGUE  SHUNT-WOUND  ELEVATED  RAILWAY 
MOTOR — 1885-86 


other.  The  other  permanent  feature  was  the  introduction  of 
spur  gearing.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  single-reduction  spur 
gear  used  in  these  experiments,  as  well  as  upon  the  later 
Sprague  No.  5,  or  Richmond  motor,  in  1888,  was  premature, 
and  had  later  to  be  replaced  by  double-reduction  gearing. 

To  Sidney  H.  Short  should  probably  be  given  the  credit  of 
seeing  that  for  motors  of  the  speed  common  at  that  day,  double- 
reduction  spur  gearing  should  be  used.  The  motor  shown  in 
Fig.  1  is  a  motor  built  by  the  Brush  Electric  Company  in  1886 
for  Mr.  Short's  Denver  road,  and  was  in  service  at  least  as 
early  as  March,  1887. 

In  1888  both  the  Sprague  Company  on  the  Richmond  road, 
and  the  Bentley-Knight  Company  on  the  Observatory  Hill 
road,  at  Allegheny,  are  operating  motors  built  especially  for 
railway  work  rather  than  adopting  stationary  motors  for  this 
service.  While  there  are  certain  differences  in  the  design  of 
the  motors  and  the  methods  of  control,  both  companies  agree 
upon  the  adoption  of  the  characteristics  whose  origin  we  have 
sketched  above.  Both  types  of  motors  are  series  connected, 
hinged  on  the  axle  and  drive  by  double-reduction  gearing. 
That  the  design  of  the  motors  or  the  predetermination  of  motor 


FIG.  3.— WESTINGHOUSE  DOUBLE  REDUCTION  MOTOR— 1890 

characteristics  had  not  reached  a  very  advanced  stage,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  first  Richmond  motors  de- 
signed for  single-reduction  gearing  were  finally  made  success- 
ful by  changing  them  to  double-reduction  gearing,  a  change 
which  shows  that  as  originally  designed  the  motors  had  about 
half  the  capacity  necessary  for  the  service. 

The  following  extract  from  the  New  York  "World"  of  Feb- 


ruary, 1889,  shows  that  it  was  realized  at  that  time  that  several 
very  important  changes  must  be  made  in  motor  design  before 
the  railway  motor  could  be  commercially  successful.  The 
author  says : 

"The  criticisms  of  Mr.  Lawless  (engineer  of  the  Kansas  City 

System  of  Cable  Roads),  that  on  his  visit  to  ■    in  September, 

twenty-eight  cars  out  of  forty  were  disabled,  and  the  cars  running 
on  a  headway  of  from  fifteen  to  ninety  minutes  apart,  and  of  Mr. 
Hendree  (an  officer  of  the  Detroit  City  Street  Railway  System) 
that  eighteen  mechanics  were  at  work  on  repairs  of  a  road  having 
only  forty  cars,  shows  what  happens  when  a  stationary  motor  is 
forced  to  do  the  work  required  by  a  street  railway.  The  "Plain 
Dealer,"  of  Dec.  31,  concerning  the  system  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  is  far 
from  complimentary,  that  a  road  operating  on  a  test,  five  or  six  cars 
should  burn  out  $1,500  worth  of  field  magnets  in  a  week,  speaks  for 
itself." 

One  of  the  most  serious  sources  of  the  troubles,  referred  to 
above,  lay  in  the  commutation.  It  can  easily  be  realized  that 
the  use  of  a  metallic  brush  on  a  motor  subject  to  the  overloads 


FIG.  4.— MAILLOUX  MOTOR— 1889 


of  railway  service,  as  well  as  to  reversal  in  direction  of  rota- 
tion, was  a  most  prolific  source  of  trouble.  It  is  questionable 
whether  the  railway  motor  would  ever  have  been  made  a  com- 
mercial success  if  this  had  not  been  eliminated.  In  October, 
1888,  Mr.  Van  Depoele  proposed  to  use  a  carbon  brush  upon  a 
Thomson-Houston  railway  motor.  By  December  of  that  year 
several  Thomson-Houston  railways  were  experimenting  with 
carbon  brushes  instead  of  copper,  and  reporting  very  successful 
results.  By  March,  1889,  we  find  it  stated  that  the  carbon  brush 
was  in  general  use  on  all  railways  using  the  T.-H.  system,  and 
by  this  substitution  a  vital  and  serious  difficulty  was  removed. 

Another  striking  advance  in  design  was  introduced  in  1890, 
in  the  Westinghouse  double-reduction  motor.  This  motor  had 
a  very  poor  magnetic  circuit,  and  the  electrical  features  pos- 
sibly accounted  for  the  fact  that  it  never  attained  any  very 
marked  commercial  importance.  The  mechanical  features, 
however,  deserve  some  consideration ;  it  had  an  external  frame, 
protecting  the  working  parts ;  the  gears  were  protected  by  neat 
and  convenient  gear  cases ;  the  pole  pieces  were  hinged  to  the 
frame  and  gave  accessibility  to  the  armature,  a  construction 
which  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  Sprague  and  Bentley- 
Knight  motors,  or  to  their  successors,  the  Edison  and  Thom- 
son-Houston motors. 

The  high  speed  of  all  these  double-reduction  motors  pre- 
sented a  serious  source  of  trouble.  E.  M.  Bentley  has  said 
that  one  of  the  reasons  which  prevented  him  from  employing 
spur  gearing  in  1884  was  that  he  could  find  no  precedent  for 
spur  gearing  at  speeds  of  1500  r.  p.  m.,  which  were  ordinary 
motor  speeds  from  1884  to  1889.    Although  by  the  latter  date 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


553 


spur  gearing  had  been  generally  adopted,  the  mechanical 
difficulties  encountered  in  the  high-speed  gear  and  pinion  had 
not  been  overcome,  so  that  the  next  logical  step  lay  in  the  de- 
velopment of  a  slow-speed  motor  which  would  eliminate  one 
set  of  gears.  The  first  example  of  this  type  of  railway  motor 
was  designed  by  C.  O.  Mailloux  for  a  storage-battery  road  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  in  1889.  Several  permanent  characteristics 
were  contributed  to  the  art  by  this  motor.  It  had  a  four-pole 
field,  thus  having  twice  the  ordinary  number  of  poles.  The 
armature  was  built  of  slotted  laminations,  with  the  windings 
placed  in  the  slots.  The  commutator  was  cross  connected,  so 
that  a  single  pair  of  brushes  would  serve  for  a  multipolar  mo- 
tor, a  characteristic  which  was  still  further  modified  in  a  sub- 
sequent motor  of  the  same  type  built  in  1890  by  the  introduction 
of  the  series  winding  of  the  armature.  It  is  unnecessary  to 
comment  on  these  improvements,  further  than  to  point  out  that 
each  of  these  characteristics  contributed  to  the  reduction  of  the 
motor  speed,  and  every  manufacturing  concern  started  at  once 


FIG.  5.— WESTINGHOUSE  NO.  3  MOTOR— 1S91 


on  the  development  of  a  line  of  single-reduction  motors,  adopt- 
ing one  or  all  of  these  features. 

In  1891  the  Westinghouse  No.  3  motor  appeared  on  the 
market.  This  was  the  first  permanently  successful  railway 
motor,  and  was  so  rather  because  it  embodied  the  successful 
features  of  previous  types  than  because  it  introduced  new  fea- 
tures. Two  features  are,  however,  worthy  of  remark.  One  of 
these  is  that  the  hinged  field  of  the  double-reduction  motor, 
Fig.  3,  has  been  made  multipolar,  following  the  design  of  the 
Mailloux  motor,  and  has  been  extended  to  embrace  and  protect 
the  working  parts ;  the  other  is  that  this  motor  introduces  the 
first  form  of  machine-wound  armature  coils.  The  coils,  how- 
ever, were  of  different  sizes  and  were  not  symmetrically  laid 
around  the  armature  as  has  since  become  a  common  practice. 

In  1891,  almost  simultaneously  with  the  appearance  of  the 
single-reduction  motor,  the  design  of  slow-speed  motors  was 
pushed  to  an  extreme  in  the  gearless  type.  Recent  develop- 
ments have  made  this  motor  a  step  in  the  history  of  the  art, 
although  at  the  time  it  was  premature  and  did  not  mark  an 
advance.  The  objections  to  which  the  motor  was  subject  at 
that  period  were  its  extreme  weight,  due  to  the  slow  speed  of 
equipments,  its  lack  of  flexibility,  the  inaccessibility  of  its  parts 
for  inspection  or  repair,  and  the  impossibility  of  changing  its 


speed  for  various  conditions  of  service.  None  of  these  objec- 
tions could  be  considered  vital  in  a  locomotive  shop  with  ample 
facilities  for  removing  wheels  and  handling  heavy  machinery. 
They  were,  however,  very  serious  objections  for  street  railway 
service  with  the  repair  facilities  which  we  had  in  car  houses 


FIG.  6.— SHORT  GEARLESS  MOTOR— 1891 


in  1891  and  1892.  But  the  developments  of  the  last  year  or  so 
— the  P.erlin-Zossen  experiments  and  the  still  more  recent  New 
York  Central  locomotive — demonstrate  that  there  is  still  a  field 
in  the  future  for  the  gearless  motor. 

Steel  castings  for  motor  frames  were  introduced  in  1891  on 
the  T-H.  W.  P.  motor. 

The  GE  800  motor  of  1893  presents  some  interesting  fea- 
tures; the  frame,  made  of  steel  casting,  entirely  enclosed  the 
working  parts  of  the  motor.  Gaskets  under  the  covers  and  sealed 
joints  protected  the  motor  to  such  an  extent  that  it  was  hoped 
it  would  be  absolutely  waterproof.  This  feature,  however, 
never  was  a  marked  success,  as  the  lack  of  ventilation  and 
drainage  was  the  source  of  troubles  which  soon  caused  a  re- 
action from  this  type  of  motor  toward  a  more  open  type  and 
one  more  capable  of  long-time  service.  Another  feature  which 
was  introduced  in  the  motor  was  the  Eickemeyer  coil,  all  the 


FIG.  7.— GE  2000A   MOTOR — 1S99 


armature  coils  being  symmetrical  and  interchangeable  around 
the  circumference  of  the  armature. 

The  name  GE  800  was  based  on  the  fact  that  at  its  normal 
horse-power  the  motor  would  develop  a  draw-bar  pull  of  800 
lbs.  when  running  at  10  miles  an  hour,  and  marks  the  first  at- 
tempt to  establish  an  accurate  commercial  rating  for  railway 
motors,  a  subject  which  had  been  more  or  less  indefinite  up  to 
this  time. 

In  1894  the  GE  2000  introduced  a  still  further  improvement 
in  symmetrical  armature  windings;  the  coils  of  this  motor  were 


554 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


made  of  solid  strap  copper,  one  turn  per  bar,  carried  straight 
out  on  the  back  end  of  the  motor  and  the  corresponding  coils 
soldered  together  with  clips,  thus  making  a  "barrel"  winding 
with  an  approximately  flat  diamond  shaped  coil.  Directly  after 
this  the  Westinghouse  12-A  and  Walker  motors  appeared  with 
coils  of  this  diamond  shape,  wound  of  several  turns  of  con- 
tinuous wire,  a  characteristic  which  has  been  standard  for  rail- 
way motors  since  that  time. 

Thus  by  1895  the  chief  mechanical  characteristics  of  the 
railway  motor  had  been  settled,  and,  as  said  above,  the 
developments  of  the  ten  years  since  that  time  have  been 
in  the  direction  of  refinements  of  design  and  economy  of 
material  and  cost  of  manufacture.  One  of  the  best  illustrations 
of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  Lorain-34  of  1897,  a  motor  in  which 
by  careful  designing  the  weight  was  reduced  to  less  than  80  per 
cent  of  that  of  any  of  its  contemporaries  of  equal  output,  while 
its  rugged  construction  and  excellent  electrical  design  made  a 
large  demand  for  it  for  certain  classes  of  service. 

Since  1896  it  has  been  realized  that  the  all-day  service  ca- 
pacity of  motors  was  a  matter  that  demanded  serious  consid- 
eration ;  to  this  is  due  tbe  increased  size  of  armature  bearings, 
as  well  as  improved  methods  of  lubrication.    As  an  illustration 


arate  air  compressors  for  forced  ventilation  of  the  motors.  All 
these  instances  illustrate  the  fact  that  one  of  the  recent  ten- 
dencies is  toward  a  reduction  to  a  minimum  of  magnetic  and 
electrical  material  and  an  increased  ventilation  of  these  work- 
ing parts  to  maintain  a  normal  temperature. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  developments  of  recent  years 
has  been  the  effect  on  motor  design  of  the  study  of  service  char- 
acteristics. The  speed  and  power  variations  developed  in  op- 
erating electric  motors  in  service  could  never  be  clearly  under- 
stood till  a  study  was  made  of  the  speed  and  power  curves  in- 
volved in  such  operation.  As  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  the 
first  published  use  of  speed-time  curves  illustrating  the 
operation  of  electric  railway  motors  was  made  by  himself 
in  an  article  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  September, 
1897,  during  a  discussion  of  the  variations  of  power  and  speed 


FIG.  8.— GE  55  MOTOR— 1S97 


FIG.  9.— GE  74  RAILWAY  MOTOR— 1903 


of  this  tendency  the  GE  55,  in  1897,  introduced  armature 
bearings  extending  in  under  the  armature  windings  and  com- 
mutator, and  carried  in  solid  unsplit  housings,  packed  with 
waste,  and  lubricated  with  oil. 

Another  point  that  has  demanded  attention  is  the  accessibil- 
ity of  motor  parts  and  their  convenience  for  repairs.  An  in- 
stance of  this  has  been  referred  to  in  the  Westinghouse  motor 
of  1890,  and  still  more  recently  the  GE  74  of  1903  affords  a 
good  illustration.  The  new  features  incorporated  in  this  mo- 
tor were  introduced  according  to  the  specifications  of  the  cus- 
tomer, especially  with  the  point  in  view  of  making  the  motor 
accessible  for  inspection  and  convenient  for  replacal  of  re- 
pair parts. 

In  1896  the  Westinghouse  No.  38  motor  introduced  laminated 
pole  pieces  to  reduce  the  eddy  current  losses  in  the  pole  face. 
In  the  next  year,  1897,  the  GE  52  motor  introduced  the  ven- 
tilated armature,  decreasing  thereby  the  amount  of  iron  in  the 
armature  and  increasing  the  core  loss  per  unit  of  iron,  but 
increasing  in  a  greater  proportion  the  ventilation  and  the 
radiating  surface  of  this  core  so  as  to  reduce  the  temperature 
of  the  armature.  Still  more  recently  the  "SKC"  line  of  mo- 
tors show  a  further  development  in  this  direction  by  opening 
ventilating  ducts  in  the  field  laminations  to  correspond  with 
those  in  the  armature,  and  thus  further  increasing  the  circula- 
tion of  air  through  the  armature.  The  cars  of  the  Berlin- 
Zossen  experiments  in  1902  and  1903  were  equipped  with  sep- 


produced  in  accelerating  a  car.  Since  1897  ^e  application  of 
such  curves  has  been  developed  by  several  prominent  engineers, 
and  they  are  now  a  recognized  instrument  in  the  discussion  of 
motor  problems. 

Another  discussion  of  recent  years  has  been  the  controversy 
over  railway  motor  rating,  and  the  attempt  to  arrive  at  a  basis 
of  rating  which  would  be  valuable  as  a  comparison  of  different 
motors,  and,  at  the  same  time,  a  statement  of  the  service  char- 
acteristics. The  rating  of  the  GE  800  type  of  motors  has 
already  been  mentioned.  This  rating  was  unsatisfactory,  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  based  upon  the  characteristics  of  the 
motor  at  a  certain  predetermined  speed,  which,  in  any  par- 
ticular case,  was  generally  fictitious.  It  amounted,  therefore, 
to  a  horse-power  rating  upon  an  indefinite  basis.  This  has 
given  place  to  an  arbitrary  numbering  of  motor  types  and  to  a 
definite  commercial  rating,  which  was  first  proposed  by 
W.  B.  Potter  and  commercially  introduced  with  the 
GE  50  of  1895.  On  this  basis  the  motor  is  rated  upon  the 
horse-power  which  it  will  develop  for  one  hour,  with  a  rise 
of  temperature  of  75  degs.  C.,  as  measured  by  thermometer. 
With  this  rating  we  have  here  an  accurate  definition  of  motor 
rating,  and  one  upon  which  different  types  of  motors  can  be 
compared  with  each  other ;  the  rating,  however,  is  unsatisfac- 
tory, as  it  practically  only  defines  the  short-time  commutation 
limit  of  the  motor  and  does  not  define  its  characteristics  for 
long-time  service.   This  fact  was  pointed  out  in  an  article  by 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


555 


N.  W.  Storer  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  January,  1901, 
in  which  he  claimed  that  on  account  of  the  operation  of  railway 
motors  on  reduced  voltage  in  starting,  the  average  voltage  in 
service  was  60  per  cent  to  80  per  cent  of  the  full  line  voltage. 
As  a  consequence,  he  advocated  the  rating  of  motors  on  their 
all-day  capacity  at  300  volts  for  city  service  and  400  volts  for 
interurban  service.  The  matter,  however,  goes  deeper  than 
this,  as  has  been  pointed  out  by  A.  H.  Armstrong  in  a  series 
of  valuable  articles,  the  first  of  which  appeared  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal,  April  6,  1901.  The  heating  of  railway 
motors  in  service  depends  upon  a  multiplicity  of  data,  includ- 
ing the  weight  to  be  moved  per  motor,  the  number  of  stops  per 
mile,  the  acceleration,  coasting,  braking  and  schedule  speed, 
and  the  capacity  of  the  motor  can  be  determined  for  any  par- 
ticular service  from  a  series  of  curves  which  can  be  derived 
from  tests  of  each  type  of  motor.  Of  two  motors  of  the  same 
horse-power  rating  one  may  have  a  greater  capacity  for  one 
type  of  service  and  the  other  for  another.  The  influence  of 
this  discussion  can  be  seen  in  the  design  of  the  motors  of  the 
last  few  years.  To-day  a  railway  motor  is  designed  with  a 
proportion  of  core  loss  and  copper  loss,  and  with  commutating 
limits  which  will  fit  it  for  the  particular  service  expected  of  it. 
The  details  of  these  features  of  design  are  too  technical  to  fol- 
low in  an  article  of  this  character,  but  the  discussion  of  rail- 
way-motor rating  is  not  yet  ended,  and  we  are  still  in  need  of 
a  brief  and  accurate  method  of  rating  of  motors  which  will 
express  the  characteristics  of  a  motor  and  at  the  same  time 
indicate  its  capacity  for  railway  service. 

I  have  tried  to  summarize  the  course  of  investigations  upon 
the  railway  motor.  The  problem  that  was  faced  twenty  years 
ago  was  one  concerning  which  we  were  ignorant  of  the  me- 
chanical requirements  and  of  the  theoretical  method  of  attack; 
in  fact,  to  a  great  degree,  the  problem  itself  did  not  exist  at 
that  time,  as  the  necessity  for  handling  electric  railway  traffic 
as  we  know  it  to-day  is  a  necessity  which  has  developed  itself 
as  we  have  showed  our  ability  to  meet  it.  To-day  the  d.  c. 
railway  motor  has  twenty  years  of  history  and  experimentation 
behind  it,  but  the  a.  c.  motor  and  the  electri:  locomotive  are 
presenting  new  phases  of  the  transportation  problem  upon 
which  we  are  just  entering.  The  writer  does  not  believe  that 
either  of  these  will  in  any  reasonable  time  displace  the  d.  c. 
motor  from  the  particular  field  it  has  developed  for  itself,  but 
that  rather  they  will  in  their  turn  develop  their  own  peculiar 
traffic  conditions  and  demands,  but  we  are  sure  their  develop- 
ment will  be  more  speedy  because  the  general  conditions  of  the 
problem  are  known  and  the  methods  of  investigation  have  al- 
ready been  outlined,  while  the  work  of  their  investigators  will 
be  more  accurate  because  of  the  failures  as  well  as  the  successes 
of  the  last  twenty  years. 

 ♦♦♦  

"And  we  face  that  last  and  greatest  discovery  of  the  century, 
the  application  of  which  bears  more  directly  upon  our  imme- 
diate interests  than  any  other,  namely,  electricity  as  a  motive 
power.  So  long  as  purely  brute  strength  and  endurance  enter 
so  largely  as  a  factor  in  our  enterprise,  there  must  ever  be  per- 
plexing and  annoying  obstacles  that  the  ingenuity  of  man  will 
be  taxed  to  overcome.  Any  invention  looking  toward  the  aboli- 
tion of  these,  thus  simplifying  our  methods  of  locomotion,  will 
be  eagerly  welcomed  and  thoroughly  discussed  in  our  delib- 
erative councils.  I  see  in  the  recent  subjugation  of  the  subtile 
and  hitherto  illusive  force  of  electricity  to  the  needs  of  man, 
boundless  possibilities  for  the  world's  three  greatest  requisites 
lor  advancement  beat,  lighl  and  motion."  From  Chicago 
Meeting,  1883. 


THE  EVOLUTION  OF  THE  MODERN  POWER  STATION 


BY  J.  G.  WHITE 


YOUR  twentieth  anniver- 
sary number  has  some  spe- 
cial personal  interest,  be- 
cause of  the  fact  that  it  is 
just  twenty  years  since  I 
first  came  into  contact  with 
electrical  machinery  out- 
side a  laboratory.  This 
was  at  the  Electrical  Ex- 
hibition in  Philadelphia  in 
1884,  after  which  I  had 
still  a  year  to  spend  at  Cor- 
nell. There  is  perhaps  no 
more  forceful  way  of  illustrating  "The  Evolution  of  the  Mod- 
ern Power  Station"  than  to  recall  to  mind  two  or  three  of  the 
exhibits  which  attracted  special  attention  at  that  exhibition. 

One  of  these  was  the  Thomson-Houston  ball-armature  arc 
light  machine,  which  was  then  entirely  new  to  many  of  the 
best  informed  men  of  the  country,  like  Prof.  William  A.  An- 
thony. The  construction  of  the  machine,  the  regulator  and 
other  details  elicited  much  comment  and  discussion.  Although 
Brush  and  other  arc  lamps  were  exhibited,  the  new  Thomson- 
Houston  light  was  much  admired.  If  I  remember  correctly, 
only  small  sized  Thomson-Houston  Company  dynamos  were 
exhibited,  and  until  then  the  Thomson-PIouston  Company  was 
almost  unknown  commercially.  It  seems  truly  remarkable  that 
the  entire  growth  of  the  Thomson-Houston  Company,  its  in- 
cursion into  the  fields  of  incandescent  lighting,  street  railway 
equipment  and  other  sections  of  the  electrical  field,  its  amalga- 
mation with  the  Edison  interests  into  the  General  Electric 
Company,  and  the  many  years  of  successful  development  of 
the  General  Electric  Company,  can  all  have  taken  place  within 
the  brief  period  of  twenty  years. 

Another  exhibit  which  attracted  considerable  attention  was 
that  of  the  Westing-house  Company,  this  being  the  first  im- 
portant exhibit  of  that  company  as  well.  As  far  as  I  can  recall, 
the  exhibit  consisted  principally  of  some  Westinghouse  single- 
acting  engines,  and  of  some  direct-current  generators,  these 
being  of  the  two-pole  double-magnet  type,  very  similar  to  the 
then  well-known  Weston  generators.  The  Westinghouse  gen- 
erators, however,  were  intended  to  lie  of  cheaper  construction, 
cast  iron  being  used  to  a  considerably  greater  extent.  It  was  a 
year  or  two  later  that  Mr.  Westinghouse  went  boldly  into  the 
alternating  field,  and  energetically  pushed  the  development  and 
use  of  alternating  apparatus.  It  naturally  follows  that  the  en- 
tire development  of  the  great  business  of  the  Westinghouse 
Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  has  taken  place  within 
this  same  twenty  years. 

There  were,  of  course,  other  important  exhibits,  notably 
those  of  the  Edison  Company,  the  United  States  Electric  Light- 
ing Company  and  others. 

In  these  days  of  3-amp.  and  5-amp.  arc  lights,  it  seems 
strange  to  think  that  in  this  same  exhibition  the  majority  of 
the  arc  lamps  were  of  the  "short-arc"  type,  consuming  about 
20  amps.,  and  that  there  is  almost  no  arc  light  apparatus  in 
use  to-day  which  was  shown  at  that  time.  The  only  exceptions 
are  the  then  new  Thomson-Houston  and  the  Brush  9.6-amp. 
arc  lamps,  which  are  still  in  use  in  many  places  where  an  en 
closed  are  or  alternating  are  system  has  not  been  adopted. 
As  to  the  power  station  itself,  a  50-kw  dynamo  was,  twenty 


556 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


years  ago,  considered  quite  large.  The  usual  rating  of  dynamos 
at  that  time  was  not  in  kilowatts  capacity,  but  in  capacity  of 
16-cp  incandescent  lamps,  and  a  dynamo  with  a  capacity  of 
1000  lamps,  which  we  would  now  rate  at  about  25  kw,  was  con- 
sidered an  important  piece  of  machinery. 

Three  years  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1887,  the  writer  and  asso- 
ciates were  interested  in  the  installation  of  what  then  seemed 
to  us  quite  a  large  and  important  electric  lighting  station  at 
Lincoln,  Neb.  This  consisted  of  one  750-light  and  one  1500- 
light  Westinghouse  alternating  machine,  running  at  about  1650 
r.  p.  m.,  and  direct  belted  to  two  New  York  Safety  engines. 

During  the  five  years,  1884  to  1889,  the  usual  power  station 
installation  consisted  of  two  or  more  engines  of  the  high-speed 
type,  frequently  of  different  manufacture,  driving  directly,  by 
single  belts,  dynamos  of  various  types,  these  including  at  times 
arc  light  machines,  alternators  and  direct-current  generators  of 
small  sizes.  The  most  prominent  of  all  the  engines  of  those 
days  was  the  Armington  &  Sims  high-speed  single-cylinder, 
from  50  hp  to  100  hp  each,  engines  of  the  same  type  and  of 
150  hp  being  unusual.  Other  prominent  engines  of  the  same 
period  were  the  Ball,  the  Ide,  New  York  Safety  and  the  West- 
inghouse single  cylinder.  At  a  little  later  period,  compound 
engines  of  the  same  general  types  and  of  the  same  manufacture 
came  into  vogue,  and  other  manufacturers  came  prominently 
forward,  among  these  being  Mcintosh  &  Seymour,  the  Harris- 
burg  Machine  Works  and  Ball  &  Wood. 

In  1887  electric  railways,  which  had  been  previously  con- 
fined to  a  few  small  roads,  largely  of  experimental  type,  and 
operating  at  most  only  a  few  cars,  received  a  great  commercial 
impetus  by  the  equipment  of  the  street  railway  of  Richmond 
by  the  Sprague  Electric  Railway  &  Motor  Company.  This  con- 
tract, which  included  an  equipment  of  forty  cars,  was  perhaps 
the  most  notable  event  in  the  electric  field  during  the  six  years 
— 1884  to  1890 — and  has  been  followed  by  the  enormous  devel- 
opment in  electric  railways  so  well  known  to  all. 

As  electric  current  came  into  more  general  use  for  electric 
railway,  power  and  lighting  purposes,  stations  gradually  in- 
creased in  size,  and  to  secure  greater  economy  a  number  of 
engineers  began  to  use  Corliss  engines  of  sizes  from  100  hp 
to  300  hp  each.  In  order  to  drive  satisfactorily  the  small  high- 
speed dynamos  then  in  vogue,  it  was  usual  to  belt  from  the 
engine  to  the  dynamo  through  countershafting,  although  the 
latter  was  obviated  in  some  cases  by  using  "idlers"  to  force 
the  belts  closer  together  near  the  dynamo  pulley,  thus  giving 
contact  with  a  larger  surface  of  the  dynamo  pulley  and  a  better 
"grip-" 

At  a  little  later  period  there  were  also  a  number  of  installa- 
tions where  larger  Corliss  engines  were  used,  each  operating 
a  number  of  the  small  high-speed  dynamos  then  still  prevalent. 
These  machines  were  driven  from  a  long  countershaft  on  which 
were  mounted  friction-clutch  pulleys,  one  for  each  of  the  gen- 
erators, so  that  any  generator  could  be  started  or  stopped  with- 
out interfering  with  the  others  or  the  main  driving  engine. 
The  most  prominent  of  these  installations  was  the  original 
West  End  Station  at  Boston. 

In  the  period  of  1887  to  1890,  when  the  electric  railway  was 
developing  rapidly,  we  considered  80-kw  generators  as  being 
the  largest  which  it  was  advisable  to  use.  Although  the 
Sprague  Company  at  that  time  sold  some  generators  of  150-kw 
capacity,  its  80-kw  machine  was  considered  by  most  of  the 
sales  agents  a  better  machine,  and,  consequently,  the  one  to  be 
recommended  to  customers. 

In  the  summer  of  1889  I  secured  my  first  big  order  for  elec- 
tric railway  apparatus,  selling  to  the  Omaha  Street  Railway, 


Omaha,  Neb.,  twenty  Sprague  car  equipments  and  two  80-kw 
generators.  That  these  two  dynamos  were  considered  an  im- 
portant sale  illustrates  the  development  of  the  power  station 
during  the  last  seventeen  years. 

During  the  early  nineties,  the  four,  or  more,  pole  dynamo 
came  gradually  into  use,  and  for  a  time  many  of  the  power 
houses  installed  Corliss  engines  directly  belted  to  multipolar 
direct-current  dynamos  of  from  100  kw  to  300  kw  each,  al- 
though during  this  same  period  many  high-speed  engines  were 
still  used  direct  belted  to  generators. 

With  the  improvement  in  design  of  generators  and  the  re- 
duction in  their  speed,  came  the  period  of  direct  driving,  and, 
when  after  a  time  we  were  able  to  secure  dynamos  run- 
ning at  not  more  than  150  r.  p.  m.,  it  seemed  that  great  progress 
had  been  made.  Then  came  the  period  covering  a  number  of 
years  of  direct-connected  units,  of  speeds  from  150  r.  p.  m.  to 
300  r.  p.  m.  for  small  units,  and  70  r.  p.  m.  to  150  r.  p.  m.  for  the 
larger  units,  the  latter  gradually  increasing  up  to  1500  kw, 
which  only  a  few  years  ago  seemed  a  tremendous  sized  unit. 
The  next  stage  of  progress  was  the  building  of  the  larger  ver- 
tical Corliss  engines,  which  gradually  increased  to  such  units 
as  are  now  employed  by  the  Manhattan,  the  Interborough  and 
Edison  companies  in  New  York,  of  about  5000  kw  each. 

As  we  all  know,  while  there  has  been  some  improvement  in 
gas  engines  during  the  last  few  years,  the  great  development 
has  been  that  of  the  turbine  unit,  and  to-day  the  point§  which 
interest  us  most  are  the  merits  of  the  turbine  unit  as  compared 
to  the  direct-connected  Corliss,  or  other  high-grade  engines. 
Data  are  not  yet  available  to  show  conclusively  what  may  be 
expected  in  the  way  of  steam  economy  from  the  large  turbine 
units.  As  much  as  five  years  ago  I  knew  of  a  splendidly  fin- 
ished Swiss  (Sulzer)  engine  of  1500  hp,  triple  expansion,  con- 
densing, sold  for  driving  a  cotton  mill  in  Russia,  which  the 
purchaser  told  me  was  guaranteed  to  show  economy  at  full 
load  of  gY2  lbs.  of  dry  steam  per  ihp-hour.  This  engine  cost 
what  seemed  an  enormous  sum — about  $250,000,  or  about  $50 
per  hp,  against  from  $15  to  $25  ordinarily  assumed  as  the  cost 
of  a  Corliss  engine,  and  reported  costs  of  complete  engine  and 
generator,  turbo  units,  of  $25  to  $30  per  kw  capacity.1 

Results  have  been  published2  of  a  test  of  a  4000-hp  Brown- 
Boveri-Parsons  turbo-generator  at  Frankfurt-a-M,  which,  with 
a  load  of  2518  kw,  and  a  vacuum  of  91.8  per  cent,  showed  a 
steam  consumption  of  15.75  ms-  Per  kw-hour,  and  with  a  load 
of  2985  kw,  steam  pressure  152  lbs.,  superheat  312  clegs,  and 
vacuum  90  per  cent,  a  steam  consumption  of  15. 1  lbs.  per  kw- 
hour.  While  this  steam  consumption  is  about  10  per  cent 
higher  than  that  guaranteed  for  the  Sulzer  engine  above  men- 
tioned (which  was  equivalent  to  about  13^  lbs.  steam  per  kw- 
hour),  yet  the  fact  that  the  complete  engine  and  generator  can 
be  purchased  at  about  one-third  the  cost  per  ihp  of  the  Sulzer 
engine  alone,  is  of  itself  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  installation 
of  the  turbo  unit  under  ordinary  conditions,  besides  which  the 
latter  has  many  other  advantages.  Any  Corliss  engine,  which 
costs  no  more  than  the  combined  turbo-generator  unit,  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  show  any  better  economy  than  the  test 
just  above  mntioned. 

A.  M.  Mattice,  in  an  article  on  "Efficiency  Test  of  1250-kw 
Steam  Turbine  for  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company, 
of  New  York,"3  states  that  the  turbine  had  an  efficiency  with 
150  lbs.  steam  pressure,  28-in.  vacuum,  and  steam  superheat 

1  See  discussion  on  Mr.  Emmet's  paper,  at  the  Saratoga  meeting  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association,  Street  Railway  Journal,  Sept.  12, 
1903. 

2  "The  Electrical  Review"  (New  York),  Jan.  23,  1904,  page  158. 

3  See  "Electrical  World  and  Engineer,"  Feb.  20,  1904,  page  356. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


557 


75  degs.  F.,  of  13.2  lbs.  per  ehp-hour  at  full  load,  and  139  lbs. 
at  three-quarter  load,  and  15.4  lbs.  of  half  load.  He  also  re- 
ports a  regulation  test  showing  only  2  per  cent  increase  in 
speed  by  suddenly  throwing  off  a  load  of  1309  kw,  and  a  de- 
crease in  speed  of  only  2.2  per  cent  by  suddenly  throwing  on  a 
load  of  1340  kw.  These  economies  are  about  what  might  be 
expected  under  good  conditions  from  a  good  compound  con- 
densing Corliss,  or  other  high-grade  unit. 

J.  A.  Seymour,  in  an  article  entitled  "The  Economy  of  Re- 
ciprocating Engines  at  Light  Loads,  as  Compared  With  That 
of  Steam  Turbines,"4  shows  that  tests  conducted  on  three  Mc- 
intosh and  Seymour  engines,  direct-driving  1600-kw  genera- 
tors, gave  economies  for  all  loads  somewhat  better  than  those 
reported  by  Mr.  Mattice  for  the  1250-kw  turbo  units.  This 
also  shown  by  the  diagram,  Fig.  1,  which  was  given  with 
Mr.  Seymour's  article. 

Emile  Guarini,  in  an  article  entitled  "Steam  Turbines  in 
Europe,"5  reports  the  efficiency  tests  made  on  two  turbo-gen- 


.3  .4  .5  .0  .7  .8 

Load  in  Terms  of  Hatud  Electrical  Load. 

FIG.  l.-CURVES  OF  STEAM  CONSUMPTION 

erators  at  Elberfeld.  These  were  of  1000  kw  each,  and  a  speed 
of  1500  r.  p.  m.  The  actual  steam  consumption  with  only  14 
degs.  (probably  Centigrade)  superheat  was  as  follows: 


Load  in  Kw 

1,250 

I.OOO 
750 

500 


Actual  Consumption 
14  deg.  ^uperhaat 
Kg  per  Kw-hour 

8.63 
9.I9 

9-99 
11. 41 


Actual  Consumpiion 
14  deg  Superheat 
Lbs.  per  Kw-hour 

!9-°3 
20.26 
22.02 
25.16 


"The  Electrical  World  and  Engineer,"  New  York  (June  18, 
1904,  page  1 162),  contains  an  article  entitled  "A  Recent  Brake 
Test  of  400-kw  Westinghouse-Parsons  Steam  Turbine."  This 
test  was  carried  out  by  Dean  &  Main,  of  Boston,  and  shows 
steam  consumption  with  100  degs.  F.  superheat,  in  pounds  of 
steam  per  B.  H.  P.,  as  follows : 


77  per  cent  Load 

12.86 


41  per  cent  Load 
14.62 


POUNDS  OF  STEAM  PER  B.  II.  P. 

31  per  cent  Overload  Full  Load 

[2.07  I2.4t 

The  above-mentioned  tests  for  both  1000-kw  and  400-kw  sets 
compare  favorably  with  what  might  be  expected  from  good 
Corliss,  or  other  high  type  engines  of  the  same  capacity. 

Mr.  Seymour's  article  seems  to  prove  that,  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, the  economy  of  the  steam  turbine  at  light  loads 
may  be  less  than  that  of  the  reciprocating  engine;  yet,  under 
ordinary  conditions,  the  general  impression  that  the  turbine 
unit  will  show  better  economy  at  light  loads,  seems  justified. 


*  See  "Electrical  World  and  Engineer,"  April  2,  1904,  page  651. 
6  See  "Power,"  December,  1903,  page  676, 


The  governing  mechanism  employed  on  turbines,  by  which 
steam  is  admitted  in  puffs  as  frequently  as  may  be  required  to 
maintain  speed,  permits  of  the  steam  going  into  the  turbine  at 
practically  full  boiler  pressure,  and  without  being  wire  drawn 
at  the  throttle  valve.  The  arrangement  of  the  best  design  of 
turbines  is  now  such  that  the  steam  may  expand  in  such  way 
as  to  very  closely  follow  an  adiabatic  curve.  In  addition  to  the 
above,  there  is  no  alternate  heating  and  cooling  of  cylinders, 
no  loss  of  energy  due  to  stopping  and  starting  of  reciprocating 
parts,  and  much  less  friction,  due  to  lighter  weight  and  lack  of 
reciprocating  parts. 

Considering  all  the  above,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that,  when  the 
design  of  the  turbine  has  been  worked  out  to  such  high  per- 
fection as  is  shown  in  the  reciprocating  engines  mentioned  in 
the  article  of  Mr.  Seymour,  the  turbine  economy  is  likely  to 
surpass  that  of  the  reciprocating  engine  for  all  loads,  but  more 
especially  for  light  loads. 

The  commercial  development  of  the  turbine  has  been  re- 
markable. The  first  Westinghouse-Parsons  turbine  was  put 
into  commercial  use  in  the  last  six  months  of  1899.  The  first 
Curtis  turbine,  according  to  Mr.  Emmet,  of  600-kw  capacity 
and  horizontal  type,  was  put  into  operation  the  latter  part  of 
1 901.  The  second  Curtis  turbine,  500  kw  and  the  first  of  the 
vertical  type,  was  put  into  regular  operation  at  Newport  about 
June,  1903,  and  the  second  vertical  Curtis  turbine,  5000  kw, 
was  put  into  operation  in  Chicago  about  Oct.  1,  1903.  In  the 
short  time  since  these  first  machines  were  started,  many  thou- 
sands of  horse-power  of  both  Westinghouse-Parsons  and  Cur- 
tis turbines  have  been  put  into  operation.  The  General  Elec- 
tric Company  has  now  on  order  several  hundred  thousand 
horse-power  of  Curtis  turbines,  many  of  them  being  5000-kw 
units,  and  the  Westinghouse  interests  are  building  5500-kw 
turbine  units  for  the  proposed  large  stations  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad  of  New  York,  eight  units  of  the  same  size  for 
the  London  Underground  Railways,  and  have  on  order  many 
other  large  turbine  units. 

The  largest  turbine  unit  ordered  to  date,  so  far  as  noted  by 
the  writer,  is  one  being  built  for  the  Electricity  Company  at 
Essen,  Germany,  by  Brown,  Boveri  &  Company,  of  about  10,000 
hp,  which  is  to  drive  an  alternator  of  5000-kw  capacity  and  a 
continuous  current  generator  of  600  volts,  1500-kw  capacity. 
The  total  height  of  this  unit  will  be  9U  ft.,  and  the  total  length 
55  ft.,  the  length  of  the  turbine  itself  being  about  22  ft.  The 
manufacturers  guarantee  a  consumption  of  less  than  7  kg  of 
steam  per  kw-hour,  or  about  9  lbs.  per  ihp-hour. 

The  rapid  adoption  of  the  turbine  unit  has  been  largely  fa- 
cilitated by  the  rapid  growth  in  size  of  central  stations,  and  the 
tendency  to  use  alternating  current  for  general  distribution, 
installing  sub-stations  wherever  direct  current  is  required, 
even  at  the  central  station  itself.  With  improved  alternating- 
motors,  adapted  to  traction  as  well  as  other  purposes,  there 
will  perhaps  be  a  tendency  to  restrict  the  installation  of  sub- 
stations, but  this  will  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  continued 
and  increasing  use  of  the  turbo-alternating  units.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  development  of  steam  turbines  has  helped  to  make 
more  general  the  use  of  alternating  generators,  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  constructing  armatures,  and  particularly  commuta- 
tors, with  large  capacity  adapted  to  the  high  speeds  of  the 
turbines. 

During  the  last  few  years  the  development  of  the  gas  engine 
for  power  house  uses  has  been  much  discussed,  and  in  design 
and  operation  has  been  greatly  improved.  Where  gas  can  be 
had  at  less  than  20  cents  per  tooo  cu.  ft.,  the  actual  fuel  cost 
for  gas  engines  would  be  probably  less  than  steam  engines  of 


558 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


either  turbine  or  reciprocating  types.  The  gas  engine,  how- 
ever, has,  as  compared  to  turbo-generators,  numerous  disadvan- 
tages, the  most  important  perhaps  of  which  are : 

( 1 )  V ery  much  higher  first  cost. 

(2)  A  multiplicity  of  reciprocating  parts,  with  many  wear- 
ing surfaces,  requiring  constant  attention  and  increased  repair 
accounts. 

(3)  Complicated  valve  gear  likely  to  become  clogged  with 
residuum  from  the  gas  consumption,  requiring  constant  care 
and  watchfulness. 

(4)  Increased  space  required,  much  more  expensive  founda- 
tions, etc. 

The  mere  fact  that  the  turbo-generator  units  have  come  so 
rapidly  into  use,  and  that  so  many  thousand  horse-power  are 
now  on  order,  is  of  itself  practically  conclusive  proof  that  the 
turbine-generator  unit  has  inherent  advantages.  Abraham 
Lincoln's  oft-quoted  remark  that  "You  cannot  fool  all  of  the 


(5)  Smaller  space  occupied,  necessiating  less  investment  in 
land,  as  well  as  in  building. 

(6)  Cheaper  and  simpler  foundations  required. 

(7)  Easier  lubrication. 

(8)  The  simple  compact  construction  makes  all  parts  easily 
accessible,  and  the  absence  of  reciprocating  parts  considerably 
reduces  frictional  losses,  wear,  danger  of  hot  wearing  surfaces, 
and  the  attendance  required. 

(9)  Reduction  in  repair  accounts.  This  may  not  apply  at 
present,  but  is  sure  to  follow  as  the  natural  consequence  from 
the  simple  construction  after  standard  types  of  turbines  have 
been  developed  and  the  "bugs"  eliminated. 

(10)  Lack  of  oil  in  condensed  steam  permits  of  the  con- 
densed water  being  pumped  hot  directly  to  the  boilers  without 
danger  of  injuring  them,  thus  saving  fuel,  and  almost  entirely 
eliminating  cost  of  feed  water,  and  minimizing  boiler  repairs. 

(11)  Ability  to  secure  increased  economy  by  use  of  steam 


30 


lor 


fUHJISTUHjlNE  WITHOUT^  UPER^TT 
CURTS  TURBINE  100  F.  SUPERHEAT.  ISIPLE_CO N  jj E N S I N G 


VACUUM  28.5" 


~  0.8 


5  0.0 

w 

%  °-E 

o  0.4 

o 

K  0.3 


0.'-1 


0.1 


V 

HORIZONTAL\ 
CORLISS  \ 

VE 

CC 

RTICAL 
RLISS  . 

PARSON'S  . 

STEAM 
TURBINE 

50     00     70     80      90     100    110    r.'O     130    110    150     1G0    170  180 
Lbs.  [nitial  Gauge  Pressure  Street  Ryjomu 


2000  3000  100U 

E!ec\  Horse  Power 


.:ooo  ooou 

Street  Ry.Journal 


FIG.  2.— ENGINE  AND  TURBINE  PERFORMANCE— STEAM 
CONSUMPTION 


FIG.  3.— COMPARATIVE  FLOOR  SPACE  REQUIRED  FOR  THREE 
TYPES  OF  PRIME  MOVERS,  ALL  OPERATING  CONDENSING 


people  all  the  time,"  is  still  apt,  and  the  mere  fact  that  so  many 
prominent  engineers  have  ordered  turbo-generator  units  is  con- 
clusive evidence  of  their  merits. 

The  chief  advantages  of  the  steam-turbine  units  apparently 
are  as  follows : 

(1)  Lower  first  cost  of  turbine  unit,  including  dynamo.  Al- 
though the  selling  prices  of  these  units  are  still  high  in  propor- 
tion to  their  cost  of  manufacture,  it  seems  certain  that  com- 
petition will  ultimately,  as  processes  of  manufacture  become 
standardized,  bring  the  selling  prices  of  the  turbo  units  much 
below  those  now  prevailing,  and  within  reasonable  margin  of 
the  actual  cost  of  manufacture. 

(2)  Economy  at  rated  load  about  equal  to  the  best  economy 
ordinarily  obtainable  from  reciprocating  engines  of  usual  types, 
with  relatively  somewhat  better  economy  under  light  loads  and 
ordinary  operating  conditions. 

(3)  Very  satisfactory  momentary  regulation  under  sudden 
variations  of  load. 

(4)  Generators  can  be  more  easily  synchronized,  operated 
in  parallel,  and  adjustment  of  governor  can  be  more  easily 
made  during  operation,  so  that  each  unil  shall  lake  its  proper 
proportion  of  total  load. 


much  more  highly  superheated  than  is  practicable  with  recipro- 
cating engines. 

Some  of  these  advantages  are  shown  graphically  in  the  ac- 
companying diagrams,  Figs.  2  and  3,  taken  from  articles  pre- 
viously published. 

Ten  years  ago  many  of  the  power  stations,  especially  the 
smaller  ones,  showed  steam  consumption  of  from  50  lbs.  to  100 
lbs.  per  ehp-hour,  and  coal  consumption  from  7  lbs.  to  15  lbs. 
per  ehp-hour.  Some  stations  are  still  showing  similar  pour 
results.  It  should,  however,  now  be  possible  to  install  a  station 
of  1000  hp,  or  over,  which  should  show  average  economy  of 
better  than  20  lbs.  of  steam  per  ehp-hour,  and  full  load  economy 
better  than  15  lbs.  of  steam  per  ehp-hour. 

The  development  of  switchboard  apparatus  and  minor  de- 
tails has  been  quite  as  marked  during  the  past  twenty  years  as 
has  been  the  development  of  engines  and  generators,  and  while 
undoubtedly  improvements  will  continue,  the  progress  already 
made  has  been  so  great  that  similar  rapid  improvement  can  no 
longer  be  expected.  One  may  consequently  now  invest  in  se- 
curities of  electrical  undertakings,  feeling  confident  that  ma- 
chinery now  purchased  is  not  likely  to  become  antiquated 
within  reasonable  time,  or  to  be  seriously  handicapped  in  com- 
petition with  machinery  of  greatly  improved  types. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


559 


ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  WORK  IN  AMERICA  PRIOR  TO  1888 

OUTSIDE  of  the  early  work  of  Davenport,  electric  rail- 
way work  in  America  dates  from  1880,  when  Thomas 
A.  Edison,  whose  genius  has  illuminated  practically 
every  field  of  electrical  research,  ran  an  electric  locomotive 
over  a  track,  less  than  half  a  mile  in  length,  at  Menlo  Park, 
N.  J.  Since  that  time  the  development  has  been  rapid  and  has 
called  into  service  an  immense  number  of  men,  many  of  whom 
know  little  about  the  trials  and  hardships  experienced  by  the 
pioneers  in  the  electric  railway  field.  Yet  it  is  their  work, 
courage  and  energy  which  has  developed  the  electric  railway  of 
to-day.  Among  those  to  whom  the  world  is  indebted  for  the 
success  of  electric  transportation  and  who  have  passed  away 
are  Charles  J.  Van  Depoele,  John  C.  Henry  and  Sydney  H. 
Short.  Others,  however,  are  living,  and  several,  like  Sprague, 
have  remained  prominent  factors  in  the  electric  railway  field. 

The  readers  of  this  issue  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  read 
the  story  of  a  considerable  part  of  the  early  work  as  told  by 
the  inventors  themselves,  or  by  others  who  were  closely  asso- 
ciated with  them.  It  is  not  the  intention  of  this  article  to  re- 
peat the  facts  which  are  described  in  more  interesting  detail 
at  first  hand,  but  to  mention  briefly  some  of  the  other  important 
events  in  the  very  early  work  of  electric  railroading. 

The  motor  on  the  Edison  electric  locomotive,  already  men- 
tioned, consisted  of  a  dynamo  of  the  "Z"  or  sixty-light  type, 
wound  for  125  volts,  and  took  power  from  the  track  rails  which 
were  insulated  from  each  other.  In  prosecuting  his  claims  for 
patents  soon  after  building  this  road,  Mr.  Edison  found  two 
other  inventors,  Siemens  and  Field,  whose  claims  covered 
largely  the  features  for  which  his  applications  were  filed.  The 


THE  TORONTO  EXHIBITION  RAILWAY— 1885 


claims  of  the  first  named  were  denied  by  the  courts,  and  Edison 
united  with  Field  and  organized,  about  1882,  the  Electric  Rail- 
way Company  of  the  United  States.  Soon  after  this,  Mr. 
Edison's  attention  being  attracted  to  other  fields  of  electrical 
development,  the  promotion  of  the  new  company  was  left  to 
Mr.  Field,  and  at  the  Chicago  Exposition  of  1883  an  electric 
locomotive  called  "The  Judge"  was  exhibited.  This  locomotive 
weighed  about  3  tons  and  was  operated  by  a  third  rail.    Il  was 


put  in  operation  June  19,  1883,  drawing  a  trail  car,  and  carried 
over  26,000  passengers  during  the  two  weeks  in  which  it  ran. 

About  the  same  year,  Walter  H.  Knight  and  Edward  M. 
Bentley  organized  the  Bentley-Knight  Railway  Company, 
which  in  the  fall  of  1883  built  an  electric  railway  line  in  the 


VAN  DEPOELE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  IN  APPLETON— 18S6 


yards  of  the  Brush  Company.  The  first  public  line  equipped 
by  the  Bentley-Knight  Railway  Company  was  on  a  section  of 
the  East  Cleveland  Street  Railway,  where  a  car  was  put  in 
service  on  July  27,  1884.  About  a  mile  of  track  had  been 
equipped  with  a  wooden  conduit,  built  up  of  cast-iron  yokes 
set  on  the  ties.  Outside  of  the  yokes  were  2-in.  planks  to  form 
the  sides  of  the  conduit,  while  similar  planks  formed  the  top. 
The  slot  had  an  original  width  of  Y\  hi.  The  conductors  were 
mounted  about  4  ins.  apart  within  the  conduit,  and  were  sup- 
ported on  insulators  projecting  from  the  wooden  side  walls. 
The  first  car  was  equipped  with  a  Brush  arc  light  dynamo  sus- 
pended underneath  the  center  of  the  car  body  and  connected 
by  coiled  steel-wire  belts  to  countershafts,  which  in  turn  were 
similarly  belted  to  the  axles.  Another  road  was  constructed 
later  at  Woonsocket,  R.  I.,  and  a  combined  trolley  and  conduit 
road  at  Allegheny,  Pa.  A  section  of  conduit  line  in  Boston 
was  completed  in  1888,  and  soon  after  that  time  the  company 
was  absorbed  by  the  Thomson-Houston  Electric  Company. 

Charles  J.  Van  Depoele  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  have 
adopted  the  under-running  trolley,  although  the  value  of  this 
invention  did  not  immediately  appeal  to  him,  and  a  number  of 
his  later  roads  used  the  over-running  trolley.  Mr.  Van  Depoele 
was  a  Belgian  by  birth  and  moved  to  this  country  in  1869,  set- 
tling in  Detroit.  In  1880  he  organized  the  Van  Depoele  Elec- 
tric Light  Company  in  Chicago,  and  in  the  winter  of  1882-1883 
he  equipped  an  electric  elevated  railway  in  an  exposition  build- 
ing in  that  city.  The  line  was  400  ft.  long,  and  the  rails  were 
used  as  one  side  of  the  circuit,  while  a  copper  wire  suspended 
in  the  center  of  the  track  was  utilized  as  the  other  side  of  the 
circuit.  The  wire  was  supported  on  a  number  of  boards  which 
were  cut  with  V-slots  at  their  upper  end.  On  the  bottom  of  the 
car  were  placed  two  wheels  over  which  the  w  ire  ran,  so  that  as 
the  car  traveled  the  wire  was  lifted  out  of  the  V-shaped  slots 
and  dropped  into  them  again  after  passing.  This  arrangement 
had  been  substituted  for  an  overhead  conductor,  which  was 
first  proposed.  The  car  was  equipped  with  a  3-hp  motor  and 
could  accommodate  about  five  people.  This  plant  ran  for  sev- 
eral weeks  with  perfect  success.  The  same  year,  during  the 
month  of  August,  Mr.  Van  Depoele  equipped  an  elevated  rail- 


560 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


way  car  at  the  Chicago  Institute  Fair.  The  cars  were  sus- 
pended from  the  elevated  structure  instead  of  running  upon  it. 


J.   C.  HENRY 


C.  J.  VAN  DEPOELE 


of  the  following  year  the  overhead  trolley  line,  illustrated  in 
the  accompanying  engraving,  was  built.  This  line  was  1  mile 
in  length,  and  the  trolley  pole,  which  was  arranged 
1  very  similar  to  an  old  well  sweep,  was  carried  on  top 
of  the  car,  the  rails  being  used  as  a  return.  The 
round  trip  was  made  in  eight  minutes,  and  during 
the  last  five  days  of  the  Fair  50,000  people  were  car- 
ried. 

The  first  road  operating  several  independent  cars 
I      built  by  Mr.  Van  Depoele  was  at  South  Bend,  Ind., 
where  four  ordinary  cars,  each  equipped  with  a  5-hp 
!      motor,  and  one  large  car  equipped  with  a  10-hp  mo- 
tor, were  put  in  operation  on  Nov.  14,  1885.  The 
r  track  rails  were  bonded  by  copper  plates  3  ins.  x  12 

ins.,  placed  under  the  joints,  and  the  rails  were  then 
spiked  down  over  the  plates.  The  trolley  wire  was 
34  m-  in  diameter,  and  the  over-running  trolley  was 
used,  as  in  most  of  Mr.  Van  Depoele's  work  during 
the  following  three  or  four  years.  The  motors  were 
placed  under  the  cars  between  the  wheels  and  were 


The  motor  was  consequently  011  top  of  the  car,  and  by  means 
of  belting  was  connected  with  the  car  axles.  The  conductors, 
of  which  there  were  two,  one  for  each  side  of  the  circuit,  were 
carried  directly  over  the  car,  and  contact  was  made  by  brass 
rollers  pressing  upward  against  the  conductors.  This  line  was 
run  for  fifty  days,  or  as  long  as  the  Exposition  lasted. 

In  July,  1884,  Mr.  V an  Depoele  installed  an  exhibition  line 
about  3000  ft.  in  length  at  the  Toronto  Annual  Exhibition, 
where  an  underground  conduit,  consisting  of  a  wooden  box 
fixed  to  the  center  of  the  track  by  means  of  iron  brackets,  was 
used.  The  top  of  this  box  was  slotted,  and  the  edges  of  the 
slot  were  protected  by  iron  strips  running  its  entire  length  to 
prevent  the  wear  of  the  wood.  Inside  and  outside  the  wood  of 
the  box  was  painted  with  asphalt.  The  conductors  were  car- 
ried on  opposite  sides  of  the  box,  and  current  was  taken  by  a 


VAN  DEPOELE  RAILWAY  AT  DAYTON-18S8 


plow,  whose  brushes  made  electrical  contact  with  the  conduc- 
tors. The  car  was  equipped  with  a  30-hp  motor,  drew 
three  cars  and  carried  about  200  people  at  a  trip.    In  the  fall 


CAR  AT  LIMA  IN  1887,  SHOWING  MOTOR  ON  FRONT  PLATFORM 

connected  to  the  axles  by  link  belting.  This 
road  was  about  2j/2  miles  in  length.  The 
latter  part  of  the  year  a  line  three-quar- 
ters of  a  mile  in  length  and  with  two 
cars  was  put  in  operation  at  the  New 
Orleans  Exposition.  During  the  follow- 
ing winter  a  50-hp  locomotive  was  put 
in  service  on  the  Minneapolis,  Lyndale  &  Min- 
netonka  Railway.  This  railroad  was  operated 
by  steam  and  the  electric  locomotive  was  in- 
stalled to  haul  the  passenger  cars  through  the 
streets  where  the  use  of  steam  power  was  not 
permitted.  As  many  as  eight  loaded  cars  were 
hauled  at  one  time  up  a  grade  of  3^  per  cent, 
making  a  total  estimated  weight  of  91  tons. 
Other  lines  built  about  this  time  were  the 
Windsor  Electric  Railway,  of  Windsor,  Ont, 
in  the  spring  of  1886;  the  Detroit  line,  Ij4 
miles  in  length,  put  in  operation  on  Sept.  1, 
1886,  and  the  Montgomery,  Ala.,  line,  iy2  miles 
in  length,  was  put  in  operation  early  in  1887. 
Lines  were  also  built  at  Appleton,  Wis.;  Port 
Huron,  Mich. ;  Scranton,  Pa. ;  Ansonia,  Conn. ; 
Dayton,  Ohio,  and  other  cities.  The  Ansonia 
line  and  that  at  Dayton  were  equipped  with  the  under-running, 
trolley,  and  one  of  the  accompanying  illustrations  shows  the 
form  of  pole  used.    The  chief  objection  to  this  form  of  trol- 


1 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


56i 


ley  in  the  early  days  was  the  difficulty  in  making  it  stay  on 
the  wire. 

Associated  with  Mr.  Van  Depoele  in  a  great  deal  of  his  early 
work  were  several  gentlemen  who  have  ever  since  been  con- 
nected with  the  industry  and  are  well  known  in  electrical  cir- 
cles ;  among  them  W.  J.  Clark,  Elmer  P.  Morris  and  W.  N. 
Sheaff. 

John  C.  Henry  was  another  of  the  early  inventors.  In  1884-5, 
Mr.  Henry,  who  was  then  a  resident  of  Kansas  City,  con- 
structed there  an  electric 
railway,  using  overhead 
wires.  In  the  fall  of 
1885  he  made  some  ex- 
periments in  heavy  elec- 
tric railroading  on  a 
branch  of  the  Fort  Scott 
Steam  Railroad,  where 
heavy  freight  cars  were 
operated.  Mr.  Henry 
later,  in  1886,  equipped 
the  Kansas  City  Fifth 
Street  Railroad  with  his 
street  railway  system. 
Here  he  employed,  it  is 
claimed,  for  the  first  time 
the  following  features, 
which  are  still  in  common 
use :  The  trolley  wires  were  of  No.  1  hard-drawn  copper,  and 
were  supported  centrally  over  the  street  from  the  insulators  and 
span  wires  to  poles  placed  along  the  curb  lines ;  the  trolley  en- 
gaged the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  wires,  and  was  so  held  by 


The  pioneer  work  of  Sidney  H.  Short  should  also  be  men- 
tioned in  this  connection.  Prof.  Short,  while  vice-president 
of  the  Denver  University  and  professor  of  physics  in  that  in- 
stitution, became  interested  in  electrical  work,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1885  constructed  a  short  electric  railway  in  Denver.  The 


s.  H.  SHORT 


ONE  OF  THE  EARLY  SHORT-SERIES  ROADS 

track  was  made  of  T-rails  laid  on  crossties,  the  two  conductors 
being  supported  on  insulators  between  the  rails.  The  car  had 
four  wheels  and  a  rigid  truck ;  the  motor  was  geared  with  one 
pinion  and  one  gear  to  the  axle.  The  car  body  was  8  ft.  long, 
and  fitted  with  a  rheostat  lever  and  reversing  lever.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  road  was  so  great  that  a  party  of  capitalists  induced 


VAN  DEPOELE  RAILWAY  IN  JAMAICA,  N.  Y— 1887 

spring  pressure ;  the  current  was  supplied  by  compound-wound, 
constant-potential  dynamos;  the  motors  were  series-wound  and 
were  journaled  on  the  car  axles  at  one  end,  the  other  end  being 
spring  supported;  the  gearing  was  encased  and  ran  in  oil;  the 
practice  of  using  two  pairs  of  tapering  brushes  was  discarded 
and  a  single  pair  which  abutted  the  commutator  was  substi- 
tuted. An  independent  switch  was  added  to  reverse  the  motor 
instead  of  shifting  the  brushes.  In  1887  Mr.  Henry  removed  to 
San  Diego,  Cal.,  and  constructed  a  number  of  electric  roads, 
one  of  which  contained  9  per  cent  grades,  which  were  sur- 
mounted by  his  motors  and  trail  cars  with  success.  The  sys- 
tem of  underground  feeders  was  first  introduced  on  one  of 
those  roads. 


POWER  STATION  AT  JAMAICA— 1887 

Mr.  Short  to  give  up  his  professorship  and  develop  a  street 
railway  system.  The  conduit  system  was  adopted  and  5  miles 
of  track  were  laid  on  Fifteenth  Street  in  Denver,  and  operated 
with  considerable  success.  The  difficulties  with  insulation  in 
the  conduit  in  wet  weather,  and  the  imperfections  of  the  early 
types  of  motors  and  generators,  led  to  electricity  being  finally 
abandoned  and  the  cable  substituted.  This  was  in  turn  given 
up,  and  the  road  is  again  equipped  with  electricity,  the  over- 
head trolley  system  being  used. 

Later.  Mr.  Short  returned  to  Columbus,  where,  under  the 
firm  name  of  S.  H.  Short  &  Company,  a  short  line  about  2l/2 
miles  in  length,  using  the  overhead  system  and  series  motors, 
with  the  series  system  of  distribution,  was  built.    In  1888  Mr. 


562 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


Short  constructed  another  line  on  the  overhead  series  system 
in  St.  Louis.  In  June,  1889,  he  made  Cleveland  his  home,  and 
organized  the  Short  Electric  Railway  Company,  with  a  capital 
of  $5,000,000.  He  was  later  chief  engineer  of  the  Walker  Com- 
pany, and  some  few  years  before  his  death  moved  to  London, 
where  he  became  technical  director  of  the  English  Electric 
Manufacturing  Company. 


TWENTY  YEARS  OF  CAR  BUILDING 


BY  TOHN  A.  BRILL 


TWENTY  years  ago — that 
takes  us  back  to  the  final 
days  of  the  horse  car  and 
short  era  then  commencing 
of  the  cable  car.  Types  and 
methods  of  construction 
of  the  horse  car  had  long 
been  established  and  the 
minimum  weight  of  cars 
for  the  maximum  loads  de- 
termined. The  art  of  car 
building  was  so  completely 
developed  by  the  genius 
and  energy  of  the  fathers  of  the  industry,  chief  of  whom 
were  John  Stephenson,  J.  M.  Jones,  F.  W.  Brownell  and 
J.  G.  Brill,  that  practically  nothing  has  since  been  added  to  it. 
The  reduction  of  weight  of  the  standard  closed  16-ft.  horse 
car  and  gear  and  brake  complete  from  5700  lbs.  to  4280  lbs., 
which  was  accomplished  by  Mr.  Brill,  well  illustrates  the  re- 
markable degree  of  excellence  to  which  building  was  brought, 


With  the  introduction  of  longer  cars  for  cable  and  electric 
roads,  the  size  of  framing  material  was  increased  about  25  per 
cent.  In  the  horse  car  the  strains  brought  upon  the  upper 
framing  by  stopping  and  starting  were  comparatively  small, 
while  on  cable  and  electric  lines  the  strains  are  violent  and 
tend  to  loosen  the  whole  upper  structure. 

In  the  first  cars  that  were  operated  by  electricity  early  in  the 


ONE  OF  THE  FIRST  ELECTRIC  MOTOR  CARS— MOTOR 
ON  PLATFORM 

8o's,  the  motors  were  placed  on  the  car  floor,  but  that  method 
had  to  be  abandoned,  as  the  vibration  racked  the  car  severely. 
The  suspension  of  the  motor  from  the  car  body  by  different 
methods  was  also  found  to  be  impracticable,  and  eventually  it 
was  supported  upon  an  independent  frame  work  connected  with 
the  truck.  The  writer  was  the  inventor  and  first  constructor 
of  a  truck  of  this  character.  The  idea  was  not  at  once  accepted, 
but  after  many  costly  experiments,  street  railway  men  realized 
that  it  was  the  only  logical  method  of  carrying  the  motor. 
During  the  first  years  of  electrical  operation  many  of  the  old 


A  TYPICAL  HORSE  CAR  OF  TWENTY  YEARS  AGO 


HORSE   CAR  TRANSFORMED   FOR  ELECTRIC  SERVICE 


for  these  cars  frequently  carried  from  seventy-five  to  one  hun- 
dred passengers,  and  were  equal  in  durability  to  the  heavier 
cars. 

Lightness  was  obtained  by  careful  selection  of  material  and 
the  placing  of  it  together  with  the  accuracy  of  the  highest 
class  of  carriage  work.  The  posts  were  cut  from  wood  selected 
on  account  of  the  direction  of  the  grain,  and  every  particle  of 
strength  used  to  the  best  advantage.  This  was  necessary  be- 
cause of  the  almost  complete  absence  of  bracing.  The  influence 
of  this  careful  construction  was  altogether  beneficial  in  its 
effect  upon  building,  developing  habits  of  thoroughness  and 
care  in  details,  which  still  obtains,  and  lightness  of  construc- 
tion is  as  important  as  ever,  for  any  unnecessary  weight  in- 
creases the  operating  cost  per  car-mile.  There  is  a  fallacious 
idea  current  among  street  railway  men  that  cars  should  be  as 
heavy  as  possible  to  increase  tractive  force.  That  is  entirely 
a  matter  of  motor  equipment,  the  rating  of  which  is  figured 
on  the  maximum  load  and  not  on  the  car  running  light. 


horse  cars  were  placed  on  motor  trucks,  traps  cut  in  the  floor 
and  the  roofs  strengthened  for  trolley  poles.  The  new  cars 
were  built  18  ft.  over  the  bodies,  and  that  was  considered  very 
long.  It  was  several  years  before  they  were  again  increased  a 
couple  of  feet,  and  22-ft.  bodies  are  of  comparatively  recent 
date.  The  length  of  the  bodies  waited  on  the  development  of 
the  trucks.  The  discovery  that  the  bounding  motion,  common 
to  single  trucks,  was  the  result  of  a  rhythm  set  up  in  the  coil 
springs,  led  to  the  introduction  of  plate  springs,  which  by  their 
slower  action  prevented,  in  a  large  measure,  the  oscillation  and 
permitted  longer  bodies  to  be  used.  With  the  lengthening  of 
cars  the  bottom  framing  required  additional  cross  joists  and 
metal  reinforcing,  and  still  plates  soon  came  to  be  a  regular 
part  of  the  construction. 

When  longer  cars  requiring  double  trucks  came  into  use,  the 
difficulty  of  carrying  the  bodies  low  enough  to  have  the  steps 
of  a  convenient  height  confronted  builders.  After  a  long  series 
of  experiments  the  maximum-traction  truck,  invented  by  the 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


563 


writer,  was  perfected,  carrying  the  car  body  as  low  as  a  single 
truck,  and  bringing  the  long  city  car  into  general  use,  so  that 
for  a  number  of  years  comparatively  few  single-truck  cars  have 
been  used  in  city  work.  Many  short  cars  were  spliced  together 
and  mounted  on  maximum-traction  trucks — the  trucks  made 
this  possible.  A  large  number  of  small  roads  went  in  for  dou- 
ble-truck cars  when  four-wheeled  cars  would  have  saved  much 
of  the  original  outlay  and  reduced  the  cost  of  maintenance. 
Coincident  with  the  coming-  into  vogue  of  the  double-truck 


A  MODERN  TRANSVERSE  AND  LONGITUDINAL  SEATING 
ARRANGEMENT 

car  was  the  demand  for  a  transverse  seating  arrangement — not 
always  wise  when  applied  to  the  cars  of  busy  city  systems,  for 
such  an  arrangement,  although  providing  a  larger  seating  ca- 
pacity and  more  comfortable  seat,  lessens  the  total  capacity  by 
limiting  the  standing  room  and  retarding  the  movement  of 
passengers  in  and  out.  Longitudinal  seats  for  four  or  six 
passengers  each  at  the  car  corners  are  used  to  much  advantage 
with  the  transverse  seating  arrangement.  With  the  view  of 
obtaining  more  aisle  space  a  plan  adopted  on  several  large 
roads  has  the  transverse  seats  on  one  side  and  the  longitudinal 
seats  running  the  full  length  of  the  car  on  the  other  side;  but 
as  passengers  prefer  the  transverse  seats,  these  cars  often  run 
with  the  load  all  on  one  side.  A  better  arrangement  is  to  have 
the  longitudinal  seats  extend  half  the  length  of  the  car,  with 
the  transverse  seats  opposite,  and  the  other  half  of  the  car  with 


A  TYPE  OF  DOUBLE-DECK  TRAILER  CAR,  FORMERLY  USED  IN 
THIS  COUNTRY 


the  same  arrangement  transposed;  this  balances  the  load  and 
accomplishes  the  same  object. 

Interurban  traffic,  which  commenced  seven  or  eight  years 
ago,  enlarged  the  scope  of  electric  car  building,  introducing  a 
number  of  features  and  methods  of  steam  car  construction. 
This  class  of  building,  however,  was  developed  from  former 
types  of  electric  cars  rather  than  adaptations  from  steam  car 
practice.  There  has  been  and  still  continues  a  tendency  to  con- 
struct the  bottom  framing  of  interurban  cars  for  a  greater 
horizontal  strength  than  conditions  require,  adding  an  un- 


necessary amount  of  weight,  and  not  infrequently  there  has 
been  insufficient  provision  for  vertical  strain.  This  has  been 
shown  by  the  early  need  of  repairs,  and  in  some  cases  the  bot- 
tom framing  has  required  additional  bracing  and  trussing.  The 
upper  framing  of  the  larger  straight-sided  cars  is  braced  and 


A  GRIP  CAR  FOR  CABLE  SERVICE 

trussed  in  the  same  manner  as  in  steam  car  practice.  Plates 
are  usually  placed  on  the  inside  of  the  sills,  and  latterly,  on 
account  of  the  long  and  heavy  cars  being  built,  a  large  amount 
of  reinforcing  of  the  other  members  of  the  bottom  framing  by 
plates  and  angle  irons  has  been  introduced.  Many  companies 
have  learned  to  their  sorrow,  and  others  are  failing  to  profit  by 
their  experience,  that  the  cost  of  operating  extremely  large 
and  heavy  cars  is  more  than  the  business  warrants,  or  that  the 
service  is  limited  by  using  a  few  large  cars  when  the  same  out- 
lay for  smaller  cars  would  provide  for  a  more  frequent  sched- 
ule. There  are  many  disastrous  results  of  small  roads  emulat- 
ing the  example  of  the  few  extensive  systems  whose  conditions 
require  large  cars. 

For  cable  traction,  grip  cars  with  trailers  were  chiefly  used. 
The  grip  cars  were  usually  open  and  the  operating  mechanism 


ENGLISH  DOUBLE-DECK  MOTOR  CAR  OF  THE  PRESENT 

placed  in  the  center  of  the  car  and  direct  connected  with  the 
grip  device.  These  cars  commonly  had  longitudinal  seats 
placed  back  to  back  with  space  for  the  operator  between  and 
transversely  placed  seats  at  either  end.  At  first  horse  cars 
were  used  as  trailers,  then  followed  cars  of  various  types  and 
sizes  to  suit  conditions,  among  them  double-deckers,  open  cars 
with  seats  facing  outwardly,  center  vestibuled  types  and  the 
ordinary  forms;  usually  these  cars  were  mounted  on  double 
trucks.  The  latter  types  for  cable  service  carried  their  own 
grip  device,  which  was  connected  to  operating  mechanism 
placed  in  the  ends  of  the  car.  The  center  vestibule  car  con- 
tinued to  be  considerably  used,  and  another  type  which  found 
much  favor  was  a  car  having  open  sections  at  either  ends,  with 
seats  facing  outwardly  and  a  place  for  the  operator  between 
the  backs. 

When  the  electric  car  commenced  to  displace  horse  ami  cable 


564 


STREET  RAILWAY  TOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


cars  at  the  end  of  the  8o's,  the  types  that  came  into  general 
use  closely  followed  the  closed  and  open  standard  forms  of 
horse  cars.  The  double-decker  that  was  formerly  somewhat 
used  has  gone  entirely  out  of  use  in  this  country.  Its  continued 
use  in  foreign  countries  is  due  to  regulations  requiring  every 
passenger  to  be  seated,  and  also  to  speed  restrictions.  It  will 
pass  out  of  use  everywhere  eventually  on  account  of  its  slow- 


INTERIOR  OF  A  MODERN  INTERURBAN  CAR 

ness.  Cable  service  developed  a  few  types  which  were  suitable 
for  use  on  double  trucks,  and  therefore  were  held  in  abeyance 
until  double-truck  motor  cars  should  be  built.  The  first  im- 
portant additions  made  to  closed  cars  were  folding  gates,  and 
in  many  cases  vestibules  with  or  without  doors.  The  arrange- 
ment of  platforms  has  been  given  very  careful  attention  by 
builders  and  railway  men,  and  every  conceivable  type  thor- 
oughly tried.  For  city  service,  vestibules  with  open  sides  have 
been  invariably  used  where  the  conditions  permit.  The  pro- 
tection which  they  afford  increases  the  efficiency  of  motormen 
and  conductors.  Passengers  are  also  protected  when  entering 
and  leaving  the  car,  and  while  the  doors  are  open  the  car  is 
made  less  drafty.  In  cold  climates  the  completely  enclosed 
vestibule  early  came  into  use,  and  with  the  growth  of  suburban 
traffic  in  all  climates  this  form  of  vestibule  was  universally 
adopted.  In  interurban  cars 
the  vestibule  has  been  fre- 
quently divided  by  a  parti- 
tion, which  formed  a  cab  for 
the  motorman  at  one  side. 
In  some  cases  the  partition 
has  been  extended  diagonal- 
ly from  the  corner  post  of 
the  vestibule  to  the  inside 
post  of  the  door,  and  the  tri- 
angular corner  thus  formed 
occupied  by  the  hand  brake. 

The  standard  size  of 
platforms  is  4  ft.  8l/2  ins., 
measured  from  the  body 
over  the  crown  piece.  Of 
late  years,  however,  longer 
platforms   have   come  into 

vogue  for  city  and  suburban  service,  some  being  even 
as  long  as  6  ft.  As  a  rule,  long  platforms  are  divided 
transversely  by  a  rail,  which,  in  a  large  measure,  pre- 
vents the  passengers  who  are  standing  on  the  plat- 
form obstructing  the  passage  from  the  door  to  the  step.  This 
style  is  commonly  known  as  the  "Detroit"  platform,  and  is  in- 
tended to  increase  the  standing  space  of  the  car.  Formerly 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  criticism  upon  the  method  of  support- 
ing dropped  platforms,  and  much  of  it  was  just.  The  best 
method  includes  the  use  of  angle-iron  center  knees  extending 


well  back  of  the  body  bolster,  and  outside  knees  reinforced 
with  angle  iron.  By  this  arrangement  ample  support  is  given 
to  vestibules  and  long  platforms. 

Cars  for  interurban  service  have  been  usually  built  with  a 
baggage  compartment  fitted  with  folding  seats  for  the  use  of 
smokers,  or  with  a  smoking  compartment.  Extra  long  cars 
occasionally  have  both  baggage  and  smoking  compartments, 
and  toilet  rooms  of  standard  steam  car  character  are  also  gen- 
erally included  in  cars  for  this  form  of  service. 

Except  that  it  is  longer  and  stronger,  the  open  summer  car 
of  to-day  is  identical  with  the  open  car  formerly  drawn  by 
horses.  As  a  rule,  open  cars  are  built  with  bulkheads  having 
seats  at  either  side,  and  occasionally  light  vestibules  are  in- 
cluded. One  variation  from  this  type  omits  bulkheads  and 
uses  heavy  corner  posts  instead ;  another  has  bulkheads,  but 
omits  seats  on  the  outside  of  the  bulkheads,  reserving  this  space 
for  the  motorman.  Open  cars  with  center  aisles  and  with  or 
without  running  boards  date  back  to  the  horse  car  days  and 
continue  to  be  used  in  a  number  of  cities.  The  old  longitudinal- 
seated  open  car — the  seats  facing  outwardly — has  entirely  gone 
out  of  use  because  of  its  limited  seating  capacity  and  lack  of 
standing  space.  Except  on  maximum-traction  trucks,  long 
double-truck  open  cars  have  been  used  to  a  very  limited  extent. 
Mounting  on  maximum-traction  trucks  having  30-in.  driving 
wheels,  brings  the  tread  of  the  running  board  18  ins.  from  the 
rails,  and  the  distance  from  running  board  to  car  floor,  15  ins. 
Heights  greater  than  these  are  manifestly  unsafe,  unless  plat- 
forms are  used.  The  growth  of  amusement-park  service,  and 
of  summer-excursion  service  generally,  has  created  a  demand 
for  large  open  cars  requiring  double  trucks  capable  of  a  four- 
motor  equipment  per  car.  To  meet  this,  the  car  known  as  the 
"Narragansett"  type  was  designed,  which  has  a  pair  of  steps 
on  either  side,  so  arranged  as  not  to  exceed  the  width  of  a 
standard  single-step  open  car.  The  upper  step  is  upon  the  mid- 
dle web  of  Z-irons,  which  constitute  the  sills. 


MODERN   TYPES   OF  PLATFORMS 

Cars  having  long  platforms  with  seats  thereon  were  consid- 
erably used  on  cable  roads,  and  have  since  been  most  widely 
used  on  electric  roads  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  A  form  of  this 
car,  known  as  the  "California"  type,  is  constructed  with  angle- 
iron  side  sills,  offset  and  prolonged  to  carry  the  platforms  8T/2 
ins.  lower  than  the  floor  of  the  closed  part.  This  arrangement 
relieves  the  body  of  the  strain  of  the  long  platforms,  and  by 
carrying  the  platforms  low,  the  step  heights  are  14.3/2  ins.  from 
the  rails  to  the  running  boards,  and  12  ins.  from  running  boards 
to  platforms.    Large  double-truck  cars  of  this  type,  with  plat- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


565 


forms  flush  with  the  floor  of  the  body,  have  been  used  for 
many  years  in  the  far  West.  They  have  been  usually  provided 
with  vestibuled  ends,  and  the  seats  in  the  open  parts  are  prop- 
erly guarded  at  the  sides  to  prevent  accidents.  The  "Metro- 
politan" combination  car,  so  called  because  first  designed  and 
largely  used  by  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  of  New  York 
City,  is  simply  a  closed  car  at  one  end  and  open  at  the  other. 
In  New  York  every  fourth  car  is  one  of  this  type,  so  that  in 
summer  those  who  desire  to  ride  in  a  closed  car  may  be  accom- 
modated, and  in  winter  the  open  part  is  usually  well  filled  with 
smokers. 

From  the  early  horse  car  days  endeavors  were  made  to 
adapt  cars  for  both  summer  and  winter  use,  but,  because  of  the 
awkwardness  of  handling,  lack  of  durability  and  unsightly  ap- 
pearance, none  were  successful.  The  nearest  approach  to  suc- 
cess in  such  a  car  was  one  having  the  windows  and  the  upper 
section  of  the  side  panels  removable ;  this  system  came  into 
favor  in  spite  of  several  objectionable  features.  In  1898  the 
Brill  convertible  car  was  put  on  the  market,  and  lias  grown 
into  considerable  favor.  It  is  a  genuinely  convertible  car,  be- 
cause side  entrances  are  provided,  and  also  because  it  is  self- 
contained  and  capable  of  being  rapidly  converted  by  inexperi- 
enced persons. 

The  most  important  type  of  all  is  the  semi-convertible  car, 
because  of  its  large  field  and  adaptability  to  various  conditions. 
It  is  simply  a  car  with  the  window  spaces  capable  of  being 
made  entirely  free  of  the  sashes.  There  are  four  methods  of 
accomplishing  this :  in  the  first  the  sashes  are  removed  bodily 
from  the  car,  the  second  has  pockets  for  the  sashes  in  the  side 
walls,  the  third  has  wall  pockets  for  the  large  sash  and  the 
small  upper  sash  is  raised  into  a  recess  back  of  the  latter  board, 
and  the  fourth  arrangement  is  the  storage  of  both  sashes  in 
pockets  in  the  side  roofs. 

A  combination  of  the  convertible  and  semi-convertible  roof 
window  storage  types  has  recently  been  built  for  systems  where 
the  cars  run  in  one  direction.  The  arrangement  provides  more 
transverse  seating  space  than  is  obtainable  in  a  convertible  car, 
and  by  closing  one  side  entirely  reduces  the  liability  to  acci- 
dents. One  of  the  cars  of  this  type  was  built  for  trailer  service 
and  furnished  with  a  center  vestibule.  The  advantage  of  the 
center  vestibule  are  such  that  it  will  probably  be  considerably 
used  in  the  future,  especially  in  the  trailer  service,  which  is 
coming  into  vogue  again.  A  larger  seating  area  is  provided, 
and  by  dividing  the  car,  one  compartment  may  be  used  for 
smokers,  and  the  car  is  less  subject  to  drafts  in  winter  than  the 
ordinary  style. 



TWENTY  YEARS'  DEVELOPMENT  IN  STEAM-ENGINE 
PRACTICE 

With  Special  Reference  to  Electric  Traction 
BY  EDWIN  H.  SNIFFIN 

IN  a  retrospect  of  two  decades,  we  discern  in  the  steam- 
engine  practice  of  that  period  a  constructive  growth  great 
in  its  proportions  and  far-reaching  in  its  effect ;  a  growth 
dominated  throughout  by  commercial  considerations,  and  in 
this  sense  symbolical  of  the  contemporary  advance  of  a  dis- 
tinctively material  age. 

The  development  during  this  period  has  been  confined  for 
the  most  part  to  mechanical  improvements,  refinements  of  de- 
sign and  construction ;  in  a  word,  to  the  adaptation  on  a  vast 
scale  of  pioneer  thought  and  achievement  to  modern  exacting 
demands.  If  we  except  the  steam  turbine,  to  which  reference 
will  be  made  later,  there  have  been,  within  the  time  of  which 


we  are  treating,  no  discoveries  or  inventions  to  mark  a  radical 
departure  either  in  the  engine  itself  or  in  its  method  of  utilizing 
the  heat  energy  of  steam.  The  engine  has  grown  bigger  and 
better,  but  fundamentally  remains  unchanged. 

The  period  of  joo  years  precedent  to  1884  had  yielded  the 
heritage  of  established  laws  and  mechanical  principles.  Watt 
had,  in  1784,  converted  the  atmospheric  engine  into  the  double- 
acting  engine,  with  steam-jacketed  cylinder,  separate  boiler, 
individual  condenser  and  air  pump,  fly-wheel,  governor, 
throttle  valve  and  automatic  cut-off  valve  gear.  Twenty  years 
later  the  principle  of  compounding  was  introduced  by  Wolff. 
The  names  of  Davy  (1812),  Joule  (1843),  and  Rowland  (1880), 
mark  the  determination  of  the  mechanical  equivalent  of  heat. 
Carnot  and  Clausius  (1850)  elucidated  the  theory  of  heat. 
Regnault  (1847)  determined  the  physical  properties  of  satu- 
rated and  superheated  steam.  Hirn  (1870)  gave  us  the 
thermodynamic  analysis  of  the  engine,  and  Rankine  from  1849 
contributed  his  prolific  work.  The  nineteenth  century  wit- 
nessed in  succession  the  Wolff  or  non-receiver  type,  later  the 
receiver  type,  the  application  of  the  steam  engine  to  locomo- 
tive and  marine  work,  the  slide  valve,  the  Corliss  and  the  so- 
called  high-speed  types,  both  simple  and  double-acting. 

Watt's  original  simple  D  slide  valve  had  been  successively 
modified  into  the  balanced  valve,  the  double-ported  balanced 
valve,  single  and  double-ported  piston  valves ;  the  Meyer  ad- 
justable cut-off;  the  various  forms  of  riding  cut-off  valves;  the 
detachable  or  drop  cut-off,  applied  by  Sickles  to  marine  work, 
and  later  by  Corliss ;  the  rocking  valve  and  wrist  motion  gear 
of  Corliss,  and  the  various  four-valve  arrangements.  The 
original  unweighted  fly-ball  or  pendulum  governor  of  Watt's 
invention  had  been  modified  into  the  weighted  fly-ball  gov- 
ernor, and  later  into  the  spring-weighted  governor,  generally 
adopted  with  slow-speed  Corliss  gears.  With  the  high-speed 
engine  came  the  centrifugal  shaft  governor,  and  later  the  in- 
ertia type.  These  successive  discoveries  and  developments 
resulted  in  the  types  of  engine  which  had  come  into  use  for 
general  power  work  and  later  for  electric  lighting. 

The  inauguration  of  electric  traction  service,  therefore, 
found  available  engines  fairly  well  suited  to  its  initial  demands 
and  imposed  no  immediate  conditions  which  they  could  not 
meet.  Steam  pressures  were  low.  Units  were  small  and  re- 
finements of  economy  and  regulation  were  not  yet  understood 
or  sought.  The  adaptation  of  electric  apparatus  to  the  new 
service  was  at  this  time  the  subject  of  transcendent  impor- 
tance, the  engine  being  of  comparatively  minor  concern.  The 
generators  were  direct  current,  high  speed  and  universally 
belt  driven. 

The  first  distinguishing  step  toward  improvement  lay  in  es- 
tablishing a  closer  relationship  between  engine  and  generator, 
and  the  elimination  of  belts  and  shafting,  with  their  attending 
objections.  This  led  to  the  direct-connected  generator,  first 
of  the  high  speed  and  later  of  the  moderate  speed  type.  En- 
gine construction  was  modified  to  meet  it,  various  ingenious 
methods  of  flexible  connection  being  first  devised,  and  later, 
with  improved  shaft  and  bearing  construction,  the  engine  shaft 
was  extended  to  accommodate  the  revolving  generator  element. 
The  sudden  and  wide  fluctuations  of  load  required  engines  of 
heavier  proportions,  resulting  in  many  improvements  in  me- 
chanical detail  and  engines  of  better  general  design.  During 
the  ensuing  period  of  urban  service  the  problems  were  less 
those  of  design  than  of  application.  The  relation  of  engine 
indicated  horse-power  to  boiler  horse-power,  and  to  kilowatt 
rating,  all  in  turn  relating  to  the  character  of  station  output, 
were  among  the  more  imperative  considerations.  Engineering 


566 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


inquiry  was  directed  less  critically,  perhaps,  to  the  individual 
feature  of  steam  plant  design  than  to  the  harmonizing  of  the 
component  parts,  bringing  each  factor  into  its  proper  relative 
proportion.  The  lesson  was  learned  that  a  plant  composed  of 
good  units  was  not  necessarily  a  good  plant ;  that  the  misap- 
plication of  unrelated  features — however  meritorious  in  them- 
selves— produced  poor  results.  Out  of  this  experience  came 
the  systematic  correlation  of  the  various  elements  into  well- 
balanced  unity  and  the  establishment  of  the  principles  of 
station  design.  Meanwhile,  simple  engines  had  grown  into 
the  multiple  expansion  types.  Steam  pressure  had  risen, 
vacuum  came  into  more  general  use  and  economy  was  more 
definitely  and  insistently  sought. 

The  era  of  consolidation  brought  new  standards.  Sizes  in- 
creased by  leaps  and  bounds.  Long-distance  transmission 
established  alternating  current,  and  the  engine  builder  was 
confronted  with  the  perplexities  of  operating  enormous  re- 
ciprocating and  revolving  masses,  not  only  with  safety,  but 
with  extreme  nicety.  Apart  from  the  problems  of  size  alone, 
still  higher  pressures  and  greater  temperatures  were  to  be  met; 
the  maximum  uniformity  of  crank  effort  was  required ;  com- 
pactness was  necessary;  efficiency  of  great  importance,  and  the 
general  service  conditions  more  exacting  and  arduous  than 
ever  before.  Withal,  there  seems  to  have  been,  in  the  growth 
of  the  steam  engine,  prompt  response  to  the  successive  de- 
mands upon  it,  even  if  it  to-day  seem  to  have  reached  its 
functional  maturity.  The  problems  have  softened  into  those 
of  selection. 

Contributary  to  this  progress  have  been  the  marked  advance 
in  metallurgical  processes  and  methods  and  the  great  improve- 
ments in  machine  tools.  The  one  has  produced  the  proper 
character  and  requisite  uniformity  of  materials;  the  other  has 
rendered  possible  the  working  of  these  materials.  The  strides 
of  twenty  years  in  engine  building  had  not  been  possible  with- 
out the  development  of  these  co-ordinate  branches. 

With  the  appearance  of  the  steam  turbine,  we  find  the  first 
radical  departure  in  the  character  of  our  prime  mover,  and 
with  it  the  departure  of  many  limitations  previously  insur- 
mountable. Under  the  refining  influence  of  extended  prac- 
tice, steam  plant  wastes  have  been,  by  every  known  device  and 
expedient,  reduced  to  the  mimimum  point.  But  with  all  care 
and  ingenuity  there  remain  the  abnormal  interest  and  main- 
tenance charges  inherently  attributable  not  to  the  defects  but 
to  the  character  of  our  reciprocating  units.  The  marked  in- 
terest which  the  turbine  has  created,  and  its  prompt  adoption, 
are  evidently  due,  not  to  its  high  steam  efficiency,  but  to  its 
evident  commercial  efficiency.  We  see  the  cost  of  land,  build- 
ing and  foundations  reduced.  We  note  in  contrast  its  great 
simplicity  and  evident  small  cost  of  repair  and  attendance. 
We  find  its  first  cost  comparatively  low.  We  discover  its  econ- 
omy to  be  less  dependent  upon  size  or  upon  character  of  load, 
and  therefore  giving  greater  flexibility  of  operation.  We  ob- 
serve that  it  takes  but  little  oil,  and  that,  with  no  cylinder 
lubrication,  its  exhaust  is  pure  and  available  for  reuse.  We 
conclude,  in  a  word,  that  within  its  general  character  are  com- 
prehended a  number  of  attributes  that  will  mark  new  com- 
mercial standards  in  power  plant  design  and  operation. 

The  steam  engine  is  a  subject  of  intense  practicality,  and 
its  growth  and  success  have  drawn  from  its  votaries  the  most 
that  human  effort  could  yield.  But  if  the  path  has  been  de- 
vious and  the  barriers  high,  achievement  has  been  the  recom- 
pense. We  may  be  privileged  to  suppose  that  the  prime 
mover,  whatever  its  form,  will  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  be 
equal  to  the  demands  upon  it. 


SOME  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES 


BY  FRANK  J.  SPRAGUE 


A  REMINISCENT  period  is  that 
when  a  paper  celebrates  the  com- 
pletion of  its  first  score  of  years, 
especially  when  it  has  done  yeo- 
man's work  for  the  promotion  of 
an  industry  it  so  fitly  represents 
— that  of  electric  transportation. 
And  so  we,  whose  hands  it  has 
upheld,  must  respond  when  called 
upon  to  tell  of  some  of  the  mile- 
stones we  have  passed.  But  I  will 
go  back  to  an  earlier  date  than 
the  birth  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  and  I  find  myself,  in 
June,  1878,  on  my  way  from  the  United  States  Naval  Academy 
at  Annapolis,  where,  under  the  late  Admiral  Sampson,  I  had 
imbibed  some  of  my  earlier  scientific  training  and  love  for  elec- 
tricity, my  head  filled  with  many  ideas  which  I  thought  might 
bring  fame  and  fortune.  Menlo  Park  was  my  immediate  des- 
tination, and  my  object  to  see  Mr.  Edison  and  show  him  a  new 
invention  in  telephony.  Despite  the  fact  that  I  was  a  stranger, 
a  kindly  reception  immediately  put  me  at  ease,  and  a  candid 
criticism,  illustrated  by  a  sketch  of  an  alternative  scheme,  was 
emphasized  when,  to  more  fully  satisfy  me,  I  was  told  to  go 
to  the  laboratory  and  experiment  for  myself. 

Before  long  I  was  diverted  from  the  paths  of  invention  and 
suddenly  recalled  to  the  duties  of  my  profession  by  orders  to 
the  U.  S.  S.  "Richmond,"  shortly  to  sail  for  the  Asiatic  squad- 
ron, that  cruise  taking  me  around  the  world.  For  a  part  of  the 
time  I  acted  as  special  correspondent  for  the  Boston  "Herald," 
to  record  the  doings  of  Gen.  Grant  and  the  receptions  given  to 
him  after  he  had  joined  our  flagship  in  Eastern  waters.  But 
electricity  had  taken  such  a  hold  of  my  fancy  that  all  during 
the  cruise  my  messmates  were  made  unwilling  victims  to  listen 
to  explanations  of  various  inventions  and  to  subscribe  as  wit- 
nesses to  their  understanding  of  them.  Orders  for  home  for 
examination  in  the  spring  of  1880  were  very  welcome,  and  the 
short  interval  of  leave  was  occupied  with  attempts  to  have 
built  a  possibly  ingenious  but  impossible  sort  of  motor,  the  cost 
of  which  was  prohibitive  to  my  slender  income. 

Ordered  in  the  fall  to  the  training  ship  "Minnesota,"  I  found 
teaching  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot,  reef  sails  and  tie  knots 
anything  but  agreeable  work,  and  both  at  the  Navy  Yard  in 
Brooklyn,  and  later  at  Newport,  I  improved  every  opportunity 
to  put  my  ideas  in  metal. 

About  this  time  Edison's  work  with  the  incandescent  lamp 
was  becoming  prominent,  and  with  a  great  aversion  to  the 
antiquated  methods  of  lighting  aboard  our  men-of-war,  I  es- 
sayed to  make  a  demonstration  of  the  advantages  of  the  use  of 
electricity  on  board  ship.  To  that  end  I  proposed  to  appro- 
priate an  old  single-cylinder  fly-wheel  pump,  apparently  but 
little  used,  and  to  belt  it  to  an  Edison  "Z"  dynamo.  When  I 
sought  the  loan  of  the  machine  Edison's  answer  was  very  char- 
acteristic and  illustrative  of  his  hard  practical  sense,  for  his 
refusal  was  accompanied  with  the  explanation  that  the  motion 
of  the  pump  engine  would  be  so  irregular  as  to  cause  flickering 
of  the  lights  and  their  certain  rejection,  thus  retarding  instead 
of  advancing  the  introduction  of  the  light  on  board  men-of-war. 

At  the  Stevens  Institute  shops  and  the  Navy  Yard  ma- 
chine shop  arc  lamps  and  continuous  current  machines  with- 
out commutators  were  among  my  earlier  and  more  hopeful  at- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


567 


tempts  at  construction,  and  equally  disastrous ;  but  by  the  time 
I  had  arrived  in  Newport,  and  had  the  benefit  of  association 
with  Prof.  Moses  G.  Farmer,  then  Government  electrician,  my 
ideas  had  crystallized  into  something  more  tangible  and  possi- 
ble, and  a  double-wound  armature,  with  internal  field,  the  sev- 
eral circuits  connected  to  a  switch  to  give  various  series  and 
parallel  combinations,  was  constructed. 

It  was  at  this  time,  early  in  1881,  that  while  watching  the 
action  of  a  large  induction  coil  I  conceived  the  idea  of  its  re- 
versibility, and  suggested  connecting  the  high-tension  coil  to  a 
balloon  and  the  ground,  and  in  case  of  discharge  to  get  larger 
currents  of  low  potential  from  the  primary  without  the  circuit 
breaker.  Impractical  ?  Yes,  but  how  near  the  modern  trans- 
former when  the  oscillating  character  of  the  discharge  is  re- 
membered. 

About  this  time  the  Paris  Exhibition  was  being  organized, 
and  always  believing  that  it  was  worth  while  to  ask  for  any- 
thing one  much  wanted  (if  it  be  right),  I  sought  orders  as 
assistant  to  the  officer  detailed  for  duty  there,  only  to  be  re- 
fused, but  to  have,  by  chance,  an  alternative  pointed  out — to  get 
orders  to  the  "Lancaster,"  soon  then  to  leave  for  duty  as  flag- 
ship on  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  with  leave,  at  my  own 
expense,  upon  my  arrival  abroad. 

Armed  with  a  letter  from  Prof.  Farmer  and  Lieut. -Com- 
mander Caldwell,  in  charge  of  the  equipment  at  Newport,  I 
obtained  the  coveted  orders,  the  beginning  of  the  end  of 
my  naval  career.  There  being  the  usual  delay  in  get- 
ting away,  I  soon  occupied  myself  with  schemes  for  installing 
a  system  of  bells  on  board  ship,  and  this  kept  me  busy  until  our 
arrival  out.  Candor  compels  me  to  admit  that  neither  material 
nor  workmanship  was  up  to  modern  standards,  and  before  long 
it  was  a  question  whether  the  captain  was  calling  the  first  lieu- 
tenant or  the  cook. 

Owing  to  our  delay  in  arriving  I  found  the  exhibition  closed, 
but  another  was  to  be  opened  the  beginning  of  the  following 
year  at  the  Crystal  Palace  at  Sydenham,  England,  so  I  ap- 
plied, with  whatever  eloquence  I  could  command,  for  orders 
there.  After  a  long  period  of  suspense,  approaching  the  end 
of  my  leave  as  well  as  my  pocketbook,  I  was  finally  made  happy 
by  their  receipt,  and  landed  in  England  with  a  capital  of  $20 
and  a  fund  of  youthful  confidence.  The  kindly  offices  of  the 
United  States  despatch  agent  saved  me  from  my  embarrass- 
ment of  riches,  and  presenting  myself  to  the  necessary  officials, 
I  was  made  a  member  of  the  Jury  of  Awards,  being  at  my  re- 
quest put  on  that  section  having  to  do  with  dynamo-electric 
machinery.  Among  my  confreres  were  many  men  of  science 
whose  names  have  become  of  world  renown,  among  them  Prof. 
Fleming  Jenkin,  of  Edinburgh  University,  inventor  of  telpher- 
age ;  Capt.  Abney,  the  great  photographic  expert ;  Prof.  Adams, 
of  the  Wheatstone  Laboratory,  King's  College,  brother  of 
Charles  Adams,  one  of  the  mathematical  discoverers  of  Nep- 
tune ;  Horace  Darwin,  son  of  the  great  naturalist ;  Prof.  Frank- 
land,  C.  E.  Spagnoletti  and  others.  On  motion  of  Prof.  Jenkin, 
I— being  the  youngest  member  present — was  made  secretary. 
I  promptly  decided  to  improve  the  occasion  by  getting  my 
orders  extended,  and  organized  a  series  of  tests  of  dynamos, 
incandescent  lamps  and  gas  engines,  the  most  comprehensive 
which  had  up  to  that  time  been  undertaken. 

In  the  entire  exhibition  there  was  nothing  which  so  impressed 
me  as  Edison's  work,  and  in  connection  with  this  I  was  brought 
into  contact  with  E.  H.  Johnson,  whose  buoyant  belief  in  the 
work  of  his  principal,  coupled  with  my  admiration  for  what 
had  been  accomplished,  made  me  an  ardent  convert  to  the 
Edison  system.    My  interest  in  this,  the  conducting  of  the  ex- 


perimental work  for  the  jury,  extending  as  it  did  after  the 
close  of  the  exhibition,  and  the  preparation  of  a  report  led  to  a 
very  liberal  interpretation  of  my  orders,  and  it  was  with  some- 
thing of  a  shock  that  I  received  a  sharp  reminder  from  the 
Navy  Department,  with  imperative  orders  to  at  once  rejoin  my 
ship  at  Naples,  where  I  went  with  visions  of  court-martial  and 
possible  ultimate  disgrace.  Fortunately,  however,  the  explana- 
tion which  I  had  sent  to  the  department,  supported  by  a  letter 
from  Prof.  Adams,  proved  satisfactory,  and  I  received  permis- 
sion to  remain  in  London,  but  as  funds  were  still  anything  but 
plentiful,  I  decided  to  complete  my  work  on  board  ship.  The 
filing  of  the  report  was  followed  by  a  letter  of  commendation 
from  the  Secretary,  and  its  publication  by  the  Bureau  of  Naval 
Intelligence. 

It  was  evident,  however,  that  ship  life  in  time  of  peace  would 
always  prove  irksome,  and  my  love  for  electricity  was  growing 
apace.  So  when  the  cruise  took  us  back  to  the  English  Channel 
in  the  spring  of  1883,  I  passed  my  examination  for  ensign  on 
board  ship,  and  having  received  an  offer  from  Johnson  to 
go  into  Mr.  Edison's  employ,  I  applied  for  a  year's  leave  and 
resigned. 

I  almost  immediately  reported  upon  the  three-wire  system  of 
distribution,  invented  independently  and  almost  simultaneously 
by  Edison  and  Dr.  John  Hopkinson,  and  also  tested  the  "Man- 
chester" dynamo,  the  first  machine  built  under  the  direction  of 
Hopkinson  to  improve  upon  the  old  Edison  long  core  "Z." 

It  was  while  thus  abroad,  in  1882,  that  I  was  required  to 
travel  much  upon  the  underground  railway  in  London,  and  my 
attention  having  been  called  to  the  possibilities  of  electric  rail- 
ways, I  was  so  greatly  impressed  with  the  special  desirability 
of  operating  that  particular  road  that  I  seriously  contemplated 
resigning  from  the  navy  and  remaining  in  London  to  see  if  it 
were  not  possible  to  effect  this  result.  The  plan  of  distribution 
which  ultimately  seemed  most  feasible,  especially  in  view  of 
the  multiplicity  of  tracks  and  switches  at  stations  like  the 
Kensington,  was  to  consider  a  train  as  traveling  between  two 
planes,  making  upper  and  lower  contact  with  them,  these  planes 
being  the  termini  of  a  constant  potential  system  of  distribu- 
tion, one  to  be  replaced,  in  practice,  by  the  running  tracks, 
switches  and  sidings,  and  the  other  by  a  center  overhead  rail 
following  the  central  lines  of  all  tracks  and  switches,  contact 
being  made  on  the  one  by  the  wheels  and  with  the  other  by  a 
universal  spring  supported  device.  This  may  be  fairly  con- 
sidered as  one  of  the  early  forerunners  of  the  modern  trolley. 

May  of  1883  found  me  back  in  the  United  States,  and  my 
first  interview  with  Mr.  Edison  as  my  employer.  I  was  soon 
sent  with  W.  S.  Andrews  to  Sunbury,  Pa.,  to  get  ready  the 
first  overhead  three-wire  plant.  To  me  getting  ready  meant 
trial  as  well,  and  so  the  night  before  the  Fourth  of  July  an 
Armington-Sims  high-speed  engine  was  started  and  current 
was  delivered  to  the  line.  Sight  feed  oil  cups  were  then  some- 
thing of  a  novelty,  and  having  run  some  hours  with  little  or 
no  oil,  we  managed  to  burn  out  the  babbitts,  and  despite  diligent 
scraping  by  a  local  machinist,  Mr.  Edison  when  he  arrived 
the  next  morning  with  his  secretary  and  chief  engineer  found 
a  badly  pounding  engine.  I  pass  by  the  comments  excited  by 
my  assumption  of  responsibility,  but  the  plant  continued  to  run. 

For  a  time,  however,  I  was  not  in  entire  favor  with  the 
"construction  department,"  which  was  then  busily  engaged  in 
laying  out  small  models  of  the  assumed  lighting  requirements 
of  various  towns  and  trying  to  determine  the  proper  size  of 
mains  and  feeders.  It  was  tedious  and  unsatisfactory  work, 
and  at  the  instance  of  Johnson,  I  took  up  the  question  of  the 
mathematical  determination  of  (lie  necessary  elements.  My 


568 

Naval  Academy  training  stood  me  in  good  stead  here,  and  I  had 
soon  found  a  plan  by  means  of  which  all  the  determinations 
could  be  made  in  a  few  hours,  and  although  the  summer  was 
spent  in  charge  of  the  first  underground  three-wire  station 
at  Brockton,  Mass.,  I  was  still  employed  in  distribution  cal- 
culations. 

By  this  time  I  began  to  foresee  the  possibilities  of  stationary 
motor  work,  and  began  the  construction  of  a  sectional  field 
motor.  Some  time  after,  Mr.  Edison  asked  me  to  take  up 
calculations  in  the  matter  of  long  distance  transmission  of 
power.  I  declined  in  a  long  letter  citing  my  personal  ambi- 
tions which  was  replied  to  by  a  short  note  to  the  effect  that 
as  the  construction  department  was  about  to  be  given  up  I 
would  better  resign.  So  I  did,  and  with  Mr.  Johnson's  encour- 
agement organized  the  Sprague  Electric  Railway  &  Motor 
Company.  A  curious  company  this — purely  a  paper  one  for  a 
long  time,  of  $100,000  nominal  capital,  of  which  sixteen  shares 


FARLY  SPRAGUE  ROAD  AT  LAFAYETTE 


were  sold  for  cash  and  the  balance  issued  to  me  under  a  con- 
tract by  which  I  undertook  to  turn  over  inventions,  and  also  to 
be  vice-president  and  general  manager,  and  about  'everything 
else  that  a  company  can  employ.  My  self-imposed  duties  made 
me  treasurer,  salesman,  electrician,  wireman  and  book- 
keeper, and,  in  addition,  I  was  to  pay  myself  $2,500  per  year 
salary.  To  meet  the  requirements  of  this  contract  I  promptly 
agreed  with  Johnson  that  he  was  to  advance  a  certain  amount 
of  money  for  a  certain  percentage  of  my  interest,  and  for  a 
further  advance  to  receive  an  additional  interest.  This  latter 
agreement,  although  never  signed,  was  faithfully  lived  up  to 
by  both  parties. 

The  Philadelphia  Exhibition  in  the  fall  of  1884  was  an  op- 
portunity to  exhibit  quite  a  variety  of  motors,  among  others 
constant-speed  motors  with  differential  fields  and  fixed  points 
of  commutation,  concerning  the  principles  of  which  I  was 
shortly  involved  in  a  discussion  with  English  scientists.  The 
business  of  the  company  for  the  first  two  years  was  the  con- 
struction and  installation  of  stationary  motors,  principally  for 
use  on  Edison  constant-potential  circuits,  250  of  them  being  in 
that  time  put  in  operation.  Prior  to  this,  with  the  exception 
of  the  pioneer  work  which  had  been  done  by  Mr.  Daft,  there 
were  few  motors  applied  to  industrial  purposes  other  than  the 
small  ones  used  for  sewing  machines  and  similar  work,  and  so 
necessary  was  public  education  that  in  the  first  catalogues  pub- 
lished by  the  Sprague  Company,  the  number,  owner,  locality 
and  duty,  followed  by  statements  from  the  users,  identified 
every  machine  which  had  been  put  out. 

Meanwhile  my  interest  in  the  electric  railway  problem  had 
become  active,  and  after  a  study  of  the  movement  of  trains 
and  the  conditions  of  operation  upon  the  Manhattan  Elevated, 
T  schemed  out  a  system,  and  in  December  of  1885  read  a 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 

paper  before  the  Society  of  Arts  in  Boston,  advocating  an 
equipment  with  motors  under  each  car,  and  using  shunt-wound 
machines  to  enable  current  to  be  returned  to  the  line  when  de- 
creasing from  the  higher  to  more  moderate  speeds.  The  con- 
struction of  motors  was  also  begun  at  the  Brown  &  Sharpe 
Company  in  Providence,  and  at  the  Edison  Machine  Works 
in  New  York. 

About  this  time  the  Electric  Railway  Company  of  the  United 
States,  representing  the  combination  of  the  Field  and  Edison 
interests,  had  leased  a  portion  of  the  Durant  Sugar  Refinery  in 
East  Twenty-Fourth  Street,  New  York,  and  installed  a  battery 
of  five  or  six  Edison  machines,  coupled  up  in  series  to  get  600 
volts  potential,  and  laid  a  track  between  the  walls  of  two  adja- 
cent buildings.  The  work  of  that  company  for  the  time  being 
suspended,  Mr.  Johnson  made  arrangements  for  the  prosecution 
of  my  own  experiments  in  the  same  place.  I  soon  had  two  mo- 
tors mounted  on  an  elevated  railway  truck  and  put  under  a 
flat-bottomed  car,  with  which  a  number  of  demonstrations 
were  made — visited  at  various  times  by  the  Field  and  Gould  in- 
terests and  others  connected  with  the  elevated  railway.  Too 
much  confidence  may  have  been  the  indirect  cause  of  subse- 
quent lack  of  interest  by  the  owners  of  that  road,  for  on  one 
occasion  when  Mr.  Jay  Gould  was  standing  on  the  car  I  at- 
tempted a  somewhat  unusual  rapidity  of  control,  with  the  result 
of  failure  of  the  safety  catch,  much  to  his  alarm,  and  the  ex- 
planation of  its  purpose  apparently  was  not  sufficient  to  recon- 
cile in  his  mind  the  idea  of  safety  and  a  small  electric  volcano. 
At  least,  neither  then,  nor  in  the  experiments  which  followed, 
was  he  apparently  ever  again  interested. 

Somewhat  satisfied  with  the  results  achieved,  however,  I  was 
one  day  sitting  in  the  office  at  65  Fifth  Avenue  when  Superin- 
tendent Chinnock,  of  the  Edison  station  in  New  York,  brought 
a  proposition  to  buy  a  sixth  of  my  interest  for  $30,000;  his 
arguments  were  unanswerable,  but  his  surprise  and  methods  of 
criticism  somewhat  uncomplimentary  when  I  declined  the  offer, 
although  at  the  time  I  probably  did  not  have  enough  to  pay  my 
board  bill  for  a  month.  Having  gone  off  for  a  short  rest,  I  was 
one  Friday  summoned  to  New  York  by  a  telegram  from  John- 
son saying  that  he  had  promised  Cyrus  Field  that  on  the  fol- 
lowing Tuesday  he  would  show  an  electric  car  in  operation  on 
the  elevated  railroad.  How  we  got  together  car  body,  truck 
and  machines  and  completed  a  regulator,  in  face  of  a  strike, 
and  assembled  them  all  by  Monday  night  on  the  elevated  rail- 
road, is  more  than  I  can  at  present  tell,  but  that  night  found 
me  with  my  faithful  assistants,  McPherson  and  Crawford,  by 
candle  light  making  all  the  connections  necessary  to  operate 
two  machines  at  600  volts  potential  by  duplicate  switches  at 
each  end  of  the  car,  and  to  brake  the  car  as  well,  with 
no  way  way  of  testing  the  apparatus  or  to  ascertain  the 
correctness  of  any  connection.  At  1  o'clock  the  next  day 
there  was  an  expectant  crowd  on  the  Thirty-Fourth  Street 
platform,  among  whom  were  many  men  of  prominence.  While 
waiting  for  current  half  an  hour  passed  with  no  evidence  of 
"anything  doing,"  save  under  my  breath,  and  there  Johnson 
was  the  object  of  many  an  earnest  anathema  for  his  strenuosity, 
for  I  did  not  know  whether  either  machine  would  turn  over, 
or  whether,  if  they  did  so,  they  would  operate  alike — in  short, 
everything  was  in  the  air.  Finally,  when  current  was  put  on 
the  line  I  first  tried  one  machine  and  then  the  other,  but  with 
no  movement  in  response.  Finally,  in  sheer  desperation,  I 
threw  both  machines  into  circuit,  moved  the  regulator,  and 
the  car  responded  perfectly.  For  two  hours  every  feat  which 
could  be  tried  with  the  machines  was  attempted  without  a 
failure.    It  was  with  something  of  relief  that  I  finally  saw  the 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


October  8,  1904. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


569 


car  deserted,  and,  exhausted  by  the  exciting  experiences 
through  which  I  had  passed,  I  sat  pondering  over  the  day's 
results,  when  Chinnock  again  came  to  me,  apparently  much 
impressed  with  what  he  had  seen,  and  this  time  offered  $25,000 
for  a  one-twelfth  interest.  I  did  not  much  care  one  way  or 
the  other,  but  he  finally  got  it,  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  other 
twelfth  went  to  some  one  else  for  $26,250. 

The  result  of  the  day's  work  determined  Johnson  and  me  to 
continue  the  experiments,  and  they  were  not  terminated  until 
December  of  that  year;  but  in  all  those  months,  so  far  as  I 
remember,  not  a  director  or  stockholder  of  the  Manhattan  road 
ever  took  the  slightest  interest  in  what  was  being  done. 

During  the  summer  the  first  pair  of  motors  was  supplemented 
by  a  second  set,  and  in  addition  to  metal  resistances  water 
rheostats  were  also  tried. 

The  machines  used  on  these  experiments  may  be  termed  the 
parent  models  of  the  modern  railway  motor.  They  were  cen- 
tered through  brackets  on  the  driving  axles  and  suspended  at 
the  free  end  by  springs  from  the  transom,  the  elliptic  springs 
being  interposed  between  this  support  and  the  car  body.  The 
motors  were  single-geared  to  the  axles,  had  one  set  of  tilting 
brushes,  were  run  open,  and  they  were  used  not  only  for  pro- 
pelling the  car  but  for  braking  it.  At  first  shunt  wound,  in- 
crease of  speed  being  first  accomplished  by  cutting  out  arma- 
ture resistance  and  then  inserting  the  resistance  in  the  field, 
there  was  added  later  a  correcting  coil  in  series  with  the  arma- 
ture at  right  angles  to  the  normal  field  to  prevent  shifting  at 
the  neutral  point. 

One  of  the  motors  was  put  into  service  at  the  East  Boston 
Sugar  Refinery,  the  current  being  supplied  from  a  trolley  car- 
ried on  an  overhead  wire,  and  is,  or  at  least  was  a  few  months 
ago,  still  in  existence.  Two  others,  with  Pat  O'Shaughnessy 
and  me  at  the  helm,  operated  a  snow  sweeper  and  ice  cutter  on 
the  Alston  division  of  the  West  End  Railway  Company  in 


of  motor  finally  used  in  Richmond,  one  earlier  form  being  used 
in  Julien  storage-battery  experiments  in  Philadelphia,  and 
others  in  New  York  and  Boston. 

A  paragraph  in  the  New  York  "Sun"  about  August,  1887, 
seems  curious  reading  to-day.    It  was  in  part  as  follows: 

"ELECTRICITY  UN  WHEELS 
They  tried  an  electric  car  on  Fourth  Avenue  yesterday.    It  cre- 
ated an  amount  of  surprise  and  consternation  from  Thirty-Second 
Street  to  117th  Street  that  was  something  like  that  caused  by  the 


THE  FIRST  SPRAGUE  ROAD  IN  NEW  ENGLAND,  AT  THE  BOSTON  SUGAR  REFINERY 


Boston,  in  1888,  but  have  gone  the  ultimate  way  of  all  good 
motors. 

Like  the  others  who  had  attempted  work  on  the  Manhattan,  I 
was  evidently  ahead  of  the  times,  although  I  was  not  sufficiently 
discouraged  but  that  I  immediately  began  the  construction,  on 
the  suggestion  of  J.  II.  Vail,  of  a  locomotive  car  to  be  equipped 
with  four  75-hp  motors,  each  with  double  armatures.  But  the 
elevated  field  offering  little  of  promise,  I  soon  turned  my  atten- 
tion to  1  ram  way  work,  and  began  the  development  of  the  type 


EARLY  SPRAGUE  ROAD  AT  SALEM,  MASS. 

first  steamboat  on  the  Hudson.  Small  boys  yelled  'dynamite'  and 
'rats,'  and  made  similar  appreciative  remarks  until  they  were 
hoarse.  Newly  appointed  policemen  debated  arresting  it,  but  went 
no  further.  The  car  horses  which  were  met  on  the  other  track 
kicked  without  exception,  as  was  natural,  over  an  invention  which 
threatens  to  relegate  them  to  a  sausage  factory." 

In  the  calendar  of  the  electric  railway  1887  marked  an 
epoch,  for  although  in  1879,  at  the  Berlin  Exposition,  Messrs. 
Siemens  &  Halske  had  constructed  a  short  line,  which  was 
followed  by  other  exhibitions,  and  a  one-car  line  at  Lichter- 
felde  in  1881,  the  succeeding  six  years  found  the  art  still  essen- 
tially in  an  experimental  and 
chaotic  condition,  while 
throughout  the  world,  includ- 
ing every  kind  of  equipment, 
there  were  fewer  than  a  score 
of  installations,  three-score 
miles  of  track,  and  about  one 
hundred  motors  and  motor 
cars.  The  roads,  however, 
were  limited  in  character, 
varied  in  motor  equipment 
and  power  distribution,  and 
presented  no  acceptable  type 
or  comprehensiveness  of  de- 
sign sufficient  to  overcome 
the  prejudices  of  those  inter- 
ested in  transportation,  or  to 
command  the  confidence  of 
capital.  But  the  work  of 
many  inventors  —  Siemens, 
Edison,  Field,  Daft,  Van 
Depoele  and  others — as  well  as  the  developments  taking- 
place  in  the  distribution  of  power  and  the  application 
of  electricity  to  stationary  motor  works  and  the  recog- 
nized needs  of  transportation  had  brought  about  a  con- 
dition ripe  for  a  great  development.  The  interest  of  my  asso- 
ciates and  myself  was  keenly  aroused,  and  the  actual  success 
of  the  experiments  on  the  elevated  railroad  and  with  storage- 
battery  equipments,  and  in  the  installation  of  stationary  mo- 
tors, had  begot  a  confidence  in  undertaking  the  larger  problem. 


57o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


The  first  tramway  contract  by  the  Sprague  Company  was  one 
at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  which  was  followed  almost  immediately  by 
one  with  the  New  York  syndicate  which  had  secured  the  rights 
for  installing  an  electric  railway  in  the  city  of  Richmond,  Va. 
This  latter  contract  was  for  a  road  the  rails  of  which  were  not 
yet  laid,  and  included  a  complete  generating  station,  the  erec- 
tion of  overhead  lines  and  feeders,  and  the  equipment  of  forty 
cars  each  with  two  7^2-hp  motors,  on  plans  largely  new  and 
untried.  The  road  presented  conditions  of  length,  curves,  char- 
acter of  roadbed  and  number  of  cars  to  be  operated,  which,  if 


EARLY  SPRAGUE  ROAD  AT  EAST  CLEVELAND 


successfully  overcome,  would  mark  a  new  era  in  electric  trac- 
tion, and  hence  our  ambition.  There  were  12  miles  of  track, 
twenty-nine  curves,  with  a  maximum  grade  of  10  per  cent,  and 
a  foundation  of  Virginia  clay.  The  contract  was  one  which 
ordinarily  no  sane  man  would  make,  for  we  undertook  to  erect 
the  complete  equipment  in  a  period  of  ninety  days,  for  which 
we  were  to  receive  $110,000  in  cash,  "if  satisfactory."  The 
Sprague  Company  had  managed  to  fortify  itself  with  some 
capital,  and  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  Mr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Harding,  as  well  as  the 
technical  assistance  of  Lieut.  Oscar  T.  Crosby  and  Ensign  S. 
Dana  Greene,  who  resigned,  respectively,  from  the  army  and 
navy  to  cast  their  lot  with  the  new  development.  Typhoid 
fever  took  me  out  of  the  active  direction  of  the  work  for  a 
period  of  two  months,  and  left  the  brunt  of  it  upon  my  asso- 
ciates, but  on  my  return  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
Dave  Mason  run  a  car  on  the  track  at  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  in 
August,  1887,  and  soon  thereafter  active  progress  toward  equip- 
ment at  Richmond.  Experimental  running  was  begun  there 
toward  the  latter  part  of  the  year,  and  in  February,  1888,  the 
road  was  put  into  commercial  operation.  The  trials  and  dis- 
appointments, the  alternate  successes  and  failures,  the  hopes 
and  fears  which  went  with  this  road  have  been  often  told.  This 
original  equipment  long  ago  served  its  purpose,  and  was  re- 
placed by  more  modern  and  powerful  apparatus,  but  Richmond, 
by  common  consent,  stands  as  that  pioneer  road  which  more 
than  any  other  was  influential  in  creating  the  industry  of  the 
electric  railway  as  it  stands  to-day. 

Briefly  summarized,  its  general  features  were  as  follows : 
Distribution  by  single  overhead  line  over  the  center  of  the 
track,  reinforced  by  a  continuous  main  conductor,  supplied  in 
turn  at  distributing  centers  by  feeders  from  a  constant  poten- 
tial plant  operated  at  about  450  volts.  The  tracks  were  rein- 
forced and  grounded,  and  constituted  the  return.  The  current 
was  taken  from  the  overhead  line,  at  first  by  contacts  pressed 
vertically  upwards,  and  subsequently  by  a  trolley  wheel  car- 
ried on  a  pole  over  the  center  of  the  car  and  having  universal 
movement.  There  were  two  motors  on  each  car,  centered  on 
the  axles,  and  flexibly  supported  at  their  free  ends.    The  gear- 


ing was  at  first  single,  and  then  double  reduction.  The  motors 
were  therefore  individually  free  to  follow  variations  of  axle 
movements,  and  yet  maintain  at  all  times  absolute  parallelism 
of  armature  shafts  with  car  axles  and  a  yielding  touch  upon 
the  gears.  All  the  weight  of  the  car  was  available  for  traction, 
and  it  could  be  operated  in  either  direction  from  either  end. 
The  controlling  system  was  at  first  by  graded  resistances 
through  variation  of  field  coils,  and  also  by  series-parallel  con- 
trol of  armatures  with  a  separate  switch.  Fixed  brushes  were 
used  for  both  directions  of  movement — at  first  laminated  ones 
at  an  angle,  and  later  solid  end-on  metallic  ones,  replaced  on  the 
new  equipments  by  carbon,  as  originally  adopted  by  VanDepoele. 

The  fate  of  the  Richmond  road,  both  technically  and  finan- 
cially, lay  for  a  long  time  in  the  balance.  The  road  cost  at 
least  $150,000,  and  the  company  got  in  the  end  about  $80,000, 
all  essentials  being  time  and  again  rebuilt.  During  the 
progress  of  this  installation  the  Van  Depoele  Company  was 
offered  to  me  by  William  J.  Clark,  but  partly  because  of  con- 
fidence in  my  own  work,  as  well  as  lack  of  appreciation  of  what 
Van  Depoele  was  doing — to  say  nothing  of  the  need  for 
every  dollar  we  had  to  carry  out  work  already  taxing  our  re- 
sources to  the  limit — it  was  not  long  considered,  and  shortly 
afterward  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Thomson-Houston  Com- 
pany, which  had  only  a  short  time  previously  entered  the  rail- 
way field.  The  rivalry  of  these  two  companies  is  something 
well  remembered  by  all  engaged  in  active  work  at  that  time, 
but  it  had  one  good  result  in  that  it  put  the  engineers  of  the 
companies  on  their  mettle  to  build  the  best  they  knew,  and  the 
virtues  of  the  electric  railway  were  sounded  in  the  ears  of 
every  transportation  man  alive.  Few  industrial  developments 
have  been  so  rapid  and  have  had  results  so  marked  as  that  of 
the  electric  railway,  and  it  would  be  idle  to  predict  its  ultimate 
limitations. 

The  Sprague  Electric  Railway  &  Motor  Company,  although 
operating  a  small  factory,  depended  largely  upon  the  contracts 
made  with  the  Edison  General  Electric  Company  for  its  equip- 
ments, a  result  hardly  satisfactory  to  either  party ;  but  for  the 
time  being  this  seemed  to  be  the  only  possible  arrangement  be- 
cause of  certain  official  relations  which  existed,  and  because  the 
growth  of  the  business  was  so  rapid  that  even  the  increased 
capital  of  the  Sprague  Company  was  not  able  to  take  care  of  it, 
even  without  the  additional  burden  of  maintaining  a  large  fac- 
tory. This  need  of  capital  continued,  and  a  considerable  sum 
was  supplied  by  the  Edison  Company  when  it  saw  the  great 
future  of  the  electric  railway.  The  natural  consequence,  in  a 
short  time,  was  the  absorption  of  the  Sprague  Company,  and 
the  end  of  its  independent  existence. 

Looking  back,  I  cannot  even  now  think  that  this  was  the 
best  outcome  for  those  identified  with  it  or  for  the  art,  for  soon 
afterward  it  was  given  out  that  the  overhead  system,  especially 
in  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  would  largely  be  supplanted  by  a 
system  of  supply  through  the  running  rails  at  very  low  poten- 
tial, on  a  plan  devised  by  Mr.  Edison,  and  radical  departures 
were  attempted  in  motor  construction.  For  personal  reasons 
the  Sprague  name  was  drastically  wiped  off  from  every  piece 
of  apparatus  and  another  substituted  for  it,  while  men  who  had 
been  largely  active  in  the  creation  of  the  industry  were  thrust 
aside.  A  wiser  policy  and  better  management  on  the  part  of  the 
Thomson-Houston  Company,  and  activity  on  the  part  of  the 
Westinghouse  Company  through  some  of  the  men  who  had 
helped  create  the  commercial  business  of  the  Sprague  Com- 
pany, quickly  won  a  foothold  which  made  the  fight  for  business 
a  keen  and  bitter  one,  and  to  a  certain  extent  for  the  Edison 
Company  a  losing  one.    The  position  of  the  latter  company  in 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


57i 


the  incandescent  lighting  field,  however,  was  strong,  and  there 
soon  followed  a  combination  by  which  the  Thomson-Houston 
interests  became  more  influential  in  a  new  company,  the  Gen- 
eral Electric. 

The  experience  was  for  me  a  bitter  one,  but  I  soon  under- 
took, with  Charles  Pratt,  the  experimental  development  of  a 
high-speed  screw  electric  elevator,  and  then  of  the  elevator  in 
various  forms.  Hard  as  was  the  Richmond  work,  I  was 
not  quite  prepared  for  the  variety  of  difficulties,  both  technical 
and  business,  that  confronted  me  when  I  undertook  to  overturn 
the  hydraulic  elevator  industry,  firmly  established  as  it  had 
become  in  the  minds  of  conservative  capital,  and  promoted  by 
what  was  practically  a  number  of  close  corporations  working 
in  harmony — or,  if  not  in  harmony,  at  least  all  against  the  de- 
velopment which  I  undertook. 

But  a  new  organization,  the  Sprague  Electric  Elevator  Com- 
pany, took  up  the  work  after  I  had  made  an  experimental 
demonstration  in  a  loft  in  New  York  City,  and  at  a  small  hotel, 
where  the  first  installation,  somewhat  modified,  is  still  in  opera- 
tion. But  it  was  some  time  after  that  I  made  the  really  first 
important  contract — that  for  six  elevators  at  the  Postal  Tele- 
graph Building,  where  in  George  Harding,  the  architect,  and 
John  Mackay,  the  owner,  I  found  liberality  of  view  and  courage 
of  conviction  enough  to  accept  my  offer  to  install  the  plant  on 
condition  that  if  it  should  prove  unsuccessful  I  would  replace 
it  with  any  type  of  hydraulic  equipment  which  they  might 
select.  This  Postal  Telegraph  experience  was  a  somewhat 
wakeful  one  also,  for  every  machine  had  to  be  rebuilt  while  in 
operation,  and  for  weeks  it  was  doubtful  whether  the  outcome 
would  be  a  success.  It  was  really  the  beginning,  on  any  scale, 
of  pilot  control  of  large  electrical  apparatus  now  so  widely 
used,  and  in  one  sense  the  beginning  of  the  multiple-unit 
system,  for  having  interconnected  the  controlling  circuits  in 
the  basement,  with  provision  to  throw  any  or  all  machines  on 
to  a  common  master  switch,  I  undertook  one  day  to  run  a  num- 
ber of  elevators  simultaneously  from  one  controller.  The  re- 
sult may  be  imagined,  for  on  account  of  the  lack  of  automatic 
control  of  current  input  or  speed  of  main  controllers,  I  soon 
had  the  battery  of  elevators  executing  a  series  of  terpsichorean 
feats  the  like  of  which  has  probably  never  been  seen. 

The  elevator  contest  with  the  Otis,  Crane,  Whittier  and  other 
companies  was  carried  on  with  a  vigor  worthy  perhaps  of  a 
better  cause,  and  extended  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other,  until  the  whole  business  was  in  a  more  or  less  demor- 
alized condition,  boding  no  good  to  any  one.  The  result  was 
the  usual  one — the  separation  of  the  elevator  business  and  the 
turning  of  it  over  to  an  alliance  of  interests. 

Meanwhile,  although  out  of  electric  railway  manufacturing, 
and  having  no  voice  in  its  management,  my  interest  was  by 
110  means  ended,  and  I  took  up  cudgels  in  favor  of  under- 
ground rapid  transit  in  New  York  City,  based  upon  elec- 
tric operation.  About  this  time  (1890-91)  the  Board  of  Rapid 
Transit  Commissioners  of  New  York  was  considering  tenta- 
tively various  plans,  but  it  seemed  to  me  more  than  anything 
else  possible  extensions  of  privileges  to  the  Manhattan 
Elevated,  or  the  construction  of  other  elevated  or  viaduct 
lines.  I  was  a  believer  in  the  Greathead  system  of  tunneling, 
but  more  than  anything  else  in  the  ultimate  supremacy  of  elec- 
tric operation,  and  the  vital  necessity  of  determining  the  ele- 
ment of  motive  power  before  any  other  affirmative  conclusion 
whatever  was  reached.  This  conviction  T  voiced  in  a  long 
interview  in  the  "Commercial  Advertiser,"  Feb.  16,  1891,  in 
which  T  advocated  a  four-track  independent  way  and  express 
tunnel  service,  and  added  that  the  use  of  electricity  as  a  motive 


should  be  a  sine  qua  noii,  and  that  this  agent  being  capable  of 
satisfying  in  the  highest  degree  the  most  exacting  demands  of 
service,  the  system  should  be  planned  with  special  reference 
to  its  use. 

On  March  15,  in  the  same  year,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Rapid  Transit  Commission,  of  which  Wm.  Steinway  was  then 
chairman,  setting  forth  my  views  on  the  requirements  for  un- 
derground electric  traction  for  New  York  City,  advocating 
first,  an  underground  system  of  tubular  construction,  and  sec- 
ond, the  adoption  of  electricity  as  a  motive  power.    In  order 


EARLY   SPRAGUE   ROAD  AT  CINCINNATI 


to  emphasize  my  views,  I  closed  with  the  following  statement: 
"I  repeat,  there  need  be  no  hesitation  on  the  part  of  your  Board 
on  the  question  of  electric  traction  because  of  any  apprehension 
that  the  electric  motor  development  will  be  found  wanting  when 
demanded. 

"On  the  City  &  South  London  Road  the  entire  central  station 
and  electric  equipment  was  finished  before  the  tunnel  was  ready 
for  use,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  when  the  tunnel  was 
originally  designed  a  cable  was  intended  for  the  motive  power. 

"But  I  will  go  further  than  mere  assertion  that  the  required  de- 
velopment will  take  place,  and  I  will,  so  far  as  may  be,  determine 
the  matter  by  reference  to  that  criterion  which  alone  governs 
almost  all  decisions  of  this  character,  the  possibly  hard,  but  the 
entirely  just  one,  of  dollars  and  cents,  for  I  am  ready,  if  a  rapid 
transit  system  be  adopted  requiring  the  use  of  the  electric  motor, 
to  undertake  the  entire  contract  for  the  necessary  steam  and  elec- 
trical equipment  for  not  less  than  fifty  way  and  express  trains 
operated  as  I  have  outlined,  under  satisfactory  guarantees  of  effi- 
ciency and  cost  of  operation  as  compared  with  steam  practice." 

This  was  followed  in  May  by  a  paper  before  the  American 
Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  reviewing  the  considerations 
which  should  govern  the  selection  of  a  rapid  transit  system  for 
the  city. 

For  a  long  time  Mr.  Gould,  who  was  the  controlling  owner 
of  the  Manhattan,  and  other  interests  connecting  with  it  had 
been  opposing  any  grants  whatever  except  in  the  nature  of  ex- 
tensions of  the  elevated,  and  then  only  under  such  conditions 
as  were  satisfactory  to  themselves.  One  of  the  most  serious 
proposals,  and  one  for  some  time  seriously  considered,  was 
for  a  main  line  directly  up  Broadway  and  the  Boulevard  for  a 
good  portion  of  their  length.  I  could  not  but  view  this  desecra- 
tion of  the  city  with  alarm,  and  as  the  New  York  "Sun"  was 
voicing  the  views  of  the  opponents  of  an  underground  road, 
and  ridiculing  its  construction,  to  clinch  the  argument  which 
I  had  made  to  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission,  which  had  now- 
expressed  itself  as  favoring  an  underground  railway  with  elec- 
trical equipment,  in  February,  1893,  I  published  in  the  "Evening 
Post"  a  communication  which  is  here  reproduced  in  full : 
"DEEP  TUNNEL  ELECTRIC  MOTORS 

The  Rapid  Transit  Commission  of  New  York  recently  announced 
a  decision  in  regard  to  route,  construction  and  motive  power  which 
was  founded  mi  extensive  investigation,  provided  well  For  the 
future  growth  of  the  city,  and  met  with  general  commendation, 


572 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


Since  this  decision  was  made,  its  wisdom  has  in  certain  quarters, 
presumably  representing  existing  corporate  interests,  been  most  in- 
dustriously attacked,  and  one  of  the  principal  criticisms  has  been 
that  upon  motive  power.  So  far  as  these  relate  to  any  form  of 
propulsion  other  than  electric  they  are  sound,  but  when  directed 
against  that  particular  method  they  are  not  so. 

These  criticisms  are  unquestionably  dictated  by  one  of  two 
reasons ;  either  they  are  intended  to  make  the  raising  of  capital  for 
the  new  enterprise  difficult  by  assailing  the  soundness  of  facts,  in 
which  case  all  argument  is  useless,  or  they  are  founded  on  a  real 
belief  in  the  inability  of  electric  motors  to  do  the  work  required. 

The  form  that  this  comment  has  taken  is  that  there  is  no  electric 
motor  yet  "invented"  which  can  propel  even  one  loaded  elevated 
car  30  miles  an  hour.  The  objection  thus  embodied  can  be  easily 
disposed  of  if  those  making  it  are  firm  enough  in  their  belief  to  put 
it  to  practical  test.  It  is,  of  course,  essential  before  money  is  sub- 
scribed for  the  new  road  that  confidence  should  exist  that  electric 
motors  can  do  what  is  claimed  for  them,  and  it  may  be  necessary 
to  make  an  actual  demonstration  on  a  large  scale  without  com- 
mitting the  construction  company  to  be  subsequently  formed  to  any 
particular  system. 

Having  been  somewhat  actively  identified  with  the  development 
of  electric  railways  in  this  country,  and  having  urged  upon  the 
Commission  the  necessity  of  electric  propulsion,  I  am  entirely  ready 
to  make  a  demonstration  as  follows: 

Let  a  section  2  miles  long  be  provided  on  the  Second  Avenue,  the 
Suburban,  or  the  New  York  &  Northern  Railway,  which  shall 
fairly  represent  a  station  section  of  the  express  track  on  the  pro- 
posed underground  road,  for  use  at  night  when  not  required  for 
regular  traffic. 

Set  apart  a  train  of  six  standard  elevated  cars.  These  will 
weigh  when  empty  71  tons,  and  can  carry  when  crowded  to  the 
utmost  about  500  passengers  weighing  37  tons,  making  a  net  weight 
of  train  without  motive  power  of  108  tons. 

Let  this  loaded  six-car  train  be  propelled  in  two  ways : 

1.  By  a  separate  electric  locomotive. 

2.  By  a  system  of  motors,  one  on  each  track,  all  controlled  from  a 
pilot  locomotive. 

Let  the  condition  of  operation  be : 

1.  A  maximum  speed  of  not  less  than  40  miles  per  hour  on  a 
level. 

2.  Power  to  stop  the  train  without  the  use  of  brake-shoes  and 
independently  of  the  main  station  current. 

These  requirements  both  as  to  weight  and  speed  are  double  those 
now  characterizing  the  operation  of  the  London  road,  and  repre- 
sent a  capacity  of  eight  times  that  mentioned  in  the  criticism. 

I  will  undertake  to  make  this  demonstration  prior  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  construction  company,  with  free  subsequent  competition 
for  regular  equipment  under  either  of  these  conditions: 

1.  The  Rapid  Transit  Commission  to  require  the  successful  bid- 
der for  the  franchise  to  pay  the  costs  of  the  experiment  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  $50,000. 

2.  The  forfeiture  of  a  like  sum  in  case  I  succeed  within  a  specified 
time,  by  any  person  or  newspaper  that  will  take  up  my  challenge. 

3.  On  the  other  hand,  entire  loss  to  me  if  I  fail. 

4.  The  time  to  be  four  months  from  acceptance  of  this  proposal, 
barring  labor  troubles,  with  one  month  leeway,  at  a  forfeiture  to 
me  of  $1,000  a  day  for  each  day  of  the  month  over  four  months,  and 
premium  of  like  amount  for  every  day  under  four  months.  If  the 
cost  of  the  experiment  be  less  than  $50,000,  the  saving  to  go  to  the 
benefit  of  whoever  pays  for  the  demonstration. 

It  will  be  noted  that  this  experiment  is  entirely  at  my  personal 
risk,  with  time  limitation,  and  without  any  direct  pecuniary  value 
to  me,  but  is  proposed  to  demonstrate  the  soundness  of  the  decision 
made.  As  an  evidence  of  my  faith  I  am  ready  to  deposit  a  sum 
which  will  guarantee  the  good  faith  of  this  proposal." 

Whatever  other  effect,  I  think  this  proposal  was  of  some 
service  in  brushing  away  the  objections  on  the  score  of  motive 
power,  but  the  claims  on  behalf  of  Manhattan  extensions  were 
assiduously  pushed,  rapidity  of  construction  being  one  of  the 
most  telling  arguments  in  view  of  the  congested  condition  of 
traffic.  For  a  time  it  seemed  that  the  difficulty  in  financing 
an  underground  road  would  prove  insuperable,  and  action  was 
taken  which  opened  the  way  for  the  elevated  if  terms  with  the 


city  could  be  agreed  on.  Meanwhile  my  interest  in  electric 
railroads  had  been  reborn  with  a  rush  because  of  a  sudden  con- 
ception which  was  the  direct  result  of  the  work  which  for  five 
years  I  had  been  doing  with  indirect  control  in  elevator  work, 
and  from  that  moment  the  "multiple-unit"  system,  fulfilling 
completely  the  idea  of  individual  car  equipments  under  a  com- 
mon control,  became  of  absorbing  interest. 

The  first  experiment  was  made  with  a  number  of  sidewalk 
elevator  machines,  which  were  assembled  together  in  a  quasi 
train  arrangement,  and  their  controllers  connected  by  relays, 
secondary  circuits  and  couplers,  with  master  switches  from 
any  of  which  all  the  machines  could  be  operated. 

Although  eight  years  had  passed  since  the  Richmond  road 
had  been  put  into  commercial  operation,  and  electric  traction  on 
tramways  had  become  world  wide,  electric  train  operation  was 
little  known,  and,  then,  as  a  rule,  only  where  a  locomotive  car 
or  electric  locomotive  performed  the  function  of  a  steam  loco- 
motive and  hauled  a  number  of  trailers,  as  on  the  Metropolitan 
and  Lake  Street  Elevated  in  Chicago  and  the  City  &  South 
London  in  England.  No  sooner  was  the  new  idea  fairly  ma- 
tured in  my  mind  than  my  ambition  reverted  to  the  early  scene 
of  my  experimental  work — the  Manhattan,  and  on  June  6, 
1896,  I  addressed  the  special  committee  of  the  road  in  part  as 
follows : 

Gentlemen  :  Assuming  that  the  recent  decision  of  the  Appellate 
Division  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  matter  of  the  report  of  the 
Commissioners  makes  certain  a  material  extension  of  the  Manhat- 
tan system,  and  that  the  adoption  of  a  new  motive  power  on  the 
present,  as  well  as  on  new  lines  is  now  open  for  consideration,  1 
shall  be  glad  to  appear  before  your  Board  to  make  in  a  definite 
manner  a  proposition  either  in  connection  with  the  Manhattan  Com- 
pany, or  entirely  independent  through  myself  and  some  associates, 
for  a  serious  demonstration  on  the  Ninth  Avenue,  or  some  other 
division  of  an  electric  equipment  having  the  following  general 
characteristics : 

1.  So  much  double  track  with  sidings  and  switches,  and  selected 
as  to  grade  as  to  give  the  severest  test,  will  be  supplied  with 
current. 

2.  Five  cars  will  be  individually  equipped  with  a  reduced  amount 
of  standard  apparatus  without  change  in  the  cars  except  one  truck 
on  each. 

3.  The  motors  will  have  capacity  to  handle  the  cars  at  express 
speeds. 

4.  The  electrical  pressure,  the  character  of  current  and  the  type 
of  machines  will  be  such  as  have  been  tested  and  found  practicable 
on  over  700  street  railways. 

5.  Each  car  will  be  provided  with  a  special  control  which  per- 
mits of  it  being  operated  from  either  end  at  will,  or  for  the  oper- 
ation at  either  end  of  a  train  composed  of  from  one  to  five  cars  in 
any  required  combination  and  without  regard  to  their  sequence. 

6.  The  cars  will  be  provided  with  automatic  control  so  that  they 
will  be  self-braking  in  case  of  an  accident  to  an  operator  or  failure 
of  current. 

You  will  note  that  the  system  departs  from  the  locomotive  plan  of 
operation  and  affords  what  is  essential  for  the  best  results,  namely : 
the  opportunity  to  keep  train  intervals  at  the  shortest  possible 
limit,  with  train  lengths  varying  at  will  in  proportion  to  the  traffic 
demands,  and  it  will  have  the  following  results : 

Train  lengths  of  from  one  to  any  number  of  cars  controlled  at 
will  from  either  end  of  any  car,  and  made  up  at  any  section  or 
branch  of  the  road;  reduction  of  train  intervals  at  certain  portions 
of  the  day  and  night  to  one-third  or  fourth  the  present  intervals:  a 
reduction  of  about  $1,000  a  day  in  the  coal  account  compared  with 
the  present  system  ;  a  far  more  even  distribution  of  load  than  can 
be  provided  with  any  locomotive  train  system ;  a  reduction  of  fully 
one-third  in  deflection  and  shearing  strains ;  a  material  reduction  in 
longitudinal  vibration  and  in  depreciation  of  sleepers  and  super- 
structure; the  abolition  of  head  and  tail  locomotive  switching, 
giving  material  increase  of  rapidity  in  despatching  trains,  and 
greater  effectiveness  of  sidings  for  car  storage ;  a  marked  increase 
in  the  number  of  passengers  carried;  provision  for  lighting  and  for 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


573 


such  elevator  service  as  sonic  stations  may  require  from  the  same 
source  of  power. 

In  short,  a  very  large  return  on  the  capital  requited  for  a  change 
of  motive  power. 

On  completion  of  this  demonstration  I  shall  be  prepared  to  make 
a  bid  for  the  electric  equipment  of  any  part  or  the  whole  of  the 
present  or  extended  system  in  its  entirety. 

This  letter  apparently  fell  on  incredulous  ears,  for  it  met 
with  no  response,  but  eight  months  later,  on  Feb.  18,  1897,  I  ad- 
dressed them  another  letter,  giving  further  arguments,  and 
repeating  my  proposals,  except  increasing  the  demonstration 
train  length  from  five  to  eight  cars. 

This  letter  met  with  a  similar  fate,  and  finding  my  philan- 
thropic efforts  unappreciated,  I  desisted  for  a  time  from  frontal 
attacks,  and  busied  myself  with  the  elevator  business  to  which 
I  was  financially  deeply  committed. 

Meanwhile,  the  Central  London  Railway  had  been  projected 
for  electrical  operation — this  road  to  run  from  the  Bank  to 
Shepherd's  Bush  in  London.  An  essential  of  this  equipment — 
for  this  was  a  deep  tunnel  scheme — was  the  installation  of  a 
large  number  of  lifts  of  great  carrying  capacity  and  consider- 
able extent  of  run.  My  attention  being  called  to  it  by  Mr. 
Mackay,  I  was  requested  to  go  to  London  to  see  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  get  the  contract — one  amounting  to  nearly  half  a  mil- 
lion dollars. 

About  this  time  I  had  met  with  a  severe  accident,  and  a  fire 
threatened  the  shops  of  the  company.  After  straightening  out 
matters  as  well  as  I  could,  just  as  I  was  about  to  sail  I  re- 
ceived a  communication  requesting  me  to  act  as  consulting  en- 
gineer for  the  South  Side  Elevated  Railway  in  Chicago,  to  re- 
vise the  plans  of  its  regular  engineers.  I  was  unwilling  to 
burden  myself  with  the  additional  work,  but  after  returning 
what  might  have  been  called  an  evasive  reply,  I  was  surprised 
by  a  visit  from  an  old  friend,  Fred  Sargent,  with  the 
information  that  he  and  A.  D.  Lundy,  formerly  associated 
with  me  in  Richmond,  were  the  engineers,  and  it  was  their 
desire  that  I  should  go  over  the  plans.  A  short  inspection  of 
the  layout  instantly  showed  a  field  ripe  for  multiple-unit  ap- 
plication, which  I  briefly  explained  to  Sargent  and  to  Mr. 
Clark,  of  the  General  Electric.  I  hastily  drew  up  a  report,  the 
main  feature  of  which  was  an  argument  in  favor  of  abandon- 
ment of  locomotive  car  schemes  and  the  adoption  of  individual 
equipments  under  common  control — in  short,  the  "multiple- 
unit"  system.  As  an  earnest  of  my  sincerity  and  confidence, 
I  supplemented  the  report  by  an  offer  to  undertake  the  equip- 
ment on  the  general  plan  outlined,  which  met  with  the  indorse- 
ment of  the  engineers.  This  was  followed  by  a  visit  to  Chicago, 
but  the  contract  was  not  concluded  before  I  was  obliged  to 
return  to  New  York. 

My  plans  being  opposed  to  those  which  had  been  submitted 
by  the  General  Electric,  Westinghouse  and  Short  companies, 
I  found  myself  with  a  lively  contest  on  hand,  which  was  illum- 
inated by  some  hours  of  engineering  discussion  over  a  private 
wire  direct  from  the  main  operating  rooms  of  the  Postal  Tele- 
graph Company  to  that  of  its  manager  in  Chicago. 

The  main  contention  which  finally  arose  was  in  the  matter  of 
speed.  I  had  guaranteed,  among  other  things,  a  regular  sched- 
ule of  15  miles,  including  stops,  and  the  equipment  I  proposed 
averaged  100-hp  per  car,  with  62  per  cent  of  the  total  weight  on 
the  drivers.  The  Westinghouse  Company's  agent  promptly 
undertook  with  the  same  horse-power,  consolidated  upon  a 
single  car,  and  with  but  25  per  cent  of  the  total  train  weight 
nn  the  drivers,  to  guarantee  18  miles.  The  difference  was  so 
marked  thai  fur  a  lime  I  failed  in  convince  President 
Carter,  of  the  absurdity  of  the  claim  of  being  able  to  make  the 


higher  schedule  under  the  conditions  named,  and  I  declined  to 
make  it  even  under  the  more  favorable  conditions  of  distributed 
motors  and  with  the  increased  percentage  of  driver  weight 
offered  by  the  multiple-unit  system.  But  time  was  pressing, 
and  I  called  one  of  my  assistants,  Mr.  McKay,  loaded  him  with 
data  on  accelerations,  motor  capacities  and  what  not,  and 
despatched  him  to  Chicago  with  orders  to  kill  that  18-mile 
schedule  beyond  resurrection.  I  believe  he  left  on  a  Sunday, 
and  I  was  booked  to  sail  for  Europe  on  Thursday.  On  Wednes- 
day night  I  received  a  telegram  from  Mr.  Carter,  saying  that 
he  would  accept  the  schedule  which  I  had  guaranteed  and 
make  a  contract  based  upon  my  proposal,  but  that  he  wanted  a 
$100,000  bond  to  guarantee  performance.  I  wired  back  that 
I  was  leaving  for  Europe  in  the  morning,  but  that  I  would  give 
the  bond  on  my  return. 

The  contract  itself,  although  based  on  my  original  proposal, 
I  never  saw  until  it  was  finally  executed  under  power  of  attor- 
ney by  McKay,  but  as  it  was  drawn  up  by  the  engineers  of  the 
company,  under  the  able  supervision  of  its  president  and  coun- 
sel, it  can  be  well  imagined  that  the  technical  conditions  were 
no  less  severe  than  I  had  myself  proposed,  and  the  financial  and 
other  requirements  governing  the  execution  of  the  contract 
were  somewhat  in  favor  of  the  company.  The  contract  was  a 
personal  one  with  me,  and  among  other  things,  I  was  to  im- 
mediately begin  work  on  the  entire  equipment,  and  to  have  six 
cars  ready  for  operation  by  July  15,  1897,  011  a  standard  track 
supplied  by  me,  the  manner  of  making  the  test  to  be  prescribed 
by  the  officers  and  engineers  of  the  road,  and  to  be  to  their 
entire  satisfaction.  Should  the  test  be  not  concluded  by  the 
date  set,  or  be  unsatisfactory,  the  contract  could  be  canceled. 
Satisfactory  further  tests  could  be  called  for  elsewhere,  and  the 
remaining  equipments  were  to  be  completed  by  specified  dates. 
As  soon  as  the  power  house  and  road  were  ready  there  was  to 
be  another  test  of  not  less  than  twenty  equipments  under  severe 
conditions  for  a  period  of  not  less  than  ten  days.  Should  these 
equipments  prove  unsatisfactory  to  the  officers  and  engineers 
the  right  still  remained  to  cancel  the  contract,  and  to  require  a 
waiver  of  all  claims  against  the  company.  Under  existing  con- 
ditions it  was  necessary  to  accept  the  contract  in  the  form 
offered,  and  while  the  installation,  from  the  contractor's  stand- 
point, was  similar  to  Richmond  in  the  immediate  outcome,  the 
results  in  the  art  were  of  almost  equal  importance. 

It  was  impossible  before  leaving  to  do  much  to  forward  the 
work,  and  I  was  detained  in  London  on  the  elevator  contract, 
which  I  only  received  finally  after  offering  to  guarantee  the 
cost  per  thousand  trips,  and  staking  the  entire  contract  upon 
the  successful  outcome  of  trial  elevators  erected  in  place,  the 
engineer.  Sir  Benjamin  Baker,  to  be  the  sole  judge  of  per- 
formance— all  under  a  heavy  weekly  forfeiture. 

I  did  not  return  to  New  York  until  the  middle  of  June,  so 
that  most  of  my  instructions  for  the  trial  equipments  were  by 
cable,  and  the  actual  preparat:on  was  made  within  thirty  days 
despite  a  wholesale  strike  of  the  machinists  in  the  shops  of  the 
Sprague  Company,  which  soon  took  over  the  contract. 

On  July  t6  two  cars  were  put  into  operation  on  the  tracks 
of  the  General  Electric  Company  at  Schenectady,  and  on  the 
26th,  the  half-century  anniversary  of  Prof.  Farmer's  test  of  a 
model  electric  railway  at  Dover,  N.  PI.,  my  ten-year-old  son. 
D'Esmonde,  operated  a  six-car  train  in  the  presence  of  the 
officers  and  engineers  of  the  South  Side  Elevated  Road. 

In  November,  a  test  train  of  five  cars  was  put  in  operation 
in  Chicago,  and  on  the  20th  of  April  following,  twenty  cars 
were  pill  into  initial  operation,  seventeen  ol  which,  one  in 
flames,  were  taken  off  by  me  during  the  da\  because  of  de- 


574 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


fective  rheostats,  but  I  had  the  satisfaction  with  the  last  three- 
car  train  of  pushing  a  steam  train  around  a  curve.  Three 
months  later,  a  year  after  the  Schenectady  test,  locomotives 
had  been  entirely  abandoned,  the  local  work  being  largely 
supervised  by  my  assistant,  Frank  Shepard. 

No  sooner  had  the  test  train  in  Chicago  established  the  mul- 
tiple-unit idea  than  I  returned  to  the  attack  on  the  Manhattan 
Elevated  and  renewed  the  campaign  of  education.  On  Dec.  13. 
1897,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  President  George  Gould,  calling 
attention  to  the  published  accounts  of  the  Chicago  work  and, 
requesting  an  interview,  asked  "if,  after  investigation  of  what 
has  been  done,  the  Manhattan  Company  will  be  inclined  to  en- 
tertain a  proposition  for  the  entire  electrical  equipment  of  its 
system,  from  power  house  to  motors,  for  a  price  based  in  part 
upon  a  capitalization  of  the  actual  saving  accomplished  in  coal 
and  depreciation,  or  cost  per  passenger  carried." 

This  excited  no  particular  interest,  and  a  week  later  I  re- 
quested a  visit  to  Chicago  of  officials,  engineers  or  experts, 
but  I  went  back  alone. 

About  this  time  the  newspapers  were  filled  with  various  ac- 
counts of  what  the  Manhattan  was  going  to  do,  the  plans  being 
apparently  based  upon  the  locomotive  car  idea.  It  seemed 
necessary  that  I  should  at  least  again  put  myself  on  record, 
and  so  on  Jan.  12,  1898,  I  sent  them  another  letter  in  which  I 
entered  at  length  into  a  general  discussion  of  the  Manhattan 
needs,  especially  directing  my  arguments  against  the  plan  under 
consideration.  Following  my  practice  of  backing  settled  con- 
viction to  the  limit  of  my  capacity,  the  letter  closed  with  the 
following  proposition : 

Whatever  your  decision,  however,  in  the  matter  of  consultation, 
selection  of  dynamos  or  make  of  motors,  and  without  unnecessary 
argument,  we  are  prepared  to  install  any  part  or  the  whole  of  an 
individualized  equipment,  and  as  against  any  possible  locomotive 
car  plan,  on  the  same  rails  and  with  the  same  dynamos  back  of 
us,  and  using  your  present  cars  modified  to  meet  the  conditions, 
operate  in  any  combination  of  from  one  to  eight  or  ten  cars,  and 
with  any  condition  of  rails,  under  the  following  guarantees: 

1.  The  lowest  maximum  speed  with  a  given  schedule. 

2.  The  highest  schedule  speed  with  any  given  maximum. 

3.  The  lowest  expenditure  of  coal  per  car-mile. 

4.  The  lowest  cost  per  car-mile,  all  things  considered. 

5.  The  least  shearing  and  deflection  strains  on  the  structure. 

6.  The  quickest  acceleration  for  any  train  combination. 

7.  The  most  effective  and  powerful  braking  system. 

8.  Equal  acceleration,  speed,  smoothness  of  movement  and  equal- 
ity of  work,  whatever  the  number  of  cars  in  a  train. 

9.  The  installation  of  such  an  equipment  in  the  shortest  possible 
time. 

But  the  Manhattan  Company  was  evidently  far  more  con- 
cerned in  efforts  to  obtain  increased  privileges  than  they  were 
in  the  electric  equipment  of  the  road,  and  were  actively 
flirting  with  both  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission  and  the  politi- 
cal powers  that  were,  in  the  hope  of  securing  its  extension  and 
delaying  the  construction  of  an  underground  road,  with  the 
result  that  on  April  1,  1898,  I  addressed  the  following  latter 
to  John  H.  Starin,  the  chairman  of  the  contract  committee  of 
the  Rapid  Transit  Commission: 

Dear  Sir:  In  all  the  published  accounts  on  the  subject  of  the 
negotiations  between  the  Commission  and  the  Manhatan  Elevated 
Company,  as  well  as  with  anyone  else,  one  of  the  most  important 
essentials  seems  to  be  entirely  ignored.  Routes,  structures,  rights 
of  way  and  penalties  are  all  considered,  but  the  one  thing  which 
would  do  more  to  relieve  congestion  does  not  seem  to  he  insisted 
upon,  and  that  is  the  question  of  motive  power. 

The  time  has  passed  when  there  could  be  any  question  as  to  the 
advisability  of  adandoning  steam  and  adopting  electricity,  and  by 
this  agent,  and  this  alone,  can  the  essentials  of  cleanliness,  reduction 


of  noise,  smoothness  of  operation,  and  what  is  most  important  of 
all,  increase  of  schedule  speed,  be  obtained. 

The  elevated  railroads  now  make  on  way  trains  a  schedule  speed 
of  not  exceeding  12  miles  an  hour,  including  stops,  when  running 
with  loaded  trains.  It  is  possible  to  increase  this  to  18  miles  or 
about  i8l/2  miles,  although  that  is  the  absolute  maximum  with 
station  stops  as  they  now  exist,  but  i6l/2  miles  is  within  the  range 
of  practical,  reasonable  demand. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  perfectly  proper  that  the  following  con- 
ditions should  be  introduced  in  the  granting  of  any  franchise  of 
any  kind  whatsoever,  and  to  whatsoever  company : 

1.  That  there  shall  be  a  change  from  steam  to  electricity. 

2.  That  there  shall  be  a  schedule  speed,  including  stops  at  each 
station,  of  not  less  than  i6]/2  miles,  whatever  the  length  of  the 
train. 

3.  That  there  shall  be  a  schedule  speed,  including  stops  at  limited 
stations,  of  express  trains  of  not  less  than  30  miles  an  hour. 

The  above  conditions  can  lie  met,  and  it  is  only  reasonable  to 
expect  that  these  increased  speeds  should  be  supplied  by  the  railway 
company  if  they  receive  additional  privileges. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  schedules  suggested  in  this 
letter  were  those  adopted  when  the  underground  specifications 
were  issued,  although  on  account  of  the  length  of  trains  and 
sharp  curves  the  express  schedule  will  probably  not  be  main- 
tained above  25  miles. 

Meanwhile  the  Brooklyn  and  Boston  elevated  roads  had 
adopted  the  multiple-unit  system,  the  latter  under  most  difficult 
conditions,  the  stock  of  the  South  Side  had  trebled  in  value 
and  the  logic  of  events  compelled  action  on  the  part  of  the  Man- 
hattan Company.  Eighteen  million  dollars  was  provided  for 
betterments  and  equipment,  but  by  some  curious  obduracy  cer- 
tain influences  were,  however,  effective  for  the  time  being  in 
blocking  the  adoption  of  the  multiple-unit  system,  and  the  first 
actual  trials  for  an  electric  equipment,  based  upon  the  approval 
of  the  officers  of  the  road  and  its  engineers,  was  that  of  a 
train  having  two  locomotive  cars,  one  at  each  end,  the  motor 
equipments  on  the  two  cars  as  a  whole  being  thrown  in  series 
and  parallel  relation,  and  governed  by  hand  controllers  supple- 
mented by  electrically  operated  reversers.  A  short  trial  proved 
the  inefneacy  of  this  scheme,  and  led  to  the  final  adoption  of 
the  multiple-unit  system  as  developed  in  a  modified  form  by 
the  General  Electric  Company,  and  now  known  as  the  Sprague- 
General  Electric  system. 

The  operative  and  financial  results  attained  by  the  adoption 
of  electricity  are  sufficient  commentary  upon  the  cynical  atti- 
tude of  unbelief  with  which  all  claims  on  behalf  of  electric 
operation  were  received,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  some  satisfac- 
tion to  see  the  growth  of  the  multiple-unit  idea  and  its  adop- 
tion on  the  Manhattan,  the  Interborough,  and  the  Metropolitan 
District  of  London,  as  well  as  other  roads  where  I  had  for 
years  advocated  it  in  face  of  the  most  determined  opposition 
and  ridicule,  as  well  as  the  substitution  of  the  system  where 
locomotive  cars  have  been  used. 

It  is  also  gratifying  that  the  largest  present  enterprise  effect- 
ing steam  operation  is  likewise  dependent  upon  this  system. 
The  whirligig  of  time  has  for  the  moment  put  me  in  the  position 
of  critic  and  engineer  instead  of  inventor  and  constructor,  as 
one  of  the  commission  in  charge  of  the  electrification  of  the 
New  York  Central  terminals  and  a  portion  of  its  main  line, 
the  other  members  being  Fifth  Vice-President  Wilgus,  chair- 
man ;  Superintendent  of  Motive  Power  Deems,  Mr.  Arnold  and 
Mr.  Gibbs,  the  general  work  being  undertaken  after  a  compre- 
hensive and  careful  report  by  Arnold,  supplementing  an  earlier 
crude  investigation  by  myself. 

It  is  too  soon  to  go  much  into  the  details  of  this  equipment 
other  than  as  already  known,  or  the  character  of  the  contracts. 
Much,  of  course,  will  be  a  duplication  of  the  best  practices 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


575 


elsewhere,  but  in  one  particular,  that  of  the  locomotive  equip- 
ments, the  departure  is  radical,  and  of  such  character  that  the 
contracting  company  is  proceeding  under  very  exacting  con- 
ditions, required  on  the  one  hand  by  the  railroad  company  and 
on  the  other  willingly  undertaken  in  its  confidence  of  the  out- 
come by  the  General  Electric  Company.  The  2200-hp  locomo- 
tive units  of  85  tons  weight,  with  over  65  tons  on  the  drivers, 
are  to  be  controlled  on  the  multiple-unit  plan,  so  that  two 
or  even  three  locomotives,  representing  an  aggregate  of  sev- 
eral thousand  horse-power  under  simultaneous  control,  can 
be  put  at  the  head  of  the  heaviest  train  which  can  be 
made  up. 

One  of  the  results  sought,  and  which  will  be  accomplished, 
is  to  replace  the  dozen  types  and  sizes  of  locomotives  now  used 
within  the  territory  determined  for  electric  operation  by  a  sin- 
gle type  and  size  of  locomotive  of  such  a  capacity  and  capable 
of  such  control  and  aggregation  as  to  meet  all  the  requirements 
of  speed  and  power,  whether  for  switching  in  the  yards  or 
hauling  the  heaviest  trains  at  schedule  speeds. 

In  view  of  the  developments  which  are  taking  place  in  the 
alternating-current  application,  it  may  be  proper  for  me  to 
say  here  that  the  decision  finally  made  in  behalf  of  continuous 
motors,  and  a  zone  of  operation  bounded  by  North  White 
Plains  on  the  Harlem  division  and  Croton  on  the  main  line 
was  the  only  one  then,  or  even  now,  possible  or  wise  under  ex- 
isting limiting  conditions,  and  that  the  operation  of  this  par- 
ticular area  is  not  affected  by,  nor  will  it  necessarily  determine 
what  shall  be  the  future  developments  affecting  trunk-line 
operation.  

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  RAILWAY  MOTOR 

BY  BRIG. -GEN.  EUGENE  GRIFFIN,  U.  S.  V. 


IN  1888  electric  lighting  was 
nearly  ten  years  old.  The 
Edison  incandescent  lamp,  in- 
vented in  1879,  had  given  tre- 
mendous impetus  to  the  light- 
ing industry,  which,  before 
that  date,  represented  but 
feeble  and  unsatisfactory  ef- 
forts to  make  commercially 
useful  the  inventions  of  nu- 
merous pioneers  in  the  light- 
ing field.  Edison  lighting 
companies  were  being  organ- 
ized in  all  of  the  principal  cities,  and  the  incandescent  lamp, 
while  still  expensive,  was  being  generally  recognized  as  a 
necessity  of  modern  life.  The  arc  light  of  Brush  and  Thomson 
had  been  so  perfected  that  municipalities  all  over  the  country 
were  lighting  their  streets  by  the  arcs,  and  while  commercial 
lighting  was  practically  unknown,  the  arc  light,  industry  was 
advancing  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

Electric  welding  had  been  invented  by  Elihu  Thomson,  and 
the  public  was  beginning  to  appreciate  the  vast  importance  of 
this  contribution  to  commercial  industry. 

Stationary  motors  were  being  used  to  a  small  extent  by  those 
who  appreciated  the  value  of  such  a  ready  source  of  power. 

Electric  railways  were  indeed  in  their  infancy.  Sprague 
was  building  the  Richmond  road.  Daft  had  a  two-car  road  in 
the  outskirts  of  Baltimore,  and  four  others  in  other  cities. 
Bentley  &  Knight  bad  abandoned  their  Cleveland  experiment, 
but  had  built  roads  in  Woonsocket,  R.  f.,  and  Allegheny  City, 
Pa.   Van  Depoele  had  some  ten  small  roads  running  in  various 


small  cities.  Each  road  differed  from  every  other  road,  not 
only  in  small,  but  in  essential  details.  Van  Depoele  placed  his 
motor  on  the  front  platform  and  connected  it  with  the  axle  by 
a  sprocket  chain  and  gear. 

Such  was  the  condition  in  1888,  when  the  Thomson-Houston 
Electric  Company,  of  Boston,  entered  the  railway  field.  That 
company,  prior  to  1888,  was  an  arc  lighting  company.  Basing 
its  work  on  the  patents  of  Professors  Thomson  and  Houston, 
by  able  management  and  unusual  energy  it  had  achieved  a  lead- 
ing position  in  the  electrical  manufacturing  field  and  had  sur- 
passed its  older  rival,  the  Brush  Company.  The  arc  light 
business  had  absorbed  all  of  the  energy  of  its  management,  but 
having  attained  the  first  place,  it  was  looking  for  new  worlds  to 
conquer.  The  Bentley-Knight  Company,  having  no  factory  of 
its  own,  had  purchased  electric  motors  from  the  Thomson- 
Houston  Company  for  the  Woonsocket  and  Allegheny  City 
roads.  In  this  way  the  Thomson-Houston  engineers  had  se- 
cured some  experience  in  electric  railway  work. 

In  the  spring  of  1888  it  was  determined  that  the  Thomson- 
Houston  Company  should  take  up  the  electric  railway  business. 
The  first  step  was  the  purchase  of  the  Van  Depoele  patents. 
The  wisdom  of  this  move  was  proven  by  subsequent  results. 
The  courts  have  repeatedly  held  that  Van  Depoele  was  a  pio- 
neer in  the  railway  art,  and  his  patents  have  been  repeatedly 
sustained  by  the  Federal  courts  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  We 
owe  to  Van  Depoele  the  carbon  brush,  without  which  the  elec- 
tric railway  motor,  and  I  might  even  say  the  direct-current 
dynamo,  would  have  been  a  comparative  failure.  We  owe  to 
Van  Depoele  the  under-running  trolley,  which  was  an  essential 
to  the  early  roads,  and  is  an  essential  to-day. 

The  purchase  of  the  Van  Depoele  patents  carried  with  it  the 
employment  of  Van  Depoele,  and  from  that  time  the  Thomson- 
Houston  Company  had  the  advice,  counsel  and  active  assist- 
ance of  that  great  inventor. 

Experiments  were  at  once  undertaken  to  develop  the  best 
possible  form  of  motor.  These  resulted  in  the  F-30  motor — 
the  old  double-reduction,  15-hp  so-called  F-30  motor.  Two 
motors  were  furnished  with  every  car.  These  motors  were 
flexibly  suspended  from  the  axles,  and  the  armature  speed  of 
1500  r.  p.  m.  was  reduced  to  the  desired  car-axle  speed  by 
means  of  an  intermediate  axle  and  a  second  gearing.  It  will 
be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  difficulty  at  the  outset  with  electric 
railway  motors  was  not  to  attain  high  speed,  but  rather  to  at- 
tain low  speed,  and  for  several  years  the  improvements  in 
railway  motors  were  all  in  the  direction  of  bringing  down  the 
speed  and  ultimately  eliminating  the  intermediate  axle  and 
secondary  gearing. 

The  F-30  motor  is  shown  on  the  following  page.  The  motors 
of  this  type  were  characterized  by  flat  fields.  The  frame  con- 
sisted of  a  strong  iron  casting,  comprising  side  arms  and  mag- 
net yoke,  while  the  field  cores  were  wrought  iron  forgings,  of 
flat,  rectangular  cross  section,  firmlv  bolted  to  this  yoke.  The 
field  coils  were  wound  upon  sheet-iron  spools  with  brass 
flanges,  and  the  ends  of  the  windings  were  joined  by  means  of 
copper  strips  to  the  connection  board,  which  is  placed  in  a 
position  of  easy  access  for  examination.  The  armature  in  the 
type  F  motor  was  of  the  Siemens  or  drum  type,  having  contin- 
uous coils  wound  with  the  most  careful  attention  to  insulation. 

The  bearing  linings  were  all  of  gun  metal.  On  the  arma- 
ture and  intermediate  shafts  the  boxes  were  provided  with  the 
ordinary  oil  cups,  as  a  means  of  lubrication,  while  on  the  axle 
shaft  the  boxes  had  an  oil  reservoir  and  a  spring  feeder.  The 
gear  ratio  was  04,  and  the  motor  was  rated  at  15  hp.  The 
weight  of  the  motor  was  2096  lbs.    Four  thousand  six  hun- 


576 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


dred  and  twenty-one  of  these  motors  were  sold  by  the  Thom- 
son-Houston Company  during  the  years  1888-1891,  and  went 
into  operation  in  all  parts  of  the  habitable  globe.  It  is  no  ex- 
aggeration to  say  that  the  F-30  motor  made  the  success  of 
electric  railways. 

Carbon  brushes  were  first  used  on  the  F-30  motors.  Some 
of  the  serious  troubles  with  copper  brushes  encountered  by 
Sprague  on  his  Richmond  road  were  rapid  consumption  and 
difficulty  in  reversal,  and  this  invention  of  Van  Depoele's  was 
a  long  step  in  advance. 

The  first  commercial  road  equipped  by  the  Thomson-Houston 
Company   was  at   Crescent   Beach,   Mass.    Two   cars  were 


U  THE  F-30  MOTOR  L — 

equipped  and  put  into  regular  operation  on  the  Fourth  of  July, 
1888.  The  pinions  were  made  of  alternate  plates  of  steel  and 
rawhide,  a  method  of  construction  highly  praised  at  the  time, 
and  from  which  much  was  expected.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
it  was  but  a  short  time  before  the  rawhide  was  eliminated. 

'Idie  success  of  the  Crescent  Beach  road  led  to  the  contract 
for  the  Eckington  &  Soldiers'  Home  road  in  Washington. 
This  road  ran  from  Mt.  Vernon  Square  on  Seventh  Street  to 
ami  beyond  the  boundary.  The  straight  line  of  New  York 
Avenue  offered  unusually  excellent  facilities  for  good  con- 
struction; steel  poles  were  used,  placed  between  the  tracks 
with  one  cross  arm  extending  out  over  both  tracks.  It  was 
opened  to  traffic  in  the  fall  of  1888.  This  line  was  well  con- 
structed and  was  a  model  road  in  its  day.  Its  position  in  the 
capitol  city,  where  it  was  examined  and  commented  upon  daily 
by  Senators  and  Representatives  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  justifies  us  in  asserting  that  no  one  road  did  more  to 
advance  and  make  permanent  the  electric  railway  industry 
than  did  the  Eckington  &  Soldiers'  Home  road. 

Great  fears  were  expressed  as  to  the  danger  to  life  and  limb, 
and  as  to  the  fire  risk  from  such  "high-tension"  wires  stretched 
over  the  public  highway.  These  fears  found  voice  in  the 
United  States  Senate,  and  the  construction  of  the  Eckington 
road  was  considerably  delayed,  pending  a  hearing  before  the 
district  committee,  based  upon  a  petition  of  the  Thomson- 
Houston  Company,  praying  for  relief  from  the  action  of  the 
Senate,  which,  in  passing  a  resolution  introduced  by  Senator 
Edmunds,  of  Vermont,  indicated  an  intention  of  annulling  all 
contracts  and  permits,  and  making  impossible  and  unlawful 
the  construction  of  the  road.  The  evidence  introduced  at  this 
hearing  satisfied  the  committee,  and  the  report  of  the  committee 
satisfied  the  Senate,  and  work  was  resumed. 

The  telephone  companies  protested  against  the  use  of  the 
ground  return  by  the  electric  railways,  as  it  interfered  with 


their  use  of  the  ground  return.  Much  litigation  resulted,  but 
the  courts  held  that  the  telephone  companies  had  no  monopoly 
of  the  earth,  and  the  result  was  the  introduction  of  metallic 
circuits  for  telephones,  an  improvement  which  the  public  owes 
to  the  electric  railway,  although  it  was  an  improvement  which 
was  sure  to  come  sooner  or  later. 

Henry  M.  Whitney,  a  brother  of  William  C.  Whitney  (after- 
ward Secretary  of  the  Navy),  was  president  of  the  West  End 
Street  Railway,  of  Boston.  A  courageous  and  progressive 
man,  it  was  his  intention  to  introduce  the  cable  system  in  order 
that  Boston  might  have  a  modern  and  up-to-date  transporta- 
tion system.  Probably  no  city  in  the  United  States  was  less 
suited  to  the  cable  system  than  Boston.  Nevertheless,  it  seemed 
the  only  system  available  as  an  improvement  over  the  old  horse 
car,  and  Mr.  Whitney's  cable  plans  were  already  far  advanced 
when  his  attention  was  invited  to  the  possible  use  of  the  elec- 
tric motor.  A  visit  to  Allegheny  City,  to  Richmond  and  to 
Washington  convinced  Mr.  Whitney  that  the  new  system  was 
what  he  desired ;  a  contract  was  made  for  the  equipment  of  the 
Cambridge  line  with  the  overhead  trolley,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  contracted  with  the  Bentley-Knight  Company  for  an  under- 
ground conduit  on  Boylston  Street.  The  Cambridge  trolley 
was  a  success;  the  Boylston  Street  conduit  was  a  failure.  The 
conduit  was  removed  and  authority  secured  for  overhead  wires 
over  practically  all  of  the  Boston  streets.  The  West  End  engi- 
neers were  satisfied  with  their  knowledge  of  power  house  work, 
of  the  cost  of  producing  power,  of  the  cost  of  maintenance  of 
dynamos,  and  of  the  possibility  of  operating  cars  by  overhead 
wires.  They  were  without  knowledge  of  the  cost  of  maintain- 
ing the  overhead  lines  and  the  apparatus  on  the  cars.  A  con- 
tract was  proposed  wherein  the  Thomson-Houston  Company 
would  assume  this  risk  by  agreeing  to  keep  the  overhead  line 


THOMSON-HOUSTON  CAR  ON  ECKINGTON  &  SOLDIERS'  HOME 
RAILWAY,  WASHINGTON 

and  the  car  equipment  in  operating  condition  for  the  sum  of 
3  cents  per  car-mile  for  a  double-motor  car,  and  \J/z  cents  per 
mile  for  a  single-motor  car ;  this  agreement  to  run  for  five 
years.  It  was  a  bold  step  for  the  Thomson-Houston  directors 
to  take,  but  on  the  advice  of  their  engineers  they  did  take  it, 
and  the  contract  was  signed.  At  the  end  of  two  years  Mr. 
Wdiitney  found  that  the  Thomson-Houston  Company  was  mak- 
ing a  profit  on  the  maintenance  guarantee,  and  he  took  it  over, 
as  was  his  contract  right.  But  those  two  years  were  far  from 
pleasant  ones  for  those  engineers  upon  whom  rested  the  re- 
sponsibility for  such  an  agreement,  and  few  can  appreciate  the 


October  8,  1904.  : 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


577 


relief  they  felt  when  it  was  realized  that  they  had  no  longer  any 
direct  interest  in  the  question  as  to  whether  or  no  the  cars  could 
be  kept  running  during  a  Boston  winter  blizzard.  The  se- 
curing of  the  West  End  contract  by  the  Thomson-Hous- 
ton Company  against  the  severe  competition  of  the  Bentley- 
Knight,  the  Sprague  and  other  electric  companies,  unques- 
tionably placed  the  Thomson-Houston  Company  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  electric  railway  equipment  manufacturing  com- 
panies— a  position  which  it  continued  to  hold  until  its  amalga- 
mation with  the  Edison  Company  to  form  the  present  General 
Electric  Company  in  1892. 

It  was  interesting  to  meet  and  combat  the  objections  of  the 
street  railway  manager.  His  fears  as  to  the  reliability  of  elec- 
tric cars  were  natural ;  his  feeling  of  absolute  helplessness  in 
the  handling  of  a  power  of  which  he  knew  nothing,  and  could 
learn  nothing,  was  natural ;  but  it  was  amusing  to  hear  him 
seriously  argue  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  any  change 
whatever  in  the  16-ft.  horse  car.  The  body  could  not  be  raised 
one  inch  ;  not  only  was  it  impossible  to  add  another  step  to 
reach  the  platform,  but  the  rise  in  the  prescribed  number  of 
steps  could  not  be  increased  even  by  one  inch.  Car  builders 
had  nearly  attained  perfection  in  the  manufacture  of  the  car 
body,  and  the  springs  and  axles  and  boxes  and  all  parts  must 
be  used  just  as  they  were  used  when  the  horse  constituted  the 
motive  power. 

The  introduction  of  the  independent  truck  in  1889  was  a 
great  step  in  advance,  and  it  did  more  perhaps  than  any  other 
improvement  to  bring  home  to  the  old-fashioned  manager  the 
fact  that  the  horse  car  days  were  past  and  that  we  had  entered 
a  new  era  where  his  horse  car  experience  counted  for  but  little, 
in  so  far  as  it  related  to  the  construction  of  the  car  and  the 
motive  power  therefor. 

The  F-30  motor  was  succeeded  by  the  S.  R.  G.  motor  in 
1890.  This  was  the  first  single-reduction  motor;  it  was  short- 
lived ;  it  was  followed  almost  immediately  by  the  W.  P.  motor 
(water-proof),  and  some  7638  of  the  W.  P.  motors  were  sold. 
These  were  succeeded  by  the  GE  800,  and  as  the  cars  were  in- 
creased in  size  and  greater  speed  demanded,  by  the  25-hp,  the 
35-hp,  the  40-hp,  the  50-hp.  the  75-hp  and  even  the  125-hp  mo- 
tors of  the  present  day.  The  Interborough  cars  in  New  York 
are  equipped  with  200-hp  motors. 

The  growth  of  the  electrical  railway  has  been  rapid.  Hardly 
seventeen  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  substantial  road 
was  constructed,  and  yet  the  growth  has  been  so  gradual  that 
few  realize  what  it  has  done  for  humanity.  The  crowded  city 
has  been  expanded  into  the  country;  the  area  available  for 
homes  has  been  increased  at  least  nine-fold ;  towns  and  cities 
have  been  brought  into  communication  where  before  no  com- 
munication existed;  where  communication  did  exist  the  high 
speed  of  electric  interurban  cars  has  effected  great  savings  in 
time;  the  value  of  property  has  been  enormously  increased;  our 
streets  have  been  made  cleaner  and  healthier ;  additional  work 
has  been  found  for  many  thousands  of  laborers,  and  the  saving 
in  time  to  all  who  travel  by  electric-driven  vehicles  has  added 
years  to  the  active  life  of  every  individual. 

♦  ♦♦ 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  STREET  RAILWAY  TRACK 
STRUCTION  DURING  THE  PAST  20  YEARS 


CON- 


J!Y  W.  ISOARDMAN  RI£ED 


"I  feel  that  the  time  has  now  come  when  some  of  the  physi- 
cal dimensions  of  electric  cars  may,  with  benefit  to  all,  be 
standardized.  As  to  how  far  such  standardization  should  go, 
committees  of  tin's  association  can  best  determine.  The  guid- 
ing principle,  it  seems  to  me,  should  be  tin's:  That  standardiza- 
tion nl  parts  should  be  so  directed  as  nut  to  interfere  with  the 
progress  of  invention." — From  Pittsburg  Meeting,  1891. 


PREVIOUS  to  1884  steam 
railroad  engineers  had  prac- 
tically agreed  upon  the  proper 
section  of  rail  and  style  of 
construction,  and  little  or  no 
change  has  since  been  made 
in  the  standards  then  in  use. 
y^P^  The  use  of  heavier  rolling 

M|  ^  stock  has  called  for  heavier 

I  steel  and  more  solid  roadbed. 

this  demand  being  met  by  in- 
creasing proportionately  the 
dimensions  of  the  then  stand- 
ard rail  sections,  substituting,  perhaps,  broken  stone  ballast 
for  sand  or  gravel,  and  reinforcing  culverts  and  bridges.  Even 
the  joint  fastenings  most  generally  in  use  to-day  are  of  the 
same  general  design  as  those  used  twenty  years  ago.  Though 
many  patent  joints  and  fastenings  have  been  tried  and  used, 
there  is  no  single  one  of  them  so  generally  used  as  the  angle 
splice,  which  is  a  modification  of  the  old  fish-plate  pattern. 

The  action  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers 
doubtless  had  much  to  do  with  standardizing  rail  sections.  The 
section  recommended  in  1893  by  its  "Committee  on  Standard 
Rail  Sections"  is  the  standard  of  most  steam  railroads  to-day, 
though  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  has  a  standard  of 
its  own  and  some  other  roads  use  a  slightly  modified  form  of 
the  A.  S.  C.  E.  section. 

With  street  railways,  however,  there  has  been  during  the 
past  twenty  years  a  complete  change  in  everything  relating  to 
track  construction,  so  that  the  standard  street  railway  track  of 
1904  has  no  closer  resemblance  to  the  standard  of  1884  than 
has  the  modern  electric  car  at  present  running  on  Broadway, 
in  Manhattan,  to  the  horse  car  running  on  West  Street  in  this 
same  Borough. 

From  about  183 1  for  a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years,  ani- 
mal power  was  universally  used  for  street  car  service.  The 
cars  were  light,  and  so  did  not  call  for  a  rigid  roadbed.  The 
problems  confronting  the  street  railway  track  department  of 
that  period,  however,  were  the  same,  aside  from  the  strength 
of  the  track  construction,  as  confront  us  to-day.  Much  time, 
thought  and  money  were  expended  in  an  endeavor  to  get  a  per- 
fect track.  The  definition  of  a  perfect  street  railway  track 
twenty  years  ago  might  be  as  follows,  the  sequence  of  the  re- 
quirements given  being  according  to  their  importance: 

First — The  head  of  the  rail  to  be  of  such  section  as  to  offer 
the  least  resistance  to  the  movement  of  cars. 

Second — The  shape  to  be  such  that  mud,  slush  or  snow  car- 
ried on  it  by  vehicles  would  be  easily  pushed  off  by  wheels  of 
tbe  cars. 

Third — The  rail  to  be  such  that  it  could  be  solidly  spiked  to 
the  wooden  stringer. 

Fourth — The  rail  to  offer  the  least  possible  obstruction  to 
vehicles. 

Fifth — The  sub-structure  to  be  such  as  not  to  interfere  with 
the  pavement  and  to  be  of  sufficient  vertical  and  lateral  stiff- 
ness as  to  resist  the  strain  caused  by  heavy  vehicles. 

To  accomplish  these  results  many  various  sections  were 
rolled  in  meet  the  ideas  nut  only  of  street  railway  engineers 
and  managers,  but  of  city  authorities  as  well. 

Tbe  first  street  railway  built  for  passenger  traffic  was  on 


5/8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City,  the  rail  used  being  a  simple 
bar  of  iron,  with  a  groove  formed  to  receive  the  Wheel  flange, 
and  this  section  came  as  near  meeting  the  definition  given 
above  as  any  since  made.  It  was  quite  similar  to  Fig.  1,  the 
lower  lip  being  omitted,  Figs.  2,  3  and  4  being  other  sections 
tried.  Fig.  5,  known  as  the  "Philadelphia  Section,"  was  also 
extensively  used. 

The  center-bearing  rail,  shown  in  Fig.  3,  undoubtedly  more 
nearly  complies  with  the  first,  second,  third  and  fifth  require- 


-\%- 


-y — 1'< 


-1% 


1K«- 


I. 


FIG.  1 


FIG.  2 


1% 


 5^5  

FIG.  3 


3" 

— a — 

i 

ft* 

FIG.  4 


merits  of  the  above  definition  than  any  other,  but  much  objec- 
tion was  made  to  it  by  drivers  of  vehicles,  and  so  great  was  the 
objection  that  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York 
enacted  a  law  in  1892  against  its  further  use.  This  section  has 
rather  an  interesting  history.  The  various  street  railway  men, 
in  their  effort  to  obtain  a  proper  rail,  appealed  to  the  late  Hon. 
Abram  S.  Hewitt,  of  Cooper,  Hewitt  &  Company.  He  per- 
sonally designed  for  them  this  rail,  and,  as  stated  above,  it  was, 


FIG.  5 


FIG.  6 


to  the  street  railway  men,  very  satisfactory.  The  head  being 
somewhat  above  the  adjacent  pavement  and  separated  from  it 
on  either  side  by  a  flange,  comparatively  little  dirt,  mud  or 
snow  was  drawn  or  pushed  on  it  by  vehicles.  In  light  snow 
storms  the  wheels  of  cars  would  themselves  clean  the  rails, 
and  in  heavy  storms  they  would  remain  clean  for  a  considerable 
period,  especially  if  a  small  quantity  of  nocturnal  sunshine  or 
salt  was  sprinkled  along  the  flanges.  Some  few  years  after  the 
introduction  of  this  rail,  Mr.  Hewitt  was  elected  Mayor  of  the 
city  of  New  York,  and,  being  appealed  to  by  the  citizens,  he 
refused  to  allow  any  permit  to  be  granted  for  the  further  use 
of  center-bearing  rail,  and,  largely  through  his  efforts,  the 
statute  above  referred  to  was  passed  by  the  Legislature.  When 
remonstrated  with  by  the  street  railway  men,  he  replied :  'Yes, 
I  designed  this  rail,  but  I  was  then  employed  in  your  interest. 
Now  I  am  working  in  the  interest  of  the  public."  I  believe 
Kansas  City,  Mo.,  is  the  only  city  in  the  United  States  which 
permits  the  use  of  this  rail-head. 

With  the  flat  sections  of  rail  the  method  of  construction  was 
to  spike  the  rails  to  a  wooden  stringer  5  ins.  ("equal  to  the 
width  of  the  rail)  in  width  and  7  ins.  in  depth.  The  rail  being 
\V2  ins.  or  2  ins.  in  thickness,  this  gave  ample  depth  for  pav- 
ing blocks.  The  stringers  were  fastened  to  crossties  placed 
from  4  ft.  to  5  ft.  apart  with  cast-iron  knees  or  angles,  one  of 
which  was  placed  either  side  of  the  stringer  at  each  tie  and 
fastened  with  spikes  to  both.    Outside  of  the  stringers,  knees 


p  2H- 

3-  >| 

-^—42' 

about  5  ins.  x  5  ins.  were  used.  Inside,  the  knees  were  3  ins.  x 
3  ins.  At  joints  of  timbers  a  special  shaped  knee  was  used, 
arranged  to  engage  both  sticks.  In  laying  this  character  of 
track  care  was  used  not  to  have  a  joint  of  the  rail  over  a  joint 
of  the  timber,  and  at  rail  joints  a  flat  piece  of  steel  or  iron, 
shaped  to  receive  the  bottom  of  the  rail, 
was  placed,  the  timber  being  cut  to  re- 
ceive it. 

Though  the  flat  rail  answered  very  well 

for  the  light  cars  of  twenty  years  ago, 

some  railway  men,  or  it  may  have  been  rail 

manufacturers,  thought  that  a  rail  with 

greater  vertical  strength  would  be  better, 

,  r      ,  ,  FIG.  7 

so  that,  even  for  horse  cars,  many  other 

sections  were  tried.  Still  clinging  to  the  wooden  stringer, 
sections  were  rolled  with  a  channel  base,  the  flanges  tending  to 
stiffen  the  rail,  and  the  rail  being  fastened  to  the  stringer  with 
horizontal  bolts.  Later,  the  wooden  stringer  was  abandoned 
and  various  sections  supported  on  chairs  were  used.  Though 
a  patent  was  granted  in  1859  t°  Sydney  A.  Beers  tor  a  girder 
rail  very  similar  to  those  at  present  used,  Fig.  6,  owing  to  diffi- 
culties of  rolling,  no  girder  rails  were  manufactured  until 
1872.  This  rail,  Fig.  7,  was  only  3  ins.  in  height  and  was  sup- 
ported on  chairs.  It  was  followed  by  girder  rails,  both  with 
and  without  bottom  flange,  also  by  various  other  types  of  rails, 
such  as  Lewis  &  Fowler's  box  rail,  Figs.  8,  9  and  10,  and  the 
Gibbon  duplex  rail,  Figs.  11  and  12. 

Each  of  these  sections  had  some  feature  through  which  they 
were  placed  on  the  market,  and  answered  fairly  well  for  horse 
car  service,  though  none  of  them,  in  the  opinion  of  the  author, 
was  superior  to  the  flat  rail  and  wooden  stringer.  In  1894 
and  1895,  a  considerable  amount  of  the  Lewis  &  Fowler  and 
also  of  the  Gibbon  rail  was  removed  from  Sixth  Avenue  in 
New  York  City  and  the  flat  rail  with  stringer  substituted.  The 
Lewis  &  Fowler  and  Gibbon  rails  had  been  in  service  but  a 
few  years,  while  the  flat  rail  and  stringer  adjacent  to  them 
had  been  in  service  over  twenty  years,  during  which  time  the 
rails  had  been  renewed  once,  but  the  stringers  had  not  been 
changed. 

There  is  at  present  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  something 
like  75  miles  of  flat  rail  and  stringer  construction,  much  of 
which  has  been  in  operation  over  twenty  years,  and  it  is  to-day 
in  better  condition  than  is  a  line  built  about  twelve  years  ago 
with  4-in.  girder  rail  on  chairs. 

If  the  various  box-girder,  duplex,  "Butterfly,"  shallow  girder 
and  so-called  girder  rails  without  lower  flanges  would  not 
stand  up  under  horse  car  service,  it  is  not  surprising  that  with 
the  advent  of  electric  service  trouble  was  immediately  experi- 
enced with  the  track.  None  of  the  rails  in  use  when  electric 
cars  were  introduced  had  sufficient  vertical  stiffness,  and, 
though  it  would  seem  an  easy  matter  to  compute  the  best  sec- 
tion of  rail  to  carry  a  given  load,  yet  we  find  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal manufacturers  of  steel  rails  as  late  as  1890  recommending 
the  use  of  so-called  girder  rails,  with  no  lower  flanges,  set  on 
chairs,  though  at  that  time  regular  girder  rails  9  ins.  high  were 
rolled. 

As  late  as  1895  ^ew  street  railways  were  built  with  a  stronger 
rail  than  a  7-in.  girder,  weighing  from  75  lbs.  to  80  lbs.  per 
yard,  and  even  yet  7-in.  rail  is  extensively  used,  though  9-in. 
rail,  weighing  from  90  lbs.  to  100  lbs.  per  yard,  is  fast  becoming 
standard.  Though  the  7-in.  rail,  or  even  the  6-in.  rail,  weigh- 
ing from  80  lbs.  to  90  lbs.  per  yard,  is  sufficient  with  a  proper 
foundation,  the  9-in.  rail  has  the  advantage  of  giving  sufficient 
depth  for  stone  block  paving,  and,  in  addition,  it  gives  a  much 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


579 


more  rigid  joint.  Rails  as  much  as  10^  ins.  in  height  have 
been  used,  but  they  do  not  meet  with  favor.  The  use  of  a 
girder  rail  with  head  from  ins.  to  ins.  in  width,  with 
a  lower  flange  from  5  ins.  to  6  ins.  in  width,  and  a  total  height 
of  9  ins.,  weighing  from  90  lbs.  to  110  lbs.,  is  being  adopted 
throughout  the  country  as  a  standard,  but,  aside  from  this  as  a 
type,  we  are  no  nearer  to  a  standard  section  than  we  were 
twenty  years  ago.  In  fact,  we  have  retained  all  the  heads  used 
previously,  except  perhaps  the  center-bearing,  and  adopted 
many  new  ones.  The  general  shape  most  used  is  the  side- 
bearing,  Fig.  13.  Many  cities,  however,  will  not  consent  to  its 
use,  demanding  a  groove  rail  with  inside  flange  approximately 
the  same  height  as  the  head.  The  so-called  "Trilby"  rail,  de- 
signed in  1895  by  the  engineers  of  the  Metropolitan  Street 


FIG. 


FIG.  9 


Railway  Company,  of  New  York  City,  to  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  city  authorities,  is  being  used  quite  extensively 
(see  Fig.  14).  It  has  probably  less  bad  features  than 
other  grooved  rails,  but  is  more  objectionable,  especially  in 
times  of  snow,  than  rails  without  a  groove.  A  number  of  modi- 
fications have  been  made  in  this  section  since  it  was  originally 
designed,  and  the  present  standard  of  Greater  New  York  differs 
slightly  from  the  original  model. 

In  the  foundation  for  rails  there  has  been  fully  as  great  im- 
provement during  the  past  twenty  years  as  in  the  rail.  Where- 
as in  horse  car  construction  ties  5  ins.  x  7  ins.  x  7  ft.,  placed 
4  ft.,  or  even  5  ft.,  on  centers,  tamped  up  with  the  surrounding 
earth,  were  generally  used,  the  better  construction  of  to-day 
requires  either  metal  ties,  spaced  30  ins.  on  centers,  with  either 


-Wa- 


it might  be  claimed,  however,  that  in  thus  using  concrete 
there  has  been  no  development  in  the  past  fifty  years  except 
in  that  the  concrete  is  a  substitute  for  the  natural  stone,  for 
on  the  first  steam  railroad  built  the  rails  were  supported  by 
stone  blocks,  and  in  the  line  built  on  Fourth  Avenue,  in  New 
York  City,  stone  ties,  some  of  which  were  taken  out  in  1897, 
were  used  for  at  least  a  portion  of  the  distance. 

The  underground  trolley  system  of  New  York  and  Wash- 
ington has  been  entirely  developed  in  the  past  decade,  though 
experimental  lines  quite  similar  in  design  were  built  even  be- 
fore the  use  of  the  overhead  trolley.  The  principal  mechanical 
development  in  this  character  of  construction  has  been  in  the 
substitution  of  cast  iron  and  concrete  for  wood  in  the  supports 
for  the  rails  and  the  conduits.    This  character  of  construction, 

however,  is  so  expensive  that  it 
can  never  be  used  except  in  very 
populous  cities  where  there  is  a 
large  number  of  short  riders. 

In  no  branch  of  track  con- 
struction has  there  been  greater 
development  than  in  the  special 
work.  Less  than  twenty  years 
ago,  when  a  turn-out  was  to  be 
built,  a  pattern  maker  from  an 
iron  foundry  would  visit  the 
ground  with  a  wagon  load  of 
wooden  strips,  which  he  would  proceed  to  lay  out  on  the  ground, 
bending  them  to  form  the  necessary  curves,  nailing  on  pieces 
for  crossings,  etc.  Having  secured  the  model  together,  he 
would  cut  it  into  pieces  that  he  could  load  onto  the  wagon  and 
return  to  his  shop.  Patterns  for  cast-iron  switches,  mates, 
frogs  and  crossings  would  then  be  made  and  the  rails  bent  to 
conform  with  the  model.  That  work  built  this  way  would  not 
always  fit  is  not  strange,  for  the  wooden  strips  would  often 

insist  on  warping  out  of  shape 

-2^--  -><  2%" — *        before  they  were  used.    As  late 

as  1895  the  writer  saw  a  piece 


FIG.  10 


« — •>.'.< — >* 

mm 


FIG.  11 


FIG.  12 


FIG.  13 


FIG.  It 


a  heavy  beam  of  concrete  under  the  rail  or  else  a  continuous 
bed  of  concrete  not  less  than  6  ins.  thick  for  pavement  founda- 
tion, reinforced  to  8  ins.  or  10  ins.  for  12  ins.  either  side  of  the 
gage  lines.  In  this  construction  the  tie  simply  serves  as  a  tie 
rod  to  hold  the  track  to  gage  and  as  a  temporary  support  while 
the  track  is  being  lined  and  surfaced  previous  to  the  placing 
of  the  concrete.  If  wooden  ties  are  used  they  are  6  ins.  x  8  ins. 
x  8  ft.,  from  24  ins.  to  30  ins.  on  centers,  either  broken  stone 
or  gravel  being  used  for  ballast.  Often  concrete  is  used  in  lieu 
of  ballast,  in  which  case  it  is  not  only  tamped  under  and  around 
the  ties,  but  under  the  rail  as  well. 


of  work  built  after  this  manner,  causing  a  track  gang  and  the 
pattern  maker,  who  had  been  sent  after,  lots  of  trouble  at  First 
Avenue  and  Thirty-Fourth  Street,  New  York  City. 

It  is  perhaps  of  interest  to  note  that  in  the  cast-iron  work 
used  nearly,  if  not  quite,  twenty  years  ago,  hardened  steel 
wearing  plates  were  inserted  in  frogs  and  crossings. 

The  great  improvement  in  the  methods  of  manufacturing- 
steel  has  enabled  the  manufacturers  to  make  special  work  so 
that  the  parts  of  greatest  wear  will  last  as  long  as  the  rails 
adjoining,  and  all  turn-outs,  crossings,  etc.,  being  laid  out  by 
engineers  instead  of  pattern  makers,  with  wooden  strips,  there 


58o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


is  very  seldom  any  trouble  with  the  fit.  In  special  work  for 
underground  trolley  lines,  especially  in  renewal  work,  great 
care  has  to  be  taken  in  making  the  measurements  and  in  its 
manufacture,  for,  unless  the  work  is  made  mathematically  cor- 
rect, it  will  not  fit  and  little  or  no  fudging  can  be  done.  Even 
the  holes  in  the  castings  must  be  in  exactly  the  proper  location 
or  much  extra  work  is  required  in  the  field,  and  gouging  or 
redrilling  of  the  holes  weakens  the  structure. 

-  ♦♦♦ 

ST.  LOUIS  STREET  RAILWAYS  IN  1884  AND  1904 

BY  ROBERT  McCULLOCH 


A VISITOR  to  St.  Louis  twenty  years  ago  would  have 
found  a  miscellaneous  assortment  of  some  fifteen 
horse  and  mule  railway  companies,  the  oldest  of 
which  dated  from  about  1859,  at  which  time  several  roads  were 
started.  About  half  of  the  cars  in  service  in  1884  were  of  the 
bob-tailed  variety,  with  steps  at  the  rear  in  lieu  of  a  platform. 
The  remainder  had  advanced  to  the  stage  where  rear  platforms 
and  conductors  were  added,  and  these  were  consequently  looked 
upon  as  being  as  much  superior  to  the  bob-tails  as  the  present 
double-truck,  cross-seat  cars  were  a  short  time  ago  considered 
superior  to  the  single-truck  cars  which  preceded  them.  Grand 
Avenue,  2.y2  miles  west  of  Broadway,  was  the  terminus  of  the 
east  and  west  lines.  The  company's  central  power  station  is 
now  west  of  that  thoroughfare,  and  Grand  Avenue  is  occupied 
by  a  central  cross-town  line,  which  has  very  heavy  traffic  be- 
cause it  is  so  centrally  located  with  reference  to  the  system. 
In  fact,  Grand  Avenue  is  not  half  way  to  the  World's  Fair 
grounds  and  the  present  lines  radiate  from  6  to  20  miles.  The 
St.  Louis  Transit  Company  on  World's  Fair  opening  day  oper- 
ated 1000  cars,  and  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway  Com- 
pany 100  more.  The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company's  regular  rush 
hour  schedule  now  calls  for  about  1100  cars,  which  is  perhaps 
as  many  as  can  be  operated  to  advantage  without  causing  con- 
gestion and  defeating  the  object  of  carrying  the  greatest  pos- 
sible number  of  people  per  hour. 

Mules  were  the  favorite  motive  power  with  St.  Louis  street 
railway  men.  On  the  bob-tailed  cars,  although  one  horse  or  a 
large  mule  could  have  pulled  them,  experience  proved  "double- 
motor  equipment"  to  lie  the  best,  the  motors  in  this  case  being 
a  team  of  small  mules.  One  cannot  refrain  from  enlarging  a 
little  on  the  superior  qualities  of  these  small  mules  for  street 
car  service.  They  were  bred  from  mustang  ponies,  and  seemed 
to  combine  the  tough  qualities  of  both  the  common  mule  and 
the  mustang.  A  team  of  them  would  pull  a  bob-tailed  car 
along  at  a  lively  trot,  making  a  speed  of  6  to  7  miles  per  hour 
when  under  full  headway.  They  would  get  a  car  under  way 
very  rapidly,  or  perhaps  we  should  say,  in  deference  to  modern 
methods  of  expression,  the  acceleration  was  very  rapid.  These 
little  mules  were  usually  bought  right  from  the  farms  in  North- 
ern Missouri  and  Texas  without  any  previous  breaking  in. 
Contrary  to  what  might  be  supposed,  these  mustang  mules 
were  easily  broken  in  to  street  car  service,  and  proved  very 
intelligent  and  quick  to  learn  the  requirements  of  the  business 
as  well  as  willing  workers.  They  were  not  shirkers.  To  break 
them  in,  an  untrained  mule  was  put  beside  a  trained  one.  The 
force  of  example  was  strong,  and  by  the  time  the  newcomer 
had  made  one  round  trip  alongside  a  gentle  mate  he  was  usually 
considered  broken  in  and  would  know  how  to  act  in  street  rail- 
way service  from  that  time  on.  They  soon  learned  that  one 
bell  meant  stop  at  the  next  corner,  that  a  person  waiting  at  a 


corner  meant  stop,  and  that  two  bells  meant  go  ahead.  They 
were  less  susceptible  to  disease  and  less  affected  by  hot  weather 
than  horses.  About  the  only  thing  that  took  the  vim  out  of 
them  was  a  sleet-covered  roadway  in  winter,  which  gave  them 
an  uncertain  footing.  Trouble  from  this  cause  was  in  those 
days  overcome  by  sprinkling  between  the  rails  with  fine  cin- 
ders. Mules  frequently  averaged  20  miles  per  day  with  as 
much  ease  as  horses  would  make  14  miles,  and  the  mules  lasted 
better.  When  unfit  for  street  car  service,  they  could  be  sold  to 
advantage  to  traders  further  South,  where  they  would  be  re- 
sold to  negroes  for  farming  small  plantations. 

So  much  for  the  mules.  How  about  the  men  ?  Previous  to 
1884  the  drivers  alternated  what  were  called  long  days  and 
short  days.  The  long  days  were  sixteen  to  eighteen  hours  in 
length,  and  the  short  days  twelve  to  fourteen  hours.  By  1884, 
however,  this  had  been  reduced.  Drivers  got  from  $2  to  $2.50 
per  day.  They  stood  all  day  on  a  small  platform  exposed  to 
the  weather,  lines  in  one  hand,  brake  handle  in  the  other,  look- 
ing out  for  passengers,  making  change,  taking  the  entire  re- 
sponsibility for  the  car  and  its  occupants.  The  fare  box  was 
used,  and  each  passenger  deposited  his  or  her  own  fare  in  the 
box,  unless  the  car  was  too  crowded,  and  then  the  other  pas- 
sengers passed  it  up.  The  longer  cars  had  conductors,  but 
that  was  before  the  days  of  fare  registers.  The  lot  of  the 
driver  in  those  days  was  in  striking  contrast  to  the  lot  of  the 
motorman  of  to-day,  who  has  a  comfortable  cab  in  which  he 
can  stand  and  sit  during  his  day's  work  and  control  his  car 
with  the  air  brake  and  controller  handle.  However,  the  added 
speeds  have  greatly  added  to  the  motorman's  responsibilities, 
so  that  the  greater  physical  comfort  of  the  motorman  is  at  the 
price  of  higher  nervous  tension.  Taken  altogether,  however, 
the  motorman's  lot  is  much  better  than  that  of  the  old  horse 
car  driver. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  point  out  that  the  lot  of  the  passen- 
gers in  those  days  was  little  better  as  compared  with  to-day 
than  was  that  of  the  men  as  compared  with  to-day.  The  dis- 
tances covered  were  not  great,  but  the  speed  was  so  slow  that 
persons  living  at  the  terminals  of  the  lines  then  were  practi- 
cally no  better  off  than  those  living  at  the  outer  terminals  of 
the  lines  to-day  in  point  of  time  required  to  get  to  business, 
while  the  comfort  in  the  old  bob-tailed  cars  is  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  that  afforded  by  the  present  cars.  Besides  this,  the 
fact  that  fifteen  different  companies,  which  did  not  issue  free 
transfers  to  each  other's  lines,  were  operating  within  the  small 
district  then  covered  by  street  railways,  speaks  for  itself  as 
regards  the  limited  transportation  privileges  that  the  payment 
of  a  nickel  in  those  days  carried  as  compared  with  to-day,  when 
a  passenger  can  go  between  any  two  points  in  the  city  limits 
for  a  5-cent  fare. 

The  first  cable  line  in  St.  Louis  was  started  by  the  St.  Louis 
Cable  &  Western  Railway  in  1886.  This  is  now  the  downtown 
end  of  the  St.  Louis  &  Suburban  Railway.  The  outer  end  of 
this  line  was  a  steam  road.  The  whole  was,  in  1891,  changed 
to  electric,  being  the  first  cable  line  so  changed.  Other  cable 
roads  in  the  order  of  their  equipment  were  Olive  Street,  Frank- 
lin and  Easton  Avenues,  Broadway  and  Fourth  Street.  In 
1894  the  era  of  change  from  cable  to  electric  began,  and  since 
all  cable  lines  have  been  changed  to  trolley. 

Electric  traction  began  in  St.  Louis  with  a  couple  of  experi- 
mental lines — one  a  storage-battery  line  on  the  Lindell  Railway 
in  1887  and  the  other  a  trial  of  the  Short  series  system  at  the 
southern  end  of  the  old  Broadway  cable  line.  Both  were  fail- 
ures. The  real  era  of  electrical  operation  began  when  one  line 
of  the  Union  Depot  Railroad  began  to  operate  with  a  trolley 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


in  March,  1890,  followed  by  one  line  of  the  Lindell  Railway 
in  September,  1890.  The  trolley  spread  rapidly,  and  within  a 
few  years  had  not  only  driven  out  horses,  but  the  cables. 

St.  Louis  has  always  been  a  progressive  place  in  street  rail- 
way matters.  The  general  use  of  double-truck  semi-convertible 
cross-seat  cars  is  largely  clue  to  the  example  set  by  St.  Louis 
roads,  which  took  this  type  of  car  up  before  it  was  considered 
practical  for  city  service  elsewhere.  The  maximum  traction 
truck  was  first  generally  used  on  these  cars  with  car  bodies 
about  28  ft.  long.  Later  the  regular  double-truck  car  with  four 
motors  came  in  with  car  bodies  33  ft.,  this  being  the  standard 
to-day.  The  first  large  railway  generators  in  the  world  to  be 
direct  connected  to  Corliss  engines  were  placed  in  service  in  the 
Cass  Avenue  &  Fair  Grounds  Railway  plant  in  1893.  The  first 
cast  welding  of  rail  joints  in  the  world  was  done  on  2  miles  of 
track  in  Chippewa  Street  in  November,  1894,  which  was  the 
beginning  of  great  activity  in  cast  welding.  Incidentally,  too, 
may  be  said  that  the  joints  in  this  track  are  good  to-day.  The 
first  rail  in  60-ft.  lengths  ever  used  for  street  railway  service 
was  laid  on  Franklin  and  Easton  Avenues  in  1895. 

Perhaps  the  best  illustration  of  what  St.  Louis  street  rail- 
ways are  to-day  is  the  fact  that  on  St.  Louis  Day,  the  greatest 
day  of  the  Exposition,  when  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  and  sur- 
rounding towns  turned  out  en  masse  to  attend  the  Fair,  the  St. 
Louis  Transit  Company  carried  in  round  numbers  1,151,785 
people,  including  transfer  passengers,  in  one  day,  and  all  this 
without  the  tremendous  congestion  of  crowds  that  is  commonly 
considered  inseparable  from  such  special  holidays,  when  an 
exceptionally  large  number  of  people  must  be  carried  in  an 
unusual  direction.  At  no  time  did  the  crowds,  either  going 
or  coming,  collect  faster  than  the  street  railways  were  able  to 
transport  them  to  their  homes,  and  the  people  were  delivered 
at  the  Exposition  gates  at  times  faster  than  the  Exposition 
turnstiles  could  pass  them  through. 



VERY  EARLY  WORK  IN  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  ELECTRIC 
RAILWAYS 


The  following  is  a  digest  of  the  first  portion  of  a  paper  pre- 
sented by  Frank  J.  Sprague  at  the  International  Electrical 
Congress  at  St.  Louis,  but  received  too  late  to  allow  the  facts  to 
be  incorporated  in  other  articles  published  earlier  in  this  issue. 
Mr.  Sprague's  facts  are  so  interesting  that  they  should  be  in- 
serted in  this  anniversary  number : 

Brandon,  Vt.,  birthplace,  and  Thomas  Davenport,  black- 
smith, father,  are  the  names  first  on  the  genealogical  tree  of 
the  electric  railway,  in  the  year  1834.  A  toy  motor  mounted  on 
wheels,  propelled  on  a  few  feet  of  circular  railway  by  a  primary 
battery,  exhibited  a  year  later  at  Springfield,  and  again  at 
Boston,  is  the  infant's  photograph.  This  was  only  three  years 
after  Henry's  invention  of  the  motor,  following  Faraday's  dis- 
covery ten  years  earlier  that  electricity  could  be  used  to  pro- 
duce continuous'  motion.  From  the  records  of  Davenport's 
career,  unearthed  by  the  late  Franklin  Leonard  Pope,  this 
early  inventor  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  genius  deserving  a 
high  place  in  the  niche  of  fame,  for  in  a  period  of  six  years  he 
built  more  than  100  operative  electric  motors  of  various  de- 
signs, many  of  which  were  put  into  actual  service,  an  achieve- 
ment, taking  into  account  the  times,  well  night  incredible. 

For  nearly  two-score  years  various  inventors,  handicapped 
with  the  limitations  of  the  primary  battery,  and  in  utter  ignor- 
ance of  the  principals  of  modern  dynamo  and  motor  construc- 
tion, labored  with  small  result.    About  1838,  a  Scotchman, 


Robert  Davidson,  of  Aberdeen,  began  the  construction  of  a 
locomotive  driven  by  a  motor  similar  to  that  used  by  Jacobi  in 
his  experiments  on  the  River  Neva,  which  was  tried  upon  the 
Edinboro-Glasgow  Railway,  and  attained  a  speed  of  about  4 
miles  an  hour.  In  an  English  patent  issued  to  Flenry  Pinkus 
in  1840,  the  use  of  the  rails  for  currents  was  indicated;  also 
in  a  United  States  patent  issued  to  Lilley  &  Colton,  of  Pitts- 
burg, in  1847. 

In  1847,  Prof.  Moses  G.  Farmer  operated  an  experimental 
model  car  at  Dover,  N.  H. ;  and  about  three  years  later  one 
Thomas  Hall  exhibited  in  Boston  an  automatically  reversing 
car  mounted  on  rails  through  which  current  was  supplied  from 
a  battery.  These  are  said  to  be  the  first  instances  in  which 
rails  were  actually  used  as  carriers  of  the  current,  as  well  as 
the  first  time  where  there  was  a  reduction  by  gear  from  the 
higher  speed  on  the  motor  to  the  lower  speed  of  the  driven  axle. 

About  the  same  time  Prof.  Page,  of  our  Smithsonian  In- 
stitute, aided  by  a  special  grant  from  Congress,  constructed  a 
locomotive  in  which  he  used  a  double  solenoid  motor  with 
reciprocating  plunger  and  fly-wheel,  as  well  as  some  other 
forms.  This  locomotive,  driven  by  a  battery  of  100  Grove  ele- 
ments, was  tried  April  29,  185 1 ,  upon  a  railroad  running  from 
Washington  to  Bladensburg,  and  attained  a  fair  rate  of  speed. 

Patents  issued  in  1855  t0  an  Englishman  named  Swear  and 
a  Piemontais  named  Bessolo,  indicated  the  possibility  of  con- 
ducting current  from  a  conductor  suspended  above  the  ground, 
and  in  1864  a  Frenchman  namel  Cazal  patented  the  application 
of  an  electric  motor  to  the  axle  of  the  vehicle. 

From  1850  to  1875  is  a  long  period,  relatively,  and  yet  there 
seemed  to  have  been  practically  an  entire  cessation  in  the 
United  States  of  electric  railway  experimental  work,  until  in 
the  latter  year  George  F.  Greene,  a  poor  mechanic  of  Kalama- 
zoo, Mich.,  built  a  small  model  motor  which  was  supplied  from 
a  battery  through  an  overhead  line,  with  track  return,  and 
three  years  later  he  constructed  another  model  on  a  larger 
scale.  Greene  seemed  to  have  realized  that  a  dynamo  was 
essential  to  success,  but  he  did  not  know  how  to  make  one,  and 
did  not  have  the  means  to  buy  it. 

Shortly  afterward,  in  1879,  at  the  Berlin  Exposition,  Messrs. 
Siemens  &  Halske  constructed  a  short  line  about  a  third  of 
a  mile  in  length,  which  was  the  beginning  of  much  active  work 
by  this  firm.  The  dynamo  and  motor  were  of  the  now  well- 
known  Siemens  type,  and  the  current  was  supplied  through  a 
central  rail,  with  the  running  rails  as  a  return,  to  a  small  loco- 
motive on  which  the  motor  was  carried  longitudinally,  motion 
being  transmitted  through  spur  and  beveled  gears  to  a  central 
shaft  from  which  connection  was  made  to  the  wheels.  The 
Siemens  &  Halske  demonstration  in  Berlin  was  followed  by 
others  for  exhibition  purposes  at  Brussels,  Dusseldorf  and 
Frankfort,  but  no  regular  line  was  established  until  a  short 
one  with  one  motor  car  at  Lichterfelde,  near  Berlin,  the  first 
in  Europe,  or  in  fact  in  the  world.  Shortly  after,  the  same 
firm  installed  at  the  Paris  Electrical  Exposition  of  1881,  a  small 
tramway  about  a  third  of  a  mile  long,  and  used  for  the  first 
time  overhead  distribution.  In  this  case  the  conductors  con- 
sisted of  two  tubes  slotted  on  the  under  side,  and  supported  by 
wooden  insulators.  In  the  tubes  slid  shoes  which  were  held  in 
good  contact  by  an  under-running  wheel  pressed  up  by  springs 
carried  on  a  framework  supported  by  the  conductors,  and  con- 
nected to  the  car  by  flexible  conductors.  The  motor  was  placed 
between  the  wheels,  and  the  power  was  transmitted  by  a  chain. 
About  the  same  time,  Siemens  constructed  an  experimental 
road  near  Meran  in  the  Tyrol,  with  a  view  of  demonstrating 
the  possibilities  of  electric  traction  for  the  San  Gothard  tunnel, 


582 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


and  later  other  small  lines  at  Frankfort,  Molding  and  else- 
where. These  were  followed  by  a  comprehensive  scheme  for  a 
combined  elevated  and  underground  road  submitted  to  the  city 
authorities  at  Vienna. 

The  invention  about  this  time  of  accumulators  directed  at- 
tention to  the  possibilities  of  the  self-contained  car,  and  in 
1880  a  locomotive  with  accumulators  was  used  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  Duchesne-Fournet  at  Breuil,  and  in  the  following 
year  Raffard,  with  a  large  battery  of  Faure  accumulators, 
made  experiments  on  the  tramway  at  Vincennes. 

In  1880  Dr.  John  Hopkinson,  in  describing  the  application 
of  motors  to  hoists,  proposed  both  for  them  and  for  tramways 
the  simple  series-parallel  control  for  speed,  a  principle  which, 
combined  with  resistance  variation,  later  became  universal. 

Meanwhile  in  the  United  States  two  inventors,  Stephen  D. 
Field  and  Thomas  A.  Edison,  began  electric  experiments  al- 
most simultaneously.  Perhaps  more  than  to  any  other,  the 
credit  for  the  first  serious  proposal  in  the  United  States  should 
be  awarded  to  Field.  In  February,  1879,  he  made  plans  for 
an  electric  railway,  the  current  to  be  delivered  from  a  sta- 
tionary source  of  power  through  a  wire  enclosed  in  a  conduit, 
with  rail  return,  and  in  1880-8 1  he  constructed  and  put  in 
operation  an  electric  locomotive  in  Stockbridge,  Mass.  (Field's 
later  work  is  described  elsewhere  in  this  issue.) 

In  the  summer  of  1882,  Dr.  Joseph  R.  Finney  operated  in 
Allegheny,  Pa.,  a  car  for  which  current  was  supplied  through 
an  overhead  wire  on  which  traveled  a  small  trolley  connected 
to  the  car  with  a  flexible  cable,  and  about  the  same  time  in 
England,  Dr.  Fleming  Jenkin  proposed  a  scheme  of  telpherage 
which  was  developed  by  Messrs.  Ayrton  &  Perry. 




THF  FREIGHT  PROPOSITION  AS  VIEWED  FROM  A  PRACTI- 
CAL STANDPOINT 


BY  EDWARD  C.  SPRING 


A  DIVERSITY  of  opinion  ex- 
ists to-day  among  the  man- 
agers   of   interurban  electric 
jfe  tfb-  railways  whether  it  is  more 

advantageous  to  handle  mer- 
chandise at  express  or  freight 
rates.    Each  manager  has  his 
own    personal    opinions  and 
ideas  along  these  lines,  and  in 
summing  them  up  we  cannot 
but  see  that  each  man's  opin- 
ion is  based  upon  the  peculiar 
circumstances  prevalent  on  his 
own  property.    The  steam  roads  have  the  advantages  over 
us  in  this  respect,  because  their  conditions  are  more  of  a  uni- 
versal nature. 

It  was  the  writer's  fortune,  or  misfortune,  to  be  on  the  com- 
mittee which  drew  up  and  put  into  execution  the  interchange- 
able coupon  book  among  various  roads  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 
In  this  position  he  has  learned  to  appreciate  fully  the  diversi- 
fied conditions  that  exist  at  present  among  the  various  roads 
and  the  difficulties  in  harmonizing  all  these  conditions  so  that 
they  would  meet  the  requirements.  The  situation  as  respects 
the  adoption  and  operation  of  a  successful  freight  or  express 
business  is  even  more  varied. 

The  road  that  serves  large  manufacturing  and  commercial 
centers,  where  the  consignee  demands  his  goods  at  a  given 


time  and  whose  business  warrants  his  paying  well  for  their 
prompt  delivery,  can  do  an  express  business,  charging  express 
rates,  upon  a  profitable  basis,  whereas  to  engage  in  a  freight 
business,  upon  freight  rates,  would  be  suicidal  to  the  company. 
On  the  other  hand,  another  condition  of  affairs  exists  with  the 
road  that  operates  through  a  farming  district  and  which  caters 
to  the  demands  of  the  farmer,  to  whom  time  is  but  of  a  very 
small  consideration,  and  who  wrangles  with  a  Shylock  modesty 
over  the  fraction  of  a  cent.  Here  an  express  business  would 
be  entirely  out  of  the  question  and  only  a  freight  traffic,  with 
the  lowest  possible  freight  rates,  could  be  maintained.  The 
farmer  has  not  yet  realized  the  advantages  which  interurban 
freight  facilities  afford,  and  charges  in  excess  of  his  present 
steam  road  rates  are  severely  questioned.  The  merchants  in 
the  various  farming  towns,  knowing  that  the  farmer  will  not 
pay  anything  extra  for  a  quick  service,  are  equally  unwilling 
to  pay  more  than  the  present  steam  road  charges ;  and  the  only 
way  that  the  electric  railway  company  can  hope  to  obtain  a 
local  freight  business  under  such  conditions  is  to  place  its 
rates  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  steam  roads.  Nevertheless, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  in  many  instances  the  hauling  of  heavy 
freight  through  these  farming  sections  can  be  made  to  show  a 
fair  return  if  properly  conducted. 

The  writer  in  this  article  will  deal  more  particularly  with 
the  handling  of  freight  under  the  conditions  described.  The 
road  with  which  he  is  associated,  on  finding  that  an  express 
service  could  not  be  operated  with  profit,  devoted  itself  entirely 
to  the  freight  traffic.  In  working  up  this  business  the  company 
has  been  obliged  to  do  constant  missionary  work,  but  by  show- 
ing the  farmer  the  advantages  which  the  electric  road  affords 
in  this  class  of  transportation,  has  been  able  to  develop  a  very 
profitable  freight  traffic.  Tobacco,  corn,  wheat  and  oats,  which 
are  the  principal  farming  products  of  the  community  through 
which  the  road  runs,  are  carried  in  car  lots  to  brokers  in  vari- 
ous cities.  The  most  serious  obstacle  to  be  overcome  has  been 
the  fact  that  the  farmer  does  not,  in  any  of  his  estimates,  in- 
clude his  own  time  or  that  of  his  team.  He  will  willingly 
drive  25  miles  and  consume  an  entire  day  rather  than  pay  one 
cent  more  on  the  ton  than  he  had  previously  paid  to  the  steam 
road.  We  are  able  to  deliver  our  cars  at  various  points  on 
the  line,  leaving  them  for  the  farmer  to  load  during  the  day, 
and  thereby  shortening  his  haul  to  the  steam  road. 

The  matter  of  transporting  live  stock  in  carload  lots  has 
been  demonstrated  by  this  road  to  be  a  source  of  profit.  It  has 
also  been  shown  to  be  an  advantage  to  the  stock  itself,  inas- 
much as  live  stock  will  depreciate  on  the  steam  road  from  5  lbs. 
to  6  lbs.  per  head  during  twenty-four  hours  transportation, 
while  we  have  been  able  to  deliver  live  stock  to  the  stock  yards 
in  Dayton  in  from  two  to  three  hours  time,  with  no  perceptible 
depreciation.  We  have  also  been  able  to  utilize  flat  cars  by 
hauling  them  to  the  various  sidings  by  our  first  passenger  cars 
out  in  the  morning,  leaving  them  to  be  loaded  during  the  day, 
and  then  bringing  them  in  by  our  freight  service  later.  I 
thoroughly  believe  that  a  freight  business  can  be  maintained 
through  farming  districts  of  this  kind  so  as  to  show  as  great  a 
percentage  gain  over  operation,  all  things  being  equal,  as  the 
majority  of  the  interurban  express  business;  and  I  believe  that 
the  freight  department  bids  fair  to  rival  the  passenger  depart- 
ment in  magnitude.  Freight  stations  are  being  located  in  con- 
nection with  passenger  stations  in  the  various  cities  and  towns 
and  traffic  arrangements  are  being  made  with  connecting  lines, 
so  that  the  interurban  electric  road  can  deliver  its  freight  at 
the  door  of  the  merchant  and  the  farmer  with  a  frequency  and 
rapidity  with  which  the  steam  roads  cannot  think  of  competing. 


(  )CTOBER  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


583 


Up  to  the  present  time  steam  road  managers  have  been  very 
slow  in  the  matter  of  exchanging  freight  in  carload  lots  with 
the  interurban  lines,  but  I  believe  that  they  are  beginning  to 
realize  that  in  the  latter  they  have  a  strong  ally,  whereby  they 
can  increase  their  own  business  in  a  way  which  they  could 
never  before  do.  The  interchange  of  freight  in  carload  lots 
and  its  delivery  to  the  door  of  the  merchant  and  the  farmer  in 
remote  towns,  not  to  the  steam  road  lines,  gives  an  added  profit 
that  they  could  not  get  from  any  other  source.  I  believe  that 
it  is  for  the  interest  of  all  roads  doing  freight  business  to  in- 
terest the  steam  roads  in  their  section,  not  only  to  have  an  in- 
terchangeable freight  traffic  arrangement,  but  induce  them  as 
far  as  possible  to  pro  rate  with  them  in  the  handling  of  freight 
in  carload  lots.  This  has  already  been  accomplished  in  certain 
parts  of  Ohio.  It  has  taken  the  actual  proof  of  these  facts  to 
convince  officials  of  steam  roads,  who,  in  most  cases,  have  been 
stubbornly  blind  to  the  true  state  of  affairs. 

In  the  conduct  of  our  freight  business  the  disposition  has 
been  to  follow  steam  road  methods,  representing,  as  they  do, 
the  result  of  many  years  of  experience,  and  I  believe  that  we 
can  do  no  better  than  to  take  advantage  of  this  experience  in 
the  operation  of  our  freight  department. 

The  handling  of  garden  truck  is  also  fast  becoming  a  source 
of  revenue  to  interurban  freight  handlers  on  account  of  de- 
spatch in  the  carriage  of  perishable  goods.  The  road  with 
which  the  writer  is  connected  has  become  interested  in  a  propo- 
sition which  is  being  put  forward  by  the  Ohio  Cold  Storage 
Company  to  bring  about  a  higher  development  of  the  farms 
along  the  line  in  the  production  of  staple  commodities,  such  as 
corn,  wheat  and  tobacco.  If  the  farmer  to-day  receives  $70  to 
$80  per  acre  for  his  yield,  he  considers  he  is  getting  a  good 
revenue  for  his  labor,  but  the  possibility  of  raising  vegetables, 
which  will  return  him  from  $100  to  $300  per  acre,  is  interesting 
a  great  many  at  the  present  time.  Farmers'  meetings  have 
been  held  in  the  various  towns  along  the  line  and  have  been 
addressed  by  officers  and  experts  of  the  Cold  Storage  Company, 
as  well  as  by  officers  of  the  interurban  company.  Literature 
from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  has  also  been  freely  dis- 
tributed along  the  road  among  the  farmers.  The  Cold  Storage 
Company  proposes  to  establish  receiving  stations  and  to  collect 
from  the  farmer  at  his  very  door  all  vegetables,  paying  for 
them  in  cash  at  the  current  market  price  of  the  day.  This  will 
add  a  new  source  of  revenue  to  the  road.  Such  a  service,  with 
free  rural  mail  delivery  and  telephone  service,  will  give  the 
farmer,  who  now  receives  his  daily  paper  by  the  traction  line 
before  the  ink  is  hardly  dry,  an  independence  equal  to  that  of 
the  broker  in  his  office  on  Wall  Street.  He  will  be  in  close 
touch  with  the  market  prices  of  the  day,  and  we  will  be  able 
to  transport  his  farm  products  to  the  cities  to  take  advantage 
of  that  day's  market  quotations.  It  has  already  been  demon- 
strated that  fruits  and  vegetables  which  are  carried  by  the 
electric  roads  are  received  in  the  market  in  such  perfect  con- 
dition as  to  demand  higher  prices  than  those  shipped  over  the 
steam  lines,  where  the  rough  handling  causes  considerable  de- 
preciation. There  is  still  another  plan  that  has  been  carried 
out  by  our  company,  and  that  is  taking  a  merchant's  order  for 
his  goods  in  the  morning  and  placing  it  with  the  wholesale 
houses  in  the  various  cities  in  time  for  delivery  that  afternoon. 

The  advantage  which  the  interurban  lines  have  over  the 
steam  roads  in  catering  to  local  freight  traffic  is  shown  in  their 
ability  to  deliver  goods  frequently  and  promptly  between  the 
city  and  the  suburban  points.  The  frequency  of  freight  ser- 
vice is  bound  to  build  up  the  small  shipment  business,  and 
along  these  lines  the  merchants  in  the  towns  can  order  his 


goods  and  not  be  dependent  on  the  steam  road  freight  service. 
The  merchant  in  being  able  to  order  his  goods  from  day  to 
day  is  not  obliged  to  carry  as  heavy  a  stock.  The  depreciation 
of  his  stock  is  reduced  to  a  minimum  ;  his  insurance  rates  are 
also  reduced,  and  the  income  of  the  road  is,  of  course,  greater 
on  account  of  frequent  shipments.  The  small  merchants  in 
the  various  towns  appreciate  this  service  and  have  been  quick 
to  take  advantage  of  it. 

I  would  not  for  a  moment  recommend  any  cut  below  the 
steam  road  express  or  freight  rates,  particularly  between  com- 
peting points.  The  interurban  roads  from  the  start  have  made 
a  very  serious  mistake  in  placing  their  passenger  rates  at  too 
small  a  figure,  and  many  roads,  particularly  in  Ohio,  have  real- 
ized this,  and  have  been  forced  to  raise  their  rates  for  their 
own  protection.  The  quicker  and  the  more  frequent  and  regu- 
lar service  of  the  interurban  lines  will  be  a  sufficient  induce- 
ment and  will  bring  the  major  part  of  short-haul  business  to 
them.  This,  together  with  the  central  location  of  freight  sta- 
tions in  the  various  towns,  will  give  the  interurban  lines  an 
advantage  with  which  the  steam  roads  cannot  compete.  The 
accessibility  of  the  electric  lines,  both  to  the  shipper  and  the 
merchant,  will  also  always  be  an  advantageous  factor  in  favor 
of  the  interurban  lines. 

I  have  not  attempted  in  this  article  to  enter  into  the  matter 
of  express  service,  because  I  believe  that  a  dividing  line  should 
be  definitely  drawn  between  the  freight  and  the  express  busi- 
ness. Where  the  two  are  run  in  connection  with  each  other, 
friction  and  misunderstanding  always  arises.  Indeed,  the  pol- 
icy has  been  seriously  considered  by  many  roads  whether  it  is 
not  always  better  to  turn  the  express  business  over  to  some 
independent  express  company.  The  operation  of  an  express 
service  on  a  short  road  cannot,  in  my  opinion,  be  maintained 
as  profitably  by  the  railway  company  itself  as  by  a  regular  ex- 
press company,  operating  over  connecting  lines.  We  have  the 
example  of  the  steam  roads  on  this  point. 

I  cannot  but  feel,  in  summing  up  this  subject,  that  the  inter- 
urban roads  through  the  country  should  get  together  in  the 
matter  of  standardizing  their  freight  and  express  business,  and 
I  believe  that  the  arguments  in  favor  of  this  course  apply  just 
as  forcibly  to  this  department  of  their  service  as  in  that  of 
standardizing  equipment.  And  as  the  problems  are  adjusted 
we  shall  see  the  results  in  cheaper  operation  and  increased  rev- 
enue. The  construction  which  has  demanded  our  attention 
up  to  the  present  time  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  we  must  now 
give  more  thought  and  attention  to  the  matter  of  successful 
and  judicious  operation. 

-^♦^ 

"You  have  come  here  from  all  parts  of  the  country  for  the 
purpose  of  forming  a  national  street  railway  association. 
Some  one  may  ask  what  interest  in  common,  affecting  the  street 
railways  of  the  country,  corporations  local  in  their  character 
can  have  that  would  seem  to  call  for  an  organization  for  their 
protection.  I  would  say  that,  probably,  our  association  is  not 
to  be  formed  so  much  to  protect  as  to  promote  them.  The 
street  railways  of  this  country  have  grown  so  rapidly  during  the 
past  ten  years,  and  are  still  growing  with  such  rapidity,  that 
an  association  of  this  character  seems  highly  desirable.  *  *  * 
If  there  is  any  benefit  to  be  derived  from  this  association,  the 
young  companies,  just  starting  in  growing  places,  will  profit 
by  it  more  than  the  large  companies.  They  will  receive  the 
benefit  that  may  arise  from  a  knowledge  of  the  various  inven- 
tions that  will  be  exhibited  and  discussed  at  our  meetings,  and 
from  the  experience  of  the  older  railroad  men  whom  they  may 
meet." — From  the  Boston  Meeting,  1882. 


5«4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


ELECTRIFICATION  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  CENTRAL  &  HUD- 
SON RIVER  RAILROAD  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  ZONE 


BY  WILLIAM  J.  WILGUS 


THE  electrification  of  the  pas- 
senger traffic  of  two  of  the 
most  important  steam  railroads 
in  the  world,  for  distances  of 
from  25  miles  to  35  miles, 
radiating  from  a  terminus  in 
the  greatest  city  on  the  West- 
ern Hemisphere,  may  well  be 
termed  the  marking  of  the 
commencement  of  a  new 
epoch  in  the  history  of  trans- 
portation. 
For  over  seventy  years  the 
steam  locomotive  has  held  undisputed  and  honorable  posses- 
sion of  the  field  of  long-haul  traffic,  and  has  steadily  grown  in 
weight  and  power  from  the  y;/2-ton  "Rocket"'  of  Stephenson, 
with  its  train  of  two  ancient  coaches  weighing  gl/>  tons,  to  the 
150-ton  "Central  Atlantic"  type  of  to-day,  hauling  trains  of 
nearly  l/4  mile  in  length  and  weighing  over  800  tons. 

The  time  has  arrived  when  changed  conditions  in  great 
centers  of  population  demand  a  different  system  of  trans- 
portation on  our  trunk  lines  than  has  heretofore  existed.  Mod- 
ern steam  locomotives  capable  of  hauling  through  passenger 
and  freight  trains  will  still  dominate  where  units  are  compara- 
tively infrequent  and  the  haul  long,  but  even  for  this  class  of 
service  on  roads  with  heavy  traffic,  electricity  will  gradually 
supplant  steam  as  the  cost  of  producing  current  decreases  in 
central  power  stations  and  the  cost  of  equipment  is  lowered, 
due  to  cheapened  methods  of  manufacture,  the  use  of  water 
power,  and  the  invention  of  labor-saving  and  more  efficient 
devices. 

The  traveling  public  within  what  may  be  termed  the  sub- 
urban zones  are  no  longer  satisfied  with  trains  of  many  cars 
hauled  by  heavy  locomotives  at  lengthy  intervals ;  neither  do 
they  longer  tolerate  with  patience  the  smoke,  gas,  cinders  and 
noise  inseparable  from  the  steam  locomotive.  In  other  words, 
the  steam  railroad,  if  it  would  successfully  hold  and  multiply 
its  suburban  traffic,  must  offer  the  advantages  to  which  the 
public  has  become  educated  by  the  marvelous  development  of 
electric  railways  within  the  past  twenty  years.  Trains  at  short 
intervals,  quick  acceleration,  frequent  stops  for  local  trains, 
independent  tracks  for  express  service,  and  the  absence  of 
products  of  combustion,  all  of  which  are  possible  only  with  the 
use  of  electricity,  make  the  outlying  districts  attractive  to  the 
toiler  in  the  city  and  thereby  propagate  traffic.  The  cultivation 
of  suburban  service,  too  often  neglected  and  despised  by  steam 
railroads,  in  addition  to  its  own  pecuniary  reward,  has  the  even 
greater  advantage  that  comes  from  the  long-haul  passenger 
and  freight  traffic  of  the  growing  communities  thus  fostered  by 
a  popular  local  service. 

Furthermore,  it  would  seem  that  the  steam  railroad,  already 
owning  its  right  of  way  and  terminals,  and  in  possession  of  the 
field,  is  better  qualified  to  develop  suburban  traffic  than  newly 
constructed  electric  railways  that  invest  their  capital  on 
chances  of  building  up  a  remunerative  traffic  in  opposition  to 
existing  lines. 

Having  these  objects  in  view,  the  New  York  Central  &  Hud- 
son River  Railroad  Company  in  1899  commenced  a  careful 
study  of  the  problem  of  changing  motive  power  within  what 


has  been  termed  the  "New  York  Zone,"  south  of  Croton,  on  the 
Hudson  division  main  line,  and  on  the  Harlem  division  south 
of  White  Plains.  This  study  also  necessarily  included  the 
handling,  in  a  similar  manner,  of  the  through  and  suburban  ser- 
vice of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad  south 
of  the  point  of  junction  at  Woodlawn. 

The  natural  conservatism  of  a  large  corporation  like  the 
New  York  Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company,  and 
the  unprecedented  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  change, 
led  to  a  more  than  ordinarily  careful  and  deliberate  considera- 
tion of  the  abandonment  of  the  long  and  well-tried  steam  loco- 
motive for  a  comparatively  new  method  which  had  not  yet 
been  employed  for  the  peculiar  character  of  service  existing  on 
two  of  the  principal  trunk  lines  of  the  country. 

The  hauling  of  800-ton  trains  laden  with  passengers,  mail 
and  express,  at  speeds  exceeding  60  miles  per  hour,  with  regu- 
larity and  safety,  had  not  been  attempted  by  electricity.  The 
Grand  Central  Station,  with  its  complex  system  of  tracks  and 
switches  and  handling  from  500  to  700  trains  in  twenty-four 
hours,  presented  a  problem  of  unusual  difficulty.  Moreover, 
the  change  of  power  naturally  involves  the  embarrassment  in- 
cidental to  the  successful  maintenance  of  an  existing  enormous 
traffic  in  conjunction  with  radical  changes  in  roadbed  and 
structures.  As  a  result  of  this  thorough  investigation  of  the 
entire  subject,  the  company  finally  decided  in  1902  to  proceed 
with  the  change  of  motive  power,  and  in  the  following  year  the 
State  and  municipal  authorities  gave  their  sanction. 

This  decision  carries  with  it  the  necessity  for  the  improve- 
ment and  enlargement  of  the  Grand  Central  Station ;  the  in- 
creasing of  the  size  of  the  Grand  Central  yard,  and  the  de- 
pression of  the  grades  in  such  a  manner  as  to  permit  the 
passage  overhead  of  cross  streets  from  Forty-Fifth  Street  to 
Fifty-Sixth  Street,  inclusive;  a  new  underground  suburban 
terminal  beneath  the  station,  with  the  possibility  of  a  connec- 
tion with  the  Rapid  Transit  Subway  in  Forty-Second  Street; 
the  four-tracking  of  both  the  Hudson  and  Harlem  divisions 
within  the  electrical  zone ;  the  elimination  of  grade  street  and 
track  crossings  within  the  same  zone;  the  straightening  of 
alignment  at  various  places,  as  for  instance  at  the  Marble  Hill 
cut-off  in  the  Borough  of  the  Bronx ;  and  important  station 
improvements  at  many  places. 

The  planning  and  executing  of  the  portion  of  the  problem 
involving  electrification  of  traffic  has  been  intrusted  to  a  com- 
mission comprised  of  J.  F.  Deems,  B.  J.  Arnold,  F.  J.  Sprague, 
George  Gibbs  and  the  writer,  with  a  secretary,  E.  B.  Katte, 
who  also  acts  as  electrical  engineer  of  the  company.  The  com- 
mission holds  weekly  meetings  and  fixes  principles  and  policies 
that  are  carried  out  by  a  technical  corps  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  electrical  engineer.  This  organization  has  worked  ad- 
mirably. 

After  the  commission  had  settled  upon  the  scope  of  territory 
to  be  electrified  and  had  decided  that  the  peculiar  conditions 
in  the  neighborhood  of  New  York  justified  the  adoption  of 
direct  current  as  preferable  to  alternating  current,  contracts 
were  awarded  for  the  larger  portion  of  structures  and  equip- 
ment. It  should  be  here  noted  that  for  obvious  reasons, 
through  cars  originating  from  points  all  over  the  country  could 
not  be  individually  equipped  with  motors,  and  that  therefore 
electric  locomotives  for  through  trains  are  a  necessity.  Sub- 
urban cars,  however,  the  use  of  which  is  confined  to  the  elec- 
tric zone,  are  to  be  equipped  with  multiple-unit  controlled  mo- 
tors. This  arrangement,  by  confining  the  use  of  locomotives  to 
the  through  trains,  entirely  eliminates  the  delays  and  expense 
of  switching  suburban  cars,  and  thereby  enormously  increases 


October  S,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


585 


the  capacity  of  the  terminals.  The  multiple-unit  system  also 
improves  the  elasticity  of  service  by  permitting  the  building  up 
of  short  interval  trains  from  single  to  many  cars,  as  circum- 
stances require,  without  a  corresponding  loss  of  acceleration 
and  without  an  undue  increase  in  the  cost  of  train  service. 

The  desirability  of  harmonizing  all  of  the  larger  electrical 
installations  in  the  vicinity  of  New  York,  such'  as  elevated, 
surface  railways  and  subways,  led  to  the  selection  of  11,000- 
volt  three-phase  alternating  current  for  the  high-pressure  trans- 
mission lines  between  the  central  power  stations  and  the  sub- 
stations, and  600-volt  direct  current  for  the  low-pressure  con- 
ductors and  third  rail. 

Two  central  power  stations,  cross-connected,  with  an  ulti- 
mate capacity  of  40,000  hp  each,  have  been  decided  upon,  either 
of  which,  in  the  event  of  the  disablement  of  the  other,  is  capable 
of  handling  the  entire  load  by  using  the  spare  units.  One  sta- 
tion is  under  construction  at  Port  Morris  and  the  other  at 
Yonkers,  and  both  are  located  on  navigable  waters  so  as  to  be 
accessible  for  boat  as  well  as  rail  coal.  The  most  interesting 
departure  from  the  usual  practice  in  modern  power  stations  is 
the  adoption  of  5000-kw  steam  turbines  of  the  Curtis  type  in- 
stead of  reciprocating  engines.  Attention  may  also  be  called 
to  the  adoption  of  water-tube  type  boilers  in  units  of  625  hp, 
each  equipped  with  internal  superheaters  generating  steam  at 
200  lbs.  pressure  and  superheated  to  200  degs. 

The  handling  of  through  trains  by  electricity  presents  many 
very  interesting  problems.  The  wide  range  of  train  weights 
and  speeds  now  requires  many  types  of  steam  locomotives, 
whereas  the  adoption  of  electricity  makes  possible  the  use  of 
but  one  type  and  size  of  locomotive,  capable  of  being  governed 
and  grouped  so  as  to  be  suitable  for  both  main  line  and  switch- 
ing service.  From  the  several  plans  submitted  in  accordance 
with  the  general  requirements  laid  down  by  the  commission,  a 
selection  was  made  of  the  design  offered  by  the  General  Elec- 
tric Company,  consisting  of  a  double-ended  2200-hp  electric 
locomotive,  equipped  with  a  new  type  of  gearless  bipolar  mo- 
tors. The  total  weight  of  this  machine  is  to  be  85  tons,  of 
which  67  tons  will  be  borne  on  four  pairs  of  drivers.  Compared 
with  existing  steam  practice,  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  that 
the  heaviest  "Atlantic"  type  locomotive  of  this  company  weighs 
150  tons,  including  the  tender,  of  which  but  47  tons  are  on  the 
two  pairs  of  drivers.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  that  for  every 
pound  of  effective  draw-bar  pull,  the  steam  locomotive  has  a 
weight  of  12.2  lbs.  as  compared  with  the  electric  locomotive's 
economical  weight  of  but  5.2  lbs.  This  gives  in  a  single  elec- 
tric unit  over  25  per  cent  greater  weight  available  for  traction 
than  the  largesc  steam  locomotive  now  in  use  in  this  service, 
with  43  per  cent  less  dead  weight,  and  with  29  per  cent  less 
weight  on  each  axle.  Moreover,  the  electric  locomotive  will 
have  an  entire  absence  of  counterbalancing  of  drivers  and 
twist  from  reciprocal  motion,  both  of  which  are  so  destructive 
to  track  and  roadbed. 

The  question  of  size  and  exact  character  of  the  suburban 
cars  has  not  yet  been  settled.  Unfortunately,  a  car  designed 
for  the  comfort  of  passengers  riding  comparatively  long  dis- 
tances will  be  too  large  to  enter  the  subways,  and  therefore  an 
interchange  of  equipment  may  be  found  to  be  impossible.  In 
any  event,  convenient  facilities  for  the  interchange  of  passen- 
gers between  the  trains  of  this  company  and  those  of  the  sub- 
ways and  elevated  and  surface  railways  will  be  afforded  at  the 
Grand  Central  Station,  and  also  at  several  exterior  points  north 
of  the  Harlem  River. 

For  the  purpose  of  testing  and  making  improvements  upon 
locomotives  and  cars  as  fast  as  they  are  completed,  the  railroad 


company  is  arranging  for  an  experimental  track  6  miles  in 
length,  near  Schenectady.  It  is  expected  that  the  trial  of  the 
first  locomotive  will  be  made  during  the  present  month. 

From  these  proposed  improvements  thus  briefly  outlined,  the 
railroad  company  anticipates  a  marked  increase  in  the  comfort 
and  safety  of  its  passengers,  and  consequently  a  decided  in- 
crease in  suburban  business.  Property  abutting  on  the  railroad 
will  naturally  increase  in  desirability  as  a  result  of  the  with- 
drawal of  the  annoyances  unavoidable  in  the  operation  of  the 
steam  passenger  locomotive.  The  beautiful  territory  along  the 
Hudson  and  Bronx  Rivers  and  Long  Island  Sound,  under  these 
favorable  conditions,  will  grow  rapidly  in  popularity  for  home- 
seekers,  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  the  railroad  company  and 
of  the  public.  What  is  also  of  great  importance,  the  adoption 
of  electricity  makes  possible  the  future  reclamation  of  between 
30  and  40  acres  of  overhead  space  in  the  territory  occupied  by 
the  terminal  yard  in  the  heart  of  the  city  of  New  York,  which, 
instead  of  being  left  open  as  required  with  steam  operation, 
may  be  utilized  by  the  company  for  superimposed  structures 
in  any  manner  best  suited  for  its  purpose. 


THE  VAN  DEPOELE  ROAD  AT  MONTGOMERY 


BY  E.  M.  BENTLEY 


fgm^  DURING  the  years  1886  and 

'  '*&aw\  1887,  the  Van  Depoele  Elec- 

I  trie   Manufacturing  Com- 

jlp      J<|P  yf  pany,  of  Chicago,  equipped 

and  put  into  commercial 
operation  fourteen  electric 
railways  in  different  parts 
of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  It  is  interesting, 
at  this  time,  to  note  the  list 
of  places  wherein  these 
early  railways  were  in- 
stalled :  Appleton,  Wis. ; 
Binghamton,  N.  Y. ;  Detroit,  Mich.;  Fort  Gratiot,  Mich.; 
Jamaica,  N.  Y. ;  Lima,  Ohio ;  Port  Huron,  Mich. ; 
Scranton,  Pa. ;  Windsor,  Ont. ;  Ansonia,  Conn. ;  Dayton,  Ohio ; 
Wheeling,  W.  Va. ;  St.  Catherine,  Ont. ;  Montgomery,  Ala.  Of 
these,  the  roads  at  Ansonia,  Conn.,  and  Wheeling,  W.  Va., 
were  not  completed  until  early  in  1888. 

The  most  interesting  one  was  that  at  Montgomery,  Ala., 
since  it  was  here  that  there  was  used  for  the  first  time,  on  a 
large  commercial  scale,  the  now  well-known  underrunning 
trolley  and  the  modern  overhead  construction,  substantially  as 
it  exists  at  the  present  time.  It  was  in  the  summer  of  1886 
that  Mr.  Van  Depoele  first  equipped  a  trial  line  with  two  cars 
for  the  Capitol  City  Street  Railway  Company  at  Montgomery. 
These  cars  were  operated  for  nearly  2  miles  on  Court  Street, 
and,  by  reason  of  their  success,  the  Van  Depoele  Company  was 
in  September,  1886,  given  a  contract  to  equip  the  entire  street 
railway  system  of  the  city.  The  work  was  immediately  started, 
and  in  May  of  1887  the  road  was  opened  for  public  business. 
The  lines  equipped  included  between  12  miles  and  14  miles  of 
track,  with  numerous  curves  and  switches,  and  operated  four- 
teen cars.  The  trolley  pole  was  placed  near  the  for- 
ward end  and,  as  the  road  was  operated  with  loops  or  turn- 
tables, the  cars  and  trolleys  were  not  reversible.  The  overhead 
trolley  wire  was  supported  as  in  modern  systems  by  cross  wires, 


586 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


which,  in  some  places  on  Commerce  Street  and  on  Dexter  Ave- 
nue, were  anchored  to  the  buildings  on  either  side.  Of  the 
fourteen  cars,  ten  were  equipped  with  10-hp  motors  and  four 
with  15-hp  motors.  The  motor  was  placed  at  the  front  end  of 
the  car  and  geared  directly  to  a  countershaft,  which  in  turn 
was  connected  to  the  axle  by  a  sprocket  chain.  It  is  particu- 
larly interesting  to  note  that  in  this  road  the  central  station  was 
equipped  with  two  generators  of  250-hp  each,  this  being  a  time 
when  such  large  units  were  rare,  if  not  practically  unknown, 
in  central  station  equipments  in  the  country. 

•  

ELECTRIC  TRACTION  UNDER  STEAM-ROAD  CONDITIONS 


BY  LEWIS  B.  STILLWELL 

TH  ERE  exists  a  growing  conviction  that  electricity  is 
destined  to  supplant  steam  in  traction  work,  not  only 
within  the  limits  of  our  cities,  not  only  in  light  and 
frequent  interurban  service,  but  also  upon  trunk-line  railways 
in  both  freight  and  passenger  transportation.  The  electric 
motor  has  banished  the  horse  and  the  steel  wire  cable  from 
our  tramway  service,  and  in  suburban  and  short-haul  interur- 
ban service  has  realized  possibilities  of  utility  and  convenience 
which  the  steam  locomotive  is  barely  capable  of  suggesting. 
The  most  conservative  engineer  will  admit  that  the  further 
possibilities  of  a  method  of  applying  power  to  traction  pur- 
poses, which  has  accomplished  these  things,  are  worthy  of 
careful  consideration  even  when  the  supremacy  of  that  mar- 
velous servant  of  man,  the  steam  locomotive,  is  challenged. 

General  substitution  of  the  electric  motor  engine  and  motor 
car  for  the  steam  locomotive  in  handling  freight  and  passenger 
equipment  obviously  is  a  very  long  step — it  should  not  and 
cannot  be  taken  in  a  day  or  a  year.  The  variety  of  conditions 
to  be  met;  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved,  alike  de- 
mand that  the  new  method  if  adopted  at  all  shall  be  applied  not 
rashly,  but  conservatively  and  wisely — not  by  assuming  that  be- 
cause it  has  attained  a  remarkable  operative  and  financial  suc- 
cess upon  the  Manhattan  Railway  Company  it  should  be 
adopted  at  once  by  the  New  York  Central  Railway  for  oper- 
ation of  its  entire  system  between  New  York  and  Buffalo,  but 
by  competent  study  of  the  many  factors  that  enter  into  the 
problem  as  defined  by  the  peculiar  conditions  and  requirements 
of  each  individual  case.  The  limits  of  this  communication  pre- 
clude any  attempt  to  discuss  this  interesting  and  important 
subject  in  detail,  but  it  may  be  of  interest  to  point  out  briefly 
certain  facts  which  show  that  the  time  for  most  earnest  and 
serious  consideration  of  the  possibilities  of  the  electric  motor  in 
heavy  railway  service  has  arrived.  Among  these  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

First — For  three  years  alternating-current  motors  have  oper- 
ated both  freight  and  passenger  service  upon  the  Valtellina  line 
in  Italy,  under  conditions  and  upon  a  scale  sufficient  to  permit 
direct  comparison  of  relative  operative  and  financial  results 
attained  as  compared  with  those  previously  secured  in  steam 
operation.  The  comparison  demonstrates  the  decided  superi- 
ority of  electricity  in  this  case  in  which  traffic  approximating 
200,000  ton-miles  per  day  over  a  railway  66  miles  in  length,  in 
mountainous  country  having  a  severe  climate,  is  handled  with 
entire  success  by  tri-phase  alternating-current  motor  equip- 
ment. 

Second — There  are  now  available  on  the  market  two  vari- 
able-speed single-phase  alternating-current  motors  of  Ameri- 
can design  and  at  least  two  of  European  design,  each  of  which 


is  guaranteed  by  a  responsible  manufacturer.  These  motors 
are  practically  as  efficient  as  the  standard  continuous-current 
series-wound  motor,  which  they  resemble  closely  in  speed 
characteristics. 

'I  bird — Transmission  of  power  by  alternating  current  even 
in  northern  climates  is  now  effective  and  thoroughly  prac- 
ticable at  potentials  as  high  as  50,000  volts  (plants  using  this 
potential  are  in  actual  service),  and  at  this  voltage  a  line  of 
railway  300  miles  in  length  can  be  supplied  satisfactorily  from 
a  single  power  house  located  approximately  at  its  middle  point. 

Fourth — A  pound  of  coal  burned  under  the  boiler  in  a 
modern  power  house,  if  utilized  by  electric  transmission  and 
motors,  will  haul  a  given  load  certainly  not  less  than  twice,  and 
as  compared  with  average  existing  conditions  of  steam  railway 
service,  probably  not  less  than  four  times  as  far  as  it  will  if 
burned  in  the  fire-box  of  a  steam  locomotive. 

Fifth — Experience  lias  demonstrated  the  economy  resulting 
from  the  employment  of  long  trains,  and  in  the  effort  to  in- 
crease length  of  train  the  weight  of  locomotives  has  been  in- 
creased steadily  from  year  to  year,  the  additional  weight  in 
many  cases  implying  the  necessity  of  using  heavier  rails  and 
strengthening  the  entire  permanent  way  at  great  expense. 
Moreover,  freight  trains  are  now  so  long  and  heavy  that  the 
cost  of  maintaining  the  rolling  stock  equipment  has  become 
abnormal  by  reason  of  the  great  strains  to  which  draw-heads, 
couplers,  and,  in  fact,  the  entire  car,  are  subject.  By  tried 
methods  of  electric  traction,  motor  equipment  may  be  dis- 
tributed at  intervals  throughout  the  length  of  a  train  and  all 
controlled  with  ease  and  safety  by  the  operator  at  the  head  of 
the  train.  This  method  makes  it  easily  possible  to  operate 
trains  of  greater  length  than  can  be  handled  by  steam,  while 
the  maximum  weights  to  which  the  permanent  way  is  subjected 
are  greatly  reduced  by  the  elimination  of  the  locomotive. 

Sixth — In  the  operation  of  steam  railways,  wages  of  engi- 
neers, firemen  and  round-house  men  constitute  on  the  average 
about  one-third  the  cost  per  locomotive-mile.  Judging  from 
the  experience  of  our  electrically  operated  elevated  railways, 
the  adoption  of  electricity  in  general  railway  service  will  greatly 
reduce  the  aggregate  cost  of  this  very  important  item  of  ex- 
pense. 

Seventh — The  maintenance  of  the  electric  locomotive  is 
materially  less  than  that  of  the  steam  locomotive,  notwithstand- 
ing the  at  present  higher  first  cost  of  the  former.  This  state- 
ment rests  upon  experience  and  is  very  conservative.  In  the 
operation  of  the  Manhattan  Railway  the  total  cost  of  main- 
tenance of  rolling  stock  since  electric  traction  has  been  adopted 
has  been  materially  reduced,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  cars  are  equipped  with  motors  and  control  appa- 
ratus, and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  rate  of  acceleration 
and  of  braking  is  now  about  three  times  what  it  was  when 
steam  locomotives  were  employed.  In  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  the  cost  of  maintenance  of  an  electric  locomotive  per- 
forming the  work  of  a  steam  locomotive  under  average  condi- 
tions of  trunk-line  operation  will  be  less  than  one-half  the  cost 
of  maintaining  the  steam  locomotive. 

Eighth — Electric  locomotives  can  be  kept  in  operation  almost 
continuously,  consequently  the  number  required  for  the  oper- 
ation of  a  railway  is  much  less  than  the  number  of  steam  loco- 
motives necessary  to  take  care  of  the  same  service. 

Ninth — Electric  power  supply  being  available  at  all  points 
along  the  line  of  the  railway,  passenger  stations,  freight  sta- 
tions and  yards  can  be  lighted  and  transfer  cables,  cranes,  der- 
ricks and  tools  operated  at  very  low  cost. 

Tenth — The  tri-phase  alternating-current  system  as  devel- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


5«7 


oped  by  the  Ganz  Company,  of  Buda-Pest,  presents  possibilities 
of  economy  in  the  operation  of  mountain  divisions,  (1)  by 
reason  of  its  distinctive  feature  of  recuperation,  and  (2)  by 
reduction  in  wear  and  tear  of  brake  rigging  and  wheels,  which 
results  from  the  fact  that  in  running  down  grade  the  motor 
equipment  acts  as  a  magnetic  brake  and  absolutely  prevents  the 
speed  of  the  train  exceeding  the  synchronous  speed  of  thi 
motors. 

Eleventh — Automatic  devices  which  instantly  shut  off  the 
power  if  the  motorman  for  any  reason  removes  his  hand  from 
the  control  handle  constitute  a  valuable  safeguard  to  the  travel- 
ing public  for  which  it  is  impracticable,  apparently,  to  find  an 
equivalent  in  steam  operation. 

As  regards  objections  to  the  use  of  electricity,  aside  from  the 
cost  of  necessary  installation  and  equipment,  there  are  but  two 
of  importance,  viz. :  Interruption  of  service  by  failure  of  the 
power  supply,  and  danger  to  employees  and  the  public  from 
the  trolley  and  feeder  circuits.  As  regards  the  former,  the 
fact  that  occasional  interruptions  of  the  power  supply  are 
liable  to  occur  should  be  recognized.  It  is  safe  to  say,  how- 
ever, that  the  total  delays  to  traffic  which  are  liable  to  result 
from  this  cause  will  be  less  than  the  total  delays  which  now 
result  from  the  breakdown  of  engines  and  in  cold  weather  from 
their  failure  to  make  sufficient  steam.  In  respect  to  the  danger 
from  trolley  and  feeder  circuits,  if  strictly  first-class  mechani- 
cal and  electrical  construction  is  insisted  upon  and  attained, 
it  can  be  practically  eliminated. 

In  the  foregoing  I  have  not  referred  to  the  special  advan- 
tages of  electricity  which  result  from  the  elimination  of  smoke. 
These  advantages,  as  is  generally  realized,  make  it  an  ideal 
motive  power  for  railway  operation  within  city  limits.  In  tun- 
nels and  subway  construction  its  use  is  recognized  to  be  prac- 
tically imperative,  and  the  great  work  which  several  of  the  most 
important  railways  in  the  country  have  recently  undertaken  in 
the  electrification  of  their  city  terminals  has  attracted  universal 
attention. 

The  adoption  of  electricity  as  motive  power  at  terminals  of 
trunk  lines  creates  in  itself  a  reason  for  the  general  extension 
of  the  use  of  this  new  motive  power  outside  the  city  limits  in 
order  to  avoid  the  delay  which  necessarily  results  from  chang- 
ing engines  at  the  city  line. 

In  the  case  of  railway  companies  which  may  be  in  position 
to  raise  the  necessary  capital,  decision  of  the  question  of  adop- 
tion or  non-adoption  of  electricity  upon  any  given  railway  sys- 
tem or  part  thereof  will  be  based  primarily  upon  determination 
of  the  aggregate  value  of  the  economies  and  other  advantages 
above  referred  to,  balanced  against  the  annual  cost  of  the  new 
equipment  required. 

Accurate  generalization  is,  of  course,  impracticable,  but 
under  average  conditions  electricity  will  show  a  profit  in  the 
operation  of  railways  where  the  daily  traffic  exceeds  10,000  ton- 
miles  per  mile  of  double-track  line. 

There  are  many  places  to-day  where  the  intelligent  substitu- 
tion of  electricity  for  steam  would  not  only  pay  the  entire  cost 
of  the  change  of  equipment,  but  would  realize  a  very  handsome 
reduction  in  cost  of  operation.  This  is  particularly  true,  of 
course,  on  mountain  divisions  and  on  lines  of  dense  traffic. 
There  are  also  many  branches  of  our  trunk-line  systems  where 
great  gain  would  result,  not  perhaps  from  reduction  in  cost  of 
operation,  but  from  increase  in  revenue  which  would  assuredly 
follow  more  frequent  and  otherwise  attractive  service.  It  is 
precisely  in  this  field  that  our  great  railway  systems  can  best 
begin  the  use  of  electricity.  Some  of  them  have  already  done 
so.    Ear-sighted  directors,  managers  and  engineers  of  many 


others  are  seriously  considering  the  new  motive  power. 
In  closing,  I  would  point  out  the  great  importance  of 
adopting  promptly  uniform  standards  of  practice  in  the 
electric  equipment  of  railways  in  order  that  trouble  and  expense 
may  be  avoided  in  the  future.  The  advantages  of  a  standard- 
track  gage  are  now  universally  recognized ;  scarcely  less  im- 
portant will  be  uniformity  of  frequency,  number  of  phases  em- 
ployed and  relative  position  of  the  overhead  electrical  con- 
ductors and  the  track.  Thanks  to  the  transformer,  uniformity 
of  potential  on  the  trolley  line  is  less  imperative,  although 
highly  desirable.  It  would  seem  that  the  American  Society  of 
Civil  Engineers  and  the  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  might 
co-operate  with  each  other  and  with  the  manufacturers  of 
electrical  apparatus  in  a  systematic  attempt  to  fix  these  stand- 
arris. 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  DIRECT-CONNECTED  GENERATORS 

BY  LOUIS  BELL,  PH.  D. 


HE  evolution  of  the  direct-connected  generating  unit  is 
almost  too  recent  to  pass  as  history.  During  the  early 
years  of  electric  railway  development  such  a  thing  was 
unheard  of.  The  Corliss  type  of  engine  reigned  supreme  in 
every  station  that  made  any  pretense  to  economy  of  operation, 
and  the  rotative  speed  of  this  type  was,  and  for  that  matter 
still  is,  far  too  low  for  economical  direct  driving  save  in  very 
large  sizes.  And  such  sizes  were  not  in  demand  in  the  early 
days  of  the  art. 

As  every  one  remembers,  the  early  electric  cars  were,  many 
of  them,  converted  horse  cars  or  cars  built  rigorously  on  the 
old  horse  car  lines.  The  game  began  with  not  over  15  hp  of 
motor  capacity  per  car,  and  it  took  a  good-sized  road  to  de- 
mand a  maximum  output  of  150  or  200  kw.  There  was  abso- 
lutely no  incentive  for  several  years  to  stimulate  the  building 
of  anything  save  small  belted  machines.  When  electric  trac- 
tion began  as  a  commercial  proposition,  and  for  several  years 
after,  there  was  not  a  d.  c.  multipolar  generator  of  any  kind 
in  the  country,  if  one  excepts  a  few  small  machines  designed 
by  Bradley,  who  was  the  American  pioneer  in  modern  multi- 
polar construction. 

The  canonical  power  station  of  the  beginnings  of  electric 
traction  was  a  structure  equipped  with  one  or  two  simple  low- 
speed  Corliss  engines  with  mighty  fly-wheels  belted  to  a  line- 
shaft  with  clutch  pulleys.  From  these  were  driven  two  or 
more  bipolar  500-volt  generators  of  50  to  75-kw  capacity  each. 
They  were  not  bad  generators,  either,  those  old  high-speed 
machines,  and  some  of  them  are  doing  good  service  vet.  The 
old  Thomson-Houston  D-62  machine  and  an  Edison  dynamo 
of  similar  capacity  were  w.ell  designed  and  robust  machines, 
considering  that  the  armatures  were  still  surface  wound,  and 
that  castings  of  first-class  permeability  were  in  those  days 
practically  impossible  to  obtain. 

The  small  output  of  these  bipolar  machines  proved  to  be  a 
very  serious  inconvenience,  and  the  amount  of  shafting,  belt- 
ing and  space  required  had  a  serious  effect  on  both  first  cost 
and  efficiency.  No  ingenuity  can  avoid  losses  when  a  score  of 
small  machines  has  to  be  employed  to  give  the  output  required. 
About  1890,  therefore,  or  very  soon  afterwards,  there  began  to 
be  a  vigorous  call  for  larger  generators  and  a  very  little  con- 
sideration showed  the  manufacturers  that  increase  of  output 
required  passing  to  multipolar  construction.  If  the  writer  re- 
members correctly,  the  largest  bipolar  railway  generators 
attempted  were  oi  too-kw  output  and  proved  rather  unsatis 


588 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


factory  owing,  probably,  to  high  rating  in  the  attempt  to  keep 
down  the  expense. 

The  first  of  the  multipolar  railway  generators,  turned  out 
almost  simultaneously  by  several  makers,  were  4-pole  machines 
of  75  to  100-kw  capacity,  at  first  with  surface-wound  armatures 
of  Gramme  type.  The  passage  from  this  crude  construction, 
due  to  fear  of  commutating  difficulties,  to  multipolar  drum 
winding  was  rapid,  although  the  generators  were  still  belt 
driven.  Speeds  were  fairly  high,  say  about  400  to  750  r.  p.  m., 
and  the  earlier  generators  gave  some  trouble  from  sparking. 
This  was  gradually  eliminated,  but  it  was  usual  to  find  among 
the  various  sizes  turned  out  by  any  one  maker  certain  which 
were  conspicuously  better  than  the  others  in  their  performance. 
The  belted  multipolar  railway  generators  increased  rapidly  in 
size  as  the  electric  roads  grew  and  demanded  more  and  more 
power,  and  in  1892  a  multipolar  machine  of  about  500-kw 
capacity,  then  the  largest  railway  generator  in  the  world,  was 
set  up  in  Los  Angeles  by  the  Westinghouse  Company.  This 
was,  if  memory  serves  the  writer,  a  six-pole  machine,  and  was 
rope  driven.  It  was  certainly  the  first  step  toward  the  modern 
big  generator,  although  of  too  high  speed  to  be  directly  con- 
nected to  any  first-class  engine  then  in  current  use  in  this 
country. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  analyze  the  causes  which  hindered 
the  earlier  development  of  the  direct-connected  unit.  Chief 
among  them  was  the  question  of  cost.  In  the  early  days  of 
dynamo  design  the  engineer  was  constantly  hampered  by  the 
difficulty  of  getting  material  of  first-class  permeability.  To  get 
any  considerable  density  of  magnetization  in  the  poles  meant 
a  very  uneconomical  field  winding,  and  a  weak  field  meant  an 
uneconomical  armature  winding  and  difficulty  from  sparking. 
These  considerations  blocked  the  way  on  large  bipolar  ma- 
chines and  hampered  all  the  earlier  multipolar  designs.  Con- 
currently with  these  troubles  ran  a  fear  of  slot-wound  arma- 
tures from  the  standpoint  of  commutation.  A  rather  weak 
field  and  a  drum  armature  of  the  ironclad  construction  meant 
sparking. 

With  improvement  in  the  permeability  of  castings,  and  par- 
ticularly with  the  introduction  of  steel  castings  for  the  fields,  at 
about  the  date  last  mentioned,  came  relief.  It  became  pos- 
sible to  get  a  compact  and  powerful  multipolar  field  and  to 
push  the  armature  teeth  economically  to  a  point  of  saturation 
that  greatly  facilitated  the  use  of  ironclad  armatures.  With 
this  construction,  which  produced  sharply  localized  thermal 
loss  in  the  teeth,  came  extra  need  of  armature  ventilation,  and 
this  condition  once  established  made  possible  an  increase  of 
current  density  in  the  copper.  The  result  was  the  rather  rapid 
change  in  design  that  has  made  the  modern  generator  pos- 
sible. The  long  armature  and  massive  field  construction  gave 
way  to  light  fields  worked  at  high  density  and  short  armatures 
of  rather  large  diameter.  With  such  construction  it  was  not 
a  long  step  to  sufficient  increase  in  the  number  of  poles  to 
permit  direct  connection  to  engines  of  moderate  speed.  Of 
course,  it  is  well  known  that  direct  connection  of  electric  gen- 
erators to  steam  engines  had  been  long  practiced  here  and 
there.  The  old  Edison  "Jumbo"  machines  with  all  their  dis- 
advantages of  design  had  been  in  some  measure  successful,  and 
had  certainly  done  good  service  to  the  extent  of  preparing  the 
way  for  the  ready  acceptance  of  improved  apparatus.  But  the 
essential  point  was  to  secure  direct  connection  to  engines  of 
high  economy,  which  meant  here  compound  or  triple  expansion 
machines  of  rather  low  rotative  speed — say  80  to  120  r.  p.  m. 
Abroad  direct  coupling  to  engines  had  been  accomplished  in 
England  by  Willans  and  others,  and  the  way  had  been  cleared 


in  Germany  by  the  construction  of  slow-speed  direct-coupled 
generators  for  electric  lighting.  So  far  as  America  is  con- 
cerned, the  equipment  of  the  Intramural  Railway  at  the  Chi- 
cago Exposition  in  1893  marks  an  epoch.  The  generators, 
while  not  enormously  larger  in  output  than  some  of  their  pre- 
decessors, were  coupled  directly  to  compound  modern  engines, 
and  in  them  the  design  had  been  so  successfully  worked  out 
that  they  were  an  instant  and  evident  hit  with  every  railway 
man  who  saw  them.  That  railway  in  fact  was  the  beginning  of 
the  modern  period  in  electric  traction,  and  the  generators  set- 
tled once  for  all  the  question  of  direct  coupling. 

Beyond  this  point  the  main  question  was  merely  one  of  size. 
It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  was  a  trivial  matter  because 
it  proved  to  be  not  difficult  of  settlement.  With  lowered  speed 
and  augmented  capacity  the  field  frames  of  direct-coupled 
dynamos  became  engineering  structures  instead  of  machine 
parts.  To  support  them  against  the  mechanical  and  magnetic 
stresses  required  what  practically  amounted  to  a  girder  con- 
struction, in  the  earlier  forms  a  modified  plate  girder,  in  the 
later  ones  an  approximation  to  a  lattice  girder.  The  commu- 
tators and  brush  holder  rings  likewise  grew  to  almost  archi- 
tectural dimensions,  but  all  these  details  were  quickly  and 
effectively  worked  out,  and  within  a  couple  of  years  after  the 
Chicago  exhibit  the  dynamo  builder  was  ready  to  meet  practi- 
cally any  demand  that  his  customer  might  make.  It  is  worthy 
of  comment,  too,  that  in  this  period  of  very  rapid  growth  in 
the  art  there  were  remarkably  few  failures,  and  what  of  diffi- 
culty there  was  could  generallv  be  charged  up  to  the  engines 
rather  than  to  the  electrical  part  of  the  equipment. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  the  railway  gen- 
erator of  to-day  differs  from  its  ancestor  a  decade  since  merely 
in  magnitude.  There  has  been  steady  progress  in  design,  in 
the  direction  of  improved  performance  and  cheapened  con- 
struction. Ten  years  ago  comparatively  little  was  known  of 
the  fine  art  of  commutation.  In  early  days,  the  criterion  at  the 
commutator  was  volts  per  bar,  coupled  with  a  general  realiza- 
tion that  as  the  current  per  coil  rose  the  practicable  volts  per 
bar  fell.  The  rise  of  alternating-current  apparatus  very  soon 
began  to  put  emphasis  on  the  phenomena  in  armature  coils 
and  gave  broad  hints  on  the  treatment  of  coils  under  commuta- 
tion. A  study  of  field  distribution  of  magnetism  let  in  addi- 
tional light,  and  experimental  data  on  commutator  surface  and 
the  action  of  brushes  did  the  rest.  The  net  result  is  that  with 
less  costly  and  complicated  commutators  than  of  yore  the  ac- 
tual performance  has  been  very  much  improved,  and  serious 
sparking  now  generally  means  gross  lack  of  care.  Some  new 
mechanical  problems  arose  in  the  construction  of  large  com- 
mutators, but  these  were  soon  solved.  It  must  not  be  sup- 
posed, however,  that  the  present-day  engineer  knows  all  about 
commutation.  Not  yet,  by  long  odds,  and  although  himself 
an  earnest  and  sincere  "rooter"  for  alternating  currents,  the 
writer  is  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the  issue  can  not  be  laid 
aside,  like  free  silver,  as  dead  to  the  world.  One  can  yet  learn 
a  thing  or  two  about  commutation  of  relatively  high-tension 
currents,  an  art  little  encouraged  here  but  practiced  with  con- 
siderable success  abroad. 

It  is  quite  possible  that  the  introduction  of  alternating  cur- 
rent for  railway  motors  may  reach  a  point  of  development  that 
will  put  direct  current  permanently  out  of  business,  but  it  is 
undeniable  that  with  the  methods  now  in  vogue  a  rise  of  the 
working  voltage,  even  to  a  moderate  extent,  would  greatly 
facilitate  the  operation  of  long  interurban  lines,  and  for  reach- 
ing this  end  a  little  further  study  of  commutation  is  desirable. 

Another  very  important  direction  in  which  great  advance 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


589 


has  been  made  is  in  the  matter  of  heating.  Each  year  sees 
ventilation  carried  successfully  a  step  further,  with  the  result 
that  not  only  do  modern  machines  run  on  the  whole  much 
cooler  than  the  older  types,  but  they  are  smaller  and  cheaper 
for  the  same  output.  This  line  of  improvement  has  really 
been  followed  through  every  class  of  electrical  apparatus  with 
most  admirable  results.  There  is  good  reason  to  think  that  the 
limit  is  far  from  being  reached  yet.  As  the  art  of  commutation 
has  advanced  it  has  been  possible  to  push  the  output  further 
and  further  without  bad  results,  and  in  railway  motors  at  least 
there  is  something  to  be  said  for  the  merits  of  forced  ventila- 
tion. 

The  economics  of  this  question  as  regards  generators  de- 
serve to  receive  far  more  attention  than  has  yet  been  given 
them.  There  has  been  altogether  too  little  realization  of  the  fact 
that  so  far  as  electrical  efficiency  is  concerned  there  is  a  maxi- 
mum beyond  which  it  does  not  pay  to  go.  Of  course,  in  the 
extreme  case,  everyone  understands  that  to  raise  the  efficiency 
of  a  generator  from  96  per  cent  to  97  per  cent  costs  something, 
but  that  is  not  the  whole  story.  Take,  for  example,  a  1000-kw 
generator.  The  cost  of  its  output  the  year  round  may  amount 
to,  say,  $100  per  day.  If,  from  the  same  structure,  without 
running  at  a  materially  higher  temperature,  one  could  obtain 
50  per  cent  more  output,  the  general  charges  of  interest,  de- 
preciation, cost  of  power  house  structure  to  cover  the  machines 
and  even  of  attendance,  would  be  materially  less  per  kilowatt- 
hour,  and  one  could  well  afford  to  lose  a  part  of  this  gain  in 
lessened  efficiency  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  rest.  The  same 
considerations  apply  forcefully  to  transformers  where  one  gen- 
erally has  to  pay  high  for  the  last  per  cent  of  electrical  effi- 
ciency, and  even  to  station  equipment,  which  may  cause  one 
to  pay  dear  in  fixed  and  maintenance  charges  for  fancied 
immunity  from  hypothetical  accidents.  The  long  and  short 
of  the  matter  is  that  the  total  cost  of  energy  per  kw-hour,  and 
not  the  mere  operative  cost,  is  the  true  criterion  of  station  effi- 
ciency. Unhappily  the  costs  of  power  are  nearly  always  given 
with  the  fixed  charges  of  every  kind  eliminated,  so  that  com- 
parisons of  station  efficiency  from  the  dollar-and-cent  stand- 
point are  very  difficult  to  make. 

Right  along  this  line  the  turbo-generator  calls  for  considera- 
tion. One  of  the  things  greatly  to  be  desired  for  the  sake 
especially  of  the  smaller  stations  is  a  d.  c.  turbo-generator  for 


railway  service.  One  strong  point  of  such  machinery  is  its 
good  efficiency  at  low  load  factors,  which  generally  exist  in 
stations  for  roads  of  moderate  size.  In  very  large  stations, 
where  the  load  factor  is  generally  high,  and  can  be  kept  high 
by  regulation  of  the  number  of  machines  in  service,  efficiency 
at  half  and  quarter  load  is  a  matter  of  much  less  moment. 
When  d.  c.  turbo-generators  of  moderate  size  can  be  had  and 
prove  thoroughly  good,  the  station  designer  will  have  his  task 
much  simplified.  Some  steps  have  been  taken  in  this  direc- 
tion, but  much  remains  to  be  done.  Of  turbo-generators  at 
large  it  can  fairly  be  said  that  they  must  tend  strongly  to  econ- 
omy in  the  matter  of  fixed  charges  to  an  extent  that  offsets  to 
a  very  considerable  extent  any  possible  losses  in  steam  effi- 
ciency. But  if  direct  current  is  to  be  the  electrical  product  of 
the  station,  one  must  at  present  use  rotaries  or  motor  genera- 
tors, which  not  only  raise  the  general  expense  but  lower  the 
efficiency  very  materially.  Hence  this  plea  for  d.  c.  turbo- 
generators. If  the  direct  current  has  got  to  go,  as  it  surely 
must  if  the  alternating-current  traction  motor  is  perfected, 
this  question  will  become  a  dead  issue ;  but  so  long  as  trolley 
systems  are  fed  by  direct  current,  direct-coupled  turbo-genera- 
tors will  fill  a  long-felt  want.  Future  improvements  in  direct- 
connected  units  for  direct  current  must  be  mainly  along  the 
line  of  intensified  output.  As  they  exist  to-day  they  are  won- 
derfully reliable  machines,  of  high  efficiency  and  excellent  op- 
erative qualities.  They  have  advanced  greatly  in  the  ten  years 
passed,  and  although  just  now  thrust  into  the  background  by 
the  huge  alternators  used  in  the  big  power  transmission  sta- 
tions, can  not  yet  be  forgotten,  laid  aside,  or  denied  the  atten- 
tion that  leads  to  further  improvement. 

Electric  traction  is  just  at  present  in  a  stage  of  rapid  evolu- 
tion. The  alternating  street  car  motor  is  here  for  better  or 
worse,  and  heavy,  high-speed  railroading  looms  in  the  distance. 
It  is  a  time  for  watching  developments,  but  we  are  not  ready 
to  lay  the  d.  c.  generator  on  the  shelf  yet.  Pushing  its  output 
and  improving  the  properties  of  the  prime  mover  are  the  tasks 
of  the  next  few  years.  Turbines,  high  superheating  in  these 
and  other  engines,  and,  perhaps,  the  internal  explosion  en- 
gines, are  the  steps  to  be  taken  toward  further  improvement, 
whether  the  direct-current  generator  holds  its  own  or  is  pushed 
to  the  wall  by  the  final  triumph  of  the  hard-fighting  alternat- 
ing-current contingent. 


\    RELIC  OF   BY-GONE  AGES— HORSE  CAR  USED  BETWEEN 
BROOKLYN  AND  JAMAICA  IN  THE  EARLY  EIGHTIES 


STREET  RAILWAYS  DURING  THE  LAST  DECADE. 


IN  this  sketch  of  the  development  of  the  street  railway  indus- 
try no  attempt  will  be  made  to  recount  the  history  of  the 
American  street  railway  prior  to  1894.  A  short  account  of 
street  railway  development  from  1832  to  1894  appeared  in  the 
tenth  anniversary  number  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal, 
and  this,  with  the  testimony  presented  by  the  pioneers  them- 
selves elsewhere  in  this  issue,  covers  the  origin  and  early 
history  of  the  electric  street  railway.  There  remains,  there- 
fore, only  the  pleasant  task  of  sketching  briefly  the  steps 
by  which  the  industry  with  its  invested  capital,  in  1894,  of 
$1,300,000,000,  has  grown  to  man's  estate,  with  a  capital  in- 
vestment in  1904  of  about  three  and  a  quarter  billion  dollars 
and  occupying  an  important  place  in  the  social  and  economic 
welfare  of  the  entire  country. 

It  is  somewhat  of  a  peculiar  coincidence  that  the  evolution  of 
the  electric  railway  should  be  so  clearly  marked  into  well-de- 
fined stages  by  the  opening  and  closing  years  of  the  two  de- 
cades which  terminate  with  1894  and  with  the  present  year. 
The  first  commercial  trolley  railway  was  that  installed  by  Van 
Depoele  at  the  Toronto  Exposition  of  1884,  and  the  ten  years 
from  1884  to  1894  may  properly  be  considered  the  era  of  the 
city  railway.  In  1894  this  form  of  road  had  about  reached  its 
full  development,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  introduction  of 
the  three-phase  system  of  power  distribution  electric  railway 
construction  would  undoubtedly  have  begun  to  wane.  It  was 
in  1894  that  three-phase  system  of  power  transmission  was  first 
practically  applied  to  railway  work,  rendering  the  economical 
distribution  of  electricity,  and  with  it  the  interurban  railway, 
possible. 

As  1894  constituted  the  beginning  of  the  "interurban  decade," 
is  it  not  possible  that  1904  will  mark  the  beginning  of  another 
and  equally  as  important  an  era  in  heavy  traction  service? 
Coming  events  cast  their  shadows  before,  and  the  improve- 
ments announced  during  the  past  twelve  months  in  methods 
of  power  generation  and  its  more  economical  utilization  at  the 
axle  by  means  of  single-phase  motors  portend,  if  we  read  the 
indications  aright,  a  still  greater  development  than  has  hereto- 
fore been  experienced ;  one,  indeed,  which  may  mean  the  con- 
version of  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  present  steam 
railroad  system  of  the  country  with  its  283,000  miles  of  track. 
This  article  must  be  devoted,  however,  to  an  account  of  what 
has  been  accomplished,  not  to  a  foretaste  of  what  is  to  come. 
Laying  aside  then  the  pen  of  prophecy  for  the  safer  though 
more  prosaic  one  of  history,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  sketch 
briefly  the  street  railway  conditions  in  this  country  as  they 
existed  a  decade  ago,  and  to  refer  to  the  most  important  events 
of  the  succeeding  ten  years. 

This  year  marked  the  date  at  which  the  pro- 
motion stage  of  the  electric  railway  as  a 
system  was  practically  over  and  when 
operating  questions,  especially  that  of  de- 
preciation, began  to  be  considered.  The 
previous  decade,  which  had  opened  with 
the  electric  railway  in  an  experimental 
stage  and  with  capitalists,  city  councils,  and  even  street  rail- 
way managers,  suspicious  of  the  new  motive  power,  had  closed 
under  entirely  different  conditions.  The  initial  mechanical 
and  electrical  difficulties  had  been  overcome;  the  traffic  which 
had  been  stimulated  by  the  introduction  of  an  improved  motive 
power,  had  risen  by  leaps  and  bounds;  the  old  period  of  dis- 


trust of  the  electric  railway  as  a  system  had  given  place  to  an 
enthusiasm  almost  as  unreasonable,  and  depreciation  caused 
by  natural  causes  and  by  advances  in  the  art  was  forgotten  for 
the  time  by  city  councils,  as  well  as  by  many  promoters,  capi- 
talists and  street  railway  companies.  Those  who  had  been  in 
the  business  for  some  time  understood  the  conditions  better 
than  the  general  public,  most  of  whom  supposed  that  there 
was  almost  an  unlimited  amount  of  money  to  be  made, 
and  was  being  made,  in  electric  railway  work.  The 
Railroad  Commission  of  Massachusetts,  whose  foresight  and 
judgment  have  always  commanded  the  highest  respect,  was 
probably  the  first  official  body  to  call  attention  to  the  proper 
state  of  affairs.  In  their  report  for  1893,  published  early  in 
1894,  the  Commissioners  said  that,  "while  it  is  too  early  as  yet 
to  draw  exact  and  final  conclusions  with  regard  to  the  financial 
economy  of  electric  power,  it  is  desirable  that  false  or  exag- 
gerated ideas,  if  such  have  gained  a  footing,  should  be  set 
aside."  The  Commissioners  then  pointed  out  that  "the  idea 
which  seems  to  have  obtained  some  currency  that  the  electric 
railway  system  was  a  bonanza  of  rare  and  inexhaustible  wealth 
is  clearly  a  delusion,  and  has  doubtless  proved  to  some  a  snare." 
The  Commissioners,  in  conclusion,  urged  the  importance  of 
setting  aside  year  by  year  some  substantial  portion  of  the  earn- 
ings as  a  fund  for  future  contingencies. 

In  the  meantime  NewYorkCity  had  lagged  behind  the  rest  of 
the  country  in  electric  railway  construction,  owing  to  local  con- 
ditions, which  are  described  elsewhere  in  this  issue  in  an  in- 
teresting article  by  Mr.  Starrett.  The  Metropolitan  Traction 
Company,  which  then  operated  the  lines  in  New  York,  had 
just  completed  its  cable  railway  on  Broadway,  but  financial 
considerations  forbade  the  use  of  this  motive  power  on  any  of 
the  crosstown  streets  or  on  many  of  the  other  longitudinal 
thoroughfares  of  the  city.  The  company,  forbidden  to  use  the 
trolley  system,  was  in  a  very  serious  quandary,  as  it  was  forced 
to  make  some  decision  to  provide  an  earning  power  for  the 
numerous  systems  which  it  had  leased.  A  prize  of  $50,000  had 
been  offered  by  the  company  in  December,  1893,  for  "a  system 
of  street  railroad  propulsion  which  should  be  superior  to  the 
cable  and  trolley."  Over  3000  applications  were  received. 
Many  of  the  schemes  proposed  were  ludicrous ;  one  inventor 
suggested  the  supply  of  motive  power  by  means  of  wind-mills 
on  top  of  the  cars;  another  proposed  to  utilize  the  force  ex- 
erted by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tides  at  Sandy  Hook,  while  a 
third  made  a  proposition  to  run  the  street  railways  by  harness- 
ing the  cars  to  balloons.  In  the  meantime  the  company,  dis- 
couraged with  the  failure  of  this  plan,  as  well  as  by  the  delay 
of  the  Legislature  in  granting  permission  to  the  Railroad  Com- 
missioners to  act  as  judges  of  the  prize,  withdrew  its  offer  and  ■ 
decided  to  install  a  conduit  system.  Arrangements  were  made 
with  the  General  Electric  Company,  and  a  short  section  on 
Lenox  Avenue  was  selected  for  the  important  trial,  which  has 
since  proved  so  successful. 

One  of  the  earliest  three-phase  transmission  plants  employed 
to  transmit  power  at  high  potential  for  railway  work,  if  not  the 
first  in  the  country,  was  put  in  operation  in  April.  This  was 
at  Taftville,  Conn.,  where  the  greater  part  of  the  power  was 
used  for  mill  service,  but  where  a  synchronous  motor  and  rail- 
way generator  of  about  250  kw  was  installed  to  supply  power 
to  the  Norwich  street  railways.  This  plant  was  constructed 
under  the  supervision  of  Dr.  Louis  Bell.    Simultaneously  with 


October  8,  1904. J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


this  installation,  the  important  of  which  could  not  have  been 
realized  at  that  time,  came  the  announcement  that  the  Walker 
Manufacturing  Company  had  decided  to  engage  in  electrical 
construction.  This  company,  up  to  this  time,  had  devoted  its 
energies  entirely  to  the  manufacture  of  cable  railway  and 
power  transmission  apparatus,  but  soon  became  an  active  com- 
petitor in  the  business  of  supplying  motors  and  generators. 

Three  important  types  of  railway  appliances  were  brought 
out  during  this  year.  One  of  these  was  the  street  railway  air- 
brake, made  available  by  the  development  of  the  Genett  air- 
brake. In  its  original  form  the  Genett  compressor  was  driven 
by  means  of  an  eccentric  mounted  on  the  axle.  The  second 
important  development  of  this  kind  during  the  year  was  the 
first  application  of  electric  welding  to  rail  joints.  Mr.  Mox- 
ham,  of  the  Lorain  Steel  Company,  had  discussed  the  possi- 
bility of  connecting  rails  in  this  way,  but  during  1894  the 
Nassau  Railway,  of  Brooklyn,  which  was  then  controlled  by 
the  Johnsons,  applied  the  system  practically.  The  third  im- 
portant appliance  in  the  production  of  the  year  was  the  Sperry 
electric  brake,  which  was  used  extensively  on  the  People's 
Traction  line  in  Philadelphia.  A  motor  car  using  anhydrous 
ammonia  gas  as  a  motive  power  was  also  put  in  operation 
during  the  year  on  the  Twenty-Eighth  and  Twenty-Ninth 
Street  line  in  New  York,  and  several  new  electric  motors  made 
their  appearance,  among  them  the  Card,  the  Curtis  and  the 
Walker.  In  the  latter  a  novel  system  of  suspension  was  em- 
ployed. The  convention  this  "year  was  held  at  Atlanta,  and 
one  of  the  papers  was  on  "A  Standard  Form  of  Street  Railway 
Accounting,"  in  which  a  proposed  form  was  recommended. 

„-sgC]     This  year  commenced  with  a  disastrous  strike 
fJ^fc-':  ->"''        "ii  the  I'.nio.klyn  system,  the  greater  part 
Y  W%&  1      ot'  which  had  recently  been  ecpiipped  with 

the  trolley.  The  police  were  found  in- 
capable of  controlling  the  situation,  and  the 
National  Guard  had  to  be  called  upon  to 
preserve  order  in  the  City  of  Churches.  A 
particularly  unfortunate  feature  of  the  situation  was  the  posi- 
tion of  Judge  Gaynor,  who  had  recently  been  elevated  to  the 
bench  on  account  of  distinguished  services  in  bringing  political 
rascals  to  justice.  This  justice  ignored  entirely  the  violence 
perpetrated  by  the  mob,  and  at  the  request  of  the  unions 
granted  a  writ  calling  upon  the  companies  to  run  their  cars  on 
schedule  time,  saying:  "If  they  cannot  get  their  labor  to  per- 
form such  duties  at  what  they  offer  to  give,  then  they  must 
pay  more."  The  strike  did  not  last  long  after  the  authorities 
showed  that  they  were  prepared  to  maintain  the  reputation  of 
the  city  for  law  and  order,  and  the  cars  were  soon  running 
merrily  as  before,  the  ex-strikers  falling  over  themselves  in  the 
endeavor  to  regain  their  lost  positions.  Across  the  river  in 
New  York  interest  was  concentrated  chiefly  upon  the  demon- 
strated success  from  an  electrical  standpoint  of  the  conduit 
system  which  had  been  installed  by  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company  during  the  previous,  year;  in  fact,  so  de- 
sirable did  this  form  of  motive  power  prove  to  be  that  in 
August  the  Third  Avenue  Railway  Company  decided  to  put  in 
an  experimental  electric  conduit  line  at  the  end  of  its  Tenth 
Avenue  Division,  and  the  Metropolitan  Railway  Companv,  of 
Washington,  commenced  the  reconstruction  of  its  cable  lines  to 
electricity. 

A  survey  of  Chicago  at  this  period  discloses  an  equally  in- 
teresting and  important  departure  from  previous  practice.  The 
Metropolitan  West  Side  Elevated  Railroad  Companv  had  re- 
cently completed  the  equipment  of  its  line  under  the  super- 
vision of  W.  E.  Baker,  and  commenced  the  operation  of  elec- 


tric trains.  This  was  the  first  continuous  elevated  railway  put 
in  operation  by  electricity  in  the  United  States.  The  electri- 
cal equipment  consisted  of  55  motor  cars  and  100  trail  cars. 
The  equipment  of  the  company's  station  was  equally  character- 
istic of  the  foresight  of  the  management,  as  it  included  two 
1500-kw  and  two  800-kw  generators,  the  former  being  the 
largest  size  of  generator  then  manufactured.  The  West  Side 
road  was  put  in  operation  April  17,  and  the  third  rail  was  car- 
ried on  one  side  of  the  track  and  mounted  on  wooden  insulators 
which  had  been  treated  in  paraffine. 

In  Boston  the  ceremony  of  removing  the  first  spadeful  of 
earth  for  the  subway  was  conducted  on  March  28,  and  in  De- 
troit Mr.  Everett  started  on  the  construction  of  his  Detroit 
Electric  Railway.  The  track  was  laid  on  continuous  concrete 
stringers,  a  somewhat  novel  form  of  construction  at  that  time- 
in  the  United  States.  Cast-welded  joints,  which  had  first  been 
exhibited  at  the  Atlanta  convention,  began  to  come  into  more 
general  use,  and  double-truck  cars  became  more  popular.  A 
rotary  snow-plow  had  been  introduced  in  Rochester  during 
the  previous  winter,  and  was  attracting  considerable  attention. 
The  Union  Traction  Company,  of  Philadelphia,  was  organized 
to  take  over  the  People's  Traction  Company  and  the  Electric 
Traction  Company;  the  Buffalo  &  Niagara  Falls  Electric  Rail- 
way was  put  in  operation,  and  the  Niagara  Gorge  Road  was 
being  constructed.  The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  put 
its  Burlington  &  Mount  Holly  Branch  in  electrical  operation 
on  June  3,  and  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad  had  the  first 
of  its  35-ton  locomotives  for  drawing  freight  and  passenger 
trains  in  service  on  June  29. 

The  description  of  the  work  in  this  country  cannot  be  con- 
cluded without  reference  to  two  important  events  which  oc- 
curred in  New  England.  One  of  these  was  the  installation  of 
a  three-phase  transmission  with  double-current  generators  by 
the  Lowell  &  Suburban  Street  Railway  Company.  This  is 
said  to  have  been  the  first  three-phase  transmission  plant  with 
direct-current  conversion  installed  exclusively  for  railway 
work.  The  other  was  the  commencement  of  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Nantasket  Branch  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  & 
Hartford  Railroad  Company.  This  was  the  first  road  to  use  a 
figure  8  trolley  wire. 

Several  important  events  occurred  in  London  during  the 
year.  The  Central  London  Railway  was  put  in  operation  in 
July,  and  the  Mersey  Railway  secured  a  bill  through  Parlia- 
ment permitting  it  to  substitute  electricity  for  steam  power  on 
its  line  between  Liverpool  and  Birkenhead. 

fn  1896  the  energies  of  the  railway  com- 
panies were  devoted  largely  to  the  de- 
velopment of  plans  which  had  been  inau- 
gurated the  previous  year.  In  May  the 
Nantasket  Beach  Branch  of  the  New- 
York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad 
Company  was  put  in  operation,  and  the 
increase  in  traffic  was  so  large  that  electrical  extensions  were 
immediately  commenced.  Heavy  electric  railroading  became 
popular  and  carried  the  day  with  even  the  conservative  man- 
agers of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  The  Bridge  transportation  sys- 
tem had  for  a  long  time  been  operated  exclusively  by  the  cable, 
and  was  often  referred  to  as  an  example  of  conditions  under 
which  the  cable  was  much  more  satisfactory  and  economical 
than  electric  power  ever  could  he;  nevertheless,  the  advan- 
tages of  electricity  could  no  longer  be  overlooked,  and  arrange- 
ments were  made  under  the  specifications  of  the  late  C.  C.  Mar- 
tin tor  an  electric  service  on  the  Bridge.  Twenty  motor  ears, 
each  ecpiipped  with  lour  nj'j-hp  motors  ami  hand  control,  re- 


592 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


JOURNAL.' 


TEN  MILE-STONES  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PAST  DECADE 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


593 


placed  the  steam  shifting  engines,  and  were  put  in  operation  on 
Nov.  29.  Two  weeks  previously,  or  on  Nov.  16,  Niagara  power 
was  received  in  Buffalo  over  a  long-distance  transmission  line 
26  miles  in  length.  The  Buffalo  Street  Railway  Company  had 
made  arrangements  to  purchase  this  power  as  soon  as  it  could 
be  delivered,  and  was  one  of  the  company's  first  customers  in 
Buffalo.  Cast-welded  joints,  which  had  been  introduced  upon 
a  small  scale  during  the  previous  year,  were  largely  adopted, 
and  the  Everett  system  of  interurban  roads  around  Cleveland 
began  to  attract  the  attention  of  capitalists.  The  Lugano 
three-phase  railway  was  put  in  operation  by  Brown,  Boveri  & 
Company. 

The  annual  convention  of  the  American  Street  Railway  As- 
sociation was  held  in  St.  Louis,  where,  at  that  time  there  was 
a  large  number  of  different  railway  companies.  St.  Louis  was 
one  of  the  first  cities  to  adopt  long  double-truck  cars,  and  the 
inspection  of  these  large  cars  by  the  railway  men  who  attended 
the  convention  stimulated  their  wide  adoption  in  other  parts 
of  the  country. 

By  1897  the  underground  conduit  system 
had  won  a  recognized  place  as  a  means 
of  city  transportation  in  New  York  City. 
It  was  formally  adopted  as  the  standard 
equipment  for  the  longitudinal  lines  of 
the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway  Company, 
and  the  conversion  of  the  Fourth,  Sixth 
and  Eighth  Avenue  lines  from  horses  to  electricity  was  de- 
cided upon.  In  Chicago,  the  principal  feature  of  interest  was 
the  adoption  of  the  multiple-unit  system  by  the  South  Side 
Elevated  Railway.  This  line  had  been  constructed  about  the 
time  of  the  Chicago  World's  Fair,  and  had  been  using  steam  as 
a  motive  power.  The  management  had  naturally  given  a  great 
deal  of  attention  to  the  electrical  conversion  of  the  line,  and 
during  the  previous  year  had  received  estimates  from  practi- 
cally all  of  the  manufacturing  companies.  Plans  for  a  loco- 
motive system  similar  to  that  in  use  on  the  West  Side  were 
tentatively  prepared,  but  were  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  mul- 
tiple-unit system,  which  had  recently  been  devised  by  F.  J. 
Sprague,  and  which  was  put  in  operation  under  his  super- 
vision on  the  South  Side  Road  on  April  20  of  the  following 
year. 

A  meeting  of  the  street  railway  accountants  of  the  country 
was  called  in  Cleveland  on  March  23  to  organize  an  associa- 
tion, which  was  satisfactorily  concluded.  One  of  the  first  sub- 
jects taken  up  was  that  of  a  standard  system  of  accounts.  The 
General  Electric  Company  abandoned  its  former  method  of 
motor  nomenclature  derived  from  the  draw-bar  pull,  and 
brought  out  a  new  motor,  which  was  called  the  No.  52,  and 
which  had  a  capacity  of  about  midway  between  the  GE  800 
and  GE  1000. 

The  commission  sent  out  by  the  Glasgow  municipality  for  a 
trip  in  the  United  States  during  1895  reported  in  favor  of  the 
overhead  system,  and  arrangements  were  begun  for  the  elec- 
trical equipment  of  the  tramways  in  that  city. 

The  commencement  during  the  previous 
year  of  electrical  service  on  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge  was  but  the  stepping-stone  to  a 
more  important  change,  so  far  as  con- 
venient transportation  for  the  residents  of 
Brooklyn  were  concerned.  The  convic- 
tion forced  itself  on  the  minds  of  the  city 
authorities  that  isolated  systems  of  this  kind  \y>  miles  or  so  in 
length  belonged  to  the  past,  so  that  it  was  not  a  great  surprise 
when  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  offered  to  lease 


the  Brooklyn  Bridge  Railway,  an  offer  which  was  accepted  by 
the  city  authorities.  The  formal  use  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge 
by  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Company  took  place  on  Jan. 
22,  1898.  During  this  year  also  the  historical  West  End  Rail- 
way was  leased  by  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company,  and 
the  united  system  entered  upon  an  era  of  improvement  and 
development  which  has  done  more  for  the  citizens  of  Boston 
than  any  event  since  the  initial  contract  for  electrical  equip- 
ment on  the  West  End  Railway  was  awarded. 

Work  on  the  transformation  of  the  Broadway  Road  in  New 
York  was  commenced  early  in  the  year,  the  first  step  being  the 
installation  of  feeder  conduits  the  entire  length  of  the  line. 
The  hydraulic  power  plant  at  Mechanicsville  was  also  com- 
pleted during  the  year.  The  use  of  storage  batteries  as  station 
auxiliaries  became  more  general,  and  the  Capitol  Traction 
Company,  of  Washington,  whose  power  station  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  fire  late  in  1897,  decided  to  introduce  electricity  in 
place  of  the  cable. 

During  the  year  the  war  between  the  United  States  and 
Spain  broke  out,  and  a  number  of  electrical  engineers  went  to 
the  front.  Many  of  them  joined  the  Volunteer  Corps  of  En- 
gineers, under  the  command  of  General  Griffin,  while  others 
took  an  active  part  in  the  naval  or  military  operations.  In 
Great  Britain  the  electrification  of  the  systems  in  Glasgow  and 
Liverpool,  both  of  which  were  owned  by  the  municipality,  was 
concluded. 

This  was  the  year  of  the  passage  of  the  hastily 
executed  and  crudely  revised  Ford  fran- 
chise bill,  which  taxed  all  the  corporations 
in  New  York  State  operating  under  public 
franchises.  The  history  of  this  bill  is  so 
well  known  as  not  to  require  repetition,  and 
its  constitutionality  is  still  being  contested 
by  several  of  the  largest  companies  affected.  Hurried  through 
as  it  was  during  the  closing  days  of  a  busy  session,  it  was  found 
to  be  so  poorly  drawn  as  to  be  practically  invalid;  doctored 
up  at  an  emergency  call  of  the  Legislature  at  which  practically 
no  opportunity  was  given  for  those  companies  whose  interests 
were  vitally  affected  to  present  evidence  as  to  its  results,  the 
bill  passed  into  history  as  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  acts 
of  tax  legislation  in  modern  times. 

Outside  of  this  bill  there  were  many  noteworthy  events  in 
electrical  history.  Early  in  the  year  President  Gould,  of  the 
Manhattan  Railway  Company,  made  the  important  announce- 
ment to  the  stockholders  that  the  company  had  decided  to  in- 
troduce electric  traction.  According  to  the  president's  circu- 
lar, "the  most  conservative  estimates  made  by  experts  show  a 
saving  of  2\'2  cents  per  car-mile  on  the  entire  car-mileage  of 
the  elevated  roads.  As  we  are  now  running  4,000,000  car-miles 
annually,  the  saving  in  operating  expenses  alone  will  be  over 
$1,000,000  a  year,  which,  with  other  expenses  possible,  is  suffi- 
cient to  pay  5  per  cent  on  the  $18,000,000  capital,  which  it  is 
proposed  to  put  into  the  elevated  roads,  and  1  per  cent  addi- 
tional on  present  capital."  The  circular  also  refers  to  the 
probable  increase  in  traffic,  the  ease  with  which  cars  can  be 
handled  at  terminal  points,  the  running  of  open  cars  in  sum- 
mer, etc.  This  circular  marked  the  culmination  of  a  series  of 
efforts  made  by  electrical  inventors  and  manufacturers  as  far 
back  as  1883  to  convert  the  directors  of  the  Manhattan  Railway 
Company  to  change  their  system  to  electric  traction.  While 
the  company  had  permitted  the  operation  of  the  "Hen  Franklin" 
and  a  Sprague  equipment  in  the  early  days  and  had  received 
estimates  galore  for  the  electrical  equipment  of  its  line  from 
practically  every  electrical   manufacturing  company   in  the 


594  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


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STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


595 


country,  it  had  steadfastly  refused  to  withdraw  the  puffing- 
steam  dummy.  Although  the  company  undoubtedly  lost  con- 
siderable traffic  which  would  have  been  secured  through  an 
earlier  decision  to  adopt  electricity,  it  undoubtedly  benefited  by 
securing  much  more  modern  and  efficient  machinery  by  post- 
poning the  inevitable  moment  until  electrical  apparatus  had 
been  so  standardized  that  radical  changes  in  design  were  com- 
paratively unlikely. 

In  addition  to  the  elevated  decision,  New  York  City  was  the 
center  of  electrical  interest,  owing  to  the  rapid  transit  situation. 
After  many  years  of  laborious  work,  the  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
missioners had  finally  succeeded  in  inducing  a  responsible 
financial  syndicate,  in  the  person  of  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company,  to  bid  upon  an  underground  subway.  The 
offer  of  the  Metropolitan  Company,  which  was  sent  to  the 
Rapid  Transit  Commissioners  on  March  27,  proposed  the  con- 
struction of  a  subway  on  which  the  local  fare  was  to  be  5  cents, 
but  for  which  an  express  fare  of  10  cents  was  asked.  Trans- 
fers were  offered  to  passengers  to  and  from  the  surface  cars 
without  additional  charge,  but  local  passengers  were  to  pay  3 
cents  additional  fare.  The  Metropolitan  Company  also  re- 
quired a  perpetual  franchise.  The  latter  clause  aroused  some 
public  opposition,  and  on  April  17  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company  withdrew  its  offer.  This  paved  the  way  for 
the  McDonald  contract,  which  was  awarded  during  the  follow- 
ing year. 

While  these  events  were  occurring  in  New  Yrork,  attention 
became  directed  to  Michigan  through  the  irrepressible  Gov- 
ernor Pingree.  This  gentleman,  who  had  distinguished  him- 
self while  Mayor  of  Detroit  by  a  series  of  noisy,  though  futile, 
attacks  upon  the  local  street  railway  system  as  a  step  toward 
securing  public  favor,  had  been  elected  Governor  of  the  State, 
from  which  vantage  point  he  carried  on  a  campaign  against  the 
railway  interests,  although  in  a  somewhat  different  manner. 
During  the  winter  of  1898-99  he  succeeded  in  getting  through 
the  Legislature  of  Michigan  a  bill  by  which  the  city  of  De- 
troit was  authorized  to  purchase  the  street  railways  of  the  city 
at  an  appraised  valuation,  and  under  this  act  three  commis- 
sioners were  appointed  to  determine  the  purchase  price.  This 
committee  considered  the  subject  in  a  more  elaborate  and  com- 
plete manner  than  has  ever  been  applied  before  or  since  to  a 
street  railway  system  in  any  American  city.  The  pri:e  finally 
fixed  upon  as  a  fair  valuation  was  $16,500,000,  a  sum  which 
was  undoubtedly  very  much  in  excess  of  that  which  the  fili- 
busters in  the  city  and  State  councils  expected  to  pay.  On 
July  5,  however,  the  Michigan  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the 
bill  authorizing  the  appointment  of  the  street  railway  com- 
.  mission  was  unconstitutional,  and  the  whole  scheme  fell 
through. 

Stimulated  by  the  example  of  the  Metropolitan  Street  Rail- 
way Company,  the  Third  Avenue  Railroad  Company,  which 
was  then  a  separate  corporation,  had  completed  contracts  for 
the  electrical  equipment  of  its  cable  lines.  The  125th  Street 
Crosstown  line  was  put  in  operation  Sept.  28,  the  section  from 
130th  Street  to  Sixty-Fifth  Street  on  Oct.  22,  and  the  first 
through  car  on  the  Third  Avenue  line  was  run  from  the  Har- 
lem River  to  the  Post  Office  on  November  24. 

Other  important  events  during  the  year  were  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  International  Traction  Company  to  consolidate  the 
street  railways  in  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls,  the  announce- 
ment of  the  discovery  of  thermit  in  Germany  by  Dr.  Gold- 
schmidt  and  of  the  perfection  of  an  electro-pneumatic  system 
of  train  control  by  the  Wcstinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing 
Company. 


During  1899  the  Street  Railway  Journal  published  a 
weekly  supplement  devoted  to  notices  of  current  interest,  and 
entitled  the  "Weekly  News  Bulletin." 

The  extent  of  the  street  railway  field  had 
now  become  so  great  that  it  became  evi- 
dent that  a  monthly  paper  could  no  longer 
satisfactorily  serve  the  field.  The  pub- 
lishers of  this  paper,  therefore,  decided  to 
place  it  on  a  weekly  basis,  and  the  first 
issue  appeared  Jan.  6,  1901.  The  events 
of  the  succeeding  four  years  have  amply  demonstrated  the 
wisdom  of  this  decision. 

On  Jan.  15  John  B.  McDonald  was  awarded  a  contract 
for  the  construction  of  a  rapid  transit  subway  system  in  New 
York.  This  contract  was  transferred  by  Mr.  McDonald,  with 
the  approval  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commission,  to  a  corporation 
which  had  been  organized  by  him  to  carry  out  the  work,  and 
in  which  August  Belmont  was  largely  interested.  On  March 
24  the  first  ground  was  broken  for  the  subway.  The  event  was 
made  the  occasion  of  elaborate  ceremonies  in  front  of  the  City 
Hall,  in  which  the  Mayor  of  New  York,  Mr.  McDonald,  Mr. 
Belmont  and  several  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Commissioners  took 
an  active  part. 

The  work  has  been  vigorously  prosecuted  ever  since,  and  at 
the  time  of  going  to  press  the  opening  of  the  subway  seems  a 
matter  of  only  a  few  days. 

During  this  preliminary  work  on  the  subway  important 
events  were  occurring  rapidly  in  New  York,  which  were  des- 
tined to  affect  vitally  the  surface  transportation  system.  The 
extensions  and  improvements  which  the  Third  Avenue  Rail- 
road Company  had  introduced  during  the  previous  two  or 
three  years  had  been  carried  out  with  borrowed  money,  and  an 
attempt  of  the  company  to  issue  a  mortgage  on  its  property 
had  culminated  during  the  first  two  or  three  months  of  the 
year  in  a  serious  fall  in  the  market  value  of  its  securities.  While 
the  stock  was  selling  at  about  50,  and  while  the  speculators  in 
Wall  Street  were  wondering  whether  it  would  drop  to  25,  the 
announcement  was  made  on  March  20  that  the  control  of  the 
property  had  been  secured  by  the  Metropolitan  Street  Railway 
Company,  and  on  March  21  Mr.  YTeeland  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  company.  The  results  so  far  as  the  completion  of 
a  harmonious  plan  of  surface  transportation  in  New  York  was 
concerned  were  far-reaching,  and  with  this  step  all  the  surface 
railways  in  Manhattan  and  Bronx  boroughs,  New  York,  were 
brought  under  one  management. 

This  was  essentially  a  year  for  consolidations,  among  others 
that  of  the  St.  Louis  railways,  the  plan  for  which  was  an- 
nounced by  Brown  Brothers  on  March  26,  while  the  Connecti- 
cut Railway  &  Lighting  Company  secured  control  of  the 
Bridgeport  Railway  and  a  number  of  other  properties  during 
the  year.  The  St.  Louis  consolidation  was  followed  in  that 
city  by  an  extended  strike,  which  went  into  effect  on  May  8. 
A  number  of  persons  were  killed,  and  efforts  were  made  to  in- 
duce the  Governor  to  call  out  troops  to  suppress  the  riots,  1ml 
for  a  long  time  without  avail.  The  strike  lasted  about  fifty 
days,  and  was  finally  settled  by  the  employees,  or  as  many  of 
them  as  the  railway  companies  would  take  back,  going  bark 
to  work. 

A  large  part  of  the  month  of  April  was  given  up  in  Boston 
to  conducting  a  series  of  tests  on  different  motor  train  control 
systems  to  lie  used  on  the  elevated  railway  then  nearing  com- 
pletion. 

The  Paris  Exposition  was  held  during  T900  and  was  visited 
by  a  great  many  Americans.    The  most  interesting  features  of 


596 


Street  railway  journal. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


)  THE  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL  \ 

J.  C.  BRILL  &  CO., 

P  II  II.ADKI.I1  I  £  I  A. 

TRAMWAY 


EIXiI.-- — PHILADELPJ 


-VAMES'™ 

'THE  STANDARD  FOR  QUAL1T* 

The  Gold  Medal 
Valentine's  Varnishes 


Amsterdam  International  Exhibition, 

SEPTEMBER,  1883, 


A  Partial  List  of  Awards  Heretofore  Given  Valentine 
Varnishes: 

International  Exposition,  Philadelphia, 


:  Me 


•  Din 


Exposition  Univeraelle,  Paris,  France,    ,  - 
Silver  Medal. 

Melbourne  International  Exposition,  Melbourne,  Au6.,  - 

Silver  Medal  and  First  Order  of  Mhhit 
Adelaide  Exposition,  Adelaide,  So.  Aug.,  - 

Silver  Medal  and  First  Degree  of  Mbhit. 
American  Institute,  of  the  City  of  New  York,    -      -  18 

Silver  Medal  and  Diploma. 
Maryland  Institute  for  the  Protection  of  Mechanic  Arts,  - 

Silver  Mbdal  m* 
Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanics'  Association.  Boston, 

Silver  Medal  and  Diploma. 

Mechanics' and  Agricultural  Fair  Association  of  the  State 
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S    ME  ADVERTISERS  IN  VOLUME  1  OF  THE  STREET  RAILWAY    JOURNAL  WHO  ARE  STILL  DOING  BUSINESS  WITH  STREET 

RAILWAY  COMPANIES 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


597 


the  Exposition  from  an  electric  railway  standpoint  were  the 
moving  sidewalk  and  the  electric  locomotives  and  multiple- 
unit  systems.  Preparatory  to  the  Paris  Exposition,  a  section 
of  the  Paris  Metropolitan  Railway  was  put  in  operation.  This 
was  the  first  complete  subway  railroad  to  be  equipped  with 
electricity,  as  all  of  the  electric  underground  roads  in  London 
were  tube  lines.  The  first  section  of  the  Metropolitan  system 
was  put  in  operation  July  16.  An  International  Tramway 
Congress  was  held  in  connection  with  the  Paris  Exposition  on 
Sept.  10-13,  m  the  Hall  of  Congresses,  and  was  attended  by 
representatives  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  During  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  the  London  Metropolitan DistrictUnderground 
Railway,  the  Yerkes  system,  called  for  bids  for  the  equipment 
of  50  miles  of  underground  line. 

The  success  of  the  third  rail  as  used  by  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Rail- 
road and  on  the  elevated  railways  in  Chi- 
cago, and  its  demonstrated  capacity  for 
heavy  currents,  lead  to  its  adoption  by  the 
Albany  &  Hudson  Railway,  which  was 
put  in  commercial  operation  during  the 
spring  of  this  year.  The  third  rail  was  not  laid  in  the  center 
of  the  track,  as  on  the  Nantasket  and  New  Berlin  divisions  of 
the  New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Railroad,  but  at  the 
side,  according  to  the  Chicago  practice,  and  also  that  which 
has  been  followed  ever  since.  This  Albany  &  Hudson  was 
probably  the  first  independent  interurban  third-rad  railway  to 
be  put  in  service.  The  following  May  an  extensive  strike  oc- 
curred in  Albany,  and  during  the  first  few  months  of  the  year 
the  Broadway,  Columbus  and  Lexington  Avenue  cable  lines,  in 
New  York  City,  were  converted  to  electricity.  The  last  cable 
to  be  taken  out,  that  between  Houston  Street  and  Thirty-Sixth 
Street,  was  removed  May  25,  and  complete  electrical  operation 
was  commenced.  The  Union  Railroad  Company,  of  Provi- 
dence, announced  the  establishment  of  a  pension  system  for 
superannuated  employees.  A  disastrous  strike  occurred  in 
Scranton  during  the  latter  part  of  the  year. 

On  Dec.  12  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  announced 
its  intention  of  running  its  trains  into  New  York  through  a 
tunnel  under  the  Hudson  River,  making  an  all-rail  connection 
by  means  of  a  series  of  tunnels  under  fhe  East  River  with  the 
Long  Island  Railroad. 

Several  important  events  occurred  in  Europe  during  the 
year;  the  Metropolitan  and  District  Railways,  of  London,  be- 
ing unable  to  settle  between  themselves  whether  they  would 
use  direct  current  or  the  polyphase  system  for  the  operation  of 
their  underground  lines,  decided  to  leave  the  subject  to  an  arbi- 
trator. The  polyphase  side  was  advocated  by  Ganz  &  Com- 
pany, and  a  number  of  American  manufacturers  testified  in 
favor  of  the  direct-current  system.  The  arbitration  hearings 
extended  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  some  of  the  most 
noted  spellbinders  in  the  United  Kingdom  argued  in  favor  of 
one  system  or  the  other.  The  arbitrator  finally  decided  in 
favor  of  the  direct-current  system,  and  arrangements  were 
immediately  made  for  carrying  out  the  proposed  equipment. 
In  the  meantime  the  Studien  Gesellschaft,  which  had  been  or- 
ganized to  carry  on  a  series  of  high-speed  electric  motor  tests 
in  Germany,  secured  the  use  of  the  line  between  Berlin  and 
Zossen,  20  miles  in  length,  and  the  tests  were  carried  on  during 
the  late  summer  and  fall,  although  no  results  were  made  public 
until  the  following  summer. 

On  Dec.  30  the  first  train  on  the  Manhattan  Elevated  Rail- 
way, in  New  York,  to  be  operated  by  the  new  electrical  equip- 
ment, with  the  company's  own  power  and  over  any  consider- 


able section  of  the  road,  was  run  on  the  Second  Avenue 
division. 

This  year  opened  with  several  important  events. 
One  of  these  was  the  first  official  trip  with  the 
new  electric  equipment  on  the  Manhattan  Ele- 
vated Railway,  in  New  York,  which  occurred 
Jan.  9. 

Early  in  January  announcement  was  made 
of  the  financial  embarrassment  of  the  Everett- 
Moore  syndicate,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  one  of  the 
most  important  syndicates  in  the  country  engaged  in  the  con- 
struction of  electric  railways.  Its  operations  had  been  con- 
fined principally  to  Ohio  and  South  Michigan,  and  had  been 
quite  successful,  but  ventures  in  independent  telephone  com- 
panies were  reported  to  have  been  the  cause  for  the  financial 
trouble. 

On  Jan.  8  a  serious  accident  occurred  in  the  Park  Avenue 
Tunnel  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  by  which  one  of 
the  trains  had  an  end-on  collision  with  another.  At  a  special 
meeting  of  the  directors  of  the  company,  held  on  Jan.  15,  to 
consider  means  for  avoiding  future  accidents  of  this  character, 
it  was  voted  that  the  stockholders  at  the  April  meeting  be  re- 
quested to  pass  upon  the  plan  of  increasing  the  capital  $35,000,- 
000  to  introduce  electric  motive  power  in  the  tunnel.  The 
tunnel  disaster  elicited  many  suggestions  for  improvements  in 
tunnel  operation,  including  a  letter  by  George  Westinghouse 
calling  attention  to  the  value  of  using  non-combustible  cars. 
The  wisdom  of  this  suggestion  has  been  shown  after  four 
years  by  the  general  adoption  of  fireproofing  methods  by  the 
underground  and  elevated  railway  lines,  both  in  this  country 
and  abroad. 

On  Feb.  4  announcement  was  made  of  the  organization  of  a 
holding  company  in  New  York  to  take  over  the  Metropolitan 
Street  Railway  Company  of  that  city,  at  a  guarantee  of  7  per 
cent  on  its  outstanding  capital  stock.  The  official  plan  of  this 
lease  was  made  public  Feb.  14.  When  the  organization  of  the 
Interurban  Street  Railway  Company,  the  leasing  company,  was 
announced,  it  was  found  that  the  directors  included  a  number 
of  the  most  prominent  capitalists  and  representatives  of  busi- 
ness interests  in  the  city.  On  March  6  the  Metropolitan  Street 
Railway  Company  established  a  pension  fund  for  its  superan- 
nuated employees.    This  pension  system  went  into  force  July  1. 

The  first  of  the  year  witnessed  the  inauguration  of  Tom.  L. 
Johnson  as  Mayor  of  Cleveland.  Soon  after  his  induction  into 
office  the  Mayor  started  a  campaign  against  the  street  railways 
in  Cleveland,  and  attempted  to  secure  important  franchises  in 
that  city  for  a  new  company,  which  was  to  charge  a  fare  of 
3  cents. 

Mr.  Yerkes,  who  had  sold  out  his  Chicago  line,  organized 
the  Underground  Electric  Railways  Company,  London,  to  take 
over  a  number  of  the  existing  and  proposed  underground  rail- 
ways in  London.  In  opposition  to  the  Yerkes  system  of  under- 
ground railways  in  London,  another  consolidation  of  proposed 
underground  electric  railways  was  formed  in  that  city,  known 
as  the  "Morgan  group,"  and  an  active  fight  developed  in  Par- 
liament. On  Oct.  21  it  was  announced  that  Mr.  Yerkes  had 
secured  control  of  the  London  United  Tramways  Company, 
which  interfered  considerably  with  the  plans  of  the  Morgan 
group  of  underground  railway  builders. 

The  London  meeting  of  the  International  Tramways  and 
Light  Railways  Association,  the  first  meeting  ever  conducted 
in  an  English-speaking  country,  was  held  during  the  first  four 
days  of  July.    There  was  a  large  attendance. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  there  was  an  extensive  strike 


598 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


ion 


on  the  Hudson  Valley  Railway,  during  which  the  militia  had 
to  be  called  out.  This  strike  was  declared  on  the  morning  of 
Aug.  30,  and  extended  until  late  in  the  following  October. 

At  the  Sept.  26  meeting  of  the  American  Institute  of  Elec- 
trical Engineers,  Mr.  Lamme  read  a  paper  on  the  single-phase 
motor,  marking  a  new  phase  in  the  struggle  against  the  limita- 
tions imposed  by  a  direct-current  distribution.  During  the 
close  of  the  year  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company 
made  public  plans  for  the  construction  of  a  subway  on  Market 
Street,  and  on  Dec.  9  a  bill  authorizing  the  construction  of  a 
subway  on  Washington  Street,  in  Boston,  was  passed  by  a 
referendum  vote  of  the  citizens.  On  Dec.  10  it  was  announced 
that  the  directors  of  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company 
and  of  the  Manhattan  Railway  Company  had  provided  a  form 
of  lease  which  is  to  be  signed  by  the  two  companies.  The 
ratification  of  this  lease  by  the  Manhattan  stockholders  took 
place  Jan.  16  of  the  following  year. 

We  are  now  treating  such  recent  events  that 
they  need  be  discussed  only  briefly: — 1903 
opened  with  the  Chicago  situation  in  a 
new  stage.  B.  J.  Arnold,  who  had  been 
engaged  as  an  expert  by  the  local  trans- 
portation committee  of  the  Chicago  City 
Railway  Company,  rendered  an  elaborate 
report  on  the  situation  in  that  city,  making  various  recommen- 
dations to  relieve  the  transportation  situation.  In  New  York 
City,  where  the  street  congestion  was  even  worse,  public  atten- 
tion became  directed  to  the  transportation  problem  through  a 
series  of  hearings  held  by  the  Railroad  Commissioners  on  the 
street  railway  facilities  in  the  city.  The  Merchants'  Associa- 
tion offered  a  set  of  regulations,  some  of  which  were  absurd, 
but  others  of  which  had  been  vainly  sought  by  the  railway 
company  to  relieve  the  congestion,  particularly  in  the  down- 
town district.  The  managers  of  the  surface  system  agreed  to 
co-operate  with  the  Commissioners  in  any  steps  which  they 
might  suggest  for  relieving  a  condition  which  had  grown  ex- 
tremely onerous,  and  by  the  adoption  of  rules  governing  the 
movement  of  vehicles  in  the  streets  considerable  progress  has 
been  made. 

The  personnel  of  the  New  York  Central  engineering  com- 
mission was  announced  the  second  week  in  January.  It  was 
found  to  consist  of  two  representatives  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Railroad  and  three  independent  consulting  engineers.  The 
Boston  Elevated  Railway  Company  on  Jan.  19  announced 
the  establishment  of  a  pension  fund  for  aged  employees  who 
had  been  in  the  service  of  the  company  for  twenty-five  years 
or  more.  On  March  14  Mayor  Low  drove  the  first  spike  in  the 
track  of  the  New  York  subway.  The  most  serious  strike  of 
the  year  was  that  in  Waterbury,  and  resulted  in  considerable 
disorder  and  bloodshed. 

The  consolidation  of  the  larger  part  of  the  street  railway 
companies  in  Newark,  Jersey  City  and  the  Orange  district  was 
completed  early  in  the  year  under  the  title  of  the  Public  Service 
Corporation  of  New  Jersey.  The  official  notice  of  the  con- 
solidation was  contained  in  a  report  issued  by  the  boards  of 
directors  of  interested  companies,  on  April  13.  The  Mersey 
Railroad  was  put  in  operation.  The  first  public  announce- 
ment of  the  details  of  construction  of  the  Curtis  turbine  was 
made  April  2,  1903.  The  census  report  of  street  railways, 
which  was  taken  in  1902,  became  available  in  June.  The  Bos- 
ton &  Worcester  Street  Railway,  the  longest  interurban  elec- 
tric railway  operating  through  cars  in  New  England,  was  put 
in  operation  July  1  between  Boston  and  Worcester.  On 
Aug.  29  announcement  was  made  that  Thomas  F.  Ryan  and 


Pi 


3 


October  8,  1004.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


599 


his  associates  had  purchased  the  holdings  of  Kuhn,  Loeb  & 
Company  in  the  Metropolitan  Securities  Company. 

At  the  Saratoga  convention  the  Westinghouse  Electric  & 
Manufacturing  Company  made  its  first  exhibit  of  the  turret 
system  of  electro-pneumatic  control,  and  later  in  the  year  an- 
nounced that  it  was  ready  to  take  contracts  for  single-phase 
railway  motor  equipments.  Almost  simultaneously  news  came 
from  abroad  of  the  development  of  the  Eichberg-Winter  mo- 


No  article  on  the  development  of  the  street 
railway  industry  during  the  last  ten  years 
would  be  complete  without  some  statistics 
as  to  its  material  growth.  Figures  of  this 
kind  have  been  compiled  and  are  pre- 
sented herewith.  For  convenience  in 
making  comparisons,  they  have  been  carried  back  as  far  as  any 
reliable  statistics  are  available.    The  diagrams  on  page  594 


TABLE  SHOWING  CAPITAL  STOCK,  FUNDED  DEBT  AND  TOTAL   CAPITAL  LIABILITIES  OF  STREET  RAILWAYS  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES 


1890 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

Capital  stock  

Funded  debt    

Total  capital  liabilities  ._ 

$ 

289,058,' 33 
189,177,824 

748,O14,20(i 
522,125,505 

$ 

784,813,781 
590,590,391 

$ 

816,131,691 
033.079,178 

S 

904,109,230 
698,830,423 

$ 

991,012,762 
782,903.471 

1,066,190,400 
836,808,673 

.$ 

1,360,712,238 
1/55,451,817 

1,522,008,700 
1 ,272,269,491 

1 ,700*20,898 
1,401,664,048 
3,102,390  946 

478,235,957' 

1,300,139,711 

1,375,410,172 

1,479,210,809 

1,002,999,059 

1,773,970,233 

1,933,065,133 

2,416,164,055 

2,794,338.251 

Statistics  for  1890,  from  United  Slates  Census  Report,  and  are  for  year  ending  July  1. 

Statistics  from  1891  to  1903  inclusive,  compiled  by  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  and  are  for  year  ending  December  81. 


TABLE  SHOWING  INCREASE  IN   MILEAGE.  CARS,   ETC,  BETWEEN 
1890  AND  1902,  FOR  THE  STREET  RAILWAYS  OF  THE 
UNI  LED  STATES 


Length  of  line  (miles). 

No.  of  cars  

No.  of  employees  

No.  of  companies  .... 
Passengers  carried. . . . 

Capital  stock  

Funded  debt  


1890 


1902 


Per  Cent 
i  ncrease 


Earnings  from  operations. . 


8,123 

22,577 

■77  9 

32,505 

60,290 

S5.5 

70,764 

133,641 

88.9 

706 

987 

39-8 

4,809,554,438 

'37-7 

$289,058,133 

[,3i5,572,96o 

355-1 

189,177,824 

992,709,139 

424.7 

478,235,957 

2,308,282,099 

382.6 

90,617,21 1 

247,553,999 

173-2 

Compiled  from  United  States  Census  Report. 


Length  of  line 


Number  of  ears . 


Number  of  i 


Number  of  companies 


.  1SD0 
1902  , 

.  18D0  . 

1902  , 
.  1S90 

1902 
.  1890 

1902 


8,123  miles 


60,290  ears 


Increase  SO? 


70,764  employi 
133,641  employi 


Increase  SO? 


706  romp; 


987 


impames 


Increase  40? 


Passengers  carried .   ■  . 

1002 
.  1890 

1902 
.  1890 
190;> 
.  1890 
190i 

Earnings  from  operation  1800 
1902 


lm  2.023,010,202  passengers  carried 
1,800,554,438  passengers  carried 


Increase  13SS 


CA 

3ITAL 

STC 

CK 

FL 

NDEC 

DEBT 

Capital  slock 


Funded  debt , 


Capital  liabilities 


sosa.ons.133 


3,000 

2,800 

2.000 

2.400 

2.200 

2.000 
S  1.800 
o  l.coc 

S  1,400 
1,200 
1.000 

800 

000 

400 

200 

"  Strut  Ry.Joumal 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING  CAPITAL  LIABILITIES  OF  STREET  RAIL 
WAY  COMPANIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


$189,177,824 


709.139 


$478,23 


$2,308,282,090 


$90,617,211 


Increase  I7i% 


DIAGRAM  SHOWING  INCREASE  IN  MILEAGE,  CARS,  ETC.,  BETWEEN  1S90  AND  1902,  FOI 
THE  STREET  RAILWAYS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


tor  by  the  Union  Electricitats  Gesellschaft  and  the  Finzi  motor 
by  Dr.  Finzi,  of  Italy.  On  Oct.  15  the  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit 
Company  announced  the  establishment  of  a  merit  system  for 
all  of  its  employees. 

During  the  latter  part  of  November  the  New  York  Central 
&  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  awarded  contracts  for  the 
electrical  equipment  of  its  New  York  terminal,  making  the  larg- 
est electrical  contract  given  in  the  history  of  electric  traction. 


show  respectively  the  distribution  of 
the  capital  liabilities  of  the  street  rail- 
way enterprises  in  different  sections 
of  the  country  for  1895,  1900  and 
1903.  A  table  showing  the  total  capi- 
tal stock,  funded  debt  and  capital  lia- 
bilities for  these  and  for  a  number  of 
intervening  years,  is  published  on  this 
page.  The  lower  series  of  diagrams 
on  page  594  shows  graphically  the 
relative  amount  of  street  railway  track  in  different  sections 
of  the  country,  and  the  corresponding  table  appears  on  page 
598.  In  both  of  these  compilations  the  figures  for  1890  and 
previous  years  are  from  the  Census  Bulletin  of  1890,  which,  in 
addition  to  the  statistics  of  the  year,  contained  considerable 
tabulated  information  in  regard  to  previous  years.  The  figures 
for  the  following  years — that  is,  from  [891  to  1903 — are  from 
American  Street  Railway  Investments.    No  compilation  was 


Goo 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


made  of  the  figures  for  1896,  so  this  year  appears  blank  in  the 
several  tables. 

The  two  diagrams  published  on  this  page  showing  miles  of 
track  and  number  of  cars,  divided  into  the  different  motive 
powers,  illustrate  in  a  most  striking  way  the  rapid  adoption  of 


CO      CO      CO       CO      CO  <o 


Street  Ry.Journal 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING  MILES  OF  TRACK  AND  DIFFERENT  MOTIVE 
POWERS  OF  STREET  RAILWAYS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 


cococococo     CO      coco  co 


CO       00      CO  CO 


80,1100 
73,000 
70,000 
03,000 
G0,000 
33,000 
30,000 
13,000 
•10,000 
33,000 
30,000 
23,000 
20.000 
15,000 
10,000 
5,000 
0 


>/ 

EL 

ECT 

RIC 

_  T 

otal 

in  IS 

S5,  1 

1000 

% 

\ 

\ 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING 
MOTIVE  POWERS, 
UNITED  STATES 


Street  Ry.3ourn.il 

NUMBER  OF  CARS,  WITH  DIFFERENT 
IN  USE  ON  STREET  RAILWAYS  IN  THE 


electricity.  The  upper  line  shows  the  total  number  of  cars  or 
length  of  line  for  each  year,  and  the  increments  into  which 
the  height  is  divided  give  respectively,  counting  from  the  base 
line,  the  cars  or  mileage  under  horse,  cable,  miscellaneous  and 
electric  traction.  A  table  giving  the  miles  of  track  in  operation 
under  the  different  systems  appears  on  page  598.  A  compari- 
son of  the  status  of  the  industry  in  1890  and  in  1902  appears 
on  the  opposite  page. 


The  United  States  Census  Bulletin  for  1890,  which  was 
issued  at  the  time  that  electricity  was  coming  to  be  recognized 
as  the  motive  power  of  the  future,  contained  a  tabulation  of  the 
dates  at  which  the  electric  lines  which  were  then  running  were 
put  in  operation.    This  is  reproduced  below. 




DATE  OF  OPENING  OF  EARLY  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS  IN  THE 
UNITED  STATES  IN  OPERATION  IN  1890 

(UNITED  STATES  CENSUS  BULLETIN  OF  1890) 


Aug.  I, 
Oct. 

April  7, 

May 

July  I, 

Aug.  8, 


Jan.  i, 

Jan.  3. 
Jan.  14, 
Feb.  2, 

Mar.  i. 

Mar.  5, 

Mar.  27, 
April 

April  1, 

May  1. 

July  4. 
Aug. 

Aug.  12, 

Aug.  15, 

Aug. 

Sept. 

Sept. 

Sept.  2, 

Oct.  16, 
Oct.  T7. 

Nov.  1, 
Nov.  3, 
Nov.  7, 

Nov.  27, 

Nov.  29, 
Dec. 

Dec.  12. 

Dec.  15. 

Dec.  19. 


1886 —  Appleton  Electric  Street  Railway  Company,  Apple- 

ton,  Wis. 

"    — Highland  Park  Railway  Company,  Detroit,  Mich. 

1887 —  Gratiot    Electric   Railway  Company,  Port  Huron, 

Mich. 

"  — East  Detroit  &  Grossepoint  Railway  Company,  De- 
troit, Mich. 

"  — Lima  Street  Railway  Motor  &  Power  Company, 
Lima,  Ohio. 

"  — Mansfield  Electric  Street  Railway  Company,  Mans- 
field, Ohio. 

"  — Sea  Shore  Electric  Railway  Company,  Asbury  Park, 
N.  J. 

1888 —  Jamaica   &   Brooklyn   Road   Company,  Brooklyn, 

N.  Y. 

"    — Ithaca  Street  Railway  Company,  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
"    — Pennsylvania  Motor  Company,  Easton,  Pa. 
"    — Richmond  Union  Passenger  Railway  Co.,  Richmond, 
Va. 

"  — Asheville  Street  Railway  Company,  Asheville,  N. 
C. 

"  — Wilmington  City  Railway  Company,  Wilmington, 
Del. 

"    — Wheeling  Railway  Company,  Wheeling,  W.  Va. 
"    — Suburban  Rapid  Transit  Street  Railway  Company, 
Pittsburg,  Pa 

"    — Wilkesbarre  &  Suburban  Street  Railway  Company, 

Wilkesbarre,  Pa. 
"    — Derby  Street  Railway  Company,  Birmingham,  Conn. 
"    — Lynn  &  Boston  Railway  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 
"    — Lafayette  Street  Railway  Company,  Lafayette,  Ind. 
"    — Davenport  Central  Railway  Company,  Davenport, 

la. 

"  — East  Harrisburg  Passenger  Railway  Company,  Har- 
risburg,  Pa. 

"    — Pittsburg,  Knoxville   &   St.  Clair  Street  Railway 

Company,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 
"    — Binghamton  Street  Railway  Company,  Binghamton, 

N.  Y. 

"  — Hartford  &  Wethersfield  Horse  Railway  Company, 
Hartford,  Conn. 

"  — Sault  Ste.  Marie  Street  Railway  Company,  Sault 
Ste.  Marie,  Mich. 

"    — Danville  Street  Car  Company,  Danville,  Va. 

"  — Eckington  &  Soldiers'  Home  Railway  Co.,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

"    — East  Side  Street  Railway  Company,  Brockton,  Mass. 

"    — Akron  Street  Railway  Company,  Akron,  Ohio. 

"  — Omaha  &  Council  Bluffs  Railway  &  Bridge  Com- 
pany, Council  Bluffs,  la. 

"    — East  Reading  Railway  Company,  Reading,  Pa. 

"    — Third  Ward  Railway  Company,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

'"'    — Peoples'  Street  Railway  Company,  Scranton,  Pa. 

"  — Steubenville  Street  Railway  Company,  Steubenville, 
Ohio. 

"    — Huntington  Electric  Light  &  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, Huntington,  W.  Va. 
"    — East  Cleveland  Railway  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 


THE  NEW  YORK  RAPID  TRANSIT  SUBWAY 


THE  STEAM  GENERATING  AND  ENGINE  EQUIPMENT  OF 
THE  POWER  PLANT 


BY  JOHN  VAN  VLECK 


EARLY  in  the  year  1901,  when 
the  engineers  of  the  Rapid 
Transit  Subway  Construction 
Company  first  gave  consider- 
ation to  the  matter  of  select- 
ing a  site  for  the  power  house 
that  was  to  be  needed  for 
the  operation  of  the  subway 
trains,  it  became  apparent 
that  the  extent  of  land  re- 
quired would  largely  depend 
on  the  general  design  of  the 
power  house.  Consideration 
was  given  to  all  the  various  plans  and  arrangements  employed 
by  other  engineers  for  power  house  construction,  and  studies 
were  made  of  the  designs  of  all  the  large  power  houses  already 
constructed  and  in  process  of  construction  in  this  and  foreign 
countries.  In  the  case  of  certain 
designs  the  saving  of  space  had 
apparently  been  an  essential  fea- 
ture, while  in  others  a  more  ex- 
tensive employment  of  area  had 
been  adopted.  A  careful  review 
of  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  the  various  plans  was 
made,  with  special  attention  to  the 
matter  of  constructing  a  plant  in 
which  interruption  of  service 
would  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

As  a  result,  the  engineers  rec- 
ommended to  the  company  a 
somewhat  extended  arrangement 
of  plant,  similar,  for  instance,  to 
that  of  the  Seventy-Fourth  Street 
power  plant  of  the  Manhattan 
Elevated  Railroad  in  New  York 
City.  This  type  of  power  plant 
was  therefore  adopted — in  which 
a  single  row  of  large  engines  and 
generators  was  placed  in  an  oper- 
ating room  located  alongside  a  boiler  house.  It  was  then  consid- 
ered that  provision  should  be  made  for  generating  at  least  60,000 
kw  electrical  energy,  representing  approximately  100,000  hp  at 
the  engines,  and  with  this  determined,  it  was  possible  to  select 
a  suitable  building  site  for  the  power  plant,  to  be  located  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  the  electrical  center  of  the  distributing 
system,  and  yet  near  the  water  front  for  condensing  purposes. 
The  work  of  locating  such  a  site  of  the  area  needed  included 
a  most  extensive  and  arduous  search  on  the  part  of  those 
deputed  to  effect  the  purchase.  The  questions  of  titles,  founda- 
tion conditions,  water  facilities  and  many  other  matters  had  to 
be  taken  into  account,  and  it  was  not  until  the  present  site  was 
inspected  that  any  purchasable  land  was  found  which  satisfied 
all  the  requirements. 

This  property  was  bounded  by  West  Fifty-Eighth  Street, 


Eleventh  Avenue,  West  Fifty-Ninth  Street  and  the  bulkhead 
line  of  the  North  River,  with  a  certain  area  excepted  in  favor 
of  the  city  for  the  bed  of  Twelfth  Avenue.  East  of  Twelfth 
Avenue  the  property  included  the  entire  city  block,  800  ft.  x 
200  ft.  On  the  purchase  of  this  property  steps  were  taken  to 
prepare  plans  for  the  power  house  structure,  and  in  addition 
to  this,  the  matter  of  constructing  a  new  pier  at  the  foot  of 
West  Fifty-Eighth  Street  was  taken  up  along  with  the  con- 
struction of  underground  condensing  water  conduits  with  an 
underground  coal-conveying  passage,  which  resulted  in  con- 
summating a  lease  with  the  Department  of  Docks  and  Ferries 
for  the  construction  of  a  pier  700  ft.  long  and  60  ft.  wide,  at 
the  foot  of  West  Fifty-Eighth  Street. 

The  work  of  preparing  the  detail  plans  of  the  power  house 
structure  was,  in  the  main,  completed  early  in  1902,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  present  plan,  which  may  be  briefly  described  as 
follows:  The  structure  is  divided  into  two  main  parts,  an 
operating  room  and  a  boiler  house,  with  a  partition  wall  be- 
tween the  two  sections.  The  face  of  the  structure  on  Eleventh 
Avenue  is  200  ft.  wide,  of  which  width  the  boiler  house  occu- 
pies 83  ft.  and  the  operating  room  117  ft.  The  operating  room 
occupies  the  Fifty-Ninth  Street,  or  northerly  side  of  the  struc- 


EXTERIOR  VIEW  OF  THE  POWER  PLANT  DURING  CONSTRUCTION,  SHOWING  STEEL  WORK 


ture,  while  the  boiler  house  is  located  on  the  Fifty-Eighth 
Street,  or  southerly  side.  The  designers  were  enabled  to  em- 
ploy a  contour  of  roof  and  wall  section  for  the  northerly  side 
that  was  identical  with  the  roof  and  wall  contour  of  the  south- 
erly side,  so  that  the  building,  when  viewed  from  either  end, 
presents  a  symmetrical  appearance,  with  both  sides  of  the 
building  alike  in  form  and  design.  The  operating  room  section 
is  practically  symmetrical  with  respect  to  its  center;  it  consists 
of  a  central  area,  with  a  truss  roof  over  same,  and  galleries 
along  both  sides.  The  galleries  along  the  northerly  side  are 
primarily  for  the  electrical  apparatus,  while  those  along  the 
southerly  side  are  given  up  chiefly  to  the  steam  pipe  equip- 
ment. The  boiler  room  section  is  also  practically  symmetrical 
with  respect  to  its  center. 

A  sectional  scheme  of  the  power  house  arrangement  was  de- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


termined  upon,  by  which  the  structure  was  originally  to  consist 
of  five  generating  sections,  each  similar  to  the  others  in  all  its 
mechanical  details,  but  at  a  later  date  a  sixth  section  was  added, 
with  a  space  remaining  on  the  westerly  end  of  the  block  for  a 
seventh  section.  Each  section  embraces  one  chimney,  along 
with  the  following  generating  equipment:  twelve  boilers,  hav- 
ing each  6000  sq.  ft.  of  heating  surface ;  two  engines,  each 
direct  connected  to  a  5000-kw  alternator;  two  condensing 
equipments;  two  boiler  feed  pumps;  two  smoke  flue  systems; 
along  with  this  is  included  the  detail  apparatus  necessary  to 
make  each  section  complete  in  itself,  the  only  variation  being 
the  turbine  plant  afterward  referred  to.  In  addition  to  the 
space  occupied  by  the  before-mentioned  sections,  an  area  was 
set  aside,  at  the  Eleventh  Avenue  end  of  the  structure,  for  the 
passage  of  the  railway  spur  from  the  New  York  Central  tracks. 
The  total  length  of  the  original  five-section  power  house  was 
515  ft.  gJ/2  ins.,  but  the  additional  section,  afterward  added, 
makes  the  over-all  length  of  the  structure  693  ft.  9^4  ins.  In 
the  fourth  section  it  was  decided  to  omit  a  regular  engine  with 
its  5000-kw  generator,  and  in  its  place  substitute  a  5000-kw 
lighting  and  exciter  outfit,  this  comprising  in  part  the  turbine 
plant.  Arrangements  were  made,  however,  so  that  this  outfit 
can  afterward,  if  desired,  be  replaced  by  a  regular  5000-kw 
traction  generator. 

The  plan  of  the  power  house  included  a  method  of  support- 
ing the  chimneys  on  steel  columns  instead  of  erecting  them 
through  the  building,  which  modification  allowed  for  the  dis- 
posal of  boilers  in  spaces  which  would  otherwise  be  occupied 
by  the  chimney  bases.  By  this  arrangement  it  was  possible  to 
place  all  the  boilers  on  one  floor  level.  The  economizers  were 
placed  above  the  boilers  instead  of  behind  them,  which  made  a 
material  saving  in  the  width  of  the  boiler  room.  This  saving 
resulted  in  the  before-mentioned  gallery  construction  at  the 
side  of  the  operating  room,  which  is  closed  off  from  both  boiler 
and  engine  rooms,  for  the  reception  of  the  main  pipe  system 
and  for  a  pumping  equipment  below  it. 

The  advantages  of  the  plan  can  be  enumerated  briefly  as  fol- 
lows:  The  main  engines,  combined  with  their  alternators,  lie 
in  a  single  row  along  the  center  line  of  the  operating  room, 
with  the  steam  or  operating  end  of  each  engine  facing  toward 
the  boiler  house,  and  the  opposite  end  toward  the  electrical 
switching  and  controlling  apparatus  arranged  along  the  out- 
side wall.  Within  the  area,  between  the  boiler  house  and  op- 
erating room,  there  is  placed,  for  each  engine,  its  respective 
complement  of  pumping  apparatus,  all  controlled  by  and  under 
the  operating  jurisdiction  of  the  engineer  of  that  engine.  Each 
engineer  has  thus  full  control  of  the  pumping  machinery  re- 
quired for  his  unit.  Symmetrically  arranged  with  respect  to 
the  center  line  of  each  engine,  are  the  six  boilers  in  the  boiler 
room,  and  the  piping  from  these  six  boilers  forms  a  short  con- 
nection between  the  nozzles  on  the  boilers  and  the-  throttles  on 
the  engines.  The  arrangement  of  piping  is  alike  for  each  en- 
gine, which  results  in  a  piping  system  of  maximum  simplicity, 
which  can  be  controlled,  in  the  event  of  difficulty,  with  a  degree 
of  certainty  not  possible  with  a  more  complicated  system.  As 
described  later,  the  main  parts  of  the  steam  pipe  system,  lo- 
cated inside  the  area  between  the  boiler  house  and  operating 
room,  can  be  controlled  from  outside  this  area.  The  main 
valves  so  placed  are  assembled  at  a  point,  for  each  main  engine, 
immediately  back  of  it,  greatly  facilitating  surety  and  speed  of 
action.  The  placing  of  the  main  features  of  the  steam  pipe 
system  within  the  area  in  question  prevents  the  leakage  of 
steam  into  the  boiler  house  or  into  the  operating  room,  in  case 
ol  difficulty  in  Ibis  locality,  and  in  addition,  the  heal  radiated 


from  the  piping  contained  within  the  area  cannot  escape,  to 
elevate  the  temperature  of  either  the  boiler  or  operating  room. 

The  single  tier  of  boilers  makes  it  possible  to  secure  a  high 
and  well  ventilated  boiler  room  with  ventilation  into  a  story 
constructed  above  it,  aside  from  the  ventilation  afforded  by  the 
windows  themselves.  The  boiler  room  will  therefore  be  well 
lighted  and  cool  in  warm  weather  and  all  difficulties  from 
escaping  steam  will  be  minimized.  In  this  respect  the  boiler 
room  will  be  superior  to  corresponding  rooms  in  plants  of 
older  construction,  where  they  are  often  low,  dark  and  some- 
times extremely  hot  during  the  summer  season.  The  placing  of 
the  economizers,  with  their  auxiliary  smoke  flue  connections,  in 
the  economizer  room,  all  symmetrically  arranged  with  respect 
to  each  chimney,  removes  from  the  boiler  room  an  element  of 
disturbance  and  make  it  possible  to  pass  directly  from  the  boiler 
house  to  the  operating  room  at  convenient  points  along  the 
length  of  the  power  house  structure.  The  location  of  each 
chimney,  in  the  center  of  the  boiler  house  between  sets  of  six 
boilers,  divides  the  coal  bunker  construction  into  separate 
pockets  by  which  trouble  from  spontaneous  combustion  can  be 
localized,  and,  as  described  later,  the  divided  coal  bunkers  can 
provide  for  the  storage  of  different  grades  of  coal.  The  unit 
basis  on  which  the  economizer  and  flue  system  is  constructed 
will  allow  making  repairs  to  any  one  section  without  shutting 
other  portions  not  connected  directly  to  the  section  needing 
repair. 

THE  FOUNDATION  WORK 

The  rock  on  which  the  power  house  is  built  is  of  the  mica- 
ceous schist  and  bastard  granite  formation  universal  on  Man- 
hattan Island.  Its  surface  was  found  to  be  very  irregular, 
varying  from  a  level  of  12  ft.  above  to  40  ft.  below  mean  high 
tide.  The  general  inclination  of  the  rock  surface  was  down- 
ward from  east  to  west,  and  it  was  covered  with  some  sand  and 
earth,  but  mainly  by  a  fill  of  city  refuse  up  to  a  level  of  about 
4  ft.  above  mean  high  tide.  The  excavation  to  the  rock  surface, 
where  the  depth  of  the  latter  did  not  exceed  about  45  ft.  below 
the  surface  of  the  street,  was  made  in  the  usual  way  with 
shovels,  teams,  scrapers  and  wagons,  the  excavated  material 
being  loaded  on  barges  and  dumped  at  sea. 

At  the  east, or  shore  end  of  the  lot,  the  rock  was  excavated  to  a 
uniform  depth  required  for  the  column  and  wall  footing  courses, 
and  at  the  river  end,  where  its  surface  dipped  rapidly,  the  gen- 
eral excavation  was  carried  down  through  the  earth  to  a  maxi- 
mum depth  in  some  cases  of  40  ft.  below  mean  high  tide.  Here 
the  excavation  was  made  in  sections,  enclosed  by  6-in.  sheet 
piles  driven  closely  by  steam  hammers.  The  pits  were  drained 
without  serious  difficulty  by  centrifugal  pumps.  The  surface 
of  the  rock  was  everywhere  cleaned  and  dressed  off  to  sound 
material,  but  not  always  leveled.  A  concrete  mixing  plant  was 
established  near  the  river  end  of  the  lot,  and  economy  of  trans- 
portation was  effected  by  sending  the  concrete  up  to  the  east 
end  of  the  lot  on  the  cars  which  were  used  to  bring  the  exca- 
vated material  down  to  the  river  front.  The  concrete  used  in 
the  work  was  composed,  by  measure,  of  one  part  Portland 
cement,  two  parts  sand  and  five  parts  of  broken  stone.  In  some 
cases  rubble  concrete  was  employed  for  filling,  this  including 
proper  size  stones  suitably  embedded.  The  cement  was  Ameri- 
can Portland  cement,  and  had  to  pass  the  rigid  inspection  and 
examination  required  of  the  cement  used  in  the  subway.  The 
floor  of  the  power  house,  between  the  column  bases,  is  a  con- 
tinuous mass  of  concrete,  nowhere  less  than  2  ft.  thick.  The 
massive  concrete  foundations  for  the  main  engines  and  gen- 
erators  contain  each  1400  yards  iff  concrete  above  mean  high 
water  level,  and  in  smnc  cases  twice  as  much  concrete  is  used 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


605 


below  that  level.  The  total  amount  of  concrete  in  the  founda- 
tions of  the  finished  power  house  is  roughly  80,000  yards. 

Water  for  condensing  purposes  is  drawn  from  the  river,  and 
discharged  into  it,  through  two  monolithic  concrete  tunnels, 
through  West  Fifty-Eighth  Street,  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the 
building.  The  intake  conduit  has  an  oval  interior,  10  ft.  x  %l/2 
ft.  in  size,  and  a  rectangular  exterior  cross-section;  the  outflow 
tunnel  has  a  horseshoe  shape  cross-section  and  is  built  on  top 
of  the  intake  tunnel.  These  tunnels  are  built  throughout  in 
open  trench,  which,  at  the  shore  end,  was  excavated  in  solid 
rock.  At  the  river  end  the  excavation  was  almost  entirely 
through  the  mud,  and  was  made  in  a  coffer-dam  composed  of 
sheet  piles.  At  the  extreme  river  end  the  rock  was  so  deep  that 
the  concrete  could  not  be  carried  down  to  its  surface,  and  the 
tunnel  section  was  built  on  a  foundation  of  piles  driven  to  the 
rock  and  cut  off  19^/2  ft.  below  mean  high  tide.  This  section  of 
the  tunnel  was  built  in  a  65-ft.  x  48-ft.  floating  caisson  24  ft. 
deep.  The  concrete  was  rammed  in  it  around  the  mold,  and 
the  sides  were  braced  as  it  sunk.  After  the  tunnel  sections 
were  completed  the  caisson  was  sunk,  by  water  ballast,  to  a 
bearing  on  the  pile  foundation.  Adjacent  to  the  condensing 
water  conduits  is  the  rectangular  concrete  tunnel  for  the  under- 
ground coal  conveyor  between  the  shore  end  of  the  pier  and 
the  power  house. 

POWER-HOUSE  SUPERSTRUCTURE 

The  design  of  the  face  work  of  the  power  house  received  the 
personal  attention  of  the  directors  of  the  company,  and  its 
character  and  the  class  of  materials  to  be  employed  were  care- 
fully considered.  The  influence  of  the  design  on  the  future 
value  of  the  property  and  the  condition  of  the  environment  in 
general  were  studied,  together  with  the  factors  relating  to 
future  ownership  of  the  plant  by  the  city.  Several  plans  were 
considered  looking  to  the  construction  of  a  power  house  of 
massive  and  simple  design,  but  it  was  finally  decided  to  adopt 
an  ornate  style  of  treatment,  by  which  the  structure  would  be 
rendered  architecturally  attractive  and  in  harmony  with  the 
recent  tendencies  of  municpal  and  city  improvements  from  an 
architectural  standpoint.  At  the  initial  stage  of  the  power 
house  design,  Stanford  White,  of  the  firm  of  McKim,  Mead  & 
White,  of  New  York,  volunteed  his  services  to  the  company  as 
an  adviser  on  the  matter  of  the  design  of  the  face  work,  and 
as  his  offer  was  accepted,  his  connection  with  the  work  has  re- 
sulted in  the  development  of  the  present  exterior  design  and 
the  selection  of  the  materials  used. 

The  structure  faces  properly  on  Eleventh  Avenue,  and  the 
Eleventh  Avenue  facade  is  the  most  elaborately  treated,  but 
the  scheme  of  the  main  facade  is  carried  along  both  the  Fifty- 
Eighth  Street  and  Fifty-Ninth  Street  fronts.  The  westerly 
end  of  the  structure,  facing  the  river,  may  ultimately  be  re- 
moved, in  case  the  power  house  is  extended  to  the  Twelfth 
Avenue  building  line,  for  the  reception  of  two  additional  gen- 
erator equipments,  and  for  this  reason  this  wall  is  designed 
plainly  of  less  costly  material.  The  general  style  of  the  face 
work  is  what  may  be  called  French  renaissance,  and  the  color 
scheme  has  therefore  been  made  rather  light  in  character.  The 
base  of  the  exterior  walls  has  been  finished  with  cut  granite 
up  to  the  water  table,  above  which  the  walls  are  faced  with  a 
light  colored  buff,  pressed  brick.  This  brick  has  been  enriched 
by  the  use  of  similarly  colored  terra-cotta,  which  appears  in 
the  pilasters,  about  the  windows  and  in  the  several  entablatures, 
and  in  the  cornice  and  parapet  work.  The  Eleventh  Avenue 
facade  is  further  enriched  by  marble  medallions,  framed  with 
terra-cotta,  and  by  a  title  panel  directly  over  the  front  of  the 
structure. 


All  window  frame  and  sash  for  the  walls  is  constructed  of 
cast  iron,  and  all  the  windows  are  glazed  with  wire  glass  for 
protection  against  fire.  The  window  frame  and  sash  in  the 
upper  monitor  construction  is  covered  with  copper,  and  all  the 
exposed  gutters,  bulkhead  coverings,  flashings  and  trims  for 
the  roof  are  of  sheet  copper.  The  flat  portions  of  the  roof  are 
constructed  of  concrete,  reinforced  with  expanded  metal,  with 
suitable  water-proofing  laid  over  it.  The  sloping  sides  of  the 
roof  are  constructed  with  terra-cotta  blocks  laid  on  T-bar 
purlins.  The  terra-cotta  blocks  are  protected  by  water-proof- 
ing, and  over  the  water-proofing  there  are  laid  Spanish  roll 
tiles  which  are  enameled  green  on  the  exposed  surface.  The 
sloping  sides  of  the  roof,  directly  over  the  operating  room,  are 
constructed  of  heavy  glass,  suitably  supported  on  steel  bars 
with  copper  trim  work.  Copper  condensation  gutters  are  pro- 
vided, and  under  each  section  of  glass  is  erected  a  wire  screen. 
Permanent  ladders  are  constructed  on  the  roof  to  render  every 
portion  of  it  readily  accessible. 

The  main  doorways  leading  into  the  structure  are  trimmed 
with  cut  granite,  and  the  entrance  lobby  at  the  northeast  cor- 
ner is  finished  with  a  marble  wainscoting.  The  exposed  wall 
face  of  the  operating  room  is  faced  with  a  light  cream-colored, 
pressed  brick,  with  an  enameled  brick  wainscoting  8  ft.  high, 
extending  around  the  entire  operating  area;  the  wainscoting 
is  white,  except  for  a  brown  border  and  base.  The  offices,  the 
toilets  and  locker  rooms  are  finished  and  fitted  with  marble  and 
other  materials  in  harmony  with  the  general  character  of  the 
building.  The  masonry  floor  construction  consists  of  concrete, 
reinforced  with  expanded  metal,  and  except  where  iron  or 
other  floor  plates  are  used,  or  where  tile  or  special  flooring  is 
laid,  the  floor  is  covered  with  a  cement  granolithic  finish. 

The  value  of  a  generous  supply  of  stairways  was  appreciated 
and  all  parts  of  the  structure  are  made  readily  accessible,  espe- 
cially the  boiler  house  section ;  the  extent  to  which  stairways 
have  been  provided  throughout  can  be  seen  by  reference  to  the 
general  floor  plans.  The  main  stairways  are  of  ornate  design, 
with  marble  and  other  trim  work,  and  the  railings  of  the  main 
gallery  construction  are  likewise  ornate,  to  correspond  with  the 
stairways.  All  the  exterior  windows,  doors  and  trim  are  of 
cast  or  wrought  iron,  and  all  interior  carpenter  work  is  cov- 
ered with  Kalomein  iron  protection,  so  that  the  building,  in  its 
strictest  sense,  will  contain  nothing  in  the  way  of  combustible 
material. 

CHIMNEYS 

The  twelve-unit  power  house  as  now  extended  will  have  six 
chimneys,  spaced  108  ft.  apart  on  the  center  line  of  the  boiler 
room.  Each  chimney  is  15  ft.  inside  diameter  at  the  top,  and 
the  top  of  each  chimney  is  located  225  ft.  above  the  grate  bars. 
Each  chimney  will  serve  the  twelve  boilers  which  form  the 
section  of  which  it  is  the  center.  To  provide  for  overload 
capacity  which  may  be  demanded  by  future  conditions,  a  forced 
draft  system  is  provided  for,  as  will  be  described  later. 

As  stated  elsewhere,  the  chimneys  are  all  supported  on  the 
steel  structure  of  the  building  on  a  platform  which  is  placed 
at  an  elevation  of  76  ft.  above  the  basement  floor  and  63  ft. 
above  the  grates.  The  supporting  platforms  are,  in  each  case, 
carried  on  six  of  the  building  columns,  and  each  platform  is 
composed  of  single-web  plate  girders,  well  braced  and  sur- 
mounted by  a  grillage  of  20-in.  beams.  The  grillage  is  filled 
solidly  with  concrete  and  flushed  smooth  on  top  to  receive  the 
brick  work  of  the  chimney. 

The  top  of  each  chimney  is  162  ft.  above  the  top  of  the  sup- 
porting platform,  and  each  weighs  1200  tons.  The  octagonal 
base  is  of  red  brick,  this  being  carried  to  a  height  of  32  ft.  6  ins., 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


607 


at  which  point  the  circular  section  of  radial  hrick  begins.  The 
outside  diameter  of  the  round  shaft  at  its  bottom  starting  point 
is  21  ft.  n$i  ins.,  and  it  tapers  to  an  outside  diameter,  at  the 
top,  of  16  ft.  S/i  ins--  tne  sides  thus  having  a  batter  of  about 
2y2  ins.  in  10  ft.  This  large  batter  was  preferred  in  order  to 
obtain  as  much  stability  as  possible  in  connection  with  the 
method  of  supporting  the  chimney.  The  thickness  of  the  radial 
brick  work  at  the  bottom  is  24  ins.,  decreasing  in  eight  vertical 
sections,  to  a  thickness  of  8^  ins.  at  the  top.  Above  the  roof 
of  the  boiler  house  the  exposed  face  brick  on  the  chimney  is 
of  a  light  gray  color,  corresponding  in  color  to  the  facades  of 
the  building. 

The  octagonal  base  of  the  chimney  is  of  hard-burned  red 
brick  3  ft.  in  thickness  between  the  side  of  the  octagon  and  the 
interior  circular  section.  The  brick  work  is  started  from  the 
top  of  the  grillage  platform  within  a  steel  channel  curb.  3  ft.  in 
depth,  through  which  two  lines  of  steel  rods  are  run  in  each 


by  6  ins.  at  all  points,  is  provided  in  connection  with  the  roof 
framing.  This  is  covered  by  a  hood  flashed  into  the  brick 
work,  so  that  the  roof  has  no  connection  with  or  bearing  upon 
the  chimney. 

At  a  point  about  4  ft.  6  ins.  below  the  cap  of  the  chimney, 
the  brick  work  is  corbeled  out  for  several  courses,  forming  a 
ledge ;  around  the  outside  of  this  ledge  is  placed  a  wrought- 
iron  railing,  thus  forming  a  walkway  around  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  chimney  top.  The  cap  is  of  cast  iron,  surmounted 
by  eight  3-in.  x  i-in.  wrought-iron  ribs,  forming  an  ornamental 
cage  over  the  outlet,  with  pointed  ends  gathered  together  at 
the  center.  Galvanized  iron  ladder  rungs  are  built  in  the  brick 
work  for  ladders  both  inside  and  outside  the  shaft.  The  orna- 
mental cage,  constructed  over  the  top  of  each  chimney,  sup- 
ports, in  turn,  a  system  of  vertical  lightning  rods,  all  tipped 
with  platinum  points  about  18  ins.  long.  The  vertical  lightning- 
rods  are  connected  to  two  lightning  cables  of  stranded  copper 


THE  TRAVELING  HOISTING  TOWER  UPON  THE  COAL  UNLOADING  PIER,  FOR  HANDLING  COAL  TO  THE  CONVEYOR  SYSTEM 


direction,  thus  binding  together  the  first  3  ft.  of  brick  work. 
At  a  level,  3  ft.  above  the  bottom  of  the  brick  work,  a  layer  of 
water-proofing  is  placed  over  the  interior  area,  and  same  is 
covered  with  two  courses  of  brick,  upon  which  are  built 
diagonal  brick  walls,  4  ins.  thick,  12  ins.  apart  and  about  18  ins. 
in  height.  These  walls  are  themselves  perforated  at  intervals, 
and  the  whole  is  covered  with  hard-burned  terra-cotta  blocks, 
thus  forming  a  cellular  air  space,  which  communicates  with  the 
interior  air  and  serves  as  an  insulation  against  heat  for  the 
steel  work  beneath.  A  single  layer  of  fire  brick  completes  this 
flooring  of  the  interior  area,  which  is  flush  with  the  bottom  of 
the  flue  openings  at  the  sides  of  the  chimney. 

There  are  two  flue  openings  in  the  base  of  the  chimney, 
placed  diametrically  opposite;  each  opening  is  6  ft.  wide  x  17 
ft.  high.  The  openings  are  lined  with  fire  brick,  which  joins 
the  fire-brick  lining  of  the  interior  of  the  shaft,  this  latter  being 
bonded  to  the  red  brick  walls.  The  usual  baffle  wall  is  pro- 
vided of  fire  brick,  13  ins.  thick,  extending  diagonally  across 
the  chimney  to  a  point  4  ft.  above  the  tops  of  the  Hue  openings. 

Where  the  chimney  passes  through  the  roof  of  the  boiler 
house,  a  steel  plate  and  angle  curb,  which  clears  (he  chimney 


running  down  the  chimney,  each  having  a  section  of  300,000 
circ.  mils. 

The  chimneys  were  built  by  the  Alphons  Custodis  Chimney 
Construction  Company,  and,  except  for  the  octagonal  red  brick- 
base,  are  constructed  of  the  radial  perforated  bricks  manufac- 
tured by  that  company. 

COAL  UNLOADING  PIER 

Exceptional  facilities  have  been  provided  for  the  unloading 
of  coal  from  vessels  or  barges  which  can  be  brought  to  the 
northerly  side  of  the  pier  at  the  foot  of  West  Fifty-Eighth 
Street.  The  pier  was  specially  built  by  the  Department  oi 
Docks  and  Ferries,  and  is  700  ft.  long  and  60  ft.  w  ide.  The 
outer  end,  for  a  distance  of  220  ft.,  is  utilized  by  the  Union 
Stock  &  Market  Company,  and  the  balance  is  reserved  for  use 
by  the  power  house,  except  for  a  driveway  along  the  southerly 
side.  The  section  used  by  the  power  house  has  been  built  with 
special  piling,  and  is  provided  with  a  deck  designed  to  receive 
two  or  more  coal  unloading  towers. 

The  pier  construction  included  a  special  river  wall  across 
Fifty-Eighth  Street,  at  the  bulkhead  line,  through  which  the 
condensing  water  w  ill  be  taken  from,  and  returned  to,  the  river, 


6o8 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


Immediately  outside  of  the  river  wall  and  beneath  the  deck  of 
the  pier,  there  is  a  system  of  screens  through  which  all  the  in- 
take water  is  passed;  on  each  side  where  the  water  enters  the 
screen  chamber,  a  heavy  steel  grillage  is  arranged,  and  inside 
this  there  is  a  system  of  fine  screens  arranged  so  that  the  sev- 
eral screens  can  be  raised,  by  a  special  machine,  for  the  purpose 
of  cleaning.  The  advantages  of  a  well  designed  screening  out- 
fit has  been  appreciated,  and  considerable  care  has  been  exer- 
cised to  make  it  as  reliable  and  effective  as  possible. 

At  each  side  of  the  center  of  the  pier,  just  below  the  deck, 
there  are  two  discharge  water  conduits  constructed  of  heavy 
timber  to  conduct  the  warm  water  from  the  condensers  away 
from  the  cold  water  intakes  at  the  screens.  Two  water  con- 
duits are  employed  within  the  pier  construction  in  order  that 
one  may  be  repaired  or  renewed  while  using  the  other ;  in  fact, 


having  gable  bottoms  and  side  dumping  doors.  Each  car  has 
two  four-wheel  pivoted  trucks  with  springs.  Motive  power  is 
supplied  by  an  electric  storage  battery  locomotive.  The  cars 
deliver  the  ashes  at  the  pier  to  a  Robins  elevating  belt  con- 
veyor which  fills  the  ash  bunker.  This  will  contain  1000  tons, 
and  is  built  of  steel,  with  a  Berquist  suspension  bottom  lined 
with  concrete.  For  delivering  stored  ashes  to  barges,  a  collect- 
ing belt  extends  longitudinally  under  the  ash  pocket,  being  fed 
by  eight  gates.  It  delivers  ashes  to  a  loading  belt  conveyor, 
the  outboard  end  of  which  is  hinged  so  as  to  vary  the  height 
of  delivery  and  to  fold  up  inside  the  wharf  line  when  not  in  use. 

The  coal-handling  system  in  question  was  considered  desir- 
able because  any  serious  interruption  of  service  would  be  of 
short  duration,  as  any  belt,  or  part  of  the  belt  mechanism, 
could  quickly  be  repaired  or  replaced.    The  system  also  pos- 


VIEW  OF  THE  AUTOMATIC  UNLOADING  MECHANISM  IN   THE  DISTRIBUTING  BELT  CONVEYOR  ABOVE  THE  COAL 

POCKETS,  NEAR  BASE  OF  CHIMNEY 


the  entire  pier  is  constructed   with  the  view  of  renewal  with- 
out interference  in  the  operation  for  which  it  was  provided. 
COAL  AND  ASH-HANDLING  EQUIPMENT 

The  coal-handling  equipment  includes  a  movable  electric 
hoisting  tower  with  crushing  and  weighing  apparatus ;  a  sys- 
tem of  horizontal  belt  conveyors,  with  30-in.  belts,  to  carry  the 
crushed  and  weighed  coal  along  the  pier,  thence  by  an  under- 
ground tunnel  to  the  southwest  corner  of  the  power  house  to 
a  system  of  30  in.  Robins  elevating  belt  conveyors,  to  elevate 
the  coal  to  the  top  of  the  boiler  house,  and  a  system  of  20-in. 
belt  conveyors  to  distribute  the  coal  horizontally  over  the  coal 
bunkers.  These  conveyors  have  automatic  self-reversing  trip- 
pers which  distribute  the  coal  evenly  in  the  bunkers.  For 
handling  different  grades  of  coal  a  system  of  chain  and  plate 
conveyors  is  arranged  underneath  the  coal  bunkers  for  deliver- 
ing the  coal  from  the  particular  bunker  to  the  downtake  hop- 
pers in  front  of  the  boilers. 

The  equipment  for  removing  the  ashes  from  the  boiler  room 
basement  and  for  storing  and  delivering  the  ashes  to  barges, 
includes  a  system  of  tracks  of  24-in.  gage,  extending  under  the 
ash  hopper  gates  in  the  boiler  house  cellar  and  extending  to  an 
elevated  storage  bunker  at  the  water  front,  and  with  this  track 
system  are  provided  twenty-four  steel  cars  of  2  tons  capacity, 


sessed  advantages  with  respect  to  the  automatic  even  distribu- 
tion of  coal  in  the  bunkers,  by  means  of  the  self-reversing  trip- 
pers; these  derive  their  power  from  the  conveying  belts.  Each 
conveyor  has  a  rotary  cleaning  brush  to  cleanse  the  belt  before 
it  reaches  the  driving  pulley,  and  they  are  all  driven  by  induc- 
tion motors. 

COAL-HOISTING  TOWER 

The  tower  frame  and  boom  are  of  steel.  The  tower  rolls  on 
two  rails  along  the  pier  and  is  self-propelling.  The  lift  is  un- 
usually short,  for  the  reason  that  the  weighing  apparatus  is  re- 
moved horizontally  to  one  side  in  a  separate  house  instead  of 
lying  vertically  below  the  crusher.  This  arrangement  reduces, 
by  40  per  cent,  the  lift  of  the  bucket,  which  is  of  the  clam-shell 
type  of  44  cu.  ft.  capacity.  The  motive  power  for  operating  the 
bucket  is  perhaps  the  most  massive  and  powerful  ever  installed 
for  such  service.  The  main  hoist  is  directly  connected  to  a 
200-hp  motor,  with  the  Ward-Leonard  system  of  control.  The 
trolley  for  hauling  the  bucket  along  the  boom  is  also  direct 
coupled  to  a  multipolar  motor. 

The  receiving  hopper  has  a  large  throat,  with  a  device  in  it 
which  sorts  out  coal  small  enough  for  the  stokers  and  by-passes 
it  around  the  crusher.  The  crusher  is  of  the  two-roll  type,  with 
relieving  springs,  and  is  operated  by  the  motor,  which  is  also 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


609 


used  for  propelling  the  tower.  The  coal  is  weighed  in  duplex 
2-ton  hoppers,  hung  in  beam  and  level  scales.  The  boom  can 
be  housed  by  an  electric  winch  to  permit  the  tower  to  operate 
over  vessels  with  masts  and  rigging,  if  it  should  ever  become 
necessary  to  bring  coal  in  deep-water  carriers  instead  of  by 
the  usual  mastless  harbor  barges. 

Special  attention  has  been  given  to  providing  for  the  comfort 
and  safety  of  the  coal-tower  operators.  The  cabs  have  bay 
window  fronts,  to  enable  the  men  to  have  an  unobstructed 
view  of  the  bucket  at  all  times  without  peering  through  slots 
in  the  floor.  Walks  and  hand  lines  are  provided  on  both  sides 
of  the  boom  for  easy  and  safe  inspection. 

STORAGE  BATTERY  LOCOMOTIVE 

This  type  of  motive  power  was  selected  in  preference  to  a 
trolley  locomotive  for  moving  the  ash  cars,  owing  to  the  rapid 
destruction  of  overhead  lines  and  rail  bonds,  caused  by  the 
action  of  ashes  and  water.  The  locomotive  consists  of  two 
units,  each  of  which  has  four  driving  wheels,  and  carries  its 
own  motor  and  battery.  The  use  of  two  units  allows  the  loco- 
motive to  round  curves  with  very  small  overhangs  as  com- 
pared with  a  single-body  locomotive;  curves  of  12-ft.  radius, 
of  the  24-in.  gage,  can  be  turned  with  ease.  The  gross  weight 
of  the  locomotive  is  about  5  tons,  all  of  which  is  available  for 
traction. 

The  motors  are  of  the  highest  grade  vehicle  type,  operated 
by  a  controller  on  one  unit  in  such  a  manner  that  at  no  time 
is  it  necessary  to  introduce  external  resistance  in  the  circuit, 
which  gives  maximum  economy  to  the  consumption  of  battery 
energy.  They  are  set  well  up  over  the  frames,  entirely  spring- 
supported,  at  a  point  well  up  out  of  wind  and  dust,  and  where 
they  may  be  readily  inspected  by  opening  the  side  doors  which 
protect  them. 

The  batteries  have  Manchester  positive  plates  and  chloride 
negatives  made  by  the  Electric  Storage  Battery  Company. 
They  are  set  up  in  a  new  form  to  prevent  electrical  leakage  be- 
tween adjacent  cells.  The  cells  are  supported  and  separated 
by  point  contact  insulators  which  give  large  ventilating  and 
drainage  areas.  The  controller  cannot  be  reversed  when  the 
circuit  is  closed,  and  when  the  controller  is  "off,"  the  batteries 
are  correctly  poled  for  charging.  The  locomotive  is  so  de- 
signed that  when  coupled  to  a  load  which  will  cause  overdrafts 
on  the  battery,  the  drivers  will  slip. 

COAL  DOWNTAKES 

The  coal  from  the  coal  bunkers  is  allowed  to  flow  down  into 
the  boiler  room  through  two  rows  of  downtakes,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  central  gangway  or  firing  space.  Each  bunker  has 
eight  cast-iron  outlets,  four  on  each  side,  and  to  these  outlets 
are  bolted  gate  valves  for  shutting  off  the  coal  from  the  corre- 
sponding downtakes.  From  these  gates  the  downtakes  lead  to 
hoppers  which  are  on  the  economizer  floor,  and  from  these 
hoppers  the  lower  sets  of  downtakes  are  carried  to  the  boilers. 

just  above  the  hoppers,  on  the  economizer  floor,  the  coal 
downtakes  are  provided  with  two  valves  to  feed  the  coal,  either 
into  the  coal  downtakes  to  the  boilers  or  into  a  distributing 
flight  conveyor  alongside  of  it.  These  conveyors,  one  corre- 
sponding with  each  row  of  downtakes,  permits  the  feeding  of 
coal  from  any  bunker  or  bunkers  to  all  the  boilers  when  de- 
sired. They  are  the  ordinary  type  of  flight  conveyor,  capable 
of  running  in  cither  direction,  and  provided  with  gates  in  the 
bottom  of  the  trough  for  feeding  info  the  several  above- 
mentioned  coal  downtakes.  In  order  to  eliminate  the  stresses 
that  would  develop  in  a  conveyor  of  the  full  length  of  the 
building,  the  conveyors  are  of  half  the  entire  length  of  the 
building,  with  electric-driving  engines  in  the  center  of  each 


continuous  line.  The  installation  of  this  conveyor  system, 
in  connection  with  the  coal  downtakes,  makes  it  possible  to 
carry  a  high-grade  coal  in  some  of  the  bunkers  for  use  during 
periods  of  heavy  load,  and  a  cheaper  grade  in  other  bunkers 
for  periods  of  light  load. 

To  provide  means  of  shutting  off  the  coal  supply  to  each 
boiler,  a  small  hopper  is  placed  just  over  each  boiler,  and  the 
downtake  feeding  into  it,  is  provided  with  a  gate  at  its  lower 
end.  Two  vertical  downtakes  drop  from  the  boiler  hopper  to 
the  boiler  room  floor  or  to  the  stokers,  as  the  case  may  be,  and 
they  are  hinged  just  below  the  boiler  hopper  to  allow  of  their 
being  drawn  up  out  of  the  way  when  necessary  to  inspect  the 
boiler  tubes. 

Wherever  the  direction  of  the  flow  of  the  coal  is  changed, 
poke  holes  are  provided  in  the  downtakes  to  enable  the  firemen 
to  break  any  arching  tendency  of  the  coal  in  the  downtakes. 
All  parts  of  the  downtakes  are  of  cast  iron  except  the  vertical 
parts  in  front  of  the  boilers,  which  are  of  wrought-iron  pipe, 
the  frequency  of  their  being  swung  up  to  expose  the  tubes  mak- 
ing lightness  desirable.    These  vertical  downtakes  are  10  ins. 


VIEW  ON  WATER-TENDERS'  GALLERY  IN  THE  BOILER  ROOM, 
SHOWING  DOUBLE  ROW  OF  BOILERS 


in  inside  diameter,  while  all  others  are  14  ins.  in  inside  diam- 
eter. The  coal  downtakes  were  furnished  and  erected  by  the 
Thomas  Reese,  Jr.,  Company. 

BOILERS 

The  main  boiler  room  is  designed  to  receive  seventy-two 
safety  water-tube  three-drum  boilers,  each  having  6008  sq.  ft. 
of  effective  heating  surface,  by  which  the  aggregate  heating- 
surface  of  the  boiler  room  will  be  432,576  sq.  ft.  Sixty  boilers 
have  been  ordered  and  are  now  being  erected  by  the  Babcock 
&  Wilcox  Company,  of  New  York. 

The  boilers  are  designed  for  a  working  steam  pressure  of 
225  lbs.  per  square  inch,  and  for  a  hydraulic  test  pressure  of 
300  lbs.  per  square  inch.  Each  boiler  is  provided  with  twenty- 
one  vertical  water-tube  sections,  and  each  section  is  fourteen 
tubes  high.  The  tubes  are  of  lap-welded  charcoal  iron,  4  ins. 
in  diameter  and  18  ft.  long.  The  drums  are  42  ins.  in  diameter 
and  23  ft.  10  ins.  long.  All  drum  parts  are  of  open-hearth  steel ; 
the  shell  plates  are  9-16  in.  thick,  and  the  drum-head  plates 
11-16  in.,  and  in  this  respect  the  thickness  of  material  employed 
is  slightly  in  excess  of  standard  practice.  Another  advance  on 
standard  practice  is  in  the  riveting  of  the  circular  seams,  these 
being  lap-jointed  and  double-riveted.  All  longitudinal  seams 
arc  double  butt-strapped  and  secured  by  six  rows  of  rivets. 
Manholes  are  only  provided  for  the  front  heads,  and  each  front 


6io 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


head  is  provided  with  a  special  heavy  bronze  pad  for  making 
connection  to  the  stop  and  feed-water  check  valve. 

The  settings  of  the  boilers  embody  several  special  features 
which  are  new  in  boiler  erection.  The  boilers  are  erected  in 
pairs,  or  batteries,  and  between  each  battery  is  a  walkway  5  ft. 
wide.  They  are  set  higher  up  from  the  floor  than  in  standard 
practice.  This  feature  provides  a  higher  combustion  chamber, 
for  either  hand-fired  grates  or  automatic  stokers ;  and  for  in- 
clined grate  stokers  the  fire  is  carried  well  up  above  the  sup- 
porting girders  under  the  side  walls,  so  that  these  girders  will 
not  be  heated  by  proximity  to  the  fire. 

For  the  coping  needed  for  the  top  edge  of  the  boiler  side 
walls,  there  is  provided  a  pair  of  12-in.  channels,  which  form 
a  part  of  the  structural  steel  of  the  building,  and  each  outside 
wall  is  carried  up  to  the  under  side  of  these  channels.  This 
prevents  the  loosening  up  of  the  upper  row  of  bricks  which 
usually  occurs  in  ordinary  brick  settings.  The  buckstays  for 
the  outside  walls  are  upright  6-in.  channels,  which  also  form  a 
part  of  the  frame  work  of  the  building,  and  in  this  respect  the 
buckstays  differ  from  the  independent  buckstays  usually  pro- 
vided. 

A  beam  construction  is  carried  over  the  top  of  the  boilers, 
certain  beams  being  used  to  support  the  upright  steam  main 
and  others  to  support  a  steel  flooring.  This  flooring,  of  re- 
movable steel  plates,  embodies  a  new  and  desirable  feature  for 
the  reason  that  an  unobstructed  floor  is  provided.  The  work- 
men can  thus  pass  over  it  without  risk  when  obliged  to  move 
about  over  the  drum  coverings,  which  are  usually  obstructed 
by  piping  and  other  fixtures.  For  further  protection  a  hand 
rail  is  provided  around  the  top  of  each  boiler;  then  again, 
stairways,  ladders  and  cross-over  walks  render  the  tops  of  the 
boilers  especially  accessible.  Beneath  the  steel  flooring  it  is 
proposed  to  fill  in  the  space  over  the  brick  boiler-drum  cover- 
ing with  insulating  material,  which  will  be  an  extra  measure 
against  the  waste  of  heat  from  the  boiler  plant. 

As  regards  the  masonry  setting,  practically  the  entire  inside 
surface  of  the  setting  that  is  exposed  to  hot  gases  is  lined  with 
a  high-grade  of  fire  brick.  The  back  of  the  setting,  where  the 
rear  cleaning  is  done,  is  provided  with  a  sliding  floor  plate 
which  is  used  when  the  upper  tubes  are  being  cleaned.  This 
space  is  provided  with  a  door  at  the  floor  line  and  an  addi- 
tional door  at  a  higher  level  for  light  and  ventilation  when 
cleaning.  Over  the  tubes  arrangements  have  been  made  for 
the  reception  of  superheating  apparatus  without  changing  the 
brick  work. 

Where  the  brick  walls  are  carried  out,  at  each  side  of  the 
building  columns  at  the  front,  cast-iron  plates  are  erected  to  a 
height  of  8  ft.  on  each  side  of  the  column.  An  air  space  is 
provided  between  each  cast-iron  plate  and  the  column,  which 
is  accessible  for  cleaning  from  the  boiler  front,  the  object  of 
the  plates  and  air  spaces  being  to  prevent  the  transmission  of 
heat  to  the  steel  columns. 

An  additional  feature  of  the  boiler  setting  consists  in  the 
employment  of  a  soot  hopper  back  of  each  bridge  wall,  by 
which  the  deposit  back  of  the  wall  can  be  discharged  into  ash 
cars  in  the  basement.  The  main  ash  hoppers  are  constructed 
of  y2-'m.  steel  plate,  the  design  being  a  double  inverted  pyramid 
with  an  ash  gate  at  each  inverted  apex.  The  hoppers  are  well 
provided  with  stiffening  angles  and  tees,  and  the  capacity  of 
each  is  about  80  cu.  ft. 

The  cross-over  pipe  which  connects  the  three  drums  is  spe- 
cially constructed  to  receive  four  4-in.  safety  valves  in  addi- 
tion to  the  main  9-in.  angle  valve.  This  cross-over  pipe  is  of 
the  extra  heavy  proportions  employed  in  the  high-pressure 


steam  work  of  the  plant,  and  where  the  bottom  flanges  bolt  fast 
to  the  pads  on  the  boiler  drums,  there  are  bronze  ball  and 
socket  rings,  which  are  ground  steam-tight  to  take  up  any  lack 
of  alignment  of  the  top  surfaces  of  the  boiler  pads. 

In  front  of  all  the  boilers  is  a  continuous  platform  of  open- 
work cast-iron  plates,  laid  on  steel  beams,  the  level  of  the 
platform  being  8  ft.  above  the  main  floor ;  these  platforms  are 
connected  across  the  firing  area,  opposite  the  walk  between  the 
batteries,  and  at  these  points  this  platform  is  carried  between 
the  boiler  settings.  At  the  rear  of  the  northerly  row  of  boilers 
the  platform  runs  along  the  partition  wall  between  the  boiler 
house  and  operating  room ;  at  intervals,  doorways  are  provided 
which  open  into  the  pump  area.  The  level  of  the  platform  is 
even  with  that  of  the  main  operating  room  floor,  so  that  it  may 
be  freely  used  by  the  water  tenders  and  by  the  operating  engi- 
neers without  being  obstructed  by  the  firemen  or  their  tools. 
The  platform  in  front  of  the  boilers  will  also  be  used  for  clean- 
ing purposes  and,  in  this  respect,  it  will  do  away  with  the  un- 
sightly and  objectionable  scaffolds  usually  employed  for  this 
work.    The  water  tenders  will  also  be  brought  nearer  to  the 


VIEW  IN  THE  PIPE  AREA  OF  THE  STEAM  PIPING  CONNEC- 
TION TO  A  MAIN  ENGINE 


water  columns  than  when  operating  on  the  main  floor.  The 
feed-water  valves  will  be  regulated  from  the  platform,  as  well 
as  the  speed  of  the  boiler-feed  pumps. 

Following  European  practice,  each  boiler  is  provided  with 
two  water  columns,  one  on  each  outside  drum,  and  each  boiler 
will  have  one  steam  gage  above  the  platform  for  the  water 
tenders  and  one  below  the  platform  for  the  firemen.  The  stop 
and  check  valves  on  each  boiler  drum  have  been  made  spe- 
cially heavy  for  the  requirements  of  this  power  house,  and  this 
special  increase  of  weight  has  been  applied  to  all  the  several 
minor  boiler  fittings. 

Hand-fired  grates  of  the  shaking  pattern  have  been  ordered 
from  the  Gibson  Iron  Works,  for  thirty-six  boilers,  and  for 
each  of  these  grates  a  special  lower  front  has  been  constructed. 
These  fronts  are  of  sheet  steel,  and  the  coal  passes  down  to  the 
floor  through  two  steel  buckstays  which  have  been  enlarged 
for  the  purpose.  There  are  three  firing  doors,  and  the  sill  of 
each  door  is  36  ins.  above  the  floor.  The  grate  area'  of  the 
hand-fired  grates  is  100  sq.  ft.,  being  8  ft.  deep  x  12  ft.  6  ins. 
wide. 

For  the  balance  of  the  boiler  plant  which  will  receive  coal 
from  the  soft  coal  bunkers  located  between  the  third  and  fifth 
chimneys,  there  has  been  ordered  Roney  automatic  stokers,  as 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


611 


it  is  proposed  to  employ  bituminous  coal  for  this  section  of  the" 

1 

power  house.  These  stokers  embody  several  recent  improve- 
ments. 

It  is  proposed  to  apply  superheaters  to  the  entire  boiler  plant, 
but  it  was  considered  prudent  first  to  make  a  trial  of  the  two 
well-known  makes  of  superheaters  in  this  country.  An  order 
was  placed  with  the  Babcock  &  Wilcox  Company  for  eight 
Rosenthal  superheaters,  each  having  767  sq.  ft.  of  heating  sur- 
face, for  eight  boilers,  and  another  was  placed  with  the  Foster 
Engineering  Company  for  four  special  superheaters,  on  the 


In  addition  to  making  provisions  for  the  air  to  escape  from 
the  upper  part  of  the  boiler  room,  arrangements  have  been 
provided  for  allowing  the  air  to  enter  it  at  the  bottom.  This 
inflow  of  air  will  take  place  through  the  southerly  row  of  base- 
ment windows,  which  extend  above  the  boiler  room  floor,  and 
through  the  wrought-iron  open-work  floor  construction  ex- 
tending along  in  the  rear  of  the  northerly  row  of  boilers. 

A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  boiler  room  is  the  10-tori  hand- 
power  crane,  which  travels  along  in  the  central  aisle  through 
the  entire  length  of  the  structure.    This  crane  is  used  for  erec- 


VIEW  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  PIPING  CONNECTIONS  FROM  ONE  BOILER  GROUP  TO  A  MAIN  ENGINE,  AND  ALSO 
INTERCONNECTING  COMPENSATING  TIE  LINE  HEADERS    IN  THE  PIPE  AREA  (SECOND  LEVEL) 


Schwoerer  system,  each  having  900  sq.  ft.  of  heating  surface. 
It  is  proposed  to  make  an  extended  trial  of  both  makes  of  super- 
heater before  equipping  the  entire  plant.  The  pipe  connections 
at  the  top  of  each  boiler  are  arranged  so  that  either  make  of 
superheater  can  be  employed. 

As  before  stated,  the  boiler  room  ceiling  has  been  made 
especially  high  and,  in  this  respect,  the  room  differs  from  most 
power  houses  of  similar  size.  The  distance  from  the  floor  to 
the  ceiling  is  35  ft.,  and  from  the  floor  plates  over  the  boilers 
to  the  ceiling  is  [3  ft.  Over  each  boiler  is  an  opening  to  the 
economizer  floor  above,  covered  with  an  iron  grating.  The 
height  of  the  room,  ..s  well  as  the  feature  of  these  openings 
and  the  stairway  wells,  and  with  (lie  large  extent  of  window 
opening  in  the  south  wall,  will  make  the  room  light  and  espe- 
cially well  ventilated.  Under  these  conditions  the  intense  heat 
usually  encountered  over  boilers  will  largely  be  obviated. 


tion  and  for  heavy  repair,  and  its  use  has  greatly  assisted  the 
speedy  assembling  of  the  boiler  plant. 

BLOWERS  AND  AIR  DUCTS 

In  order  to  burn  the  finer  grades  of  anthracite  coal  in  suffi- 
cient quantities  to  obtain  boiler  rating  with  the  hand-fired 
grates,  and  in  order  to  secure  a  large  excess  over  boiler  rating" 
with  both  the  larger  grades  of  anthracite  and  bituminous  coals, 
on  the  hand-fired  grates  and  the  automatic  stokers,  respectively, 
a  system  of  blowers  and  air  ducts  has  been  provided  in  the 
basement  under  the  boilers.  The  air-duct  system  is  designed 
so  that  one  blower  is  provided  for  every  three  boilers,  with 
arrangements  for  supplying  all  six  boilers  from  one  blower. 

A  partial  equipment  of  twelve  blowers  is  being  supplied  by 
the  B.  F.  Sturtevant  Company.  The  blowers  aie  II  ft.  high 
above  the  floor  and  K  ft.  6  ins.  wide  at  the  floor  line.  Each 


bl 


ower  is  direct  connected  to  a  two-crank  7'_.-in.  x  13- 


October  8,  1904.] 

6y2-m.  upright,  compound,  steam  engine  of  the  self-enclosed 
type.  Each  blower  is  to  provide  a  sufficient  amount  of  air  to 
burn  10,000  lbs.  of  combustible  per  hour  with  2-in.  water  pres- 
sure in  the  ash  pits. 

SMOKE  FLUES  AND  ECONOMIZERS 

The  smoke-flue  and  economizer  construction  throughout  the 
building  is  of  uniform  design,  or  in  other  words,  the  smoke- 
flue  and  economizer  system  for  one  chimney  is  identical  with 
that  for  every  other  chimney.  In  each  case  the  system  is  sym- 
metrically arranged  about  its  respective  chimney,  as  can  be 
seen  by  reference  to  the  accompanying  plans. 

The  twelve  boilers  for  each  chimney  are  each  provided  with 
two  round  smoke  uptakes,  which  carry  the  products  of  com- 
bustion upward  to  the  main  smoke-flue  system  on  the  econo- 
mizer floor.  A  main  smoke  flue  is  provided  for  each  group  of 
three  boilers,  and  each  pair  of  main  smoke  flues  join  together 
on  the  center  line  of  the  chimney,  where  in  each  case  one  com- 
mon flue  carries  the  gases  into  the  side  of  the  chimney.  The 
two  common  flues  last  mentioned  enter  at  opposite  sides  of 
the  chimney.  The  main  flues  are  arranged  and  fitted  with 
dampers,  so  that  the  gases  can  pass  directly  to  the  chimney, 
or  they  may  be  diverted  through  the  economizers  and  thence 
reach  the  chimney. 

The  uptakes  from  each  boiler  are  constructed  of  y&-m.  plate, 
and  each  is  lined  with  radial  hollow  brick  4  ins.  thick.  The 
dampers  which  are  provided  operate  on  shafts  turning  in  roller 
bearings.  The  uptakes  rest  on  iron  beams  at  the  bottom,  and 
at  the  top  where  they  join  the  main  flue,  means  are  provided 
to  take  up  expansion  and  contraction. 

The  main  flue,  which  rests  on  the  economizer  floor,  is  what 
might  be  called  a  steel  box;  the  bottom  is  lined  with  brick  laid 
flat,  and  the  sides  with  brick  walls  8  ins.  thick,  and  the  top  is 
formed  of  brick  arches  sprung  between. 

The  accompanying  plan  shows  the  main  smoke-flue  system  in 
combination  with  an  economizer  system,  which  will  be  in- 
stalled on  the  basis  of  one  economizer  for  each  set  of  three 
boilers.  The  installation  of  economizers  is  to  be  made  upon 
an  experimental  basis,  in  order  to  determine  if  the  economy- 
effected  warrants  the  investment.  All  the  economizers  are 
symmetrically  arranged,  and  they  will  all  be  similar  as  to  their 
design  and  proportions. 

STEAM  PIPING 

The  sectional  plan  on  which  the  power  house  is  designed  has 
made  a  uniform  and  simple  arrangement  of  steam  piping  possi- 
ble with  the  piping  for  each  section,  except  that  of  the  turbine 
bay,  identical  with  that  for  every  other  section.  Starting  with 
the  group  of  six  boilers  for  one  main  engine,  the  steam  piping 
is  interestingly  arranged  as  follows: 

A  cross-over  pipe  is  erected  on  each  boiler,  this  to  be  pro- 
vided with  four  4-in.  safety  valves  and  with  a  9-in.  outlet  in 
the  center ;  in  the  delivery  from  each  boiler  a  quick  closing 
9-in.  valve  ot*Allis-Chalmers  design  is  provided,  which  can  be 
closed  from  the  boiler  room  floor  by  hand  or  from  a  distant 
point,  individually  or  in  groups  of  six.  By  a  combination  of 
valves  and  fitting  the  steam  may  be  passed  through  the  super- 
heater. Risers  with  9-in.  wrought-iron  goose  necks  thence 
connect  each  boiler  to  the  steam  main,  where  9-in.  angle  valves 
are  inserted  in  each  boiler  connection.  These  valves  can  be 
closed  from  the  floor  over  the  boilers,  and,  as  shown  in  the 
plans,  are  grouped  three  over  one  set  of  three  boilers  and  three 
over  the  opposite  set. 

The  main  from  the  six  boilers  is  carried  directly  across  the 
toiler  house  in  a  straight  line  to  a  point  in  the  pipe  area,  where 
it  rises  to  the  two  14-in.  steam  downtakes  to  the  engine  throt- 


613 

ties.  At  this  point  the  steam  can  also  be  led  downward  to  a 
manifold  to  which  the'  compensating  tie  lines  are  connected. 
These  compensating  lines  are  run  lengthwise  through  the 
power  house  for  the  purpose  of  joining  the  systems  together, 
as  desired.  The  two  downtakes  to  the  engine  throttles  drop  to 
the  basement,  where  each,  through  a  goose  neck,  delivers  into 
a  receiver  and  separating  tank,  and  from  the  tank  through  a 
second  goose  neck  into  the  corresponding  throttle. 

A  quick-closing  valve  appears  at  the  point  where  the  17-in. 
pipe  divides  into  the  two  14-in.  downtakes,  and  a  similar  valve 
is  provided  at  the  point  where  the  main  connects  to  the  mani- 
fold. The  first  valve  will  close  the  steam  to  the  engine  and  the 
second  will  command  the  flow  of  steam  to  and  from  the  mani- 
fold. These  valves  can  be  operated  by  hand  from  a  platform 
located  on  the  wall  inside  the  engine  room,  or  they  can  be 
closed  from  a  distant  point  by  hydraulic  apparatus.  In  the 
event  of  accident  the  piping  to  any  engine  can  be  quickly  cut 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  BAROMETRIC  CONDENSERS  USED 
UPON  THE  ENGINES,  SHOWING  PIPING  CONNECTIONS 


out  or  that  system  of  piping  can  quickly  be  disconnected  from 
the  compensating  system. 

The  pipe  area  containing,  as  mentioned,  the  various  valves 
described,  together  with  the  manifolds  and  compensating  pipes, 
is  divided  by  means  of  cross  walls  into  sections  corresponding 
to  each  pair  of  main  engines.  Each  section  is  thus  separated 
from  those  adjoining,  so  that  any  escape  of  steam  in  one  sec- 
tion can  be  localized,  and  by  means  of  the  quick-closing  valves 
the  piping  for  the  corresponding  pair  of  main  engines  can  lie 
disconnected  from  the  rest  of  the  power  house,  in  the  event  of 
accident. 

The  important  details  of  the  main  steam-pipe  system  are 
probably  apparent  from  the  drawings.  In  the  first  place  the  im- 
portant elements  of  the  system,  like,  for  instance,  the  heavier 
valves,  the  manifolds,  the  compensating  pipes,  are  all  con- 
tained within  the  pipe  area  and  do  not  appear,  therefore,  in 
either  the  boiler  or  engine  room.  All  the  radiated  heat  passes 
upward  through  this  area,  so  that  the  temperature  of  both  the 
boiler  and  engine  rooms  should  be  much  lower  than  otherwise. 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


614 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


The  uniform  arrangement  of  piping  makes  it  much  1.11  re  easily 
understood,  and  in  the  event  of  difficulty  much  less  confusion 
or  loss  of  time  will  result  in  handling  the  connections  than  if 
a  complicated  system  were  employed. 

All  cast  iron  used  in  the  fittings  is  called  air-furnace  iron, 
which  is  a  semi-steel  and  tougher  than  ordinary  iron.  All 
fittings  are  heavier  in  their  proportions  than  ordinary  practice, 
and  all  are  of  special  design.  All  line  and  bent  pipe  is  of  wrought 
iron,  and  the  flanges  are  loose  and  made  of  wrought  steel, 
which  was  rolled  by  Krupp,  of  Essen,  Germany.  The  shell  of 
the  pipe  is  bent  over  the  face  of  the  flange,  according  to  the 


matter  for  expansion  and  contraction  required  for  superheated 
steam. 

FEED-WATER  PIPING 
The  feed-water  will  enter  the  building  at  three  points,  the 
largest  water  service  being  12  ins.  in  diameter,  which  enters 
the  structure  at  its  southeast  corner.  The  water  first  passes 
through  fish  traps  and  thence  through  meters,  and  from  them 
to  the  main  reservoir  tanks,  arranged  along  the  center  of  the 
boiler  house  basement,  flowing  into  each  tank  by  means  of  an 
automatic  float  valve.  The  water  will  be  partly  heated  in  these 
reservoir  tanks  by  means  of  hot  water  discharged  from  the 


PLAN  OF  ONE  OF  THE  MAIN  11.000-HP  GENERATING  UNITS,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  STEAM  PIPING  THROUGHOUT 


special  Walworth  practice.  All  the  joints  in  the  main  steam 
line  above  ins.  in  size  are  ground  joints,  metal  to  metal, 
no  gaskets  being  used. 

Unlike  the  flanges  ordinarily  used  in  this  country,  special 
extra  strong  proportions  have  been  adopted,  and  it  may  he  said 
that  all  flanges  and  bolts  used  in  same  are  50  per  cent  heavier 
than  the  so-called  extra  heavy  proportions  used  in  this  country. 

Before  the  design  of  the  valves  was  attempted,  information 
was  obtained  from  abroad  with  respect  to  the  qualifications 
needed  in  valve  construction  for  superheated  steam,  and  certain 
departures  were  made  in  the  design  and  materials  used  for  the 
valves  in  question.    Special  attention  was  also  given  to  the 


high-pressure  steam  traps — in  this  way  heat  represented  in  the 
drainage  from  the  high-pressure  steam  is,  for  the  most 
part,  returned  to  the  boilers.  From  the  reservoir  tanks  the 
water  is  conducted  to  the  feed-water  pumps,  by  which  it  is  dis- 
charged through  the  auxiliary  exhaust  steam  feed-water  heat- 
ers directly  to  the  boilers,  or  through  the  economizer  system  to 
he  further  heated  by  the  waste  gasses  from  the  boilers. 

Like  the  steam-pipe  system,  the  feed-water  piping  is  laid  out 
on  the  sectional  plan,  the  piping  for  the  several  sections  being 
identical,  except  for  the  connections  from  the  street  service  to 
the  reservoir  tank.  The  feed-water  piping  is  constructed 
wholly  of  cast  iron,  except  the  piping  above  the  floor  line  to 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


615 


the  boilers,  which  is  of  extra  heavy  semi-annealed  brass  with 
extra  heavy  cast-iron  fittings.  The  installation  of  the  piping- 
systems,  ljoth  steam  and  water,  were  made  by  the  Walworth 
Manufacturing  Company,  Boston. 

ENGINE  AND  TURBINE  EQUIPMENT 
The  engine  and  turbine  equipment  under  contract  embraces 
nine  8000-hp  to  11,000-hp  main  engines,  directed  connected  to 
5000-kw  generators;  three  steam  turbines,  direct  connected  to 
1875-kw  lighting  generators,  and  two  400-hp 
engines,  direct  connected  to  250-kw  exciter 
generators.    The  main  engines  are  being  con- 
structed and  erected  by  the  Allis-Chalmers 
Company,  of  Milwaukee;  the  steam  turbines 
by  the  Westinghouse  Machine  Company,  of 
Pittsburg,  and  the  exciter  engines  by  West- 
inghouse, Church.  Kerr  &  Company,  of  New- 
York. 

The  contract  for  the  main  engines  was 
awarded  Sept.  1,  1901,  prior  to  which  date  the 
question  of  employing  steam  turbines  had  re- 
ceived careful  consideration.  An  investigation 
was  made  of  the  status  of  the  steam  turbine  in 


bine  equipment  for  the  plant  in  question  requiring  successful 
operation  on  the  opening  of  the  road  beyond  all  question  of 
doubt. 

The  recent  improvements,  however,  which  have  taken  place 
in  steam  turbine  design  have  indicated  the  possible  desirability 
of  turbines  for  the  future  increase  to  the  generating  equipment, 
and  arrangements  have  accordingly  been  made  in  the  westerly 
108-ft.  extension  of  the  structure  to  provide  for  the  installation 


SIDE  ELEVATION  OF  ONE  OF  THE  MAIN  GENERATING  UNITS,  TO  SHOW  ARRANGEMENT  AND  DETAILS  OF  CYLINDERS 


this  and  foreign  countries,  and  it  was  found  that  aside  from  the 
construction  of  certain  3500-kw  Parsons  turbine-generators 
pending  at  the  works  of  Brown,  Boveri  &  Company,  at  Baden, 
Switzerland,  nothing  was  then  being  done  in  the  way  of  an 
actual  construction  of  a  turbo-generator  of  the  capacity  needed 
for  the  Rapid  Transit  Subway  power  house,  nor  were  the  re- 
sults obtained  from  the  use  of  smaller  turbines  considered  to 
be  of  a  character  which  would  justify  the  purchase  of  a  tur- 


of  steam  turbines,  if  desired,  of  8000-kw  or  9000-kw  generating 
capacity. 

MAIN  ENGINES 

The  main  engines  are  similar  in  type  to  those  installed  by 
the  Allis-Chalmers  Company  in  Seventy-Fourth  Street  power 
house  of  the  Manhattan  division  of  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company,  in  that  each  consists  of  two  component  com- 
pound engines,  both  connected  to  a  common  shaft,  with  the 


6i6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


generators  placed  between  the  two  component  engines.  The 
principal  details  of  the  engine  are  shown  in  an  accompanying 
drawing.  This  type  of  engine  is  now  well  known  and  will  not 
be  described  in  detail,  but  as  a  comparison  of  various  dimen- 
sions and  features  of  the  Manhattan  and  Rapid  Transit  Sub- 


THE  STEAM  CYLINDERS  OF  THE  CONDENSER  CIRCULATING 
PUMPS,  EXTENDING  ABOVE  THE  MAIN  OPERATING  FLOOR 


way  engines  may  be  .of  interest,  the  accompanying 
is  submitted: 


tabulation 


Diameter  of  high  pressure  cylinders,  inches  

41       "  ljw  pressure  11  "   

Stroke,  inches  _  

Speed,  revolutions  per  minute   

Steam  pressure  at  throttle,  pounds  

I  ndicated  horse  power  at  best  efficiency-.  

Diameter  of  L.  P.  piston  rods,  inches  

"H.  P.         "  '  

lt        11  crank  pin,  inches  

Length  of  crank  pin,  inches   

Type  of  L.  P.  valves   ,  

"     H.  P.  "   

Diameter  of  shaft  in  journals,  inches  

Length  of  journals,  inches  

Diameter  of  shaft  in  hub  of  revolving  element  , 


Manhattan 


44  inches 
88'  " 
60  " 
75  R .  P.  M. 
150  lbs. 
7,500 
8  inches 
8  " 
18  " 
18  " 
Double  Ported, 
Corliss 

34  inches 
60  " 
37  1-lti  " 


Rapid  Transit 
Subway 


42  inches 
86  " 
60  " 
75  R.  P.  M. 
175  lbs. 
7,500 
10  inches 
10  " 
20  " 
18  " 

Single  Ported, 
Corliss 
Poppet  type 
34  inches 
60  " 

37  1-16  inches 


The  guarantees  under  which  the  main  engines  are  being 
furnished  and  which  will  govern  their  acceptance  by  the  pur- 
chaser are  in  substance  as  follows : 

First — The  engine  will  be  capable  of  operating  continuously 
when  indicating  11,000  hp  without  producing  abnormal  wear, 
jar,  noise  or  other  objectionable  results. 

Second — It  will  be  suitably  proportioned  to  withstand  in  a 
serviceable  manner  all  sudden  fluctuations  of  load  as  are 
usual  and  incidental  to  the  generation  of  electrical  energy  for 
railway  purposes. 

Third — It  will  be  capable  of  operating  with  an  atmos- 
pheric exhaust  producing  2  lbs.  back  pressure  at  the  low-pres- 
sure cylinders,  and  when  so  operating  the  engines  will  fulfil  all 
the  operating  requirements,  except  as  to  economy  and  capacity. 

Fourth — It  will  be  proportioned  so  that  when  occasion  shall 
require  it,  it  can  be  operated  with  a  steam  pressure  at  the  throt- 
tles of  200  lbs.  above  atmospheric  pressure,  and  when  so 
operating  the  engine  will  fulfil  all  the  guaranteed  operating 
requirements. 

Fifth — The  engine  will  operate  successfully  with  a  steam 
pressure  at  the  throttle  of  175  lbs.  above  atmosphere,  should 
the  temperature  of  the  steam  be  maintained  at  the  throttle  at 
from  450  to  500  degs.  F.,  in  lieu  of  its  normal  temperature  at 


saturation,  and  should  the  engine  be  so  operated,  then  no  undue 
strains,  wear  or  excessive  use  of  oil  will  be  occasioned  thereby. 

Sixth — The  engine  will  not  require  more  than  I2}4  lbs. 
of  dry  steam  per  indicated  horse-power  per  hour  when  indi- 
cating 7500  hp  at  75  revolutions  per  minute,  with  a  vacuum  of 
26  ins.  at  the  low-pressure  cylinders,  with  a  steam  pressure  at 
the  throttle  of  175  lbs.  and  with  saturated  steam  at  the  normal 
temperature  due  to  its  pressure.  The  guarantee  includes  all 
of  the  steam  used  by  the  engine,  and  by  the  jackets  or  re- 
heater. 

The  new  features  contained  within  the  engine  construction 
are  principally :  First,  the  novel  construction  of  the  high-pres- 
sure cylinders,  by  which  only  a  small  strain  is  transmitted 
through  the  valve  chamber  between  the  cylinder  and  the  slide 
surface  casting.  This  is  accomplished  by  employing  heavy 
bolts  which  clamp  the  shell  of  the  cylinder  casting  to  the  slide 
surface  casting,  said  bolts  being  carried  past  and  outside  the 
valve  chamber.  Second,  the  use  of  poppet  valves,  which  are 
operated  in  a  very  simple  manner  from  the  wrist  plate  on  the 
side  of  the  cylinder,  the  connections  from  the  valves  to  the 


VIEW  BENEATH  FLOOR,  SHOWING  LOWER  PORTION  OF  CIR- 
CULATING PUMPS,  AND  ALSO  A  BOILER— FEED  PUMP  IN 
FOREGROUND 


wrist  plate  and  the  connections  from  the  wrist  plate  to  the 
eccentric  being  similar  to  the  parts  usually  employed  for  the 
operation  of  Corliss  valves. 

Unlike  the  Manhattan  engines,  the  main  steam  pipes  are 
carried  to  the  high-pressure  cylinders  under  the  floor  and  not 
above  it.  Another  modification  consists  in  the  use  of  the  ad- 
justable strap  for  the  crank-pin  boxes  instead  of  the  marine 
style  of  construction  at  the  crank-pin  end  of  the  connecting  rod. 

The  weight  of  the  revolving  field  is  about  335,000  lbs.,  which 
gives  a  fly-wheel  effect  of  about  350,000  lbs.  at  a  radius  of  gyra- 
tion of  11  ft.,  and  with  this  fly-wheel  inertia  the  engine  is  de- 
signed so  that  any  point  on  the  revolving  element  shall  not,  in 
operation,  lag  behind  or  forge  ahead  of  the  position  that  it 
would  have  if  the  speed  were  absolutely  uniform,  by  an  amount 
greater  than  one-eighth  of  a  natural  degree. 

TURBO-GENERATORS 

Arrangements  have  been  made  for  the  erection  of  four 
Westinghouse-Parsons  turbo-generators,  although  only  three 


(  )CTOBER  8,  1904.] 

have  been  ordered.  They  are  of  the  multiple-expan- 
sion parallel-flow  type,  consisting  of  two  turbines  ar- 
ranged in  tandem-compound.  When  operating  at  full 
load,  each  of  the  two  turbines,  comprising  one  unit,  will 
develop  approximately  equal  power  in  each  for  direct  connec- 
tion to  an  alternator  giving  7200  alternations  per  minutes  at 
11,000  volts  and  at  a  speed  of  1200  revolutions  per  minute. 
Each  unit  will  have  a  normal  output  of  1700  ehp,  with  a  steam 
pressure  of  175  lbs.  at  the  throttle  and  a  vacuum  in  the  exhaust 
pipe  of  27  ins.  measured  by  a  mercury  column  and  referred  to 
a  barometric  pressure  of  30  ins.  The  turbine  is  guaranteed  to 
operate  satisfactorily  with  steam  superheated  to  450  degs.  F. 
The  economy  guaranteed  under  the  foregoing  conditions  as  to 
initial  and  terminal  pressure  and  speed,  but  with  saturated 
steam,  is  as  follows:  Full  load  of  1250  kw — 15.7  lbs.  of  steam 
per  electrical  horse-power-hour.  Three-quarters  load,  937^ 
kw — 16.6  lbs.  per  electrical  horse-power-hour.  One-half  load, 
625  kw — 18.3  lbs.  One-quarter  load,  312^  kw — 23.2  lbs.  When 
operating  under  the  conditions  of  speed  and  steam  pressure 
mentioned,  but  with  pressure  in  the  exhaust  pipe  of  27  ins. 
vacuum  by  mercury  column  (referred  to  30  ins.  barometer), 
with  steam  at  the  throttle  superheated  75  degs.  F.  above  the 
temperature  of  saturated  steam  at  that  pressure,  the  guaran- 
teed steam  consumption  is  as  follows:  Full  load,  1250  kw — 
13.8  lbs.  per  electrical  horse-power-hour.  Three-quarter  load, 
937^  kw — 14.6  lbs.  One-half  load,  625  kw — 16.2  lbs.  One- 
quarter  load,  312^  kw — 20  g  ibs. 

EXCITER  ENGINES 

The  two  exciter  engines  are  each  direct  connected  to  a  250- 
kw  direct-current  Westinghouse  generator.  Each  engine  is  a 
vertical  quarter-crank  compound  engine  with  a  17-in.  high- 
pressure  cylinder  and  a  27-in.  low-pressure  cylinder  with  a 
common  24-in.  stroke.  The  engines  will  be  non-condensing, 
for  the  reason  that  extreme  reliability  is  desired  at  the  expense 
of  some  economy.  They  will  operate  at  best  efficiency  when 
indicating  400  hp  at  a  speed  of  150  revolutions  per  minute  with 
a  steam  pressure  of  175  lbs.  at  the  throttle.  Each  engine  will 
have  a  maximum  capacity  of  600  ihp. 

CONDENSING  EQUIPMENT 

In  selecting  condensing  apparatus  for  a  power  house  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  one  in  question,  a  most  careful  consideration 
of  the  design  and  efficiency  seemed  warranted.  It  was  appre- 
ciated that  the  value  of  the  vacuum  to  the  engines  is  equal  to 
at  least  one-third  of  their  total  power,  and  it  is  evident  that 
the  condensers  and  their  appurtenances  should  be  economical 
as  well  as  reliable  from  an  operative  point  of  view. 

Each  engine  unit  is  supplied  with  its  own  condenser  equip- 
ment, consisting  of  two  Alberger  barometric  condensing  cham- 
bers, each  of  which  is  attached  as  closely  as  possible  to  its  re- 
spective low-pressure  cylinder.  For  every  engine  also  is  pro- 
vided an  Alberger  vertical  Corliss  circulating  pump  along  with 
a  vacuum  pump,  and  for  the  sake  of  flexibility  the  pumps  are 
cross-connected  with  those  of  other  engines  and  can  be  used 
interchangeablv.  The  equipment  will  be  seen  from  the  follow- 
ing description  to  combine  many  features  that  have  proved  by 
long  experience  to  be  of  great  value  to  a  power  house  of  this 
kind. 

The  barometric  condenser  is  characterized  by  a  condensing 
chamber  having  a  tail  pipe  that  contains  a  barometric  column 
of  water,  the  function  of  the  column  being  to  allow  the  water 
which  has  produced  condensation  in  the  condenser  to  flow  by 
gravity  into  the  hot  well  against  the  pressure  of  the  atmos- 
phere without  allowing  air  to  enter.  The  condensing  water 
passes  an  opening  at  the  upper  right  hand  side  and,  passing 


617 

downward,  is  finally  divided  by  the  spray  cone  and  brought 
into  intimate  contact  with  the  exhaust  steam  to  be  condensed, 
which  latter  enters  the  condensing  chamber  at  the  opposite 
side  and  fills  the  entire  interior. 

The  circulation  pumps  are  vertical,  cross-compound,  Corliss 
pumping  engines  with  outside  packed  plungers.  Their  founda- 
tions are  upon  the  basement  floor  level,  and  the  steam  cylinders 
extend  above  the  engine  room  floor,  so  that  the  starting  valves 
and  control  of  speed  is  therefore  entirely  under  the  supervision 
of  the  enginer.  Each  pump  has  a  normal  capacity  of  10,000,000 
gallons  of  water  per  day,  so  that  the  total  pumping  capacity 
of  all  the  pumps  in  the  station  is  120,000,000  gallons  per  day. 
While  the  head  against  which  these  pumps  will  be  required  to 
work,  when  assisted  by  the  vacuum  in  the  condenser,  is  much 
less  than  the  total  lift  from  low  tide  water  to  the  entrance  into 
the  condensing  chambers,  still  they  are  so  designed  as  to  be 
ready  to  deliver  the  full  quantity  to  the  full  height,  if  for  any 


THE  OIL-FILTERING  TANKS  OF  THE  AUTOMATIC  LUBRICATING 
OIL-HANDLING    SYSTEM,    FROM    WHICH    THE  FILTERED 
OIL  IS  DELIVERED  TO  THE  ELEVATED  STORAGE  TANKS 


reason  the  assistance  of  the  vacuum  should  be  lost  or  not  avail- 
able at  times  of  starting  up. 

The  high-pressure  steam  cylinder  is  10  ins.  in  diameter  and 
the  low-pressure  is  20  ins.  The  two  double-acting  water 
plungers  are  each  20  ins.  in  diameter,  and  the  stroke  is  30  ins. 
for  all.  The  water  ends  are  composition  fitted  for  salt  water, 
and  have  valve  decks  and  plungers  entirely  of  that  material. 

The  dry  vacuum  pumps  are  of  the  vertical  form,  and  each  is 
located  alongside  of  the  corresponding  circulating  pump.  The 
steam  cylinders  also  project  above  the  engine  room  floor.  The 
vacuum  cylinder  is  located  immediately  below  the  steam  cylin- 
der and  has  a  valve  that  is  mechanically  operated  by  an  eccen- 
tric on  the  shaft.  These  pumps  are  of  the  close-clearance  type 
and,  while  controlled  by  a  Corliss  governor,  can  lie  changed  in 
speed  while  running,  to  any  determined  rate. 

The  three  turbines  which  will  be  used  for  lighting  equip- 
ment of  the  subway  will  each  exhaust  into  an  Alberger  counter- 
current  surface  condenser.  The  characteristic  feature  of  these 
condensers  is  that  the  exhaust  steam  enters  the  shell  at  the 
bottom,  while  the  circulating  water  enters  at  the  top,  the  water 
passing  through  the  upper  nest  of  the  tubes,  then  through  the 
lower  ones.  In  this  way  the  water  of  condensation  is  brought 
into  contact  with  the  incoming  exhaust  steam  before  leaving 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


street  railway  journal. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


the  condenser,  and  is  heated  np  to  practically  the  temperature 
of  the  steam,  thus  rendering  primary  heaters  superfluous.  The 
air  remaining  after  condensation  of  the  steam  passes  upward 
and  is  cooled  by  the  upper  tubes  before  passing  to  the  vacuum 
pump.  The  water  of  condensation  is  removed  by  a  simple 
duplex  pump  which  runs  according  to  the  amount  of  water 
formed,  and  discharges  directly  to  the  feed  tanks.  As  the  high- 
est possible  degree  of  vacuum  is  of  great  importance  to  the 
economy  of  the  turbines,  a  dry  vacuum  pump  with  compounded 
vacuum  cylinders  is  used.  These  cylinders  are  driven  by  a 
Corliss  engine  and  placed  in  a  horizontal  position  upon  a  sub- 
stantial bed  plate.    They  are  of  a  capacity  to  produce  29  ins. 


THE  MACHINE  SHOP,  SHOWING  EQUIPMENT  OF  MACHINE 
MAKING  REPAIRS  TO  MACHINERY 

of  vacuum  when  load  and  temperatures  of  cooling  water  allow 
it,  and  under  contract  requirement  are  to  maintain  28  ins. 
EXHAUST  PIPING 

From  each  atmospheric  exhaust  valve,  which  is  direct  con- 
nected to  the  condensing  chamber  at  each  low-pressure  cylin- 
der, is  run  downward  a  30-in.  riveted-steel  exhaust  pipe.  At  a 
point  just  under  the  engine  room  floor  the  exhaust  pipe  is  car- 
ried horizontally  around  the  engine  foundations,  the  two  from 
each  pair  of  engines  uniting  in  a  40-in.  riser  to  the  roof.  This 
riser  is  between  the  pair  of  engines  and  back  of  the  high-pres- 
sure cylinder,  thus  passing  through  the  so-called  pipe  area, 
where  it  also  receives  exhaust  steam  from  the  pump  auxil- 
iaries. At  the  roof  the  40-in.  riser  is  run  into  a  48-in.  stand- 
pipe,  which  is  capped  with  an  exhaust  head,  with  the  top  35  ft. 
above  the  roof. 

All  the  exhaust  piping  30  ins.  in  diameter  and  over  is  longi- 
tudinally riveted  steel,  with  cast-iron  flanges  riveted  on  to  it. 
Expansion  joints  are  provided  where  necessary  to  relieve  the 
piping  from  the  strains  due  to  expansion  and  contraction,  and 
where  the  joints  are  located  near  the  engine  and  generator 
they  are  of  the  corrugated  copper  Wainwright  pattern.  The 


expansion  joints  in  the  40-in.  risers  above  the  pipe  area  are 
ordinarily  packed  slip  joints. 

The  exhaust  piping  from  the  auxiliaries  is  carried  directly  up 
into  the  pipe  area,  where  it  is  connected  with  a  feed-water 
beater,  with  connections  for  by-passing  the  latter.  Beyond  the 
heater  it  joins  the  40-in.  riser  to  the  roof.  The  feed-water 
heaters  are  three-pass  vertical,  water-tube  heaters,  designed  for 
a  working  water  pressure  of  225  lbs.  per  square  inch,  and  are 
made  by  the  Wheeler  Condenser  &  Engineering  Company. 
OIL  SYSTEM 

For  the  lubrication  of  the  engines  an  extensive  oil-dis- 
tributing and  filtering  system  is  provided.  Filtered  oil  will  be 
supplied  under  pressure  from  elevated  storage 
tanks,  with  a  piping  system  leading  by 
branches  to  all  the  various  journals.  The 
piping  to  the  engines  is  constructed  on  a  du- 
plicate, or  crib,  system,  by  which  the  supply 
of  oil  cannot  be  interrupted  by  a  break  in  any 
one  pipe.  The  oil  on  leaving  the  engines  is 
conducted  to  the  filtering  tanks,  and  a  pump- 
ing equipment  then  redelivers  the  oil  to  the 
elevated  storage  tanks. 

All  piping  carrying  filtered  oil  is  of  brass, 
and  fittings  are  inserted  at  proper  pipes  to 
facilitate  cleaning.  The  immediate  installa- 
tion includes  two  oil  filtering  tanks  at  the 
easterly  end  of  the  power  house,  but  the  com- 
pleted plant  contemplates  the  addition  of  two 
extra  filtering  tanks  at  the  westerly  end  of 
the  structure.  Each  filtering  tank  is  24  ft. 
long,  8  ft.  wide  and  5  ft.  high.  The  oil  first 
passes  through  a  system  of  six-bag  trays,  ar- 
ranged in  multiple,  each  tray  having  sixty 
filtering  bags  placed  on  cartridges,  making 
360  cartridges  in  all.  The  oil  then  passes  to 
an  end  compartment  and  finally  through  five 
separating  compartments,  in  which  the  oil  is 
heated  or  cooled  by  steam  or  water  coils. 
CRANES  AND  SHOP  EQUIPMENT 
The  power  house  is  provided  with  the  fol- 
lowing traveling  cranes :  For  the  operating 
room — one  60-ton  electric  traveling  crane 
and  one  30-ton  electric  traveling  crane.  For  the  area 
over  the  oil  switches — one  10-ton  hand-operated  crane.  For 
the  center  aisle  of  the  boiler  room — one  10-ton  hand-operated 
crane.  The  electric  cranes  have  been  supplied  by  the  Shaw 
Electric  Crane  Company,  and  the  hand-operated  cranes  by  the 
Cleveland  Crane  &  Car  Company.  The  span  of  both  of  the 
electric  cranes  is  74  ft.  4  ins.,  and  both  cranes  operate  over  the 
entire  length  of  the  structure.  The  60-ton  crane  has  two  trol- 
leys, each  with  a  lifting  capacity,  for  regular  load,  of  50  tons. 
Each  trolley  is  also  provided  with  an  auxiliary  hoist  of  10  tons 
capacity.  The  30-ton  crane  is  provided  with  one  trolley,  having 
a  lifting  capacity,  for  regular  load,  of  25  tons,  together  with 
auxiliary  hoist  of  5  tons. 

The  power  house  is  provided  with  an  extensive  tool  equip- 
ment for  a  repair  and  machine  shop,  which  is  located  on  the 
main  gallery  at  the  northerly  side  of  the  operating  room.  The 
equipment  includes  the  following  machine  tools:  One  30-in. 
planer,  one  20-in.  shaper,  one  two-spindle  sensitive  drill,  one 
iy2-'m.  bolt  cutter,  one  26-in.  drill  press,  one  Universal  milling 
machine,  three  engine  lathes,  16-in.,  20-in.  and  32-in.,  one  60- 
m.  radial  drill,  and  one  61-in.  vertical  boring  mill. 


TOOLS  FOR 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


619 


THE 


ELECTRIC  GENERATING  EQUIPMENT   AND  POWER 
DISTRIBUTION  SYSTEM  OF  THE  NEW  YORK 
RAPID  TRANSIT  SUBWAY 


BY  L.  B.  STILLWELL 


THE  system  of  electrical  supply 
chosen  for  the  Rapid  Transit 
subway  comprises  alternating- 
current  generation  and  distribu- 
tion and  direct-current  opera- 
tion of  motor  cars.  Four  years 
ago,  when  the  engineering  plans 
were  under  consideration,  the 
single-phase  alternating-current 
railway  motor  was  not  even  in 
an  embryonic  state,  and  not- 
withstanding the  marked  prog- 
ress recently  made  in  its  devel- 
opment, it  can  scarcely  yet  lie  considered  to  have  reached  a 
stage  that  would  warrant  any  modifications  in  the  plans 
adopted,  even  were  such  modifications  easily  possible  at  the 
present  time.  The  comparatively  limited  headroom  available 
in  the  subway  prohibited  the  use  of  an  overhead  system  of  con- 
ductors, and  this  limitation,  in  conjunction  with  the  obvious 
desirability  of  providing  a  system  permitting  interchangeable 
operation  with  the  lines  of  the  Manhattan  Railway  system, 
practically  excluded  tri-phase  traction  systems  and  led  directly 
to  the  adoption  of  the  third-rail  direct-current  system. 

It  being  considered  impracticable  to  predict  with  entire  cer- 
tainty the  ultimate  traffic  conditions  to  be  met,  the  generator 
plant  has  been  designed  to  take  care  of  all  probable  traffic  de- 
mands expected  to  arise  within  a  year  or  two  of  the  beginning 
of  operation  of  the  system,  while  the  plans  permit  convenient 
and  symmetrical  increase  to  meet  the  requirements  of  addi- 
tional demand  which  may  develop.  Express  trains  in  rush 
hours  will  comprise  five  motor  cars  and  three  trail  cars;  the 
first,  third,  fifth,  sixth  and  eighth  will  be  motor  cars.  An 
eight-car  multiple-unit  train  can  be  reduced  therefore  to  a  six- 
car  train  by  uncoupling  three  cars  from  the  rear  end,  or  to  a 
three-car  train  by  uncoupling  five  cars  from  either  end.  In 
each  case  a  motor  car  will  remain  at  the  head  and  at  the  end 
of  the  reduced  train.  The  normal  local  train  will  consist  of 
five  cars,  the  first,  third  and  fifth  cars  being  motor  cars.  The 
weight  of  each  motor  car  with  maximum  live  load  is  88,000 
lbs.  and  the  weight  of  each  trail  car  66,000  lbs. 

The  plans  adopted  provide  electric  ecpiipment  at  the  out- 
start  capable  of  an  acceleration  with  maximum  load  at  a  rate 
of  1.25  miles  per  hour  per  second  and  of  operating  express 
trains  at  an  average  speed  approximating  25  miles  per  hour, 
while  the  control  svstem  and  motor  units  have  been  so  chosen 
that  higher  speeds  up  to  a  limit  of  about  30  miles  per  hour  can 
be  attained  by  increasing  the  number  of  motor  cars,  providing 
experience  in  operation  demonstrates  that  such  higher  speeds 
can  be  obtained  with  safety. 

The  speed  of  local  trains  between  City  Hall  and  Ninety- 
Sixth  Street  will  average  about  15  miles  an  hour,  while  north  of 
City  Hall,  on  both  the  west  side  and  east  side  branches,  their 
speed  will  average  about  18  miles  an  hour,  owing  to  the  greater 
average  distance  between  local  stations. 

As  a  result  of  careful  consideration  of  various  plans,  the 
company's  engineers  recommended  that  all  the  power  required 
for  the  operation  of  the  system  be  generated  in  a  single  power 
house  in  the  form  of  three-phase  alternating  current  at  11,000 


volts,  this  current  to  be  generated  at  a  frequency  of  25  cycles 
per  second,  and  to  be  delivered  through  three-conductor  cables 
to  transformers  and  converters  in  sub-stations  suitably  located 
with  reference  to  the  track  system,  the  current  there  to  be 
transformed  and  converted  to  direct  current  for  delivery  to  the 
third-rail  conductor  at  a  potential  of  625  volts. 

Calculations  based  upon  contemplated  schedules  require  for 
traction  purposes  and  for  heating  and  lighting  cars  a  maxi- 
mum delivery  of  about  45,000  kw  at  the  third  rail.  Allowing 
for  losses  in  the  distributing  cables,  in  transformers  and  con- 
verters, this  implies  a  total  generating  capacity  of  approxi- 
mately 50,000  kw,  and  having  in  view  the  possibility  of  future 
extensions  of  the  system  it  was  decided  to  design  and  construct 
the  power  house  building  for  the  ultimate  reception  of  eleven 
5000-kw  units  for  traction  current  in  addition  to  the  lighting 
sets.    Each  5000-kw  unit  is  capable  of  delivering  during  rush 


ONE  OF  THE  5000-KW  MAIN  ALTERNATORS  IN  THE  POWER 
PLANT 

hours  an  output  of  7500  kw,  or  approximately  10,000  ehp,  and, 
setting  aside  one  unit  as  a  reserve,  the  contemplated  ultimate 
maximum  output  of  the  power  plant  therefore  is  75,000  kw,  or 
approximately  100, coo  ehp. 

The  power  house  is  fully  described  in  another  article  in  this 
issue,  but  it  is  not  inappropriate  to  refer  briefly  in  this  place 
to  certain  considerations  governing  the  selection  of  the  gen- 
erating unit,  and  the  use  of  engines  rather  than  steam  tur- 
bines. 

The  5000-kw  generating  unit  was  chosen  because  it  is  prac- 
tically as  large  a  unit  of  the  direct-connected  type  as  can  be 
constructed  by  the  engine  builders  unless  more  than  two  hear- 
ings he  used — an  alternative  deemed  inadvisable  by  the  engi- 
neers of  the  company.  The  adoption  of  a  smaller  unit  would 
be  less  economical  of  floor  space  and  would  tend  to  produce 
extreme  complication  in  so  hn;e  an  installation  and,  in  view 
of  the  rapid  changes  in  load,  which  in  urban  railway  service  ol 
this  character  occur  in  the  morning  and  again  late  in  the  after- 


620 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


noon,  would  be  extremely  difficult  to  operate.  The  experience 
of  the  Manhattan  plant  has  shown,  as  was  anticipated  in  the 
installation  of  less  output  than  this,  the  alternators  must  be 
put  in  service  at  intervals  of  twenty  minutes  to  meet  the  load 
upon  the  station  while  it  is  rising  to  the  maximum  attained  dur- 
ing rush  hours. 

After  careful  consideration  of  the  possible  use  of  steam 
turbines  as  prime  movers  to  drive  the  alternators,  the  com- 
pany's engineers  decided  in  favor  of  reciprocating  engines. 
This  decision  was  made  three  years  ago  and,  while  the  steam 
turbine  since  that  time  has  made  material  progress,  those  re- 


struction  results  in  narrowing  the  engine  and  reducing  the  en- 
gine shafts  between  bearings. 

Construction  of  the  revolving  parts  of  the  alternators  is  such 
as  to  secure  very  great  strength  and  consequent  ability  to  re- 
sist the  tendency  to  burst  and  fly  apart  in  case  of  temporary 
abnormal  speed  through  accident  of  any  kind.  The  hub  of  the 
revolving  field  is  of  cast  steel,  and  the  rim  is  carried,  not  by  the 
usual  spokes,  but  by  two  wedges  of  rolled  steel.  The  con- 
struction of  the  revolving  field  is  illustrated  in  the  cuts  on  this 
and  the  opposite  page.  The  angular  velocity  of  the  revolving 
field  is  remarkably  uniform.    This  result  is  due  primarily  to 


SIDE  AND  END  ELEVATIONS  OF  THE  5000- KW  ALTERNATOR  AT    THE  POWER  PLANT 


sponsible  for  the  decision  are  confirmed  in  their  opinion  that 
it  was  wise. 

THE  ALTERNATORS 
The  alternators  closely  resemble  those  installed  by  the  Man- 
hattan Railway  Company  (now  the  Manhattan  division  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company)  in  its  plant  on  the  East 
River,  between  Seventy-Fourth  and  Seventy-Fifth  Streets. 
They  differ,  however,  in  having  the  stationary  armature  di- 
vided into  seven  castings  instead  of  six,  and  in  respect  to  details 
of  the  armature  winding.  They  are  three-phase  machines, 
delivering  25-cycle  alternating  current  at  an  effective  poten- 
tial of  11,0000  volts.  They  are  42  ft.  in  height,  the  diameter  of 
the  revolving  part  is  32  ft.,  its  weight  332,000  lbs.,  and  the 
aggregate  weight  of  the  machine  889,000  lbs.  The  design  of 
the  engine-dynamo  unit  eliminates  the  auxiliary  fly-wheel  gen- 
erally used  in  the  construction  of  large  direct-connected  units 
prior  to  the  erection  of  the  Manhattan  plant,  the  weight  and 
dimensions  of  the  revolving  alternator  field  being  such  with 
reference  to  the  turning  moment  of  the  engine  as  to  secure 
close  uniformity  of  rotation,  while  at  the  same  time  this  con- 


the  fact  that  the  turning  moment  of  the  four-cylinder  engine  is 
far  more  uniform  than  is  the  case,  for  example,  with  an  ordi- 
nary two-cylinder  engine.  The  large  fly-wheel  capacity  of  the 
rotating  element  of  the  machine  also  contributes  materially  to 
secure  uniformity  of  rotation. 

The  alternators  have  forty  field  poles  and  operate  at  75 
r.  p.  m.  The  field  magnets  constitute  the  periphery  of  the 
revolving  field,  the  poles  and  rim  of  the  field  being  built  up  by 
steel  plates  which  are  dovetailed  to  the  driving  spider.  The 
heavy  steel  end  plates  are  bolted  together,  the  laminations 
breaking  joints  in  the  middle  of  the  pole.  The  field  coils  are 
secured  by  copper  wedges,  which  are  subjected  to  shearing 
strains  only.  In  the  body  of  the  poles,  at  intervals  of  ap- 
proximately 3  ins.,  ventilating  spaces  are  provided,  these  spaces 
registering  with  corresponding  air  ducts  in  the  external  arma- 
ture. The  field  winding  consists  of  copper  strap  on  edge,  one 
layer  deep,  with  fibrous  material  cemented  in  place  between 
turns,  the  edges  of  the  strap  being  exposed. 

The  armature  is  stationary  and  exterior  to  the  field.  Tt 
consists  of  a  laminated  ring  with  slots  on  its  inner  surface  and 


f 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


621 


supported  by  a  massive  external  cast-iron  frame.  The  arma- 
ture, as  has  been  noted,  comprises  seven  segments,  the  topmost 
segment  being  in  the  form  of  a  small  keystone.  This  may  be 
removed  readily,  affording  access  to  any  field  coil,  which  in  this 
ivay  may  be  easily  removed  and  replaced.  The  armature 
winding  consists  of  U-shaped  copper  bars  in  partially  closed 
slots.  There  are  four  bars  per  slot  and  three  slots  per  phase 
per  pole.  The  bars  in  any  slot  may  be  removed  from  the 
armature  without  removing  the  frame.  The  alternators,  of 
course,  are  separately  excited,  the  potential  of  the  exciting  cur- 
rent used  being  250  volts. 

As  regards  regulation,  the  manufacturer's  guarantee  is  that 
at  100  per  cent  power  factor  if  full  rated  load  be  thrown  off 
the  electromotive  force  will  rise  6  per  cent  with  constant  speed 

KEY 

A  > 

«    Laminated  field  magnets 
Cast  iron  ri  ug 
Rolled  steel  web 
Laminated  armature  cure 
Cast  iron  armature  frame 
Steel  hub 


excite  the  alternators.  The  five  direct-current  dynamos  are 
connected  to  the  organization  of  switching  apparatus  in  such 
a  way  that  each  unit  may  be  connected  at  will  either  to  the  ex- 
citing circuits  or  to  the  circuits  through  which  auxiliary  mo- 
tors are  supplied. 

SWITCHING  APPARATUS 
Where  the  power  to  be  controlled  is  so  great,  the  potential 
so  high,  and  the  speed  requirements  in  respect  to  synchronous 
operation  so  exacting,  it  is  obvious  that  the  perfection  of  con- 
trol attained  in  some  of  our  modern  plants  is  not  their  least 
characteristic.  The  switch  used  for  the  11,000-volt  circuits  is 
so  constructed  that  the  circuits  are  made  and  broken  under 
oil,  the  switch  being  electrically  operated.  Two  complete  and 
independent  sets  of  bus  bars  are  used,  and  the  connections  are 


Suction  IS.  IS. 


SIDE  ELEVATION  AND  CROSS  SECTION  OF  THE  REVOLVING  FIELD  OF  THE  MAIN  ALTERNATOR 


and  constant  excitation.  The  guarantee  as  to  efficiency  is  as 
follows :  On  non-inductive  load,  the  alternators  will  have  an 
efficiency  of  not  less  than  90.5  per  cent  at  one-quarter  load; 
94.75  per  cent  at  one-half  load ;  96.25  per  cent  at  three-quarters 
load ;  97  per  cent  at  full  load,  and  97.25  per  cent  at  one  and 
one-quarter  load.  These  figures  refer,  of  course,  to  electrical 
efficiency,  and  do  not  include  windage  and  bearing  friction. 
The  machines  arc  designed  to  operate  under  their  rated  full 
load  with  rise  of  temperature  not  exceeding  35  degs.  C.  after 
twenty-four  hours. 

EXCITERS 

To  supply  exciting  current  for  the  fields  of  the  alternators 
and  to  operate  motors  driving  auxiliary  apparatus,  five  250-kw 
direct-current  dynamos  are  provided.  These  deliver  their  cur- 
rent at  a  potential  of  250  volts.  Two  of  them  are  driven  by 
400-hp  engines  of  the  marine  type,  to  which  they  arc  direct- 
connected,  while  the  remaining  three  units  arc  direct-con- 
nected to  365-hp  three-phase  induction  motors  operating  at  400 
volts.  A  storage  battery  capable  of  furnishing  3000  amps,  for 
one  hour  is  used  in  co-operation  with  the  dynamos  provided  to 


such  that  each  alternator  and  each  feeder  may  be  connected  to 
either  of  these  sets  of  bus  bars  at  the  will  of  the  operator. 
From  alternators  to  bus  bars  the  current  passes,  first,  through 
the  alternator  switch,  and  then  alternatively  through  one  or 
the  other  of  two  selector  switches  which  are  connected,  re- 
spectively, to  the  two  sets  of  bus  bars. 

Provision  is  made  for  an  ultimate  total  of  twelve  sub-sta- 
tions, to  each  of  which  as  many  as  eight  feeders  may  be  in- 
stalled if  the  development  of  the  company's  business  should 
require  that  number.  But  eight  sub-stations  are  required  at 
present,  and  to  some  of  these  not  more  than  three  feeders  each 
are  necessary.  The  aggregate  number  of  feeders  installed  for 
the  initial  operation  of  the  subway  system  is  thirty-four. 

Each  feeder  circuit  is  provided  with  a  type  H  oil  switch  ar- 
ranged to  be  opened  and  closed  at  will  by  the  operator,  and 
also  to  open  automatically  in  the  case  of  abnormal  flow  of 
current  through  the  feeder.  The  feeders  are  arranged  in 
groups,  each  group  being  supplied  from  a  set  of  auxiliary  bus 
bars,  which  in  turn  receives  its  supply  from  one  or  the  other 
of  the  two  sets  of  main  bus  barS;  means  for  selection  being 


622 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15 


Cables  to  Substations 


Alternator 


GENERAL  DIAGRAM  OF  11,000-VOLT  CIRCUITS  IN  MAIN  POWER  STATION 


provided  as  in  the  case  of  the  alternator  circuits  by  a  pair  of 
selector  switches,  in  this  case  designated  as  group  switches. 
The  diagram  above  illustrates  the  essential  features  of  the 
organization  and  connections  of  the  11,000-volt  circuits  in  the 
power  house. 

Any  and  every  switch  can  he  opened  or  closed  at  will  by  the 
operator  standing  at  the  control  board  described.  The  alter- 
nator switches  are  provided  also  with  automatic  overload  and 
reversed  current  relays,  and  the  feeder  switches,  as  above  men- 
tioned, are  provided  with  automatic  overload  relays.  These 
overload  relays  have  a  time  attachment  which  can  be  set  to 
open  the  switch  at  the  expiration  of  a  predetermined  time 
ranging  from  .3  of  a  second  to  5  seconds. 

The  type  H-oil  switch  is  operated  by  an  electric  motor 


through  the  intervention  of  a  mechanism  comprising  powerful 
springs  which  open  and  close  the  switch  with  great  speed. 
This  switch  when  opened  introduces  in  each  of  the  three  sides 
of  the  circuit  two  breaks  which  are  in  series  with  each  other. 
Each  side  of  the  circuit  is  separated  from  the  others  by  its 
location  in  an  enclosed  compartment,  the  walls  of  which  are 
brick  and  soapstone.  The  general  construction  of  the  switch 
is  illustrated  on  the  opposite  page. 

Like  all  current-carrying  parts  of  the  switches,  the  bus  bars 
are  enclosed  in  separate  compartments.  These  are  constructed 
of  brick,  small  doors  for  inspection  ami  maintenance  being 
provided  opposite  all  points  where  the  bus  bars  are  supported 
upon  insulators.  The  upper  view  on  page  624  represents  a 
part  of  tlie  litis  bar  and  switch  compartments. 


I 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


62^ 


—     Tie  Line  Panel 


0°|<£d 

ooLto 


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13  -  Alleriiulor  I'anel-. 


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Engiue  GoVu'r 
Conlroll. 
\  S)  n.lteceptacles 


Alternator  I 
Switches  1 

Exciter  Trip 
Switches 

U'ield 
Rheostats 
Engineer's  \ 


Selector 
Switches 


O-O; 


585 


Oo 


^5 


1  -  Aiix.  Panel  — :x— 1  •  Group  Panel- 


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All  x. -[Switches 

Oo 

Oo 

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1*2  -  Feeder  Panels 


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Group  Snitches  Feed 


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Feeder* 
Sm  itches 


DIAGRAM  OF  THE  MAIN  CONTROLLING  BOARD  IN  POWER  STATION 


Ooo&T) 


Oo  o  Or 


Oo  o&O 


Feeder  S«  itches 


1  -  Group  Panel 


O  o^G$)|H 
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jo 

lOolfom 


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Group  Switches 


The  oil  switches  and  group  bus  bars  are  located  upon  the 
main  floor  and  extend  along  the  Fifty-Ninth  Street  wall  of  the 
engine  room,  a  distance  of  about  600  ft.  The  main  bus  bars 
are  arranged  in  two  lines  of  brick  compartments,  which  are 
placed  below  the  engine  room  floor.  These  bus  bars  are  ar- 
ranged vertically  and  are  placed  directly  beneath  the  rows  of 
oil  switches  located  upon  the  main  floor  of  the  power  house. 
Above  these  rows  of  oil  switches  and  the  group  bus  bars,  gal- 
leries are  constructed  which  extend  the  entire  length  of  the 
power  house,  and  upon  the  first  of  these  galleries  at  a  point 
opposite  the  middle  of  the  power  house  are  located  the  control 
board  and  instrument  board,  by  means  of  which  the  operator 
in  charge  regulates  and  directs  the  entire  output  of  the  plant. 


THE  ARRANGEMENT  OF  OIL  SWITCHES  AT  THE  MAI  N 
POWER  STATION 


THE  CONTROL  BOARD 

The  control  board  is  illustrated  on  the  opposite  page. 
Every  alternator  switch,  every  selector  switch,  every  group 
switch,  and  every  feeder  switch  upon  the  main  floor  is  here 
represented  by  a  small  switch.  The  small  switch  is  connected 
into  a  control  circuit  which  receives  its  supply  of  energy  at 
1 10  volts  from  a  small  motor-generator  set  and  storage  bat- 
tery. The  motors  which  actuate  the  large  oil  switches  upon 
the  main  floor  are  driven  by  this  no-volt  control  current,  and 
thus  in  the  hands  of  the  operator  the  control  switches  make  or 
break  the  relatively  feeble  control  currents,  which,  in  turn, 
close  or  open  the  switches  in  the  main  power  circuits.  The 
control  switches  are  systematically  assembled  upon  the  con- 
trol bench  board  in  conjunction  with  dummy  bus  bars  and 
other  apparent  (but  not  real)  metallic  connections,  the  whole 
constituting  at  all  times  a  correct  diagram  of  the  existing  con- 
nections of  the  main  power  circuits.  Every  time  the  operator 
changes  a  connection  by  opening  or  closing  one  of  the  main 
switches,  he  necessarily  changes  his  diagram  so  that  it  repre- 
sents the  new  conditions  established  by  opening  or  closing  the 
main  switch.  In  connection  with  each  control  switch  two 
small  bull's-eye  lamps  are  used,  one  red,  to  indicate  that  the 
corresponding  main  switch  is  closed,  the  other  green,  to  indi- 
cate that  it  is  open.  These  lamps  are  lighted  when  the  moving 
part  of  the  main  switch  reaches  approximately  the  end  of  its 
travel.  If  for  anv  reason,  therefore,  the  movement  of  the  con- 
trol switch  should  fail  to  actuate  the  main  switch,  the  indicator 
lamp  will  not  be  lighted. 

The  control  board  is  divided  into  two  parts — one  for  the 

connections  of  the  alternators  to  the  bus  liars  and  the  other  for 

the  connection  of  feeders  to  bus  bars.    The  illustrations  on 

accompanying  pages  show  in  plain  yiew  the  essential  features 

of  the  control  boards. 

THE  INSTRUMENT  BOARD 

A  front  view  of  the  instrument  board  is  also  shown  on  page 
622.  This  board  contains  all  indicating  instruments  for  alter- 
nators and  feeders.  It  also  carries  standardizing  instruments 
and  a  clock.  Tn  the  illustration  the  alternator  panels  are  shown 
at  the  left  and  the  feeder  panels  at  the  right.  For  the  alternator 
panels,  instruments  of  the  vertical  edgewise  type  are  used. 
Each  vertical  row  comprises  the  measuring  instruments  for  an 
alternator.  Beginning  at  the  top  and  enumerating  them  in 
order  these  instruments  are:  Three  ammeters,  one  for  each 
phase,  a  voltmeter,  an  indicating  wattmeter,  a  power  factor  in 
dicator  and  a  Held  ammeter,    The  round  dial  instrument  shown 


624 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


VIEW  OF  PART  OF  THE  BUS-BAR  COMPARTMENTS,  BELOW    THE  SWITCHBOARD  GALLERY 


at  the  bottom  of  each  row  of  instruments  is  a  three-phase  re- 
cording wattmeter. 

A  panel  located  near  the  center  of  the  board  between  alter- 
nator panels  and  feeder  panels  carries  standard  instruments 
used  for  convenient  calibration  of  the  alternator  and  feeder  in- 
struments. Provision  is  made  on  the  back  of  the  board  for 
convenient  connection  of  the  standard  instruments  in  series 
with  the  instruments  to  be  compared.  The  panel  which  carries 
the  standard  instruments  also  carries  ammeters  used  to  meas- 
ure current  to  the  auxiliary  circuits  in  the  power  house. 

For  the  feeder  board,  instruments  of 
the  round  dial  pattern  are  used,  and  for 
each  feeder  a  single  instrument  is  pro- 
vided, viz.,  an  ammeter.  Each  vertical 
row  comprises  the  ammeters  belonging  to 
the  feeders  which  supply  a  given  sub- 
station, and  from  left  to  right  these  are 
in  order  sub-stations  Nos.  11,  12,  13,  14, 
15,  16,  17  and  18;  blank  spaces  are  left 
for  four  additional  sub-stations.  Each 
horizontal  row  comprises  the  ammeter 
belonging  to  feeders  which  are  supplied 
through  a  given  group  switch. 

This  arrangement  in  vertical  and  hori- 
zontal lines,  indicating  respectively  feed- 
ers to  given  sub-stations  and  feeders 
connected  to  the  several  group  switches, 
is  intended  to  facilitate  the  work  of  the 
operator.  A  glance  down  a  vertical  row 
without  stopping  to  read  the  scales  of  the 
instruments  will  tell  him  whether  the 
feeders  are  dividing  with  approximate 
equality  the  load  to  a  given  sub-station. 
Feeders  to  different  sub-stations  usually 
carrv    different    loads    and,  arenerallv 


speaking,  a  glance  along  a  horizontal  row  will  convey  no  in- 
formation of  especial  importance.  If,  however,  for  any  reason 
the  operator  should  desire  to  know  the  approximate  aggregate 
load  upon  a  group  of  feeders  this  systematic  arrangement  of 
the  instruments  is  of  use. 
CABLES,  DUCTS  AND  CONDUIT  SYSTEM  FOR  DISTRIBUTION 
From  alternators  to  alternator  switches  the  11,000-volt  alter- 
nating currents  are  conveyed  through  single  conductor  cables, 
insulated  by  oil  cambric,  the  thickness  of  the  wall  being  12-32 
of  an  inch.    These  conductors  are  installed  in  vitrified  clay 


>  4ft, 


PHE  TYPE  OF  THREE-CONDUCTOR  NO.  000  CABLE  USED  FOR  THE  11,000-VOLT 
ALTERNATINC-CURRENT  DISTRIBUTION  i 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


625 


r 

c 
c 

c 

c 

: 

1 

1 

==■:  .-  'r, — — — -J 

mm 

?  

s 

DUCT  LINE  ACROSS  FIFTY-EIGHTH  STREET— THIRTY-TWO 
DUCTS 

ducts.  From  dynamo  switches  to  bus  bars  and  from  bus  bars 
to  group  and  feeder  switches,  vulcanized  rubber  insulation 
containing  30  per  cent  pure  Para  rubber  is  employed.  The 
thickness  of  insulating  wall  is  9-32-in.  and  the  conductors  are 
supported  upon  porcelain  insulators. 

From  the  power  house  to  the  subway  at  Fifty-Eighth  Street 
and  Broadway  two  lines  of  conduit,  each  comprising  thirty-two 


CABLE  DUCTS  UNDER  A  PASSENGER  STATION  PLATFORM- 
SIXTY-FOUR  DUCTS 


one  side  of  the  subway,  beneath  the  platform  of  a  passenger 
station.  From  City  Hall  to  Ninety-Sixth  Street  (except 
through  the  Park  Avenue  Tunnel)  sixty-four  ducts  are  pro- 
vided on  each  side  of  the  subway.  North  of  Ninety-Sixth 
Street  sixty-four  ducts  are  provided  for  the  west  side  lines  and 
an  equal  number  for  the  east  side  lines.  Between  passenger 
stations  these  ducts  help  to  form  the  side  walls  of  the  subway, 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  DUCTS  ALONG 

INSIDE  WALL  OF  TUNNEL—  VIEWS  OF  THE  CABLE  MANHOLES  IN  THE  SIDE  WALL  OF  THE  TUNNEL,  SHOWING  ROLLING 
SIXTY-FOUR  DUCTS  SHUTTER  DOORS  FOR  READY  ACCESS 


ducts,  have  been  constructed  by  the  company.  These  conduits 
are  located  on  opposite  sides  of  the  street.  The  arrangement  of 
ducts  is  8  x  4,  as  shown  in  the  section  above. 

The  location  and  arrangement  of  ducts  along  the  line  of  the 
subway  are  also  illustrated  in  the  two  diagrams  herewith,  which 
r,how  respectively  a  section  of  ducts  on  one  side  of  the 
subway,  between  passenger  stations  and  a  section  of  ducts  and 


and  are  arranged  thirty-two  ducts  high  and  two  ducts  wide. 
Beneath  the  platform  of  passenger  stations  the  arrangement  is 
somewhat  varied  because  of  local  obstructions,  such  as  pipes, 
sewers,  etc.,  of  which  it  was  necessary  to  take  account  in  the 
construction  of  the  stations. 

The  necessity  of  passing  the  cables  from  the  32  x  2  arrange- 
ment of  ducts  along  the  ?ide  of  the  tunnel  to  8  x  8  and  16  x  4 


626 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


EXTERIOR  OF  SUB-STATION  NO.  18 

arrangements  of  ducts  beneath  the  passenger  platforms  in- 
volves serious  difficulties  in  the  proper  support  and  protection 
of  cables  in  manholes  at  the  ends  of  the  station  platforms.  In 
order  to  minimize  the  risk  of  interruption  of 
service  due  to  possible  damage  to  a  consider- 
able number  of  cables  in  one  of  these  man- 
holes, resulting  from  short  circuit  in  a  single 
cable,  all  cables  except  at  the  joints  are  cov- 
ered with  two  layers  of  asbestos  aggregating  a 
full  ' -4 - i 1 1 .  in  thickness.  This  asbestos  is  spe- 
cially prepared  and  is  applied  by  wrapping  the 
cable  with  two  strips  each  3  ins.  in  width,  the 
outer  strip  covering  the  line  of  junction  be- 
tween adjacent  spirals  of  the  inner  strip,  the 
whole  when  in  place  being  impregnated  with  a 
solution  of  silicate  of  soda.  The  joints  them- 
selves are  covered  with  two  layers  of  asbestos 
held  in  place  by  steel  tape  applied  spirally.  To 
distribute  the  strains  upon  the  cables  in  man- 
holes, radial  supports  of  various  curvatures, 
and  made  of  malleable  cast  iron,  are  used. 
The  photograph  on  page  625  illustrates  the 
arrangement  of  cables  in  one  of  these  man- 
holes. 

In  order  to  further  diminish  the  risk  of  in- 
terruption of  the  service  due  to  failure  of 
power  supply,  each  sub-station  south  of 
Ninety-Sixth  Street  receives  its  alternating 
current  from  the  power  house  through  cables 
carried  on  opposite  sides  of  the  subway.  To 
protect  the  lead  sheaths  of  the  cables  against 
damage  by  electrolysis,  rubber  insulating 
pieces  1-6  of  an  inch  in  thickness  are  placed 
between  the  sheaths  and  the  iron  bracket  sup- 
ports in  the  manholes. 


HIGH-TENSION  CABLES 
The  cables  used  for  conveying  energy  from  the  power  house 
to  the  several  sub-stations  aggregate  approximately  150  miles 
in  length.  The  cable  used  for  this  purpose  comprises  three 
stranded  copper  conductors,  each  of  which  contains  nineteen 
wires,  and  the  diameter  of  the  stranded  conductor  thus  formed 
is  2-5  of  an  inch.  Paper  insulation  is  employed  and  the  triple 
cable  is  enclosed  in  a  lead  sheath  9-64  of  an  inch  thick.  Each 
conductor  is  separated  from  its  neighbors  and  from  the  lead 
sheath  by  insulation  of  treated  paper  7-16  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. The  outside  diameter  of  the  cables  is  2^  ins.,  and  the 
weight  lbs.  per  lineal  foot.  In  the  factories  the  cable  as 
manufactured  was  cut  into  lengths  corresponding  to  the  dis- 
tance between  manholes,  and  each  length  subjected  to  severe 
tests,  including  application  to  the  insulation  of  an  alternating 
current  potential  of  30,000  volts  for  a  period  of  thirty  minutes. 
These  cables  were  installed  under  the  supervision  of  the  Inter- 
borough  Company's  engineers,  and  after  jointing,  each  com- 
plete cable  from  power  house  to  sub-station  was  tested  by  ap- 
plying an  alternating  potential  of  30,000  volts  for  thirty 
minutes  between  each  conductor  and  its  neighbors,  and  be- 
tween each  conductor  and  the  lead  sheath. 

SUB-STATIONS 

The  tri-phase  alternating  current  generated  at  the  power 

house  is  conveyed  through  the  high-potential  cable  system  to 

eight  sub-stations  containing  the  necessary  transforming  and 

converting  machinery.    These  sub-stations  are  designed  and 

located  as  follows : 

Sub-station  No.  11— 31-33  City  Hall  Place. 

Sub-station  No.  12 — 108-110  East  Nineteenth  Street. 

Sub-station  No.  13 — 225-227  West  Fifty-Third  Street. 

Sub-station  No.  14 — 264-266  West  Ninety-Sixth  Street. 


EXTERIOR  VIEW  OF  SUB-STATION  NO.  11,  SHOWING  ARTISTIC 
ARCHITECTURAL  TREATMENT 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


627 


GENERAL  INTERIOR  VIEW  OF 


SUB-STATION  NO.  11,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT 
SWITCHBOARD   GALLERY,  ETC. 


OF  TRANSFORMERS.  ROTARTFS. 


Sub-station  No.  15 — 606-608  West  143d  Street. 
Sub-station  No.  16 — 73-77  West  132CI  Street. 
Sub-station  No.  17 — Hillside  Avenue,  301  ft.  west  of  Eleventh 
Avenue. 

Sub-station  No.  18 — South  side  of  Fox  Street  (Simpson  Street), 
60  ft.  north  of  Westchester  Avenue. 

The  converter  unit  selected  to  receive  the  alternating  cur- 
rent and  deliver  direct  current  to  the  track,  etc.,  has  an  output 
of  1500  kw  with  ability  to  carry  50  per  cent  overload  for  three 
hours.  The  average  area  of  a  city  lot  is  25  ft.  x  100  ft.,  and  a 
sub-station  site  comprising  two  adjacent  lots  of  this  approxi- 
mate size  permits  the  installation  of  a  maximum  of  eight  1500- 
kw  converters  with  necessary  transformers,  switchboard  and 
other  auxiliary  apparatus.  In  designing  the  sub-stations,  a 
type  of  building  with  a  central  air-well  was  selected.  The 


typical  organization  of  apparatus  is  illustrated  in  the  ground 
plan  and  vertical  section  on  this  and  the  next  page,  and  provides, 
as  shown,  for  two  lines  of  converters,  the  three  transformers 
which  supply  each  converter  being  located  between  it  and  the 


LONGITUDINAL  SECTION  OF  SUB-STATION  NO.  14,  TO  SHOW  BUILDING  DETAILS  AND  ARRANGEMENT  OF  APPARATUS 


028 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


LVol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  SUB-STATION  NO.  14 


the  tri-phase  cables  into  direct  current  adapted  to  operate  the 
motors  with  which  the  rolling  stock  is  equipped.  This  appa- 
ratus comprises  transformers,  converters  and  certain  minor 
auxiliaries.  The  transformers,  which  are  arranged  in  groups 
of  three,  receive  the  tri-phase  alternating  current  at  a  poten- 
tial approximating  10,500  volts,  and  deliver  equivalent  energy 
(less  the  loss  of  about  2  per  cent  in  the  transformation) 
to  the  converters  at  a  potential  of  about  390  volts.  The  con- 
verters receiving  this  energy  from  their  respective  groups  of 
transformers  in  turn  deliver  it  (less  a  loss  approximating  4  per 
cent  at  full  load)  in  the  form  of  direct  current  at  a  potential  of 
625  volts  to  the  bus-bars  of  the  direct-current  switchboards, 
from  which  it  is  conveyed  by  insulated  cables  to  the  contact 
rails.  A  general  view  of  the  interior  of  one  of  the  sub-stations 
is  given  on  page  627. 

The  illustration  on  page  630  is  from  a  photograph  taken  on 
one  of  the  switchboard  galleries.  In  the  sub-stations,  as  in 
the  power  house,  the  high-potential  alternating-current  circuits 
are  opened  and  closed  by  oil  switches,  which  are  electrically 
operated  by  motors,  these  in  turn  being  controlled  by  no-volt 
direct-current  circuits.  Diagrammatic  bench  boards  are  used,  as 
at  the  power  house,  but  in  the  substations  they  are,  of  course, 
relatively  small  and  free  from  complication. 

The  instrument  board  is  supported  by  iron  columns  and  is 
carried  at  a  sufficient  height  above  the  bench  board  to  enable 


CONVERTER  FLOOR  PLAN  AND  PLAN  OF  SWITCHBOARD  GALLERY-SUB-STATION  NO.  14 

adjacent  side  wall.  The  switchboard  is  located  at  the  rear  of 
the  station.  The  central  shaft  affords  excellent  light  and  ven- 
tilation for  the  operating  room.  The  steel  work  of  the  sub- 
stations is  designed  with  a  view  to  the  addition  of  two  storage- 
battery  floors,  should  it  be  decided  at  some  future  time  that  the 
addition  of  such  an  auxiliary  is  advisable. 

The  necessary  equipment  of  the  sub-stations  implies  sites 
approximately  50  ft.  x  100  ft.  in  dimensions,  and  sub-stations 
Nos.  14,  15,  17  and  18  are  practically  all  this  size.  Sub-sta- 
tions Nos.  11  and  16  are  100  ft.  in  length,  but  the  lots  acquired 
in  these  instances  being  of  unusual  width,  these  sub-stations 
are  approximately  60  ft.  wide.  Sub-station  No.  12,  on  account 
of  wide  limited  ground  space,  is  but  48  ft.  and  92  ft.  long.  In 
each  of  the  sub-stations,  except  No.  13,  foundations  are  pro- 
vided for  eight  converters;  sub-station  No.  13  contains  founda- 
tions for  the  ultimate  installation  of  ten  converters. 

The  function  of  the  electrical  apparatus  in  sub-stations,  as  auxiliary  sub-station  equipment,  comprising  MOTOR- 
has  been  stated,  is  the  conversion  of  the  high-potential  alter-  generator  set  for  SUPPLYING  ALTERNATING  CURRENT 
nating-current  energy  delivered  from  the  power  house  through        rotar^y^s^ta^ter^set^^^^^  AND  A  motor-generator 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


629 


TWO  GROUPS  OF  SUB-STATION  STEP-DOWN 
TRANSFORMERS 


THE  STANDARD  SUB-STATION  ROTARY-CONVERTER— 1500  K\V  CAPACITY 


the  operator,  while  facing  the  bench  board  and  the  instru- 
ments, to  look  out  over  the  floor  of  the  sub-station  without 
turning  his  head.  The  switches  of  the  direct-current  circuits 
are  hand  operated  and  are  located  upon  boards  at  the  right  and 
left  of  the  control  board. 

A  novel  and  important  feature  introduced  (it  is  believed  for 
the  first  time)  in  these  sub-stations  is  the  location  in  separate 
brick  compartments  of  the  automatic  circuit  breakers  in  the 
direct-current  feeder  circuits.  These  circuit-breaker  compart- 
ments are  shown  in  the  lower  photograph  on  page  630,  and  are 
in  a  line  facing  the  boards  which  carry  the  direct  feeder 
switches,  each  circuit  breaker  being  located  in  a  compartment 
directly  opposite  the  panel  which  carries  the  switch  belonging" 
to  the  corresponding  circuit.  This  plan  will  effectually  prevent 
damage  to  other  parts  of  the  switchboard  equipment  when  cir- 
cuit breakers  open  automatically  under  conditions  of  short-cir- 
cuit.   It  also  tends  to  eliminate  risk  to  the  operator,  and,  there- 


fore, to  increase  his  confidence  and  accuracy  in  manipulating 
the  hand-operated  switches. 

The  three  conductor  cables  which  convey  tri-phase  currents 
from  the  power  house  are  carried  through  tile  ducts  from  the 
manholes  located  in  the  street  directly  in  front  of  each  sub- 
station to  the  back  of  the  station  where  the  end  of  the  cable  is 
connected  directly  beneath  its  oil  switch.  The  three  con- 
ductors, now  well  separated,  extend  vertically  to  the  fixed  ter- 


STANDARD  SUB-STATION  SWITCHBOARD  FOR 
OPERATION  OF  THE  MOTOR-GENERATORS  AND 
BATTERIES  FOR  THE  CONTROL  CIRCUITS 


THE  SUB-STATION  SWITCHBOARD  FOR  THE  ALTERNATING- 
CURRENT  BLOCK-SIGNAL  MOTOR-GENERATOR  AND  CIRCUITS 

minals  of  the  switch.  In  each  sub-station  but  one  set  of  high- 
potential  alternating-current  bus-bars  is  installed,  and  between 
each  incoming  cable  and  these  bus-bars  is  connected  an  oil 
switch.  In  like  manner,  between  each  converter  unit  and  the 
bus-bars  an  oil  switch  is  connected  into  the  high-potential  cir- 
cuit. The  bus-bars  are  so  arranged  that  they  may  be  divided 
into  any  number  of  sections  not  exceeding  the  number  of  con- 
verter units,  by  means  of  movable  links  which,  in  their  normal 
condition,  constitute  a  part  of  the  bus-bars. 

Each  of  the  oil  switches  between  incoming  circuits  and  bus- 


Street  railway  journal 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


THE  OPERATING  SWITCHBOARD  IN  GALLERY- SUB  STATION    NO.  11— SHOWING  UNOBSTRUCTED  VIEW  ACROSS  CONVERTER 

FLOOR  BELOW 


bars  is  arranged  for  automatic  operation,  and  is  equipped  with 

a  reversed  current  relay,  which,  in  the  case  of  a  short-circuit 

in  its  alternating-current  feeder  cable  opens  the  switch  and  so 

disconnects  the  cable  from  the  sub-station  without  interference 

with  the  operation  of  the  other  cables 

or  the  converting  machinery. 

DIRECT-CURRENT  DISTRIBUTION 
FROM  SUB-STATIONS 

The  organization  of  electrical  con- 
ductors provided  to  convey  direct 
current  from  the  sub-stations  to  the 
moving  trains  can  be  described  most 
conveniently  by  beginning  with  the 
contact,  or  so-called  third  rail.  South 
of  Ninety-Sixth  Street  the  average 
distance  between  sub-stations  ap- 
proximates 12,000  ft.,  and  north  of 
Ninety-Sixth  Street  the  average  dis- 
tance is  about  15,000  ft.  Each  track, 
of  course,  is  provided  with  a  contact 
rail.  There  are  four  tracks,  and  con- 
sequently four  contact  rails,  from 
City  Hall  to  Ninety-Sixth  Street, 
three  from  Ninety-Sixth  Street  to 
145th  Street  on  the  West  Side,  two 
from  145th  Street  to  Dyckman  Street, 
and  three  from  Dyckman  Street  to 
the  northern  terminal  of  the  West 
Side  extension  of  the  system.  From 
Ninety-Sixth  Street,  the  East  Side 
has  two  tracks  and  two  contact  rails 
to  Mott  Avenue,  and  from  that  point 
to  the  terminal  at  i82d  Street  three 


tracks  and  three  contact  rails.  Contact  rails  south  of 
Reade  Street  are  supplied  from  sub-station  No.  11; 
from  Reade  Street  to  Nineteenth  Street  they  are  sup- 
plied  from  sub-stations  Nos.   11   and   12;   from  Nineteenth 


VIEW  AT  REAR  OF  OPERATING  BOARD  IN  SWITCHBOARD  GALLERY— SUB-STATION 
NO.  11-SHOWING  COMPARTMENTS  FOR  THE  DIRECT- CURRENT  CIRCUIT  BREAKERS 


October  8,  1904.  J 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


631 


Street  they  are  supplied  from  sub-stations  Nos.  12  and  13; 
from  the  point  last  named  to  Ninety-Sixth  Street  they  are  sup- 
plied from  sub-stations  Nos.  13  and  14;  from  Ninety-Sixth 
Street  to  143d  Street,  on  the  West  Side,  they  are  supplied  from 
sub-stations  Nos.  14  and  15;  from  143d  Street  to  Dyckman 
Street  they  are  supplied  from  sub-stations  Nos.  15  and  17,  and 
from  that  point  to  the  terminal  they  are  supplied  from  sub- 
station No.  17.  On  the  East  Side  branch  contact  rails  from 
Ninety-Sixth  Street  to  i32d  Street  are  supplied  from  sub-sta- 
tions Nos.  14  and  16;  from  i32d  to  165th  Streets  they  are  sup- 
plied from  sub-stations  Nos.  16  and  18,  and  from  165th  Street 
to  i82d  Street  they  are  supplied  from  sub-station  No.  18. 
LIGHTING  SYSTEM  FOR  PASSENGER  STATIONS  AND  TUNNEL 
In  the  initial  preparation  of  plans  and  more  than  a  year  be- 


THE  SWITCHES  CONNECTING  THE  FEEDERS  TO  THE  CONTACT 
RAIL,  AND  THEIR  PROTECTING  BOXES 


THE  SYSTEM  OF  RUNNING  DIRECT-CURRENT  FEEDERS  FROM 
MANHOLES  TO  CONTACT-RAIL  IN  THE  TUNNEL 


fore  the  accident  which  occurred  in  the  subway  system  of 
Paris  in  August,  1903,  the  engineers  of  the  Interborough  Com- 
pany realized  the  importance  of  maintaining  lights  in  the  sub- 
way independent  of  any  temporary  interruption  of  the  power 
used  for  lighting  the  cars,  and,  in  preparing  their  plans,  they 
provided  for  lighting  the  subway  throughout  its  length  from  a 
source  independent  of  the  main  power  supply.  For  this  pur- 
pose three  1250-kw  alternators  direct  driven  by  steam  turbines 
are  installed  in  the  power  house,  from  which  point  a  system  of 
primary  cables,  transformers  and  secondary  conductors  con- 
vey current  to  the  incandescent  lamps  used  solely  to  light  the 


do  on  o^ 

1  Q_5> 

0=9 


000  o o  o 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  DIRECT-CURRENT  FEEDER  CONNECTIONS   IN  FEEDING  TWO  SECTIONS  OF  CONTACT  RAIL 


ARRANGEMENT  OF   NEGATIVE   RETURN-CIRCUIT  FEEDERS 


632 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


subway.  The  alternators  are  of  the  three-phase  type,  making 
1200  r.  p.  m.  and  delivering  current  at  a  frequency  of  60  cycles 
per  second  at  a  potential  of  11,000  volts.  In  the  boiler  plant 
and  system  of  steam  piping  installed  in  connection  with  these 
turbine-driven  units,  provision  is  made  for  separation  of  the 
steam  supply  from  the  general  supply  for  the  5000-kw  units 
and  for  furnishing  the  steam  for  the  turbine  units  through 
either  of  two  alternative  lines  of  pipe. 

The  1 1, 000- volt  primary  current  is  conveyed  through  paper 
insulated  lead-sheathed  cables  to  transformers  located  in  fire- 
proof compartments  adjacent  to  the  platforms  of  the  passenger 


stations.  These  transformers  deliver  current  to  two  separate 
systems  of  secondary  wiring,  one  of  which  is  supplied  at  a 
potential  of  120  volts  and  the  other  at  600  volts. 

The  general  lighting  of  the  passenger  station  platforms  is 
effected  by  incandescent  lamps  supplied  from  the  120-volt  sec- 
ondary wiring  circuits,  while  the  lighting  of  the  subway  sec- 
tions between  adjacent  stations  is  accomplished  by  incandes- 
cent lamps  connected  in  series  groups  of  five  each,  and  con- 
nected to  the  600-volt  lighting  circuits.    Recognizing  the  fact 


TYPE  OF  FISH-PLATE  CONNECTION  USED  AT  CONTACT 
RAIL  JOINTS 


that  in  view  of  the  precautions  taken  it  is  probable  that  inter- 
ruptions of  the  alternating-current  lighting  service  will  be  in- 
frequent, the  possibility  of  such  interruptions  is  nevertheless 
provided  for  by  installing  upon  the  stairways  leading  to  pas- 


senger station  platforms,  at  the  ticket  booths  and  over  the 
tracks  in  front  of  the  platforms,  a  number  of  lamps  which  are 
connected  to  the  contact  rail  circuit.  This  will  provide  light 
sufficient  to  enable  passengers  to  see  stairways  and  the  edges  of 
the  station  platforms  in  case  of  temporary  failure  of  the  general 
lighting  system. 

The  general  illumination  of  the  passenger  stations  is  effected 
by  means  of  32-cp  incandescent  lamps  placed  in  recessed  domes 
in  the  ceiling.  These  are  reinforced  by  14-cp  and  32-cp  lamps 
carried  by  brackets  of  ornate  design  where  the  construction  of 
the  station  does  not  conveniently  permit  the  use  of  ceiling 
lamps.  The  lamps  are  enclosed  in  sand-blasted 
glass  globes,  and  excellent  distribution  is  se- 
cured by  the  use  of  reflectors. 

In  lighting  the  subway  between  passenger 
stations   it   is   desirable,  on    the   one  hand, 


TYPE  OF  PROTECTING  COVERING  USED  OVER 
CONTACT  RAIL 


to  provide  sufficient  light  for  track  inspection  and  to 
permit  employees  passing  along  the  subway  to  see  their 
way  clearly  and  avoid  obstructions ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  lighting  must  not  be  so  brilliant  as  to  interfere  with 
easy  sight  and  recognition  of  the  red,  yellow  and  green  signal 
lamps  of  the  block-signal  system.  It  is  necessary  also  that 
the  lights  for  general  illumination  be  so  placed  that  their  rays 
shall  not  fall  directly  upon  the  eyes  of  approaching  motormen 
at  the  head  of  trains  nor  annoy  passengers  who  may  be  read- 
ing their  papers  inside  the  cars.  The  conditions  imposed  by 
these  considerations  are  met  in  the  four-track  sections  of  the 
subway  by  placing  a  row  of  incandescent  lamps  between  the 
north-bound  local  and  express  tracks  and  a  similar  row  between 
the  south-bound  local  and  express  tracks.  The  lamps  are  car- 
ried upon  brackets  supported  upon  the  iron  columns  of  the  sub- 
way structure,  successive  lamps  in  each  row  being  60  ft.  apart. 
They  are  located  a  few  inches  above  the  tops  of  the  car  win- 
dows and  with  reference  to  the  direction  of  approaching  trains 
the  lamps  in  each  row  are  carried  upon  the  far  side  of  the  iron 
columns,  by  which  expedient  the  eyes  of  the  approaching 
motormen  are  sufficiently  protected  against  their  direct  rays. 
POWER-HOUSE  LIGHTING 
For  the  general  illumination  of  the  engine  room,  clusters  of 
Nernst  lamps  are  supported  from  the  roof  trusses,  and  a  row 
of  single  lamps  of  the  same  type  is  carried  on  the  lower  gallery 
about  25  ft.  from  the  floor.  This  is  the  first  power  house  in 
America  to  be  illuminated  by  these  lamps.    The  quality  of  the 


VIEW  OF  MOTOR-CAR  TRUCK  AND  CONTACT  RAIL,  SHOWING 
TYPE  OF  CONTACT  SHOE  USED 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


633 


light  is  unsurpassed  and  the  general  effect  of  the  illumination 
most  satisfactory  and  agreeable  to  the  eye.  In  addition  to  the 
Nernst  lamps,  16-cp  incandescent  lamps  are  placed  upon  the 
engines  and  along  the  galleries  in  places  not  conveniently 
reached  by  the  general  illumination.  The  basement  also  is 
lighted  by  incandescent  lamps. 

For  the  boiler  room  a  row  of  Nernst  lamps  in  front  of  the  bat- 
teries of  boilers  is  provided, 
and,  in  addition  to  these,  in- 
candescent lamps  are  used  in 
the  passageways  around  the 
boilers,  at  gages  and  at  water 
columns.  The  basement  of 
the  boiler  room,  the  pump 
room,  the  economizer  floor, 
coal  bunkers  and  coal  con- 
veyors are  lighted  by  incan- 
descent lamps,  while  arc 
lamps  are  used  around  the 
coal  tower  and  dock.  The 
lights  on  the  engines  and 
those  at  gage  glasses  and 
water  columns  and  at  the 
pumps  are  supplied  by  direct 
current  from  the  250-volt  cir- 
cuits. All  other  incandescent 
lamps  and  the  Nernst  lamps 
are  supplied  through  trans- 
formers from  the  60-cycle 
lighting  system. 
EMERGENCY  SIGNAL  SYSTEM 

In  the  booth  of  each  ticket 
seller  and  at  every  manhole  along  the  west  side  of  the 
subway  and  its  branches  is  placed  a  glass-covered  box 
of  the  kind  generally  used  in  large  American  cities  for 
fire-alarm  purposes.  In  case  of  accident  in  the  sub- 
way which  may  render  it  desirable  to  cut  off  power  from  the 
contact  rails,  this  result  can  be  accomplished  by  breaking  the 
glass  front  of  the  emergency  box  and  pulling  the  hook  pro- 


general  superintendent,  instantly  intimating  the  number  of  the 
box  which  has  been  pulled.  Automatic  recording  devices  in 
train  despatchers'  offices  and  in  the  office  of  the  general  super- 
intendent also  note  the  number  of  the  box  pulled. 

CONTRACTORS 

The  contractors  for  the  equipment  in  the  electrical  depart- 
ment, including  that  in  power  plant  and  sub-stations  for  gen- 


METHOD  OF  DOUBLE  BONDING  USED  AT  JOINTS  IN  THE 
CONTACT  RAIL 


vided.  Special  emergency  circuits  are  so  arranged  that  pulling 
the  hook  will  instantly  open  all  the  circuit  breakers  at  adjacent 
sub-stations  through  which  the  contact  rails  in  the  section 
affected  receive  their  supply  of  power.  It  will  also  instantly 
report  the  location  of  the  trouble,  annunciator  gongs  being  lo- 
cated in  the  sub-stations  from  which  power  is  supplied  to  the 
section,  in  the  train  despatchers'  offices  and  in  the  office  of  the 


VIEW  OF  RUNNING  AND  CONTACT  RAILS  IN  THE  TUNNEL,  SHOW  ING  SPECIAL  TYPE  OF 
END  INCLINE  USED  UPON  CONTACT  RAILS 


oration,  transmission,  conversion  and  distribution  of  power,  for 
the  feeder  and  third-rail  construction,  for  the  electrical-car 
equipment,  and  for  the  subway,  station  and  power  plant  light- 
ing system,  are  as  follows  : 

American  Steel  &  Wire  Company,  cable. 

Bajohr,  Carl,  lightning  rods. 

Broderick  &  Company,  contact  shoes. 

Cambria  Steel  Company,  contact  rail. 

Columbia  Machine  Works  &  Malleable  Iron  Company,  contact 
shoes. 

Consolidated  Car  Heating  Company,  car  heaters. 

D.  &  W.  Fuse  Company,  fuse  boxes  and  fuses. 

Electric  Storage  Battery  Company,  storage  battery  plant. 

General  Electric  Company,  motors,  power  house  and'sub-station 
switchboards,  control  apparatus,  cable. 

General  Incandescent  Arc  Light  Company,  passenger  station 
switchboards. 

India  Rubber  &  Gutta  Percha  Insulating  Company,  cables. 
Keasby  &  Mattison  Company,  asbestos. 

Malleable  Iron  Fittings  Company,  third-rail  and  other  castings. 
Mayer  &  England  Company,  rail  bonds. 

Mitchell  Vance  Company,  passenger  station  electric  light  fixtures. 
National  Conduit  &  Cable  Company,  cables. 
National  Electric  Company,  air  compressors. 
Nernst  Lamp  Company,  power  station  lighting. 
Okonite  Company,  cables. 

Prometheus  Electric  Company,  passenger  station  heaters. 

J.  A.  Roebling's  Sons  Company,  cables. 

Reconstructed  Granite  Company,  third-rail  insulators. 

Standard  Underground  Cable  Company,  cables. 

Tucker  Electrical  Construction  Company,  wiring  for  tunnel  and 
passenger  station  lights. 

Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company,  alternators, 
exciters,  transformers,  motors,  converters,  blower  outfits. 

Westing-house  Machine  Company,  turbo  alternators. 


- 


634 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.      No.  15. 


THE  NEW  STEEL  CARS  FOR  THE  SUBWAY  DIVISION  OF  THE 
NEW  YORK  INTERBOROUGH  RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 

THE  history  of  the  development  of  the  designs  for  the 
rolling  stock  equipment  of  the  new  subway  system  in 
New  York  City  is  one  of  great  interest  for  the  many 
difficulties  introduced  by  the  radical  nature  of  the  limiting  con- 
ditions and  service  requirements.  Probably  no  corps  of  rail- 
way engineers  was  ever  before  confronted  with  a  problem  of 
so  great  magnitude  and  involving  so  many  difficulties,  in  the 
selection  of  a  car  equipment,  not  only  on  account  of  the  pe- 
culiarly special  nature  of  the  designs,  but  also  the  short  length 
of  time  given  in  which  to  prepare  the  plans.  But  the  deter- 
mination of  the  builders  of  the  road  to  improve  upon  the  best 


example,  it  may  be  stated  that  an  express  train  of  eight  cars 
in  the  subway,  to  conform  to  the  schedule  speed  adopted,  will 
require  a  nominal  capacity  of  motors  on  the  train  of  2000  hp, 
in  starting  from  a  station  stop,  with  an  average  accelerating 
current  at  570  volts,  of  325  amps.  This  rate  of  energy  absorp- 
tion, which  corresponds  to  2500  hp,  is  not  far  from  double  that 
taken. by  the  heaviest  steam  trains  on  trunk  line  railroads  when 
starting  from  stations  at  the  maximum  rate  of  acceleration  pos- 
sible with  the  most  powerful  modern  locomotives. 

Such  exacting  schedule  conditions  as  those  mentioned  neces- 
sitated the  design  of  cars,  trucks,  etc.,  of  equivalent  strength 
to  that  found  in  steam  railroad  car  and  locomotive  construc- 
tion, so  that,  while  it  was  essential  to  keep  down  the  weight  of 
the  train  and  individual  cars  to  a  minimum  owing  to  the  frc- 


THE  NEW  DESIGN  OF  STEEL  CAR  FOR  THE  INTERBUROUGH  SUBWAY  SYSTEM,  INVOLVING  THE  ENTIRE  ELIMINATION  OF 

THE  ELEMENT  OF  WOOD  IN  CONSTRUCTION 


practice  previously  known  in  electrical  railroading  and  to  pro- 
vide an  equipment  unequaled  on  any  interurban  line,  is  no- 
where better  illustrated  than  in  the  careful  study  given  to  the 
types  of  cars  and  trucks  used  on  other  lines  before  a  selection 
was  made  of  those  to  be  employed  on  the  subway. 

All  of  the  existing  rapid  transit  railways  in  this  country 
and  many  of  those  abroad  were  visited,  and  the  different  pat- 
terns of  cars  in  use  were  considered  in  this  investigation,  which 
included  a  study  of  the  relative  advantages  of  long  and  short 
cars,  single  and  multiple-side-entrance  cars,  end-entrance  cars 
and  all  of  the  other  varieties  which  have  been  adopted  for  rapid 
transit  service  abroad  and  at  home. 

The  service  requirements  of  the  New  York  subway  intro- 
duced a  number  of  unprecedented  conditions  and  limitations  as 
to  car  clearance,  and  required  a  complete  redesign  of  all  the 
existing  models.  The  general  considerations  to  be  met  in- 
cluded the  following": 

Limited  subway  heights  and  clearances  on  curves. 

High-schedule  speeds  with  frequent  stops. 

Maximum  carrying  capacity  for  the  cars,  especially  at  times 
of  rush  hours,  morning  and  evening. 

Maximum  strength  combined  with  smallest  permissible 
weight. 

Adoption  of  all  precautions  calculated  to  reduce  possibility 
of  damage  from  either  the  electric  circuit  or  from  collisions. 

The  clearance  and  length  of  the  local  station  platforms  lim- 
ited the  length  of  trains,  and  tunnel  clearances  the  length  and 
width  of  the  cars. 

The  speeds  called  for  by  the  contract  with  the  city  intro- 
duced motive  power  requirements  which  were  unprecedented 
in  any  existing  railway  service,  either  steam  or  electric,  and 
demanded  a  minimum  weight  consistent  with  safety.    As  an 


quent  stops,  it  was  equally  as  essential  to  provide  the  strongest 
and  most  substantial  type  of  car  construction  throughout.  A 
happy  solution  of  the  problem  seemed  to  lay  in  the  use  of  steel 
car  construction,  but  the  limitations  of  car  building-  facilities 
prevented  a  sufficiently  early  production  in  steel  at  first. 

Owing  to  the  two  essentials  of  lightest  weight  consistent 
with  strength,  however,  which  were  embodied  in  their  con- 


END  VIEW  OF  THE  STEEL  CAR 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


635 


struction,  it  can  safely  be  asserted  that  the  car  construction 
finally  adopted  for  use  in  the  subway  represents  the  highest 
type  of  the  car  building  art  as  it  exists  to-day,  and  that  all 
available  appliances  for  securing  strength  and  durability  in 
the  cars  and  immunity  from  accidents  have  been  introduced. 

After  having  ascertained  the  general  type  of  cars  which 
would  be  best  adapted  for  the  subway  service,  and  before  plac- 
ing orders,  it  was  decided  to  build  sample  cars  embodying  the 
approved  principles  of  design.  From  these  the  management 
believed  that  the  details  of  construction  could  be  more  per- 
fectly determined  than  in  any  other  way.  Consequently,  in  the 
early  part  of  1902,  two  sample  cars  were  built  and  equipped 
with  a  variety  of  appliances  and  furnishings  so  that  the  final 
type  could  be  intelligently  selected.  From  the  tests  conducted 
on  these  cars,  the  final  type  of  car  which  is  described  in  detail 
below  was  evolved. 

In  view  of  the  peculiar  traffic  conditions  existing  in  New 
York  City  and  the  restricted  siding  and  yard  room  available  in 
the  subway,  it  was  decided  that  one  standard  type  nf  car  for 
all  classes  of  service  would  introduce  the  most  flexible  oper- 
ating conditions,  and  for  this  reason  would  best  suit  the  public 
demands  at  different  seasons  of  the  year  and  hours  of  the  clay. 
In  order,  further,  to  provide  cars,  each  of  which  would  be  as 


GEORGE  GIBBS 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  NEW  STEEL  CAR,  SHOWING  ALUMINUM 

SEAT  CONSTRUCTION 

safe  as  the  others,  it  was  essential  that  there  should  be  no  dif- 
ference in  constructional  strength  between  the  motor  cars  and 
the  trail  cars.  All  cars  were  therefore  made  of  one  type,  and 
can  be  used  interchangeably  for  either  motor  or  trail-car 
service. 

As  the  multiple-unit  system  of  train  operation  is  used,  trains 
will  be  made  up  as  required  for  either  express  or  local  service 
by  varying  the  number  and  proportion  of  motor  and  trail  cars. 
Thus,  the  eight-car  express  trains,  which  will  be  the  standard 
length  of  an  express  train,  will  be  made  up  of  five  motor  cars 


and  three  trail  cars,  the  motor 
cars  being  either  cars  1,  3,  5,  6 
and  8,  or  else  numbers  1,  3,  4, 
6  and  8.  The  five-car  local 
trains  will  be  made  up  of 
three  motor  cars  and  two 
trail  cars,  the  motor  cars  be- 
ing 1,  3  and  5 ;  while  the 
three-car  trains  will  be  equip- 
ped with  a  motor  car  at  each 
end. 

The  motor  cars  will  each  be 
equipped  with  two  propelling 
motors,  both  of  which  are  car- 
ried on  the  same  truck;  that  is,  each  motor  car  has  a  motor 
truck  at  one  end  carrying  two  motors,  one  geared  to  each  axle, 
while  the  truck  at  the  other  end  of  the  car  is  a  "trailer"  and 
carries  no  motive  power. 

THE  WOODEN  CARS 
After  the  design  had  been  worked  out,  a  great  deal  of  diffi- 
culty was  encountered  in  securing  satisfactory  contracts  for 
proper  deliveries,  on  account  of  the  congested  condition  of  the 
car  building  works  in  the  country  at  that  time.    Contracts  were 

finally  closed,  however,  in 
December,  1902,  for  500 
cars,  and  orders  were  dis- 
tributed between  four  car- 
building  firms.  Of  these 
cars,  some  200,  as  fast  as  de- 
livered, were  placed  in  oper- 
ation on  the  Second  Avenue 
line  of  the  elevated  railway 
division  of  the  company,  in 
order  that  they  might  be 
thoroughly  tested  during  the 
winter  of  1903-4. 

The  first  shipment  of  these 
cars  was  received  by  the 
company  in  August,  1903,  at 
which  time  a  complete  de- 
scription of  the  construction 
and  principal  details  of 
equipment  was  given  in  the 
Street  Railway  Journal 
(page  264,  Aug.  22,  1903). 
For  details  of  this  wooden 
car  construction,  reference 
may  be  had  to  the  above- 
mentioned  article.  Some  of 
the  leading  distinctive  fea- 
tures of  the  wooden  cars 
may,  however,  be  here  enu- 
merated as  follows : 

(1)  The  length  is  51  ft., 
and  provides  seating  capacity  for  fifty-two  passengers.  This 
length  is  about  4  ft.  more  than  those  of  the  existing  Manhattan 
Elevated  Railroad  cars,  and  enables  a  five-car  local  train,  seat- 
ing 260  people,  to  load  at  the  local  station  platforms. 

(2)  The  slope  of  the  car  outside,  above  the  window  sill, 
which  was  made  necessary  in  order  to  obtain  a  wide  and 
long  car  on  account  of  the  limiting  curve  clearances  in 
the  subway. 

(7,)  The  enclosed  vestibule  platforms  with  sliding  doors  in- 
stead of  the  usual  gates.     The  enclosed  platforms  will  con- 


1NTERIOR  FINISH  AND  METAL 


636 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


tribute  greatly  to  the  comfort  and  safety  of  passengers  under 
subway  conditions. 

(4)  The  anti-telescoping  car  bulkheads  and  platform  posts. 
This  construction  is  similar  to  that  in  use  on  Pullman  cars,  and 
has  been  demonstrated  in  steam  railroad  service  to  be  an  im- 
portant safety  provision  against  the  disastrous  results  of  col- 
lisions. 

(5)  The  steel  underframing  of  the  car,  which  provides  a 


VIEW  OF  THE  FRAMEWORK  OF  THE  CAR  WITH  THE  GIRDER   SJ  DE-PLATES  iN  PLACE 


rigid  and  durable  bed  structure  for  transmitting  the  heavy  mo- 
tive power  stresses. 

(6)  The  numerous  protective  devices  against  defects  in  the 
electrical  apparatus. 

(7)  Windows,  having  stationary  lower  sash,  to  guard 
against  drafts. 

(8)  Emergency  brake  valve  on  truck,  operating  in  connec- 
tion with  the  block-signal  system. 

(9)  Emergency  brake  valve  in  connection  with  master  con- 
troller. 

(10)  Copper  sheathing  on  outside  of  car. 

Some  features  of  interest  and  of  novelty  in  electric  car  con- 
struction were  introduced  in  the  form  of  wooden  frame  mem- 
bers, reinforced  heavily  by  structural  steel  shapes.  The  side 
sills  are  of  6-in.  channels,  which  are  enclosed  on  both  sides  by 
white  oak  timbers,  and  the  center  sills  are  5-in.  I-beams,  faced 
<>n  both  sides  with  Southern  pine.  The  .car-body  end  sills  are 
also  of  steel  shapes,  securely  attached  to  the  side  sills  by  steel 
castings  and  forgings,  the  end-sill  channel  being  faced  with  a 
white-oak  filler,  mortised  to  receive  the  car-body  end  posts, 
and  braced  at  each  end  by  gusset  plates.  The  body  bolster  is 
made  up  of  two  rolled-steel  plates  bolted  together  at  their  ends 
and  supported  by  a  steel-draw  casting,  the  ends  of  which  form 
a  support  for  the  center  sills.  The  flooring  inside  the  car  is 
double  and  of  maple,  with  asbestos  fire-felt  between  the  layers, 
and  is  protected  below  by  steel  plates  and  "transite"  (asbestos) 
board. 

The  side  framing  of  the  car  is  of  white  ash,  doubly  braced 
and  heavily  trussed.  There  are  seven  composite  wrought-iron 
carlines  forged  in  shape  for  the  roof,  each  sandwiched  between 
two  white  ash  carlines,  and  with  white  ash  intermediate  car- 
lines.  The  platform  posts  are  of  compound  construction,  with 
anti-telescoping  posts  of  steel  bar  sandwiched  between  white 
ash  posts  at  corners  and  centers  of  vcstibuled  platforms.  These 
posts  are  securely  bolted  to  the  steel  longitudinal  sills,  the  steel 


anti-telescoping  plate  below  the  floor,  and  to  the  hood  of  the 
bow,  which  serves  to  reinforce  it.  This  bow,  it  might  be  men- 
tioned in  this  connection,  is  a  heavy  steel  angle  in  one  piece, 
reaching  from  plate  to  plate,  and  extending  back  into  the  car 
6  ft.  on  each  side.  By  this  construction  it  is  believed  that  the 
car  framing  is  practically  indestructible.  In  case  of  accident, 
if  one  platform  should  ride  over  another,  8  sq.  ins.  of  metal 
would  have  to  be  sheared  off  the  posts  before  the  main  body  of 
the  car  would  be  reached,  which 
would  afford  an  effective  means  of 
protection. 

The  precautions  to  secure  safety 
from  fire  consist  generally  in  the  per- 
fected arrangement  and  installation 
of  the  electrical  apparatus  and  the 
wiring.  For  the  lighting  circuits  a 
flexible  steel  conduit  is  used,  and  a 
special  junction  box.  On  the  side  and 
upper  roofs,  over  these  conduits  for 
the  lighting  circuits,  a  strip  of  sheet 
iron  is  securely  nailed  to  the  roof 
boards  before  the  canvas  is  applied. 
The  w  ires  under  the  floor  are  carried 
in  ducts  of  asbestos  compound  (elec- 
trobestos)  molded  into  suitable  forms. 

Special  precautions  have  been 
taken  with  the  insulation  of  the 
wires,  the  specifications  calling  for, 
first,  a  layer  of  paper ;  next,  a  layer 
i  layer  of  cotton  saturated  with  a 
weather-proof  compound,  and  outside  of  this  a  layer  of 
asbestos.  The  hangers  supporting  the  rheostats  under  the  car 
body  are  insulated  with  wooden  blocks,  treated  by  a  special 


of   rubber,   and  then 


VIEW  OF  THE  UNDERFRAME  UNIT  FOR  THE  STEEL  CAR,  TO 
SHOW  SIMPLICITY  AND  LIGHTNESS  MADE  POSSIBLE  BY 
SIDE  FRAME  GIRDER  CONSTRUCTION 


process,  being  dried  out  in  an  oven  and  then  soaked  in  an  in- 
sulating compound,  and  covered  with  %-in.  "transite"  board. 
Tin-  rheostat  boxes  themselves  are  also  insulated  from  the 
angle  iron  supporting  them.    Where  the  wires  pass  through 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


637 


the  flooring  they  are  hermetically  sealed  to  prevent  the  admis- 
sion of  dust  and  dirt. 

At  the  forward  end,  or  what  is  known  as  the  No.  1  end,  of 
each  motor  car,  all  the  wires  are  carried  to  a  slate  switchboard 
in  the  motorman's  cab.  This  board  is  44  ins.  x  27  ins.,  and  is 
mounted  directly  back  of  the  motorman.  The  window  space 
occupied  by  the  board  is  ceiled  up  with  mahogany  panels,  and 
the  space  back  of  it  is  boxed  in  and  provided  with  a  door  of 
steel  plate,  forming  a  box,  the  cover,  top,  bottom  and  sides  of 
which  are  lined  with  electrobestos  y2  in.  thick.  All  of  the 
switches  and  fuses,  except  the  main  trolley  fuse  and  bus-line 
fuse,  which  are  encased  and  placed  under  the  car,  are  carried 
on  this  switchboard.  Where  the  wires  are  carried  through  the 
floor  or  any  partition,  a  steel  chute,  lined  with  electrobestos,  is 
used  to  protect  the  wires  against  mechanical  injury.  It  will 
be  noted  from  the  above,  that  no  power  wiring,  switches  or 
fuses  are  placed  in  the  car  itself,  all  such  devices  being  outside 
in  special  steel  insulated  compartments. 

THE  STEEL  CARS 

At  the  time  of 'placing  the  first  contract  for  the  rolling  stock 
of  the  subway,  the  question  of  using  an  all-steel  car  was  care- 
fully considered  by  the  management.  Such  a  type  of  car.  in 
many  respects,  presented  desirable  features  for  subway  work 
as  representing  the  ultimate  of  absolute  incombustibility.  Cer- 
tain practical  reasons,  however,  prevented  the  adoption  of  an 
all-steel  car  in  the  spring  of  1902,  when  it  became  necessary 
to  place  the  orders  mentioned  above  for  the  first  500  cars. 

Principal  among  these  reasons  was  the  fact  that  no  cars  of 
this  kind  had  ever  been  constructed,  and  as  the  car  building 
works  of  the  country  were  in  a  very  congested  condition,  all  of 


Side  Plates  and  Corrugated  Flooring  in  Place 


THREE  STAGES  IN  CONSTRl 


energies  at  that  time  to  the  production  of  a  wooden  car  with 
sufficient  metal  for  strength  and  protection  from  accident,  i.  e., 
a  stronger,  safer  and  better  constructed  car  than  had  hereto- 
fore been  put  in  use  on  any  electric  railway  in  the  world.  These 
properties,  it  is  believed,  are  embodied  in  the  car  which  has 
just  been  described. 

The  plan  of  an  all-metal  car,  however,  was  not  abandoned, 


The  Skeleton  Framework  of  the  Car 


Framework  Completed  and  Monolithic  Floor  Laid 


CTION  OF  THE  STEEL  CAR 


the  larger  companies  declined  to  consider  any  standard  speci- 
fications, even  for  a  short-time  delivery ;  while,  for  cars  in- 
volving the  extensive  use  of  metal,  the  question  was  impossible 
of  immediate  solution.  Again,  there  were  a  number  of  very 
serious  mechanical  difficulties  to  be  studied  and  overcome  in 
the  construction  of  such  a  car,  such  as  avoidance  of  excessive 
weight — a  serious  clement  in  a  rapid  transit  service — insulation 
from  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and  the  prevention  of  un- 
due noise  in  operation.    It  was  decided,  therefore,  to  bend  all 


and,  although  none  was  in  use  in  passenger  service  anywhere, 
George  Gibbs,  the  consulting  engineer  of  the  company,  took 
immediate  steps  to  design  a  car  of  this  type  and  conduct  the 
necessary  tests  to  determine  whether  it  would  be  suitable  for 
railway  service.  None  of  the  car  building  companies  were 
willing  to  undertake  the  work,  but  the  courteous  co-operation 
nl  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company  was  secured  in  placing 
its  manufacturing  facilities  at  Altoona  al  the  disposal  of  the 
Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company.    Plans  were  prepared 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


639 


8  0%   Oyer  Si  lis - 

7"  Orer  Sheathincf- 

HALF  SECTION  OF  THE  STEEL  FRAMING  TO  SHOW  ARRANGE- 
MENT OF  THE  ANGLE  BRACES  BY  WHICH  THE  FLOOR  LOAD 
IS  TRANSFERRED  TO  THE  GIRDER  SIDE  FRAME 

for  construction  as  quickly  as  the  novel  character  permitted, 
and  after  about  fourteen  months  of  work  a  sample  type  was 
completed  in  December,  1903. 

The  sample  car  naturally  embodied  some  faults  which  only 
experience  could  correct,  the  principal  one  being  that  the  car 
was  not  only  too  heavy  for  use  on  the  elevated  lines  of  the 
company,  but  attained  an  undesirable  weight  for  subway  opera- 
tion. From  this  original  design,  however,  Mr.  Gibbs  has 
worked  out  a  second  one,  containing  many  radical  departures, 
and  a  contract  was  given  to  the  American  Car  &  Foundry 
Company,  by  the  Interborough  Company,,  for  200  of  these  all- 
steel  cars.  Deliveries  under  this  contract  have  already  been 
given  thorough  test,  and  the  car  appeared  to  meet  expectations 
so  admirably  that  a  supplementary  order  has  been  placed  with 
the  American  Car  &  Foundry  Company,  the  builders  of  the  first 
lot,  for  an  additional  100  cars.  Tt  may  be  said  that  the  result 
of  careful  designing  has  been  to  produce  a  new  type  of  railway 
passenger  car  of  absolutely  lire-proof  qualities,  and  one  which 
weighs  practically  the  same  as  the  old  wooden  car;  further, 


640 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


the  car  has  admirable  riding  qualities,  is  durable  in  construc- 
tion, and  as  may  be  judged  from  the  views  on  page  634,  sightly 
in  appearance. 


SPECIFICATIONS 


The  general  dimensions  of  the 

all-steel 

car 

differ 

only 

slightly  from  those  of  the  wooden  cars, 

and 

also 

that  of  the 

Manhattan  Railway  cars : 



Wooden 

All  Sleel 

Manhat- 

Cars 

Cars 

tan  Cars 

ft. 

ins. 

ft. 

ins. 

ft. 

ins. 

Length  over  body  corner  posts  

42 

7 

41 

39 

IO 

Length  over  butters  

51 

2 

51 

2 

47 

I 

Length  over  draw-bars  

51 

5 

51 

5 

47 

4 

8 

8 

6% 

8 

6 

8 

10 

8 

7 

8 

7 

8 

n# 

9 

Vz 

8 

9 

8 

10% 

8 

VA 

8 

77A 

8 

8 

8 

8 

8 

9A 

Height  from  under  side  of  sill  to  top  of 

7 

3's 

7 

1 

7 

Height  of  body  from  under  side  of  center 

8 

97A 

8 

9H 

9 

5'A 

Height  of  truck  from  rail  to  top  of  truck 

center  plate  (car  light)  

2 

S 

2 

8 

2 

5  A 

Height  from  top  of  rail  to  under  side  of 

side  sill  at  truck  center  (car  light) .... 

3 

ilA 

3 

2's 

3 

3  A 

Height  from  top  of  rail  to  top  of  roof 

12 

U 

12 

0 

1 2 

io'/2 

The  details  of  construction  finally  decided  upon  and  specified 
for  the  steel  cars  involves  some  very  interesting  departures 
from  usual  methods  of  car  construction,  and  the  many  radically 
new  features  warrant  a  careful  study  by  all  interested  in  heavy 
electric  railroad  service.  The  desire  of  eliminating  the  ele- 
ment of  wood  as  far  as  possible,  in  order  to  secure  absolutely 
incombustible  construction,  led  to  the  incorporation  of  many 
novel  ideas,  such  as,  in  addition  to  the  metal  frame  work,  the 
use  of  plastic  flooring,  metal  door  and  window  framing,  metal 
interior  trim  throughout,  etc.  Even  the  types  of  seat  and 
cushion  construction  used,  present  examples  of  the  extreme  to 
which  this  desire  has  been  carried. 

It  early  became  evident,  especially  from  the  experience 
gained  in  the  construction  of  the  experimental  car,  that  in 
order  to  carry  the  car  and  live  load,  a  radical  departure  from 
usual  methods  of  supporting  the  car  body,  namely,  by  the  cen- 
ter and  side  sills  with  the  usual  under-trussing,  would  be  neces- 
sary. Any  attempt  at  carrying  the  weight  of  the  car  by  the  sill 
members  would  have  required  very  heavy  construction  of  un- 
der-framing, as  has  been  the  general  experience  in  modern 
steel  freight  and  gondola-car  construction.  Eventually  the  idea 
of  carrying  the  weight  of  the  car  by  the  side  framing,  which 
is  being  very  largely  introduced  into  modern  heavy  steel-car 
construction,  was  made  use  of,  with  the  result  that  in  the  sub- 
way steel  car  the  side-framing  sections  of  each  car  are  made 
to  serve  as  plate  girders,  from  which  the  floor  load  of  the  car  is 
carried.  The  novelty  embodied  in  this  principle  makes  a  care- 
ful description  of  its  application  in  this  case — the  first  of  the 
kind  which  has  been  attempted  in  passenger-car  construction — 
of  more  than  usual  interest.  Its  application  to  this  form  of 
car  construction  is  the  invention  of  Mr.  Gibbs,  by  whom  it  has 
been  patented. 

FRAMING 

The  principal  features  nf  the  new  construction  are  well  illus- 
trated in  the  accompanying  drawings  and  photographs.  The 
framing  detail  drawing  illustrates  the  arrangement  of  the  sills 
as  related  to  the  side  framing,  and  shows  the  special  diagonal 
struts  or  girders,  long  and  short,  which  are  used,  not  only  to 
tie  the  two  together,  but  also  to  transfer  to  the  side-frame 


girders  the  floor  load.  As  may  be  noted,  the  center  sills  consist 
of  two  6-in.  I-beams,  while  the  side  sills  are  5-in.  x  3-in.  steel 
angles ;  each  of  these  sill  members  extends  in  one  piece  from 
platform  end  sill  to  platform  end  sill.  This  under-frame  con- 
struction is  in  reality  very  light,  and  would  in  itself  be  far  from 
sufficient  to  carry  even  the  weight  of  a  car  of  this  size ;  in  fact, 
the  frame  work  of  the  car  alone  is  not  self-supporting. 

The  actual  load-carrying  member  of  the  car  is  to  be  seen  in 
the  section  of  the  side  framing  beneath  the  special  belt  rail. 
This  member,  as  built  up,  serves  to  form  a  plate  girder  36  ins. 
in  height,  the  lower  member  of  which  is  the  3-in.  x  5-in.  angle 
side  sill,  and  the  upper  member  of  which  is  the  special  3^4-in. 
x  4-in.  bulb  angle,  which  serves  as  the  belt  rail.  The  web  is  of 
J^-in.  steel  plate,  having  been  applied  in  lengths  corresponding 
to  the  distances  between  the  single  side  posts  of  the  car;  here 
the  plates  are  joined  with  butt-strap  joints,  heavily  riveted  to 
the  single  posts.  The  plates  are  also  similarly  riveted  to  the 
double  posts,  as  indicated.  This  forms  a  girder  of  such  un- 
usual strength  that  no  truss  rods  beneath  the  car  are  required 
for  keeping  the  car  in  alignment,  and  it  is  used  to  carry  the 
entire  floor  load  of  the  car,  transferring  the  same  to  the  trucks 
through  the  special  body  bolsters.  The  novel  idea  of  placing 
the  upper  truss  member  outside  and  making  it  serve  also  as  the 
window  belt  rail  enables  the  upper  frame  posts  to  be  made 
continuous  from  the  lower  side  sills  to  the  top  plate. 

UNDERFRAMING 

The  underframing  construction  of  the  car  was,  of  course, 
greatly  simplified  by  the  absence  of  steps,  the  station  platforms 
in  the  subway  having  been  arranged,  in  conformity  to  elevated 
railway  practice,  on  levels  with  the  car  floors.  This  permitted 
the  side  sills  to  extend  to  the  end  sills,  which  are  located  adja- 
cent to  the  buffer  beams.  Thus  in  reality  no  special  construc- 
tion was  necessary  in  the  underframing  for  the  platform,  which 
extends  as  a  solid  member  throughout  the  length  of  the  car. 
The  car-body  end  sill  is  formed  of  a  6-in.  x  3^-in.  steel  angle, 
bent  to  radius  of  5^2  ft.,  to  conform  to  the  shape  of  the  buffer. 
It  is  secured  to  the  side  and  center  sills  of  the  underframe  by 
special  cast-steel  brackets,  as  shown  in  the  drawings,  and  in 
addition  by  a  heavy  steel  anti-telescoping  plate,  which  is 
strongly  riveted  to  the  under  sides  of  the  sill  members,  pro- 
ducing an  immensely  strong  frame-end  construction. 

A  construction  corresponding  to  that  of  a  body-end  sill  is  ap- 
plied in  the  form  of  two  4-in.  channels,  fitted  in  between  the 
longitudinal  sills,  and  heavily  riveted  by  means  of  corner 
brackets  of  3-in.  x  3-in.  angles,  as  shown  in  the  drawings. 
These  members  carry  the  end  bulkheads  of  the  car  between  the 
platform  and  interior.  They  are  faced  on  top  with  a  fire- 
proof ash  member,  to  which  the  malleable  iron  threshold  plate 
is  fastened.  Cross  members  of  steel  angles  are  also  riveted  be- 
tween the  longitudinal  sills  at  various  spacings  to  correspond 
with  usual  needle-beam  construction  of  wooden  cars ;  these, 
besides  stiffening  the  underframe,  assist  in  carrying  the  floor. 
The  buffer  beam  is  of  white  oak  bolted  to  the  platform  end  sill 
and  faced  with  a  ^8-in.  steel  plate,  as  shown  in  the  draft  rig- 
ging drawing. 

Other  important  features  of  the  steel  framing  construction 
are  to  be  seen  in  additional  drawings.  The  methods  of  fasten- 
ing provided  for  mounting  the  body-end  posts  and  vestibule 
posts  in  the  underframing  are  novel.  The  vestibule  posts  are 
set  in  and  riveted  fast  to  the  special  cast-steel  pocket  castings 
which  serve  to  join  the  side  and  end  sills  of  the  underframe, 
as  above  referred  to.  The  body-end  posts  are  similarly  secured 
in  place  hv  pressed-steel  brackets,  which,  when  riveted  up, 
furnish    enormously    strong    construction.    The    tieing  of 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


641 


these  posts  to  the  roof  framing  is  similarly  provided  for, 
as  shown. 

The  hody  bolster  is  made  up  of  two  rolled-steel  plates,  each 
•)4  in.  x  9  ins.,  shaped  as  shown  in  the  detailed  drawing  of  the 
draft-rigging  system.  The  top  and  bottom  members  are  ma- 
chined on  their  outer  ends,  so  as  to  fit  perfectly,  and  are  bolted 
together  at  their  ends  and  to  the  side  steel  of  the  car,  as  shown ; 
a  filler  casting  is  used  in  joining  the  ends  to  the  side  sill  of  the 
car.  The  filler  casting 
between  the  top  and 
bottom  members  of  the 
bolsters  is  of  malleable 
iron,  which  is  planed  on 
top,  bottom  and  end 
surfaces  so  as  to  per- 
fectly fit  the  bolster. 
This  casting  is  bolted 
to  the  bolster,  as  shown, 
the  four  vertical  bolts 
used  being  also  made 
use  of  to  secure  the 
center-bearing  plate  to 
the  lower  side  of  the 
bolster  frame.  The  body 
bolster,  filler  casting 
and  center  plate  arc 
drilled  for  a  2  3-32-in. 
king  bolt.  The  side  and 
center  bearings  pro- 
vided are  of  types 
which  are  in  general 
use,  the  side  bearings 
being  spaced  with  cen- 
ters 28^2  ins.  from  the 
king  bolt. 

SIDE  AND  ROOF 
FRAMING 

The  drawings  given 

of  the  car  framing  show 

the   principal  features 

of   the    side   and  end 

framing  of  the  car  and 

its  roof  construction.  The  window  posts,  which  form  a  part  of 
the  side-plate  girder  construction,  previously  referred  to,  extend 
up  and  are  riveted  to  the  steel  angle  side  plates,  which  extend 
from  end  bow  to  end  bow.  The  body-corner  posts  and  the  ves- 
tibule posts  are  also  rigidly  connected  to  the  side  plates  by  spe- 
cial steel  castings,  thus  forming  a  rigid  base  for  the  roof  frame. 

Idle  roof  frame  details  are  well  illustrated  in  an  accompany- 
ing photograph,  in  addition  to  the  drawings.  The  roof  is  built 
up  in  a  unit  of  a  series  of  malleable  iron  carlines,  each  attached 
to  the  side  plate  above  a  window  post,  and  all  tied  together  by 
the  longitudinal  purlins  to  which  they  are  riveted  by  special 
angle  brackets.  All  carlines  and  purlins  are  faced  w  ith  furrings 
of  fire-proof  ash,  and  also  similar  blocks  are  bolted  to  the  side 
plates,  upon  which  the  roof  covering  of  fire-proof  composite 
board  and  the  head-linings  are  fastened.  Special  forged 
brackets  are  also  provided  on  each  carline  to  carry  the  cleres- 
tory eaves  molding,  while  the  deck  plate  and  sills  are  of  fire- 
proof ash  pieces. 

DRAFT  DIGGING 
The  draft  rigging  for  the  steel  cars  involves  interesting  fea- 
tures, as  shown  in  the  accompanying  drawing.    The  arrange- 
ment of  apparatus  provides  for  new  improved  type  of  auto- 


matic coupler,  built  by  the  W.  T.  Van  Dorn  Company,  which  is 
the  standard  of  the  Interborough  Company.  The  coupler  head 
is  attached  to  the  draw-bar  through  the  Van  Dorn  standard 
type  of  spring  buffer  casting,  to  the  top  of  which  is  riveted  the 
main  draw-bar,  8  ins.  x  il/2  ins.  in  section.  Limitations  of  con- 
struction prevented  this  main  draw-bar  being  carried  through 
to  the  king  bolt,  so  that  a  special  form  of  auxiliary  bolster  con- 
struction was  necessary  to  permit  the  desired  radial  movement 


VIEW  TAKEN  FROM  PIT  BENEATH     ONE  OF  TliJi  STEEL  CARS,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  APPARATUS 


or  swing  for  the  coupler.  An  auxiliary  draw-bar,  8  ins.  x  2  ins. 
in  section,  is  carried  from  the  opening  in  the  main  body  bolster 
filler  casting  forward  a  distance  of  19  ins.,  where  it  ends  in  a 
special  type  of  auxiliary  bolster,  bolted  in  between  the  center 
sills,  as  shown.  This  auxiliary  draw-bar  is  forged  in  clevis 
shape,  into  which  the  end  of  the  main  draw-bar  is  secured  by 
an  auxiliary  king  bolt,  2^  ins.  in  diameter. 

This  provides  a  main  draw-liar  radius  of  6  ft.  1  in.,  while 
a  transverse  swing  movement  of  the  coupler  of  36  ins.  is  there- 
by secured.  The  weight  of  the  main  draw-liar  is  carried  by  a 
special  sector  plate  above  the  spring  buffer  casting,  which  as- 
sists in  taking  care  of  the  buffing  strains  from  the  draft  rig- 
ging. The  main  sector  plate  upon  which  the  draw-head  itself 
slides,  is  built  up  of  a  4-in.  angle,  curved  to  correspond  with 
the  movement  of  the  draw-head,  as  shown.  This  drawing  also 
shows  the  arrangement  of  the  safety  chain  and  anchor  rods, 
and  also  the  spring  buffer  devices  upon  the  anchor  rods  by 
which  shocks  upon  the  chains  will  be  transferred  to  the  sills. 
The  safety  chains  are  built  up  of  27g-in.  links  of  7y-in.  round 
iron. 

TRUCKS 

The  trucks  which  will  be  used  for  the  steel  cars  arc  identical 


642 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


4  j#" 


DETAILS  OF  THE  PLATFORM  CONSTRUCTION  AND  ARRANGEMENT  OF  DRAFT  RIGGING,  SHOWING  ALSO  THE  TYPE  OF 

BODY  BOLSTER  CONSTRUCTION  USED 


(  ICTOBER,  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  J<  )URNAL 


643 


with  those  previously  ordered  for  use  under  the  wooden  ears. 
The  type  of  truck  adopted  was  illustrated  and  described  in  the 
Aug.  15,  1903,  issue  of  the  Street  Railway  Journal,  in  which 
article  the  types  of  wheels  and  axles  to  be  used  were  referred 
1o.    As  may  be  seen  from  the  accompanying  photograph,  the 
truck  resembles  in  general  design  the  usual  standard  designs 
which  have  been  used  successfully  in  heavy  high-speed  electric 
railroading.   It  embraces  the  many  Master  Car  Builders'  stand- 
ards, which  tend  toward  conformity  to  the'  latest  steam  rail- 
road practice,  while  the  latest  improvements  as  dictated  by 
electric  railway  practice  are  incorporated.    A  special  design  of 
truck    bolster    and  spring 
plank   was   worked   out  to 
give  the  necessary  space  for 
motors. 

The  trucks  were  built  to 
the  designs  of  Mr.  Gibbs 
and  Mr.  Thompson,  of  the 
Interborough  Company,  by 
the  Baldwin  Locomotive 
Works,  Philadelphia,  the 
motor  trucks  being  designed 
in  part  for  the  Westing- 
house  No.  86  railway  mo- 
tors, and  the  remainder  for 
the  General  Electric  No.  69 
railway  motors.  They  are 
all  arranged  for  nose  sus- 
pension. The  wheels  and 
axles  were  furnished  by  the 

Standard  Steel  Works,  the  wheels  being  of  the  steel-tired  type, 
with  2^-in.  steel  tires  held  in  place  by  retaining  rings.-  The 
bearings  are  of  Damascus  bronze,  while  the  brake-shoes  are 
the  "Diamond  S"  type,  made  by  the  American  Brake  Shoe  & 
Foundry  Company.  The  following  specifications  for  both  the 
motor  and  the  trail  trucks  indicate  their  general  dimensions 
and  important  features : 

MOTOR  TRUCKS 

Gage  of  track   4  ft.  8Y2  ins. 

Distance  between  backs  of  wheel  flanges  4  ft.  5-3-4  ins. 

Height  of  truck  center  plate  above  rail,  car  body  loaded 

■with  15,000  lbs  30  ins. 

Height  of  truck  side  bearings  above  rail,  car  body  loaded 

with  15,000  lbs  34  ins. 

Wheel  base   6  ft.  8  ins. 

Weight  of  truck  without  motors  12,500  !bs. 

Weight  on  center  plate  with  car  body  loaded  .  .  .  .About  27,000  lbs. 

Side  frames,  wrought-iron  forged  2*4  ins.  x  4  ins. 

End  frames,  steel  channel   5  ins. — 11.5  lbs.  per  ft. 

Pedestals,  wrought-iron  forged   

Center  transom,  steel  channel   10  ins. — 30  lbs.  per  ft. 

Truck  bolster,  cast  steel   

Equalizing  bars,  wrought  iron   1 Y\  ins-  x  6*4  ins. 

Center  plate,  cast  steel  

Spring  plank,  wrought  iron   1  in.  x  3  ins. 

Bolster  springs,  double  coil,  outside  dimensions. 4^  ins.  x  yY2  ins. 

Equalizing  spring,  duplicate  elliptic,  length   .30  ins. 

Brakes,  inside  hung  

Wheels,  cast-steel  spoke  center,  steel  tired,  diameter  3334  ins. 

Tires,  tread  M.  C.  B.  standard  254  ins.  x  5%  ins. 

Axles,  diameter  at  center  6^2  ins. 

Axles,  diameter  at  gear  seat   7  13-16  ins. 

Axles,  diameter  at  wheel  seat  7H  ins- 
Journals   5  ins-  x  9  ins. 

Journal  boxes,  M.  C.  B.  type,  of  malleable  iron,  bearings, 

M.  C.  B.  type  

Motor  equipment,  designed  for  two  Westinghouse  No.  86  motors.  .  . 
Suspension,  nose  types  

TRUCK  TRAILERS 

Height  of  center  plate  above  rail,  car  body  loaded  30  ins. 

Height  of  side  bearings  above  rail,  car  body  loaded  30  ins. 

Wheel  base   5  ft-  6  ins. 


1  Yz  111s.  x  3  ins. 


Side  and  end  frames,  wrought  iron  

Pedestals,  wrought  iron  

Center  transom,  wrought  iron   

Truck  bolster,  wood  and  iron  9-ins.  x  12  ins. 

Center  plate,  cast  steel   

Equalizing  bars,  wrought  iron  1  in.  x  5  ins. 

Spring  plank,  white  oak  '.  2Y2  ins.  12  ins. 

Bolster  springs  to  be  triple  elliptic,  width  over  bands. ...  11*4  ins. 

Length  of  bands  to  be  .-.  33.34  >ns. 

Length  between  centers    32  ins. 

Equalizing  springs,  double  coil,  diameter  6  ins  x  354  ins. 

Wheels,  spoke  center,  steel  tired,  diameter  3  ins. 

Tires,  tread  M.  C.  B.  standard  2Y2  ins.  x  sY\  ins. 

Axles,  diameter  at  center   4^  ins. 


THE  TYPE  OF  TRUCK  USED  UNDER  THE  SUBWAY  CARS 


Axles,  diameter  at  wheel  seat  534  ins. 

Journals,  with  end  ^collars,  bearings.  .4Y  ins.  diameter  x8  ins.  long- 
Journal  boxes,  M.  C.  B.  type,  of  malleable  iron,  beraings, 

M.  C.  B.  type   .*  

FLOORING 

Another  drawing  shows  the  method  of  flooring  construction 
which  is  used.  The  entire  underf  ranting  is  covered  with  a 
sheathing  of  No.  22  galvanized  corrugated  sheet  iron,  which  is 
laid  across  the  longitudinal  sills  and  secured  to  the  floor  angles, 
which  are  especially  arranged  for  this  purpose  by  rivets  and 
special  clips  of  i-in.  band  iron,  as  shown  in  the  drawing.  This 
corrugated  sheathing  serves  as  a  base  upon  which  the  "Mono- 
lith" flooring  is  laid.  The  Monolith  flooring  is  a  cement-like 
material,  made  up  in  the  following  proportions: 

5J4  gallons  monolith. 

34  lb.  raw  sienna. 

1-5  lb.  burnt  umber. 

1  j  lb.  Tuscan  red. 

3734  lbs.  Monolith  cement. 

These  constituents  are  mixed  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of 
hardwood  sawdust  to  give  the  material  the  consistency  of  mor- 
tar, and  it  is  spread  evenly  upon  the  corrugated  flooring  and 
finished  smooth  on  top.  The  special  clips  used  in  riveting  the 
flooring  assist  in  securing  the  monolith  to  the  corrugated  metal 
and  holding  it  in  place. 

When  finished,  hardwood  strips  are  laid  upon  the  floor  along 
the  aisles  of  the  car  to  provide  the  necessary  wearing  surface. 
Tt  was  found  that  these  strips  could  be  easily  fastened  to  the 
Monolith  cement  by  wood  screws  after  first  boring  small  lead- 
ing holes,  without  cracking  it.  The  floors  of  the  platform  are 
of  j4-in-  steel  plate  riveted  to  the  platform  frame.  They  arc 
covered  with  pebbled  rubber  matting,  which  is  cemented  upon 
the  steel  plate.  Special  threshold  metal  treads  arc  provided  at 
the  passageways  between  car  and  platform.  Those  at  the  side 
and  end  vestibule  door  openings  are  the  well-known  safety 


644 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


(Vol.  XXIV.     No.  ig. 


freads  of  the  American  Mason  Safety  Tread  Company,  Bos- 
ton, Mass. 

FINISH 

The  outside  finish  of  the  car  is  applied  by  the  steel  plate  of 
the  side-frame  girder  construction,  upon  which  the  paint  finish 
of  Tuscan  red  is  applied.  Similar  sheathing  of  special  rolled 
steel  plate  is  applied  to  the  car  ends  and  platform  framing,  pre- 


senting a  smoothly  finished  surface,  which  is  exceedingly  at- 
tractive. The  window  posts  are  covered  with  extruded  metal, 
of  which  the  inside  and  outside  window  stops  and  also  the 
eaves  molding  are  formed,  as  shown  in  the  following  engrav- 
ings of  window  construction.  The  roof  covering  is  of  fire- 
proofed  composite  board,  fastened  to  the  roof  framing  and 
furring,  as  above  stated,  and,  after  receiving  a  heavy  coat  of 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


645 


white  lead,  is  covered  with  No.  6  cotton  duck.  The  fire-proofed 
board,  which  is  used  for  the  roof  sheathing,  as  well  as  for 
sheathing  the  sides  of  the  car  within  the  outside  plate  finish, 
is  the  well-known  "transite"  (asbestos)  board,  made  by  the 
H.  W.  Johns-Manville  Company,  New  York.  It  is  applied  in  the 
74-in.  thickness,  and  is  heavily  painted  with  Sterling  varnish. 

The  window  construction  is  well  shown  in  accompanying 
detail  drawings,  and  is  worthy  of  careful  study  on  account  of 
the  interesting  method  of  almost  exclusive  use  of  metal.  The 
side  windows  have  double  sash,  as  shown,  of  mahogany,  the 
lower  being  stationary  and  the  upper  arranged  to  drop.  Alumi- 
num ratchet  racks  are  provided,  in  which  the  "window  locks 


The  style  of  deck  construction,  arrangement  of  deck  win- 
dows and  finish  inside  are  shown  in  a  transverse  drawing  of 
the  roof.  This  shows  also  the  arrangement  of  hand  rail,  which 
is  of  Ij^-in.  aluminum  tubing,  for  carrying  the  hand  straps. 
This  rail  is  carried  upon  aluminum  brackets  fastened  to  the 
deck,  as  shown,  and  is  equipped  with  thirty-eight  hand  straps. 
In  accordance  with  the  latest  practice  in  lighting,  three  rows  of 
lamps  are  used,  one  of  six  lamps  under  the  upper  roof,  and  the 
others,  each  having  ten  lamps,  under  the  side  roofs,  as  shown ; 
this  drawing  also  indicates  the  arrangements  of  wiring  mold- 
ing for  the  light  wiring.  These  moldings  are  also  of  aluminum, 
thus  blending  with  the  general  interior  finish  of  the  car.  The 


THE  SPECIAL  DESIGN  OF  DOOR-OPERATING  MECHANISM  FOR  OPENING  AND  CLOSING  THE  SIDE  DOORS  FROM  OUTSIDE  OF 

THE  END  DOORS 


may  be  caught  in  any  position ;  the  ratchet  provision  allows  the 
upper  sash  to  be  closed  without  manipulation  of  the  window 
catch  or  lock,  while  in  lowering,  the  catch  must  be  opened. 
The  arrangement  of  sash,  stops  and  curtain  fixtures  and  run- 
ways are  well  shown  in  the  drawings.  Also  details  of  the  com- 
pleted post  construction  and  the  application  of  the  "transite" 
wainscoting  appear  in  the  lower  half. 

The  interior  finish  of  the  car  corresponds  to  the  general  con- 
struction in  the  use  of  metal,  sheet  aluminum  having  been 
adopted.  The  wainscoting  surface  between  longitudinal  seats, 
all  the  end  interior  panels  and  the  window  panels  are  covered 
with  No.  14  gage  sheet  aluminur..,  jeing  fastened  in  place  over 
the  inner  sheathings  of  the  "transite"  (asbestos)  board  by 
nickel-plated  round-head  screws ;  the  headlinings  are  also  simi- 
larly faced  with  No.  14  sheet  aluminum.  All  moldings  used 
throughout  the  car  for  finished  are  of  aluminum,  pressed  to 
shape,  as  shown  in  the  drawings.  The  result  is  a  very  light  and 
cheerful  interior  appearance,  and  from  a  practical  standpoint, 
it  is  a  finish  that  will  remain  bright  and  clean  with  a  minimum 
of  deterioration. 


deck  sashes  are  operated  by  an  approved  mechanical  operating 
device  by  which  various  degrees  of  opening  may  be  obtained 
with  facility. 

PLATFORM  DETAILS 
A  large  detail  drawing  is  reproduced  to  show  the  interesting 
details  of  platform  construction  upon  these  cars.  The  plat- 
forms, vestibules  and  door  mechanisms  embody  the  improve- 
ments which  were  originated  and  patented  by  Mr.  Gibbs.  As  may 
be  noted,  the  platforms  themselves  are  not  equipped  with  gates, 
but  with  doors  arranged  to  slide  into  pockets  in  the  side  fram- 
ing, thereby  giving  up  the  entire  platform  to  the  passengers. 
These  doors  are  closed  and  opened  by  an  overhead  lever  sys- 
tem. The  sliding  doors  of  the  motor  cars  may  be  partly  opened 
and  secured  in  that  position  by  a  bar,  and  thus  serve  as  an  arm 
rest  for  the  motorman  when  used  as  the  motorman's  com- 
partment. 

The  detail  drawing  shows  the  method  of  hanging  the  sliding 
side  doors.  They  are  supported  upon  brass  sheaves  when  anti- 
friction rollers  which  run  upon  Coburn  door  tracks.  They 
slide  back  into  a  compartment  in  the  side  framing,  which  is  en- 


646 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


 i  


VIEWS  OF  THE  MOTORMAN'S  CONTROL  APPARATUS  AND  THE  CAR  SWITCHBOARD 
LOCATED    UPON  THE  PLATFORM 


closed  by  the  first  outside  window  and  an  inside  window  for  protection  to  passengers. 
Rubber  door  steps  of  tubular  shape  are  provided  to  cushion  the  shock  of  closing  the  door 
and,  furthermore,  to  prevent  catching  of  clothing  of  passengers  when  the  door  is  closed. 

The  end  doors  between  vestibules  and  bodies  of  cars  are  of  the  double  type,  hung  on 
nickel-plated  sheaves  with  hard  fibre  anti-friction  rollers,  and  also  provided  with  the 
Coburn  patent  steel  tracks  enclosed  over  the  doors.  These  doors  are  provided  with 
rubber  stop  cushions,  and  like  the  side  doors,  with  anti-rattlers  consisting  of  rubber  rolls. 
This  construction  is  well  illustrated  in  the  drawings.  These  end  doors  are  also  provided 
with  horizontal  curtains,  for  use  when  the  vestibule  is  occupied  by  the  motorman ;  the 
curtains  are  automatically  raised  or  lowered  as  the  door  is  opened  or  closed,  to  shut  the 
light  away  from  the  motorman.  Another  interesting  attachment  is  the  improved  handle 
on  the  sliding  door.  This  door  is  made  to  latch  so  that  it  cannot  slide  open  with  the 
swaying  of  the  car,  but  the  handle  is  so  constructed  that  when  pressure  is  applied  upon 
it  to  open  the  door  the  same  movement  will  unlatch  it. 

The  details  of  the  Gibbs  side  vestibule  door  operating  device  are  shown  in  a  separate 


HALF  CROSS-SECTION  OF  CAR  ROOF,  SHOWING  CONSTRUCTION  AND 
INTERIOR  FINISH 


October  8,  1004  ] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


647 


drawing.  The  handle  outside  the  vestihule  is  arranged 
to  operate  like  those  upon  the  present  elevated  cars; 
it  serves  to  give  movement  to  the  mechanism  within 
through  the  bell  crank  above,  from  which  another  bell  crank 
is  operated,  as  shown.  The  movement  of  the  cross-wise  door- 
opening  arm  is  provided  with  an  interesting  shifting  anti- 
friction pivot,  to  facilitate  the  opening.  The  door  itself  is  pro- 
vided with  a  spring  latch  to  hold  it  shut,  which,  however,  is 
automatically  unlatched  by  the  opening  arm  in  the  movement 
of  opening  the  door.  These  door  opening  mechanisms,  as  well 
as  the  pantagraph  safety  gates,  were  built  for  these  cars  by 
the  Pitt  Car  Gate  Company,  New'  York. 

MOTORMAN'S  CAB 
A  novel  feature  in  the  construction  of  these  cars  is  the  pro- 
vision for  the  motorman's  compartment  and  vestibule,  which 
differs  essentially  from  anything  used  heretofore.    The  cab  is 


handles,  fuses  and  other  apparatus.  The  switchboard  proper 
consists  of  a  slab  of  slate,  1^4  ins.  thick  and  17  ins.  x  65  ins.  in 
size.  Its  equipment  embraces  all  the  fuses  and  switches  for 
the  lighting  and  heater  circuits,  the  switch  controlling  the 
Christensen  air  compressor,  the  main  power-circuit  switch 
(single  pole),  the  limit  magnet  for  the  type  M  control  system, 
and  a  10-point  control  cut-out  switch  for  disconnecting  the 
control  system  upon  the  car. 

INSIDE  DETAILS 
The  concluding  drawings  illustrate  the  methods  of  construc- 
tion adopted  by  the  longitudinal  and  cross  seats.  As  before 
stated,  the  frames  of  these  seats  will  all  be  of  metal,  thus  mak- 
ing the  equipment  the  extreme  of  non-combustibility.  The 
styles  of  cushions  used  correspond  to  those  in  general  use,  and 
the  seating  arrangements  are  similar  to  the  elevated  cars,  but 
as  the  subway  coaches  are  longer,  two  additional  seats  are 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  ALL-METAL  CONSTRUCTION  FOR    THE  CENTER  CROSS-SEATS  OF  I  HE  CAR 


arranged  to  be  located  on  the  platform,  so  that  no  space  within 
the  car  is  required ;  at  the  same  time  the  entire  platform  space 
is  available  for  ingress  and  egress  except  that  on  the  front 
platform  of  the  first  car,  when  occupied  by  the  motorman,  on 
which  the  passengers  would  not  be  allowed  in  any  case.  The 
side  of  the  cab  is  formed  by  a  door,  which  can  be  placed  in  any 
one  of  three  positions.  When  in  its  mid  position,  it  encloses 
a  part  of  the  platform  so  as  to  furnish  a  cab  for  the  motorman 
at  one  side,  but  when  swung  parallel  to  the  end  sills  it  encloses 
the  entire  end  of  the  platform,  and  this  would  be  its  position  on 
the  rear  platform  of  the  rear  car.  The  third  position  is  when 
it  is  swung  around  to  an  arc  of  180  degs.,  when  it  can  be  locked 
in  position  against  the  corner  vestibule  post  enclosing  the  mas- 
ter controller.  This  would  be  its  position  on  all  platforms, 
except  on  the  front  of  the  front  car  or  the  rear  of  the  rear  car 
of  the  train. 

A  novel  arrangement  of  car  switchboard  has  been  provided 
for,  for  the  control  of  all  electrical  circuits  upon  each  car.  The 
details  of  construction  and  arrangement  of  apparatus  upon  one 
of  these  boards  are  shown  by  an  accompanying  photograph. 
It  is  located  in  one  of  the  end  panels  of  the  car,  the  compart- 
ment door  opening  out  toward  the  platform.  The  door  is  of 
concaved  outline,  to  provide  sufficient  room  for  the  switch 


gained  on  each  end.  The  seats  are  all  finished  in  canvas- 
backed,  fire-proofed  rattan.  Stationary  cross-wise  seats  are 
provided  after  the  Manhattan  pattern  at  the  center  of  the  car. 
The  longitudinal  seats  are  17^4  ins.  deep.  The  space  between 
the  longitudinal  seats  is  4  ft.  5  ins.,  giving  a  much  greater 
clearance  than  the  Manhattan  type. 

The  windows,  in  having  two  sashes — the  lower  one  being 
stationary,  while  the  upper  one  is  a  drop  sash — are  in  reverse 
of  the  ordinary  practice,  but  this  is  desirable  in  subway  opera- 
tion to  insure  safety  to  the  passengers.  The  side  windows  in 
the  body  of  the  car,  also  the  end  windows  and  end  doors,  are 
provided  with  roll  shades  with  pinch-handle  fixtures.  The  floor 
covering  of  hard  maple  strips,  securely  fastened  to  the  floor 
with  oval-head  brass  screws,  provides  a  dry,  clean  floor  for  all 
conditions  of  weather. 

EQUIPMENT 

As  noted  in  former  articles  upon  the  rolling  stock  equip- 
ment of  the  Interborough  Company,  the  motor-control  system 
which  has  been  adopted  is  the  Sprague-General  Electric  type 
described  in  the  March  14,  1903,  issue  of  this  journal.  The 
Christensen  air  compressor  has  been  adopted  as  standard  for 
the  subway  cars,  while  the  Westinghouse  system  of  air  brakes 
is  used. 


648 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV 


No.  15. 


THE  BLOCK  SIGNAL  AND  INTERLOCKING  SYSTEMS  OF  THE 
SUBWAY  DIVISION  OF  THE  INTERBOROUGH 
RAPID  TRANSIT  COMPANY 


EARLY  in  the  development  of  plans  for  the  subway  rapid 
transit  system  in  New  York  City,  it  was  foreseen  that 
the  efficiency  of  operation  of  a  road  with  so  heavy  a 
traffic  as  is  expected  would  depend  largely  upon  the  complete- 
ness, of  the  block  signaling  and  interlocking  systems  which 
should  be  adopted  for  facilitating  the  spacing  of  trains  and  the 
protection  of  train  movements.  The  consideration  of  provision 
of  signals  at  once  appeared  to  lie  rivaled  in  importance  only  by 
that  of  the  provision  of  the  proper  motive  power.  Not  only 
for  the  safety  of  passengers,  but  also  for  facilitating  the  opera- 
tion under  such  heavy  and  exacting  schedules,  it  was  decided 
t<>  install  the  most  complete  and  effective  signaling  system 
which  was  to  lie  had. 

Early  in  1901,  a  careful  study  of  available  systems  of  signal- 


<tZD: 


matic  block  and  interlocking  system  promised  the  most  satis- 
factory results  if  used  under  such  exacting  and  severe  condi- 
tions of  operation  as  are  to  be  experienced  in  the  subway.  The 
electro-pneumatic  system  has  been  thoroughly  tested  and  tried, 
and  found  reliable  under  all  conditions  of  weather  and  service. 
By  it  power  can  be  readily  conducted  in  small  pipes  in  any 
quantity  and  to  any  distance,  and  utilized  in  compact  apparatus 
in  the  most  restricted  spaces.  The  movements  can  be  made 
with  the  greatest  promptness  and  certainty,  and  interconnected 
for  the  most  complicated  situations  to  provide  absolute  safety 
of  train  movement. 

One  of  the  most  important  features  of  the  considerations  in 
favor  of  the  electro-pneumatic  system  is,  moreover,  that  all 
essential  details  of  the  system  have  been  worked  out  in  years 
of  practical  operation  on  the  important  trunk  lines  of  steam 
railroads,  so  that  its  reliability  and  efficiency  were  beyond  ques- 
tion. It  has  rendered  perfect  service  under  some  of  the  most 
difficult  conditions  that  are  to  be  found  in  railroad  operation; 

— :<q 


Block  Section 


1 


'A"  Block  System,  Without  Overlaps. 


-<CZT 


c 


:<LZ3: 


Overlup 
3201)' 


"  B"  Block  System,  With  Overlaps. 
The  Block  Section  Equal  to  Two  Overlaps  and  a  Block  Section. 


11L 


Orn-lny 


Overt,,, 


"C"  Block  System,  With  Overlaps. 
The  Block  Section  Equal  to  Two  Overlaps.        •  "A"  "B"  "C" 

Distance  Between  Signals    KiOo'  1200*  sot)' 
"  »       Trains     3200'   3200'  2100' 

Headway  at  20  M.  P.  H.      %  sec.    00  see.    78  sec. 

DIAGRAM  (IF  THE  THREE  PRINCIPAL  METHODS  OF  BLOCK  SIGNALING,  INDICATING  THE  USE  OF  OVERLAPS 


ing  and  interlocking  signaling  was  instituted  in  order  to  de- 
velop a  system  for  the  subway  which  should  be  especially 
adapted  to  the  conditions  of  operation  and  fulfil  the  particular 
requirements  met  in  the  subway.  The  problem  involved  three 
prime  considerations : 

First,  safety  and  reliability. 

Second,  greater  capacity  of  the  line  consistent  with  safety 
and  reliability. 

Third,  facility  of  operation  under  necessarily  restricted  yard 
and  track  conditions. 

In  order  to  obtain  the  above  desiderata,  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  question  of  safety  of  train  movement,  it  was  de- 
cided to  install  a  complete  automatic  block-signaling  system 
for  the  high-speed  express  lines  in  the  subway,  block  operation 
for  all  obscure  points  on  the  low-speed  routes,  and  to  operate 
all  switches,  both  for  line  movement  and  in  yards,  by  power 
from  central  points,  through  interlocking  plants.  This  neces- 
sarily involved  the  interconnection  of  the  block  and  switch 
movements  at  many  locations  and  made  the  adoption  of  the 
most  flexible  and  compact  plans  essential. 

The  study  of  modern  signaling  and  methods  of  protecting 
train  movements  indicated  that  the  Westinghouse  electro-pneu- 


at  such  terminals  as  those  at  Jersey  City,  Philadelphia  and 
Pittsburg,  upon  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  at  the  terminal 
stations  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  elsewhere,  this  system  has  oper- 
ated successfully  for  many  years  in  most  complicated  track  and 
switching  conditions  that  can  be  imagined. 

This  system  has  also  been  applied  to  heavy  electric  railway 
service  with  marked  success.  It  has  been  in  use  upon  the  Bos- 
ton Elevated  Railway  system  since  its  opening  to  the  public, 
this  being  the  first  electric  railway  system  to  adopt  a  complete 
system  of  block  signaling.  In  a  more  recent  installation  of 
block  signaling  which  has  been  made  upon  the  North  Shore 
Road,  an  important  third-rail  electric  system  terminating  at 
San  Francisco,  Cal.,  a  system  of  electrically  operated  signals 
has  been  installed  and  has  been  in  operation  for  nearly  a  year, 
which  embodies  the  essential  features  of  track  circuits  and 
signal  control  involved  in  the  electro-pneumatic  system. 

TRAFFIC  CONDITIONS 

The  New  York  subway  operation  as  proposed  contemplated 
traffic  of  unprecedented  density  and  consequent  magnitude  of 
propulsion  currents  employed,  and  experience  with  existing 
track-circuit  control  systems  led  to  the  conclusion  that  some 
modification  in  apparatus  was  essential  to  prevent  derange-- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


ment,  which  might  occasion  traffic  delays.  On  account  of  this 
consideration,  and  others,  the  application  of  the  signaling  sys- 
tem to  the  subway  conditions  has  evolved  an  elaboration  of  de- 
tail not  before  attempted  upon  any  railway  line  of  similar 
length,  and  it  is  believed  that  the  contract  for  this  installation 
is  the  largest  single  order  ever  given  to  a  signal  manufacturing- 
company. 

As  elsewhere  noted,  the  proposed  operation  contemplates 
two  tracks  loaded  with  local  trains  at  one-minute  intervals, 
and  two  tracks  with  eight-car  express 
trains  at  two-minute  intervals,  the 
latter  class  of  trains  requiring  at 
times  as  much  as  2000  hp  for  each 
train  in  motion.  It  is  readily  seen, 
then,  that  combinations  of  trains  in 
motion  may  at  certain  times  occur 
which  will  throw  enormous  demands 
for  power  upon  a  given  section  of  the 
road.  The  electricity  conveying  this 
power  flows  back  through  the  track 
rails  to  the  power  station,  and  in  so 
doing  is  subject  to  a  "drop"  or  loss  in 
the  rails  which  varies  in  amount  ac- 
cording to  the  power  demands.  This 
causes  disturbances  in  the  signal- 
track  circuit  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  "drop,"  and  it  was  believed 
that  under  the  extreme  condition 
above  mentioned  the  ordinary  form 
of  track  circuit  might  prove  unre- 
liable and  cause  delay  in  traffic. 

A  solution  of  the  difficulty  was 
suggested,  consisting  in  the  employ- 
ment of  a  current  in  the  signal-track 
circuit  which  would  have  such  char- 
acteristic differences  from  that  used 
to  propel  the  trains  as  would  operate 
selectively  upon  an  apparatus  which 
would  in  turn  control  the  signal.  Al- 
ternating current  supplied  this  want 
on  account  of  its  inductive  properties, 
and  was  adopted,  after  a  demonstra- 
tion of  its  practicability  under  similar 
conditions  on  another  electric  rail- 
way. 

Aside  from  the  above  modification, 
the  system  follows  the  general  lines 
of  that  which  was  worked  out  for 
the  Boston  Elevated  Railroad,  the 
first  electric  railway  operating  under 

heavy  traffic  conditions,  which  adopted  a  complete  automatic 
block-signal  system  with  track-circuit  control,  and  in  which  one 
of  the  track  rails  is  devoted  to  the  signal-control  system  and 
the  other  to  the  propulsion-current  return.  The  use  of  the 
alternating-current  track  circuits  involved  the  adaptation  of 
specially  designed  alternating-current  relays,  which  should  in 
turn  control  the  signal  circuits,  and  at  the  same  time  be  en- 
tirely unaffected  by  direct-current  disturbances.  The  system 
designed,  it  is  thought,  provides  for  all  possible  disturbing  con- 
ditions and  will  be  representative  of  the  latest  and  best  prac- 
tice in  railway  signaling. 

THE  SYSTEM  OF  OVERLAPS 
After  a  decision  was  reached  as  to  the  system  to  be  em- 
ployed, the  arrangement  of  the  block  sections  was  considered 


from  the  standpoint  of  maximum  safety  and  maximum  traffic 
capacity,  as  it  was  realized  that  the  rapidly  increasing  traffic  of 
Greater  New  York  would  almost  at  once  tax  the  capacity  of  the 
line  to  its  utmost. 

The  usual  method  of  installing  automatic  block  signals  in 
the  United  States  is  to  provide  home  and  distant  signals  with 
the  block  sections  extending  from  home  signal  to  home  signal ; 
that  is,  the  block  sections  end  at  the  home  signals  and  do  not 
overlap  each  other.   The  telegraph  block  system,  the  controlled- 


FRONT  VIEW  OF  A  TYPICAL  BLOCK  SIGNAL  IN  THE  SUBWAY,  SHOWING  LIGHTS, 
POSITION  INDICATORS,  INSTRUMENT  CASE  UPON  THE  POST 
IN  ADVANCE,  AND  ALSO  THE  TRACK  TRAIN  STOP 

manual  system  and  the  English  block  system,  however,  all  em- 
ploy overlaps.  Without  the  overlap,  a  train  in  passing  from 
one  block  section  to  the  other  will  clear  the  home  signals  for 
the  section  in  the  rear,  as  soon  as  the  rear  of  the  train  has 
passed  the  home  signal  of  the  block  in  which  it  is  moving.  It 
is  thus  possible  for  a  train  to  stop  within  the  block  ami  within 
a  few  feet  of  this  home  signal.  If  then  a  following  train 
should  for  any  reason  overrun  this  home  signal,  a  collision 
would  result.  With  the  overlap  system,  however,  a  train  may 
stop  at  any  point  in  a  block  section  and  still  have  the  home 
signal  which  protects  it,  at  a  safe  stopping  distance  in  the  rear 
of  the  train. 

Conservative  signaling  is  all  in  favor  of  the  overlap,  on  ac- 
count of  the  safety  factor  in  case  the  signal  is  accidentally 


1 


6go 

overrun.  Another  consideration  was  the  use  of  automatic  train 
stops.  These  stops,  which  act  by  applying  the  air  brakes  auto- 
matically upon  a  train  attempting  to  run  past  it,  are  placed  at 
the  home  signals,  and  it  is  thus  essential  that  a  stopping  dis- 
tance should  be  afforded  in  advance  of  the  home  signal  to  pro- 
vide for  stopping  the  train  to  which  the  brake  had  been  applied 
by  the  automatic  stop. 

The  arrangement  of  overlap  sections,  as  ordinarily  used,  in- 
creases the  length  of  block  sections  by  the  length  of  the  over- 
lap, so  that,  as  the  length  of  the  section  fixed  the  minimum 
spacing  of  trains,  it  was  imperative  to  make  the  blocks  as  short 
as  consistent  with  safety  in  order  not  to  cut  down  the  carrying 
capacity  of  the  railway.  This  led  to  a  study  of  the  special 
problem  presented  by  subway  signaling  and  a  development  of  a 
blocking  system  upon  lines  which  it  is  believed  are  distinctly 
in  advance  of  anything  heretofore  done  in  this  direction. 

Block  section  lengths  are  governed  by  speed  and  interval 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 

of  the  speeds,  braking  efforts  and  profile  of  the  road  were 
then  used  to  determine  at  each  and  every  point  on  the  line  the 
minimum  allowable  distance  between  trains,  so  that  the  train 
in  the  rear  could  be  stopped  by  the  automatic  application  of 
the  brakes  before  reaching  a  train  which  might  be  standing  at 
a  signal  in  advance ;  in  other  words,  the  length  of  the  overlap 
section  was  determined  by  the  local  conditions  at  each  point. 

In  order  to  provide  for  adverse  conditions,  the  actual  braking 
distances  were  increased  by  50  per  cent — for  example,  the 
braking  distance  of  a  train  moving  35  miles  an  hour  is  465  ft. ; 
this  would  be  increased  50  per  cent  and  the  overlap  made  not 
less  than  697  ft.  With  this  length  of  overlap  home  signals 
could  be  located  697  ft.  apart,  and  the  block  section  length 
would  be  double  this,  or  1394  ft.  The  average  length  of  over- 
laps, as  laid  out,  is  about  800  ft.,  and  the  average  length  of 
block  sections  double  this,  or  about  1600  ft. 

The  protection  provided  by  this  unique  arrangement  of  sig- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


.<      1  -:   I  i 


Stop  Dowu 


Stop  Dp 


~  n<l  Train 


Minimum  Distance  Train  Mopped 


Block  Section  Length 
 1  — 


Overlap  Length 


^      1  M  Train  [ 


3 


_<       i  11. 1  Train 


B 


Caution  Distance.  2  nd  Train  ui  der  Caation 


Signal  at  Danger 
2 


Signal  at  Ca'ution 
3 


Signal  at  Cle 
4 


MM  . 

 y      i ...  t   h 

ML 

>M 

c 

Clear  Distance.    2  nd 

Train  Running  with  Clear  Signal 

Ip!  nd  Trai 

-< — 

( ' 

DIAGRAM  OF  THE  OVERLAPPING    BLOCK-SIGNAL  SYSTEM    ADOPTED,  ILLUSTRATING  POSSIBLE   POSITIONS  OF  TRAINS 

RUNNING  UNDER  SAME 


between  trains.  Overlap  lengths  are  determined  by  the  dis- 
tance in  which  a  train  can  be  stopped  at  a  maximum  speed. 
Usually  the  block  section  length  is  the  distance  between  signals 
plus  the  overlap ;  but  where  maximum  traffic  capacity  is  de- 
sired the  block  section  length  can  be  reduced  to  the  length  of 
two  overlaps,  and  this  was  the  system  adopted  for  the  Inter- 
borough.  The  three  systems  of  blocking  trains,  with  and  with- 
out overlaps,  is  shown  in  the  diagram  on  page  648,  where  two 
successive  trains  are  shown  at  the  minimum  distances  apart 
for  "clear"  running  for  an  assumed  stopping  distance  of  800  ft. 
The  system  adopted  for  the  subway  is  shown  in  line  "C,"  giv- 
ing the  least  headway  of  the  three  methods. 

The  length  of  each  overlap  was  given  very  careful  considera- 
tion by  the  Interborough  Company,  who  instituted  a  series  of 
tests  of  the  braking  power  of  trains.  From  these  tests  and 
others  made  by  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Company,  curves 
were  computed  so  as  to  determine  the  distance  in  which  trains 
could  be  stopped  at  various  rates  of  speed  on  a  level  track, 
with  corrections  for  rising  and  falling  grades  to  2  per  cent. 
Speed  curves  were  then  plotted  for  the  trains  on  the  entire 
line,  showing  at  each  point  the  maximum  possible  speed,  with 
the  gear  ratio  of  the  motors  adopted.    A  joint  consideration 


nals  is  illustrated  in  the  above  diagram.  Three  positions  of 
train  are  shown : 

"A."  Minimum  Distance  Between  Trains — The  first  train 
has  just  passed  the  home  signal;  the  second  train  is  stopped 
by  the  home  signal  in  the  rear — if  this  train  had  failed  to  stop 
at  this  point,  the  automatic  stop  would  have  applied  the  air 
brake  and  the  train  would -have  had  the  overlap  distance  in 
which  to  stop  before  it  could  reach  the  rear  of  the  train  in  ad- 
vance. Therefore,  under  the  worst  conditions,  no  train  can 
get  closer  to  the  train  in  advance  than  the  length  of  the  overlap, 
and  this  is  in  all  cases  a  safe  stopping  distance. 

"B."  Caution  Distance  Between  Trains — The  first  train  in 
same  position  as  in  "A  ;"  the  second  train  at  the  third  home 
signal  in  the  rear.  The  latter  signal  can  be  passed  under  cau- 
tion. This  distance  between  trains  is  the  caution  distance,  and 
is  always  equal  to  the  length  of  the  block  section  or  two 
overlaps. 

"C."  Clear  Distance  Between  Trains — First  train  in  same 
position  as  in  "A ;"  second  train  at  the  fourth  home  signal  in 
the  rear.  At  this  point  both  the  home  and  distant  signals  are 
clear,  and  the  distance  between  the  trains  is  now  the  clear  run- 
ping  distance ;  that  is,  when  the  trains  are  one  block  section 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


651 


plus  an  overlap  apart,  they  can  move  under  clear  signal,  and 
this  distance  is  used  in  determining  the  running  schedule.  It 
will  be  noted  in  "C"  that  the  first  train  has  the  following  pro- 
tection :  Home  signals  1  and  2  in  stop  position,  together  with 
the  automatic  stop  at  signal  2  in  position  to  stop  a  train ;  dis- 
tant signal  1,  2  and  3  all  at  caution;  or,  in  other  words,  a  train 
that  has  stopped  is  always  protected  by  two  home  signals  in 
its  rear,  and  by  three  caution  signals,  in  addition  to  this  an 
automatic  stop  placed  at  a  safe  stopping  distance  in  the  rear  of 
the  train. 

The  application  of  continuous  train  speed  curves,  in  com- 
bination with  braking  curves,  to  the  line  profile  for  the  purpose 
of  regulating  safe  overlap  lengths,  is  believed  to  be  entirely 
novel  and  to  constitute  an  important  advance  in  signaling  lines 
for  dense  traffic.  This  system  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Gibbs, 
and  the  tests  for  its  adaptation  were  carried  out  under  his 
direction. 

DESCRIPTION    OF   BLOCK-SIGNALING  SYSTEM 
The  block-signaling  system  as  installed  consists  of  the  auto- 
matic overlapping  system  above  described,  applied  tu  the  two 


In  the  study  of  this  system  of  signaling,  it  is  important  to 
note  that,  in  accordance  with  the  latest  practice  in  block  sig- 
naling for  electric  railway  conditions,  one  of  the  running  rails 
of  each  track  is  insulated  from  the  propulsion-current  return 
system  and  is  devoted  to  the  signal  system.  Thus,  the  other 
rail  performs  the  novel  function  of  serving  simultaneously  as 
conductor  for  the  direct-current  return  for  the  propulsion  sys- 
tem, as  well  as  that  of  one  of  the  conductors  for  the  alter- 
nating current  track  circuit  for  controlling  the  signals.  In 
accordance  with  the  usual  manner  of  arranging  track  circuits 
in  block  signaling,  the  current  is  fed  into  each  block  at  the  end 
from  which  the  passing  train  leaves  it,  the  connections  to  the 
signal-control  apparatus  being  made  from  the  opposite,  or  en- 
tering, end  of  the  block,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  wiring 
diagram.  The  track  connections  at  the  signal  end  of  the  block 
lead  from  the  track  circuit  to  the  special  alternating-current 
signal-control  relay,  which  operates  secondary  connections  in 
the  various  circuits  of  the  signaling  system.  This  relay  ap- 
paratus by  means  of  its  moving  element,  operates  double  con- 
tacts, so  that  when  the  block  is  clear  and  current  is  thus  pass- 
ing through  it,  two  separate  circuits  are  closed;  one  of  these 


500  Vo/Ks  A  C  ( f>r/mory)  /Vws 


Common 

'  j'l'I'I'I'P  W'l'ltl'I'H 

■Storage  Softer//  ciror  tSc/)/e/y 

DIAGRAM  OF  THE  BLOCK  SIGNAL  AND  AUTOMATIC  TRACK  STOP  CIRCUITS  OF  THE  INTERBOROUGH  SIGNAL  SYSTEM 


middle  express  tracks  between  City  Hall  and  Ninety-Sixth 
Street,  a  distance  of  6l/2  miles,  or  13  miles  of  track;  and  to  the 
third  track  between  the  Ninety-Sixth  Street  junction  and  145th 
Street  on  the  west  side  branch,  a  distance  of  2l/2  miles.  This 
third  track,  which  is  placed  between  the  two  local  tracks,  and 
will  be  used  for  express  traffic  in  both  directions,  trains  mov- 
ing toward  the  City  Hall  in  the  morning  and  in  the  opposite 
direction  at  night,  will  be  equipped  with  a  special  single-track 
system  for  indicating  in  either  direction.  Also  the  two  tracks 
from  145th  Street  to  Dyckman  Street,  a  distance  of  2^4  miles, 
or  5  miles  of  track,  and  the  portion  of  the  tunnel  under  Central 
Park,  for  a  distance  of  1^2  miles,  or  3  miles  single  track,  will 
be  protected  by  signals.  The  total  length  of  track  to  be  pro- 
tected by  signals  is  273^2  miles.  The  local  tracks  of  the  system 
w  ill  also  be  provided  with  block  signals  at  important  places, 
Mich  as  curves,  stations,  cross-overs,  etc.,  and  at  the  Harlem 
River  tunnel. 

The  apparatus  used  differs  little  in  general  principle  from 
that  employed  in  earlier  automatic  systems  of  block  signaling, 
the  substitution  of  alternating  current  111  place  of  battery  cur- 
rent for  the  track  circuits,  and  the  necessary  alternating-cur- 
rent auxiliary  apparatus,  constituting  the  principal  change. 
In  detail  of  application  to  the  peculiar  requirements  under  sub- 
way conditions,  however,  the  system  embodies  many  radical 
features  which  are  of  unusual  interest  and  importance.  Great 
care  has  been  given  to  the  design,  construction  and  installation 
of  the  signal  apparatus,  so  as  to  insure  reliability  of  operation 
under  the  most  adverse  conditions,  and  to  provide  for  accessi- 
bility to  all  the  parts  for  convenience  in  maintenance.  From 
the  accompanying  diagram  presented  above  may  lie  seen  the 
general  arrangement  of  circuits  as  used  in  connection  with  the 
overlapping  feature  of  this  system. 


is  the  circuit  leading  to  the  automatic  train  stop  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  block  in  the  rear.  These  magnets,  which  are  thus 
operative  only  when  the  block  is  clear,  actuate  controlling  air 
valves  to  the  compressed-air  cylinders  operating  the  signals; 
the  effect  of  the  magnets  becoming  inoperative,  due  to  the 
presence  of  a  train  in  the  block  and  consequent  stoppage  of 
the  track-circuit  current,  is  to  set  the  signals  to  danger,  which 
makes  the  system  thus,  in  effect,  the  "normal  clear"  type. 

The  distant,  or  caution,  signals  are  operated  by  an  auxiliary 
circuit  as  the  result  of  the  setting  of  the  home  signal.  When 
the  home  signal  of  a  block  is  clear,  current  is  passing  through 
the  control  mechanism  of  the  distant  signal  of  the  preceding 
block,  thus  holding  it  at  clear  also.  When  the  home  signal  is 
thrown  to  danger,  the  current  flowing  in  the  auxiliary  circuit 
is  interrupted  by  a  special  circuit  breaker  in  the  block  signal, 
which  causes  the  distant  signal  to  indicate  caution. 

The  alternating  current  for  the  track  circuits  is  supplied  by 
special  high-voltage  alternating-current  mains  which  run  the 
entire  length  of  the  tunnel.  These  deliver  current  to  the  signal 
blocks  at  500  volts  potential,  from  which  it  is  transformed 
down  at  each  block  by  a  special  double-secondary  oil  trans- 
former, one  coil  of  which  feeds  the  track  circuit  and  the  other 
the  signal-lamp  circuit.  In  this  way  the  most  economical 
method  of  current  supply  is  secured,  while  at  the  same  time 
absolute  independence  of  the  various  circuits  is  obtained  by 
the  use  of  the  transformers.  The  various  magnet-control  ap- 
paratus, which  is  used  for  operating  the  controlling  air  valves 
for  the  signal  cylinders,  receive  current  from  a  storage-battery 
main  which  also  runs  the  length  of  the  subway.  This  main 
is  fed  by  several  sets  of  16-volt  storage  batteries  in  duplicate, 
which  batteries  are  located  at  the  various  interlocking  towers 
and  are  charged  by  motor  generators. 


652 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


WeRTED  PLAN 


PLAN 


DETAILS  OF  THE  NEW  TYPE  OF  TRACK  CIRCUIT  RELAY  USED.  \\ 
DESIGNED  TO  RESPOND  TO  ALTERNATING  CURRENT  ONLY 


THE  SIGNAL  MECHANISM 
lii  the  sketch  at  the  right  is  shown  in  perspective  the  ar- 
rangement til*  the  apparatus  installed  at  a  hlock-signal  sta- 
tion. As  may  be  seen  from  the  diagrammatic  arrange- 
ment of  this  apparatus  in  the  tunnel,  it  consists  of,  first,  the 
block  signal  and  then  a  transformer,  a  case  for  the  track-cir- 
cuit instruments  and  the  automatic  stop-valve  box.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  transformer  has  already  been  referred  to ;  it  takes 
current  from  the  500-volt  main  through  3-amp.  enclosed  fuses 
tu  the  primary  coil;  its  secondary  contains  two  coils,  one  of 
which  delivers  current  at  50  volts  for  use  in  the  4-cp  incandes- 
cent lamps  used  in  the  signal,  while  the  other  coil  delivers  cur- 
rent at  the  lower  voltage  of  10  volts  for  use  in  the  track  cir- 
cuit. As  may  be  noted,  the  leads  to  the  track  circuits  pass 
down  the  instrument  case  and  thence  to  the  rail  connections 
at  the  exit  end  of  the  block  ;  in  the  instrument  case  they  pass 
through  non-inductive  resistances  of  1  ohm,  which  serve  to 
prevent  any  magnitude  of  current  from  flowing  through  these 
circuits  in  case  of  abnormal  disturbing  conditions  in  the  pro- 
pulsion-return current,  and  also  prevent  an  excessive  alterna- 
ting current  passing  from  the  transformer  when  short-cir- 
cuited by  the  presence  of  a  train  in  the  track  circuit  which  it 
feeds. 

'Idie  details  of  the  special  transformer  for  supplying  the  cur- 
rent to  the  track  circuits  and  also  to  the  incandescent  lamps 
used  in  the  signals  are  simply  worked  out;  it  is  an  oil  trans- 
former of  the  usual  type  of  construction,  with  the  exception 
that  it  is  equipped  with  two  separate  secondary  windings.  The 
primary  winding  is  wound  for  the  500-volt  alternating  current 
which  is  supplied  from  the  mains  leading  through  the  tunnel, 
while  the  secondary  coil  operating  the  track  circuits  is  wound 
to  deliver  alternating  current  at  10  volts,  and  the  secondary 
coils  supplying  current  to  the  signal  lamps  deliver  current  at 
50  volts.  These  transformers  embody  the  latest  principles  of 
transformer  design  and  are  very  carefully  insulated.  A  special 
grade  of  transformer  oil  is  used,  and  the  test  voltage  to  which 


they  are  submitted  before  use  consists  of  a 
"break-down"  test  of  5000  volts  between  the 
primary  and  secondary  coils  and  the  core. 

The  special  alternating-current  relay  is  of  an 
entirely  new  design  and  introduces  an  interest- 
ing departure  from  the  preceding  methods  in 
signal  work.  Idle  principle  of  operation  in- 
volved is  that  of  the  action  of  an  alternating- 
current  field  upon  a  slotted  metallic  (non-mag- 
netic) vane,  which  is  caused  to  move  in  such 
a  way  as  to  close  the  two  circuit  contacts.  The 
alternating-current  field  is  supplied  by  a  magnet 
of  laminated  field-core  construction,  with  the 
field  coils  arranged  very  close  to  the  pole  faces. 
The  vane,  which  is  of  aluminum,  is  pivoted  in 
a  vertical  position  on  jewel  bearings,  being  held 
in  a  down  position  by  a  hair  spring.  The 
effect  (if  current  passing  through  the  field  cuils 
is  that  of  causing  the  aluminum  vane  In  rise  tu 
its  upper  position.  Its  general  construction  is 
well  shown  in  the  accompanying  drawing. 

The  alternating-current  relay  and  associated 
apparatus  are  housed  in  a  neat  and  compact 
cast-iron  instrument  case  of  water-tight  con- 
struction, as  shown  in  the  accompanying  half- 

V 


DIAGRAMMATIC  VIEW  OF  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  TRACK-CIR- 
CUIT TRANSFORMER,  THE  INSTRUMENT  CASE  AND  STOP- 
VALVE  BOX,  UPON  A  POST  IN  ADVANCE  OF  THE 
BLOCK  SIGNAL 


/ 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


653 


tone.  This  consists  of  two  sections,  the  lower  part  containing 
the  relay  and  connections,  and  the  upper  part  the  grid  resist- 
ances, which  are,  as  above  stated,  connected  in  series  with  the 
circuits  supplying  alternating  current  to  the  track  circuits,  and 
that  of  the  connections  between  the  tracks  and  the  relay. 
These  cases  are  secured  to  steel  posts  in  the  subway  directly  in 
advance  of  each  signal,  as  shown  on  the  opposite  page.  The 
wiring  arrangements  in  these  instrument  cases  are  very  care- 
fully provided  for;  outlets  for  cables  are  provided  for,  and  all 
the  wiring  is  made  through  cables  as  thus  arranged.  A  seven- 
conductor  cable  leads  to  the  signal 
nearby,  while  another  seven-conduc- 
tor cable  leads  to  a  junction  box  of 
the  signal  wiring  nearby,  from  which 
connections  are  made  to  the  distant 
signal  mechanism  in  the  preceding 
block  and  to  the  automatic  stop,  as 
well  as  to  the  storage-battery  mains 
tor  the  direct-current  supply  for  the 
signal  mechanism.  Four  conductors 
lead  out  to  make  the  necessary  con- 
nections with  the  rails  on  either  side 
oi  the  insulating  section. 

THE  SIGNALS 

The  small  amount  of  space  avail- 
able in  the  subway  portion  of  the 
system  made  it  necessary  to  design  a 
special  type  of  signal  involving  radi- 
cally new  features.  Clearances  would 
not  permit  of  a  "position"  signal  in- 
dication, and,  further,  a  position  sig- 
nal purely  was  not  suitable  for  the 
lighting  conditions  of  the  subway.  A 
color  signal  was  therefore  adopted, 
conforming  to  the  adopted  rules  of 
the  American  Railway  Association. 
It  consists  of  a  vertical  iron  case 
fitted  with  two  white  lenses,  the  upper 
being  the  home  signal  and  the  lower 
the  distant.  Suitable  colored  glasses 
are  mounted  in  slides,  which  are  oper- 
ated by  pneumatic  cylinders  placed  in 
the  base  of  the  case.  Home  and  dwarf 
signals  show  a  red  light  for  the  dan- 
ger or  "stop"  indication.  Distant  sig- 
nals show  a  yellow  light  for  the  "cau- 
tion" indication.  All  signals  show  a 
green  light  for  the  "proceed"  or  clear 
position.  The  design  of  signal  finally 
adopted  is  illustrated  in  the  drawing 
upon  page  654. 

Although  the  limitations  of  space 
prohibited  the  use  of  semaphore  arms  or  similar  means  of  posi- 
tion indication,  a  position  indication  has,  however,  been  pro- 
vided for,  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  color  indications,  in  the  form 
of  the  small  arm  immediately  beneath  the  lenses.  A  small  blade 
appears  in  a  horizontal  position  when  a  danger  or  caution  sig- 
nal is  displayed,  and  at  an  inclination  of  60  degs.  when  safety 
is  displayed,  this  being  provided  in  addition  to  the  color  indi- 
cations for  use  in  case  of  failure  of  the  lamps  for  the  color 
indications. 

The  signal  consists  of  two  sections;  the  upper  and  rear  por- 
tion contains  (be  lenses  and  position  indicator  for  the  home 
signal,  the  colored  glasses  showing  red  for  the  danger  or  stop 


position,  and  green  for  the  proceed  or  clear  position.  The 
front  and  lower  portion  of  the  case  contains  the  distant  signal 
mechanism,  which  is  arranged  to  show  yellow  for  the  caution 
indication  and  green  for  the  clear  position.  Thus  it  may  be 
seen  that  color  indications  are  depended  upon,  the  position  in- 
dication, which  is  provided  by  the  small  blade  under  each  lense, 
being  added  merely  as  a  tell-tale.  Each  lense  is  constantly 
lighted  by  two  4-cp  incandescent  lamps  at  the  rear,  the  two 
lamps  being  connected  in  parallel  for  a  safeguard  in  order  that 
one  may  be  always  lighted  even  if  the  other  burns  out;  in  this 


VIEW  OF  THE  INSTRUMENT  CASE  IN  ADVANCE  OF  THE  BLOCK  SIGNAL,  WITH  DOORS 
OPEN  TO  SHOW  ARRANGEMENT  OF  RESISTANCE  GRIDS,  ALTERNATING- 
CURRENT  TRACK-CIRCUIT  RELAY  AND  ASSOCIATED  APPARATUS 


way  the  lighting  is  made  as  nearly  absolutely  reliable  as  pos- 
sible. These  lamp  circuits  are,  as  above  stated,  operated  from 
the  local  block  transformers,  the  special  double  coils  delivering 
50  volts,  alternating  current,  for  this  purpose. 

The  mechanism  of  the  signal  is  clearly  shown  in  the  accom- 
panying drawing  of  the  signal.  The  pneumatic  cylinders, 
which  operate  the  heavy  vertical  sliding  frames  carrying  the 
color  lenses  for  the  signal  indications,  arc  located  in  the  base 
portion  of  the  case.  As  may  be  seen,  the  controlling  magnets 
for  the  air  valves  of  both  the  home  and  the  distant  signal  cylin- 
der mechanism  are  located  conveniently  for  access,  as  are  also 
the  various  portions  of  the  cylinders  and  slides.    It  should  be 


654 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


C/RCU/T  BREAKER 


DETAILS  OF  THE  STANDARD  SUBWAY  BLOCK.  SIGNAL,  SHOW- 
ING ARRANGEMENT  OF  MECHANISM  AND  THE  ACTUATING 
VALVES  FOR  CHANGING  THE  COLOR  INDICATIONS 


here  noted  that  the  slides  exhibit  the  green  color  for  the 
"clear"  or  proceed  indication  only  when  held  in  its  upper  posi- 
tion by  the  pneumatic  cylinder;  in  this  way  any  accident  to  the 
apparatus,  cutting  off  the  compressed  air,  will  permit  the  heavy 
slides  to  drop  and  indicate  the  red  color  for  "danger."  The 
details  of  the  lamp  arrangements  and  wiring  are  also  clearly 
shown  in  the  drawing;  the  method  of  operation  of  the  small 
blade  position  indicator  is  also  here  made  clear.  This  blade 
has  a  crank  extending  within  the  case  and  ending  in  a  pin 
which  plays  in  an  inclined  groove  in  such  a  way  as  to  turn  the 
blade  through  an  angle  of  60  degs.  as  it  passes  from  upper  to 
lower  position. 

The  signals  which  are  used  on  the  exterior  elevated  portions 
of  the  system  are  of  the  position  indication  type,  although 
operated  similarly  to  those  in  the  subway  sections  and  by  a 
similar  construction  of  mechanism ;  the  position  indication  of 
semaphore  arms,  which  is  depended  upon  in  the  main,  is  sup- 
plemented by  the  color  system  for  night  work.  The  design  of 
the  signal  of  this  type  differs  little  from  the  subway  type;  the 
base  portion  of  these  signals  is  identical  with  that  used  for  the 
tunnel  signals,  and  the  two  pneumatic  cylinders  and  their  mag- 
net controlling  valves  are  similar,  but  in  this  case  the  cylinders 
operate  semaphore  arms  instead  of  the  heavy  sliding  frames. 
In  these  signals  the  color  indications  for  night  purposes  are 
provided  by  incandescent  lamps,  also  in  duplicate,  which  burn 
continuously.  These  lamps  are  located  in  a  specially  designed 
water-proof  case  with  white  lenses  pointing  toward  the  col- 
ored glasses,  as  is  shown.  Their  current  supply  is  also  taken 
from  the  local  block  transformers  of  the  block  system,  and  are 
thus  independent  of  the  power  and  general  lighting  circuits  of 
the  subway  system. 

AUTOMATIC  TRAIN  STOP 

A  train  stop  or  automatic  stop  is  used  at  all  block  signals, 
and  at  many  interlocking  signals.  This  device  automatically 
applies  the  air  brakes  to  the  train  if  it  should  pass  a  signal  in 
the  stop  position,  being  an  additional  safeguard  only  to  be 
brought  into  action  when  the  danger  indication  has  for  any 
reason  been  disregarded;  it  insures  the  maintenance  of  the 
minimum  distance  between  trains  as  provided  by  the  overlaps 
established. 

The  construction  of  the  automatic  train  stop  mechanism, 
which  is  the  Kinsman  form  of  track  stop,  is  shown  on  the  op- 
posite page.  It  consists  of  a  trip  located  at  the  side  of  the  run- 
ning rail,  which  is  normally  raised  to  such  a  position  that  it 
will  come  in  contact  with  the  special  brake  valve  arrangement 
upon  the  trucks  of  each  subway  car  and  throw  the  air  brakes 
to  full  emergency  in  case  the  train  attempts  to  pass  the  stop. 
This  trip  is  operated  by  a  pneumatic  cylinder  located  in  a  closed 
box  between  the  ties  and  the  middle  of  the  track  opposite.  The 
arrangement  of  this  stop  in  relation  to  the  block  signal  is 
shown  in  the  sketch  on  page  652.  The  controlling  wires  for  the 
stop,  as  well  as  also  the  compressed  air  connections  to  its  cylin- 
der, are  also  clearly  shown  in  this  view. 

The  operation  of  this  automatic  stop  coincides  with  that  of 
the  home  signal  in  the  block  next  preceding  it.  When 
that  home  signal  indicates  danger,  the  trip  is  in  its  elevated 
position,  so  as  to  make  an  emergency  application  of  the  brakes. 
This  trip  is  normally  held  in  its  elevated  position  by  a  heavy 
counterweight  located  within  the  controlling  box  in  the  middle 
of  the  track,  as  shown  in  the  sectional  view  of  the  device. 
When  the  home  signal  is  cleared,  compressed  air  is  admitted 
also  to  the  pneumatic  cylinder  of  this  automatic  stop,  which 
acts  to  raise  the  counterweight  and  thus  lower  the  trip,  hold- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


t»55 


ing  it  depressed  until  the  home  signal  is  again  changed  to 
danger  indication. 

The  controlling  mechanism  for  the  automatic  stop  is  located 
in  a  neat  cast-iron  box  upon  the  pillar  below  the  track-instru- 
ment case  illustrated  on  pages  652  and  653.  The  mechanism 
consists  of  a  magnetically  operated  air  valve  of  the  same  type 
as  used  in  the  signals,  which  is  so  connected  as  to  be  operated 
in  conjunction  with  the  home  signal,  as  above  mentioned. 
Thus,  when  the  home  signal  is  set  to  "clear"  the  automatic  stop 
valve  is  also  operated  to  admit  compressed  air 
to  the  pneumatic  cylinder,  which  depresses  the 
trip.  An  additional  feature  of  interest  involved 
in  this  controlling  box  is  to  be  seen  in  the  form 
of  an  automatic  stop  release,  by  which,  in  case 
of  failure  of  any  portion  of  the  signal  control, 
the  automatic  stop  can  easily  be  depressed  to 
"clear,"  so  that  a  train  may  proceed  without 
danger  of  an  emergency  application  of  the 
brakes.  This  is  accomplished  by  a  special  key, 
which  the  guard  or  conductor  may  insert  in  the 
controlling  box  and  turn  to  admit  air  to  the 
pneumatic  cylinder;  as  long  as  he  holds  the  key 
turned  the  trip  remains  depressed,  and  as  soon 
as  the  key  is  removed  the  trip  will  normally 
rise  again.  This  ingenious  mechanism  adds 
an  important  factor  of  safety  to  train  opera- 
tion in  the  subway. 

SPECIAL  SAFETY  DEVICES 

Two  novel  safety  devices  closely  allied  with 
the  signaling  system  may  be  here  described.  The  first  is  an 
emergency  train  stop  for  the  use  of  those  at  stations.  It  is  de- 
signed to  place  in  the  hands  of  station  attendants,  or  others, 
the  emergency  control  of  signals  upon  all  adjacent  approaching 
tracks.  The  protection  afforded  is  similar  in  principle  to  the 
emergency  brake  handle  found  in  all  passenger  cars,  but  oper- 


ates to  warn  all  trains  of  an  extraneous  danger  condition. 
It  has  been  shown  in  eiectric  railroading  that  an  accident  to 
apparatus,  perhaps  of  slight  moment,  may  cause  an  unreason- 
ing panic,  on  account  of  which  passengers  may  wander  on  ad- 
joining tracks  in  face  of  approaching  trains;  on  a  four-track 
railway,  with  express  trains  approaching  at  high  rates  of  speed 
so  as  not  to  receive  visual  warning  in  time  to  stop,  this  is  espe- 
cially hazardous.  Other  conditions  also  may  develop,  such  as 
a  passenger  being  forced  off  a  station  platform,  injury  to  a 


VIEW  OF  THE  AIR-BRAKE  VALVE  UPON  THE  TRUCK.  BENEATH  THE  CAR,  WHICH 
IS  OPENED  IF  TRAIN  ATTEMPTS  TO  OVERRUN  PAST  TRAIN  STOP 


THE  MECHANISM  FOR  OPERATION  OF  THE  PNEUMATIC  TRACK  TRAIN  STOP, 
SHOWING  TRIGGER  ELEVATED  TO  "STOP"  POSITION 


workman,  etc.,  thus  rendering  an  emergency  control  of  trains 
very  desirable.  To  provide  as  perfectly  as  practicable  for  such 
conditions,  it  has  been  arranged  to  loop  the  control  of  signals 
into  an  emergency  box  set  in  a  conspicuous  position  in  each 
station  platform.  The  pushing  of  a  button  on  this  box,  similar 
to  that  of  the  fire  alarm  signal,  will  set  all  signals  immediately 
adjacent  to  stations  in  the  face  of  trains 
approaching,  so  that  all  traffic  may  be 
stopped  until  the  danger  condition  is 
removed. 

The  second  safety  appliance  is  the 
"section  break"  and  cross-over  protec- 
tion. This  consists  of  a  special  emer- 
gency signal  placed  in  advance  of  each 
separate  section  of  the  third  rail;  that 
is,  at  points  where  trains  move  from  a 
section  fed  by  one  sub-station  to  that 
fed  by  another.  Under  such  conditions 
the  contact  shoes  of  the  train  tempo- 
rarily span  the  break  in  the  third  rail. 
In  case  of  a  serious  overload  or  ground 
on  one  section,  the  train  wiring  would 
momentarily  act  as  a  feeder  for  the  sec- 
tion, and  thus  possibly  blow  the  train 
fuses  and  cause  serious  delay  until  they 
could  be  replaced. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  prevent  trains 
passing  from  a  section  charged  with  the 
full  normal  potential  into  a  dangerously 
overloaded  or  grounded  section,  an 
overload  relay  has  been  installed  at  each 
section  break  to  set  a  "stop"  signal  in 
the  face  of  an  approaching  train,  which 
holds  the  train  until  the  abnormal  con- 


656 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL, 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


dition  is  removed.  The  apparatus  is  applied  at  all  section 
breaks  in  the  third  rail  and  at  all  cross-overs  where  the  train 
might  pass  from  a  third-rail  section  in  one  track  to  a  different 
one  on  another  track.  In  any  of  these  cases  serious  trouble 
might  occur  from  one  third-rail  section  being  grounded  while 
an  adjacent  one  is  at  its  full  voltage. 

On  express-line  tracks  an  effect  of  this  signaling  mechanism 
will  be  to  throw  die  home  signal  to  danger  at  the  nearest  block 
in  advance  of  the  third-rail  section  break.  The  method  of 
operation  of  this  signal  control  mechanism  is  interesting;  it 
consists  of  a  differential  magnetic  mechanism  with  rotating 
armature,  one  of  the  magnetic  coils  being  connected  between 
the  third  rail  and  the  ground  on  one  side  of  the  section  break, 
and  the  other  magnetic  coil  similarly  between  the  third  rail 


ARRANGEMENT  OF  AIR-SUPPLY  PIPING  AND  CONDUIT  SYSTEM,  IN  THE 
SUBWAY.  TO  CARRY  THE  SIGNAL  CIRCUIT  WIRES 


and  the  ground  on  the  other  side  of  the  break.  When  both 
sections  of  the  third  rail  are  fully  charged,  these  magnets  oper- 
ate so  as  to  annul  each  other,  so  that  the  rotating  armature  is 
not  attracted ;  if,  however,  the  current  supply  is  removed  from 
either  section  of  the  third  rail,  one  of  these  magnetic  coils  be- 
comes inoperative,  while  the  other  is  still  magnetized,  and  the 
result  is  that  the  differential  action  is  removed  and  the  arma- 
ture is  strongly  attracted  and,  by  lifting  a  counterweight, 
breaks  the  contact  in  the  control  circuit  of  the  nearest  home 
signal  in  advance  of  this  point.  This  sets  the  home  signal  to 
danger,  and  in  (urn  the  distant  signal  at  the  further  block  in 
advance,  to  prevent  trains  from  approaching  the  section  under 
these  circumstances. 

Upon  the  local  tracks,  where  a  block  signal  is  not  used,  a 
special  type  of  section-break  signal  will  be  used  for  a  similar 
purpose  and  prevent  trains  from  approaching  a  section  break 
when  voltages  are  unequal  on  either  side.  This  type  of  signal 
is  operated  by  a  differential  relay  of  special  construction 
and  gives  a  color  indication.  In  this  case  a  warning  of 
approaching  trains  is  furnished  by  a  special  box  plainly 
marked  "S.  B.,"  which  indicates  by  a  red  light  for  danger 
or  stop. 


At  cross-overs  and  sidings,  where  it  is  similarly  desired  to 
prevent  trains  from  crossing  over  from  one  third-rail  section  to 
another  in  case  of  unequal  voltages  upon  the  third-rail  sections, 
a  different  procedure  is  necessary.  In  these  cases  a  special 
form  of  indication  is  to  be  used,  which  will  show  the  tower 
man,  or  those  in  charge  of  the  interlocking  switches,  whether 
it  is  safe  for  trains  to  be  passed  over  from  one  section  to  an- 
other or  not.  This  will  be  accomplished  by  means  of  vertical 
scale  voltmeters  arranged  side  by  side  and  connected  to  the 
third-rail  sections  on  either  side  of  the  cross-over;  by  a  mere 
glance  at  the  voltmeters,  the  switchman  can  easily  see  whether 
the  voltages  on  both  sides  are  sufficiently  near  together  to  per- 
mit trains  to  cross  over  safely. 

There  has  also  been  installed  a  special  emergency  signal 
system,  embodying  provision  for  cutting  off 
power  from  the  contact  rail,  in  case  of  im- 
minent danger.  In  the  booth  of  each  ticket 
seller  and  at  every  manhole  along  the  west 
side  of  the  subway  and  its  branches  is  placed 
a  glass-covered  box  of  the  kind  generally  used 
in  large  American  cities  for  fire  alarm  pur- 
poses. In  case  of  accident  in  the  subway 
which  may  render  it  desirable  to  cut  off  power 
from  the  contact  rails,  this  result  can  be  ac- 
complished by  breaking  the  glass  front  of  the 
emergency  box  and  pulling  the  hook  provided. 
Special  emergency  circuits  are  so  arranged 
that  pulling  the  hook  will  instantly  open  all 
the  circuit  breakers  at  adjacent  sub-stations 
through  which  the  contact  rails  in  the  section 
affected  receive  their  supply  of  power.  It 
will  also  instantly  report  the  location  of  the 
trouble,  annunciator  gongs  being  located  in 
the  sub-stations  from  which  power  is  supplied 
to  the  section,  in  the  train  despatchers'  offices 
and  in  the  office  of  the  general  superintendent, 
instantly  intimating  the  number  of  the  box 
which  has  been  pulled.  Automatic  recording- 
devices  in  train  despatchers'  offices  and  in  the 
office  of  the  general  superintendent  also  note 
the  number  of  the  box  pulled. 
The  provision  of  such  elaborate  means  for  protecting  trains 
and  insuring  safety  to  workmen  in  the  tunnel  is  a  remarkable 
testimony  of  the  completeness  of  the  work  of  installation,  and 
will  insure  the  confidence  of  the  traveling  public. 
THE  ELECTRIC  CURRENT  AND  COMPRESSED  AIR  SUPPLIES 
An  important  feature  of  the  signal  and  interlocking  work  is 
the  provision  of  supply  for  the  500-volt  alternating-current  dis- 
tribution mains  throughout  the  subway  system  and  for  the  low- 
voltage  direct-current  storage-battery  supply  mains,  extending 
to  all  signals  throughout  the  system  for  operating  the  valve- 
controlling  magnets,  and  also  for  the  compressed-air  supply 
system.  The  alternating-current  main  is  fed  by  seven  motor 
generators,  arranged  to  operate  in  multiple,  each  of  which  is  of 
30-kw  capacity,  generating  single-phase,  alternating  current  at 
60  cycles  and  500  volts.  They  are  located  separately  in  seven 
of  the  more  important  sub-stations  of  the  line,  so  that  it  will 
be  practically  impossible  that  all  should  be  disabled  at  the  same 
time,  thus  affording  an  important  factor  of  safety  to  the  sys- 
tem, inasmuch  as  any  four  of  these  machines  will  deliver  the 
current  required  for  operating  the  entire  system.  The  various 
machines  operated  will  feed  into  the  main  in  multiple  from  its 
point  of  location  upon  the  system. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


C>57 


The  direct-current  main,  supplying  current  for  the  signal 
operating  magnets,  is  supplied  by  eight  groups  of  storage-bat- 
tery sets  in  duplicate,  each  set  designed  to  deliver  16  volts, 
located  at  convenient  points  in  the  subway,  usually  in  signal 
towers.  Each  battery  has  a  capacity  of  450-amp.-hours,  and 
the  two  sets  at  each  battery  station  are  operated  alternately, 
one  being  charged  while  the  other  is  discharging.  The  bat- 
teries are  charged  by  small  motor  generators,  driven  by  cur- 
rent from  the  600-volt  direct-current  propulsion  system,  one 


terestingly  worked  out.  A  pressure  gage  operating  upon 
the  Bourdon  steam  gage  principle  is  arranged  to  make 
different  contacts  for  certain'  maximum  and  minimum 
pressures,  as  shown  upon  the  switchboard.  When  the 
pressure  tails  so  as  to  close  the  upper  contact,  cur- 
rent is  delivered  to  an  .automatic  switch,  which  operates 
a  mechanism  in  such  a  w  ay  as  to  move  the  starting  resistance 
switch  for  the  air-compressor  driving  motor.  This  mechanism 
is  so  arranged  that  when  the  starting1  resistance  is  cut  en- 


A  TYPICAL  ELECTRO  PNEUMATIC  INTERLOCKING  MACHINE,  LOCATED  UPON  A  STATION  PLATEORM,  FOR  THE  OPERATION 

1  CROSS-OVER  SWITCHES 


being  located  at  each  storage-battery  point.  They  deliver  to 
the  storage  batteries  at  25  volts  potential. 

The  compressed-air  supply  for  the  various  signal  mechan- 
isms and  switches,  the  automatic  car  stop,  etc.,  is  supplied  by 
a  2-in.  main  extending  the  length  of  the  system.  This  main  is 
fed  by  six  35-hp  electrically-driven  compound  air-compressors, 
one  of  which  is  located  in  each  of  the  following  sub-stations: 
Nos.  ir,  12,  13,  14,  16  and  17;  three  of  these  are  reserve  units. 
They  are  driven  by  Westinghouse  direct-current  motors,  taking 
current  from  the  direct-current  bus-liars  at  the  sub-stations  at 
from  400  volts  to  700  volts.  These  compressors  have  each  a 
capacity  of  230  cu.  ft.  of  free  air  per  minute,  delivered  into  the 
supply  system  at  a  pressure  of  from  60  lbs.  to  75  lbs.  per  square 
inch.  These  compressors  are  each  automatically  controlled,  in 
an  interesting  manner,  by  the  rise  or  fall  of  air  pressure  in  the 
system.    The  details  of  this  controlling  apparatus   are  in- 


tirely  out  and  the  motor  is  up  to  speed,  the  starting  switch  is 
held  magnetically  in  place,  and  the  solenoid  is  actuated  so  as  to 
throw  the  load  on  to  the  compressor  to  cause  it  to  deliver  air 
to  the  system.  This  same  action  starts  the  flow  of  cooling 
water  through  the  cylinder  jackets  of  the  compressor  cylinder, 
and  automatically  admits  oil  to  the  cylinders  and  bearings. 
When  the  air  pressure  in  the  system  rises  to  the  predetermined 
maximum  the  opposite  contact  is  made,  which  causes  the  load 
to  be  removed  from  the  compressor  by  closing  the  delivery  of 
the  system,  and  also  shuts  down  the  motor,  the  jacket  water 
supply  for  the  compressor  and  the  oiling  system  being  also  in- 
cidental!}' shut  oil.  Tn  this  way  the  compressor  is  always 
started  unloaded  and  stopped  unloaded,  the  action  being  en- 
tirely automatic,  so  that  no  attention  is  required;  it  is  designed 
to  respond  to  variations  of  air  pressure  of  5  lbs.  or  less,  and 
operates  very  satisfactorily, 


658 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


THE  INTERLOCKING  SYSTEM 

The  to-and-fro  movement  of  a  dense  traffic  on  a  four-track 
railway  requires  a  large  amount  of  switching,  especially  when 
each  movement  is  complicated  by  junctions  of  two  or  more 
lines.  Practically  every  problem  of  trunk-line  train  movement, 
including  two,  three  and  four-track  operation,  had  to  be  pro- 
vided for  in  the  switching  plants  of  the  subway.  Further,  the 
problem  was  complicated  by  the  restricted  clearances  and  vision 
attendant  upon  tunnel  construction.  It  was  essential  that  the 
utmost  flexibility  of  operation  should  be  provided  for,  and  also 
that  every  movement  be  certain,  quick  and  safe. 

All  of  the  above,  which  are  referred  to  in  the  briefest  terms 
only,  demanded  that  all  switching  movements  should  be  made 
through  the  medium  of  power-operation  interlocking  plants. 


MAIN  LINE 


DETAILS  OF  THE  SPECIAL  TYPE  OF  SWITCH  AND  INTERLOCK 
ING  MOVEMENT  USED  IN  THE  SUBWAY  FOR  ECONOMY  OF 
SPACE,  SHOWING  ARRANGEMENT  OF  CYLINDERS,  FTC.  AT 
THE  STDE  OF  AND  BELOW  TOP  OF  RAIL 


These  plants  in  the  subway  portions  of  the  line  are  in  all  cases 
the  Westinghouse  electro-pneumatic,  while  in  the  elevated  por- 
tions of  the  line  mechanical  interlocking  has  been,  in  some 
cases,  provided. 

Special  equipments  of  both  interlocking  signals  and  switches 
were  designed  with  particular  reference  to  the  subway  in- 
stallation requirements,  and  in  it  is  involved  a  most  interesting 
study  of  modern  interlocking.  Provisions  have  been  made  for 
handling  the  maximum  of  traffic  conditions  withotit  congestion 
at  yards  and  switching  terminals. 

A  list  of  the  separate  and  distinct  interlocking  plants  which 
have  been  installed  in  the  subway  will  be  interesting,  and  are 
accordingly  given  herewith  : 


Location 

City  Hall    3 

Spring  Street    2 

Fourteenth  Street   _' 

Eighteenth  Street    1 

Forty-Second  Street    2 

Seventy-Second  Street    2 

Ninety-Sixth  Street    2 

WEST  SIDE  BRANCH 

iooth  Street   1 

103d  Street    1 

110th  Street   2 

116th  Street    2 

Manhattan  Viaduct    1 

137th  Street   2 

145th  Street   2 

Dyckman  Street    1 

216th  Street   1 

EAST  SIDE  B  RAN  C  H 

135th  Street  ;   2 

Lenox  Junction   

145th  Street  

Lenox  Avenue  Yard   

Third  and  Westchester  Avenue  Junction 

St.  Ann's  Avenue  

Freeman  Street  

176th  Street   2 


Interlocking  Working 

Machines  Levers 

  3  32 

  2  10 

  16 


4 
15 
15 
19 

6 
6 
12 
12 
12 
17 
T9 
12 

H 

6 
7 
9 
35 
13 
24 
12 
66 


Total 


•37 


393 


Total  number  of  switches    224 

The  total  number  of  signals,  both  block  and  interlocking,  is 
follows : 

Home  signals    366 

Dwarf  signals    150 

Distant  signals      193 


Total 


709 


It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  case  of  the  City  Hall  station, 
three  separate  plants  are  required,  all  of  considerable  size,  and 
intended  for  constant  use  for  a  multiplicity  of  train  movements. 
It  is.  perhaps,  unnecessary  to  state  that  all  the  mechanism  of 
these  important  interlocking  plants  is  of  the  most  substantial 
character  and  provided  with  all  the  necessary  safety  appliances 
and  means  for  rapidly  setting  up  the  various  combinations. 
The  interlocking  machines  are  housed  in  steel  concrete 
"towers."  so  that  the  operators  may  be  properly  protected  and 
isolated  in  the  performance  of  their  duties. 

An  unusual  type  of  switch  movements  and  interlocking 
mechanism  is  required  in  the  subway  installation  on  account  of 
the  confined  space  and  cramped  conditions.  The  apparatus  in- 
stalled is  the  well-known  electro-pneumatic  interlocking  sys- 
tem of  the  Union  Switch  &  Signal  Company,  but  the  form  of 
apparatus  used  is  of  an  entirely  new  and  radical  design.  The 
pneumatic  switch  operating  movements  are  arranged  with  the 
pneumatic  cylinders  and  the  movements  at  the  side  of  and  be- 
low the  top  of  the  rails.  A  general  idea  of  the  arrangement  of 
this  new  type  of  switch  movement  may  be  gained  from  the 
drawing  on  this  page. 

Innovations  are  to  be  found  in  this  mechanism  in  the  applica- 
tion of  the  cam  plate  for  the  shifting  of  the  switch  and  of  the 


October  8,  1904.  | 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


659 


arrangement  of  the  switch  indication  box.  The  magnetically 
controlled  valves  for  operating  the  pneumatic  cylinders,  as  well 
as  also  the  switch  tower  apparatus  used  in  connection  with 
these  apparatus,  involves  nothing  new  in  design.  The  cylinder 
has  a  stroke  of  8  ins.  in  operating  the  cam  plate  which  moves 
the  switch  points.  Suitable  magnetical  connections  are  pro- 
vided for  adjusting  the  connections  to  the  switch  points,  and 


justing  knobs  are  located  at  each  end  of  the  piston  rod,  so  that 
the  stroke  of  the  switch  cylinder  may  be  easily  adjusted  to  the 
movement  of  the  switch. 

The  magnetically  controlled  air  valves  are  in  this  case  lo- 
cated in  the  narrow  space  between  the  third  rail  and  the  re- 
taining wall  at  one  side,  as  shown.  In  all  features  of  the 
switch  construction,  however,  careful  provision  has  been  made 


THE  SPECIAL  TYPE  OF  INTERLOCKING  SIGNAL  CABIN,  LOCATED  AT  AN  IMPORTANT  SWITCHING  POINT  SOUTH  OF 

THE  BROOKLYN  BRIDGE  STATION 


also  to  the  locking  mechanism  in  the  signal  indication  box. 
The  detector  bars  are  similarly  operated  by  a  rocking  shaft 
connection  which  is  traversed  by  a  separate  cam  plate,  as  is 
clearly  shown  in  the  drawing. 

In  the  Lenox  Avenue  yard,  space  at  the  side  of  the  track  is 
so  narrow  and  the  arrangement  of  switch  leads  to  the  car 
house  are  so  complicated  as  to  prevent  the  location  of  the 
switch  operating  cylinders  at  the  sides  of  the  track,  so  that  a 
new  design  of  centrally-located  cylinder  was  prepared  for  this 
particular  location.  In  this  case  the  cylinder  has  a  through 
piston  rod,  with  stuffing  boxes  in  each  head,  and  operates  the 
switch  by  acting  against  the  two  bent  plates,  as  shown.  Ad- 


for  ease  of  inspection  and  repairs,  so  that  the  expense  of  main- 
tenance will  be  reduced  to  a  minimum  while  reliability  of 
operation  will  be  insured. 

This  entire  system  of  signals  and  interlocking  was  designed 
and  installed  under  the  direction  of  George  Gibbs,  consulting 
engineer  of  the  Interborough  Company,  who  was  assisted  by 
J.  M.  Waldron,  signal  engineer  of  the  company.  The  contract 
for  the  installation  of  the  system  was  undertaken  by  the  Union 
Switch  &  Signal  Company,  Swissv^l?,  Pa.,  who  have  incor- 
porated many  innovations  and  radical  departures  in  design  of 
apparatus  as  especially  adapted  to  the  conditions  of  operation 
in  the  subway. 


RECENT  TRACTION  APPARATUS 


FINE  STREET  CAR  HEATERS  FOR  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE 
CORPORATION  OF  NEW  JERSEY 

The  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey,  which  controls 
one  of  the  largest  electric  railway  systems  in  the  world,  recently 
made  a  careful  investigation  into  the  question  of  car  heating,  and 
after  comparing  the  relative  costs  and  efficiencies  of  various  types 
of  heaters,  it  decided  to  adopt  the  "Jewel"  street  car  heater  man- 
ufactured by  the  Detroit  Stove  Works,  of  Detroit,  Mich. 

Ibis  heater  is  made  of  cast  iron,  containing  no  sheet  iron  to 
burn  out  when  the  stove  is  in  use  or  to  rust  when  it  is  not  in  use. 
The  lire  pot  has  no  brick  linings  to  be  replaced  at  intervals.  Tt 
is  cast  separate  from  the  rest  of  the  stove,  so  that  it  may  be  easily 
removed  if  it  should  burn  out — a  circumstance  not  likely  to  occur 
tin-  many  years.  In  the  construction  of  this  heater  provision  is 
made  for  unequal  expansion,  and  thus  the  durability  of  the  stove  is 
indefinitely  prolonged. 

Practical  experience  as  stove  makers  has  also  demonstrated  to 
the  manufacturers  that  a  small  stove  with  a  self-feeding  attach- 
ment cannot  be  made  a  success,  and  that  a  street  car  stove  so  b  :ilt 
is  certain  to  prove  a  disappointment.  A  stove  provided  with  a  deep 
fire-pot,  such  as  is  employed  in  the  construction  of  this  heater. 


ished  in  aluminum,  and  so  protected  and  ventilated  that  too  much 
heat  will  not  annoy  those  sitting  next  to  the  stove.  The  upper 
casting  on  the  box  is  made  on  a  curve,  to  insure  it  against  cracking. 

HIGH  TENSION  INSULATOR  PINS 


The  use  of  iron  and  steel  insulator  pins  for  high-tension  work 
is  becoming  very  common  practice  on  some  of  the  larger  transmis- 
sion installations.  The  use  of  wooden  or  porcelain  pins  on  ac- 
count of  their  insulating  properties  is  not  considered  good  practice 
by  many,  because,  if  the  line  insulator  which  is  supported  by  the  pin 
cannot  be  depended  upon  for  proper  insulation,  it  is  poor  practice 
to  depend  upon  the  pin.  A  line  of  malleable  iron  pins  for  this  class 
of  work  is  manufactured  by  the  Creaghead  Engineering  Company, 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  These  pins  have  been  made  for  the  most 
exacting  conditions. 

Pin  No.  1310  illustrates  a  malleable  pin  with  94-in.  steel  stud 
for  cross-arm,  designed  for  use  .with  porcelain  insulators.  This 
pin  is  attached  to  the  porcelain  insulator  by  cement  or  lead  alloy. 
The  pin  is  8]  2  ins.  above  the  cross-arm.  Pin  No.  1311  is  a  simi- 
lar pin,  made  101  2  ins.  high  above  the  cross-arm. 


insures  a  good  bed  of  smouldering  coals,  and  requires  less  atten- 
tion, consumes  less  fuel  and  gives  off  more  heat  than  one  that 
is  built  with  a  self-feeding  attachment. 

The  draw-center  shaking  grate,  when  shaken,  relieves  the  fire- 
pot  of  ashes ;  and  when  the  center  is  drawn  out,  the  fire-pot  may 
be  cleared  in  an  instant.  With  this  contrivance  there  is  no  possi- 
bility that  the  fire  will  be  accidentally  dumped,  and  the  construc- 
tion is  both  simple  and  durable.  There  is  but  one  opening  for 
both  the  shaking  grate  and  the  draft,  and  the  draft  slides  fit  tightly, 
giving  positive  control  of  the  fire.  The  ash  pit  is  capacious  and 
contains  a  large,  bailed  ash  pan.  The  feed  door  is  large  enough 
to  admit  the  ordinary  coal  shovel  and  has  a  draft  register  for 
checking  the  fire,  while  the  mica  frame  is  made  to  thoroughly 
protect  the  mica,  thus  saving  another  item  of  expense. 

The  doors  are  provided  with  a  double  catch,  so  that  the  most 
severe  jarring  will  not  open  them.  The  nickeled  plates  for  the 
box  have  a  double  coat  of  nickel,  and  both  these  plates  and  the 
stove  itself  are  carved  in  very  artistic  designs.  All  the  heaters 
are  made  with  interchangeable  parts.  The  outfit,  as  a  whole,  is 
very  handsome  and  harmonizes  well  with  the  interior  furnishings 
of  the  finest  modern  cars. 

The  case  is  made  of  cast  iron,  handsomely  ornamented  and  fin- 


Pin  No.  1307  is  shown  with  wooden  thimble  ijj-in.  thread, 
and  also  with  the  thimble  removed.  The  wooden  thimble  protects 
the  glass  or  porcelain  insulator  from  breakage  due  to  expansion 
and  contraction,  and  is  firmly  secured  to  the  top  of  the  malleable 
pin  by  special  raised  thread.  The  strength  of  this  pin  is  very  great, 
and  when  bolted  into  the  cross-arm  and  the  side  strain  applied 
to  the  insulator,  the  pin  will  stand  a  side  strain  of  about  1000  lbs. 
at  right  angles  to  the  pin  before  breaking. 

The  pole  top  bracket  pin,  No.  1312,  illustrated,  is  a  new  device 
to  meet  the  demands  for  a  top  pin  for  the  top  wire  of  a  three-phase 
equilateral  circuit.  The  use  of  a  pin  set  into  a  hole  in  the  top  cf 
pole  is  not  good  practice,  and  ridge  irons  that  are  very  frequently 
used  are  the  source  of  trouble  on  account  of  the  numerous  parts 
and  on  account  of  the  shaking  loose  of  the  bolts  from  the  center 
of  the  pin.  The  pole  top  bracket  pin,  No.  1312,  is  bolted  through 
the  gable  of  the  "housing"  at  the  top  of  the  pole,  and  the  bottom 
part  of  the  pole  top  bracket  pin  is  attached  to  the  side  of  the  pole 
by  a  lag  screw  set  in  the  bottom  U  slots.  The  bolt  securely  fastens 
this  bracket  pin  to  the  pole  and  the  part  of  the  bracket  pin  above 
the  bolt  also  extends  above  the  pole.  This  bracket  pin  is  attached 
to  the  face  of  the  pole  on  which  the  cross-arm  is  attached,  or  on 
the  face  immediately  opposite. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


The  principal  advantages  of  a  malleable  pin  with  a  steel  stud 
fastened  to  the  cross-arm,  lie  in  the  great  strength  of  the  material 
and  its  distribution  to  stand  the  strains,  and  in  the  fact  that  the 
strength  of  the  cross-arm  is  very  greatly  preserved  by  boring  a 
small  hole  through  the  arm  for  the  steel  stud  instead  of  using  a 
hole  1V2  ins.  to  2  ins.,  as  is  the  case  with  wooden  pins.  A  hole  2  ins. 
in  diameter  in  a  cross-arm  4  ins.  x  5  ins.  very  materially  reduces 
its  strength. 

These  pins  are  preferably  painted  with  black  asphaltum  paint. 
While  there  is  some  demand  for  galvanized  pins,  the  manufacturer 
discourages  this,  as  the  best  galvanizing  process  is  such  that  the 
quality  of  the  malleable  iron  is  affected  and  the  strength  of  the 
pin  reduced  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  a  very  uncertain  result.  Many 
of  these  types  of  pins  have  been  recently  furnished  for  high- 
tension  transmission  work  to  the  Pennsylvania  Steel  Company, 
01  Philadelphia;  Cauvery  power  transmission  plant  of  India;  the 
Pueblo  Lighting  &  Traction  Company,  of  Victor,  Col. ;  the  Aurora, 
Elgin  &  Chicago  Railway,  Wheaton,  111. ;  the  Hudson  River  Power 
Company,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y. ;  the  General  Electric  Company,  Sche- 
nectady, N.  Y.,  and  others. 

— 

SOME  PRODUCTS  OF  THE  CENTRAL  UNION  BRASS 
COMPANY 

A  new  trolley  splice  for  which  several  advantages  are  claimed, 
has  just  been  put  on  the  market  by  the  Central  Union  Brass  Com- 
pany, of  St.  Louis. 

The  general  principle  of  this  device  is  shown  by  the  accom- 


Streci  Ry.Jourual 

A   SIMPLE  SPLICE  FOR  TROLLEY  WIRE 


panying  sketch.  It  consists  of  a  heavy  drawn  brass  tubing  with 
a  ratchet  dog  suspended  on  a  pin  near  each  end.  The  two  ends 
of  the  wire  to  be  spliced  are  pushed  into  the  tube  and  are  engaged 
by  the  dogs.     Increased  tension  on  the  trolley  wire  causes  the 


liRAKE-SHOE  WITH  INSERTS  CONSISTING  OF  ROUND  STEEL 

dogs  to  be  pulled  down  tighter,  and  the  wire  is  gripped  with  in- 
creased firmness.  When  it  is  desired  to  remove  the  splice  all  that 
is  necessary  is  to  release  the  tension  on  the  trolley  wire.  This 
disengages  the  dogs  and  the  ends  of  the  wire  can  be  readily  re- 
moved. The  facility  with  which  a  broken  trolley  may  be  tempo- 
rarily repaired  by  means  of  one  of  these  new  splices  will  no  doubt 
bring  them  into  general  favor. 

An  insert  brake-shoe  of  novel  design  is  also  being  introduced 
into  the  electric  railway  field  by  this  company.  The  inserts  con- 
sist of  round  steel  punchings  Y\  m-  m  diameter,  and  of  the  same 
depth.  The  inserts,  as  is  shown  by  the  cut,  are  scattered  uni- 
formly over  the  wearing  surface  of  the  shoe,  so  that  the  surface  is 
composed  of  about  equal  proportions  of  soft  steel  and  gray  cast 
iron.  One  advantage  of  distributing  the  inserts  in  this  manner,  it  is 
claimed,  is  that  the  short  distance  between  adjacent  inserts  does 


not  allow  them  to  project  beyond  the  surface  of  the  shoe  and 
have  a  cutting  or  scraping  action  on  the  tread  ot:  the  wheel.  The 
increased  mileage  claimed  for  this  shoe,  the  firm  states,  is  substan- 
tiated by  the  many  favorable  reports  from  railway  men  who  have 
adopted  it. 



WOOL  FELT  FRICTION -PLATE  FOR  EMERGENCY  CAR  BRAKE 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  the  wool  felt  friction 
plate  employed  under  the  Fresh  emergency  car  brake,  made  by 
the  Emergency  Car  Brake  Company,  of  Cumberland,  Aid.  The 


WOOL  FELT  FRICTION-PLATE  FOR  EMERGENCY   CAR  BRAKE 

use  of  wool  felt  for  brake  friction  was  decided  upon  after  the 
company  had  made  many  trials  and  had  found  it  superior  to 
emery,  carborundum,  wood,  rubber,  corrugated  iron  or  steel  and 
other  material.  It  was  found  that  neither  expansion  or  contrac- 
tion injured  the  frictional  qualities  of  the  felt.  In  fact,  when  the 
felt  comes  in  contact  w  ith  water  or  ice,  it  absorbs  the  moisture, 
thereby  expanding  and  offering  greater  resistance  between  the 
wheels  and  the  rail. 

The  elasticity  of  the  wool  felt  obviates  the  jarring  caused  by 
using  harder  materials,  and  its  adhesive  quality  enables  it  to  retain 
its  grip  on  the  rail  until  the  car  is  stopped.  This  material  has 
proved  fully  equal  to  the  hardest  braking  requirements,  is  very 
durable  and  can  fie  quickly  replaced  at  small  cost. 

-^♦^  - 

SOLID  MOTOR  GEAR  FOR  ELECTRIC  RAILWAYS 

The  R.  D.  Nuttall  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  manufacturer 
of  gears  and  pinions,  has  recently  added  to  its  many  improvements 
in  this  line  the  solid  motor  gear,  of  which  a  general  design  is  pre- 


PUNCHINGS         GENERAL  DESIGN  OF  SOLID   MOTOR  GEAR 

sented  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  The  company's  experi- 
ence has  convinced  it  that  solid  gears  are  more  reliable  than  split 
gears,  particularly  on  high-speed  electric  railways  using  heavy 
equipments  where  an  accident  to  the  gearing  would  lead  to  serious 
conseq  uences. 

One  of  the  admitted  advantages  of  solid  gears  is  the  avoidance 
of  accidents  such  as  are  caused  by  the  breaking  of  the  bolts  used 
with  split  gears.  When  a  bolt  becomes  loose  or  broken,  it  in- 
variably causes  a  bent  armature  shaft  and  injures  the  gear  case 
and  other  parts  that  are  directly  connected.  As  the  solid  gear  is 
pressed  on  the  axle  under  a  pressure  of  from  to  tons  to  25  tons, 
there  is  no  danger  of  the  gear  case  becoming  loose  on  the  shaft, 
as  is  the  case  when  split  gears  are  used. 

The  design  of  the  solid  gear  allows  a  perfect  distribution  of  the 
metal,  insuring  an  exceptionally  strong  gear  without   the  disad- 


662 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


[Vol.  XXIV.      No.  15. 


vantage  of  excessive  weight.  While  the  gear  is  recommended 
especially  for  heavy  work,  it  has  met  with  success  on  systems 
where  light  equipments  are  in  vogue.  The  design  illustrated 
represents  a  general  type  which  can  be  adapted  to  meet  special 
conditions. 



AN  IMPROVED  HOT  WATER  CAR  HEATER 


The  Franklin  Railway  Supply  Company,  of  Franklin,  Pa.,  is 
manufacturing  a  new  type  of  hot-water  car  heater,  which  appears 
to  be  meeting  with  considerable  favor.  Last  winter  it  was  given 
a  trial  upon  one  of  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee  Railway  Company's 
cars,  at  Highwood,  111.,  and  after  a  number  of  competitive  tests, 
was  adopted  as  the  standard  for  all  of  the  company's  new  Jewett 
cars.  Since  then  it  has  been  placed  on  new  cars  of  the  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company;  the  Metropolitan  West  Side 
Elevated  Railway,  of  Chicago;  the  South  Chicago  City  Railway; 


to  the  outer  shell.  The  two  nickel  rings  hide  the  rivets  from  view. 
Between  these  two  shells  is  the  i^-in.  water  jacket,  the  outer 
shell  of  which  is  tapped  at  the  top  and  bottom  and  connected  with 
the  radiating  pipes.  These  pipes  are  so  arranged  that  the  water 
circulates  freely  around  the  entire  stove.  This  construction  pre- 
vents the  overheating  of  the  air  or  woodwork  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  heater,  and  the  heat  ordinarily  radiated  to  the  air 
is  imparted  to  the  water,  thus  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  equip- 
ment. As  the  outer  shell  is  of  heavy  steel,  it  cannot  be  marred  or 
dented,  and  since  the  water  jacket  prevents  it  from  becoming 
hot  enough  to  burn  off  the  enamel,  the  heater  presents  a  neat 
appearance  at  all  times.  The  heater  is  furnished  with  a  heavy 
cast  iron  base-plate  which  has  a  large  lip  in  front  of  the  bottom 
door  to  prevent  the  scattering  of  ashes. 

The  top  of  the  heater  consists  of  two  cast  iron  hoods  resting  011 
a  cast  iron  lop-plate.  The  outer  ornamental  hood  is  of  open  nickel 
scroll  work.  The  inner  hood  is  a  single  heavy  casting,  the  only 
opening  being  the  stove  door  and  the  flue  for  the  stovepipe.  This 


(Open)  (Closed) 
FILLER  COCKS,  OPEN  AND  CLOSED 


REVOLVING  SMOKE 
JACKET 


I  1  >|J(,-!I  I 


(Closed) 

SAFETY 
VALVE 


HOT-WATER  CAR  HEATER  COMPLETE 

the  Central  Illinois  Construction  Company ;  the  Green  Bay  Trac- 
tion Company,  and  contracts  have  been  made  for  its  installation 
on  all  the  closed  cars  of  the  Syracuse  Rapid  Transit  Company  and 
sixty  large  cars  of  the  Rochester  Railway  Company. 

This  heater,  which  is  known  as  the  "Western,"  possesses  the 
advantage  of  taking  up  very  little  space  in  the  car,  as  its  outside  di- 
ameter is  only  16  ins.,  and  if  placed  on  the  platform  it  does  not  in  any 
way  interfere  with  the  motorman  in  the  performance  of  his  duties. 
The  entire  fire  space  of  the  heater  is  surrounded  by  a  water  jacket, 
the  outer  shell  of  which  consists  of  V\-m.  flange  steel  extending 
from  the  cast  iron  base  plate  to  the  ornamental  hood.  Within  this, 
from  the  grate  to  the  top  ring,  is  another  flange  steel  shell  riveted 


construction,  in  connection  with  the  gas  chamber,  which  rests 
upon  the  top  ring,  extending  over  the  magazine  hole  made  in  front 
of  the  coal  door,  prevents  the  escape  of  smoke  and  gas  into  the 
car.  The  coal  magazine  bangs  from  the  center  of  the  top  ring 
and  has  around  it  a  coil  of  /4-in.  pipe,  whose  length  depends 
upon  the  heating  surface  desired  in  the  equipment.  A  cast  iron 
door  swings  over  the  top  of  the  magazine  to  prevent  a  draft  from 
passing  through  the  coal  within.  This  magazine  construction,  be- 
sides acting  as  a  feed  to  the  fire  prevents  the  coal  from  obstructing 
the  heating  surface  and  acts  as  a  flue  to  guide  the  gas  freely 
around  the  entire  surface  of  the  coal. 

The  filler  cock  used  in  this  system  is  composed  of  but  two  pieces 
of  brass,  requires  no  wrench  and  has  an  automatic  outlet  for  the 
air  when  water  is  poured  into  the  expansion  drum.  The  safety 
valve  is  so  constructed  that  cinders  and  dust  cannot  block  or  aid 
m  the  corrosion  of  the  valve  seat.  The  revolving  smoke  jacket 
acts  as  a  ventilator  for  preventing  smoke  and  gas  from  being 
blown  down  the  stove  pipe  and  into  the  car. 

The  car  heating  department  of  the  Franklin  Railway  Supply 
Company  is  represented  in  the  Central  West  by  Porter  &  Berg, 
of  Chicago,  and  for  Missouri  and  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  by 
W.  H.  Schofield,  of  Kansas  City,  Mo. 


ADVERTISING  FOR  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC 


Electric  railway  officials  who  have  to  do  with  the  passenger- 
attracting  end  of  the  business  will  be  interested  in  recent  develop- 
ments in  attractive  promotive  printed  matter  for  trolley  lines  and 
resorts.  Recently  a  number  of  noteworthy  pieces  of  advertising 
matter  have  been  designed  for  sounding  the  praises  of  pleasure- 
grounds  reached  by  electric  cars. 

The  first  of  these  is  a  neat  folder,  size  3^  ins.  x  6J4  'ns->  issued 
by  the  International  Railway  Company  in  the  interest  of  its  Lake 
Ontario  resort,  Olcott  Beach.  A  beautiful  two-tint  representa- 
tion of  the  hotel,  seen  through  the  stately  pines,  with  the  bluff 
and  beach  fronting  it,  adorns  both  front  and  back  covers. 

The  Great  Blue  Hill  and  Reservation  are  graphically  represented 
on  the  front  cover  of  a  4-in.  x  7-in.  booklet  printed  in  darkest 
blue  and  brown.  This  picture  readily  convinces  the  recipient  of 
a  copy  of  the  booklet  that  there  is  something  impressive  and  awe- 
inspiring  to  be  seen  "on  and  up,  where  Nature's  heart  beats 
strong  amid  the  hills."    The  views  and  type  both  are  printed  in 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


663 


dark  brown.  A  running  head  band  in  blue  adds  greatly  to  the 
typographical  charm  of  the  pages. 

Number  three  of  this  trio  of  business  winners  is  a  four-page 
leaflet  in  a  three-ply  cover ;  Norumbega  Park,  at  Auburndale, 
Mass.,  is  the  resort  advertised,  and  the  plan  is  well  carried  out — 
a  boy  and  a  boat  in  the  foreground — or  "water" — of  a  park  view, 
are  on  the  long  flap  of  the  cover,  while  an  old  buck  elk  proudly 


MAYFLOWER 

GROVE 


ELECTRIC  CAR  HEATER  AND  REGULATING  SWITCH 


The  accompanying  cut  illustrates  one  of  the  Consolidated  Car- 
Heating  Company's  new  electric  heaters  for  cross-seat  and  parlor 
cars.  The  heater  is  intended  for  use  along  the  truss  plank  and 
projects  but  2%  ins.  It  is  S3A  ms-  m  width,  and  made  in  24-in. 
lengths.  The  heating  element  consists  of  the  Consolidated  stan- 
dard spiral  coil,  but  in  this  heater  it  is  wound  on  an  elliptical 
spindle.  The  heater  has  a  cast-iron  back  to  which  the  spindle 
is  attached.    The  heater  top  and  front  are  also  of  cast  iron.  The 


THE  BROCKTON  &  PLYMOUTH  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY'S 
MAYFLOWER  GROVE  PAMPHLET 


ELECTRIC  HEATER  FOR  USE  ALONG  THE  TRUSS  PLANK 
OF  CROSS-SEAT  AND  PARLOR  CARS 


poses  on  the  shorter  flap.  The  inside  contains  several  views,  and 
a  number  of  well-chosen,  succinct  statements  regarding  the  at- 
tractions here  to  be  found. 

Something  entirely  new  in  resort  advertising  is  a  one-sheet 
poster  printed  from  half-tone  plates,  on  heavy  paper.    A  glance  at 


SOME   ATTRACTIVE   STREET    RAILWAY  BOOKLETS 

the  photo-reduction  of  this  sheet,  printed  on  this  page,  will  show 
that  it  is  doubly  striking  and  noteworthy  for  being  artistically  ar- 
ranged and  beautifully  printed.  The  Brockton  &  Plymouth  Street 
Railway  issued  this  poster. 

All  of  these  things  were  done,  from  inception  to  delivery,  by 
the  Matthews-Northrup  Works  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  under  the  direct 
charge  and  supervision  of  their  "Routes  and  Resorts"  department. 
This  concern  is  well  equipped  for  the  manufacture  of  advertising 
literature  for  railways  and  resorts,  having  been  engaged  in  map 
engraving  and  railroad  printing  for  the  past  half  century. 


lead  wires  are  carried  from  the  bottom  of  the  heater  to  a  grooved 
moulding,  and  there  are,  therefore,  no  exposed  wires.  The  heater 
front  can  be  easily  removed  and  connecting  wires  attached  to  the 
binding  posts  inside  the  heater  case  if  desired.  With  this  type 
of  heater  it  is  impossible  to  overheat  the  seats,  the  heater  be- 
ing placed  along  the  truss  plank  near  the  floor,  and  the  maximum 
consumption  of  a  24-in.  heater  being  only  400  watts.  For  inter- 
urban  cars  a  continuous  row  of  heaters  on  either  side  of  the  car 
is  recommended. 

The  switch  shown  herewith  is  the  Consolidated  Car-Heating 
Company's  new  regulating  switch  for  heater  circuits.  There  are 
two  quick-break  knife  switches,  and  two  fuses  mounted  on  a 
slate  base.    The  frame  and  cover  are  of  malleable  iron,  finished  in 


CONSOLIDATED 
CAR- HEATING  COMPANY. 
ALBANY.  NY. 

HEATER  SWITCH. 


HEATER  REGULATING  SWITCH 

copper  bronze.  The  cover  is  hinged  to  the  frame  at  the  top  and 
locked  by  a  spring  at  the  bottom.  This  cover  is  raised  when  it  is 
desired  to  change  the  position  of  the  switch. 


The  Hartford  &  Springfield  Street  Railway  Company  is  now 
charging  5  cents  fare  for  the  trip  between  East  Windsor  Hill  and 
the  Massachusetts  line,  making  the  total  fare  from  Springfield  to 
Hartford  35  cents  instead  of  30  cents. 


664 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


SOME  SPECIAL  DESIGNS  OF  THE  No.  27-E  BRILL  TRUCK 


Among  the  recently  built  trucks  of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company's 
No.  27-E  high-speed  type  are  a  number  which  include  some  un- 
usual features.  Not  infrequently  the  ingenuity  of  builders  is 
taxed  to  the  utmost  to  adapt  trucks  to  requirements  of  unusual 
conditions.  The  simple  form  of  the  solid-forged  frames  of  the 
trucks  built  by  this  company,  it  is  claimed,  frequently  assists  con- 
siderably in  conforming  in  a  highly  satisfactory  manner  to  special 
requirements.  The  four  trucks  in  the  accompanying  illustrations 
have  some  very  interesting  features,  and  the  dimensions  given, 
particularly  those  of  the  solid-forged  side  frames,  speak  eloquently 
of  the  marvelous  strides  made  in  electric  truck  building. 

Before  describing  these  trucks  individually,  it  may  be  briefly 
stated  that  the  system  of  equalization  of  the  No.  27-E  type  com- 


FIG.  1.— TRUCK  BUILT  FOR  THE  TWIN  CITY  RAPID  TRANSIT 
COMPANY 


bines  a  swing  bolster  and  a  cushioned  connection  with  the  frame 
by  means  of  spring-link  suspended  equalizing  bars.  These  spring 
links  are  supported  by  the  frame  near  the  yokes,  relieving  the 
strain  upon  the  frame  and  giving  a  wide  suspension  to  the  cen- 
trally borne  load,  theoretically  and  practically  the  correct  method 
of  equalization.  Not  only  is  the  load  distributed  equally  upon 
each  wheel,  but  a  leverage  is  obtained  in  favor  of  the  frame  against 
the  wheels  and  brakes,  preventing  tilting  or  kicking  up,  no  matter 
how  violent  the  brakes  are  set.  Another  advantage  of  the  cush- 
ioned side  swing  is  the  softness  of  contact  of  the  wheel  flanges 
with  the  rail  heads.  The  equalizers  and  journal  springs  are  heavy 
double  coils-  and  the  equalizing  bars  are  2V2  ins.  thick. 

Fig.  1  shows  a  truck  built  for  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit 
Company,  of  Minneapolis,  Minn.  The  brake  hangers  are  of  a 
special  design  of  the  railway  company,  having  a  ball  and  socket 
arrangement  at  both  ends  of  the  single  bolts  to  which  the  brake- 


FIG.  3— THE    WILKESBARRE    &    HAZELTON  RAILWAY 
COMPANY'S  TRUCK 


shoe  holders  are  attached.  The  upright  lever  is  attached  directly 
to  the  brake  beam,  which  is  unusual  in  electric  practice.  The 
motor  support  springs  are  upon  spring  posts,  the  heads  of  which 
bear  upon  gusset  plates  secured  to  the  transoms  and  side  frames. 
Double-  and  single-corner  brackets  are  also  used  to  connect  tran- 
soms with  side  frames.  The  total  length  of  a  side  frame  of  this 
truck  is  10  ft.  7  ins. ;  width  at  the  center  of  bar  between  yokes,  5^2 
ins.;  thickness  of  bar,  1^4  ins.;  thickness  of  the  yoke  extensions, 
iyi  ins.;  thickness  of  the  pedestals,  4  ins.;  length  of  the  axles,  6  ft. 
8%  ins.;  diameter  of  the  axles.  5  ins.  and  at  the  gear  seat,  $y2  ins.; 
journals,  4*4  ins.  x  8  ins.  The  wheels  are  33  ins.  diameter  arid 
steel-tired ;  the  wheel  base  is  6  ft.  6  ins. 

Fig.  2  shows  a  truck  of  the  Schenectady  Railway.  This  truck 
has  double  horizontal  brake  levers  with  upright  levers  held  in  a 
vertical  position  when  retracted.  Special  swivel  locks  are  placed 
on  the  bottom  brake  rods.  The  extensions  of  the  frames  are 
bent  around  the  wheels  to  increase  the  clearance  of  the  truck. 


The  double-  and  single-corner  brackets  which  connect  the  tran- 
soms and  side  frames  are  plainly  seen  in  the  illustration  of  this 
truck.  These  brackets  are  1  in.  thick,  forged  from  single  billets, 
and  are  used  on  all  trucks  of  the  27-E  type.  The  length  of  the 
side  frames  is  9  ft.  10  ins.;  width  at  center  of  the  bar  between 
yokes,  sVa  his.;  thickness  of  the  bar,  iyA  ins.;  thickness  of  the  ex- 
tensions, \Y2  ins.;  thickness  of  the  pedestals,  4  ins.;  length  of 
axles,  7  ft.  \Y2  ins.;  diameter,  6  ins.  and  at  gear  seat,  6y2  ins.; 
journals,  5  ins.  x  9  ins.  The  wheels  are  34  ins.  in  diameter  and 
are  steel-tired.  They  have  a  2-in.  tread  and  a  15-16-in.  flange. 
The  wheSl  base  of  the  truck  is  6  ft. 

Fig.  3  illustrates  the  truck  as  used  on  the  Wilkesbarre  &  Hazel- 
ton  Railway,  Pennsylvania.  The  special  features  of  this  truck  are 
four  braking  appliances.  The  outside  brakes  are  operated  by 
two  methods,  automatic  air  and  hand,  and  the  inside  brakes  also 


FIG.   2.— SCHENECTADY   RAILWAY    COMPANY'S   TRUCK,  WITH 
DOUBLE  HORIZONTAL  BRAKE  LEVER 


have  two  systems  of  control,  magnetic  and  hand.  It  is  said  that 
this  is  the  most  complete  brake  system  ever  furnished  to  any 
form  of  rolling  stock.  The  spring  plank  is  composed  of  angle 
irons  with  the  ends  brought  over  the  equalizing  bars.  The  length 
of  the  side  frames  is  11  ft.  3  ins.;  width  at  center  of  the  bar  be- 
tween the  yokes,  5^2  ins.;  thickness  of  the  bar,  1^4  ins.;  thickness 
of  the  extensions,  iy2  ins.;  thickness  of  the  pedestals,  4  ins.; 
length  of  the  axles,  7  ft.  %-in.;  diameter  of  the  axles,  7  ins.  and  at 
the  gear  seats,  7*4  ins.;  journals,  4%  ins.  x  8  ins.  The  wheels  are 
36  ins.  in  diameter,  are  steel-tired  and  have  the  M.  C.  B.  type 
tread  and  flange.    The  wheel  base  is  6  ft.  6  ins. 

Fig.  4  shows  the  truck  as  built  for  the  Gallarate-Milan  Railway, 


FIG.  4.— SOLID  FORGED  TRUCK  FOR  THE  MILAN-GALLARATE 

RAILWAY 


Italy.  This  is  said  to  be  the  largest  electric  truck  ever  built,  and 
is  considerably  larger  than  the  standard  four-wheeled  steam  rail- 
road trucks.  The  solid-forged  frames  and  the  strength  and  dis- 
position of  the  springs  give  it  a  carrying  capacity  equal  to  the 
large  six-wheelers  used  under  the  heavy  steam  coaches.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  this  enormous  strength  is  obtained  without 
bulk.  Unfortunately,  the  truck  does  not  show  to  good  advantage 
in  the  engraving,  as  the  wheels  do  not  belong  to  the  truck  and 
are  but  33  ins.  in  diameter.  The  angle-iron  end-pieces  of  the 
frame  are  bent  around  the  extensions  of  the  side  frames  and 
heavily  bolted  thereto.  The  length  of  the  side  frames  is  12  ft. 
y2  in.;  width  at  center  of  the  bar  between  the  yokes,  7  ins.;  thick- 
ness of  the  bar,  1%  his.;  thickness  of  the  extensions,  ijy2  ins.; 
thickness  of  the  pedestals,  2  ins.;  length  of  the  axles,  7  ft.  3%  ins.; 
diameter  of  the  axles,  6^4  ins.  and  at  the  gear  seat,  7f4  ins.;  jour- 
nals, 5%  ins.  x  9  1-16  ins.  The  wheels  are  41  ins.  in  diameter 
and  have  the  M.  C.  B.  type  tread  and  flange.   The  wheel  base  is  7  ft. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


665 


THE  HAMILTON-HOLZWARTH  STEAM  TURBINE 


A  54-INCH  BAND  RE-SAW 


It  has  been  well  known  that  the  Hooven,  Owens,  Rentschler 
Company,  of  Hamilton,  Ohio,  has  been  engaged  for  some  time 
on  the  design  of  a  steam  turbine,  but  no  particulars  have  been 
available  until  this  issue.  The  turbine  is  illustrated  herewith  and 
differs  in  a  number  of  particulars  from  other  turbines  which  have 
been  described  in  these  columns.  In  units  of  750-kw  upward,  the 
turbine  is  built  with  separate  high  and  low-pressure  casings; 
smaller  units  have  one  casing  only.  Owing  to  the  design  of  the 
turbine,  there  is  no  back  pressure  to  the  steam  in  the  running 
wheels  and  any  slight  end  thrust  is  taken  up  by  a  thrust  ball  bear- 
ing.   The  turbine  is  built  only  with  horizontal  shafts. 

Like  the  Parsons,  this  turbine  has  a  large  number  of  stationary 
disks  and  running  wheels,  but  while  the  Parsons  expands  in  both 
stationary  blades  and  running  wheels,  the  Hamilton-Holzwarth 
steam  turbine  expands  only  in  the  stationary  blades.  The  num- 
ber of  blades  and  wheels  is  also  less  than  in  the  Parsons  type. 
The  radial  height  of  the  vanes  in  these  blades  is  gradually  in- 
creased from  high  to  low  pressure,  corresponding  to  the  volume  to 
which  the  steam  expands  in  its  course.  In  the  bore  of  the  sta- 
tionary disks  runs,  with  as  small  clearance  as  practical,  the  hub 
of  the  running  wheel.  This  restricts  the  leakage  losses  to  a  mini- 
mum. The  stationary  disks  are  located  in  grooves  in  the  turbine 
casings  and  the  stationary  disk  vanes  are  of  drop  forged  steel, 
milled  and  ground  to  the  proper  shape.  A  tough  steel  ring  is  then 
shrunk  on  the  outside  periphery. 

The  running  wheels  are  made  as  light  as  possible  in  order  to 
keep  the  diameter  of  the  shaft,  and  hence  the  bore  of  the  station- 
ary disks  as  small  as  possible,  also  so  as  to  reduce  the  strains 
due  to  centrifugal  stresses.  The  running  wheels  are  built  with 
cast-steel  hubs ;  steel  disks  are  riveted  to  both  sides  of  the  hub 
and  the  vanes  are  then  riveted  in  place.  On  the  outer  edge  of  the 
vanes  is  a  thin  steel  band  which  give  an  outside  wall  to  the  steam 
channel.  Tests  made  with  these  vanes  have  shown  that  it  takes 
over  1000  lbs.  to  pull  them  out  of  the  clips.  Every  wheel  is  bal- 
anced to  within  1-16  of  an  ounce.  The  bearings  for  the  turbine 
shaft,  having  much  less  weight  to  support  than  those  of  the  gen- 
erator shaft,  are  made  short,  with  straight,  cylindrical  shells.  A 
thrust  bearing  is  used  on  the  exhaust  side  of  the  bearing,  ar- 
ranged so  that  the  whole  shaft  can  be  moved  axially  and  the  posi- 
tion of  the  running  wheels  changed.  Flexible  couplings  of  an 
ingenious  type  are  used  between  the  high  and  low-pressure  shafts 
so  that  either  shaft  can  be  fixed  and  located  without  affecting  the 
location  of  the  other  shafts. 

The  expansion  of  the  turbine  shaft  and  casing  is  provided  for 
by  holding  each  rigidly  only  at  the  cool  or  exhaust  end  by  the 
high-pressure  and  low-pressure  pedestals.    The  casings  are  not 


The  accompanying  cut  illustrates  a  late  improved  machine 
built  by  the  American  Wood  Working  Machinery  Company,  of 
New  York,  Chicago  and  New  Orleans,  which  is  said  to  embody 
all  the  conveniences  and  attachments  that  are  necessary  or  de- 
sirable for  any  kind  of  resawing  on  hard  or  soft  wood.  The 
frame  is  strong,  heavy,  has  a  broad  base,  and  if  properly  set  will 


BAND  RE-SAWING  MACHINE  FOR  RAILWAY  SHOPS 

not  vibrate,  even  when  running  on  a  light  floor.  The  shafts  are 
large  in  diameter  and  have  bearings  from  9  ins.  to  14  ins.  long, 
running  in  self-oiling  boxes.  The  lower  wheel  is  a  solid  web  and 
very  heavy.  The  upper  one  is  as  light  as  is  consistent  with 
strength. 

The  feed  works  are  very  powerful,  there  being  six  feed  rolls, 
and  the  feed  varies  from  12  ft.  to  120  ft.  per  minute,  by  adjusting 
the  expansion  cones  according  to  the  work  required.    The  right- 


1000-KW   HAMILTON-HOLZWARTH  STEAM  TURBINE,  DIRECT  CONNECTED  TO  1000-KW  ALTERNATOR,  IN  (ITERATION  AT  THE 

LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION 


fastened  to  the  bed-plate,  and  they  as  well  as  the  shaft  can  slide 
or  expand  against  the  direction  in  which  the  steam  flows. 

The  governor  operates  by  throttling,  a  method  which  does  not 
present  the  same  disadvantages  as  in  the  reciprocating  engine. 
In  the  latter  the  static  pressure  of  the  steam  is  reduced  by  a 
throttling  valve,  but  in  steam  turbines  static  pressure  is  not  used 
owing  to  the  fact  that  all  the  energy  is  converted  into,  kinetic 
energy.  The  regulating  valve  is  located  below  the  bed-plate,  and 
is  of  the  double-seated  poppet-valve  type,  which  insures  a  perfect 
balance. 


hand  rolls  are  rigid  in  the  boxes,  but  the  left-hand  set  are  elastic 
so  as  to  grasp  uneven  stock  and  hold  it  firmly  against  the  rigid 
roll,  thus  making  a  powerful  Iced  even  on  very  unequal  sawed 
lumber.  All  rolls  are  adjustable  to  the  blade  and  wheels  in  case 
of  wear.  With  a  special  self-centering  attachment  both  sets  of 
rolls  are  held  rigid  and  the  adjustment  for  thickness  is  made  by 
a  lower  screw  and  hand  crank.  The  capacity  of  the  machine  is 
30  ins.  vertically  and  from  %  in.  to  20  ins.  horizontally.  It  will  do 
slabbing  from  12  ins.  wide,  will  split  a  16-in.  timber  in  the  center 
and  cut  a  veneer  from  12-in.  timber. 


666 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 


IIVIPROV£MENTS  IN  BLOCK  SIGNAL  SYSTEM  FOR  SINGLE 
TRACK  RAILWAYS 


In  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  Aug.  29,  1903,  a  description 
was  presented  of  the  block  signal  system  which  had  then  been  in 
use  on  the  line  of  the  Tamaqua  &  Lansford  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany for  over  a  year.  The  electrical  details  of  this  system,  which 
was  installed  by  the  Eureka  Electric  Signal  Company,  of  Lansford, 
Pa.,  proved  thoroughly  satisfactory  from  the  start,  but  certain  me- 
chanical changes  in  the  controlling  apparatus  were  found  desirable, 
the  principal  one  being  a  new  controller  of  simplified  construction 
and  affording  a  wider  range  of  protection.  It  will  be  apparent  from 
the  following  that  this  system  possesses  a  number  of  valuable  me- 
chanical and  electrical  features  which  make  it  worthy  of  the  care- 
ful attention  of  railway  companies  operating  single  track  lines  not 
now  furnished  with  an  efficient  block  signal  system. 

The  simplicity  of  operation  is  well  shown  in  the  wiring  diagram, 


Troiley  Wire 


Fjed 


Green 


Green 


J{u xi ha ry  Controller 

is? 


Green 


FIG.  1.— WIRING  ARRANGEMENT  FOR  THE  TWO-WIRE  SYSTEM 


Fig.  i.  Normally,  the  signal  circuit  of  an  empty  block  is  grounded 
at  both  ends.  This  circuit  includes  a  series  of  green  lamps  dis- 
tributed along  the  block  in  any  desired  position,  and  red  lamps  at 
the  extreme  ends  of  the  block.  The  feed-wire  connections  to  the 
signal  circuit  are  normally  open.  The  practical  advantage  claimed 
for  this  arrangement  is  that  the  signal  circuit  being  normally  dead, 
no  accidental  grounding  through  bad  insulation,  falling  wires,  etc.. 
can  energize  the  circuit  and  cause  false  signals.  Should  such  a 
"ground"  occur  the  system  will  still  work  on  the  entrance  of  a 
car  into  the  block  affected,  but  the  dulling  of  the  lamps  in  the  por- 
tion shunted  by  the  accidental  ground  will  show  the  existence  of 
trouble  in  that  part  of  the  circuit. 

Upon  entering  a  block,  the  trolley  wheel  automatically  takes  the 
right-hand  branch  of  the  divided  trolley  wire  and  engages  the  con- 
tact device  thereon.  The  current  supplied  from  the  contactor  oper- 
ates the  circuit  controller  at  that  end  of  the  block,  thereby  cutting 
out  the  ground  at  that  end  of  the  signal  circuit  and  cutting  in  the 
feed  connection.  This  causes  all  the  green  lights  to  glow  and  also 
the  red  light  at  the  far  end  of  the  block.  The  green  lights  show 
the  motorman  that  the  block  ahead  is  clear,  and  the  far  red  light 
shows  the  motorman  of  a  car  approaching  the  other  end 
of  the  block  that  the  block  is  occupied  by  a  car  coming 
toward  him. 

If  another  car  follows  the  first,  the  glowing  green  light 
and  the  absence  of  any  red  light  show  the  motorman  that 
a  car  is  ahead  of  him  going  in  the  same  direction,  and  if 
his  instructions  are  to  trail  that  car  he  goes  into  the  block 
under  control.  This  does  not  change  the  signals,  but 
moves  the  circuit  controller  a  notch  farther. 

When  a  car  goes  out  of  the  block  at  the  distant  end, 
it  co-operates  with  the  contact-maker  and  sets  back  the 
controller  at  the  end  where  the  car  entered.  If  this  was 
the  only  car  in  the  block  it  cuts  out  the  lamps  and  leaves 
the  block  clear.  If  there  are  one  or  more  cars  following 
in  the  block,  it  sets  the  controller  back  one  notch,  but  does  not 
put  the  lights  out.  The  red  lamp  glowing  at  the  end  of  the  block 
as  he  leaves  it  tells  the  motorman  that  another  car  is  trailing  him. 

The  last  car  out  of  the  block  extinguishes  all  the  lamps.  If  a 
motorman  overruns  a  red  lamp  danger  signal  and  enters  a  block 
while  a  car  is  in  it  running  in  the  opposite  direction,  it  cuts  out 
both  grounds  and  extinguishes  all  the  lamps.  This  notifies  the 
motorman  in  the  block  that  a  car  has  entered  it  from  the  other 
end  in  defiance  of  the  signals,  or  that  the  system  is  out  of  com- 


mission, and  he  must  stop  or  feel  his  way  out  of  the  block. 
If  a  car  enters  a  block  wrongfully  through  failure  of  brakes,  or 
for  any  other  reason,  backing  out  will  reset  the  system  in  its  proper 
condition.  If  the  signal  system,  or  any  part  of  it  is  out  of  order, 
every  motorman  within  the  district  affected  is  notified  by  the 
lamps  going  out. 

The  fundamental  idea  of  this  signal  system  is  the  operation  of 
only  one  controller ;  to  set  the  system  to  danger  when  cars  enter 
the  block,  and  to  safety  when  they  leave  it.  To  protect  a  block,  two 
controllers  are  used,  one  at  each  end,  but  as  they  are  not  wired  in 
series  their  operation  is  independent  and  opposite  to  each  other.  The 
No.  2  controller  shown  in  Fig.  2  is  the  latest  development  in  Eureka 
appliances,  and  is  the  standard  machine  now  used  with  the  two- 
wire  system,  combining  in  itself  the  functions  of  both  the  original 
No.  1  controller,  and  the  automatic  current  directing  relay  which 
switches  a  path  for  current  from  both  short  plates  of  the  con- 
tact maker  through  the  coils  of  the  magnets  operating  the  signals. 

In  addition, the  new  controller 
includes  an  alternating  device, 
placed  in  the  signal  circuit,  by 
which  two  green  lamps  at  the 
entrance  to  the  block  are  al- 
ternately cut  in  and  out  of  cir- 
cuit. When  a  car  enters  the 
block  one  of  these  lamps  goes 
into  service.  Should  another 
car  follow  the  first,  it  will  put 
out  that  lamp  and  light  the 
other.  This  alternating  con- 
tinues with  each  successive  car 
that  enters  the  block.  This  de- 
vice, however,  may  be  omitted. 
The  magnets  of  this  con- 
troller are  wound  to  stand  the  working  current  continuously 
without  burning  out.  All  working  parts  are  massive ;  all  levers 
operate  on  trunions,  adjustable  to  take  up  wear;  all  switches  fall  by 
gravity,  eliminating  spring  operation  ;  all  bridging  contacts  work 
on  pins,  being  held  in  place  by  cotters ;  and  all  contacts  are 
made  by  crossing  heavy  silver  wire  at  right  angles.    This  controller 


FIG.  2. — THE  NO.  2  CONTROLLER 

needs  but  one  contact-maker  for  its  operation,  setting  the  signals 
to  danger  when  cars  enter  the  block,  and  to  safety  when  they  leave 
it.  It  embodies  the  accumulated  experience  of  many  years  of  sig- 
nal work,  and  has  been  designed  and  is  guaranteed  to  handle  heavy 
work  successfully,  with  little  danger  of  breaking  down  in  service. 


The  Springfield,  Troy  &  Piqua  Railway  Company  has  made  ar- 
rangements with  the  Southern  Ohio  Express  Company  to  handle 
the  express  business  on  this  line. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


667 


NEW  ELLIPTIC  SPRING  FOR  ELECTRIC  MOTOR  TRUCKS 


The  Union  Spring  &  Manufacturing  Company,  of  New  Kensing- 
ton, Pa.,  has  brought  out  recently  an  improved  type  of  elliptic 
spring,  which  is  now  used  in  the  electric  motor  trucks  built  by  the 
Standard  Steel  Car  Company,  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.  In  motor  trucks, 
owing  to  the  limited  wheel  base  between  plates  and  the  space  neces- 
sarily occupied  by  the  motor,  the  bolsters  have  to  be  very  narrow, 
and  hence  the  bolster  springs  are  limited  to  double  elliptics  with 
leaves  about  2>lA  ins.  or  4  ins.  wide.  To  carry  the  load  and  at  the 
same  time  provide  for  sufficient  deflection  to  insure  easy  riding,  it  is 
necessary  to  make  these  springs  not  less  than  36  ins.  long,  and  with 
as  many  as  six  leaves  or  even  more;  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  too  many  leaves  in  the  ordinary  type  of  elliptic  spring  cause 
it  to  be  hard  riding,  owing  to  the  excessive  damping  effect,  due  to 
friction.  The  manufacturer's  experience  confirms  the  belief  that 
three  or  four-leaved  springs  are  the  easiest  riding.  In  order  to 
make  a  six-leaf  spring  of  ample  strength  that  will  ride  as  easily 


NEW  TYPE  OF  SIX-LEAF  ELLIPTIC  SPRING 


as  a  three-leaf  spring,  the  six  leaves  have  been  divided  into  two 
sets  of  three  leaves  each,  both  sets  being  secured  by  one  band, 
but  beyond  the  band  the  sets  are  separated  so  that  no  friction  is  pro- 
duced between  them.  The  outside  set  carries  a  plate  which  connects 
the  upper  and  lower  sets  of  the  spring  and  the  inside  set  has  the 
long  leaves  merely  resting  together  at  their  ends,  as  is  shown  in 
the  illustration.  The  action  of  this  spring  is  precisely  the  same  as 
a  quadruple  elliptic  three-leaved  spring  of  the  same  length  and 
width  of  leaves,  which  is  equal  in  good  riding  qualities  to  the  best 
springs  used  on  steam  railroad  passenger  cars. 

The  Union  Spring  &  Manufacturing  Company  was  one  of  the 
first  independent  spring  manufacturers  to  go  into  business  after  the 
formation  of  the  Railway  Steel  Spring  Company.    It  manufactures 


helical  and  elliptical  springs  for  all  types  of  rolling  stock,  as  well 
as  pressed  steel  spring  plates  and  pressed  steel  journal-box  lids, 
and  has  furnished  its  products  to  most  of  the  large  steam  rail- 
roads, electric  railways,  and  car  and  locomotive  builders  through- 
out the  country.  Its  general  offices  and  works  are  located  at  New 
Kensington,  Pa.,  eighteen  miles  from  Pittsburg,  on  the  Allegheny 
Valley  Railroad  and  the  Allegheny  River.  The  capacity  of  the 
plant  in  all  lines  of  the  company's  manufactures  is  1200  tons  per 
month.  The  officers  of  this  company  are:  Archibald  M.  McCrea, 
president;  Leonard  G.  Woods,  vice-president;  Albert  Pancoast, 
secretary  and  treasurer. 


LARGE  CARS  FOR  THE  ILLINOIS  TRACTION  SYSTEM 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  train  of  seven  cars  built 
for  the  Illinois  Traction  System,  which  left  the  works  of  the 
American  Car  Company  a  few  weeks  ago  for  Springfield,  111. 
The  train  was  drawn  by  a  special  locomotive  and  the  cars  were 
carried  on  their  own  wheels.  The  order  called  for  eight  cars,  but 
one  was  shipped  a  week  or  two  previous  to  the  others  and  placed 


INTERIOR  OF  INTERURBAN  CAR  FOR  THE  ILLINOIS  TRACTION 

SYSTEM 


at  once  on  the  lines  between  Danville  and  Champaign  which  pass 
through  Urbana,  where  the  University  of  Illinois  is  located.  The 
cars  which  had  been  running  on  that  division  required  two  hours 
to  make  the  trip  of  35  miles.  The  new  car  is  run  as  a  limited, 
upon  which  an  extra  fare  is  charged,  and  the  trip  from  Danville 
to  Champaign  is  made  in  1  hour  and  15  minutes.  The  Illinois 
Traction  Company,  also  known  as  the  McKinley  syndicate,  has 
about  300  miles  of  lines  in  operation  at  and  between  Springfield, 
Decatur,   Champaign,   Urbana  and  Danville.    The  company  is 


connecting  the  sections  of  this  system,  intending  to  run  through 
cars  from  Danville  to  St.  Louis,  a  distance  of  200  miles,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  new  construction  has  been  completed. 

The  new  cars  measure  51  ft.  6  ins.  over  all,  49  ft.  10  ins.  over 
crown  pieces,  and  from  the  outside  of  the  vestibule  at  the  front 
end  over  the  end  panels  at  the  rear,  45  ft.  1%  ins.  The  width  over 
the  sills,  including  the  sheathing,  is  8  ft.  10  ins.;  over  the  centers 
of  the  posts,  2  ft.  6Ts  ins.  The  side  sills  are  5  ins.  x  -jVA  ins.  and 
2  ins.  x  6  ins.,  with  7-in.  x  5s-in.  sill  plates  on  the  inside.  The 
end  sills  are  5  ins.  x  7.34  ins.,  with  7-in.  x  J^-in.  plates.  The  thick- 
ness of  the  corner  posts  is  354  ins.,  and  of  the  corner  sub-posts, 


SEVEN  NEW  CARS  FOR  THE  ILLINOIS  TRACTION  SYSTEM  LEAVING  SPRINGFIELD,  ILL.,  ON  THEIR  OWN  TRUCKS 


668 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


234  ins.  The  thickness  of  the  side  posts  is  2J4  ins.  Four  6-in. 
I-beams  with  yellow  pine  fillers  constitute  the  center  sills. 

The  passenger  compartment  is  seated  for  forty-six  persons,  and 
the  baggage  compartment  has  folding  seats  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  smokers.  The  motorman's  cab  is  located  on  the  left  side 
of  the  latter  compartment.  Incandescent  lights  are  placed  singly 
on  the  arched  rafters  of  the  deck,  four  to  each  rafter.  The  seats 
in  the  passenger  compartment  have  stationary  backs,  are  uphol- 
stered in  green  leather  and  are  36  ins.  long.  The  toilet  room  of 
standard  steam  car  character  is  located  at  the  rear  end.  The 
bronze  trim  throughout  is  of  a  substantial  character  and  includes 
continuous  parcel  racks. 

♦  ♦♦  

THE  PEERLESS  SECTIONAL  GEAR 


The  Peerless  Sectional  Gear  Company,  of  New  York,  has  re- 
cently perfected  and  is  now  placing  on  the  market  a  gear  which, 
as  illustrated  herewith,  embodies  a  number  of  radical  features 


THE  SECTIONAL  GEAR  TAKEN  APART 


not  found  in  the  gears  now  in  universal  use.  It  consists  of  a  cast- 
iron  hub,  or  center  piece,  to  which  are  attached  removable  sec- 
tions of  the  gear.  The  sections,  which  are  two  in  number,  are 
interchangeable  on  any  hub.    When  the  hub  is  once  pressed  into 


THE  SECTIONAL  GEAR  ASSEMBLED  COMPLETE 


place  on  the  axle  it  requires  no  further  attention  as  long  as  the 
car  is  in  use.    The  rims  or  sections  of  the  gear  are  attached  to 


the  hub  independently.  When  the  teeth  are  worn  out  and  no 
longer  serviceable  the  rims  are  removed  and  new  ones  substi- 
tuted, thus  making  practically  a  new  gear.  The  ease  with  which 
this  can  be  done  can  be  readily  appreciated  by  examining  the 
accompanying  illustrations.  Where  the  hub  piece  and  the  rim 
come  in  contact  they  are  beveled  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  a 
perfect  fit,  thus  preventing  all  lateral  motion.  To  escape  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  rim  revolving  or  slipping  on  the  center  piece,  a 
steel  safety  key  is  placed  through  the  hub  and  rim  section,  lock- 
ing them  absolutely.  The  weight  and  amount  of  metal  in  the 
entire  gear  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  ordinary  type.  There  is, 
however,  a  considerable  saving  to  users  of  this  gear,  because 
when  the  rims  are  worn  out  they  can  be  replaced  without  buy- 
ing a  new  hub.  The  great  advantage  of  this  type,  however,  is 
in  the  saving  of  time  and  labor  in  replacing  the  gears.  The  car 
is  simply  run  over  the  pit,  and  one  man  with  one  wrench  can  re- 
move the  old  rims  and  replace  them  with  new  ones  in  less  than 
an  hour,  as  the  nuts  and  bolts  are  all  of  the  same  size. 

This  gear  is  the  result  of  a  long  series  of  experiments  under 
regular  operating  conditions.  At  the  present  time  it  is  in  service 
on  the  lines  of  the  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey, 
whose  engineers  have  watched  its  successful  development  with 
considerable  interest. 



MORE  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CARS  FOR  CHICAGO 


The  Calumet  Electric  Street  Railway  Company,  of  Chicago, 
has  lately  added  to  its  equipment  fifteen  combination  passenger 
and  smoking  cars  cf  the  Brill  semi-convertible  type  built  by  the 


SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  COMBINATION  PASSENGER  AND  SMOKING 
CAR  FOR  THE  CALUMET  ELECTRIC  STREET  RAILWAY 
COMPANY 


G.  C.  Kuhlman  Car  Company,  of  Cleveland.  These  cars  are 
similar  to  a  lot  of  fifteen  built  by  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company  two 
years  ago.  The  railway  company  operates  90  miles  of  lines,  giv- 
ing direct  rapid  transit  from  the  center  of  the  city  to  various  parts 
of  South  Chicago,  outlying  districts  of  that  section  and  the  subur- 
ban towns  beyond.  Fast  schedules  are  maintained  and  a  large 
business  is  done  from  the  farthest  points. 

The  new  cars  are  31  ft.  8  ins.  long  over  the  end  panels  and  44  ft. 


INTERIOR  OF  COMBINATION  SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  CAR  FOR 
THE  CALUMET  ELECTRIC  STREET  RAILWAY  COMPANY 

X  ins.  over  the  crown  pieces.  Their  width  over  the  sills  is  8  ft. 
3 ins.,  and  over  the  posts  at  the  belt,  8  ft.  6  ins.    The  seats  are 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL 


37  ins.  long  and  the  aisle  24  ins.  wide.  The  centers  of  the  posts 
are  2  ft.  8  ins.,  and  sweep  of  posts  \Yx  ins.  The  thickness  of  the 
corner  posts  is  ins.  and  of  the  side  posts  3%  ins.  The  side 
sills  are  4  ins.  x  7^4  ins.,  with  12-in.  x  -Hs-in.  sill  plates.  The  end 
sills  are  5*4  ins.  x  6y$  ins.  The  cars  are  seated  for  forty-four 
passengers,  the  smoking  compartment  having  accommodation  for 
twelve.  The  cars  have  a  large  amount  of  standing  space,  because 
of  the  wide  aisle  and  long  platforms.  The  interiors  are  finished 
in  cherry,  stained  to  a  mahogany  tint,  and  the  ceilings  arc  of 
bird's-eye  maple.  Between  the  compartments  is  a  hard  wood 
partition  with  a  single  sliding  door.  The  interior  view  shows 
two  windows  entirely  open  on  the  right-hand  side,  the  sashes  be- 
ing raised  into>  pockets  in  the  side  roof.  The  simple  character  of 
the  single  runway  in  each  post  is  clearly  shown,  and  the  five 
window  lock  stops  in  the  runways  may  also  be  seen.  These  run- 
ways are  entirely  of  metal  from  the  window  sills  to  the  upper 
ends  in  the  roof  pockets.  The  top  of  the  window  sills  is  but  24^ 
ins.  from  the  floor  and  has  arm  rests  bracketed  thereto  which  are 
arranged  not  to  interfere  with  the  window  locks.  The  sashes  in 
the  vestibules  drop  into  pockets  in  the  wainscoting.  The  vestibule 
doors  fold  against  the  vestibule  posts.  The  cars  are  mounted  on 
Brill  No.  27-G  trucks  having  4-ft.  wheel  base,  33-in.  wheels  and 
4-in.  axles.  

ALL-STEEL  AND  WOOD-STEEL  CATTLE  GUARDS 


IMPROVED  TROLLEY  RETRIEVER 


Cattle  guards  have  long  been  recognized  as  a  necessity  on  rail- 
ways operating  in  stock  raising  districts,  particularly  as  the  trac- 
tion company  is  usually  the  sufferer  financially  when  accidents  oc- 
cur. The  Merrill-Stevens  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Kalama- 
zoo, Mich.,  has  given  considerable  attention  to  the  manufacturing 
of  such  guards,  and  has  brought  out  a  number  of  designs  to  meet 
special  conditions. 

In  laying  the  Cook  all-steel  cattle  guard  made  by  this  company 
no  track  preparation  is  needed,  except  to  space  the  ties  at  the  ends 
of  the  guard  so  that  the  guard  will  rest  on  the  end  ties  only,  hang- 
ing clear  of  the  intermediate  ties  underneath.  Each  section  is 
spiked  down  to  the  ties  at  the  ends  of  the  guard  only.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  guard  vibrates  under  weight,  and  this  feature,  com- 


The  term  trolley  retriever,  as  distinguished  from  trolley  catcher, 
has  now  acquired  a  definite  significance  and  refers  to  a  device 
which  not  only  checks  the  upward  movement  of  the  trolley  when  it 
jumps  the  wire  but  also  pulls  it  down  far  enough  to  safely  clear 
the  overhead  structure. 
To  those  interested  in  the 
operation  of  the  cars  by 
the  overhead  system,  the 
trolley  retriever  is  becom- 
ing of  steadily  increasing 
importance.  For  high- 
speed railways  it  is  now 
recognized  as  a  necessity, 
and  roads  operating  at 
comparatively  low  speeds 
are  learning  that  it  pays 
to  provide  a  retriever  so 
that  the  conductor  may  de- 
vote all  of  his  time  to  col- 
lecting fares  and  attending 
to  his  many  other  duties. 

A  sectional  cut  is  pre- 
sented herewith  of  the 
Earll  trolley  retriever, 
manufactured  by  C.  I. 
Earll,  of  New  York.  This 
device  has  been  on  the 
market  for  nearly  three 
years,  but  has  recently  been 
considerably  modified  and 
improved.  It  is  both  com- 
pact and  light,  and  has  a  very  large  rope  space.  The  heavy  retriever 
spring  and  the  light  spring  which  takes  up  the  trolley  rope  slack 
are  wholly  inside  the  drum.  The  enclosing  case  is  made  up  of  a 
malleable  iron  back  and  a  drawn  steel  shell  which  fits  into  a  recess 
in  the  back,  where  it  is  held  by  the  central  shaft  on  which  the 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  RETRIEVER 


ALL-STEEL  CATTLE-GUARD  IN  POSITION 

bined  with  the  sharp  teeth  alternating  in  height,  offers  such  unstable 
footing  as  to  stop  the  most  unruly  animal.  The  guard  is  made  of 
annealed  steel,  and  can  be  easily  repaired  or  straightened  by  an 
ordinary  section  hand.  The  parts  are  riveted  with  pneumatic  rivet- 
ers, the  whole  forming  practically  a  solid  structure.  If  desired, 
hog  attachments  are  furnished  to  prevent  the  passage  of  animals 
with  feet  small  enough  to  pass  between  the  main  guard  rails. 

The  company  also  builds  a  wood-steel  guard,  which  is  in  exten- 
sive use  on  many  railroads.  The  metal  transverse  clamping  fix- 
tures are  of  soft  Bessemer  steel,  pressed  into  shape  with  powerful 
presses.  The  wooden  parts  are  white  oak,  creosoted,  if  desired. 
All  pieces  are  brought  to  exact  size  and  shape,  thus  making  them 
interchangeable.  Broken  wooden  slats  may  be  removed  and  new 
ones  inserted  in  a  few  minutes  time.  All  that  is  required  is  to  un- 
screw the  nuts  which  hold  the  span  pieces  in  position,  put  in  the 
new  ones  and  fasten  as  before.  This  guard  is  open  from  one  end 
In  the  other;  that  is,  there  are  no  spacing  blocks  between  the  slats 
si  1  that  drifting  snow  and  dirt  will  not  lodge  and  fill  up  the  guard. 
This  guard,  like  the  metal  one,  requires  no  preparation  of  track,  but 
is  spiked  down  upon  the  lies  as  they  lie  in  (he  roadbed.  The  same 
hog  attachments  may  lie  used  as  with  the  regular  Cook  guard. 


TROLLEY  RETRIEVER  READY  FOR  OPERATION 

sheave  rotates,  being  secured  by  a  thumb-nut  at  the  rear,  as  show  n 
in  the  sectional  illustration.  This  thumb  nut  is  the  only  screw  in 
the  entire  machine.  When  it  is  taken  off  the  shaft  may  be  with- 
drawn and  the  steel  case  removed  from  the  hack',  thus  giving  access 
to  every  part.  The  drum  has  a  bearing  on  the  shaft  3]  2  ins.  lung: 
the  diameter  of  the  case  is  ins.,  and  the  weight  of  the  retriever 
14  lbs.  All  of  the  parts  are  made  of  steel  except  the  drum  and 
back,  which  are  of  malleable  in  in. 

All  retrievers  require  to  be  reset  after  the  pole  lias  jumped  the 
wire  and  been  pulled  down.  Imt  there  is  some  diversity  oi  opinion 


670 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


among  railway  managers  whether  the  conductor  shall  be  compelled 
to  set  the  retriever  before  replacing  the  trolley  on  the  wire,  whether 
he  shall  always  set  it  to  the  same  extent,  or  be  permitted  to  replace 
the  trolley  and  start  the  car  before  setting  the  retriever.  One  of 
the  features  of  this  retriever  is  that  by  merely  removing  certain 
parts  and  substituting  others  which  are  interchangeable  with  them, 
the  retriever  may  be  set  in  any  of  these  three  ways.  Where 
the  first  method  is  used  it  is  not  necessary  to  touch  any  part  of  the 
retriever  to  accomplish  the  setting,  but  merely  to  take  hold  of  the 
rope.  Where  the  second  and  third  methods  are  employed,  the 
conductor  has  to  depress  the  set  lever  before  pulling  out  the  rope. 

In  all  three  methods  of  setting  with  this  retriever  the  trolley  pole 
may  be  pulled  down  close  to  the  roof  of  the  car  before  beginning 
to  set,  thus  enabling  the  conductor  to  use  the  up-pull  of  the  trolley 
pole  to  assist  in  setting  without  danger  of  carrying  the  pole  high 
enough  to  strike  the  span  wires  should  the  car  be  in  motion. 


INTERURBAN  CARS  FOR  THE  ATLANTIC  SHORE  LINE 
RAILWAY 


COMBINATION  ARC  HEADLIGHT 


The  detachable  duplex  combination  arc  headlight  shown  in  the 
accompanying  cut  is  a  product  of  the  Smith  of  New  York  Company, 


DUPLEX   COMBINATION  ARC  HEADLIGHT 

New  York  City.  It  is  18  ins.  high  and  14  ins.  in  diameter,  weigh- 
ing 23  lbs.,  and  is  light  and  convenient  to  handle.  The  arc  is 
said  to  throw  a  light  1500  ft.  without  a  shadow,  while  the  incandes- 
cent equals  in  efficiency  three  of  the  ordinary  type.  Each  head- 
light is  furnished  with  two  posi- 
tive plugs  (arc  and  incandesc- 
ent), with  four  receptacles,  the 
hook  on  headlight  case  being- 
negative  contact  for  both  cir- 
cuits. Change  of  light  is  made 
by  inserting  the  proper  plugs 
in  the  receptacles,  or  by  operat- 
ing a  two-throw  switch  placed 
in  the  vestibule  of  the  car.  The 
back  of  the  case  is  made  of  cast 
iron,  the  case  itself  being  of  ex- 
tra heavy  sheet  steel.  The  re- 
flectors are  made  of  extra  heavy 
gage  aluminium,  brass  or  cop- 
per, heavily  plated.  The  ring 
for  the  glass  is  made  of  brass, 
and  can  be  easily  taken  out  and 
glass  relaced  by  adjusting  one 
screw.  The  headlight  is  easily 
adjusted   on   the  dash  by  its 

bumpers.  The  lamps  can  be  replaced  without  removing  either 
the  case  or  the  reflector. 


The  Laconia  Car  Company  Works,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  have  re- 
cently built  for  the  Atlantic  Shore  Line  Railway,  of  Kennebunk- 


HIGH-SPEED  INTERURBAN  TRUCK  FOR  INSIDE-HUNG  MOTORS 


INTERIOR  OF  CAR  FOR  ATLANTIC  SHORE  LINE  RAILWAY 

port,  Maine,  the  type  of  car  shown  in  accompanying  illustrations. 
The  car  body  is  of  the  semi-convertible  type,  35  ft.  long  over 


SEMI-CONVERTIBLE  INTERURBAN  CAR  FOR  KENNEBUNKPORT,  MAINE 

body  and  about  45  ft.  over  all.  It  is  built  on  steam  car  lines,  with 
straight  sides  sheathed,  and  has  an  extended  monitor.    The  win- 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


671 


dows  are  arranged  in  groups  with  double  sash,  and  both  sashes 
are  arranged  to  drop  flush  with  the  window  sill,  making  a  very 
comfortable  summer  car  when  the  windows  are  lowered.  The 
inside  finish  is  red  birch.  The  ceilings  are  of  three-ply  quartered 
oak,  decorated.  Chase  leather  curtains  are  used.  The  seats, 
which  were  made  by  Heywood  Brothers  &  Wakefield  Company, 
are  upholstered  in  special  figured  plush. 

All  cars  are  wired  for  electric  push  buttons  at  each  post;  are 
equipped  with  International  registers  operated  by  rods ;  Consoli- 
dated heaters;  Root  scrapers;  Wilson  trolley  retrievers;  Cleve- 
land combination  headlights;  Westinghouse  motor-driven  air 
brakes  ;  Westinghouse  40-hp  motors  No.  101  and  type  M  control. 
The  motors  are  geared  for  a  speed  of  35  miles  an  hour.  The 
trucks  are  the  Laconia  Car  Company  Works  new  type,  with  5-ft. 
7-in.  wheel  base,  and  are  adapted  for  inside-hung  motors. 


THE  ANTI-FRICTION  BRAKE  AND  CONTROLLER  HANDLE 


THE  "  NEW  HAVEN  "  TROLLEY  WHEEL 


The  accompanying  illustration  is  a  view  of  the  "New  Haven" 
trolley  wheel  known  as  the  No.  53.  This  wheel,  which  is  made  by 
the  Recording  Fare  Register  Company,  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  is 


TROLLEY  WHEEL  WITH  NON-OILING  BEARINGS 

especially  adapted  for  high  speed  interurban  work.    It  is  used  ex- 
clusively by  the  Schenectady  Railway  Company  on  all  of  its  high 
speed  lines.    This  type  is  5^4  ms-  'n  diameter,  and  is  furnished  for 
i}i  in.  or  2  in.  hub,  %-'m.  spindles. 
As  is  well  known,  the  special  feature  of  all  "New  Haven"  wheels 


After  a  number  of  practical  tests  the  Anti-Friction  Handle 
Company,  of  Amsterdam,  N.  Y.,  has  placed  on  the  market  a  new 
ball  and  roller-bearing  handle  designed  for  the  brake  and  con- 


ANTI-FRI CTI 0 N   BRAKE  AND   CONTROLLER  HANDLE 

trailer  handles  of  electric  cars.  The  improvement  is  in  the  hand 
hole,  the  construction  of  which  consists  of  a  series  of  hardened 
steel  rollers  and  balls  revolving  between  a  shaft  and  steel  shell 
incased  in  a  hard  rubber  grip.  The  rubber  grips  make  the  brake 
and  controller  handles  non-conductors,  and  the  motorman  will 
constantly  grasp  the  revolving  hand-holds  to  avoid  short-circuit 
shocks.  He  is  therefore  ready  at  all  times  to  stop  the  car  quicker 
and  with  less  exertion  than  is  afforded  by  any  other  hand  brake 
appliance.  The  use  of  padded  gloves  is  rendered  entirely  unnec- 
essary. 

The  great  facility  with  which  this  device  can  be  applied  tends 
to  reduce  the  possibility  of  accidents,  and  makes  the  work  easier 
for  the  men.  When  desired,  old  brake  handles  of  any  make,  in 
use  on  any  railway,  may  be  fitted  with  anti-friction  handles  at  a 


small  cost. 


A  PRIVATE  ELECTRIC  MAIL  CAR 


One  of  the  few,  if  not  the  only,  private  electric  mail  cars  in 
use  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  This  car  is  in 
the  service  of  the  Lewis  Publishing  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo., 
and  is  operated  between  the  company's  plant,  near  the  World's 


PRIVATE  ELECTRIC  MATE  CAR  BUILT  FOR  AN  ENTERPRISING  PUBLISHER,  AND  NOW  RUNNING  AT  ST.  LOUIS 


is  the  fact  that  they  are  furnished  with  bearings  that  outlast  the  Fair  grounds,  and  the  St.  Louis  post  office.  Two  trips  a  day  are 
wheel,  and  which  require  no  oil,  thereby  saving  the  time  and  ex-  necessary  to  carry  to  the  city  the  printed  copies  of  the  "Woman's 
pense  of  oiling  and  of  renewing  bushings.  Magazine"  and  the  "Woman's  Farm  Journal."    The  mail  sacks  arc 


672 

loaded  into  the  car  from  wagons.  The  car  is  run  down  .town  over 
the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company's  tracks  to  a  portion  of  unused 
track  near  the  post  office.    Wagons  convey  the  mail  to  the  office. 

The  car  was  built  by  the  St.  Louis  Car  Company  and  measures 
over  all  44  ft.  Its  width  is  8  ft.  It  is  equipped  with  the  builder's 
arc  headlight  and  vertical  wheel  brakes. 

-  ♦♦♦ 

THE  REFLEX  WATER  GAGE 


The  reflex  water  gage,  which  is  so  widely  used  for  boilers,  auto- 
mobiles, tanks,  separators,  etc.,  is  made  in  a  variety  of  forms  by 
Win.  T.  Bonner  &  Company,  of  New  York  and  Boston.  The  ac- 
companying illustration  shows  a  marine  outfit  with  double  hand 
chains  and  drain  valve.  The  leading  feature  of  this  gage  is  the 
quick  and  reliable  observation  of  the  water  level,  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  water  appears  black  while  the  steam  shines  with  a  silvery 
lustre.  When  filled  with  water  the  reflex  gage  always  appears 
black  and  when  empty  it  instantly  shows  white. 

The  principle  of  the  reflex  glass  is  based  upon  the  optical  law 
iif  the  total  reflection  of  light  when  passing  from  a  medium  of 


WATER  GAGE  WITH 
DOUBLE  HAND  CHAIN 
AND  DRAIN  VALVE 

greater  refractive  power  to  a  medium  of  lesser  refractive  power. 
By  cutting  grooved  facets  at  proper  angles  in  the  inner  surface  of 
the  glass  it  is  possible  to  eliminate  all  light  from  the  vacant  space 
back  of  the  glass  and  at  the  same  time  permit  the  passage  of  light 
through  that  portion  of  the  grooves  covered  with  water  or  other 
liquid.  Thus  a  sharp  clear  line  marks  the  height  of  the  water  or 
other  liquid,  above  which  the  air  or  steam  space  has  a  bright  mirror- 
like appearance,  while  the  liquid  takes  the  color  of  the  back- 
ground in  the  chamber,  and  as  black  is  usually  selected  for  the 
sake  of  greater  contrast  the  water  shows  black. 

Instead  of  using  a  single  glass  and  background,  a  pair  of  reflex 
glasses  may  be  arranged,  one  each  at  the  front  and  rear  of  a  column 
of  water  and  steam.  If  a  gage  of  this  kind  be  lighted  from  behind, 
the  part  containing  water  will  show  bright,  the  water  permitting 
the  passage  of  the  light,  while  from  the  steam  space  it  will  be  re- 
flected. 

,  \ 

The  new  waiting  room  on  the  Public  Square.  Cleveland.  Ohio, 
for  the  interurban  cars  has  been  opened.  All  the  interurban  cars 
now  run  around  the  south  and  west  sides  of  the  Public  Square 
and  pass  the  station,  approaching  from  the  east  and  passing  to 
the  west.  The  station  is  simply  part  of  a  storeroom,  but  it  is  of 
great  convenience  to  all  concerned.  The  interurbans  have  been 
given' the  exclusive  use  of  this  corner  of  the  square  so  that  they 
may  lay  over  and  not  interfere  with  the  regular  city  cars. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  15. 
PLANS  FOR  LARGE  AMUSEMENT  RESORTS 

Wonderful  strides  in  the  development  of  the  summer  amusement 
park  industry  have  been  taken  during  the  past  year,  and  the  plans 
already  made  indicate  that  the  coming  year  will  be  even  more  re- 
markable. So  profitable  have  proven  the  big  new  resorts  during  the 
season  just  closed  that  it  is  estimated  by  specialists  in  this  unique 
branch  of  the  entertainment  business  that  within  the  next  two  years 
practically  every  one  of  the  larger  cities  of  this  country  will  be 
supplied  with  at  least  one  large  resort  equipped  with  the  standard 
attractions  which  the  past  five  years  of  activity  have  brought  to 
the  front.  The  subject  is  of  particular  interest  to  street  railway 
companies  from  the  fact  that  most  of  them  have  already  gone  into 
this  work  on  some  scale  and  because  in  any  case  they  would  have 
to  supply  the  transportation  to  such  resorts. 

Perhaps  the  most  conspicuous  success  in  America,  if  not  in  the 
entire  world,  is  that  of  Dreamland,  the  beautiful  Coney  Island  re- 
sort, which  terminated  its  first  season  Sept.  25  under  auspicious  cir- 
cumstances. Now  comes  the  announcement  of  Edward  C.  Boyce, 
vice-president  of  Dreamland,  that  he  is  preparing  to  establish  in 
Chicago  a  fairyland  which  will  eclipse  the  splendors  even  of  that 


marvelous  Atlantic  Coast  place  of  entertainment.  This  resort  will 
be  at  Sixty-Third  Street  and  Washington  Park  and  will  cover  13 
acres.  Mr.  Boyce  and  his  associates  have  also  completed  arrange- 
ments to  build  in  Boston  and  two  other  large  cities  resorts  to  com- 
pare favorably  with  any  enterprise  in  Coney  Island  or  elsewhere. 

It  is  said  that  the  great  success  which  Mr.  Boyce  has  scored  in 
this  special  branch  of  the  amusement  business  has  been  due,  not 
only  to  his  thorough  familiarity  with  the  construction  and  opera- 
tion of  the  various  devices,  but  to  unusual  judgment  as  to  the  desire's 
of  the  public  and  how  to  cater  to  those  desires.  Thus  it  was  that  in 
selecting  and  arranging  the  various  devices  and  attractions  for 
Dreamland  he  was  able  to  choose  from  the  vast  number  of  proposed 
schemes  and  plans  those  which  would  most  likely  prove  alluring 
to  the  patrons.  The  same  is  true  of  the  "White  City,"  at  Savin 
Rock  Park,  New  Haven,  which  recently  closed  its  first  season  with 
a  record  which  attracted  wide  attention. 

It  is  said  that  the  White  City  in  Chicago,  which  Mr.  Boyce  and 
his  associates  are  now  constructing,  will  have  some  absolutely  novel 
attractions  and  features  as  well  as  the  most  profitable  devices  which 
are  now  in  use.  Mr.  Boyce's  chief  associate  in  this  enterprise  is 
Joseph  Beifield,  owner  of  the  Sherman  House  in  Chicago.'  Work 
on  the  grounds  was. commenced  last  week  and  it  is  planned  to  open 
the  resort  by  June  1  next.  A  feature  of  the  park  will  be  What  is  de- 
signed to  be  the  largest  electric  tower  in  the  United  States.  It  will 
be  410  ft.  in  height  and  will  be  studded  with  no  fewer  than  100,000 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


A  NIGHT  VIEW  OF  DREAMLAND,  CONEY  ISLAND,  SHOWING  THE  GREAT  TOWER,  'LAGOON, 
BRIDGE  AND  SHOW  BUILDINGS,  WITH  PART  OF  THE  -CHUTES"  IN  THE  FOREGROUND 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


electric  lights.  The  longest  chutes  thus  far  constructed  in  this 
country  will  be  established.  A  big  spectacular  feature  will  be  a  re- 
production on  a  large  scale  of  the  great  Chicago  fire.  The  streets 
of  Venice  will  be  a  representation  on  large  basis  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful and  historic  features  of  the  famous  old  Italian  seat  of  art  and 
romance.  In  this  attraction  Mr.  Boyce  plans  even  to  surpass  his 
charming  "Canals  of  Venice"  at  Dreamland.  In  addition  to  these 
there  will  be  scenic  railways,  toboggans,  old  mills,  slides,  etc. 

Chilcoot  Pass,  or  "Bump  the  Bumps,"  which  was  beyond  all  ques- 
tion the  comedy  feature  of  Dreamland  and  the  White  City,  New 
Haven,  will  be  given  a  place  of  prominence  in  the  Chicago  show. 
Bump  the  Bumps  was  the  principal  novelty  of  the  season.  It  at- 
tracted by  many  thousands  more  spectators  than  any  other  show 
in  Dreamland.  It  consists  of  a  slide  some  35  ft.  wide  and  50  ft.  in 
length  on  an  incline  of  about  45  per  cent.  Over  the  smooth  and 
polished  surface  are  distributed  "bumps"  of  planed  maple,  circular 
in  form  and  gradually  increasing  in  thickness  from  the  edge,  where 
it  neatly  joins  the  surface  of  the  incline,  to  about  6  ins.  at  the  top. 
Over  this  surface  slid  many  thousands  of  visitors  to  the  big  resorts 
in  the  past  season.  Gov.  Benjamin  Odell,  of  the  Empire  State,  to- 
gether with  a  distinguished  party  of  United  States  and  Supreme 
Court  Judges  and  others  of  like  prominence,  being  notable  patrons 
of  the  game. 

—  


ANTI-STRADDLING  DEVICE  FOR  SWITCHES 


Within  the  last  five  years  the  soldered  rail  bond  has  become 
quite  popular  owing  to  the  simplicity  with  which  it  can  be  ap- 
plied and  inspected.  Mr.  Thomas  has  made  a  number  of  vital 
changes  and  improvements  both  in  the  forms  of  the  bond  and  in 
the  methods  of  application,  especially  in  adapting  it  to  use  a  com- 
bination of  riveting  and  soldering.  Special  types  have  been 
designed  for  the  third  rail  and  for  the  different  styles  of  rail  joints 
like  the  Continuous  and  Weber. 



TESTS  OF  A  SIMPLE  ENGINE 


The  accompanying  illustration  shows  a  double-track  through  Y 
recently  built  by  the  New  York  Switch  &  Crossing  Company,  of 
Hoboken,  N.  J.,  for  the  Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad  Company.  This 


Some  interesting  tests  of  a  Reeves  simple  engine  were  recently 
made  by  Prof.  R.  C.  Carpenter,  assisted  by  Prof.  H.  Diederichs, 
both  of  Sibley  College,  Cornell  University. 

The  diameter  of  the  engine  cylinder  was  15  ins.,  the  stroke  14 
ins.  The  engine  was  connected  through  about  25  ft.  of  4-in  pipe 
to  a  battery  of  two  B.  &  W.  boilers.  The  machine  called  for  a  5- 
in.  steam  pipe,  but  a  4-in.  was  the  largest  available,  so  that  under 
the  high  loads  some  wire  drawing  became  noticeable.  The  exhaust 
was  connected  through  about  20  ft.  of  7-in.  pipe  to  a  Wheeler  sur- 
face condenser.  Two  series  of  runs  were  made,  the  one  non- 
condensing,  the  other  condensing.  In  the  latter  vacuum  was  used 
as  high  as  could  be  obtained.  This  was  found  to  be  about  23.5  ins. 
For  each  series  a  number  of  runs  were  made,  varying  from  friction 
load  to  approximately  25  per  cent  overload.  The  duration  of  these 
runs  varied  from  one  to  two  hours  each,  depending  upon  the  con- 
stancy of  the  various  observations. 

The  most  important  result, 'steam  consumption,  was  computed 
for  the  ihp  and  the  dhp  per  hour  on  the  basis  of  dry  steam.  The 


DOUBLE  TRACK 


THROUGH  Y  USED  BY  THE  BROOKLYN  HEIGHTS  RAILROAD  COMPANY 
AND  GRAHAM   AVENUE,  BROOKLYN 


AT  MESEROLE  STREET 


piece  of  special  work  is  to  be  installed  at  the  corner  of  Meserole 
Street  and  Graham  Avenue,  and  consists  of  9-in.  rail  with  hardened 
center  special  work.  A  special  feature  of  the  crossing,  however,  is 
the  use  of  a  method  of  holding  the  tongues  of  the  entrance  switches 
firmly  in  one  position  or  the  other  to  avoid  all  possibility  of  the 
wheels  straddling  the  switch.  The  arrangement  cannot  be  inter- 
fered with  by  snow  or  ice,  but  the  tongue  can  be  easily  turned  by 
a  switch  iron.  The  crossing  contains  eight  tongue  switches,  four 
tongue  mates,  three  standard  mates  and  one  combination  mate. 

—  ♦♦♦ 

THE  THOMAS  SOLDERED  RAIL  BOND 


The  Lord  Electric  Company,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  has  recently 
acquired  from  Edward  G.  Thomas  the  right  to  manufacture  and 
install  the  Thomas  soldered  rail  bond.  During  the  last  two  years 
(he  bond  has  been  supplied  to  several  large  railway  systems, 
notably  the  Chicago  &  Milwaukee  Electric  Railroad  Company. 
The  very  satisfactory  results  given  by  this  bond  led  the  company 
to  establish  its  rail  bond  department,  with  Mr.  Thomas  acting  as 
consulting  engineer.  One  of  the  largest  rail  bond  contracts  ever 
made  has  been  given  (o  the  company  by  Westingbouse.  Church. 
Kerr  &  Company  for  that  part  of  (he  Long  Island  Railroad  which 
will  shortly  be  equipped  for  electric  operation. 


pi  Hinds  of  dry  steam  per  ihp  per  hour  decreased  steadily  with  the 
load  until  it  reacheel  its  minimum  of  about  26  lbs.  of  dry  steam 
at  about  130  ihp  for  the  condensing  runs,  and  about  28  lbs.  at  the 
same  load  for  the  non-condensing  series.  With  a  higher  load  there 
was  a  small  increase  in  the  steam  consumption,  giving  about  27.5 
lbs.  at  170. 3  ihp  condensing,  and  about  31.3  lbs.  for  159.2  ihp  non- 
condensing.  The  remarkable  part  about  these  results  was  the  nearly 
constant  steam  consumption  on  the  ihp  when  running  condensing. 
At  80  ihp  this  was  about  27.2  lbs.,  it  dropped  to  about  2d  ]]>-,.  at  130 
ihp  and  rose  again  to  27.5  at  170.3  ihp,  giving  a  nearly  constant 
range  from  40  per  cent,  underload  to  about  40  per  cent,  overload. 

The  dry  steam  consumption  per  developed  hp  followed  closely 
the  preceding  figures,  the  best  consumption  being  about  27.0  lbs. 
at  130  developed  hp  condensing,  and  about  31.9  lbs.  at  130  devel- 
oped hp  non-condensing. 

The  relation  between  (he  mechanical  efficiency  and  (he  developed 
hp  was  also  determined.  The  results  are  excellent.  The  highest 
efficiency  reacheel  non-condensing  02.5  per  cent  at  r 4 7. t  developed 
hp  and  1302  ihp.  For  the  condensing  series  the  results  are  slill 
better.  The  best  figure  is  95.8  per  cent,  at  154. 1  developed  hp 
and  [65  dip,  but  tlie  mechanical  efficiency  which  reached  00  per 
cent  at  78  developed  hp,  reaches  95  per  cent  at  133  developed  hp 
and  remains  nearly  constant  from  there  up  to  [68.2  developed  bp. 


6/4 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


ELECTRIC  FREIGHT  LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  THE 
NORTH-EASTERN  RAILWAY  OF  ENGLAND 


The  largest  electric  locomotives  ever  built  in  Eng- 
land are  shortly  to  be  used  on  the  electrified  section 
of  the  North-Eastern  Railway,  near  Newcastle,  dis- 
placing a  large  number  of  steam  locomotives  now 
used  for  hauling  freight  trains.  The  locomotives 
were  built  by  the  Brush  Electrical  Engineering 
Company,  Limited,  Loughborough,  for  the  British 
Thomson-Houston  Company,  who  recently  electri- 
fied the  Newcastle  branch  of  the  North-Eastern 
Railway,  which,  since  its  opening,  has  eclipsed  all 
previous  passenger  traffic  records  on  the  same  line. 
The  consulting  engineer  for  the  electrification  of 
this  railway  is  C.  H.  Merz. 

Each  of  the  locomotives  when  operating  on  a  600- 
volt  circuit  is  capable  of  handling  a  300-ton  (2240 
lbs.  per  ton)  train  on  a  level  at  14  miles  an  hour, 
and  of  starting  with  a  train  of  150  tons  on  a  grade 
of  1  in  27  under  all  weather  conditions,  running  up 
this  grade  at  9  miles  to  10  miles  an  hour.  As  the 
construction  of  these  locomotives  differs  in  some 
respects  from  American  standard  practice  the  fol- 
lowing data  may  prove  of  interest: 

The  locomotives  are  of  the  double-truck  type  with 
central  cab  and  sloping  ends,  as  shown  in  the  illus- 
trations, and  weigh  50  tons  when  in  running  order. 
The  motors  are  of  the  GE  55  type,  with  two  turn 
armatures  and  3.28  gear  ratio,  one  being  mounted 
on  each  of  the  four  axles.  The  control  adopted  is 
the  Sprague  Thomson-Houston  multiple  unit  sys- 
tem, and  is  similar  to  that  used  on  the  passenger 
trains.  The  leading  dimensions  are:  Gage,  4  ft. 
8J/2  ins.;  length  over  central  cab,  9  ft.  J^-in. ;  length 
over  headstocks,  35  ft.;  length  over  buffers,  37  ft. 
11  ins.;  pivotal  centers  of  trucks,  20  ft.  6  ins.;  wheel 
base  of  each  truck,  6  ft.  6  ins.;  width  over  cab,  7  ft. 
654  ins.;  width  over  side  soles,  7  ft.  lo$£  ins. ;  width 
over  all,  8  ft.  8  ins.;  height  from  rails  to  top  of  cab, 
11  ft.  9  ins.;  height  from  rails  to  the  top  of  the  floor, 
4  ft.  3^4  ins.;  diameter  of  wheels,  3  ft.;  diameter  of 
axles  at  the  center,  6^  ins.;  diameter  of  the  axles  at 
the  journals,  6  ins.,  and  length  of  journals,  10  ins. 

The  trucks  are  of  the  steel  plate  frame  type  and, 
in  accordance  with  English  railway  practice, 
strengthened  with  steel  angles  and  gussets  with  the 
swinging  bolster  built  up  with  steel  sections  and 
steel  castings.  The  bolster  is  supported  on  two 
nests  of  coil  springs  of  circular  section  and  is  pro- 
vided with  cast  steel  wearing  plates,  cast  steel  center 
and  side  bearing  plates.  The  side  frames  are  sup- 
ported on  the  axle  boxes  by  laminated  springs  of 
heavy  design.  The  axle  boxes  are  of  cast  steel, 
machined  to  work  in  the  horn  plates,  which  are  also 
of  steel  and  machined,  being  riveted  to  the  side 
frames  which  are  cut  out  to  receive  them.  The  axle 
boxes  are  provided  with  babbitted  wings  to  take  the 
shoe  beams  and  are  fitted  with  heavy  brasses.  Am- 
ple provision  is  made  for  lubrication  and  exclusion 
of  dust.  The  brake  gear  is  of  specially  heavy  de- 
sign, as  it  plays  an  important  part  in  the  work  that 
the  locomotive  has  to  handle,  which  is  chiefly  on 
heavy  grades.  Blocks  are  fitted  to  each  side  of 
each  wheel,  and  all  gear  is  heavy  enough  to  stand 
operation  by  air  pressure.  The  wheels  are  of  the 
cast  steel  disc  type,  balanced  and  fitted  with  roll 
steel  tires  5l/2  ins.  wide  by  21/.  ins.  deep  on  tread, 
held  in  place  by  retaining  rings  and  also  by  eight 
set-screws.  The  motors  are  carried  on  the  tran- 
soms by  cast  steel  brackets,  in  which  the  nose  of  the 
motor  rests,  being  held  there  by  a  forged  strap. 
The  shoe  beams  are  of  oak  and  bolted  to  the  axle 
boxes,  the  shoes  being  hung  outside  the  wheel  base. 
All  holes  are  drilled,  edges  of  plates  planed  and 
rivets  hand  riveted. 


4 11  a 


-rr 


□  □1 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


675 


The  underframe  is  constructed  of  steel  sections  and  ballasted 
with  cast  iron  blocks  to  bring  up  the  weight  desired.  Each  side 
sole  is  formed  by  a  girder  12  ins.  x  6  ins.  x  54  lbs.  and  of  I  section. 
There  are  two  center  longitudinals  each  8  ins.  x  3^2  ins.  x  5^-in.  of 
channel  section,  these  four  longitudinals  being  connected  at  their 


side  couplers  and  buffers  are  of  the  standard  English  pattern. 
The  center  cab  is  constructed  of  y&-'m.  steel  plate  and  angles  and 
is  separate  to  the  sloping  ends,  which  are  also  constructed  in  a 
similar  manner,  all  three  portions  being  bolted  to  the  underframe. 
The  cab  is  provided  with  two  side  windows  on  each  side,  the  one 


ONE  OF  THE  ELECTRIC  LOCOMOTIVES  WITH  BOW  COLLECTOR  AND  THIRD-RAIL  SHOES,  FOR  THE  NORTH-EASTERN 

RAILWAY  COMPANY 


ends  by  headstocks  15  ins.  x  4  ins.  x  */>-in.  of  channel  section.  To 
the  front  of  these  are  bolted  oak  headstocks  isH  ms-  x  8  ins.  The 
whole  frame  is  firmly  riveted  with  steel  angles  and  gussets,  all 
holes  being  drilled  and  edges  of  plates  machined.  The  under- 
frame bolster  is  formed  by  two  girders  each  6  ins.  x  5  ins.  x  ^2-in. 


at  the  driving  corners  being  arranged  to  lower.  A  sliding  door  is 
fitted  on  each  side,  of  ash,  glazed  at  the  top  and  paneled  at  the 
bottom,  bearing  on  the  outside  the  arms  of  the  company  in  transfer. 
The  doorways  are  2  ft.  4  ins.  wide  and  6  ft.  in  the  clear.  At  the  ends 
of  the  cab  are  two  windows  arranged  to  slide  transversely.  Arrange- 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  FREIGHT  YARD  AT  NEWCASTLE,  SHOWING  OVERHEAD  WIRES  AND  THIRD  RAIL 


of  I  section,  held  together  on  the  top  by  a  plate  3  ft.  wide  and  J^-in. 
thick,  and  on  the  lower  side  by  a  plate  17  ins.  wide  x  j4-in.  thick. 
Between  the  bolsters  evenly  spaced  there  are  three  cross  girders 
each  8  ins.  x  3^2  ins.  x  %-in.  of  channel  section,  backed  with  a 
plate  15  ins.  wide  x  y^-'m.  thick.  On  the  top  of  the  frame  is  a  floor 
of  fireproof  wood  1%  ins.  thick,  fixed  transversely  with  a  top  or 
lining  floor  of  ^-in.  thickness  laid  longitudinally.    The  draw  gear, 


ments  are  made  for  driving  the  locomotive  from  each  end  of  the  cab, 
and  it  is  therefore  fitted  complete  in  duplicate  with  master  control- 
ler, air  brake,  sand  and  whistle  valves.  In  the  center  of  the  cab  is 
fitted  a  cast  iron  column  to  carry  the  hand  brake  gear.  There  is 
on  each  side  a  panel  for  the  control  and  pump  circuit  accessories 
with  a  main  panel  at  one  end  for  main  and  control  switches,  etc. 
Air  gages  and  ammeters  are  also  fixed  in  each  driving  position. 


6?6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


Under  the  sloping  ends  are  fixed  the  contactors,  reversers  and 
rheostats.  The  apparatus  for  each  two-motor  equipment  is  fitted 
in  its  own  end  of  the  cab,  the  four-motor  equipment  being  thus  split 
up  into  two  equipments  as  far  as  possible.  The  contactors  are  sup- 
ported from  an  angle-iron  framing  built  on  the  floor  of  the  cab,  the 
reversers  and  resistances  being  bolted  to  the  floor  but  raised  above 
it  so  that  the  cable  runways  may  run  underneath  them.  The  air 
brake  is  of  the  quick-acting  pattern.  Air  is  supplied  by  a  British 
Thomson-Houston  electrically  driven  compressor  of  the  CP  14 
type,  which  is  hung  underneath  the  frame.  This  compressor  will 
compress  against  a  pressure  of  90  lbs.  per  sq.  in.  with  a  cylinder 
displacement  of  20  cu.  ft.  per  minute.  The  air  reservoirs  and  sand 
hoppers  are  fixed  in  the  ends  of  the  sloping  cabs.  The  sand  is  car- 
ried by  flexible  tubes  to  the  fixed  pipes  on  the  trucks,  the  air  op- 
erating pipes  being  connected  to  the  same  at  the  base  of  the  hoppers. 
A  shaded  lamp  is  fixed  in  each  driving  corner  with  three  lights 


AX  END  VIEW  OF  ELECTRIC  FREIGHT  LOCOMOTIVE  USED  BY 
THE  NORTH-EASTERN  RAILWAY 


ill  each  of  the  sloping  ends  and  a  headlight  on  each  end.  All  lamps 
are  of  32-cp  and  arranged  for  working  six  in  series  on  a  600-volt 
circuit.    Two  portable  lights  are  also  provided. 

As  the  locomotives  have  to  operate  over  sections  fitted  both  with 
overhead  line  and  third  rail,  a  sliding  bow  trolley  has  been  pro- 
vided in  addition  to  the  usual  shoe-collectors.  This  bow  automati- 
cally reverses  according  to  the  direction  of  travel  of  the  locomotive, 
and  is  also  capable  of  being  lowered  when  not  in  use  from  the 
cab  by  a  hand-wheel.  Fig.  2  shows  the  diagram  of  connections  and 
method  of  installing  the  apparatus  and  the  wiring.  All  cables  are 
asbestos  covered,  and  are  run  either  in  wood  troughing  lined  with 
uralite  or  in  steel  tubing.  Besides  being  fitted  with  the  nine- 
wire  coupler  at  each  end  for  the  control  circuit,  bus  or  main  line 
and  pump  line  couplers  are  also  provided,  so  that  two  locomotives 
can  be  coupled  together  if  necessary  and  operated  by  one  man 

EXPANSION  OF  THE  RAILWAY  WORK  OF  THE  FORD  ELEC- 
TRIC &  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY  OF  ST.  LOUIS 


The  Ford  Electric  &  Manufacturing  Company  has  purchased  of 
the  Rossiter-MacGovern  Electrical  Company  its  entire  St.  Louis 
manufacturing  plant  as  well  as  all  equipment  and  business  per- 
taining to  the  manufacture  and  repair  of  electrical  and  steam 
machinery.  It  has  reorganized  the  entire  plant  and  now  has  one 
of  the  largest  and  best  equipped  electric  railway  repair  shops  in 
the  Southwest.  The  company's  plant  is  connected  by  switch  with 
the  tracks  of  the  Terminal  Railroad  Association,  and  where  neces- 


sary cars  can  be  run  into  the  shops  for  loading  and  unloading. 
Exceptional  facilities  enable  the  company  to  execute  promptly 
all  kinds  of  repair  and  constuction  work. 

- 

PROGRAMME  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  CONVENTION 


The  conventions  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  &  Elec- 
trical Association  will  be  held  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Trans- 
portation Building,  World's  Fair  Grounds,  on  Oct.  10,  11  and  14. 
The  meeting  for  the  first  day  is  called  at  10  a.  m.,  and  delegates 
are  requested  to  register  as  soon  after  9  a.  m.  as  possible.  The 
opening  address  will  be  delivered  by  John  I.  Beggs,  vice-president 
and  general  manager  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light 
Company.  In  addition,  the  "Question  Box"  will  be  discussed  and 
papers  will  be  presented  on  "Maintenance  and  Inspection  of  Elec- 
trical Equipment,"  by  John  Lindall,  of  Boston;  "Wheel  Matters," 
by  J.  Millar,  of  Buffalo;  "The  Ideal  Shop,"  by  W.  D.  Wright,  of 
Providence,  and  "Universal  Car  Body,"  by  W.  W.  Annable,  of 
Grand  Rapids.  The  meeting  on  Oct.  14  will  be  a  joint  meeting 
with  the  Accountants'  Association  to  discuss  "Shop  Records  and 
Accounts."  The  report  on  this  subject  has  been  prepared  by 
H.  H.  Adams,  of  Baltimore,  and  H.  E.  Farrington,  of  Boston, 
fur  the  Mechanics,  and  H.  M.  Pease  and  W.  G.  McDole  for  the 
Accountants.  This  meeting  will  convene  at  9:30  a.  m.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  &  Electrical  Asso- 
ciation will  be  at  the  Inside  Inn. 

The  convention  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  will 
also  be  held  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Transportation  Building, 
and  will  be  called  to  order  at  10  a.  m.  on  Oct.  12  and  13.  On 
Wednesday  the  association  will  be  addressed  by  Hon.  D.  R. 
Francis,  Hon.  Rolla  Wells,  Mayor  of  St.  Louis,  and  Prof.  W.  E. 
Goldsborough.  In  addition,  papers  will  be  presented  on  "Steam 
Turbines,"  "Reciprocating  Engines,"  "Gas  Engines,"  "Transfers" 
and  "Signals."  The  banquet  has  been  abandoned,  owing  to  the 
difficulty  of  finding  any  place  where  a  caterer  could  take  care  of 
a  large  number  of  people  and  the  uncertainty  surrounding  the 
question  as  to  the  number  of  persons  who  would  care  to  attend. 
The  headquarters  of  the  association  will  be  at  the  Southern  Hotel, 
where  members  should  register  and  obtain  their  badges  and  other 
credentials,  together  with  programmes  of  the  meetings  and  en- 
tertainments. The  registration  office  will  be  open  all  day  Monday 
and  Tuesday  and  on  Wednesday  morning. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Accountants'  Association  will  be  held 
at  3  p.  m.,  Oct.  13,  in  the  parlor  of  the  Inside  Inn.,  at  which  the 
annual  address  of  the  president  will  be  given  and  a  report  will  be 
rendered  by  E.  M.  White,  of  Hartford,  on  "A  New  Collection  of 
Blank's  and  Forms."  The  meetings  on  Oct.  14  and  15  will  be  on 
the  second  floor  of  the  Transportation  Building.  That  on  Oct. 
14  will  he  devoted  to  the  joint  report  of  the  A.  R.  M.  &  E.  A., 
mentioned  above.  On  Oct.  15  the  meeting  will  convene  at  9:30 
a.  111.  and  a  report  will  be  received  from  C.  N.  Duffy  on  the 
"Standard  System  of  Accounting."  The  "Question  Box"  will 
also  be  discussed. 

PERSONAL  MENTION 


MR.  D.  W.  McWILLIAMS  has  been  appointed  treasurer  of 
the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit  Company. 

MR.  C.  D.  MALEADY  has  resigned  as  secretary,  treasurer,  gen- 
eral manager,  superintendent  and  purchasing  agent  of  the  West 
Chester  Traction  Company,  of  Ossining,  N.  Y.,  to  become  connected 
with  McMullen  &  Company,  contractors,  of  Hartford,  Conn. 

MR.  ARTHUR  HARTWELL,  who  for  a  number  of  years  has 
been  general  sales  manager  of  the  Westinghouse  Electric  &  Manu- 
facturing Company,  has  resigned  that  position  to  accept  the  posi- 
tion of  general  manager  of  the  Sterling  Varnish  Company,  of 
Pittsburg. 

MR.  MORIZ  MARHOLD,  operating  manager  of  the  Grosse 
Berliner  Strassenbahn,  of  Berlin,  Germany,  is  making  a  short 
trip  of  inspection  of  the  street  railways  of  this  country.  Mr. 
Marhold  will  visit  Boston,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Philadelphia  and  a 
few  other  cities. 


October  8,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


677. 


ANNUAL  REPORT  OF  THE  PHILADELPHIA  RAPID  TRANSIT 


The  stockholders  of  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company 
held  their  annual  meeting  last  week.  William  H.  Shelmerdine 
and  J.  J.  Sullivan  were  re-elected  directors  for  four  years.  The 
by-laws  were  amended  to  do  away  with  the  finance  and  executive 
committees  and  give  the  directors  power  to  operate  the  road  as  a 
body.  It  was  also  agreed  to  have  the  directors  meet  on  the  first 
and  third  Mondays  of  each  month  instead  of  once  a  month. 

The  report  for  the  fiscal  year  ended  June  30,  1904,  compares  with 
the  figures  of  that  company  for  1903  and  with  those  of  the  Union 
Traction  Company  in  1902  and  1901,  as  follows: 


1904 

1903 

.  . .  .  $15,923,507 

$15,277,806 

Operating  expenses   

•  •  ■  •  7.993,314 

7,234,892 

Net   

7,930,193 

8,042,913 

Other  income   

172,854 

158,766 

Total  net   

8,103,048 

8,201,680 

Taxes  and  licenses   

.   .  1,060,896 

990,701 

Fixed  charges   

6,821,301 

6,805,089 

Surplus   

.  .  .  .  220,849 

405,888 

Number  of  passengers  carried 

....  390,532,689 

365,908,051 

The  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit 

balance  sheet  as  of  June  30  com- 

pares  as  follows : 

ASSETS 

1904 

1903 

Cash   

$598,150 

$326,014 

Fire  insurance  fund   

.  .  .  850,000 

850,000 

Adv.  leased  lines  

  428,613 

323,187 

Supplies   

  569.742 

905,598 

Construction  and  equipment  

. .  .  .  7,266,308 

2,013,458 

Real  estate   

  503,327 

334,212 

Accounts  receivable   

82,515 

128.567 

Sundry  stocks   

•  •  ■ .  1,588,559 

1.578,059 

Franchise  account   

115,325 

H5,325 

$12,002,543 

$6,574,424 

LIABILITIES 

Capital  stock   

.  $8,984,680 

$3,000,000 

Second  instalment  account  capital 

79,370 

Accounts  audited  not  due  

144.430 

307.719 

Fixed  charges  and  taxes  accrued 

....  1,951,^87 

L954,39i 

Operation  accounts   

299,470 

827,055 

Profit  and  loss   

622,674 

405.888 

$12,902,543 

$6,574,424 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the 

Union  Traction 

Company,  held 

just  in  advance  of  the  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  Company  meet- 
ing, the  Stockholders  approved  of  the  mortgage  for  $1,000,000  on 
the  new  Philadelphia  &  Willow  Grove  Street  Railway  line  and 
re-elected  the  directors  without  change  as  follows:  Alex.  M.  Fox. 
John  B.  Parsons,  Wm.  H.  Shelmerdine,  J.  J.  Sullivan.  P.  A.  B. 
Widener,  George  D.  Widener,  Geo.  W.  Elkins,  Robert  J.  Balfour. 
John  M.  Mack,  Geo.  H.  Earle,  Jr..  Joseph  E.  Widener,  James  H. 
Gay. 

The  Union  Traction  balance  sheet  as  of  June  30  compares  as 
follows : 

ASSETS 


1904 

1903 

(  :i  sh    .  .  .  .   

Pire  insurance  fund  .       

Adv.  leased  lines   

$4,417,956 

$4,548,436 

Supplies   

Construction  and  equipment   

6,868,362 

6.856,308 

Real  estate   

624.573 

624.573 

Accounts  receivable   

2,202 

2,202 

Stocks  and  bonds   

5,220,467 

5,220,673 

Franchise  account   

90,248 

90,248 

Totals   : 

^17,223,810 

$17,342,447 

LIABILITIES 

Capital  stock   i 

|>  1 0,500,000 

$10,500,000 

Union  Traction  4s  

1,500,000 

1,500,000 

Open  account  due  Co.'s,  999  years. .  . 

1,030.737 

1,269,869 

Deposits  underlying  companies  

249.776 

Trustees'  accounts   

120 

Profit  and  loss   

3.943J77 

3.072,577 

Total    1 

£17,223,810 

$17,342,447 

The  report  of  the  treasurer  of  the 

Union  Traction 

Company 

shows  the  following  receipts  and  disbursements  for  the  year  end- 
ing June  30,  1904: 


RECEIPTS 

Amount  received  from  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  for 


fixed  charges    $6,294,449 

Rental  account    900,000 


Total    7,194,449 

DISBURSEMENTS 

Fixed  charges  paid   6,294,449 

Dividend  paid   900,000 


Total    $7,194,449 


The  Philadelphia  Rapid  Transit  report  says: 

The  high  prices  of  material  and  labor  and  the  severe  weather  of 
the  past  winter  materially  increased  the  cost  of  operation. 

Twelve  and  seventy-six  one-hundedths  miles  of  additional  track- 
age were  built  and  are  now  being  operated. 

About  15  miles  of  track  were  reconstructed — 10  miles  of  the  15 
miles  with  the  new  standard  girder  rail  (137  lbs.  to  the  yard). 

Twenty  miles  of  new  conduits  were  laid,  3600  kw  of  new  electri- 
cal machinery  added  and  134  large  double-truck  cars. 

The  work  on  the  Market  Street  Subway  "progressed  favorably," 
and  details  of  it  are  given. 

Work  on  the  line  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Willow  Grove  Street 
Railway  Company  has  been  started,  and  that  road  should  be  ready 
for  business  next  spring. 

The  fact  is  recited  that  on  Oct.  1,  1903,  $100,000  Thirteenth  and 
Fifteenth  Streets  7s  fell  due  and  were  paid  off,  and  $100,000  of 
3J/2S  issued  in  their  place. 

In  regard  to  the  law  suit  against  the  company  over  the  pur- 
chase of  the  Doylestown  &  Willow  Grove  Street  Railway  Com- 
pany, and  the  charge  that  $1,000,000  was  paid  for  the  property,  the 
report  says: 

"The  entire  capital  stock  of  the  company,  $500,000.  was  pur- 
chased for  $20,000,  and  this  company  guaranteed  the  interest  upon 
an  issue  of  $500,000  4  per  cent  bonds." 

The  fire  insurance  fund  consists  of  the  following:  3650  shares 
Philadelphia  Traction  Company  stock,  4674  shares  Union  Traction 
Company  stock  $100,000  Electric  and  Peoples'  4  per  cent  stock 
trusts,  $20,000  Union  Traction  Company  4  per  cent  collateral  trust 
mortgage  gold  bonds,  $420,000  in  first  mortgage  on  real  estate, 
$1,437.60  in  ground  rents,  and  $47,393.71  in  cash. 

 o<>« — 

AMONG  THE  MANUFACTURERS 


THE  SOUTHERN  CAR  COMPANY  is  a  new  industrial  establishment 
located  at  High  Point,  N.  C,  in  the  finest  timber  section  of  the  South.  The 
company  has  secured  the  services  of  skilled  car  builders  from  the  North,  a,nd 
is  prepared  to  furnish  high-class  electric  cars  for  both  Southern  and  Eastern 
delivery. 

SOUTHWORTH  BROTHERS,  of  Portland,  Maine,  makers  of  the  Ameri- 
can transfer  punch,  a  number  of  which  are  installed  on  Boston  street  railways, 
state  that  if  railway  companies  will  send  them  a  pad  of  transfer  slips  they 
will  be  pleased  to  show  wherein  their  machine  is  superior  to  other  transfer 
punches. 

THE  LUMEN  BEARING  COMPANY,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  is  building  an 
extensive  addition  and  reconstructing  its  old  plant,  and  a  large  amount  of 
improved  and  new  machinery  is  being  installed.  When  completed,  the  factory 
of  this  company  will  be  a  model  of  its  kind  for  manufacturing  anti-friction 
metals  and  bearings  of  every  description. 

COL.  GILES  S.  ALLISON,  president  of  the  Security  Register  Company, 
left  New  York  for  St.  Louis  a  week  ahead  of  the  convention.  He  is  making 
extensive  preparations  to  entertain  liberally  his  many  customers  and  friends 
during  convention  week.  Delegates  will  be  cordially  welcome  to  inspect  the 
exhibit  of  the  Security  Register  Company  in  the  Transportation  Building, 
Section  29,  Aisle  C. 

THE  HEIL  RAIL-JOINT  WELDING  COMPANY,  of  Milwaukee,  re- 
ports contracts  recently  finished  as  follows:  The  Pittsburg  Railway  Com- 
pany, of  Pittsburg,  Pa.;  United  Power  Company,  East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  and 
the  Cincinnati  Traction  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  This  company  has  in- 
stalled over  8000  joints  during  the  present  year,  and  has  contracts  for  welding 
in  Illinois,  Ohio  and  New  Jersey. 

THE  MACON-EVANS  VARNISH  COMPANY  has  been  organized  in 
Pittsburg  for  the  manufacture  of  high-grade  varnishes  and  insulating  ma- 
terials, with  office  and  works  at  Esplen  Borough.  L.  S.  Macon  is  president 
of  the  company,  and  Cadwallader  Evans,  Jr.,  secretary  and  general  manager. 
Mr.  Macon  was  for  a  number  of  years  secretary  of  the  Sterling  Varnish  Com- 
pany, and  Mr.  Evans  was  formerly  with  the  Oliver  Iron  &  Steel  Company,  of 
Pittsburg. 

THE  JORDAN  COMMUTATOR  TRUING  DEVICE  for  truing  commu- 
tators can  be  applied  to  any  dynamo  or  motor  for  truing  the  commutator, 
thereby  saving  the  labor,  expense  and  delay  of  removing  armature  and 
placing  it  in  a  lathe.  It  also  does  away  with  the  danger  of  the  diamond-point 
tools  digging  into  the  bars  of  the  commutator  and  also  the  dragging  of  copper 
across  insulation  between  bars,  thereby  short  circuiting  same.    This  device  is 


678 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.     No.  15. 


especially  recommended  by  its  makers,  Jordan  Brothers,  of  New  York  City, 
for  Siemens-Halske  dynamos  and  all  dynamos  having  large  diameter  com- 
mutators on  same. 

IN  THE  ARTICLE  ON  THE  CINCINNATI  CAR  COMPANY'S 
EXHIBIT  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition,  which  appeared  in  the  Street  Rail- 
way Journal  for  Sept.  24,  mention  of  the  Wm.  C.  Baker  heater  was  omitted 
through  oversight.  The  car  in  question  is  equipped  with  Wm.  C.  Baker 
double-coil  perfected  heaters.  The  car  will  be  found  on  the  test  track,  just 
north  of  the  Transportation  Building,  and  all  delegates  to  the  street  railway 
conventions  are  invited  to  inspect  it. 

A  TEXT  BOOK  ON  STORAGE  BATTERIES  could  not  treat  the  subject 
in  a  more  valuable  fashion  than  has  been  done  in  the  neat  celluloid-covered 
pocket  booklet  given  out  by  the  Electric  Storage  Battery  Company,  of  Phila- 
delphia. Consideration  is  given  to  the  construction  and  use  of  storage  bat- 
teries for  varied  kinds  of  work,  together  with  appropriate  illustrations.  Addi- 
tional value  is  lent  to  the  book  by  the  well-compiled  electric  railway  engineer- 
ing data,  supplementary  to  the  main  topic. 

THE  BURT  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY,  of  Akron,  Ohio,  reports 
that  it  has  recently  sent  one  of  its  large  oil  filters  to  the  National  Steel  & 
Wire  Company,  at  New  Haven,  Conn.,  where  it  has  already  sold  a  number  of 
its  'Cross  oil  filters.  It  has  also  recently  sold  two  Warden  oil  filters  to  the 
Lehigh  Valley  Coal  Company.  Two  of  its  150-gallon  oil  filters  have  also  been 
sent  to  the  LaBelle  Iron  Works,  Steubenville,  Ohio,  for  use  in  connection 
with  an  oiling  system  which  this  plant  operates. 

THE  SCOTTDALE  FOUNDRY  &  MACHINE  COMPANY,  successors 
to  Kerwiey  &  Company,  Scottdale,  Pa.,  has  recently  added  to  its  already  ex- 
tensive line  a  very  up-to-date  design  of  Corliss  engine  built  in  all  combina- 
tions to  suit  various  kinds  of  service.  The  company  makes  only  the  heavy- 
duty  style  of  bed,  believing  that  the  girder  frame  is  becoming  obsolete.  It 
has  published  a  neatly  illustrated  catalogue  describing  the  principal  features 
and  construction  of  its  improved  Corliss  engines. 

ALL  THE  TIMBER  to  be  used  as  the  permanent  floor  of  the  new  Morri- 
son Street  Bridge  at  Portland,  described  in  the  Sept.  24  issue,  comprising 
some  400,000  ft.  of  lumber,  as  well  as  the  Nicholson  paving  blocks  covering 
the  surface  of  the  roadways,  is  to  be  treated  with  Avenarius  Carbolineum  as  a 
preservative  against  dry  or  damp  rot.  The  Carbolineum  Wood  Preserving 
Company,  which  supplies  this  compound,  guarantees  that  it  will  keep  the 
timber  and  blocks  in  perfect  repair  for  a  number  of  years. 

THE  UNITED  RAILWAYS  &  ELECTRIC  COMPANY,  of  Baltimore, 
has  recently  placed  an  order  with  the  xMayer  &  Englund  Company,  Philadel- 
phia, for  300  International  single-type  fare  registers,  which  are  to  be  used  in 
the  new  cars  recently  ordered  of  the  J.  G.  Brill  Company.  This  makes  a 
total  of  1100  International  registers  purchased  by  the  United  Railways,  so 
that  nearly  all  the  regular  scheduled  cars  in  Baltimore  are  equipped  with 
International  registers.  The  Mayer  &  Englund  Company  has,  in  addition, 
secured  numerous  smaller  orders  for  those  registers  recently,  including 
seventy-five  for  the  Coney  Island  &  Brooklyn  Railroad,  seventy-five  for  the 
Brooklyn  Heights  Railroad,  fifty  for  the  Capital  Traction  Company,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  fifty  for  the  Conestoga  Traction  Company,  Lancaster,  Pa. 

THE  TROLLEY  SUPPLY  COMPANY,  of  Canton,  Ohio,  has  just  issued 
a  fine  catalogue  thoroughly  describing  its  various  types  of  the  Knutson  trol- 
ley retriever  and  American  catcher.  The  booklet  contains  many  enthusiastic 
testimonials  from  railway  managers  evidencing  their  satisfaction  with  the  re- 
liability of  the  Knutson  retriever  under  all  kinds  of  operating  conditions. 
In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  cars  of  the  Intramural 
Railway  at  the  St.  Louis  Exposition  have  been  equipped  with  Knutson  trolley 
retrievers.  The  manufacturer  invites  those  who  are  not  familiar  with  them 
to  take  advantage  of  this  opportunity  to  study  their  action  under  actual 
service  conditions.  The  retrievers  and  American  catchers  are  also  on  ex- 
hibition at  the  exhibit  of  the  company's  agents,  the  Wesco  Supply  Company, 
of  St.  Louis,  who  will  give  courteous  attention  to  all  inquiries,  and  take 
pleasure  in  demonstrating  and  explaining  the  machines. 

THE  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  DICK,  KERR  &  COMPANY,  LTD., 
was  held  in  London,  on  Sept.  27,  1904.  The  profits  earned  during  the  year 
ending  June  30,  1904,  amount  to  £84,170  17s.  2d.  The  debenture  and  loan  in- 
terest and  trustees'  fees  and  premium  payable  on  the  redemption  of  the 
present  debenture  stock  absorb  £14,441  lis.  9d.,  leaving  a  balance  of 
£09,729  5s.  5d.,  to  which  must  be  added  the  profits  brought  forward  from  last 
year,  viz.,  £35,544  18s.  7d.,  making  a  total  of  £105,274  4s.  available  for  appro- 
priation as  under  a  dividend  of  6  per  cent  per  annum  on  the  preference  stock, 
and  a  dividend  of  10  per  cent  on  the  ordinary  was  declared.  In  addition, 
£21,051  was  charged  to  reserve,  leaving  a  balance  of  £39,922.  During  the 
past  year  the  company  has  completed,  among  other  important  contracts,  the 
electrification  of  the  Lancashire  ec  Yorkshire  Railway,  between  Liverpool  and 
Southport,  and  the  Hong  Kong  and  Mandalay  electric  tramway  systems,  and 
is  at  present  busily  engaged  in  Tokyo,  Singapore,  Bangkok,  and  other  places 
in  Great  Britain  and  abroad. 

THE  POWER  &  MINING  MACHINERY  COMPANY  has  been  awarded 
a  contract  by  the  Western  Gas  &  Fuel  Company  for  one  two-cylinder  Ameri- 
can-Crossley  gas  engine,  28  ins.  x  36  ins.,  single-acting;  speed,  130  r.  p.  m. ; 
normal  brake-hp,  510,  maximum,  570;  direct  connected  to  two  Ingersoll-Ser- 
geant  14%-in  x  36-in.  single-acting  compressors;  cylinders  located  in  tandem 
to  the  gas  cylinders.  This  plant  is  to  be  used  for  compressing  gas  entering 
the  cylinders  at  an  initial  pressure  of  50  lbs.  and  discharging  at  350  lbs. 
Making  the  compressors  single  acting  and  in  tandem  with  the  gas-engine 
cylinders  not  only  gives  the  advantage  of  direct  connection,  but  does  away 
with  the  necessity  of  high-pressure  stuffing  boxes  in  the  gas  compressor 
cylinder  heads.  The  gas  will  enter  the  compressor  cylinder  at  the  end  nearest 
the  gas  engine,  and  will  pass  through  the  piston  inlet  valve  to  the  other  side 
on  the  forward  stroke  of  the  engine,  compressing  on  the  return  stroke.  This 
construction  permits  of  minimum  clearance  in  the  compressing  end  of  the 


cylinder,  and  at  the  same  time  effectually  prevents  any  chance  of  leakage  of 
gas  into  the  room;  any  leakage  past  the  piston,  as  will  be  seen,  returns  to 
the  inlet  side.  The  company's  guarantees  cover  the  gas  consumption  of  the 
engine  when  operating  at  rated  load,  at  500  brake-hp,  at  which  load  it  has 
guaranteed  a  gas  consumption  of  11%  cu.  ft.  of  natural  gas  having  a  calorific 
value  of  1000  B.  T.  U.  per  cubic  foot.  The  company  has  further  guaranteed 
that  with  1000  cu.  ft.  of  gas  used  in  the  gas  engine,  of  this  value,  36,480  cu.  ft. 
of  gas  per  minute,  measured  at  atmospheric  pressure,  will  be  delivered.  It 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  gas-pumping  plants  in  Indiana  and  Ohio  at  the 
present  time  are  using  practically  25  per  cent  of  the  output  of  the  wells  for 
pumping.  The  plant  to  be  installed  by  the  Power  &  Mining  Machinery  Com- 
pany will  easily  do  the  work  on  3%  per  cent. 

THE  STUART-HOW  LAND  COMPANY,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  reports  good 
business  for  the  season  in  its  overhead  material  and  railway  supplies.  The 
company  is  at  present  equipping  part  of  an  electric  railway  in  Canada,  120 
miles  long,  with  its  brackets,  cross-arms  and  other  supplies  pertaining  to  the 
overhead  construction  of  the  road.  About  10  miles  of  this  road  has  already 
been  graded,  poles  set  and  Stuart-IIowland  overhead  material  strung-  As 
soon  as  other  sections  of  the  road  are  built  this  company  will  furnish  material 
for  the  overhead  construction  until  the  road  is  completed.  This  company, 
besides  doing  an  extensive  business  in  the  Eastern  States,  as  well  as  other 
parts  of  the  country,  has  for  the  past  three  years  paid  particular  attention  to 
Canadian  and  foreign  trade.  Substantial  foreign  orders  have  been  filled  from 
time  to  time  and  shipped,  especially  to  the  eastern  part  of  Canada.  Ample 
storeroom,  large  quantities  of  all  classes  of  railway  material  in  stock  and  an 
efficient  business  organization  enable  this  company  to  do  business  with 
promptness  and  despatch. 

A  FINE  OPPORTUNITY  is  offered  some  park  to  get  the  World's  Fair 
steel  double  "shoot  the  chutes,"  built  by  Capt.  Paul  Boyton.  Capt.  Boy- 
ton's  reputation  as  the  builder  and  patentee  of  the  principal  chutes  of  the 
world  is  well  known,  and  this,  his  latest  "chute,"  is  said  to  be  the  largest  and 
finest  ever  built.  Instead  of  being  a  single  one,  it  is  double,  so  that  the 
boats  can  race  down  the  "chute"  with  each  other  and  add  fun  and  excite- 
ment to  the  attraction.  The  people  are  allowed  to  get  in  the  boats  at  the 
bottom  of  the  "chute,"  avoiding  the  walking  up  or  riding  up  in  cars  and  the 
change  of  boats.  The  new  system  has  proved  to  be  a  great  success  at  the 
Exposition,  especially  causing  people  to  ride  over  and  over  again,  as  they 
do  not  have  to  get  out  of  the  boats  at  all.  The  "shoot  the  chutes"  has  been 
a  great  success  financially.  There  have  never  been  any  accidents,  in  fact,  the 
many  protections  that  Capt.  Boyton  devised  removed  all  dangers  to  such 
an  extent  that  the  company  operating  it  at  the  Exposition  did  not  take  out  any 
accident  insurance.  A.  R.  Rogers,  president  of  the  Pike  Financing  Com- 
pany, at  the  World's  Fair,  has  the  matter  in  charge. 

THE  LOCKE  INSULATOR  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY,  of  Vic- 
tor, N.  Y.,  is  at  present  constructing  an  elaborate  and  extensive  fireproof 
electrical  and  chemical  laboratory.  A  200-kw  motor  generator  and  an  immense 
transformer  are  being  installed.  Current  will  be  taken  direct  from  the  rail- 
way circuit  of  the  street  railway  company,  which  passes  through  Victor.  The 
main  idea  of  the  installation  is  to  conform  as  closely  as  possible  to  actual 
operating  conditions.  Current  from  the  railway  circuit  will  be  transformed 
to  as  high  as  300,000  volts  to  500,000  volts.  With  this  enormous  voltage,  new 
and  improved  designs  of  insulators  will  be  tested,  primarily  to  find  out  how 
high  a  voltage  an  insulator  can  take  before  it  crumbles  or  is  punctured. 
After  this  fact  is  ascertained,  designs  of  insulators  of  each  particular  class  is 
completed,  the  insulators  are  manufactured,  tested  for  the  particular  voltages 
they  are  to  carry,  and  shipped  ready  for  use.  Elaborate  and  sensitive  in- 
struments have  also  been  installed  to  test  chemically  the  constituents  and 
elements  of  the  clay  and  other  matter  which  enters  into  the  construction 
of  the  insulators.  The  mechanical  strength  of  insulators  will  also  be  in- 
vestigated to  the  fullest  extent.  The  officers  of  the  company  state  that  they 
intend  to  have  a  laboratory,  when  completed,  whose  duplicate  can  not  be 
found  in  the  United  States  or  abroad  for  the  class  of  work  for  which  it  was 
constructed. 

 ♦♦♦  

WINTER  PLEASURE  TRAVEL 


The  tide  of  travel  is  now  southward  bound.  The  Southern  Railway,  as 
usual,  has  its  schedules  so  arranged  as  to  give  those  going  South,  Southwest, 
Mexico  and  California  a  most  delightful  service.  Through  Pullmans  are 
operated  daily  from  New  York,  touching  all  of  the  prominent  cities  South 
and  Southwest.  The  Southern  Railway  operates  its  own  dining-car  service  on 
all  through  trains,  which  is  of  the  highest  standard  of  excellence.  For  full 
information,  call  on  or  address  New  York  offices,  271  and  1185  Broadway. 
Alexander  S.  Thweatt,  Eastern  passenger  agent.*** 



THE  RAILWAYS  PROTECTIVE  ASSOCIATION 


In  the  Street  Railway  Journal  of  July  9,  under  the  heading  "Protection 
from  False  Claims,"  reference  was  made  to  a  proposed  railway  protective 
association  suggested  by  L.  E.  Drummond,  of  Drummond's  Detective  Agency, 
New  York.  Full  details  were  then  given  of  the  methods  to  be  adopted  to 
protect  members  of  the  association  from  accident  fakirs.  The  association  is 
now  about  ready  to  be  launched.  The  agency  has  been  collecting  data  right 
along  for  its  files  and  agitating  the  matter  among  the  Eastern  railway  com- 
panies, all  of  whom  think  very  well  of  the  idea,  as  it  has  appealed  to  them 
as  a  positive  necessity  at  the  present  time,  in  view  of  the  large  amounts  spent 
by  them  to  satisfy  accident  claims. 


Street  Railway  Journal 

Vol.  XXIV.  NEW  YORK,  SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  15,  1904.  No.  16. 


Published  Every  Saturday  by  the  I'-i 
McGRAW    PUBLISHING  COMPANY 



Main  Office: 

NEW  YORK,  Engineering  Building,  114  Liberty  Street. 
Branch  Offices: 

Chicago:    Monadnock  Block. 

Philadelphia:    929  Chestnut  Street. 

Cleveland:    Cuyahoga  Building. 

London:    Hastings  House,  Norfolk  Street,  Strand. 

Cable  Address,  "Stryjourn,  New  York";  "Stryjourn,  London"— Lieber's  Code 

used. 

ST.  LOUIS  HEADQUARTERS: 
Section  1,  Electricity  Building,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 


TERMS  OF  SUBSCRIPTION 

In  the  LTnited  States,  Hawaii,  Puerto  Rico,  Philippines,  Cuba,  Canada 
and  Mexico. 

Street  Railway  Journal  (52  issues)   $3.00  per  annum 

Combination    Rate,    with    Electric    Railway    Directory  and 

Buyer's  Manual  (3  issues — February,  August  and  November)  $4.00  per  annum 
Both  of  the  above,  in  connection  with  American  Street  Railway 

Investments  (The  "Red  Book" — Published  annually  in  May; 

regular  price,  $5.00  per  copy)  $6.50  per  annum 

Single  copies,  Street  Railway  Journal,  first  issue  of  each  month,  20  cents; 
other  issues,  10  cents. 


To  All  Countries  Other  Than  Those  Mentioned  Above: 

Street  Railway  Journal  (52  issues),  postage  prepaid   $15.00 

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Subscriptions  payable  in  advance,  by  check  or  money  order.  Remittances 
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Copyright,  1904,  McGraw  Publishing  Co. 
Entered  as  second-class  matter  at  the  New  York  Post  Office. 


The  St.  Louis  Convention 

The  early  date  of  going  to  press  with  this  issue  prevents 
us  from  giving  a  complete  report  of  or  comments  on  the  St. 
Louis  convention.  We  are  able  to  present  in  this  issue  a  por- 
tion only  of  the  papers,  together  with  a  report  of  the  conven- 
tion proceedings  on  Monday  and  Tuesday  and  a  brief  state- 
ment of  those  of  Wednesday  and  Thursday.  These  will  show, 
however,  that  the  convention  is  being  as  well  attended  as  any 
in  the  history  of  the  three  associations.  The  fear  entertained 
by  many  that  the  outside  attractions  in  a  World's  Fair  city 
would  detract  from  the  attendance  at  the  meetings  was  not 
justified  by  the  experience  at  St.  Louis.  While  undoubtedly 
all  of  the  delegates  improved  the  opportunity  to  see  as  much 
as  they  could  of  the  Exposition  during  their  stay  at  the 
grounds,  they  arranged  their  visits  so  as  not  to  interfere  to 
any  material  extent  with  their  attendance  at  the  meetings. 
This  was  possible  because  most  of  those  at  the  convention 
went  to  St.  Louis  with  the  intention  of  remaining  there 
throughout  Street  Railway  week.  As  each  association  con- 
vened for  only  two  to  three  days,  this  left  the  remaining  time 
for  sight-seeing.  Again,  as  President  Ely  suggestively  re- 
marked in  his  address  to  the  Master  Mechanics,  the  progres- 


sive  and  elevating  spirit  which  could  not  but  be  inculcated  by 
meeting  in  such  surroundings,  assisted  in  inspiring  an  interest 
in  the  technical  objects  of  the  meeting. 

We  are  commenting  below  on  the  several  papers  which  were 
presented  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical 
&  Electrical  Association,  so  that  we  need  refer  here  only  to  the 
discussions.  Those  on  the  technical  subjects  were  to  the 
point  and  will,  we  believe,  be  read  with  interest  by  those  who 
were  not  present,  when  the  official  report  of  the  proceedings 
is  published.  The  outline  of  the  discussion,  which  we  report 
in  this  issue,  shows  that  each  paper  was  considered  in  detail, 
and  that  the  policy  of  the  association  in  holding  sessions  both 
morning  and  afternoon  was  fully  justified  by  the  importance 
of  the  subjects  considered.  The  action  of  the  association  in 
admitting  the  way-men  to  membership  was  in  our  opinion  a 
most  wise  one,  as  well  as  was  that  of  not  changing  the  name 
of  the  association  until  the  question  of  amalgamation  with  the 
parent  association  is  more  fully  settled.  This  subject  and  its 
relations  to  the  Accountants'  Association  will  be  more  fully 
covered  in  our  next  issue. 

The  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  Papers 

It  was  a  noticeable  feature  of  the  papers  presented  before  the 
Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  convention,  that  all  were 
very  brief,  as  it  was  fitting  they  should  be.  They  might  rather, 
in  fact,  be  termed  introductions  to  the  general  discussions  of 
subjects  mentioned  in  their  titles,  which  followed. 

Mr.  John  Lindall,  in  taking  up  the  subject,  "Maintenance 
and  Inspection  of  Electrical  Equipment,"  called  attention  to  a 
matter  concerning  which  but  little  has  been  said  heretofore, 
and  which  may  be  profitably  given  careful  consideration  by 
every  railway  company.  The  careful  selection  and  disciplining 
of  employees  in  the  operating  department  has  been  much  dis- 
cussed ;  but  in  the  mechanical  departments,  the  human  element 
in  shop  operations  is  too  frequently  overlooked  or  considered 
of  secondary  importance  when  really  it  is  of  first  importance. 
A  skillful  master  mechanic  eliminates  as  far  as  possible  pro- 
cesses requiring  special  skill  in  the  workman,  because  such 
processes  are  almost  invariably  expensive  and,  by  reason  of  oc- 
casional poor  workmanship,  uncertain.  That  process  is  best 
which  eliminates  the  factor  of  skilled  work  to  as  great  an  extent 
as  possible,  but  even  after  we  have  done  this  as  much  as  we  can, 
a  great  deal  still  depends  on  the  skill  and  knowledge  of  the 
workman — this  being  especially  true  in  the  case  of  car  inspec- 
tors and  repair  men.  A  little  carelessness  or  bad  judgment  on 
the  part  of  these  men  can  do  many  dollars  worth  of  damage. 
It  is  a  place  where  experience  and  judgment  count  for  much. 
At  best  it  is  not  entirely  clean  and  pleasant  work,  and  it  is  use- 
less to  expect  the  right  kind  of  men  to  stay  in  this  work  unless 
the  surroundings  and  conditions  are  made  as  comfortable  as  the 
nature  of  the  work  permits.  When  this  is  done,  and  when  a 
system  is  put  in  use,  as  suggested  by  Mr.  Lindall,  which  places 
the  responsibility  for  carelessness,  and  which  shows  the  result 


68o 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


of  carefulness,  there  is  some  object  for  the  right  kind  of  men 
to  stay  in  this  work.  A  friendly  rivalry  to  produce  the  best 
results  is  quite  certain  to  follow  any  system  where  the  results 
of  different  men's  works  are  compared,  all  of  which  goes  to 
maintain  the  highest  efficiency. 

"Wheel  Matters,"  as  taken  up  by  Mr.  J.  Millar,  reviews  a 
condition  of  affairs  at  Buffalo  involving  serious  wheel  troubles, 
which  has  probably  been  experienced  in  milder  form  in  many 
another  city  where  interurban  equipments  are  brought  in  over 
city  tracks  with  special  work  not  designed  for  the  large  flanges 
u'sed  on  interurban  cars.  Mr.  Millar  comes  out  unreservedly 
for  rolled  steel  or  steel-tired  wheels  for  interurban  cars.  He 
wisely  considers  that  conditions  demand  a  steel  wheel  for  inter- 
urban service  on  the  grounds  of  safety  alone,  but  aside  from  the 
consideration  of  safety,  the  steel  wheel  seemed  to  give  much  bet- 
ter results  for  money  expended.  Few  companies  have  experienced 
as  much  trouble  as  those  in  Buffalo,  but  trouble  has  been  plenti- 
ful enough,  so  that  it  is  pleasing  to  know  how  well  the  steel 
wheels  are  performing  at  Buffalo.  As  regards  the  difference  in 
wear  on  two  wheels  on  the  same  axle,  that  is  an  old  story  in 
railroading,  and  it  seems  to  be  inseparable  from  all  railroad 
operation.  Steam  railroads  have  been  through  the  same  ex- 
periences, as  it  is  the  universal  observation  that,  whatever  the 
'  condition  in  operation,  one  wheel  in  time  will  be  found  with  a 
sharp  flange,  the  other  with  extra  wide  or  possibly  double 
flange.  Many  theories  have  been  advanced  at  different  times  to 
account  for  this,  but  the  uneven  wear  goes  on  just  the  same.  A 
slight  difference  in  wheel  circumference  is  sufficient  to  account 
for  it,  and  is  accepted  bymostexperienced  railroad  men  to  be  the 
principal  cause  of  sharp  flanges,  although  there  are  other  minor 
causes.  Certain  it  is  that  they  will  occur  on  trucks  which  are 
as  square  as  mechanical  skill  can  make  them,  and  when  trucks 
are  not  operated  always  in  the  same  direction. 

The  "ideal  shop"  proposed  by  Mr.  Wright  follows  the  gen- 
eral plan  of  steam  railroad  repair  shops  more  fully  than  do  the 
majority  of  electric  railway  repair  shops.  There  are  a  few  im- 
portant electric  railway  shops  in  the  country  very  similar  in 
plans  to  that  proposed  by  Mr.  Wright.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  transfer  table  in  electric  railway  shops  was  generally 
avoided,  presumably  because  of  unpleasant  memories  street  rail- 
way men  had  of  transfer  tables  used  in  crowded  city  horse  car 
houses,  and  inherited  by  electric  roads.  As  far  as  the  repair 
shops  are  concerned,  there  are  not  the  objections  to  transfer 
tables  that  there  are  in  the  case  of  car  storage  houses  where  a 
large  number  of  cars  must  be  operated  over  a  transfer  table 
every  day.  That  the  transfer  table  has  an  important  place  in 
railway  repair  shops,  the  practice  of  steam  railroads  leaves  no 
room  to  doubt.  Possibly  one  reason  for  the  unpopularity  of  the 
transfer  table  in  recent  years  when  large  new  repair  shops  have 
been  erected  is  the  amount  of  space  taken  up  by  the  transfer 
table.  Tf  the  tracks  of  the  shop  are  arranged  so  as  to  take  only 
one  car  each,  the  room  taken  up  by  the  transfer  table  is  an  im- 
portant percentage  of  the  total  room.  Most  shops  are  built 
where  economy  of  space  is  not  by  any  means  of  first  considera- 
tion, although  this  is  probably  more  true  in  Western  cities  than 
in  Eastern  cities.  Unless  ground  is  very  valuable  the  amount 
of  room  taken  by  the  transfer  table  ought  to  be  secondary  to 
facility  of  repairs.  It  might  be  argued  that  in  the  amount  of 
space  required  by  a  transfer  table,  curves  and  switches  could  be 
put  in  which  would  permit  cars  to  be  run  into  any  repair  track 
without  the  aid  of  a  transfer  table.  If  we  suppose  a  transfer 
table  to  be  run  alongside  of  one  building  only  this  is  true,  but 
if  it  is  to  serve  two  adjoining  buildings,  as  indicated  in  Mr. 
Wright's  plans,  it  is  not  true.    Lack  of  motive  power  to  move 


disabled  cars  off  a  transfer  table  into  a  repair  shop  of  this  kind 
has  been  criticised  as  a  defect  of  this  plan,  but  when  one  con- 
siders the  small  per  cent  of  cars  that  are  actually  disabled,. so 
that  they  cannot  move  themselves,  this  seems  rather  unimport- 
ant, because  if  such  cars  are  numerous  enough  special  precau- 
tions in  the  way  of  motor-driven,  cable-winding  drums  can  be 
easily  installed  to  pull  cars  from  the  transfer  table  into  the  re- 
pair shop. 

Insurance  and  Car  Storage 

In  these  days  when  street  railway  companies  are  casting 
about  for  ways  in  which  to  reduce  the  insurance  on  cars,  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  cite  the  experience  of  a  certain  inter- 
urban company  which  recently  made  the  discovery  that  by  a 
simple  change  in  the  form  of  its  policy  it  was  able  to  carry 
about  $80,000  more  insurance  on  its  cars  for  the  same  amount 
as  previously  paid  in  premiums.  This  company  stores  the 
greater  part  of  its  equipment  in  open  yards.  The  cars  in  car 
houses  are  only  those  being  cleaned,  inspected  or  repaired.  The 
insurance  rate  on  cars  in  car  houses  is  much  higher  than  for 
cars  in  a  yard.  By  dividing  the  insurance  so  as  to  make  that  on 
cars  in  car  houses  cover  only  the  number  that  can  be  placed 
in  the  repair  and  inspection  shops  and  making  the  remainder 
on  cars  outside,  the  great  saving  mentioned  was  made.  Since 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  other  companies  have  overlooked  this, 
the  incident  is  mentioned  here.  If  a  company  stores  all  its 
cars  in  car  houses  there  is,  of  course,  no  chance  to  save  in  this 
way.  Whether  electric  railways  will  ever  go  entirely  over  to 
the  steam  railroad  practice  of  storing  most  of  the  equipment 
in  yards,  rather  than  in  houses,  remains  to  be  seen.  Those 
who  point  to  steam  railroad  practice  in  passenger  car  storage 
in  yards  would  do  well  to  remember  that  those  same  steam 
railroads  house  their  locomotives  where  they  can  receive  proper 
attention  in  bad  weather.  An  open  yard  can  never  be  a  proper 
place  to  inspect  and  make  minor  repairs  on  motors  and  motor 
trucks  in  Northern  climates.  It  may  not  be  logical,  however, 
to  store  all  of  the  motor  cars  in  a  house  every  night  because 
part  of  them  must  be  inspected. 

The  Street  Railway  and  the  Landscape  Gardener 

To  a  practical  street  railway  man  immersed  in  the  exacting 
duties  of  keeping  cars  moving  and  carrying  the  public  upon  his 
system  with  a  maximum  of  profit  and  a  minimum  of  expense, 
there  is  something  grotesque  in  the  suggestion  that  it  would  be 
a  good  thing  now  and  then  to  get  in  touch  with  that  eminently 
aesthetic  soul,  the  landscape  gardener.  At  first  blush  it  seems 
little  short  of  ridiculous  to  think  of  spending  money  for  mere 
appearance  when  there  are  so  many  calls  for  every  cent  of 
spare  cash  in  maintenance  and  betterments  upon  modern  elec- 
tric roads.  Let  some  heavy  spectacled  exponent  of  idealism 
approach  a  manager  with  this  question  about  9:30  o'clock  on 
some  fine  Saturday  morning  when  the  office  force  is  running 
at  50  per  cent  overload  for  the  sake  of  the  golf  links  and  the 
canoe  at  1  p.  m.,  and  ten  to  one  the  answer  will  be:  "My  dear 
sir,  we  are  not  running  an  art  gallery  on  this  road,  because  we 
have  troubles  of  our  own.  We  appreciate  your  interest  in  our 
welfare,  but  just  at  this  time  we  aren't  in  shape  to  consider 
the  matter."  And  so  the  interview  ends,  and  the  idealist  finds 
himself  in  the  elevator  and  at  the  street  floor  before  he  has 
thought  out  the  first  three  words  of  a  reply. 

Let  us  approach  the  manager  at  his  club,  however,  on  some 
summer  evening  just  after  dinner  when  his  family  is  at  the 
mountains,  the  Board  of  Aldermen  scattered  to  the  four  winds, 
and  the  ice  chest  handy  on  the  far  side  of  a  push  button.  The 


(  )(  TOBER   T5,  I904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


chances  are  that  aesthetics  can  have  a  hearing,  if  the  Mayor 
doesn't  turn  up  in  quest  of  a  friendly  game  of — Old  Maid. 

There  would  be  little  use  in  discussing  the  relation  between 
the  street  railway  and  the  landscape  gardener  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  a  great  deal  of  good  work  may  be-done  in  improv- 
ing the  appearance  of  a  company's  property  with  very  little 
expense.  The  further  one  travels  about  the  world  the  more  one 
comes  to  realize  that  good  appearance  is  counting  more  in  engi- 
neering structures  of  all  kinds  to-day  than  ever  before.  Per- 
haps the  most  striking  feature  of  the  illustrations  of  European 
practice  which  appear  in  the  technical  press  these  days  is  the 
attention  paid  to  artistic  designing.  There  is  almost  always 
a  certain  gracefulness  in  outline  and  balance  in  proportions  in 
Continental  structures  that  commands  admiration,  peculiar  as 
some  of  the  methods  and  apparatus  employed  may  be. 

In  the  United  States  one  need  cite  but  a  few  instances  to  in- 
dicate that  the  tendency  to  avoid  ugliness  in  design  is  fast 
taking  root.  Long  study  was  given  by  the  Boston  Elevated 
Railway  Company,  for  example,  to  the  securing  of  structural 
steel  designs  for  its  overhead  division  that  would  be  pleasing 
to  the  eye,  and  it  was  only  after  protracted  consideration  that 
the  question  was  settled.  Equal  care  was  given  to  the  design  of 
the  elevated  stations  in  Boston,  appearance  counting  heavily  in 
the  architectural  award.  In  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul  the  new 
sub-stations  and  offices  in  each  city  are  models  of  architectural 
beauty,  as  are  the  new  bridges  in  some  of  the  Twin  City  parks. 
In  Colorado  Springs  the  new  car  house  of  the  street  railway 
company  instantly  attracts  the  passerby's  attention  for  neat- 
ness in  design,  while  in  Denver  the  new  tramway  power  house 
probably  excels  in  appearance  any  city  building  on  the  banks 
of  the  Platte  River.  The  same  harmonious  adaptation  of  means 
to  ends  which  makes  for  good  appearance  may  be  seen  in  the 
General  Electric  Works  at  Schenectady  and  in  the  Westing- 
house  shops  at  East  Pittsburg.  Innumerable  illustrations  occur 
in  the  steam  railway  field,  from  the  beautiful  stations  of  the 
Boston  &  Albany  division  of  the  New  York  Central  to  the 
superb  stone  bridges  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  splendidly 
kept  roadbed  of  the  Lake  Shore. 

Not  only  in  buildings,  but  in  permanent  way  can  the  electric 
road  "straighten  out  the  kinks"  in  the  landscape  which  it  so 
easily  may  produce.  Call  in  the  landscape  gardener  and  say  to 
him:  "We  have  $50  or  $100,"  whatever  the  case  may  be, 
"which  we  wish  to  spend  for  advice  as  to  the  improvement  ot 
our  lines.  Suppose  you  spend  a  few  days  upon  our  system  and 
then  make  us  a  report  embodying  your  suggestions  as  to  how 
the  appearance  of  things  can  be  bettered.  Pay  special  atten- 
tion to  those  changes  which  can  be  made  at  little  expense."  It 
is  safe  to  say  that  in  a  great  many  cases  the  result  will  surprise 
even  a  progressive  management. 

A  great  mistake  is  made  in  assuming  that  structures  must  be 
designed  elaborately  in  order  to  produce  work  of  artistic  ap- 
pearance. It  is  entirely  unnecessary  to  paint  clusters  of  roses 
upon  the  wainscoating  of  power  house  engine  rooms ;  to  em- 
bellish the  massive  frames  of  engines  and  generators  with  fan- 
ciful curves  and  gilt  flourishes;  to  train  ivy  upon  feeder  poles 
and  to  incorporate  rural  scenery  into  the  panels  of  the  cars. 
In  a  nutshell,  the  whole  question  of  harmonious  appearance 
consists  in  an  intelligent  adaptation  of  means  to  ends.  The 
sense  of  proportion  is  absolutely  necessary.  A  simple  bridge 
may  easily  surpass  one  of  complex  design,  and  a  few  rough 
seats  scattered  along  a  natural  woodland  path  may  readily  offer 
more  attractions  to  the  nature  lover  than  the  most  painfully 
artificial  graveled  walks  amid  a  hodge-podge  of  flower  beds. 
Cleanliness  and  trimness  are  vitally  important  in  making  the 


most  of  appearances.  If  a  road  can  do  nothing  else  it  can  at 
least  keep  its  rolling  stock  and  stations  clean,  its  insulated  wires 
properly  strung  and  its  roadbed  free  from  debris.-  Inconspic 
uous  waste  barrels  may  be  placed  in  its  parks,  and  in  number- 
less little  ways  the  cause  of  good  looks  may  be  conserved.  If 
a  new  trestle  is  built  the  piles  can  be  driven  straight;  if  a  sub- 
station is  put  up  the  joints  in  the  brick  work  can  at  least  be 
made  smooth  and  even. 

The  proportions  of  all  engineering  structures  should  be  such 
as  to  give  them  a  substantial  and  permanent  appearance.  It 
is  hard  to  give  this  impression  of  solidity  in  some  forms  of 
steel  work,  but  even  here  the  sharp  eye  detects  poorly  propor- 
tioned designs,  in  the  appearance  of  the  completed  structure — 
at  least  within  limits.  Good  looking  designs  are  very  closely 
related  to  good  mechanical  workmanship.  Here  it  is  that  the 
growing  use  of  reinforced  concrete  offers  a  broad  field  for  the 
performance  of  finely  appearing  work. 

It  may  well  be  asked :  "What  is  the  use  of  paying  any  atten- 
tion to  aesthetics,  after  all?"  There  is  no  answer  that  can  be 
compressed  into  a  single  word,  but  in  general,  there  is  a  de- 
cided financial  advantage  as  well  as  moral  gain  in  good  appear- 
ances. A  clean  car  attracts  more  passengers  than  a  dirty  one ; 
a  well  built  and  thoroughly  lighted  plant  stimulates  the  pride 
of  the  employees  to  keep  it  in  good  condition ;  a  roadbed  free 
from  rubbish  makes  unusual  conditions  all  the  more  apparent 
to  the  track  inspectors ;  a  substantial  bridge  gives  the  idea  to 
the  public  that  the  company  is  a  permanent  fixture  in  the  com- 
munity, and  a  well  kept  overhead  system  follows  a  workman- 
like installation.  The  English  road  which  accepted  the  com- 
petitive design  of  a  local  art  school  in  building  its  trolley  and 
feeder  poles  was  on  the  right  track.  Not  only  is  the  eye  satis- 
fied with  correct  designs ;  the  depreciation  charges  are  pretty 
sure  to  be  less.  These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  it  is  worth 
while  for  a  railway  to  come  in  touch  with  a  landscape  gardener 
through  the  entering  wedge  of  the  modern  park  system. 

Power  Plant  Economies 

In  view  of  the  great  attention  which  is  now  being  paid  to  the 
selection  of  prime  movers,  it  is  worth  while  to  consider  whether 
there  are  not  other  departments  of  the  power  station  where 
important  economies  can  also  be  effected  Figures  on  turbine 
efficiency  are  being  eagerly  sought  by  engineers,  but  it  should 
be  remembered  that  as  yet  the  turbine  has  not  been  applied,  to 
any  extent,  to  the  operation  of  direct-current  machinery.  And 
as  a  large  majority  of  the  street  railway  power  stations  of  the 
present  time,  and  for  some  time  to  come,  will  be  made  up  ex- 
clusively, or  even  in  large  part,  of  direct-current  generators, 
the  possibilities  for  improvement  in  the  reciprocating  engine 
and  of  the  other  features  in  the  chain  of  power  generation  must 
not  be  overlooked. 

Certain  tendencies  in  recent  power-plant  design  make  it 
evident  that  important  fields  of  this  kind  have  hitherto  been 
often  neglected.  Great  possibilities  of  economy  lie  in  the  ap- 
plication of  more  care  in  installation  and  operation  of  such 
auxiliaries  as  the  feed-water  heater,  the  damper  regulator  and 
other  automatic  means  of  taking  care  of  the  steam  generating 
equipment  in  the  absence  of,  or  during  careless  operation,  by 
the  attendants.  In  this  connection  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the 
feed-water  heater,  particularly  of  the  open  type,  has  not  re- 
ceived even  a  fraction  of  the  study  that  it  deserves.  There  is 
almost,  if  not  equally,  as  fruitful  a  field  for  securing  high 
economies  in  other  parts  of  the  boiler-room  apparatus  and  in 
the  steam  auxiliaries,  and  their  effect  on  the  total  economy  of 
the  plant  should  not  be  forgotten. 


682 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


THE  MANDALAY  ELECTRIC  TRAMWAYS 


A  few  weeks  ago  a  short  announcement  was  published  re- 
lating to  the  opening  of  an  electric  tramway  system  in  Man- 
dalay  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Burma,  Sir  Hugh  Barnes, 
K.C.S.I.,  K.C.V.O.  Now  that  the  system  has  been  in  suc- 
cessful operation  for  the  last  two  months,  and  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  Mandalay  is  the  first  city  in  Burma  to  adopt  the  very 
latest  mode  of  transit  in  the  shape  of  electric  cars  in  place  of 
horse  traction,  a  detailed  description  of  the  enterprise  will  no 
doubt  be  of  interest. 

The  Mandalay  Electric  Company  was  floated  in  London  in 
October,  1902,  with  a  capital  of  £200,000.  Work  was  com- 
menced in  December  of  the  same  year,  and  the  first  electric 
car  was  operated  on  June  17,  1904.   The  center  of  the  tramway 


tion  of  shorter  lengths  to  allow  for  piecing  in  and  closures.  The 
rails  are  double  spiked  to  hardwood  sleepers,  which  are  laid 
at  2-ft.  9-in.  centers,  the  whole  being  laid  on  a  ballasted  bed, 
the  road  surface  being  made  up  with  macadam  in  the  ordinary 
way.  The  joints  are  of  the  plain  type,  and  are  secured  with 
six-holed  fish-plates,  and  are  double-bonded  with  two  4/0  B.  & 
S.  Neptune  pin  bonds,  the  usual  cross  and  intertrack  bonds 
being  provided. 

The  overhead  equipment  is  on  the  span-wire  system,  a  double 
line  of  trolley  wire  being  used  throughout.  The  standards  are 
made  up  of  solid  drawn,  weldless  steel  tubes,  and  have  an  over- 
all length  of  28  ft.  They  are  set  6  ft.  deep  below  the  upper 
surface  of  the  rails,  the  excavation  being  entirely  filled  with 
concrete.  The  trolley  wires  consist  of  hard-drawn  copper  .364 
in.  diameter,  with  a  breaking  strain  of  23  tons  per  square  inch. 


A  VIEW  OF  MANDALAY  LOOKING  WEST  FROM  THE  POWER    HOUSE  CHIMNEY 


system  has  been  wisely  placed  at  the  new  Zegyo  Bazaar,  on 
which  the  municipality  is  spending  a  large  sum  of  money,  and 
which  promises  to  be,  when  finished,  the  largest  bazaar  of  its 
kind  in  the  East,  and  a  position  that  will  become  a  center  of 
attraction  to  the  Burmese  from  all  parts  of  the  city.  From  the 
Zegyo  Bazaar  the  tramway  radiates  in  three  branches.  One 
leads  to  the  shore,  where  the  Irawaddy  Flotilla  Company's 
steamers  embark  their  passengers,  and  so  will  cater  for  the 
traveling  public.  The  second  runs  to  the  Arakan  Pagoda,  and 
will  serve  the  suburbs  which  cluster  around  that  famous  shrine. 
The  third  leads  to  the  Court  House,  where  the  daily  legal  busi- 
ness of  the  city  and  district  is  transacted. 

The  tramways  have  a  route  of  7  miles,  double  track  through- 
out, and  equal,  exclusive  of  cross-over  roads,  approximately 
14  miles  of  single  track.  The  rails  are  in  accordance  with 
standard  tramway  practice,  6  ins.  deep,  with  a  i^-in.  groove, 
laid  to  a  gage  of  3  ft.  6  ins.,  in  45-ft.  lengths,  with  a  propor- 


Section  insulators  are  provided,  so  that  each  half  mile  of  trol- 
ley can  be  controlled  separately  if  required.  Lightning  arrest- 
ers of  the  Garton-Daniels  type  have  been  provided  at  every  half 
mile  of  route.  The  feeder  system,  which  is  a  somewhat  elab- 
orate one  for  an  Eastern  tramway,  consists  of  solid  soft-drawn 
copper  wire,  carried  on  special  high  resistance  toggle-clamp 
insulators,  which  are  in  turn  bolted  to  substantial  malleable 
iron  brackets  attached  to  the  poles.  At  several  points  along 
the  route  of  the  tramways  these  feeders  are  tapped  by  insu- 
lated cables  which  are  connected  to  the  main  feeder  switches 
in  switch  pillars  fixed  on  the  sidewalk  in  a  manner  similar  to 
underground  feeders. 

The  rolling  stock  consists  of  twenty-four  electric  motor  cars 
of  the  single-deck,  open,  cross-bench  type.  They  have  all  the 
latest  improvements,  and  were  built  for  Dick,  Kerr  &  Com- 
pany, Limited,  by  the  Electric  Railway  &  Tramway  Carriage 
Works,  Limited,  Preston.    Special  care  has  been  taken  in  de- 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


683 


signing  the  cars  to  insure  the  interchangeability  of  all  the  im- 
portant parts  entering  into  the  construction  of  the  rolling 
stock.  The  car  bodies  are  35  ft.  4^2  ins.  in  length  and  about 
6  ft.  wide,  and  are  designed  to  provide  seating  accommodation 
for  forty-eight  passengers.  The  floor  frames  are  built  of  well 
seasoned  teak,  in  combination  with  steel  sections  of  such  mem- 
bers and  sizes  as  to  insure  maximum  strength  and  minimum 
weight.  Openings  are  arranged  in  the  frame  over  the  motors 
to  afford  convenient  access  to  the  armature  brushes  and  to  all 
bearings  requiring  frequent  inspection  and  oiling.  The  plat- 
form floor  frames  are  formed  of  teak  timbers,  extending  under 
the  main  floor  frame  as  far  as  possible  without  interfering  with 
the  clearance  of  the  trucks,  and  project  out  from  each  end  sill 
3  ft.  to  provide  room  for  the  brake  shaft  and  controllers.  Teak 
end  bars  are  secured  to  the  outside  ends  of  these  timbers, 
forming  sills  to  which  the  platform  dashes  and  the  entrance 
steps  are  secured.  The  main  floor  is  laid  with  %-in.  matched 
teak  boards  and  secured  at  all  bearings  with  barbed-wire  nails. 
To  prevent  the  car  from  sagging,  a  substantial  truss  is  pro- 
vided, supported  in  the  center  by  two  wrought-iron  standards. 


3-ft.  x  5-in.  steel  angles,  and  are  secured  to  the  ends  of  the 
platform  to  protect  them  from  injury  in  case  of  accidents. 
These  are  slotted  and  pins  provided  to  enable  hauling  of  cars 


PYAGYI  TERMTNl'S  OF  THE  MANDALAY  TRAMWAYS 


OPENING  CEREMONY  ON  JULY  2,  1904,  OF  THE  MANDALAY   TRAMWAYS,  WITH  LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR  EN  ROUTE 


ARRIVAL  OF  THE  LIEUTENANT  GOVERNOR  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  MANDALAY  TRAMWAYS,  JULY  2,  1904 


The  roof  frames  are  composed  entirely  of  teak,  the  covering  be- 
ing of  cotton  duck,  laid  wet  in  a  coat  of  white  lead  paint.  Storm 
curtains  are  provided  for  each  side  entrance  of  the  cars,  sliding 
in  grooves  between  the  post.  The  dashes  are  made  up  of  No. 
16  B.  W.  G.  steel  plates,  furnished  with  substantial  iron  rails 
and  wrought-iron  post.   The  collision  buffers  are  made  up  of 


in  case  of  emergency.  Each  car  is  provided  with  two  circuits 
of  ioo-volt  incandescent  lamps,  with  change-over  switches  for 
putting  one  of  the  other  headlights  in  circuit. 

The  trucks  upon  which  the  cars  are  mounted  are  of  the 
Brush  Company's  single  type.  They  are  suitably  built  to  sup- 
port the  car  bodies  and  to  receive  the  motors  and  gearing. 


684 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


The  cars  are  fitted  with  a  complete  set  of  electrical  equipments, 
each  set  consisting  of  two  of  the  Dick,  Kerr  standard  25-B 
traction  motors,  capable  of  delivering  approximately  28  hp,  the 
temperature  of  the  various  parts  not  exceeding 
75  degs.  C.  after  running  at  full  load  for  one 
hour.  The  controllers  supplied  with  the  elec- 
trical equipments  are  of  the  same  firm's  stand- 
ard D.  B.  I,  form  "C"  type,  especially  arranged 
with  resistances  for  emergency  braking,  oper- 
ated by  the  driving  handle,  which  may  be 
utilized  either  when  the  car  is  proceeding  for- 
ward or  backward. 

The  power  house  has  been  erected  on  the 
company's  site  in  Seventy-Eighth  Street,  to- 
gether with  the  necessary  offices,  car  shed  and 
repair  shops.  The  steam  plant  consists  of  three 
Babcock  &  Wilcox  water-time  boilers,  with  a 
working  pressure  of  160  lbs.  per  square  inch. 
Each  boiler  is  provided  with  a  steam  super- 
heater fitted  with  all  the  usual  accessories ;  a 
water  storage  tank  with  a  capacity  of  20,000 
gallons  of  water;  a  fuel  economizer,  and  two 
double-acting  single-cylinder  feed  pumps,  each 


supported  independently  on  an  iron  frame.  The  board  con- 
sists of  three  generator  panels,  four  feeder  panels,  one  station 
lighting  and  one  Board  of  Trade  panel. 


A  CURVE  AT  SOUTH  MOAT  ROAD  AND  SEVENTY-EIGHTH  STREET,  MANDALAY 


THE  PAYAGYR  BRIDGE  BUILT  OF  TEAK  BY  KING  MINDOON 


Each  generator  panel  is  provided  with  two  single-pole 
switches ;  one  equalizing  switch  to  connect  the  shunt  of  the 
compound-wound  dynamo  on  to  the  equalizing  omnibus  bar ; 
one  shunt-field  rheostat  to  enable  the  E.  M.  F.  of  the  generator 
to  be  raised  and  lowered  50  volts ;  one  field  switch,  with  re- 
sistance and  pilot  lamp ;  one  main  ammeter,  and  an  automatic 
circuit  breaker  with  magnetic  blow-out. 

Each  feeder  panel  is  provided  with  one  main  single-pole 
switch  ;  one  automatic  circuit  breaker,  and  one  ammeter. 

The  testing  panel  has  mounted  on  it  all  the  necessary  in- 
struments and  switches  for  recording  or  measuring  the  leakage 
taking  place.  It  also  has  a  voltmeter  for  recording  the  differ- 
ence in  potential  between  the  terminus  ends  of  the  rails  and  the 
negative  bus-bar.  The  station  circuit  panel  is  mounted  with 
all  the  necessary  switches  and  fuses,  together  with  ammeters 
required  for  the  station  lighting  and  motor  circuits. 

A  Higginbottom  &  Mannock  10-ton  engine-room  traveling 
crane,  having  a  span  of  38^4  ft.  with  a  lift  of  20  ft.,  has  been 


capable  of  delivering  2000  gallons  of  water  per 
hour.  The  engines,  of  which  there  are  three 
in  number,  are  of  the  "Belliss"  compound  two- 
crank  type,  mounted  on  bed  plates  extended  to 
take  the  direct-coupled  generators;  each  en- 
gine is  fitted  with  a  heavy  fly-wheel  and  steam 
separator,  and  is  capable  of  giving  a  normal 
output  of  300  bhp  when  running  at  400  r.  p.  m., 
non-condensing,  with  steam  at  a  pressure  of 
155  lbs.  per  square  inch  at  the  stop  valve. 

The  electrical  plant  consists  of  three  direct- 
current  500-550-volt  compound-wound  genera- 
tors, coupled  direct  to  the  engines,  the  output 
of  each  generator  being  200  kw  when  running 
at  400  r.  p.  m.,  and  they  are  designed  for  an 
overload  capacity  of  20  per  cent  for  two  and 
one-half  hours,  with  a  moderate  rise  of  tem- 
perature. The  generators  are  in  every  respect 
in  accordance  with  the  contractor's  standard 
practice,  the  magnet  frames  being  of  cast  iron 
and' the  pole  pieces  of  laminated  steel  and  cast 
into  the  magnet  frame.  The  commutation  is  -sparkless  at  all 
loads  and  the  field  windings  are  so  arranged  to  give  a  10  per 
cent  rise  in  the  E.  M.  F.  from  no  load  to  full  load. 

The  switchboard  was  erected  by  the  generator  builders,  and 
consists  of  nine  black  enameled  slate  panels  \l/2  ins.  thick,  each 


THE  MANDALAY  TRAMWAYS  CAR  SHED  AND  POWER  HOUSE 


erected  in  the  power  house.  The  lifting  longitudinal  and 
traverse  is  worked  by  chains  from  the  engine  room  floor. 

The  contractors  for  the  whole  of  the  work  and  plant  were 
Dick,  Kerr  &  Company,  Limited,  represented  in  Mandalay  by 
D.  Williamson.   The  sub-contractors  were  Nahapiet  &  Martin, 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


685 


of  Rangoon.  The  consulting  engineers  for  the  work  were 
Kincaid,  Waller,  Manville  &  Dawson,  of  Westminster,  who 
prepared  the  detailed  plans  and  specifications,  and  were  repre- 


occasioned  by  trainmen  stopping  their  cars  at  different  points 
along  the  line  to  run  to  a  neighboring  restaurant  for  a  cup  of 
coffee  and  a  sandwich.  As  the  privilege  of  getting  a  lunch 
could  not  well  be  denied  the  trainmen,  it  was  decided  by  the 
management  to  furnish  a  free  lunch  at  the  end  of  the  route, 
where  the  lay-over  time  could  be  utilized  without  interfering 
with  the  service. 

The  car  shown  in  the  illustration  was  fitted  up  for  this  pur- 
pose and  put  in  charge  of  J.  B.  Price,  purchasing  agent  of  the 
St.  Louis  Transit  Company.  It  is  supplied  with  coffee  urns, 
hot-water  heaters  and  ice  boxes,  and  is  fitted  with  the  neces- 


MANDALAY  POWER  HOUSE  AND  CHIMNEY 

sented  in  Mandalay  by  E.  Sellon.  The  local  work  was  carried 
out  under  the  able  superintendence  of  Mr.  Griffin  and  A.  C. 
Morgan. 


THE  ST.  LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  LUNCH  CAR 


The  accompanying  reproductions  from  photographs  show 
the  lunch  car  recently  put  in  service  by  Capt.  Robert  McCulloch, 
general  manager  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  and  of  which 


^■-•T  AN  EXTERIOR  VIEW  OF  THE  LUNCH  CAR 

mention  was  made  in  a  recent  issue  of  this  periodical.  The 
greater  part  of  the  World's  Fair  traffic  falls  on  the  Olive  Street 
and  Delmar  Avenue  lines,  these  being  the  most  direct  routes 
from  the  city  to  the  main  entrance  of  the  Fair.  Every  ex- 
pedient possible  has  been  taken  by  the  management  to  keep 
these  lines  clear.    It  was  found  that  more  or  less  delay  was 


GENERAL  ARRANGEMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR  OF  THE 
ST.    LOUIS  TRANSIT  COMPANY'S  LUNCH  CAR 

sary  shelves,  lockers  and  other  facilities  for  serving  coffee  and 
sandwiches.  For  the  coffee  a  mixture  of  half  cream  and  half 
milk  is  provided.  Several  varieties  of  sandwiches,  including 
corned  beef,  ham,  cheese  and  frankfurters,  are  furnished.  'Mr. 
Price's  instructions  were  that  the  best  quality  of  food  obtain- 
able was  to  be  provided.  Everything  is  fresh,  and  the  popu- 
larity of  the  lunch  car  is  no  doubt  largely  due  to  the  superiority 
of  the  quality  of  the  food  furnished  over  that  commonly  served 
in  restaurants,  as  well  as  to  the  fact  that  it  is  free  to  the  men. 

Each  afternoon  the  sandwiches  are  prepared 
while  the  car  is  at  the  Park  and  Vandeventer 
shops.  Coffee  is  not  made  until  the  last  mo- 
ment before  serving.  On  ordinary  days  the 
car  is  run  to  the  Olive  Street  loop  in  time  to 
serve  food  at  about  8:15  o'clock,  just  after  the 
theater  traffic  is  over  and  before  the  big  rush 
from  the  Fair  has  begun.  The  car  is  placed  in 
a  gateway,  extending  half  in  and  half  out  of 
the  fence  surrounding  the  Olive  Street  ter- 
minal. Men  from  the  Olive  Street  line  arc 
served  within  the  enclosure,  while  the  Delmar 
Avenue  men  remain  on  the  outside.  The  por- 
tion given  to  each  man  is  not  limited,  he  being 
provided  with  as  many  sandwiches  and  cups  of 
coffee  as  he  desires.  Approximately  250  men 
are  served  each  night.  About  600  sandwiches 
and  from  35  to  40  gallons  of  coffee  are  re- 
quired. On  special  days,  however,  the  con- 
sumption is  much  greater.  On  St.  Louis  Day, 
lunch  was  served  at  noon,  at  5  130  in  the  evening  and  at  mid- 
night, requiring  4000  sandwiches  and  200  gallons  of  coffee. 

The  view  of  the  exterior  of  the  car  shows  it  just  within  the 
enclosure  at  the  Olive  Street  terminal.  The  lunches  are  served 
through  the  side  windows,  the  side  of  the  car  being  provided 
with  a  shelf  for  this  purpose. 


686 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


LVol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


CORRESPONDENCE 
INSULATION  OF  A  THIRD  RAIL 

New  York,  Oct.  6,  1904. 

Editors  Street  Railway  Journal: 

In  the  current  issue  of  the  Journal  an  editorial  on  the 
"Status  of  the  Third-Rail  System,"  needs  a  little  correction. 
In  the  absence  of  any  comments  from  those  connected  with  the 
Consolidated  Railroad,  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  attempt  an  ex- 
planation of  the  abandonment  of  a  part  of  the  third-rail  system 
between  Braintree  and  Nantasket  Junction. 

In  the  first  place  the  heavy  trolley  line  from  Nantasket  Junc- 
tion to  Pemberton  was  built  when  Nantasket  Beach  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  summer  resorts  of  Boston.  The  extension 
of  this  system  toward  Boston  by  a  third  rail  was  built  to  see  if 
the  latter  were  practicable.  The  whole  system  accommodated  a 
purely  summer  travel  and  was  shut  down  nearly  every  winter. 
The  steam  trains  which  necessarily  passed  over  the  third-rail 
section  were  bound  from  Boston  to  other  distant  points  having 
no  connection  with  the  Beach  line. 

A  few  years  ago  the  city  of  Boston  acquired  Nantasket 
Beach  and  turned  it  into  a  park,  removing  all  hotels  and  places 
of  amusement.  That  reduced  the  summer  travel  to  a  little  more 
than  that  given  by  the  summer  residents  or  cottagers.  It  then 
became  evident  to  observers  that  sooner  or  later  the  whole  or 
part  of  the  electric  system  would  either  by  abandoned  or  ex- 
tended into  the  city  of  Boston.  That  the  former  has  been  done 
has  probably  nothing  to  do  with  the  technical  success  or  failure 
of  the  third  rail,  but  for  financial  reasons,  influenced  by  the 
yearly  traffic. 

Certain  reasons,  unnecessary  to  mention  here,  decided  that  • 
the  third  rail  should  be  placed  low  down  in  the  center  of  the 
track.  While  admittedly  this  position  is  inconvenient  and  has 
less  advantages  than  an  outside  conductor,  it  has  had  no  effect 
upon  the  success  of  the  system.  Evidence  of  this  is  shown  in 
the  installation  of  24  miles  of  exactly  similar  construction  in 
Connecticut,  and  the  announcement  of  the  abandonment  of  this 
system  will  be  many  years  hence  if  the  traffic  it  has  enjoyed 
since  completion  keeps  up. 

The  insulators,  if  such  they  may  be  called,  have  shown  up 
remarkably  well,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  were  creosoted 
wooden  blocks,  costing  only  from  15  to  40  cents  each,  depend- 
ing upon  who  made  them.  The  rail  was  an  inverted  "V,"  with 
a  flat  top  2y2  ins.  wide.  The  rail  acting  as  a  roof,  kept  the 
contact  between  the  block  and  rail  practically  dry. 

The  leakage  rarely  exceeded  \l/2  amps,  per  mile,  and  the 
average  was  about  1  amp.  per  mile.  In  one  case  300  ft.  of  track 
was  submerged  in  fresh  water  and  the  added  load  was  hardly 
noticed  at  the  power  station.  In  another  case  over  x/2  mile  was 
under  water,  but  the  service  was  not  interrupted,  and  the  load 
at  the  station  showed  an  increase  of  only  about  400  amps.,  or 
that  of  one  additional  train. 

On  3  miles  of  road  from  Nantasket  Junction  to  Cohasset,  an 
ordinary  60-lb.  T-rail  was  laid  in  the  center  of  the  track,  with 
2-in.  strips  of  creosoted  wood  between  it  and  the  ties,  and 
spaced  10  ft.  apart.  No  excessive  leakage  was  noticeable  even 
in  wet  weather. 

The  subject  of  third-rail  insulators  is  an  interesting  one,  and 
whether  the  expense  to  which  some  have  gone  in  the  matter  is 
justified  is  a  question.  Edwakd  C.  Boynton. 



The  Toledo,  Bowling  Green  &  Southern  Traction  Company 
will  purchase  two  fine  passenger  coaches  which  will  be  used  for 
limited  service  between  Toledo  and  Findlay.  As  soon  as  the 
new  entrance  to  Toledo  is  completed  they  will  give  a  limited 
schedule  of  two  hours  to  Findlay.  At  present  the  schedule  is 
three  hours  and  ten  minutes. 


STEEL- TIRED  WHEELS  AND  ELECTRIC  RAILROADS 


BY  KNOX  TAYLOR 


It  is  interesting  to  note  how  history  has  a  way  of  repeating 
itself  in  the  experience  of  electric  roads  when  compared  with 
that  of  the  steam  roads  that  preceded  them ;  a  history,  however, 
that  in  this  case  is  much  abbreviated  in  the  matter  of  time,  for 
the  development  that  has  extended  over  three-quarters  of  a 
century  in  the  steam  service,  has  been  compressed  into  less  than 
a  score  of  years  in  the  electric  service.  It  is  natural  to  expect 
that  the  introduction  and  adoption  of  new  devices  should  be 
much  more  rapid  in  the  newer  than  in  the  older  system.  At- 
tention has  already  been  called  to  the  fears  that  were  expressed 
as  to  the  probable  value  of  steel-tired  wheels  on  electric  cars, 
and  the  cast-iron  article  seemed  to  be  the  best  solution  of  the 
problem. 

But  the  electric  car  differs  from  the  ordinary  car  in  that  it 
is  a  locomotive  as  well  as  a  car,  and  anything  that  can  add  to 
the  length  of  time  between  stoppings,  demands  prompt  adop- 
tion, almost  regardless  of  the  initial  cost.  In  fact,  in  the  case 
of  such  an  article  as  a  wheel,  it  would  be  well  worth  quite  an 
excess  in  cost  if  the  car  can  be  kept  in  service  longer  periods 
without  necessitating  wheel  removals.  It  is  difficult  to  make  a 
true  estimate  of  the  value  of  a  steel-tired  wheel  when  consid- 
ered from  the  viewpoint  of  its  influence  on  the  other  expenses 
of  maintenance. 

It  is  commonly  accepted  as  good  business  policy  to  shorten 
the  length  of  time  that  cars  and  locomotives  are  held  in  the 
shop,  because  of  their  earning  capacity  while  on  the  road.  For 
this  reason  the  time  allowed  for  painting,  for  example,  has 
been  shortened  by  one-hair.  On  the  same  principle,  a  wheel 
that  will  save  a  week's  time  that  would  otherwise  be  spent  in 
the  shop,  will  pay  for  itself  many  times  over  in  the  increased 
earnings  of  the  car.  That  the  steel-tired  wheel  will  accom- 
plish such  results  as  this  there  seems  to  be  no  room  for  doubt ; 
so  that,  from  this  broader  point  of  view,  there  seems  to  be  no 
argument  against  its  adoption. 

Still,  the  equipment  of  a  large  road  with  steel-tired  wheels 
does  involve  a  comparatively  heavy  outlay,  and  the  matter 
should  not  be  undertaken  without  careful  consideration,  and 
for  this  reason  the  lower  priced  steel-tired  wheels  of  the  fused 
type,  such  as  made  by  the  Taylor  Iron  &  Steel  Company,  offer 
the  greater  inducement  to  managers. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of 
this  type  of  wheel,  and  a  number  of  roads  that  have  put  them 
in  service  have  started  to  keep  accurate  and  reliable  records  of 
all  costs  in  any  way  related  to  wheels,  so  that  in  eighteen 
months  or  two  years  there  will  be  data  available  that  will  en- 
able the  most  doubting  official  to  arrive  at  a  decision  that  will 
stand  the  closest  investigation.  The  records  that  are  available 
now  go  to  show  that  those  to  come  will  substantiate  the  good 
opinions  that  have  been  expressed  regarding  the  value  of  the 
steel-tired  wheel.  It  appears  that,  in  what  little  work  has  been 
done  on  urban  roads,  the  steel-tired  wheel  promises  to  be  only 
about  65  per  cent  as  expensive  as  the  chilled  wheel  at  the  end 
of  its  life,  though  it  will  cost  much  more  for  the  initial  outlay. 

As  to  exactly  what  the  increased  time  service  will  be,  due  to 
the  less  frequent  shopping  of  the  car  having  steel-tired  wheels, 
is  not  yet  definitely  known,  but  it  is  a  very  conservative  esti- 
mate to  place  it  at  ten  days,  and  it  is  respectfully  left,  to  the 
management  to  decide  as  to  the  money  value  of  ten  days'  service 
of  a  car  that  would  otherwise  be  idle. 

Of  course,  the  steel-tired  wheel  has  established  itself  for  in- 
terurban  work  where  heavy  cars  are  to  be  run  at  high  speeds, 
and  nothing  else  is  receiving  much,  if  any,  consideration,  and 
the  present  outlook  is  that  it  will  expand  and  increase  until  it 
is  the  accepted  standard  of  the  best  practice  on  all  classes  of 
electric  roads. 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


687 


A  NEW  TYPE  OF  INTERURBAN  CAR 


Four  handsome  interurban  cars  have  lately  been  delivered 
by  the  American  Car  Company,  of  St.  Louis,  to  the  Petaluma 
&  Santa  Rosa  Railway  Company,  of  California.  As  will  be 
seen  by  the  illustrations,  the  type  is  a  departure  from  cars 
as  heretofore  built  for  interurban  service,  the  compartment 
being  divided  by  a  vestibule  having  an  entrance  at  either  side. 
The  general  design  of  these  cars  was  suggested  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  railway,  George  A.  Batchelder,  and  the  arrange- 
ment is  not  only  interesting  as  a  nov- 
elty, but  also  from  a  practical  stand- 
point, as  space  is  saved  and  there  is 
no  interference  with  the  radiation  of 
the  large  trucks.  The  Brill  semi-con- 
vertible window  system  is  used  for 
the  passenger  compartment,  making 
the  car  open  and  attractive  for  sum- 
mer service.  This  compartment  seats 
forty  passengers,  and  the  baggage 
compartment  is  handsomely  finished 
in  mahogany,  which  constitutes  the 
woodwork  also  of  the  passenger  com- 
partment, and  folding  seats  are  pro- 
vided for  the  use  of  smokers. 

The  interior  illustration  shows  a 
unique  arrangement  of  partitioning 
the  motorman's  cab ;  this  partition  consists  of 
plate  set  in  ornamental  brass  and  is  intended 
passengers  an  unobstructed  view  forward  and 
the  appearance.  Mr.  Batchelder  wished  the  cars  to  be  unusu- 
ally handsome,  believing  that  such  cars  would  encourage  traffic 
where  those  of  ordinary  appearance  would  fail. 

At  the  end  of  the  passenger  compartment  next  the  vestibule, 
a  water-cooler  of  special  design  is  placed  in  such  a  way  as  not 
to  interfere  with  the  standing  or  seated  passengers.  The  ar- 
rangement was  the  idea  of  the  builder.     The  cooler  is  held 


The  cars  are  46  ft.  1  in.  long  over  the  vestibule  sheathing, 
and  47  ft.  9  in.  over  the  bumpers ;  the  width  over  the  sills,  in- 
cluding the  sheathing  is  8  ft.  8  in;  centers  of  posts,  2  ft.  8  in.; 
the  side  sills  are  5  in.  x  7%  ins.  and  2  in.  x  6  in.,  with  12  x  |^ 
in.  sill  plates  for  the  full  length  of  the  car.  The  center  sills 
are  composed  of  7-in.  "I"  beams,  with  yellow  pine  fillers;  the 
corner  posts  are  3^4  ins.  thick,  and  side  posts  3*4  ins.  The 
seats  are  36  ins.  long;  width  of  aisle,  23  ins.  The  steps  are 
t6%  ins.  high  and  have  14  in.  risers.  The  cars  are  mounted 
on  high-speed  trucks  of  the  Brill  27  E-2  type,  having  6  ft. 


INTERURBAN  CAR  BUILT  FOR  THE  PETALUMA  &  SANTA  ROSA  RAILWAY  COMPANY 


heavy  glass 
to  give  the 
to  beautify 


wheel  base  and  33  in.  wheels,  and  equipped  with  four  motors 
of  40  hp  capacity  each. 


IMPROVED  SANDING  MACHINE 


The  accompanying  cut  represents  a  sanding  machine  espe- 
cially designed  for  car  shops,  made  by  the  J.  A.  Fay  &  Egan 
Company,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  machine  is  invaluable  where  a  perfectly  smooth  surface 
is  desired  either  for  varnishing  or  painting.  It  is  massive  and 
substantial,  and  saves  the  work  of  several  machines  for  doing 
this  character  of  work.  The  three  steel  polishing  cylinders 
upon  which  the  paper  is  placed  have  a  vibratory  motion  to  pre- 
vent the  formation  of  lines,  and  are  equipped  with  a  device  for 
quickly  applying  the  sandpaper  and  giving  it  the  proper  ten- 


it 


Mi 


INTERIOR  OF  THE  PETALUMA  CAR 


TRIPLE-DRUM,  EIGHT-ROLL,  POWER- FEED  SANDEK 


between  four  bars  suspended  from  the  ventilator  rail  and  is 
supported  by  a  drain  pipe.  It  is  readily  removed  for  cleaning 
and  filling.  The  arrangement  is  so  convenient  that  it  will 
probably  be  considerably  used  in  future.  The  motorman's  cab, 
in  the  baggage  compartment,  is  placed  on  the  left  side  and  en- 
tirely enclosed.  When  the  sliding  doors  of  this  compartment 
are  open,  net  guards  may  be  used  to  cover  the  openings,  and 
these  guards  protect  the  woodwork  when  drawn  back.  This 
arrangement  was  the  builders'  idea  and  used  for  the  first  time 
in  these  cars. 


sion.  Each  cylinder  carries  a  different  grade  of  paper,  the 
third  cylinder  giving  the  finest  and  smoothest  finish. 

The  feed  is  very  powerful,  and  consists  of  eight  feed  rolls, 
four  above  and  four  below,  driven  by  a  train  of  heavy  expan- 
sion gearing,  and  will  open  to  receive  material  8  ins.  thick. 
The  machine  is  made  to  work  material  from  30  ins.  to  80  ins. 
wide,  and  has  a  brush  attachment  which  cleans  the  stock  after 
it  has  passed  through  the  machine.  The  pressure  rolls  are  so 
arranged  that  the  adjustments  can  be  made  easilv  and  accu- 
rately and  the  feed  started  and  stopped  instantly. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  ST.  LOUIS  CONVENTIONS 


THE  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  MECHANICAL  AND  ELECTRICAL 
ASSOCIATION 


The  second  annual  convention  of  the  American  Railway 
Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  was  called  to  order  by 
President  E.  W.  Olds,  Monday  morning,  Oct.  10,  1904,  in  the 
Transportation  Building  at  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposi- 
tion, St.  Louis.  President  Ely,  of  the  American  Street  Rail- 
way Association,  and  President  Smith,  of  the  Street  Railway 
Accountants'  Association,  were  invited  to  take  seats  on  the 
platform.  President  Olds  then  introduced  John  I.  Beggs, 
president  and  general  manager  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric 
Railway  &  Light  Company,  referring  to  him  as  a  practical 
man  who  had  started  low  in  the  ranks. 

Mr.  Beggs  then  said: 

Your  president  has  referred  to  me  in  very  flattering  terms.  I 
may  say  the  most  flattering  terms  that  could  be  applied  to  me.  He 
has,  however,  fallen  into  an  error  in  one  of  the  statements  made, 
and  that  was  that  I  would  make  an  address.  That  you  will  not  be 
tortured  with,  gentlemen,  because  I  have  never  prepared  an  address 
in  my  life— I  have  never  had  time.  I  propose  to  say  a  few  prac- 
tical words  from  a  practical  man  to  practical  men,  and  as  one  me- 
chanic to  another.  I  was  fortunate  enough  in  my  boyhood  to  have 
been  required  by  stern  necessity  to  serve  an  indentured  apprentice- 
ship of  four  years ;  during  the  early  years  of  the  Rebellion,  when 
I  indentured  myself  for  the  first  year  at  $2.50  a  week,  and  the  second 
year  at  $3.50  a  week,  never  dreaming  when  going  through  those 
years  of  toil  that  I  should  be  more  than  a  mechanic.  I  look  back 
at  it  with  pride  as  the  years  go  on,  and  I  am  one  of  those  who  have 
much  more  to  look  back  upon  than  I  have  to  look  forward  to,  unlike 
many  of  you  here  to-day,  because,  this  is  a  field  requiring  young 
men.  It  is  a  great  field  for  young  men  to-day  and  with  that  degree 
of  fidelity  which  the  younger  men  are  coming  into,  our  various 
companies  recognize  the  responsibilities  that  devolve  upon  them 
and  must  continue  to  devolve  upon  them,  will  depend  much  upon  the 
future  prosperity  of  the  great  industry  of  which  we  are  a  part,  in 
which  we  are  all  engaged,  and  in  which  I  have  been  absorbed 
for  twenty  years.  I  am  becoming  one  of  the  "Old  Guard,"  as  it 
were,  and  soon,  I  presume,  will  be  entitled  to  be  retired  and  put 
on  the  honorary  list. 

Your  president  is  one  of  the  assistant  managers  of  the  corporation 
whose  capital  I  am  charged  with  safeguarding  and  promoting. 
Each  one  of  you  here  who  occupies'  the  position  of  master  me- 
chanic on  any  one  of  the  various  roads,  be  it  ever  so  small,  be  it 
ever  so  large,  is  practically  an  assistant  manager  of  that  prop- 
erty, and  as- such  I  believe  you  should  be  treated  by  the  executive 
officers  of  these  various  companies,  because  much  of  the  success  of 
these  properties — which  are  destined  to  be  much  greater  than 
many  of  you  to-day  have  any  conception  of — much  of  their  pros- 
perity, much  of  their  advancement,  is  in  your  hands ;  and  according 
to  the  degree  of  fidelity  which  you  recognize  and  assume  these  re- 
sponsibilities, will  these  properties  go  ahead. 

I  well  recall  the  day  in  the  early  days  of  this  business  along  in 
1886,  I  was  one  of  the  original  stockholders  in  the  Sprague  Electric 
Railway  Company.  I  have  followed  down  the  lines  ever 
since,  as  one  of  the  men  not  only  in  the  front,  but  as  one  of  those 
in  the  pits,  and  in  every  branch  of  the  work.  Consequently  I  try 
to  look  at  things  connected  with  a  railway  company  from  the  broad 
point  of  view  and  not  merely  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  mana- 
ger; trying  to  keep  all  the  ends  together,  co-ordinating  them  all  into 
one  homogeneous  organization,  everyone  pulling  together,  no  one 
pulling  aoart.  That  is  one  of  the  great  things,  gentlemen,  that  it 
is  necessary  for  you  to  do. 

I  propose  to  refer,  before  closing  these  remarks,  to  the  neces- 
sity of  the  various  branches  of  this  industry  being  more  closely 
meshed  together  like  a  well-geared  machine.  You  cannot  stand 
apart,  gentlemen ;  you  must  work  together  with  every  department 
of  the  companies,  or  we  will  not  have  that  success  which  is  neces- 
sary and  which  we  are  entitled  to  bring  about.  The  time  will  come, 
gentlemen,  when  there  will  be  some  crowding  out ;  when  it  is 
going  to  be  a  question  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  in  the  railroad 
industry  of  this  country,  and  I  speak  with  respect  to  what  has  up  to 
the  present  time  been  considered  the  only  railroading  of  the  coun- 
try, namely,  our  steam  railroad  interests.  But  the  time  is  fast 
approaching,  gentlemen,  when  there  will  be  a  combining  of  the  two, 
and  it  is  going  to  be  a  question  in  many  directions  which  will  be- 


come the  more  important,  the  electric  railroad  or  the  steam  rail- 
road. Those  of  you  who  are  keeping  abreast  of  the  times  can  see 
the  movement  being  made  in  certain  directions — it  is  being  made 
particularly  in  the  State  of  New  York,  where  the  great  New  York 
Central  &  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company  is  beginning  to  absorb 
and  bring  around  itself  certain  of  the  profitable  lines  operated 
near  its  steam  railroad  system,  and  the  same  thing  is  going  on  in 
other  parts  of  the  country.  It  devolves  upon  you,  gentlemen, 
whether,  when  these  properties  come  together,  the  dominant  ele- 
ment in  the  mechanical  departments  shall  come  from  the  electrical 
branch  of  the  business  or  from  the  steam  branch  of  the  business. 

I  have  read  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  the  paper  prepared  by 
Mr.  I.indall,  of  the  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  to  be  read  at  this  con- 
vention, and  I  ask  for  it  an  earnest  perusal  and  study  by  every  mem- 
ber of  this  association,  and  by  every  man  interested  in  the  welfare 
and  the  profitableness  of  electric  railroading  in  general.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  meat  in  that  paper,  and  I  think  it  should  be  published 
in  large  numbers  and  put  in  the  hands  of  every  foreman,  of  every 
division  foreman,  of  evei-y  division  superintendent,  and  in  the  hands 
oi  the  inspectors  and  supervisors,  or  whatever  title  they  may  be 
known  by,  of  every  electric  railway  in  this  country,  because  the 
P?per  goes  to  the  very  essence  of  much  that  pertains  to  the  me- 
chanical branch  of  the  business. 

Gentlemen,  your  particular  position  .has  much  to  do  with  the 
broader  administration  of  the  affairs  of  a  company,  concerning 
points  that  are  not  touched  upon  in  Mr.  Lindall's  paper;  points 
which  he  does  not  bring  out.  While  he  shows  the  necessity  of 
systematic,  frequent  and  intelligent  inspection  of  your  apparatus, 
I  desire  to  add  another  reason  for  that  inspection,  which  comes 
up  every  day  in  the  year  and  sometimes  many  times  in  the  day, 
either  to  the  manager  or  to  the  man  having  in  charge  the  settle- 
ment of  suits  for  injuries  to  persons  and  damages  to  property. 
These  cases  come  up  very  frequently,  and  I  very  frequently  call  up- 
on our  superintendent  of  rolling  stock  to  know  just  what  he  or  those 
under  him  could  testify  to,  regarding  a  certain  car,  upon  which  a 
certain  class  of  accident  has  occured,and  my  instructions  to  the  law- 
yers or  the  claim  department  taking  care  of  that  business  depend 
many  times  upon  what  he  or  the  men  under  him  state.  In  many 
instances,  in  connection  with  a  certain  class  of  cases,  if  you  can 
prove  that  a  car  is  carefully  inspected  before  it  left  the  shop  or  car 
house  in  the  morning,  and  that  it  was  in  proper  condition  when  it 
started  out,  it  will  absolve  you  from  liability.  If  you  are  not  able 
to  prove  that  careful,  intelligent  inspection  on  behalf  of  the  me- 
chanical branch  of  the  company,  many  times  it  is  better  to  settle 
the  case  on  the  best  terms  possible.  It  is  vital,  gentlemen, 
to  know  whether  your  brake  rigging  was  in  proper  condition,  to 
know  whether  your  controller  fingers  had  been  properly  inspected 
and  were  in  proper  condition,  and  so  on  in  regard  to  other  features 
of  the  equipment.  The  laws  governing  these  matters  are  such  that 
if  you  can  prove  that  all  the  care  that  was  possible  had  been  taken, 
before  you  put  out  the  equipment,  the  law  will  absolve  you; 
whereas,  if  you  are  not  able  to  prove  that,  then  there  comes  against 
you  the  charge  of  a  lack  of  that  proper  care  which  is  necessary. 
You  then  become  liable  because  of  the  charge  of  negligence, 
which  you  may  not  be  able  to  disprove ;  and  we  know,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  that  the  attorneys  who  take  up  these  cases  against  our 
roads  are  very  resourceful,  very  fruitful  of  statements,  and  they 
are  willing  and  ready  at  times  to  prove  almost  anything.  That 
is  the  great  reason  why  you  who  are  charged  with  the  daily  in- 
spection, and  with  the  general  condition  of  the  equipment  under 
your  charge,  are  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  our  organ- 
ization ;  and  I  cannot  too  strongly  impress  upon  you  the  care  and 
labor  that  is  necessary  in  these  matters.  Your  work  is  not  easy; 
it  is  labor,  continuous,  never  any  rest.  There  never  can  be  rest 
in  the  electric  railway  business.  When  other  people  are  having 
their  time  of  recreation,  that  is  our  time  of  stress ;  Sundays  and 
holidays  are  our  busy  days,  and  the  time  between  them  requires 
your  entire  force  on  frequent  occasions  to  be  worked  over-time 
to  take  care  of  the  undue  strain  to  which  your  equipment  is  put. 
The  degree  of  intelligence  and  careful  attention  which  the  heads 
of  departments  of  this  very  important  branch  of  the  business  give 
to  the  careful  inspection  and  repair  of  the  equipment  will  have 
more  than  anything  else  to  do  with  the  success  of  the  companies. 
Every  other  employee  down  the  line,  almost,  is  dependent  upon 
the  care  which  you  give  to  your  branch  of  the  business.  The 
superintendent  of  transportation  is  absolutely  dependent  upon  you, 
and  unless  you  give  him  the  equipment  in  proper  condition,  no 
matter  how  well  disciplined  his  force  may  be,  he  cannot  give  the 
results  or  keep  up  the  schedules  as  he  should.  At  the  end  of  the 
month,  when  the  financial  affairs  of  the  company  are  gone  over, 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


689 


it  will  be  very  gratifying  to  the  officials  of  the  company  to  find 
that  the  expenses  have  been  kept  down  as  they  should  be,  by  a 
proper  inspection  and  repair  of  the  equipment,  as  true  economy  al- 
ways lies  in  keeping  the  equipment  in  first-class  condition. 

Another  point  touched  upon  in  Mr.  Lindall's  paper  (and  you  will 
excuse  me,  gentlemen,  for  referring  to  it  so  often,  but  I  would 
be  willing  to  substitute  it  for  my  address,  as  he  has  gone  into  this 
matter  quite  fully),  is  that  many  of  your  organizations  to-day  are 
weak,  and  becoming  weaker,  because  you  are  not  training  the  force 
to  follow  you  and  keep  pace  with  the  increase  in  this  great  busi- 
ness. You  are  not  training  the  young  men  who  are  coming  up  as 
your  understudies,  as  you  should.  Every  foreman  ought  to  have 
in  him  the  elements  of  becoming  the  head  of  the  mechanical  de- 
partment. They  require  a  high  degree  of  intelligence.  The  master 
mechanic  of  an  electric  railway  company  is  very  different  from 
the  master  mechanic  of  a  steam  railroad  company,  who  simply 
must  look  after  the  trucks,  etc.,  of  a  steam  road.  You  have  the 
most  sensitive  type  of  apparatus  to  deal  with,  and  there  are  some 
features  concerning  it  that  the  best  experts  hardly  know  how  to 
cope  with.  We  have  been  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  in  seri- 
ous trouble  in  every  large  city  in  the  country  with  controller  diffi- 
culties. The  best  skill  in  the  business,  and  the  best  technical 
knowledge  has  been  applied  to  try  to  correct  the  trouble.  By  de- 
grees we  are  eliminating  all  the  troubles  incident  to  the  business, 
and  we  have  been  going  ahead.  It  is  interesting  to  me  to  con- 
sider the  different  subjects  that  occupy  our  attention  to-day  and 
those  that  received  our  attention  seven  or  eight  years  ago.  I 
remember  about  eight  years  ago  I  stood  almost  alone,  and  received 
some  ridicule  because  I  at  that  time  made  the  prediction  that  the 
double-truck  car  would  displace  all  the  single-truck  cars  in  this 
country  inside  of  ten  years.  I  believe  I  have  lived  to  see  "the  pre- 
diction almost  verified.  However,  you  have  not  kept  pace  with  the 
great  increase  of  power  that  we  are  putting  under  these  cars.  In 
our  system  to-day,  we  are  running  double-truck  cars  weighing 
empty  about  twenty  tons.  We  are  putting  under  these  cars  four 
motors  with  a  nominal  rating  of  40-hp  each,  for  city  service ;  these 
motors  upon  a  curve,  in  a  state  of  inertia,  exerting  three  times 
their  normal  power.  We  have  expanded  the  capacity  of  the  motor 
beyond  the  other  co-ordinate  elements  necessary  to  operate  with 
them.  We  are  attempting  to  run  with  the  same  trolley  wheel. 
We  have  not  kept  pace  in  this  expansion  with  the  controller  at 
all.  We  are  attempting  to  control  this  great  impulse  of  current 
with  inadequate  apparatus.  I  go  into  a  power  plant  to-day  and 
look  at  it  with  perfect  amazement.  My  first  power  plant  was  built 
about  twenty-one  years  ago — it  is  still  running  and  I  sometimes  go 
to  look  at  it.  It  is  a  good  example  of  engineering  of  that  day,  but 
it  has  become  one  of  the  antiquities.  We  then  built  a  power  plant 
switchboard  with  a  few  bars  of  bare  copper  and  few  plug  switches, 
and  without  any  methods  of  measuring  our  current  we  were  ready 
at  that  time  to  light  the  world,  as  we  thought.  The  switchboard 
was  considered  a  very  insignificant  part  of  the  plant,  and  it  was 
not  taken  account  of  in  the  capitalization.  To-day,  go  into  a  mod- 
ern power  plant,  and  the  most  important  part  in  the  plant  is  the 
switchboard,  which  serves  almost  the  same  purpose  as  does  the 
controller,  the  circuit  breaker  or  the  fuse  box  on  your  car.  But 
these  latter  have  not  kept  pace  with  the  switchboard,  gentlemen, 
and  this  apparatus  will  not  be  provided  until  you  men  in  the  pit 
compel  the  manufacturers  to  make  them,  and  they  will  do  it  under 
compulsion,  gentlemen.    That  is  my  experience. 

Gentlemen,  I  wish  to  touch  upon  another  matter.  My  friend 
Mr.  Ely  and  I  have  been  discussing  it  somewhat  this  morning. 
I  have  been  discussing  it  for  a  year  or  two.  I  feel  a  certain  sense 
of  responsibility  for  this  organization.  I  believe  I  was  among  the 
early  managers  who  felt  it  was  essential  to  have  the  practical  me- 
chanical heads  of  departments  get  together  that  they  might  relate 
experiences,  exchange  ideas,  and  each  stimulate  the  other  to  bet- 
ter results.  Consequently,  I  feel  deeply  interested  in  the  sucess  of 
your  organization.  A  year  or  two  ago,  I  think  fully  two  years 
ago,  I  suggested  that  it  was  quite  as  important  that  the  superin- 
tendents of  construction  and  maintenance  of  way  should  likewise 
be  brought  together  to  discuss  the  best  methods  of  track  and  over- 
head line  construction,  and  a  move  was  made  in  that  direction 
after  the  last  convention  in  Saratoga.  It  was  then  I  began  with 
some  others  vitally  interested  in  the  success  of  these  properties  to 
feel  that  in  creating  so  many  organizations  we  might  lose,  to  a 
certain  extent  their  effectiveness,  and  would  get  away  from  what 
we  were  hoping  to  accomplish.  It  is  well  enough  for  the  managers 
of  some  of  these  larger  properties  to  feel  that  their  mechanical 
heads,  the  superintendent  of  construction  and  maintenance  of 
way,  the  electricians  and  the  auditors,  should  become  members 
of  separate  organizations ;  but  we  must  not  lose  sight,  gentlemen, 
of  the  fact  that  where  there  is  one  of  these  large  corporations  with 
this  comprehensive  organization  holding  up  the  hands  of  the  man- 
agement there  are  scores  of  small  roads — the  responsibility  of  the 
management  of  which  is  just  as  great  in  proportion — where  the 


executive  head  of  the  company  must  be  the  master  mechanic  and 
the  superintendent  .of  construction  and  maintenance  of  way,  and 
may  have  under  him  a  $50  or  $60  a  month  clerk.  He  is  the  only 
man  in  actual  authority  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  is  impossible 
for  that  man  to  divide  himself  between  the  various  organiza- 
tions. Furthermore,  I  feel  that  if  I  had  to  neglect  the  meetings 
of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association,  which  is  to  convene 
in  this  hall  on  Wednesday  of  this  week — in  view  of  the  way  it  is 
running  to-day — or  to  neglect  the  sessions  of  your  association,  I 
would  feel  under  present  conditions  it  was  more  important  for  me 
to  attend  the  meetings  you  are  holding  here  to-day  and  to-mor- 
row— because  these  meetings  are  of  more  vital  interest  to  me. 
You  are  the  men  who  are  spending  the  money,  and  without  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  economy  which  you  practice  we  would  not  be  able 
to  make  a  satisfactory  showing  to  the  investment  holders  of  the 
company. 

That  brings  me  to  another  thought — you  have  on  your  pro- 
gramme certain  proposed  amendments  to  your  constitution,  in- 
tended to  bring  in  the  superintendents  of  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  way.  That  is  good  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  I  think  you 
require  in  your  case,  just  as  the  executive  heads  of  this  great  in- 
dustry require  in  their  case,  that  we  should  get  together,  and  that 
our  meetings  should  be  one  homogeneous  mass,  with  a  certain  time 
of  the  association  set  aside  (let  it  be  the  first  two  days  of  the 
session,  or  alternate  days  of  the  session),  whereby  we  will  say  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  may  discuss  and  consider 
matters  of  more  general  importance,  and  questions  of  larger  pol- 
icy. Then,  when  the  mechanical  division,  as  I  will  call  it,  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  assembles,  it  may  meet  as 
an  aggregation  of  companies,  in  which  would  be  represented  the 
executive  heads,  as  well  as  the  other  heads  of  departments  of 
these  various  companies.  On  another  day  the  superintendents  of 
construction  and  maintenance  of  way  division  would  have  the 
floor,  and  matters  pertaining  to  that  branch  of  the  business  could 
be  discussed.  Another  time  could  be  set  apart  for  the  account- 
ants, whose  work  is  largely  done,  I  am  thankful  to  say.  They 
have  labored  for  some  six  or  seven  years,  and  the  results  are  very 
gratifying,  indeed.  There  is  not  so  much  left  to  be  done,  I  take  it, 
except  to  further  standardize  and  adjust  the  accounts  between 
the  various  branches  of  the  company. 

Therefore,  I  would  suggest  that  it  might  not  be  advisable  to 
have  a  committee  from  your  organization  appointed  to  act  in 
conjunction  with  a  committee  from  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association  and  the  committee  from  the  Street  Railway  Account- 
ants' Association  of  America,  both  of  which  associations  now 
have  regular  organizations,  and  representatives  of  the  construction 
and  maintenance  of  way  departments  that  we  might  bring  this 
organization  into  one  homogeneous  mass.  I  desire  to  add  further 
that  the  time  is  coming  when  we  must  have  a  more  concrete  organ- 
ization of  the  entire  body.  We  are  not  mendicants  any  more.  We 
should  be  able  to  pay  our.  way  and  have  proper  officers  to  take 
charge  of  the  affairs  of  this  great  industry. 

There  is  an  article,  gentlemen,  likewise  prepared  for  the  con- 
sideration of  your  association — I  have  read  these  papers  hurriedly 
among  the  mass  of  other  things — and  that  is  the  .paper  on  car 
wheels  prepared  by  Mr.  Millar,  of  the  Buffalo  company.  That 
paper  brings  up  a  thought  and  emphasizes  what  I  have  been  say- 
ing to  some  extent.  Mr.  Millar  sees  one  phase  of  this  industry  in 
discussing  car  wheels.  I  desire  to  make  that  paper  the  text  for 
suggesting  that  that  brings  up  a  much  broader  question,  a  ques- 
tion which  the  executive  heads  of  these  companies  must  con- 
sider. The  time  is  coming  when  we  cannot  further  temporize 
with  this  question,  as  is  done  in  Mr.  Millar's  paper.  He  writes 
this  paper  as  the  master  mechanic  in  care  of  the  trucks  of  the  cars 
of  the  company  in  which  he  has  gotten  up  to  a  car  wheel  flange 
of  %  in.  I  say  that  the  time  is  coming,  gentlemen,  when  you  must 
have  a  different  class  of  construction  of  track  in  your  cities,  and 
you  cannot  continue  to  run  these  high-speed  interurbans  with 
trains  of  cars  as  we  are  doing  around  sharper  curves  than  any 
steam  road  would  attempt  to  operate  with,  and  to  run  them  at 
speeds  equal  to  the  best  steam  road  practice  in  the  United  States, 
with  a  flange  %  in.  in  depth.  That  brings  up  the  question  of  a 
different  class  of  track  construction  in  your  cities.  It  is  going 
to  require  persistent  intelligent  work  to  have  the  municipal  au- 
thorities recognize  that  we  are  up  against  a  condition  of  that  kind 
now.  You  will  find  by  reading  Mr.  Millar's  paper  that  one  of  the 
troubles  with  the  wheel  is  that  when  it  gets  into  grooved-rail 
construction,  the  flanges  are  worn  by  running  on  the  bottom  of 
the  groove,  and  that  the  flange  will  continue  to  wear  from  time  to 
time.  Some  of  you  are  not  taking  into  account  how  much  of  the 
head  of  the  rail  we  expect  to  wear  off  in  the  course  of  proper 
wear.  Where  will  that  groove  be  after  twelve  or  fifteen  years' 
use,  which  amount  of  use  we  must  get  out  of  the  rail  if  we  are  to 
have  a  proper  economy  in  our  investment. 

The  time  is  coming  when  these  broad  questions  of  policy  must 


690 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


be  taken  up.  I  further  add  this  suggestion  in  connection  with 
Mr.  Millar's  paper.  There  is  a  particular  question  of  policy  which 
must  he  considered  in  connection  with  the  character  of  the  wheel 
you  should  use.  Of  course,  to  many  roads  that  are  running  simply 
the  metropolitan  service,  this  question  is  not  so  important,  but  take 
a  property  such  as  I  am  administering  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee, 
where  we  control  everything  electrically  in  that  section  of  Wis- 
consin, where  we  are  radiating  our  interurban  lines  in  all  direc- 
tions, keeping  up  average  speeds,  all  stops  counted,  of  20  m.  p.  h. 
on  regular  schedule,  and  these  cars  coming  to  the  center  of  the 
city,  it  becomes  a  very  important  element  to  the  city  itself,  which 
it  can  be  made  to  recognize.  We  are  bringing  these  people  in  and 
doing  more  to  expand  the  city  than  all  agencies  combined,  and 
they  must  recognize  that  something  must  be  sacrificed  to  obtain 
these  advantages.  For  that  reason  I  say  that  it  is  important  that 
when  these  matters  are  being  discussed,  that  there  should  be  some 
of  us  on  the  floor  of  this  convention  that  we  may  set  these  things 
before  the  meeting,  and  get  the  members  of  the  association  to  think 
about  them.  I  give  instructions  in  the  various  concerns  with 
which  I  am  identified,  that  every  complaint  is  to  centralize  at  the 
manager's  desk.  The  public  has  the  right  to  look  to  the  men  occupy- 
ing such  positions  as  Mr.  Ely  and  myself  in  these  matters,  because 
we  are  supposed  to  possess  that  element  of  administration,  that  ele- 
ment of  management,  which  has  the  capacity  to  select  proper  men 
for  the  different  heads  of  departments,  just  as  it  is  for  your  master 
mechanic  to  be  able  to  select  good  men.  It  is  well  enough  to  have 
a  good  master  mechanic  at  the  main  shop ;  but  it  is  more  import- 
ant to  have  quite  as  good  a  master  mechanic  at  every  car  house, 
where  supervision  and  inspection  of  the  rolling  stock  takes  place, 
and  no  matter  how  good  the  master  mechanic  may  be  as  a  master 
mechanic,  he  must  have  administrative  qualities  which  will  enable 
him  to  select  proper  foremen  for  distant  points  of  the  system. 
These  points  are  becoming  more  widely  spread  year  by  year  as 
the  boundaries  of  the  territory  in  which  your  properties  are  lo- 
cated expand,  and  as  it  is  necessary  to  have  these  men  further 
away  from  headquarters,  it  is  essential  that  the  master  mechanic 
of  the  road  should  be  capable  of  selecting  efficient  men  for  these 
outlying  places.  A's  I  say  to  my  associates,  I  intend  to  cover  most 
of  Wisconsin  with  interurban  railways,  and  in  such  a  case  it  is 
important  to  feel  that  your  master  mechanic  has  such  an  organiza- 
tion under  him,  that  if  it  is  necessary  for  you  to  send  him  away 
for  a  week,  the  work  at  headquarters  will  not  suffer. 

I  trust,  gentlemen,  you  will  not  ignore  what  I  have  said  about 
my  belief  as  to  the  necessity  of  amalgamating  the  various  branches 
of  our  industry.  The  master  mechanics,  the  superintendents  of 
way,  the  accountants,  and  the  claim  men  should  all  be  in  one 
organization  in  conjunction  with  the  association  of  managers,  all 
of  whom  will  work  together  in  harmony  and  to  the  greatest  good. 
I  thank  you,  gentlemen,  for  the  kind  attention  you  have  given  me. 

President  Olds  then  presented  Mr.  Beijgs  with  one  of  the 
badges  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Association,  which  Mr.  Beggs  accepted  with  thanks. 

President  W.  Caryl  Ely,  of  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association,  was  then  introduced  and  spoke,  in  part,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  American  Railway  Me- 
chanical Electrical  Association— I  am  very  glad  indeed  to  be  with 
you  this  morning.  I  feel  that  it  has  been  a  privilege  as  well  as  a 
pleasure  to  be  here  to  listen  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Beggs,  which 
were  most  able,  instructive  and  abounding  in  truth  and  wise  sugges- 
tions from  beginning  to  end.  As  I  remarked  to  him  when  he  took 
his  seat,  it  was  worth  the  trip  to  St.  Louis  to  hear  that  plain  state- 
ment of  truth  with  reference  to  our  business.  Just  such  statements 
as  these  are  the  very  best  proof  of  the  wisdom  and  value  of  hav- 
ing these  organizations.  Many  a  man  who  works  in  the  depart- 
ments of  the  railroad  business  has  vexatious  problems  over  which 
he  works  and  toils,  and  sometimes  when  things  are  going  wrong 
his  mind  begins  to  run  in  a  groove  or  channel  and  he  gets  the 
blues  and  cannot  see  his  way  out.  Everything  is  dark.  He  is  in 
the  woods,  and  the  woods  are  so  full  of  underbrush  that  he  can- 
not see  the  way.  Now  the  meetings  of  these  associations  are  the 
places  where  a  man's  mind  can  be  relieved  of  all  these  situations 
by  the  interchange  of  thought,  the  interchange  of  experience  and 
by  the  interchange  of  light  that  comes  from  the  mind  as  it  gropes 
its  way  forward  into  the  future  of  these  great  problems.  It  is 
here  that  a  man  gets  real  comfort  and  instruction,  and  I  believe 
that  these  associations  are  worth  fostering  by  the  companies  whose 
men  are  represented  in  them;  and  I  believe  that  when  we  get 
through  the  efforts  toward  reorganizing  that  Mr.  Beggs  has  briefly 
alluded  to,  that  we  will  have  some  concrete  organization  with  cer- 
tain co-ordinate  co-operative  branches,  all  working  together,  with 
the  work  properly  apportioned.    When  we  have  finally  reached  the 


outcome  of  it,  it  will  be  so  valuable  to  the  companies  whose  offi- 
cers and  men  are  represented  that  the  expenses  of  the  organizations 
will  be  cheerfully  paid  by  the  companies.  I,  for  one,  acting  in  an 
executive  capacity  in  a  large  corporation,  feel  that  it  is  almost  the 
salvation  of  the  business  that  there  should  be  a  coming  together 
in  the  right  way  of  the  men  who  work  in  the  various  corporations, 
from  the  presidents  down,  or  from  the  master  mechanics  down. 

I  believe  thoroughly  in  organization  and  co-operation.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  modern  life.  Nowhere  could  it  be  exemplified  on  a 
grander  scale  than  in  the  grounds  of  this  magnificent  exposition. 
It  is  the.  biggest  exposition,  without  doubt,  that  has  ever  been 
held.  It  has  larger  buildings,  it  covers  more  ground  space  than  the 
Chicago  World's  Fair  or  the  Paris  World's  Fair  or  any  other  that 
has  ever  been  held;  and  it  represents  and  typifies  in  the  highest  de- 
gree the  value  of  co-operative  work.  I  will  not  elaborate  on  that 
thought.  I  want  to  go  to  the  expression  of  something  that  is  very 
close  to  my  mind  and  heart. 

For  some  years  past  it  has  been  evident  to  all  that  a  change 
was  coming  in  the  affairs  and  the  management  and  the  scope  of  the 
work  and  operations  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association. 
Eight  years  ago  the  first  secession,  if  you  please,  was  brought 
about  by  the  accountants,  who  organized  an  association  which  has 
done  excellent  work.  A  year  ago  at  Saratoga  the  first  meeting  of 
this  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association,  as  an  organization,  was 
held,  and  that  was  the  result  of  several  years'  agitation.  Now  the 
superintendents  of  way,  or  the  engineers  of  way,  or  the  superintend- 
ents of  way  and  construction,  as  they  are  variously  entitled,  are 
knocking  upon  your  doors  for  admission,  after  having  for  a  time 
contemplated  the  formation  of  a  separate  organization  for  them- 
selves. Now  the  question  arises  where  will  it  all  end,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  the  parent  association  is  in  much  the  same  situation  that 
the  mistress  was  who  had  a  cook  for  a  good  many  years,  and  was 
informed  that  the  cook  was  about  to  leave  her.  She  said,  "Why, 
Bridget,  what  is  the  matter,  that  you  are  going  to  leave  me  after 
all  these  years?  Have  I  not  treated  you  like  one  of  the  family?" 
"Indeed,  you  have,"  was  the  reply,  "  and  I  have  stood  it  as  long  as 
I  can."  Now  it  seems  to  me  that  there  is  something  wrong  in 
"our  family,"  and  it  ought  to  be  fixed  up  in  such  a  way  that  you 
could  "stand  it"  a  little  longer;  and  I  suppose  that  it  must  take  the 
form  of  an  organization  of  some  kind,  but  interdependent  in  some 
way  and  connected  with  the  other  associations  and  the  parent  organ- 
ization. The  field  of  work  of  the  parent  organization,  so  far  as  it 
looks  to  me,  upon  a  re-examination  of  all  the  facts  in  the  case,  has 
really  never  been  entered  upon  by  the  parent  organization.  It  has 
called  itself  together  once  a  year  and  listened  to  the  reading  of 
papers  that  should  be  read  in  the  meetings  of  your  association  and 
the  meetings  of  the  accountants'  associations,  and  only  the  policies 
which  spring  from  these  discussions  should  be  considered  in  the 
parent  organization.  Its  work  should  be  confined  more  particularly 
to  matters  of  national  importance  and  managerial  importance.  Now 
as  to  just  how  the  change  will  be  arrived  at,  while  perhaps  I  may 
have  thoughts  and  ideas  of  my  own,  I  believe  in  the  utmost  toler- 
ance and  in  the  wisest  agitation  and  discussion  of  all  these  matters. 
Let  us  -be  rather  sure  than  sorry ;  let  us  make  haste  slowly  so  that 
when  we  finally  do  the  thing  it  shall  be  such  a  finished  product,  such 
a  working  organization  that  it  will  accomplish  the  results,,  and  we 
will  all  feel  that  it  is  of  value  and  be  proud  of  our  own  work. 

Upon  that  branch  of  the  case  which  i?  brought  up  by  the  question 
presented  by  the  superintendents  of  way  and  construction,  whether 
they  shall  be  permittd  to  this  association  or  whether  action  shall 
be  deferred  upon  that  matter  until  there  have  been  conferences 
between  committees  of  the  different  organizations,  I  take  it  that  it 
does  not  matter  much.  If  you  take  them  in,  they  are  in,  and  they 
can  go  to  work  and  be  doing  something  while  the  other  broader 
matter  is  under  discussion.  I  am  sure  there  is  going-  to  be  the 
broadest  spirit  of  tolerance  and  the  widest  scope  of  intelligent  ac- 
tion, and  that  we  are  all  going  to  meet  together  and  not  be  jealous 
of  prerogatives,  but  are  going  "to  yield  where  yielding  is  neces- 
sary, and  stand  firm  in  a  decent  and  dignified  way  where  we  think 
that  things  belong  to  us,  but  in  the  end  I  feel  no  doubt  whatever 
that  we  will  be  able  to  get  together. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  have  any  more  to  say  except  to  empha- 
size the  general  proposition  of  the  importance  of  your  work. 
You  are,  indeed,  as  Mr.  Beggs  has  said,  the  men  behind  the  guns. 
Your  work  is  so  important  that  it  goes  to  the  very  root  of  every- 
thing, and  when  the  balance  sheet  expressing  the  result  of  the  year'.; 
operation  is  made  up,  perhaps  the  most  important  part  of  the  whole 
thing  are  those  figures  which  tell  of  the  things  in  which  you  have 
played  a  part.  The  injuries  and  damages  account  is  swollen  if  the 
apparatus  is  not  properly  attended  to  in  your  shop  and  your  car 
houses  by  the  men  who  are  under  your  control.  The  quality  of  the 
service  carrying  with  it  that  most  important  factor,  the  good  will 
or  the  ill  will  of  the  public,  the  public  officials  and  the  press  is  de- 
pendent largely  upon  the  equipment  and  its  condition  of  repair.  All 
of  these  things,  to  which  I  will  not  allude  in  such  length  as  to> 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


691 


weary  you,  are  of  the  most  vital  importance.  They  are  up  to 
you  to  a  very  great  degree.  You  have  an  entirely  different  work 
committed  to  you  than  is  committed  to  the  master  mechanic  of  the 
steam  road,  and  it  differs  just  as  much  from  theirs  as  was  ex- 
pressed by  the  example  of  Mr.  Beggs.  I  thank  you  very  much 
for  the  opportunity  of  coming  here  and  seeing  you. 

Mr.  Ely  then  paid  a  very  glowing  tribute  to  the  splendors 
of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition. 

F.  E.  Smith,  president  of  the  Street  Railway  Accountants' 
Association  of  America,  was  then  called  upon  and  made  a  few 
remarks. 

This  was  followed  by  the  address  of  President  Olds,  given 
herewith,  after  which  the  meeting  adjourned. 

PRESIDENT  OLD'S  ADDRESS 

Gentlemen. — The  importance  and  magnitude  of  the  interests 
represented  by  our  association  impels  me  to  present  briefly  for 
your  consideration  a  number  of  the  more  important  matters.  Our 
meetings  being  limited  to  but  two  days,  let  us  make  them  inter- 
esting and  profitable. 

A  glance  at  the  exhibits  in  this  building  must  impress  you  with 
the  rapid  progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  development  of  trans- 
portation facilities.  Not  only  do  we  see  wonderful  development 
in  the  steam  locomotives,  but  the  street  cars  of  to-day  compared 
with  those  of  but  a  few  years  ago  are  certainly  palaces  on  wheels. 
Every  day  we  see  evidence  of  progress  in  the  line  of  more  perfect 
and  reliable  equipment ;  there  is,  however,  still  room  for  im- 
provement. 

When  this  association  was  first  organized,  it  was  thought  best 
to  confine  the  membership  entirely  to  mechanical  and  electrical 
men.  I  think  this  a  mistake.  It  is  of  equal  importance  to  those 
having  the  way  and  transportation  departments  in  their  charge 
that  they  be  well  informed  regarding  the  equipment,  its  care 
and  maintenance.  We  find  that  other  departments  need  to  be  rep- 
resented and  are  knocking  at  the  door  for  admission  to  our  asso- 
ciation ;  we  must  realize  that  our  interests  are  nearly  identical 
with  those  of  other  departments.  The  object  of  this  association  is 
to  treat  of  mechanical  and  electrical  subjects  and  exchange  views 
and  ideas  upon  the  best  methods  of  maintenance  and  operation. 
To  do  so  intelligently,  we  must  be  well  informed  regarding  the 
work  required  of  our  cars  and  motors.  There  is  also  an  agita- 
tion upon  the  part  of  some  of  the  other  departments  for  re- 
organization of  the  parent  association,  to  be  so  arranged  that  each 
department  will  have  its  own  sub-organization,  under  the  control 
and  direction  of  the  parent  body. 

I  can  but  feebly  voice  the  feelings  of  every  member  of  this  as- 
sociation when  I  say  that  our  meeting  in  this  grand  old  city  of 
St.  Louis,  surrounded  by  exhibits  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  will 
be  most  enjoyable  and  profitable  to  us.  Our  meetings  being  called 
upon  the  first  two  days  of  the  week,  the  temptation  will  be  very 
strong  to  put  in  your  time  sight-seeing  rather  than  attending  the 
meetings.  I  would  personally  request  each  one  to  take  hold  of 
the  matter  in  an  earnest  manner,  and  not  only  be  present  your- 
self, but  use  your  influence  to  have  others  attend  and  take  an 
active  part  in  the  meetings,  remembering  that  we  are  here  in  the 
interests  of  the  companies  we  represent.  Our  meeting  at  Saratoga 
last  year  was  a  grand  success,  and  under  the  conditions  I  have 
mentioned  why  should  not  this  be  even  better? 

The  public  demands  and  is  entitled  to  the  best  possible  service 
we  can  give  them,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  our  companies  and  the 
public  are  partners,  for  the  better  we  please  the  people,  the  better 
they  will  patronize  the  company.  The  proper  discharge  of  our  work 
requires  thought  and  vigilance  to  keep  the  rolling  stock  in  as  near 
perfect  condition  as  possible,  so  that  it  will  be  safe,  attractive  and 
give  reliable  service.  We  must  act  and  work  as  though  we  were 
not  ashamed  of  the  business  in  which  we  are  engaged,  it  being 
one  which  concerns  the  business  and  private  life  of  nearly  every 
citizen  in  the  United  States  and  the  world. 

We"  all  recognize  that  the  work  of  the  Accountants'  Association 
has  been  and  is  now  of  great  importance  to  our  companies,  mak- 
ing the  classification  of  accounts  and  reports  nearly  uniform,  they 
being  recognized  as  standard  by  the  Railway  Commissioners.  The 
joint  paper  upon  "Shop  Accounts  and  Records,"  gotten  out  by  a 
committee  of  the  Accountants'  and  our  association,  we  believe  is 
a  step  in  the  right  direction,  not  only  looking  to  a  uniform  system 
of  records  and  accounts,  but  to  a  more  uniform  system  of  doing 
the  work.  By  referring  to  the  records  and  accounts  of  the  steam 
road  master  car  builders  and  master  mechanics,  we  find  them 
very  complete,  the  same  rules  governing  the  repairs  upon  cars  in 
all  parts  of  the  country ;  and  it  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a  large 
number  of  electric  roads  are  following  more  or  less  closely  their 
methods. 

I  wish  particularly  to  urge  every  member  present  to  carefully 
consider  the  report  to  be  submitted  to  you  this  morning,  each  con- 


stituting himself  a  committee  to  push  the  interests  of  our  associa- 
tion among  those  you  meet,  whether  they  are  members  or  not. 
Personal  work  is  what  counts  in  any  organization.  The  man  in 
charge  of  any  branch  of  railway  work  who  does  not  give  it  his 
earnest  individual  attention  cannot  be  a  success ;  the  same  rule 
holds  true  with  us.  We  must  also  realize  that  to  make  our  asso- 
ciation effective  it  must  be  placed  upon  a  sound  financial  basis. 

What  rapid  progress  the  interurban  railways  of  to-day  have 
made  !  We  need  only  look  around  to  see  them  branching  off  in 
every  direction,  very  many  of  them  being  operated  upon  private 
rights  of  way,  running  at  high  speed  and  doing  freight,  as  well  as 
passenger  business.  This  rapid  progress  is  calling  forth  the  best 
talent  of  our  manufacturers,  as  well  as  of  those  in  charge  of  the 
maintenance  and  operation,  to  design  and  construct  equipments  to 
meet  the  ever-changing  conditions. 

As  yet,  but  little  has  been  done  regarding  the  exchange  of  freight 
between  steam  and  electric  railways.  I  fully  believe  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  freight  will  be  received  by  electric  roads 
and  delivered  to  the  steam  roads  in  carload  lots,  the  same  as  is 
now  practiced  by  all  steam  roads.  This  would  necessitate  the 
construction  of  our  roadway  and  track  in  such  a  manner  that 
steam  cars  can  be  as  successfully  operated  on  the  electric  lines  as 
on  the  steam  railways. 

It  is  also  very  important  that  the  motormen  operating  the  cars 
should  be  well  posted  and  thoroughly  understand  their  equipment. 
To  be  successful,  there  should  be  a  uniform  method  in  their  in- 
struction and  examination.  But  a  short  time  ago,  should  a  loco- 
motive engineer  wish  to  change  from  one  road  to  another,  his  ex- 
amination as  to  ability  would  have  been  different  in  a  great  many 
respects  from  the  road  he  was  leaving ;  at  the  present  time,  if  he 
be  able  to  pass  an  examination  upon  a  road  operating  in  Maine 
and  should  he  apply  for  a  position  in  California,  the  examination 
would  be  practically  the  same,  the  qualifications  for  locomotive  en- 
gineer being  the  same  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Our  programme  is  a  good  one,  and  those  who  have  had  the 
subjects  under  consideration  have  done  well.  The  papers  should 
bring  forth  a  good  discussion,  which  will  be  of  great  importance 
to  each  of  our  members.  We  realize  that  the  majority  of  active 
members  cannot  be  present  at  the  meetings.  For  them  to  receive 
the  benefits  they  should,  the  discussions  must  be  full  and  to  the 
point.  The  "Question  Box"  feature  should  also  prove  a  very  inter- 
esting and  profitable  part  of  our  programme. 

The  paper  by  Mr.  Wright,  of  Providence,  "The  Ideal  Shop"  is 
a  good  one,  and  I  believe  will  be  of  great  value  in  bringing  out  the 
views  of  our  members.  Shop  construction  and  arrangement  of 
departments  and  tools  is  of  very  great  importance,  making  it  pos- 
sible to  reduce  the  cost  of  maintenance  to  the  very  lowest  figure. 
To  be  effective,  the  departments  must  be  compact,  well  lighted  and 
as  nearly  fireproof  as  possible,  so  that  the  burning  out  of  any  one 
department  would  not  seriously  injure  any  of  the  others. 

Mr.  Millar,  of  Buffalo,  will  present  a  paper  on  "Wheel  Matters" 
that  is  very  complete  and  instructive.  I  am  fully  aware  that  it  is 
a  very  perplexing  question,  requiring  a  great  deal  of  thought  and 
care  to  design  a  wheel  that  will  meet  the  very  severe  conditions 
of  street  railway  service. 

The  paper  on  "Maintenance  and  Inspection  of  Electric  Equip- 
ment," presented  by  Mr.  Lindall,  of  Boston,  treats  of  a  subject  of 
vital  importance  to  each  one  of  us,  and  I  bespeak  for  it  your  care- 
ful consideration. 

There  are,  however,  a  great  many  other  matters  than  those 
previously  mentioned  that  call  for  our  earnest  individual  attention. 
The  method  of  conveying  the  current  from  the  trolley  wire  to  our 
motors  by  the  use  of  the  present  trolley  wheel,  pole  and  base  is 
but  a  make-shift  and  very  unsatisfactory.  I  realize  that  it  is  a 
very  hard  problem,  but  at  the  same  time  "Where  there  is  a  will, 
there  is  a  way,"  and  I  believe  that  you  will  be  able,  in  some  manner 
in  the  not  very  distant  future,  to  overcome  the  troubles  with  it  that 
we  now  experience. 

All  of  us  are  more  or  less  troubled  with  short-circuits  and  the 
reducing  of  the  number  is  of  very  great  importance.  The  present 
method  of  protecting  motors  by  a  circuit-breaker  or  single  fuse  is 
one  that  I  do  not  consider  at  all  sufficient,  and  believe  that  each 
motor  should  be  protected  by  an  individual  fuse. 

Very  often  a  short  circuit  is  the  cause  of  a  serious  accident,  and 
money  spent  for  this  purpose  to  perfect  our  equipments  and  re- 
duce the  number  of  short  circuits  to  the  very  least  possible  num- 
ber is  well  invested  and  will  be  the  means  of  preventing  a  great 
many  serious  accidents. 

The  construction  and  installation  of  wiring  and  cables  is  also 
of  very  great  importance.  The  insurance  underwriters  have  taken 
hold  of  this  matter,  and  are  doing  good  work,  at  the  same  time,  I 
believe  that  we  who  are  in  the  actual  work  are  better  able  to  see  and 
know  what  is  required. 

Emergency  brakes  is  a  matter  that  has  received  but  very  little 
attention  from  street  railway  operators  and  is  one  of  great  im- 
portance. 


692 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


The  design  and  construction  of  street  railway  cars  and  trucks 
is  more  or  less  crude,  and  they  should  be  changed  to  have  a  maxi- 
mum amount  of  strength  with  minimum  weight ;  at  the  same  time, 
we  must  not  overlook  the  fact  that  they  are  to  be  attractive,  safe 
and  comfortable  for  our  patrons. 

The  stock  and  bondholders  of  our  companies  are  looking  to 
us  to  reduce  to  a  minimum  the  expense  of  maintenance  and  oper- 
ation, and  the  sooner  we  arrive  at,  and  adopt  methods  looking  to 
that  end,  the  better  it  will  be  for  ourselves,  as  well  as  our  com- 
panies. 

Let  me  again  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  interests  of 
all  are  nearly  identical,  and  as  success  is  the  goal  for  which  we  are 
striving,  it  is  essential  that  we  become  familiar  with  the  work  and 
requirements  of  all  other  departments  of  street  railway  activity. 

Before  closing,  I  wish  to  thank  you  for  the  high  honor  you  have 
conferred  upon  me,  and  shall  ever  consider  my  term  of  office  as 
president  of  your  association  as  one  of  the  brightest  spots  in  my 
career  as  a  street  railway  man.  I  bespeak  for  my  successor  that 
you  accord  to  him  the  same  generous  support  that  you  have  given 
me.  Let  us  ever  be  aggressive,  fair-minded  and  ready  to  fight 
for  what  is  just. 


MONDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION 
The  Monday  afternoon  session  opened  with  a  gratifyingly 
large  attendance.  The  executive  committee's  report,  read  by 
Secretary  W.  Mower,  showed  that  thirty-six  active  mem- 
bers (individuals,  heads  of  mechanical  and  electrical  depart- 
ments), seven  companies  (associate  members)  and  four  junior 
members  had  joined  during  the  year.  The  membership  is  now 
150.  The  cash  on  hand  is  $403.05,  the  expenses  of  the  past 
year  having  been  $1,301.30. 

The  association,  after  this  report,  took  up  the  proposed 
amendments  to  the  constitution  and  by-laws,  including  engi- 
neers of  track  and  maintenance  of  way  in  the  membership. 
F.  G.  Simmons,  superintendent  of  construction  and  maintenance 
of  way  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  &  Light  Company, 
was  called  upon  as  the  one  who  had  been  promoting  the  move- 
ment for  an  organization  of  track  men. 

Mr.  Simmons  stated  that  for  the  past  two  years  he  had  been 
very  anxious  to  effect  the  organization  of  the  way  men  of  the 
country ;  that  when  the  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association 
had  been  formed  the  way  men  of  the  country  felt  that  they  had 
been  left  behind  in  the  running.  Mr.  Simmons  had  accordingly 
undertaken  the  formation  of  an  association  of  way  men.  He 
had  written  to  some  140  heads  of  way  departments,  and  the 
great  majority  of  the  answers  indicated  that  there  was  a  de- 
cided feeling  against  a  separate  organization ;  the  general  con- 
sensus of  opinion  being  that  through  the  fact  that  the  various 
societies  were  separating  themselves  from  the  main  body,  the 
dues  to  the  companies  were  multiplying  and  the  amount  of 
time  necessary  to  attend  the  various  conventions  was  greatly 
increased;  that  if  the  formation  of  separate  associations  con- 
tinued, the  transportation  men  would  naturally  form  an  asso- 
ciation, who  would  probably  be  followed  by  the  claim  agents, 
and  there  would  be  such  a  multiplicity  of  associations  that  they 
would  tend  to  strip  the  main  organization  of  its  effectiveness. 
Many  of  the  managers  of  the  smaller  roads,  especially,  favored 
a  reorganization  within  the  main  association.  Mr.  Simmons 
further  stated  that  the  idea  of  forming  a  separate  association  of 
way  men  had  for  the  present  been  abandoned  and  the  way  men 
were  ready  to  enter  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Association  if  they  would  be  received,  and  as  mem- 
bers of  such  association  they  could  take  up  some  of  the  more 
pressing  subjects  connected  with  the  way  department,  pending 
the  decision  of  the  questions  now  before  the  parent  organiza- 
tion. A  large  number  of  the  heads  of  the  way  department  had 
signified  their  willingness  to  become  members  of  the  Mechani- 
cal and  Electrical  Association,  so  that  they  might  proceed  to 
work  upon  some  of  the  subjects  which  were  of  pressing  inter- 
est. He  thought  that  the  committee  suggested  by  Mr.  Beggs 
and  Mr.  Ely,  comprising  members  from  the  main  association, 
the  accountants  association  and  the  mechanics  association,  was 
a  good  idea,  and  that  there  should  also  be  on  this  committee 


some  members  representing  the  way  department.  It  was  his 
opinion  that  such  a  committee  could  proceed  to  work  and  that 
in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two  some  result  would  follow  along 
the  lines  indicated  by  Mr.  Beggs  and  Mr.  Ely;  and  in  the  mean- 
time the  way  men  could  accoinplish  something  in  the  mechani- 
cal association,  in  threshing  out  some  of  the  questions  in  which 
they  were  interested. 

In  discussing  the  subject  of  supply  men  as  members,  Presi- 
dent Olds  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  at  the  last  meeting 
of  the  association,  held  at  Saratoga  Springs,  the  matter  was 
fully  covered.  He  doubted  that  any  member  of  the  association 
who  might  become  a  supply  man  would  care  to  occupy  an  offi- 
cial position,  in  view  of  the  fact  of  his  connection  with  a  manu- 
facturing company. 

The  president  stated  that  he  did  not  wish  to  appoint  the  com- 
mittee provided  for  in  the  motion  of  Mr.  Baker  without  an  op- 
portunity to  consider  the  matter  and  consult  with  some  other 
members,  and  that  he  would  appoint  the  committee  later  and 
announce  to  the  association  the  names  of  the  gentlemen  ap- 
pointed. 

The  following  amendments  to  the  constitution  and  by-laws 
were  then  adopted: 

MEMBERS— Article  III.,  Section  1. 

The  heads  of  mechanical,  electrical  and  way  departments  of 
railway  companies  may  be  elected  active  members,  and  shall  be 
entitled  to  one  vote  each,  and  all  privileges  of  the  Association. 

MEMBERS— Article  III.,  Section  3. 

Employees  of  mechanical,  electrical  and  way  departments,  not 
eligible  as  active  members,  may  become  eligible  to  junior  mem- 
bership upon  the  written  recommendation  of  at  least  one  member, 
and  shall  be  entitled  to  all  privileges,  except  that  of  voting. 

On  motion  of  Alfred  Green,  it  was  voted  to  have  the  name 
of  the  association  remain  as  it  is  until  the  meeting  next  year. 

The  president  announced  the  next  order  of  business  would 
be  the  reading  of  papers. 

W.  D.  Wright,  superintendent  of  equipment  of  the  Rhode 
Island  Company,  Providence,  R.  I.,  then  read  his  paper  on  "The 
Ideal  Shop,"  which  is  published  in  full  in  another  part  of  this 
issue. 

President  Olds  announced  that  there  were  some  novel  fea- 
tures in  the  paper  just  read  and  he  expected  that  there  would 
be  a  very  full  discussion  of  the  paper. 

W.  O.  Mundy  stated  that  he  did  not  agree  with  the  policy  of 
putting  two  or  three  cars  on  a  single  track.  With  only  a  single 
car  on  the  track  it  meant  when  the  car  was  repaired  it  could 
be  taken  out  and  another  one  substituted  in  its  place  and  the 
amount  of  shifting  would  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  tracks 
in  the  paint  shop  could  be  longer,  as  those  cars  are  not  shifted 
so  frequently.  Another  point  was  whether  the  equipment 
should  be  handled  from  the  pit  or  not.  His  personal  opinion 
was  that  this  was  a  mistake,  especially  with  double-truck  cars. 
He  did  not  think  that  the  equipment  would  receive  as  close  at- 
tention if  handled  from  the  pit. 

H.  J.  Lake,  of  Muncie,  reminded  the  meeting  that  a  year  ago 
the  same  question  in  regard  to  working  at  cars  and  trucks  from 
above,  or  in  the  pit,  had  been  discussed.  It  appeared  to  him 
that  before  a  standard  could  be  adopted  as  to  where  a  mechanic 
could  work  on  a  truck,  the  manufacturers  would  have  to  adopt 
a  standard  truck  that  would  allow  the  mechanic  to  work  either 
above  or  below,  whichever  was  desired. 

Mr.  Wright  agreed  with  Mr.  Mundy  that  better  work  can  be 
done  above  the  floor  level  wherever  possible  to  do  it;  but  it 
was  necessary  to  meet  existing  conditions.  The  plan  of  one 
car  on  a  track  was  an  ideal  one,  but  with  a  large  equipment  it 
would  mean  a  very  long  car  house. 

H.  H.  Adams,  of  Baltimore,  thought  that  the  winding  room 
should  be  nearer  the  machine  shop  and  that  the  stock  room 
should  be  as  near  the  center  of  the  shops  as  possible. 

J.  S.  Doyle,  of  New  York,  noticed  that  the  space  occupied  by 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


693 


the  transfer  table  is  about  33  per  cent  of  the  entire  equipment. 
He  thought  in  a  thickly  congested  district  that  would  be  rather 
prohibitive. 

Mr.  Wright,  in  replying  to  suggested  changes  in  the  location 
of  the  winding  room,  said  that  it  had  been  placed  in  the  corner 
at  the  end  of  the  building  to  get  good  light,  as  windows  would 
be  on  two  sides  of  the  room.  The  method  of  winding  employed 
by  the  Rhode  Island  Company  was  such  that  it  does  most  of 
the  lathe  work  in  the  winding  room. 

Another  member  recommended  the  use  of  transfer  tables  for 
each  track,  taking  the  truck  out  at  the  side  of  the  car  instead 
of  taking  it  out  at  the  end  of  the  car.  He  gave  several  reasons 
in  favor  of  this  course.    William  Pestell  agreed  with  this  plan. 

W.  H.  Evans,  if  Minneapolis,  asked  Mr.  Wright  how  many 
cars  the  shop  could  handle. 

Wr.  Wright  answered  that  the  shop  was  not  designed  for 
any  special  number  of  cars.  It  depended  upon  their  length  and 
other  considerations. 

Mr.  McAloney,  of  Denver,  asked  whether  it  would  be 
feasible,  on  account  of  fire  insurance  risks,  to  have  the  trans- 
fer table  as  a  part  of  the  enclosure.  It  would  also  seem  better 
on  account  of  the  insurance  to  have  the  shops  separated  by  an 
open  space. 

C.  F.  Baker,  of  Boston,  remarked  that  he  imagined  it  de- 
pended on  local  conditions,  but  that  an  open  space  was  better 
on  account  of  the  light.  He  then  outlined  at  some  length  his 
own  idea  in  regard  to  the  arrangement  of  the  different  de- 
partments. 

A  member  suggested  that  the  closed  transfer  way  was  a  de- 
sirable advantage  where  snow  had  to  be  contended  with. 

President  Olds  remarked  that  he  would  like  to  hear  further 
discussion  brought  out  by  Mr.  McAloney  regarding  fire  pro- 
tection. As  the  members  would  recall,  in  his  address  of  the 
forenoon  session  he  remarked  that  the  shop  should  be  so  con- 
structed that  any  one  of  the  departments  could  be  burned  out 
without  serious  injury  to  the  other. 

D.  F.  Carver,  of  Jersey  City,  stated  that  the  company  with 
which  he  is  connected  was  building  a  shop  on  that  principle ; 
they  leave  quite  a  ground  place  between  the  shops.  That  has 
very  decided  advantages  and  decreases  the  fire  risks.  It  also 
has  the  advantage  that  there  is  track  storage  room  around 
each  shop. 

W.  H.  Evans  stated  that  in  Minneapolis  they  have  a  round- 
house for  a  car  house,  a  relic  from  the  steam  motor  days.  The 
round-house  only  accommodates  fifteen  cars ;  but,  as  sug- 
gested by  one  of  the  members,  the  advantage  of  getting  one 
car  out  without  disturbing  the  other  is  frequently  quite  a  sav- 
ing in  time.  He  thought  it  a  mistake  to  provide  too  short 
transfer  tables  between  walls,  as  the  present  tendency  is  to  in- 
crease the  length  of  cars.  Another  matter  he  would  criticise 
in  the  plan  presented  would  be  in  having  only  13-ft.  track 
centers.  It  is  especially  important  when  the  repairs  are  con- 
ducted above  the  truck  to  have  sufficient  room  between  the 
tracks  so  that  the  workmen  can  get  around. 

M.  O'Brien,  of  St.  Louis,  suggested  the  desirability  of  hav- 
ing the  armature  room  directly  above  the  storeroom,  on  the 
second  story  of  the  shop. 

Vice-president  Green,  in  the  chair,  requested  some  member 
to  take  up  the  question  of  the  construction  of  the  building 
itself  as  regards  the  fire  risks,  whether  the  mill  construction 
or  steel  construction  of  the  shop  is  better. 

H.  H.  Adams,  of  Baltimore,  said  that  he  was  rather  partial 
to  the  mill  construction.  He  saw  no  great  objection  to  the 
posts  in  the  repair  shop,  and  if  overhead  hoisting  apparatus  is 
desired  it  can  easily  be  installed. 

Mr.  Patton,  of  Topeka,  then  described  at  considerable 
length  some  new  shops  which  his  company  had  recently  com- 
pleted. The  buildings  were  constructed  of  monolithic  cement 
blocks,  12  ins.  x  12  ins.  x  24  ins.,  one  part  cement  and  three 


parts  sand;  there  was  no  crushed  rock  used.  The  roofs  were 
built  on  a  light  steel  truss,  with  an  inch  layer  of  sheething  and 
composition  roof.  They  have  a  total  car  house  area  of  4000 
sq.  ft.  and  a  standard  division  fire  wall  12  ins.  thick,  running 
down  the  middle  and  enclosed  with  double  fire  doors.  The  car 
house  has  two  openings,  enclosed  by  double  standard  fire  doors. 
On  that  building  the  basis  rate  is  $1,  and  the  only  differentiation 
of  charge  they  got  was  5  cents  per  $100  on  the  modern  sheath- 
ing under  the  roof;  there  was  no  differentiation  for  the  steel 
truss.  The  rate  on  the  carpenter  and  paint  shop  had  not  yet 
been  given.  The  shops  are  equipped  with  a  fire  hydrant,  2-in. 
hose  connection. 

An  Eastern  member  remarked  that  mill  construction  as  used 
in  New  England  is  employed  on  buildings  three  and  four 
stories  high  with  the  floors  3  ins.  and  4  ins.  thick.  He  under- 
stood that  insurance  men  did  not  like  steel  columns,  as  they 
are  liable  to  buckle  in  case  of  a  fire ;  they  prefer  wood  or  cast 
iron. 

H.  A.  Johnson  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  good  plan  for 
the  members  to  have  photographs  made  of  the  various  struc- 
tures they  know  of,  and  to  bring  them  to  the  next  meeting, 
with  a  statement  of  the  troubles  that  they  had  met  in  them. 
This  suggestion  was  agreed  to. 

President  Olds  then  announced  that  the  next  business  was 
the  reading  of  the  paper  by  J.  Millar,  superintendent  of  rolling 
stock,  International  Railway  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  on 
"Wheel  Matters."  Mr.  Millar  read  the  paper,  which  is  pub- 
lished on  another  page. 

President  Olds  stated  that  although  the  time  at  the  disposal 
of  the  convention  was  short,  he  desired  a  complete  discussion 
of  the  paper. 

William  Pestell  remarked  that  the  question  of  steel  tired 
or  cast  iron  wheels  is  one  of  great  importance  at  this  time,  not 
only  on  interurban  roads  but  on  city  roads.  The  cast  iron 
wheel  manufacturer  says  it  is  the  old  story — the  roads  are 
again  trying  the  steel  tired  wheels  and  will  soon  be  back  to  the 
first  love,  the  old  cast  iron  wheel.  This  may  be  so,  but  there 
is  much  evidence  in  the  last  two  or  three  years  which  shows 
"that  the  steel  tired  wheel  has  many  advantages,  not  only  for 
interurban  and  high-speed  work,  but  also  for  city  service. 
The  restrictions  placed  upon  the  companies  by  municipalities 
do  not  allow  them  to  get  a  sufficient  depth  of  flange  and  suffi- 
cient width  of  tread  for  safe  operation  with  cast  iron  wheels 
on  high-speed  lines  which  must  necessarily  run  into  the  city, 
and  the  remedy  seems  to  be  to  put  on  steel  tired  wheels.  The 
speaker  has  seen  steel  tired  wheels  running  on  40-ton  cars 
which  were  worn  down  to  a  little  more  than  to  J4  'n-  in  thick- 
ness of  flanges,  and  these  wheels  have  never  given  any  trouble. 
Pie  would  not  say  it  is  common  practice  on  the  road  in  ques- 
tion, but  they  had  some  cars  upon  which  it  was  necessary  to 
run  these  wheels  on  account  of  not  receiving  wheels  to  replace 
them.  The  matter  of  the  time  to  turn  a  steel  tired  wheel  is 
one  of  importance.  It  is  stated,  and  it  is  proved  by  experi- 
ence, that  as  the  section  of  the  wheel  where  the  flanges  join 
the  tread,  when  the  radius  of  that  section  assumes  the  same 
shape  as  the  rail,  the  flange  wear  is  much  more  rapid,  and  it 
would  seem  that  the  time  for  Mr.  Millar  to  turn  the  flange  is 
about  at  this  time,  as  the  wear  will  be  greater  from  that  time 
on.  It  would  take  very  little  turning  to  renew  the  flange  to 
almost  the  original  section  and  put  the  wheel  in  good  shape 
for  future  service.  The  steel  tired  wheel  is  comparatively  ex- 
pensive in  first  costs,  running  about  four  or  five  times  the  cost 
of  cast  iron  wheels.  The  cost  of  turning  a  steel  tired  wheel  is 
probably  as  great  as  that  of  pressing  on  and  off  a  pair  of  cist 
iron  wheels,  so  that  the  factor  determining  the  economy  of  the 
wheel,  outside  of  the  question  of  safety,  is  not  altogether  that 
of  the  cost  of  turning  against  the  cost  of  pressing  on  and  off 
the  other  wheels.  The  life  of  the  steel  tired  wheel  from  what 
evidence  the  speaker  had  gathered  in  interurban  service,  runs 


694 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  t6. 


from  140,000  to  180,000  miles.  In  lots  of  cases  after  turning 
steel  tired  wheels,  they  get  a  mileage  of  50,000  to  60,000,  so 
that  they  can  compare  the  relative  economy  between  the  steel 
tired  and  cast  iron  wheels.  As  yet  the  speaker  had  not  suffi- 
cient experience  to  determine  how  far  the  economy  of  the 
steel  tired  wheel  extends,  but  many  roads  are  now  using  steel 
tired  wheels  in  city  service,  notably  the  New  York  City  Rail- 
way Company  and  the  Fitchburg  &  Leominster,  just  outside 
of  Boston.  They  are  to  be  used  in  Manila,  and  the  speaker 
hoped  to  get  experience  there  which  would  be  valuable. 

Other  speakers  gave  their  experience  with  wheels.  One  sug- 
gestion as  to  the  unequal  wearing  of  two  wheels  on  the  same 
axle  was  that  they  were  not  mated  or  else  the  journal  brasses 
were  not  mated.  This  condition  could  be  produced  by  running 
the  car  continually  in  one  direction.  One  speaker,  who  uses 
single-end  cars  running  continually  in  one  direction,  said  that 
about  once  every  two  or  three  months,  if  he  found  a  wheel  wear- 
ing more  on  one  side  than 'the  other,  he  turned  the  truck  around 
and  put  it  on  the  other  end  of  the  car.  If  the  wheel  continued 
to  wear  on  the  same  side,  he  used  an  emery  shoe  and  ground 
the  larger  wheel. 

After  a  very  interesting  discussion  on  wheel  troubles  and 
remedies,  the  president  requested  that  the  members  would  sup- 
ply data  on  the  service  of  steel  tired  wheels  and  cast  steel 
wheels  and  furnish  it  at  the  next  meeting. 

Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  the  discussion  of  the  Ques- 
tion Box  was  deferred  until  the  meeting  on  Tuesdav.  The 
meeting  then  adjourned. 


•  TUESDAY  MORNING  SESSION 

President  Olds  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  10:45  o'clock, 
and  announced  that  he  had  appointed  as  the  committee  to  con- 
fer with  the  executive  committee  of  the  American  Street  Rail- 
way Association,  on  the  subject  of  a  reorganization  of  the  asso- 
ciations, the  following  gentlemen:  C.  F.  Baker,  H.  H.  Adams 
and  F.  G.  Simmons. 

The  convention  then  proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the 
paper  on  "Maintenance  and  Inspection  of  Electrical  Equip- 
ment," by  John  Lindall,  general  foreman  of  shops,  elevated 
division,  Boston  Elevated  Railway,  Boston,  Mass.  As  Mr. 
Lindall  was  not  present  at  the  meeting,  the  paper  was  read 
by  Alfred  Green.  Mr.  Lindall's  paper  is  published  in  another 
part  of  this  issue. 

William  Pestell  remarked  that  he  hardly  agreed  with  Mr. 
Lindall  on  a  great  many  points  in  connection  with  the  paper, 
especially  in  connection  with  the  education  of  motormen  and 
others  who  are  not  directly  connected  with  the  mechanical  de- 
partment. He  agreed  as  to  the  keeping  of  men  in  line  for  pro- 
motion, in  accordance  with  the  suggestion  brought  out  by  Mr. 
Beggs  on  the  preceding  day.  There  should  be  men  who  can 
take  the  place  of  the  master  mechanic  or  engineer  whenever  the 
latter  should  be  away  for  some  length  of  time.  The  only  diffi- 
culty he  experienced  was  that  about  as  soon  as  they  had  a  man 
educated,  so  that  he  was  really  valuable,  he  would  usually  leave 
the  company's  employ  to  take  a  better  position  with  another 
company.  They  could  not  pay  him  money  enough  to  keep  him, 
but  even  then  there  was  some  advantage  in  that,  as  some  road 
got  the  benefit  of  his  education.  In  his  opinion,  the  reporting 
and  tabulating  of  defects  are  very  essential  to  the  successful 
maintenance  of  equipment — he  did  not  think  he  could  dwell 
any  too  strongly  on  that  point.  He  had  found,  for  instance,  in 
the  case  of  a  road  where  the  cars  are  kept  at  a  number  of  shops, 
that  one  man  who  takes  care  of  one  kind  of  trouble  has  practi- 
cally none  of  it,  and  another  man  has  a  great  deal  of  it.  By 
tabulating  the  defects  it  is  possible  to  find  out  the  weaknesses 
of  the  foreman  and  those  of  the  equipment.  Perhaps  this  weak- 
ness may  be  due  to  conditions  under  which  the  equipment  is 
operated.  This  tabulation  of  defects  gives  the  master  me- 
chanic a  chance  to  learn  the  conditions,  and  finally  to  remedy 


the  trouble.  Mr.  Pestell  said  that  Mr.  Beggs  had  stated  in  his 
address  on  the  preceding  day  that  the  work  of  the  Accountants' 
Association  was  practically  ended.  In  his  opinion,  the  account- 
ants have  a  great  deal  to  do — it  is  quite  likely  that  in  the  gen- 
eral arrangement  of  accounts  for  the  operation  of  the  road,  the 
caring  for  statistical  reports  and  general  reports  of  operation, 
that  much  work  will  be  required,  and  the  master  mechanics 
have  only  just  started  on  this  work  in  connection  with  the 
accountants.  This  work  is  destined  to  be  very  important,  and 
it  is  one  in  which  the  accountants  can  help  the  electrical  and 
mechanical  engineers  to  a  very  great  extent;  they  know  what 
they  want  in  a  sense,  but  the  accountants  are  better  able  to 
give  advice  as  to  how  to  keep  the  accounts  in  proper  shape  so 
as  to  be  easily  compared  and  kept  with  the  least  possible  labor. 
The  speaker  believed  that  if  the  shop  accounts  and  the  power 
station  accounts  were  taken  up  in  connection  with  the  Account- 
ants' Association,  better  results  would  be  secured  than  are  se- 
cured to-day.  The  matter  of  shop  arrangements,  especially 
facilities  given  the  men  for  cleanliness,  are  also  very  important. 

The  speaker  thought  that  the  suggestion  in  that  paper  about 
supplying  technical  literature,  such  as  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  and  "Electrical  World  and  Engineer,"  for  the 
use  of  the  shop  men  a  very  good  one,  and  a  practice 
that  ought  to  be  followed  up  more  than  it  is.  The  technical 
papers  are  very  generally  found  in  the  motormen's  and  con- 
ductors' rooms,  but  the  shop  men,  unless  they  buy  such  pub- 
lications, rarely  see  them.  Mr.  Pestell  thought  there  should  be 
a  place  provided  where  the  men  can  get  these  things — perhaps 
they  could  be  kept  on  file  and  a  catalogue  made  of  them,  giving 
the  men  a  card,  making  it  a  sort  of  a  library  system,  so  that 
every  man  connected  with  the  shop  could  be  put  in  possession 
of  the  latest  literature  in  connection  with  the  work  upon  which 
he  is  engaged.  A  man  cannot  know  too  much  about  his  work. 
He  thought  the  most  important  thing  that  the  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Association  was  organized  for  was  to  put  knowledge 
within  the  reach  of  the  men,  to  bring  about  an  interchange  of 
ideas,  but  if  the  association  does  not  furnish  the  information 
which  is  developed  in  the  meetings  to  the  men  generally,  it  does 
good  to  but  a  very  few.  He  believed  the  members  should  work 
to  get  publications  on  file  for  the  men  to  read.  These  should  be 
accessible  to  the  mechanics  in  the  pits,  even  the  car  washers ; 
they  do  not  want  to  wash  cars  all  their  lives,  and  they  should 
be  given  an  opportunity  to  advance  themselves. 

The  inspection  of  electrical  equipment,  whether  on  the  mile- 
age or  time  basis,  the  speaker  thought,  is  one  that  in  many 
cases  must  lie  governed  by  local  conditions.  Some  roads  are 
able  to  put  a  man  on  a  car  for  the  purposes  of  inspection  only 
once  in  two  or  three  days,  even  for  the  purpose  of  inspecting 
the  brushes  and  for  greasing.  Mr.  Pestell  then  considered  the 
subject  of  controller  troubles,  and  pointed  out  some  of  the  ob- 
jections of  the  present  form  of  platform  controller.  The  multi- 
ple type  of  control,  or  a  type  of  control  remote  from  the  plat- 
form, using  only  a  master  controller  of  small  size  on  the  plat- 
form, seemed  to  him  to  be  the  proper  solution  for  the  controller 
troubles.  He  believed  that  the  companies  should  demand  from 
the  electrical  manufacturing  companies  a  control  of  this  type 
for  motors  even  as  small  as  40  hp,  four  to  a  car,  and  get  all 
material  underneath  the  car,  off  of  the  platform.  This  was 
especially  desirable  on  open  cars,  where  passengers  ride  imme- 
diately behind  the  motor.  Most  roads  have  accidents  occurring 
from  it  during  the  summer  months,  and  they  cost  a  great  deal 
of  money.  The  method  pursued  by  the  Boston  Elevated  Com- 
pany, that  Mr.  Lindall  referred  to,  of  renewing  only  the  tips 
of  contact  fingers,  had  been  examined  on  its  system  by  the 
speaker,  and  he  believed  it  a  good  one  to  follow.  He  thought 
that  a  good  deal  of  money  could  be  saved,  even  with  K  types 
and  other  types  of  control  used  on  the  platform.  The  controller 
finger  item  is  quite  a  large  one  on  a  big  system,  and  but  very 
little  of  the  controller  fingers  are  actually  gone  when  they  have 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


695 


to  be  renewed.  Mr.  Pestell  then  considered  the  flashing  over 
of  motors. 

W.  D.  Wright,  of  Providence,  said  that  he  wanted  to  express 
himself  in  regard  to  the  value  of  reports  from  motormen  when 
they  turn  the  car  into  the  car  house.  This  is  a  great  help  to 
the  men  taking  care  of  the  apparatus,  but  sometimes  it  is  hard 
to  get  a  written  report  from  a  motorman  which  can  be  easily 
understood.  Sometimes  slips  are  used,  on  which  are  printed 
different  numbers,  which  apply  to  the  apparatus  liable  to  give 
trouble,  and  if  the  motorman  notices  some  trouble  in  these 
parts  he  checks  off  the  number.  The  speaker  thought  it  better 
to  go  further  than  this,  and  to  require  the  motorman  at  all 
times  in  bringing  the  car  into  the  house  to  make  some  kind  of 
report;  in  other  words,  he  must  O.  K.  the  car  or  note  the  defects 
which  exist.  They  had  found  the  O.  K.  report  to  be  of  great 
value  in  practice. 

G.  J.  Smith,  of  Kansas  City,  inquired  if  the  members  had 
ever  heard  of  a  motor  flashing  over  when  comparatively  new. 
In  the  flashing  over  of  motors  on  a  road  he  was  formerly  con- 
nected with,  90  per  cent  of  the  troubles  were  from  that  cause. 
It  was  found  that  a  comparatively  new  motor  never  flashed 
over.  If  it  did  flash  over  within  three  or  six  months  of  the 
time  that  it  was  installed,  leaks,  break-downs,  etc.,  were  found 
out.  When  these  troubles  were  reported,  "the  flashing  over 
stopped. 

J.  S.  Doyle,  of  New  York,  said  that  on  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company  new  motors  flash  over  as  well  as  old 
motors,  and  the  remedy  is  the  splitting  of  the  field  coils.  The 
cause  of  motor  flash  overs  is  due  to  partially  or  wholly  inter- 
rupted circuits.  The  field  saturation  does  not  correspond  with 
the  magnetic  effect  of  the  armature.  The  result  is  there  is  an 
increase  of  potential  across  the  armature,  causing  the  motor  to 
flash  over. 

Alfred  Green  discussed  the  desirability  of  how  far  a  motor- 
man  should  be  educated  concerning  the  handling  and  the  main- 
taining of  the  electrical  equipment.  In  the  speaker's  opinion, 
that  was  one  of  the  most  important  points  in  the  practical  oper- 
ation of  electric  street  railways  to-day,  fully  as  important  as 
the  same  question  applied  to  the  steam  engineer,  and  more  so. 
A  motorman,  in  the  first  place,  is  taken  from  the  ranks.  He  is 
given  apparatus  which  costs  a  great  deal  of  money  and  is  ex- 
pensive in  maintenance.  It  also  frequently  happens  that  two 
and  perhaps  three  men  handle  the  same  car  during  the  eighteen 
or  twenty-four  hours  of  its  operation.  The  point  which  the 
speaker  desired  to  raise  was  how  much  of  an  education  the 
motorman  should  have. 

D.  F.  Carver,  of  Jersey  City,  replied  that  he  believed,  theoreti- 
cally, that  the  motorman  should  have  all  the  education  he  could 
get.  On  the  Public  Service  Corporation  of  New  Jersey,  ap- 
paratus was  installed  about  a  year  ago  to  give  the  motorman  a 
pretty  thorough  education  in  the  handling  of  the  machinery  on 
the  car,  but  the  practical  difficulty  was  that  the  employment 
department  could  not  keep  the  road  supplied  with  men  fast 
enough,  so  that  the  time  could  not  be  taken  to  give  the  men  as 
thorough  an  education  as  desirable.  The  corporation  adopted 
the  usual  practice  of  sending  a  new  man  out  with  an  old  em- 
ployee for  several  days,  until  he  was  broken  in.  It  no  longer 
experienced  the  trouble  it  had  some  years  ago,  because  many 
four-motor  equipments  were  being  put  on,  using  four  40-hp 
motors  under  comparatively  light  cars,  which  have  plenty  of 
resistance,  so  that  the  motormen  are  not  able  to  do  the  equip- 
ment so  much  harm  as  formerly.  If  the  motormen  feed  too 
fast  it  makes  a  jolt  on  the  car  which  is  not  only  uncomfortable 
for  the  passengers,  but  for  the  man  as  well,  ana  he  gets  plenty 
of  notice  if  he  is  doing  what  he  should  not  do.  The  corpora- 
tion's troubles  from  that  cause  are  decreasing  right  along.  The 
speaker  said  that  the  mechanical  and  operating  departments 
are  very  much  pleased  at  the  way  the  men  take  hold  of  new 
things.  The  Public  Service  Corporation  also  finds  that  its  men, 


as  a  general  proposition,  are  with  the  company  in  every  move- 
ment which  it  desires  to  make  for  the  improvement  of  the  ser- 
vice and  equipment,  and  instead  of  the  heads  of  departments 
having  to  go  around  and  drum  the  new  propositions  into  the 
men,  the  latter  talk  to  some  of  the  shop  men  or  those  around 
the  depots,  and  in  this  way  secure  full  information  about  any 
new  plans.  His  experience  was  that  on  all  of  the  roads  the 
average  motorman  tries  to  get  the  information  required.  The 
speaker  said  that  o'n  one  of  the  South  Orange  lines  the  saying 
among  the  men  is  that  a  man  would  rather  be  kicked  than  turn 
a  car  in  off  the  road,  the  consequence  of  which  is  that  the  num- 
ber of  cars  turned  in  in  the  course  of  a  week  is  very  small. 
Printed  blanks  are  given  to  the  motormen,  containing  a  list 
of  some  fifteen  different  kinds  of  trouble  that  might  occur  in 
the  car,  and  when  the  car  is  turned  in  at  night,  if  there  is  any 
defect,  the  conductor  punches  out  the  part  relating  to  the  par- 
ticular trouble.  The  company  does  not  care  particularly 
whether  the  motorman  hits  the  cause  of  the  trouble  right  or  not, 
but  if  there  is  some  trouble  the  conductor  punches  the  number 
indicating  what  he  thinks  the  trouble  is.  He  may  punch  out 
the  number  indicating  trouble  with  the  motor,  and  it  may  really 
be  the  controller,  the  field  or  the  trolley  pole,  but  the  fact  that 
he  punches  the  slip  indicates  that  there  is  something  wrong 
with  the  car,  and  the  mechanics  overhaul  the  car  to  see  what 
it  is.  The  speaker  said  that  brought  up  another  question  which 
had  been  mentioned  at  the  meeting  in  regard  to  damage  suits. 
In  two  cases  he  remembered  that  by  that  nightly  record  the 
company  was  able  to  prove  that  the  equipment  was  not  de- 
fective and  thus  to  save  itself  from  serious  loss.  There  was 
one  case  which  happened  about  six  weeks  ago,  involving  an 
unfortunate  accident  with  one  of  the  cars.  In  the  morning  the 
motorman  who  had  the  accident,  had  a  car,  on  the  stovepipe  of 
which  had  been  put  a  new  kind  of  locomotive  black.  Noticing 
this,  the  motorman  went  into  a  drug  store  and  telephoned 
that  this  car  was  out  with  wet  paint  on  the  smokestack,  and 
asked  for  another  car.  He  received  another  car.  In  the  after- 
noon he  had  a  serious  accident  with  that  car,  and  the  company 
discovered  the  next  morning  that  the  druggist  in  the  store  from 
where  the  motorman  had  telephoned  for  another  car  had  stated 
that  the  accident  was  caused  by  the  company's  negligence  in 
putting  out  a  car  which  was  in  bad  order,  as  the  motorman  had 
come  into  his  store  in  the  morning  to  telephone  for  a  new  car. 
By  showing  the  records  of  the  transaction,  the  company  com- 
pletely absolved  itself  from  negligence.  Mr.  Carver  did  not 
know  what  the  claim  was  settled  for,  but  it  was  probably  very 
much  less  than  if  the  company  had  not  been  able  to  show 
records  which  proved  that  it  had  complied  with  the  motor- 
man's  request  for  another  car.  The  company  had  the  con- 
ductor's slip  of  the  night  before,  showing  that  the  car  on  which 
the  accident  had  occurred  had  been  turned  in  "O.K."  After  the 
accident  the  company  took  the  car  and  was  able  to  demonstrate 
that  it  was  in  good  order  at  that  time.  If  a  conductor  turns  in 
a  car  as  being  crippled,  and  the  mechanics  go  over  it  and  can- 
not find  anything  wrong  with  the  car,  there  is  nothing  said 
about  it ;  there  is  no  penalty  for  making  an  erroneous  report. 
The  company  desires  the  criticism  of  its  employees  in  regard 
to  the  condition  of  its  equipment,  and  gives  them  every  facility 
for  making  the  criticism. 

A.  M.  Patten,  of  Topeka,  stated  that  a  scheme  had  been  tried 
on  the  Topeka  Railway  which  had  proved  quite  satisfactory. 
The  motormen  are  required  to  make  a  daily  report,  with  the 
different  troubles  liable  to  occur  to  the  car  listed  on  the  report, 
and  there  are  columns  for  the  different  motormen  to  sign  "on" 
and  sign  "off ;"  in  other  words,  in  passing  the  car  from  one  mo- 
torman to  another,  they  O.  K.  the  car  in  all  essential  particu- 
lars. These  reports  and  other  means  are  used  in  the  education 
of  the  men.  Of  course,  there  are  many  times  when  the  motor- 
man  does  not  locate  the  trouble  correctly.  When  this  occurs 
the  company  takes  up  the  matter  and  explains  why  the  motor- 


6o6 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


man  did  not  locate  the  trouble  correctly.  The  company  is 
securing  more  accurate  reports  from  the  motormen  in  regard 
to  these  troubles  since  adopting  this  practice. 

J.  S.  Doyle,  of  New  York,  stated  that  the  Interborough  Rapid 
Transit  Company  provides  two  school  cars  for  the  education  of 
the  motorman,  and  issues  a  book  of  instructions,  containing  a 
description  of  the  apparatus  on  the  car,  with  a  list  of  questions 
and  answers.  Upon  the  school  cars  all  the  apparatus  employed, 
including  the  air  brakes  and  multiple  control,  are  so  designed 
that  motorman  can  readily  see  their  operation,  one  piece  in 
each  part  being  sectioned.  The  questions  and  answers  pertain- 
ing to  failures  of  apparatus  are  devised  with  a  view  of  reducing 
the  detention  to  service.  In  other  words,  when  anything  occurs, 
he  goes  through  the  list  of  questions  and  answers  pertaining 
to  failures,  and  going  through  this  list  he  finds  the  trouble  and 
reduces  the  detention.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  company  to 
require  a  motorman  to  pass  a  yearly  examination  to  determine 
his  knowledge  of  the  apparatus.  The  book  of  instructions  is 
very  complete. 

W.  K.  Evans,  of  Minneapolis,  said  that  he  was  glad  to  know 
about  the  experience  being  had  with  instruction  cars.  The 
Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Company  had  contemplated  some- 
thing of  that  kind ;  in  fact,  it  had  a  system  of  instruction  under 
which  the  men  met  in  groups  each  week  and  went  over  ques- 
tions such  as  have  been  considered  in  the  discussion ;  but  from 
the  discussion  which  had  been  had  on  the  subject  it  occurred  to 
him  that  the  companies  were  working  at  the  wrong  end  of  the 
proposition.  All  of  the  discussion  that  had  proceeded  depended 
entirely  on  the  motorman  to  eliminate  the  trouble.  His  ex- 
perience had  been  that  the  company  cannot  get  motormen  fast 
enough  to  educate  them,  and  the  consequence  was  that  the 
superintendents  of  transportation  had  to  put  the  men  out  on 
the  car  a  considerable  time  before  they  have  any  extensive 
knowledge  of  the  apparatus.  It  was  his  opinion  that  a  great 
deal  of  time  can  be  wasted  in  educating  the  motorman,  because 
about  the  time  the  motorman  was  educated  in  many  cases  he 
would  have  left  the  employ  of  the  company.  While  it  was  a 
very  good  tiling  to  have  a  well-posted  man — there  was  no  ques- 
tion about  that — there  is  no  line  in  the  country  that  can  afford 
to  tie  up  the  system  long  enough  to  allow  a  motorman  to  repair 
the  car.  If  there  was  a  little  trouble  in  the  controller  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind,  the  motorman  could  fix  it  and  get  his  car  in. 
He  would  like  to  hear  more  discussion  from  the  other  end  of 
the  question.  In  his  experience,  motormen's  reports  have  been 
very  misleading  as  to  what  the  trouble  really  was.  Mr.  Evans 
said  that  it  will  have  to  be  admitted  that  the  motorman  is  not 
thoroughly  educated  concerning  the  apparatus  in  his  charge, 
but  he  ought  to  be  able  to  detect  ordinary  trouble.  There  is 
one  peculiarity  about  educating  men  in  a  knowledge  of  the  ap- 
paratus which  they  handle.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  some 
of  the  best  air  brake  men  on  the  steam  roads  know  practically 
nothing  of  the  construction  of  the  apparatus ;  they  simply  know 
how  to  shut  off  the  engine  to  make  an  even  stop  at  the  station. 
They  have  that  down  to  a  nicety,  but  can  tell  very  little  about 
the  intricate  construction  of  the  air  brake  apparatus.  It  was 
his  opinion  that  if  the  companies  are  going  to  depend  alto- 
gether on  the  motormen  for  information  relating  to  car  troubles 
on  the  road,  they  are  working  at  the  wrong  end.  The  motor- 
man  can  give  a  great  deal  of  assistance,  but  it  would  not  be 
advisable  to  depend  entirely  upon  him.  Mr.  Evans  thought 
the  paper  a  very  good  one,  and  he  would  like  to  hear  it  dis- 
cussed very  thoroughly.  Mr.  Lindall  had  mentioned  the  tabu- 
lating of  defects  and  recording  them,  and  the  Twin  City  Rapid 
Transit  Company  had  found  that  practice  to  be  a  very  great 
advantage ;  but  one  point  had  not  been  touched  upon,  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  Mr.  Evans,  was  very  important,  namely,  that 
the  defects  should  be  tabulated  so  that  not  only  the  master 
mechanic  but  everybody  interested  in  the  equipment  could  see 
just  bow  it  was  running.    He  had  been  surprised  to  find  out 


the  interest  such  a  practice  had  generated  even  in  the  ordinary 
repair  men  at  tne  station,  when  they  found  out  that  the  com- 
pany was  keeping  a  check  of  this  kind.  Some  of  the  repair 
men  whom  he  thought  were  not  interested  at  all,  had  come  to 
him  and  told  him  that  their  reports  would  be  better  than  they 
were  the  preceding  month. 

Alfred  Green  said  that  what  he  had  in  mind,  in  asking  the 
question,  was  not  the  matter  of  repairing  a  car  on  the  road, 
but  the  question  of  sending  out  a  man  who  would  keep  the  road 
open.  He  said  he  had  known  of  a  case  where  a  motorman  did 
not  know,  when  he  was  cut  out,  where  the  fuse  box  was,  and 
he  stood  there  until  another  motorman  came  along.  He  knew 
of  another  case  where  a  motorman  went  to  start  up  and  got 
stuck  in  a  curve  because  he  forgot  to  let  his  brake  off.  The 
question  was  how  far  a  man  must  be  educated  to  keep  the  car 
going  until  it  comes  back  and  not  block  the  system — that  was 
what  he  was  after.  It  is  a  good  point  to  find  out  why  the  mas- 
ter mechanic  has  to  assume  all  the  responsibility  on  account  of 
incompetent  handling  of  the  car.  The  speaker  had  seen  a  mo- 
torman run  a  car  for  3  miles,  leaving  the  brake  off,  and  when 
he  wanted  to  stop  the  car  he  simply  turned  the  controller  handle 
around.  In  his  opinion,  much  of  the  trouble  for  improper 
handling  was  due  to  the  motorman. 

J.  S.  Doyle,  of  New  York,  said  that  in  regard  to  the  inspec- 
tion of  electrical  equipment,  the  Interborough  Rapid  Transit 
Company  had  a  system  which  might  prove  interesting.  The 
company  published  each  month  a  schedule  showing  the  cost  of 
daily  inspection,  and  also  the  cause  of  all  delays.  There  was  a 
competitive  merit  system  among  three  different  inspection 
shops.  Each  shop  takes  care  of  about  700  cars  and  inspects 
each  car  every  three  or  five  days.  The  shops  started  out  a  year 
ago  to  see  which  had  the  best  foreman,  with  the  understanding 
that  the  man  who  saved  the  most  money  would  receive  a  certain 
percentage  of  it.  In  the  first  year  the  company  saved  a  con- 
siderable sum  of  money.  A  schedule  was  issued  showing  every 
delay  that  occurred  and  the  cause  of  it.  The  company  found 
that  at  the  end  of  the  first  year  the  reliability  of  the  service 
was  improved  30  per  cent  and  the  expenses  largely  cut  down. 

H.  A.  Johnson,  of  Camden,  N.  J.,  remarked  that  the  same 
system  had  been  tried  in  the  Southern  Division  of  Public  Ser- 
vice Corporation  and  had  produced  very  satisfactory  results; 
that  is,  giving  each  shop  force  a  certain  class  of  equipments  to 
take  care  of.  It  resulted  in  considerable  competition  among 
the  men,  and  very  excellent  results  followed. 

William  E.  Rolston,  of  Tippecanoe,  Ohio,  inquired  what  was 
the  experience  of  the  members  and  what  they  gained  by  the  use 
of  the  ammeter  in  instructing  motormen,  as  applied  to  large 
cars  on  interurban  roads.  It  had  been  the  practice  of  the  Day- 
ton &  Troy  Railroad  Company  to  take  a  voltmeter  and  ammeter 
on  the  front  end  of  the  car,  and  at  that  same  time  use  a  watt- 
meter on  the  car,  to  make  a  record  of  the  consumption  of  cur- 
rent on  the  line  and  compare  that  with  the  power  used  by  the 
older  men  in  the  service.  He  gave  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  this  practice,  and  asked  for  an  expression  of  opinion  from 
the  members  as  to  their  experiences  along  that  line. 

William  Pestell  described  an  arrangement  which  had  been 
put  into  effect  for  checking  the  records  of  cars  taken  in  ior 
various  troubles.  Such  a  schedule  shows  at  a  glance  which 
motormen  were  having  the  most  trouble  on  the  street,  as  well 
as  what  particular  cars  were  giving  trouble,  and  initials  were 
provided  which  showed  what  trouble  the  car  had  been  pulled 
in  for.  This  is  particularly  valuable  on  small  roads  having 
anywhere  from  25  to  200  cars. 

W.  H.  McAloney,  of  Denver,  thought  it  was  important  on 
small  roads,  up  to  200  cars,  to  show  how  many  cars  were  taken 
out  of  service  per  day,  week  or  month,  and  a  comparison  made 
for  certain  periods.  He  gave  the  percentage  of  cars  taken  off 
the  line  for  repairs  per  week  in  Denver. 

Mr.  Evans  said  that  as  to  the  statement  about  tabulating  the 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


697 


number  of  failures,  that  the  Twin  City  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
pany had  been  trying  something  of  that  kind  and  had  tabu- 
lated the  failures — that  is,  cases  where  the  cars  were  pulled 
out  of  service — and  reduced  it  to  a  mileage  basis,  to  show  that 
each  station  had  so  many  pull-ins  for  the  month  and  so  much 
mileage  per  pull-in.  A  record  is  kept  also  of  the  motormen 
who  have  the  pull-ins,  and  if  they  find  any  particular  man  has 
too  great  a  number,  he  is  called  to  account,  which  has  the 
effect  of  reducing  the  trouble.  The  speaker  was  still  a  little 
inclined  to  think,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Green,  that  the  meeting 
was  working  at  the  wrong  end  of  the  proposition.  He  did  not 
wish  to  appear  to  contend  that  there  is  any  disadvantage  in 
educating  the  motormen,  but  that  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  a 
practical  impossibility  to  get  the  motormen  educated  to  that 
point  where  they  can  be  thoroughly  relied  upon  to  take  care  of 
the  equipment. 

J.  S.  Doyle  answered  Mr.  Evans  that  his  company  did  not 
find  that  to  be  the  case.  He  then  gave  some  of  the  conditions 
and  results  attained  in  educating  motormen  on  the  Interborough 
Rapid  Transit  Company's  lines. 

Mr.  Evans  said  that  his  company  did  not  have  any  trouble 
with  the  preferred  men  on  the  system.  It  is  upon  the  extra 
man  who  takes  a  car  out  that  the  superintendent  must 
depend  on  to  fill  out  the  service.  Under  the  conditions  Mr. 
Doyle  spoke  of,  they  had  no  trouble,  because  in  the  case  of  such 
men  the  company  knows  that  when  they  get  a  report  the  trou- 
ble is  what  they  state  it  to  be. 

Mr.  McAloney  inquired  if  the  Interborough  school  car  is  run 
over  the  lines.  Mr.  Doyle  replied  that  they  had  two  school 
cars,  one  for  the  subway  road  and  one  for  the  elevated  road. 
He  gave  the  amount  of  time  taken  for  instruction  for  each 
man  and  for  divisions. 

D.  F.  Carver  said  that  his  company  had  put  two  40-hp  mo- 
tors, with  a  22-pinion,  on  each  nine-bench  car,  making  the  cars 
pretty  lively.  The  new  motormen  in  handling  these  cars  could 
not  keep  them  on  the  line  and  keep  the  fuses  in.  The  com- 
pany hit  upon  the  experiment  of  having  a  few  of  the  brightest 
men  on  the  division  take  such  cars  out,  letting  them  run  the 
cars  for  one  trip,  in  the  presence  of  the  new  men,  in  the  way  in 
which  they  usually  handled  it.  Then  they  put  ammeters  in 
the  cars,  allowed  the  new  men  to  handle  them  in  the  same  way, 
and  showed  the  current  consumed  at  various  points  on  the  con- 
troller by  their  way  of  running  the  cars.  The  current  went  up 
to  350  amps,  when  swinging  from  series  into  parallel.  They 
then  showed  the  new  motormen  how  it  should  be  done.  The 
motormen  went  around  the  club  rooms  and  told  the  other  motor- 
men  what  they  had  seen.  In  a  few  days  the  trouble  vanished,  the 
cars  were  kept  on  the  line  in  proper  shape,  and  in  a  week  or  so 
the  men  would  not  have  anything  else  than  the  fast  cars.  The 
company  has  not  had  any  trouble  in  the  last  two  months,  no 
cars  being  turned  in,  where  formerly  they  had  eight  or  nine 
cars  a  day  turned  in,  the  men  saying  they  could  not  operate  the 
cars  and  keep  the  fuses  from  blowing. 

J.  S.  Doyle  remarked  that  was  quite  an  important  engineer- 
ing question,  and  he  thought  the  solution  was  to  resort  to  the 
multiple-unit  system,  automatic  control,  especially  in  four- 
motor  equipments.  As  Mr.  Pestell  had  said,  the  roads  were 
coming  to  it,  and  the  automatic  feature  is  one  of  the  best  fea- 
tures of  the  control.  As  to  training  the  men  how  to  do  it,  it 
may  be  done  for  a  day,  or  for  a  week,  but  unless  watched  con- 
tinually they  will  go  back,  and  he  thought,  after  all,  the  auto- 
matic control  would  give  the  best  results. 

Mr.  Olds  said  he  was  a  thorough  believer  in  giving  the 
motorman,  especially  on  the  interurban  lines,  a  comprehensive 
apparatus  in  their  charge,  and  that  they  should  be  required 
to  pass  an  examination. 

H,  J.  Lake,  of  Muncie,  Ind.,  considered  that  the  matter  of 
instructing  motormen  is  of  vital  importance  to  every  electric 
railway  system.     He  should  have  sufficient  knowledge  of  the 


apparatus  to  prevent  a  tying  up  of  the  system,  and  if  the  sid- 
ings are  two  or  three  miles  apart,  or  less,  he  ought  to  be  able 
to  get  his  train  to  a  siding. 

President  Olds  then  appointed  the  following"  named  gen- 
tlemen as  a  committee  on  nominations:  W.  O.  Mundy,  Alfred 
Green,  J.  Millar,  W.  D.  Wright  and  W.  K.  Evans.  The  meet- 
ing then  adjourned  until  2:30  o'clock. 


TUESDAY  AFTERNOON  SESSION 
President  Olds  called  the  meeting  to  order  at  2:30  o'clock. 
The  president  stated  that  the  first  business  of  the  session 
would  be  the  consideration  of  the  Question  Box.  The  secre- 
tary read  the  printed  questions  and  answers,  and  there  was  a 
very  spirited  and  valuable  supplementary  discussion  by  the 
members  generally  of  the  questions  contained  in  the  Question 
Box. 

After  concluding  the  discussion  of  the  Question  Box,  during 
which  much  had  been  said  about  the  burning  out  of  control- 
lers with  four-motor  equipments,  Mr.  Carver,  of  Newark,  sug- 
gested the  appointment  of  a  standing  committee  for  the 
coming  year  to  investigate  this  trouble  and  its  remedies  and 
report  at  the  next  meeting.  Mr.  Pestell,  of  Worcester, 
thought  such  committees  should  be  appointed  to  take  up  not 
only  controllers  but  also  various  other  topics.  Mr.  Evans,  of 
Minneapolis,  thought  the  association  should  work  in  the  di- 
rection of  developing  a  set  of  standing  committees  on  impor- 
tant matters  that  should  be  continued  over  several  years.  Mr. 
Pestell  then  moved  that  it  be  the  sense  of  the  association  that 
the  executive  committee  establish  committees  on  the  following 
subjects:  cars  and  car  equipment,  shops  and  shop  equipments, 
power  stations,  track  and  maintenance  of  way,  and  block  sig- 
nals.   This  was  carried. 

Various  other  members  expressed  themselves  as  favorable 
to  including  the  way-men  in  the  association,  and  the  amend- 
ments to  the  constitution  were  passed  which  provided  for  this. 

REPORT  OF  REORGANIZATION  COMMITTEE 
Chairman  Simmons,  of  the  committee  appointed  the  pre- 
vious day  to  meet  the  executive  committee  of  the  American 
Street  Railway  Association,  reported  the  results  of  the  meet- 
ing held  at  the  Southern  Hotel  that  morning.    A  resolution 

was  read  which  had  been 
passed  by  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  American  Street 
Railway  Association.  This,  in 
effect,  recommended  that  the 
American  Street  Railway  As- 
sociation take  immediate  ac- 
tion toward  a  reorganization 
by  amending  its  by-laws  at  its 
coming  convention  in  St.  Louis 
so  as  to  make  the  presidents  of 
the  three  associations  an  ex- 
ecutive committee  for  working 
out  the  details  of  a  plan  of  re- 
organization which  would  in- 
clude all  the  present  associa- 
tions in  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  and  give 
each  department  of  electric  railway  work  a  part  in  the  asso- 
ciation convention  work.  It  was  the  understanding,  however, 
that  the  executive  committees  of  the  subsidiary  organizations 
should  during  the  convention  meet  with  the  executive  commit- 
tee of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association  to  assist  in  this 
work.  Mr.  Simmons  moved  the  acceptance  of  the  terms  of  this 
resolution,  which  was  carried. 

ELECTION  OF  OFFICERS 
The  nominating  committee  then  made  a  report,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  election  of  the  following  officers  for  the  ensuing 
year:   President,  C.  F.  Baker,  of  Boston;  first  vice-president, 


C.  F.  BAKER 


698 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


H.  H.  Adams,  of  Baltimore ;  second  vice-president,  John  Mil- 
lar, of  Buffalo ;  third  vice-president,  F.  G.  Simmons,  of  Mil- 
waukee; secretary  and  treasurer,  Walter  Mower,  of  Detroit; 
executive  committee,  D.  F.  Carver,  of  Jersey  City ;  J.  S.  Doyle, 
of  New  York;  C.  C.  Lewis,  of  Schenectady,  and  W.  H.  Mc- 
Aloney,  of  Denver.  After  a  few  announcements  the  presi- 
dent-elect took  the  chair  and  spoke  a  few  words,  followed  by 
the  vice-presidents.  Mr.  Simmons,  in  particular,  expressed 
appreciation  of  his  election  to  the  office  cf  a  vice-president, 
because  it  was  given  him  as  a  recognition  of  the  part  the  track 
and  maintenance  of  way  men  will  play  in  the  organization  in 
the  future. 

A  very  heartfelt  rising  vote  of  thanks  was  given  to  retiring 
President  Olds. 



THE  AMERICAN  STREET  RAILWAY  ASSOCIATION 

WEDNESDAY  MORNING  SESSION 
The  first  session  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association 
was  called  to  order  Wednesday  morning,  Oct.  12,  at  the  Trans- 
portation Building,  World's  Fair  grounds,  by  President  W. 
Caryl  Ely,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  He  introduced  President  D.  R. 
Francis,  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  who  made  an 
interesting  address.  Among  other  things,  President  Francis 
took  occasion  to  praise  very  highly  the  efficient  management 
of  the  St.  Louis  street  railways.  He  drew  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  management  has  in  its  treatment  of  the  public  gained 
public  sentiment  favorable  to  it — that,  he  stated,  was  the  first 
important  step  to  be  gained  in  carrying  on  any  great  public 
enterprise. 

President  Ely  then  spoke  eloquently  of  the  g1ories  of  the 
Exposition  and  the  greatness  of  the  achievement  that  it  repre- 
sents. He  then  introduced  Prof.  W.  E.  Goldsborough,  chief 
of  the  Department  of  Electricity,  who  gave  an  outline  of  the 
principal  exhibits  of  interest  to  street  railway  men  in  the  dif- 
ferent buildings,  and  also  spoke  briefly  of  the  work  of  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Test  Commission. 

President  Ely  next  delivered  the  annual  presidential  address. 
In  this,  he  referred  to  the  recent  progress  of  the  traction  in- 
dustry in  several  important  particulars.  The  recent  acquire- 
ments of  electric  interurban  lines  by  the  New  York  Central, 
and  the  work  of  that  company  and  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
in  New  York  City  were  spoken  of  at  length,  as  well  as  the 
great  subway  system  just  completed  in  New  York  City.  The 
gains  of  the  Manhattan  Elevated  system  in  New  York  by  the 
introduction  of  electricity  were  quoted  as  an  example  of  ad- 
vantages to  be  derived  from  that  system  of  traction.  An  in- 
crease of  33  per  cent  in  train  service  had  been  made  possible 
by  this  change  of  motive  power ;  the  traffic  has  increased  30 
per  cent  and  the  operating  expenses  reduced  from  55  per  cent 
to  45  per  cent  of  the  gross  receipts. 

He  stated  that  the  time  had  come  when  conditions  demanded 
a  radical  change  in  the  method  of  conducting  the  association, 
and  outlined  a  scheme  suggested  to  organize  different  depart- 
ments within  the  association.  The  organization  of  the  manu- 
facturers' committee  to  take  charge  of  exhibit  matters  was  also 
noted  and  indorsed. 

Mayor  Wells,  of  St.  Louis,  was  then  introduced  and  wel- 
comed the  convention  as  a  street  railway  man.  His  father 
built  the  first  line  in  St.  Louis  in  1859.  He  had  been  general 
manager  of  his  father's  road,  and  consequently  felt  kindly  to- 
ward street  railways,  particularly  because  he  had  seen  com- 
munities benefited  so  greatly  by  them. 

Secretary  T.  C.  Penington  then  read  the  executive  commit- 
tee's report,  which  included  a  recommendation  that  the  by-laws 
be  amended  so  as  to  include  on  the  executive  committee  the 
presidents  of  the  mechanical  and  the  accountants'  associations. 
This  amendment  would  be  intended  as  the  first  step  toward  a 
general  reorganization. 

J.  C.  Hutchins,  of  Detroit,  introduced  a  resolution  rescinding 


the  action  of  the  convention  of  last  year  which  was  unfavor- 
able to  the  publication  of  daily  reports  of  the  proceedings  by 
the  technical  press.  Consideration  of  this  was  postponed,  after 
much  discussion,  to  Thursday.  A  censorship  committee,  con- 
sisting of  Messrs.  Hutchins,  Beggs  and  Mailloux,  was  ap- 
pointed to  pass  on  all  matter  given  out  for  publication. 

THURSDAY  MORNINCi  SESSION 
At  the  session  of  the  association  on  Thursday  morning  the 
report  of  T.  C.  Penington,  the  secretary  and  treasurer,  was 
presented.  After  this  had  been  approved,  a  resolution  was  of- 
fered modifying  the  resolution  of  J.  C.  Hutchins  at  the  session 
on  the  previous  day  to  disapprove  of  only  daily  verbatim  re- 
ports of  the  proceedings.  The  recommendations  of  the  execu- 
tive committee  regarding  the  reorganization  of  the  association 
were  then  approved,  after  which  W.  E.  Harrington,  the  chair- 
man of  the  standard  rules  committee,  reported.  Then  followed 
the  reading  of  the  paper  by  R.  H.  Rice  on  "Steam  Turbines;" 
this  was  discussed  by  Messrs.  Mailloux,  Hopkins  and  Abbott. 
The  paper  by  J.  R.  Bibbins  on  "Steam  Turbine  Plants,"  and 
that  by  E.  D.  Meier  on  "The  American  Diesel  Engine,"  were 
then  read  and  discussed.  The  paper  by  Leon  Jewell  on  "Trans- 
fers ;  Their  Uses  and  Abuses,"  which  followed  these,  was  read 
by  title ;  it  was  actively  discussed  at  length  by  Messrs.  Vree- 
land  and  Beggs.  All  of  these  papers  are  published  in  full 
in  this  number.  Next  followed  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee for  carrying  United  States  mail,'  of  which  Mr. 
Grant  is  chairman.  The  election  of  officers  resulted  in 
the  following  selections :  W.  Caryl  Ely,  of  Buffalo,  presi- 
dent; E.  C.  Foster,  of  New  Orleans;  John  I.  Beggs, 
of  Milwaukee,  and  Richard  McCulloch,  of  St.  Louis,  vice- 
presidents  ;  T.  C.  Penington,  of  Chicago,  secretary  and  treas- 
urer; J.  J.  Stanley,  of  Cleveland;  H.  F.  Grant,  of  Seattle;  F.  G. 
Jones,  of  Memphis ;  W.  E.  Harrington,  of  Camden,  executive 
committee.  The  plans  proposed  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
American  Street  Railway  Association  will  be  worked  out  by 
the  executive  committee  and  the  officers  of  the  other  associa- 
tions during  the  year.  The  resolution  of  C.  F.  Baker,  the  new 
president  of  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical 
Association,  on  Monday  afternoon  covered  the  appointment  by 
his  association  of  a  committee  on  the  proposed  reorganization 
conference. 



AMERICAN  ASSOCIATION  OF  STREET  RAILWAY  CLAIM 
AGENTS 

The  American  Association  of  Street  Railway  Claim  Agents 
was  organized  Wednesday,  Oct.  12.  The  officers  selected  are: 
W.  A.  Dibbs,  of  New  York,  president;  E.  W.  O'Conner,  of 
Savannah,  vice-president;  B.  B.  Davis,  of  Columous,  Ohio,  sec- 
retary-treasurer; Messrs.  Rinaug,  of  New  Orleans;  White,  of 
Chicago;  Davis,  of  Columbus;  Feeney,  of  Newark,  executive 
committee.  The  time  and  place  of  meeting  was  left  to  the  ex- 
ecutive committee,  but  it  is  probable  the  association  will  con- 
vene in  August.  The  dues  are  merely  nominal,  being  fixed  at 
$5  a  year  for  the  present. 



THE  STREET  RAILWAY  ACCOUNTANTS'  ASSOCIATION 

ABSTRACT  OF  THURSDAY  AFTERNOON'S  SESSION 

The  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Association  convened  on 
Thursday  afternoon  at  3  :3c  President  Smith  in  his  address 
referred  to  the  joint  meeting  on  Friday  between  the  Account- 
ants' Association  and  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Association — the  first  meeting  of  the  kind  held  by 
these  bodies.  He  then  referred  the  street  railways  and  the  steam 
railroads  to  the  standard  form  of  report  of  the  Internationa. 
Street  Railway  Association,  and  quoted  part  of  the  recent  edi- 
torial on  this  subject  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal.  He 
recommended  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  confer  with 
the  International  and  the  British  associations  to  adopt  a  stand- 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


699 


ard  form  of  report.  Mr.  Smith  closed  his  remarks  with  the 
statement  that  the  association  had  gained  twenty-eight  mem- 
bers and  lost  sixteen  during  the  year.  Mr.  White  then  read 
His  paper,  which  was  accompanied  by  sixteen  large  books,  with 
loose  index  leaves,  containing  the  forms  collected.  The  full 
proceedings  of  this  session  will  be  published  in  the  Street 
Railway  Journal  for  Oct.  29. 

 — 

THE  RE-ELECTION  OF  PRESIDENT  ELY 

The  information  comes  by  telegraph  from  St.  Louis  as  this 
issue  goes  to  press  that  W.  Caryl  Ely,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  presi- 
dent of  the  International  Traction  Company,  has  been  re- 
elected president  of  the  American  Street  Railway  Association. 

_ ,  This  action  by  the  association 

^'^^Hfflk  is  a  deserved  tribute  to  the  tact 

*  and  ability  with  which  Mr.  Ely 

administered  the  duties  of  the 
office  for  the  year  just  closed. 
The  coming  twelve  months 
will  probably  be  the  most  im- 
^^K^ '  ■■       I  portant  ones  in  the  history  of 

..^j^^^Huta/  the  association,  as  during  them 

Ejff      •  *  working  plans  for  the  reorgan- 

ization of  the  parent  body  and 
•<^4-  the  allied  associations  must  be 

devised.  The  desirability  of 
these  changes  was  clearly 
brought  out  in  President  Ely's  address,  and  the  advisability, 
even  the  necessity,  of  a  reorganization  is  admitted  by  all  if  the 
several  associations  are  to  accomplish  the  most  good.  The 
members  of  the  association  were  a  unit  in  their  indorsement  of 
the  re-election  of  Mr.  Ely,  to  whom  they  feel  can  safely  be  left 
the  details  of  the  proposed  changes.  That  this  is  a  considerable 
task  no  one  can  doubt.  But  with  the  co-operation  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee,  aided  by  such  suggestions  as  may  be  ob- 
tained by  Mr.  Ely  from  members  of  the  association,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  a  satisfactory  plan  will  be  devised. 

 ♦>«  

CONVENTION  NOTES 

The  badges  provided  by  the  manufacturers'  committee  were 
extremely  tasteful  and  were  universally  admired.  They  were 
made  of  German  silver  and  represented  a  modern  electric  car 
surmounted  by  an  eagle,  while  below  a  scroll  bore  the  words 
"American  Street  Railway  Association,  St.  Louis,  1904."  At- 
tached to  the  badge  were  ribbons  of  different  colors.  Thus 
the  delegates  to  the  American  Street  Railway  Convention 
were  provided  with  blue  ribbons,  members  of  the  American 
Railway  Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  wore  a  brown 
ribbon,  and  the  Accountants  were  given  a  yellow  ribbon.  The 
supply  men  were  designated  by  red  and  the  ladies  by  a  white 
ribbon.  The  badges  of  the  officers  of  the  different  associa- 
tions were  gold.  Each  badge  bore  a  small,  numbered,  cellu- 
loid tag,  so  that  it  was  possible  from  the  lists  kept  by  Secre- 
taries Penington,  Brockway,  Mower  and  Meade  to  identify 
any  one  at  the  convention. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Beggs  before  the  Master  Mechanics  on 
Monday  should  be  read  by  everyone  connected  with  the  me- 
chanical department  in  electric  railroading.  Mr.  Beggs  spoke 
extemporaneously,  and  referred  to  his  speech  as  a  series  of 
remarks  only,  as  he  had  not  had  time  to  prepare  an  address 
and  never  had  had.  Nevertheless,  he  outlined  in  the  clearest 
possible  way  the  relations  between  the  managerial  and 
mechanical  departments.  As  he  forcefully  put  it,  the  master 
mechanic  is  an  assistant  manager  of  the  property,  upon  whom 
depends  in  a  large  degree  not  only  the  comfort  and  safety  of 
the  passengers,  but  even,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the  financial 
success  of  the  company  with  which  he  is  connected.   His  work 


is  one  which  is  constantly  growing  in  responsibility  and  im- 
portance and  which  calls  for  the  highest  degree  of  care  and 
intelligence.  Mr.  Beggs  was  heartily  applauded  at  the 
termination  of  his  address. 

The  St.  Louis  Transit  Company  had  printed  and  distributed 
to  all  in  attendance  at  the  convention  an  extremely  tasteful 
ticket  book.  Each  book  contained  twenty-eight  tickets,  good 
for  fare  upon  any  of  the  lines  of  the  company  during  the  week 
ending  Oct.  15.  The  tickets  were  beautifully  engraved  and 
printed  and  were  bound  in  a  tasteful  cover.  One  side  shows 
an  emblematic  female  form  above  the  World's  Fair  buildings ; 
the  other  side  represents  Monroe,  Livingston  and  Marbois 
executing  the  famous  treaty  in  1803,  by  which  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  was  completed.  Capt.  Robert  McCulloch,  general 
manager  of  the  St.  Louis  Transit  Company,  received  many 
congratulations  over  the  attractive  form  of  this  ticket  book. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  special  train  which  left  New 
York  at  10  a.  m.  Saturday  carried  .about  150  passengers  and 
was  run  as  a  section  of  the  St.  Louis  Limited.  In  addition  to 
the  sleepers,  there  were  two  dining  cars,  a  buffet  and  library 
car  at  the  head  of  the  train  and  an  observation  car  at  the  rear. 
A  car  conveying  a  number  of  delegates  and  others  attending 
the  convention  from  Boston  was  attached  to  the  special  at 
Philadelphia.  A  number  of  delegates  to  the  convention  from 
Baltimore,  Washington  and  Harrisburg  boarded  the  train  at 
the  latter  city,  while  others  took  the  train  from  Pittsburg  and 
other  intervening  points.  In  spite  of  the  heat,  those  on  the 
"special"  enjoyed  the  trip,  and  the  monotony  was  relieved  by 
frequent  concerts  from  Reeves'  Band,  which  was  on  board. 
Other  "specials"  were  run  from  Chicago,  and  by  the  Big  Four 
and  Central  Railroads  from  the  middle  of  New  York  State. 

The  meetings  were  held  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Trans- 
portation Building,  and  at  the  entrance  were  displayed  some 
of  the  results  of  the  tests  conducted  this  summer  by  the  Elec- 
tric Railway  Test  Commission.  Prof.  Norris  and  Prof.  Swen- 
son  were  present  and  explained  the  charts  exhibited.  The 
charts  showed  the  detailed  observations  of  the  air  brake  tests, 
described  in  the  Street  Railway  Journal  for  Aug.  27 ;  also 
the  tests  on  the  impedance  of  steel  rails  at  different  frequen- 
cies. These  tests  were  also  mentioned  in  the  Street  Railway 
Journal  for  Aug.  27.  Another  interesting  print  shown  was 
of  the  plan  adopted  for  testing  air  resistance,  to  be  tried  on 
the  lines  of  the  Indiana  Union  Traction  Company  later. 

A  meeting  of  the  manufacturers'  committee  was  held  Mon- 
day morning  at  11  o'clock  to  elect  officers  for  the  ensuing 
year.  The  resignation  of  Scott  H.  Blewett,  of  the  American 
Car  &  Foundry  Company,  was  announced,  and  that  John  W. 
Nute,  president  of  the  St.  Louis  Car  Wheel  Company,  had 
been  appointed  in  his  place.  It  was  then  decided  to  continue 
the  committee  for  another  year,  but  to  enlarge  it  by  the  addi- 
tion of  five  more  members.  Four  of  these  were  elected  at  the 
meeting  Monday,  viz. :  Wm.  Wharton,  of  Wm.  Wharton,  Jr. 
&  Company,  of  Philadelphia ;  C.  K.  King,  of  the  Ohio  Brass 
Company,  Mansfield,  Ohio ;  Frank  C.  Randall,  of  the  National 
Electric  Company,  of  Milwaukee,  and  W.  H.  Whiteside,  of  the 
Allis-Chalmers  Company.    The  fifteenth  place  was  left  vacant. 

Monday  evening  the  members  of  the  committee  met  at  tbe 
Southern  Hotel  and  re-elected  Daniel  M.  Brady  chairman. 
Tt  was  also  decided  to  divide  the  terms  of  office  of  the  mem- 
bers so  that  the  terms  of  five  members  would  expire  in  one 
year,  five  others  in  two  years  and  the  remainder  in  three  years. 
The  selection  was  made  by  lot  and  the  following  were  found 
to  be  in  the  one-year  class:  Daniel  M.  Brady,  James  H.  Mc- 
Graw,  W.  J.  Cooke,  W.  H.  Whiteside  and  F.  S.  Kenfield.  The 
two-year  men  are:  John  W.  Nute,  J.  R.  Lovejoy,  F.  C.  Ran- 
dall, Calvert  Townley  and  George  J.  Kobusch. 

The  new  by-laws  adopted  by  the  manufacturers'  committee 
provide  that  the  name  of  the  association  shall  be,  American 
Street  Railway  Manufacturers  Association. 


PAPERS  READ  AT  THE  ST.  LOUIS  CONVENTIONS 


REPORT  OF  THE  JOINT  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
RAILWAY  MECHANICAL  &  ELECTRICAL  ASSOCIATION 
AND  THE  STREET  RAILWAY  ACCOUNTANTS' 
ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICA  ON  BLANKS 
FOR  SHOP  RECORDS  AND  ACCOUNTS 


By  mutual  agreement,  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Association  and  the  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Asso- 
ciation of  America  appointed  a  joint  committee  to  prepare  a  re- 
port on  "Blanks  for  Shop  Records  and  Accounts,"  to  be  presented 
at  one  of  the  sessions  of  the  eighth  annual  convention  of  the 
Street  Railway  Accountants'  Association  to  be  held  in  St.  Louis, 
Oct.  13,  14  and  15,  1904;  the  members  of  the  American  Railway 
Mechanical  and  Electrical  Association  attending. 

The  necessity  and  importance  of  a  system  of  shop  records  and 
accounts  for  carefully  recording  work  of  repairs  and  mechanical 
changes,  is  recognized  by  all  master  mechanics,  and  as  the  ac- 
countant's duties  bring  him  in  close  touch  with  all  departments 
he  is  naturally  interested  in  the  adoption  and  installation  of  a 
system  in  the  mechanical  department  by  which  he  can  report  the 
relative  usefulness  of  changes  or  improvements  over  previous 
methods. 

Your  committee,  in  preparing  this  paper,  thoroughly  realize 
that  local  conditions  control,  to  a  degree,  the  operation  of 
street  railway  properties,  and  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  submit 
a  set  of  blanks  which  would  meet  the  needs  of  all  companies,  and 
in  preparing  the  accompanying  blanks  they  were  prompted  and 
governed  by  the  desire  to  cover  in  a  general  way  a  system  which 
could  be  adapted  with  slight  changes  to  the  requirements  of  small 
companies  having  somewhat  limited  office  facilities,  as  well  as 
the  larger  with  a  more  complete  organization. 

The  report,  for  convenience,  is  arranged  in  three  sections. 

The  first  section  contains  the  forms  pertaining  to  reporting  the 
condition  of  equipments  while  in  service  and  under  repairs,  viz.: 

Form  1.      Trainmen's  Report  of  Condition  of  Cars. 

Form  i-A.  Summary  of  Trainmen's  Report  of  Condition  of 
Cars. 

Form  i-B.  Trainmen's  Report  of  Condition  of  Car. 
Form  i-C.  Summary  of  Trainmen's  Report  of  Condition  of 
Cars. 

Form  2.      Car  Inspector's  Daily  Report. 
Form  3.      Car  Tag. 

The  second  section  contains  the  forms  pertaining  to  the  ac- 
counting for  work  done  by  the  mechanical  department,  viz. : 


Form  4. 

Shop  Order. 

Form  5. 

Inter-department  Order. 

Form  6. 

Master  Mechanic's  Order. 

Form  7. 

Individual  Time  Card. 

Form  7-A. 

Daily  Report  of  Time. 

Form  8. 

Application  for  Change  in  Pay  Roll. 

Form  9. 

Requisitions  on  Storekeeper  for  Material 

and  Sup- 

plies. 

to  shop 

The  third 

section    contains    the   forms  pertaining 

ecords,  viz.: 

Form  10. 

Record  of  Car  Repairs. 

Form  11. 

Wheel  Report. 

Form  12. 

Wheel  Record. 

Form  13. 

Armature  Report. 

Form  14. 

Individual  Armature  Record. 

Form  15. 

Individual  Car  Record. 

SECTION  ONE 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  most,  if  not  all,  troubles  and  de- 
fects in  cars  and  equipments  are  first  noticed  in  the  operating 
department.  Proper  reports  as  to  the  condition  of  the  cars  should 
therefore  be  made  daily  by  the  trainmen,  to  enable  the  mechanical 
department  to  trace  and  take  care  of  the  troubles  with  a  greater 
degree  of  accuracy  and  promptness;  having  this  in  mind  we  sub- 
mit herewith  Form  No.  1. 

TRAINMEN  S  REPORT  OF  CONDITION  OF  CARS 

When  a  car  is  turned  into  the  car  house  a  report  as  to  its  con- 
dition is  made  by  the  trainmen  on  this  form,  which  is  arranged 
to  include  information  regarding  the  "Time  In,"  "Car  Number," 
and  the  "Defects"  found  to  exist  in  the  operation  of  the  car. 
When  no  defects  are  noticed,  the  cars  are  reported  "O.K."  The 
trainmen  then  sign  in  the  proper  place  as  a  certification  that  the 
cars  are  in  the  condition  stated.  When  the  cars  are  inspected  the 
car  house  foreman  notes  in  the  column  provided  the  "Action 


Taken,"  and  affixes  his  signature.  It  is  then  carefully  checked  by 
the  man  in  charge  of  the  car  house  and  a  report  made  therefrom, 
daily  (on  Form  i-A.)  to  the  master  mechanic.  The  report  is 
then  forwarded  to  the  superintendent  of  transportation,  who, 
after  approving,  passes  it  on  to  the  claim  department  for  per- 
manent file.  This  report  is  followed  by  Form  i-A. 
SUMMARY  OF  TRAINMEN'S  REPORT  OF  CONDITION  OF  CARS 

This  summary  is  practically  a  recapitulation  of  defects  reported 
by  the  trainmen.  It  is  made  in  duplicate  by  the  man  in  charge 
of  the  car  house,  and  indicates  the  disposition  of  the  troubles  re- 
ported. The  original  is  sent  to  the  master  mechanic  daily  and 
the  duplicate  remains  at  the  car  house  for  future  reference. 

Some  companies  may  prefer  to  have  the  trainmen  make  a  sep- 
arate report  for  each  car.  To  meet  this  requirement  we  present 
herewith  another  style  of  report  blank,  Form  i-B. 

TRAINMEN'S  REPORT  OF  CONDITION  OF  CAR 

This  form  is  suggested  as  a  possible  substitute  for  No.  1,  and 
has  the  advantage  of  requiring  but  very  little  writing,  as  it  con- 
tains the  classification  of  troubles  most  likely  to  occur.  As  a  rule, 
a  check  mark  only  is  needed  opposite  the  defect  reported.  It 
may,  however,  be  necessary  in  some  cases  in  order  to  more  fully 
describe  the  trouble  to  add  a  word  or  two  before  the  check  mark. 
The  trainmen  report  in  space  provided  the  "Length  of  Deten- 
tion," "Place  of  Trouble"  and  give  other  detailed  information 
regarding  the  troubles  encountered. 

The  report  is  made  in  duplicate  and  both  copies  are  sent  to  the 
despatcher,  who  immediately  forwards  the  original  to  the  shop 
foreman.  When  the  defects  are  not  sufficient  to  render  the  car 
unfit  for  service,  the  report  is  handed  in  by  the  trainmen  upon 
arrival  at  the  car  house. 

It  will  be  noted  that  no  provision  is  made  on  this  form  for  the 
action  taken  by  the  car  house  foreman;  neither  is  it  intended  to 
form  any  part  of  the  records  in  the  claim  department.  The  orig- 
inal should  be  filed,  however,  in  the  master  mechanic's  office 
where  it  may  be  obtained  by  the  claim  department,  if  desired. 
The  size  and  shape  of  the  blank  can  be  altered  to  meet  the  de- 
mands, and  the  trouble  classification  can  be  made  more  in  detail. 
It  is  recommended  that  this  form  be  made  in  manifold  paper, 
with  a  carbon  back  to  the  original.  In  filing  the  original  it 
should  be  folded  in  the  center,  and  the  carbon  side  of  the  sheet 
folded  on  itself  to  prevent  its  coming  in  contact  with  other  sheets. 

It  is  necessary  to  follow  up  this  report  with  a  summary  of 
troubles,  which  is  provided  for  in  Form  i-C. 

SUMMARY  OF  TRAINMEN'S  REPORT  OF  CONDITION  OF  CARS 
This  blank  needs  no  lengthy  explanation;  as  the  note  thereon 
indicates,  it  is  made  in  duplicate  by  the  man  in  charge  of  the  car 
house  and  contains  a  recapitulation  of  the  troubles  reported  by 
the  trainmen  on  Form  i-B.  The  original  is  sent  to  the  master 
mechanic  and  the  duplicate  forwarded  to  the  superintendent  of 
transportation. 

The  two  systems  for  the  reporting  of  defects  by  the  operating 
department  have  been  traced  to  their  destination,  and  we  pass 
on  to  Form  2. 

CAR  INSPECTOR'S  DAILY  REPORT 
This  form  is  divided  into  two  sections,  one  for  "Cars  in  Good 
Condition"  and  the  other  for  "Cars  Needing  Repairs."  It  also 
contains,  on  the  back,  a  classification  of  most  of  the  troubles  per- 
taining to  cars  and  their  equipment.  In  reporting  a  car  in  good 
condition,  the  inspector  places  the  car  number  in  the  column 
provided.  If  he  desires  to  report  a  defective  car,  the  number  per- 
taining to  the  particular  defect  is  obtained  from  the  back  of  the 
blank  and  inserted  in  the  proper  column. 

The  various  troubles  enumerated  on  the  back  of  this  form 
illustrate  the  principle  and  are  not  offered  as  definite  terms  or 
numbers. 

The  column  headed  "Foreman's  Column,  Action  Taken,"  is 
used  by  the  foreman  in  noting  whether  the  "Repairs  were  made," 
"Car  held  in,"  "Car  sent  to  shop,"  or  whatever  action  was  taken 
in  the  matter.  Provision  is  also  made  for  reporting  cars  lubri- 
cated. When  defective  cars  are  sent  to  the  shops  for  repairs,  a 
notice  or  report  should  be  forwarded  to  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment.   A  tag  is  suggested  for  this  purpose,  Form  3. 

CAR  TAG 

The  man  in  charge  of  the  car  house  fills  out  one  of  these  tags 
for  each  defective  car  sent  to  the  repair  shops.  It  is  attached  to 
the  car,  and  contains  the  "Car  Number,"  "Line,"  "Date,"  "Time," 
"Trouble  Numbers,"  and  remains  with  the  car  until  the  repairs 
are  made,  when  it  is  detached,  and  on  the  reverse  side  full  in- 


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BLANKS  ACCOMPANYING  REPORT  OF  JOINT  COM- 
MITTEE OF  AMERICAN  RAILWAY  MECHANICAL  AND 
ELECTRICAL  ASSOCIATION  AND  STREET  RAILWAY 
ACCOUNTANTS'  ASSOCIATION  OF  AMERICA,  ST. 
LOUIS,  OCT.  14,  1904  


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STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


formation  given  regarding  the  "Repairs  Made,"  "Date  Com- 
pleted" and  "Names  of  Repairmen."  It  is  then  examined  and 
signed  by  the  shop  foreman,  who  turns  it  over  to  the  master 
mechanic  for  his  record. 

SECTION  TWO 
The  mechanical  department  is  frequently  called  upon  to  manu- 
facture material  and  make  repairs  of  an  extraordinary  nature  and, 
as  it  is  essential  to  know  the  exact  cost  and  have  a  record  of  the 
work,  it  is  important  that  a  system  be  installed  so  that  the  cost 
and  other  data  can  be  readily  obtained.  The  first  blank  sug- 
gested for  this  system  is  Form  4. 

SHOP  ORDER 

This  order  is  made  in  triplicate;  the  first  sheet,  stating  what  is 
required,  is  forwarded  to  the  master  mechanic  with  instructions 
to  have  all.  labor  performed  and  material  furnished  in  connection 

with  the  order  charged  to  Shop  Order  No.   ,  and  notify  the 

auditor  when  the  work  is  completed.  The  second  and  third 
sheets,  which  are  carbon  copies  of  the  first  in  so  far  as  the  de- 
scription of  the  order  is  concerned,  are  sent  to  the  auditor  and 
contain  columns  in  which  to  note  the  cost  of  labor  and  material. 
In  case  the  order  is  to  manufacture  material,  the  third  sheet  is 
forwarded  to  the  storekeeper,  who  inserts  in  the  proper  columns 
the  "Date"  and  "Quantity  Received."  If  the  stock  ledger  is  kept 
at  the  storeroom,  the  storekeeper  can  obtain  the  cost  of  labor 
and  material  from  the  auditing  department. 

The  master  mechanic  can  also  obtain  the  total  labor  and  mate- 
rial cost  from  the  auditing  department,  and  if  desired,  the  first 
sheet  can  be  made  the  same  size  as  the  second  and  third,  and  col- 
umns provided  thereon  in  which  to  insert  the  labor  and  material 
cost. 

We  have  also  prepared  a  form  of  order  for  use  between  depart- 
ments, Form  5. 

INTER-DEPARTMENT  ORDER 

When  a  department  desires  labor  or  material  from  another  de- 
partment, this  form  is  suggested.  The  names  of  the  departments 
are  listed,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  underline  the  one  desired 
to  fill  the  order.  The  account  to  be  charged  is  inserted  and  a  full 
description  of  what  is  required  given.  It  may  be  made  in  dupli- 
cate if  desired. 

The  next  blank  to  be  considered  is  the  master  mechanic's  order 
to  his  shop  foremen.  Form  6. 

MASTER  MECHANIC'S  ORDER 

When  the  master  mechanic  receives  a  shop  order  (Form  4),  he 
fills  out  one  of  these  blanks  for  each  foreman  interested.  All  of 
these  orders  bear  numbers  identical  with  the  shop  order.  The 
foreman  after  completing  the  order  makes  a  full  report,  in  the 
space  provided,  to  the  master  mechanic.  This  form  is  made  in 
duplicate  and  the  report  filed  by  the  master  mechanic  as  his 
record.  If  desired,  the  back  of  the  blank  can  be  arranged  for 
labor  and  material  cost. 

In  taking  up  the  subject  of  time  cards,  two  forms  are  suggested, 
the  first  being  Form  7. 

INDIVIDUAL  TIME  CARD 

This  card  has  printed  thereon  the  "Account  Names"  and  "Num- 
bers" most  likely  to  be  used  in  distributing  the  time.  Blank  spaces 
are  left  for  miscellaneous  work  or  accounts  not  printed  on  the 
card  and  the  employee's  name.  ■> 

The  master  mechanic,  by  referring  to  the  time  card,  can  note 
the  total  time  worked  by  employees  and  the  exact  time  charged 
to  each  account.  These  cards  are  turned  over  by  the  foreman  to 
the  timekeeper.  If  a  time  clock  is  employed,  these  slips  can  be 
readily  checked  against  the  clock  record. 

The  second  form  of  time  card  is  provided  with  spaces  in  which 
to  report  the  time  of  a  crew,  and  is  covered  by  Form  7-.A 
DAILY  REPORT  OF  TIME 

As  stated  above,  this  blank  is  intended  for  use  in  recording  the 
time  of  a  crew.  It  contains  spaces  for  the  "Names  of  the  Em- 
ployees," "Hours  Worked,"  "Rate,"  "Total  Amount  Due"  and 
the  "Account  Number"  to  which  the  time  is  charged. 

Space  is  left  to  the  right  of  the  blank  for  miscellaneous  charges 
The  next  blank  to  be  considered  is  Form  8. 

APPLICATION  FOR  CHANGE  IN  PAY-ROLL 

It  often  becomes  necessary  to  change  the  rate  of  employees  or 
to  increase  the  working  force.  When  this  is  done  the  auditing 
department  should  be  notified  to  enable  them  to  check  the  pay- 
roll. The  above  blank  is  intended  for  such  notice,  and  is  pro- 
vided with  lines  for  "Date,"  "Officer  to  Whom  Addressed," 
"Name  of  Department  Requesting  the  Change,"  "Date  when  the 
Change  Becomes  Effective"  and  additional  lines  for  full  explana- 
tion as  to  why  the  change  is  desired.  It  is  signed  by  the  head  of 
the  department  requesting  the  change,  approved  by  the  proper 
officer  and  forwarded  to  the  auditing  department. 


701 


<•-.  . 
1-  ■ 


We  now  come  to  the  reqiu       r  ir    ^riaWrra  supplies,  Form  o. 

REQUISITION  FOR  MATERIAL  AN1?  SUPPLIES* 

In  preparing  this  blank  reference  was  made ,  to-  'the  "Report  of 
the  committee  on  standard  blanks  and  accounting  for  material 
and  supplies,"  approved  at  the  Detroit  convention  of  the  Ac- 
countants' Association  in  October,  1902,  but  np  blank  was  sub- 
mitted to  cover  this  requirement.-  The  committee,  therefore, 
recommends  this  form  for  use  in  df.awing  material  and  supplies 
from  the  storeroom  as  and  when  required  by  the  shop  depart- 
ment. It  is  made  in  duplicate  by  the  foreman  and  approved  by 
the  master  mechanic.  The  original  is  sent  to  the  storekeeper 
and  the  duplicate  retained  by  the  master  mechanic. 

SECTION  THREE 

The  blanks  submitted  in  this  section  illustrate  the  method  the 
committee  has  to  suggest  for  keeping  the  records  of  various 
parts  of  the  equipment,  with  the  report  forms  necessary  for  mak- 
ing the  record. 

The  first  blank  in  order  is  Form  10. 

RECORD  OF  CAR  REPAIRS 

This  form  is  prepared  ior  the  purpose  of  recording  the  repairs 
made  to  each  car.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  blank  has  printed 
thereon  the  principal  parts  of  a  car.  The  repairs  made  are  in- 
dicated by  placing  an  "X"  in  the  proper  columns  opposite  the 
date;  whenever  possible,  the  number  of  repairs  made  should  be 
recorded,  omitting  the  "X."  This  blank  can  be  enlarged  or  re- 
duced to  meet  any  requirements. 

The  next  blank  in  order  is  Form  11. 

WHEEL  REPORT 

As  the  name  implies,  this  form  is  used,  in  connection  with  plac- 
ing and  replacing  wheels,  and  is  arranged  to  indicate  the  "Car 
Number,"  "Date,"  "The  Numbers  and  Circumference  of  the 
Wheels  Taken  Out  and  Put  In"  and  the  cause  of  removal,  to- 
gether with  other  information  needed  to  make  a  complete  report. 
It  is  filled  out  by  the  foreman,  turned  over  to  the  master  mechanic 
and  recorded  on  Form  12. 

WHEEL  RECORD 

This  blank  may  be  in  book  or  card  form.  It  is  provided  with 
spaces  in  which  to  record  the  "Wheel  Number,"  "Car  Number," 
"Date  In,"  "Circumference,"  "Date  Out,"  "Cause  of  Removal" 
and  "Mileage."  Provision  is  also  made  for  several  removals  and 
replacements.  Mileage  is  quite  an  essential  feature  of  the  report, 
especially  to  the  companies  purchasing  wheels  under  a  guaran- 
teed mileage.  The  committee  recommends  that  the  master 
mechanic  be  given  a  statement  of  the  mileage  made  by  the  in 
dividual  cars  under  his  care.  It  should  be  kept  in  a  mileage 
book  and  used  in  connection  with  the  various  records.  This 
blank  is  followed  by  Form  13. 

ARMATURE  REPORT 

This  report  is  in  the  form  of  a  tag  and  is  attached  to  each  arma- 
ture when  removed  from  the  car,  where  it  remains  in  its  entirety 
and  the  repairs  recorded  thereon,  as  made.  After  the  repairs  are 
completed,  and  as  the  armature  is  sent  from  the  shop,  the  lower 
portion  of  the  tag  is  detached  from  the  stub  and  passed  to  the 
master  mechanic's  office.  The  stub  remains  with  the  armature 
until  placed  in  the  car,  when  it  is  filled  out,  signed  and  turned  into 
the  master  mechanic's  office  by  the  foreman.  As  the  tag  is  liable 
to  become  soiled,  it  will  be  more  legible  if  written  in  red  ink.  The 
data  on  this  tag  furnishes  the  information  for  filling  out  Form  14. 
INDIVIDUAL  ARMATURE  RECORD 

This  record  is  arranged  on  the  same  principle  as  the  record  of 
car  repairs,  and  in  noting  the  repairs  made  the  same  rules  apply. 
This  record  will  be  more  convenient  in  card  form. 

The  last  blank  under  consideration  is  Form  15. 

INDIVIDUAL  CAR  RECORD 
This  blank  is  in  card  form  and.  if  properly  filled  out.  will  be- 
come one  of  the  most  important  records  in  the  mechanical  de 
partment.    Spaces  are  provided  for  the  "Car  Number."  "Type  of 
Car,"  "Builder"  and  other  detail  information. 

The  committee  desires  to  thank  the  members  of  the  above  as- 
sociations for  their  kind  and  prompt  co-operation  in  sending 
blanks  when  requested.    Respectfully  submitted, 
H.  H.  Adams.  Superintendent  of  Shops, 
The  United  Railways  &  Electric  Company,  Baltimore,  Md. 

H.  E.  Farrington,  Superintendent  of  Car  Repairs, 
Boston  &  Northern  Street  Railway  Company,  Chelsea,  Mass. 
For  the  American  Railway  Mechanical  &  Electrical  Association. 
H.  M.  Pease,  Auditor, 

International  Railway  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
W.  G.  McDole,  Auditor, 
The  Cleveland  Electric  Railway  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 
For  the  Street  Railway  Accountants'  Association  of  America. 


702 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


WHEEL  MATTERS 


BY  J.  MILLAR 

Superintendent  Rolling  Stock,  International  Railway  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 


The  question  of  the  proper  type  and  maintenance  of  wheels 
used  under  interurban  cars  which  are  operated  over  city  streets 
for  any  considerable  distance,  also  over  more  or  less  special  work, 
has  developed  into  a  problem  of  great  importance  to  the  master 
mechanic. 

The  ordinary  chilled  iron  wheel  with  i-in.  flange  is  ruinous  to 
special  work  in  the  city.  We  formely  used  a  500-lb.  chilled  iron 
wheel  with  2^4-in.  tread  and  J^-in.  flange  on  our  Lockport  divi- 
sion, and  a  450-lb.  wheel  with  the  same  tread  and  flange  on  the 
Niagara  Falls  division.  With  both  of  these  wheels  we  had  an 
unlimited  amount  of  trouble  with  chipped  flanges,  having  to 
remove  many  of  them  for  this  reason  before  they  were  half  worn 
out,  and  in  several  instances,  after  making  but  a  few  trips.  As  a 
matter  of  precaution,  I  found  it  necessary  to  have  all  wheels  care- 
fully examined  each  trip  at  both  ends  of  the  lines. 

We  are  now  using  two  types  of  wheels  under  our  interurban 
cars;  steel  tired  and  rolled  steel  wheels,  with  2,y2-\n.  tread  and 
%-in  flange.  The  rolled  steel  wheels  have  given  very  fair  results, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  which  have  had  to  be  removed  on 
account  of  defective  plates.  As  to  flange  wear,  the  results  with 
both  have  been  very  good.    The  rolled  steel  wheels  made  an 


A  COMPARISON  OF  FLANGES  SHOWING  WEAR 


average  of  35,000  miles  before  they  were  taken  out  to  be  turned 
up  for  the  first  time,  and  a  few  have  been  turned  up  the  second 
time  with  an  average  of  25,000  miles  for  the  second  run.  We  have 
only  one  car  equipped  with  steel-tired  wheels  that  has  been  in 
service  long  enough  to  get  any  definite  data  as  to  wear  of  flange 
and  tread.  These  wheels  have  been  in  service  about  five  and  a 
half  months  and  have  made  34,960  miles.  The  flange  wear  is  very 
satisfactory,  as  can  be  seen  by  the  following  sketches  showing 
section  of  tread  and  flange  when  new  and  after  making  the  above 
mileage. 

You  will  notice  that  the  flange  is  lower  after  having  been  in 
service  than  it  was  originally,  although  I  use  a  brake-shoe  that 
does  not  wear  on  the  flange.  This  I  attribute  to  the  special  work 
inside  the  city  limits,  the  depth  of  the  groove  not  being  enough 
to  maintain  a  %-in.  flange.  However,  we  now  have  no  more 
broken  or  chipped  flanges  and,  as  a  factor  of  safety,  they  are  far 
better  than  the  chilled  wheels.  The  only  examination  necessary 
now  is  for  flange  wear,  which  is  done  in  the  car  stations,  whereas, 
as  is  stated  above,  chilled  wheels  had  to  be  examined  each  trip  at 
both  ends  of  the  lines. 

With  both  the  steel  tired  and  rolled  steel  wheels,  I  find  that 
the  flanges  wear  thin  on  one  side  of  the  car,  while  on  the  opposite 
side  they  are  in  good  condition,  necessitating  their  removal  to  be 
turned  up  sooner  than  the  natural  wear  would  warrant;  this  I 
attribue,  to  a  large  extent,  to  the  constant  running  of  the  car  from 
the  same  end,  which  is  well  known  to  cause  irregular  wear. 

There  are  two  arguments  strongly  in  favor  of  the  steel  tired 
and  rolled  steel  wheels;  first,  the  factor  of  safety;  second,  their 
freedom  from  flat  spots.    During  the  fourteen  months  we  have 


had  them  in  use  I  have  not  had  to  remove  a  single  pair  on  ac- 
count of  being  flat. 

In  summing  up  steel  tired  and  rolled  steel  wheels,  I  will  say 
that  the  additional  safety  obtained  from  their  use  is  of  itself 
enough  to  warrant  their  adoption  by  all  roads  using  high-speed 
interurban  cars. 

As  to  "chilled  wheels,"  in  following  up  the  evolutions  of  cast- 
iron  chilled  wheels  from  the  time  of  the  old  horse  car  days  when 
with  many — "a  wheel  was  a  wheel,"  it  has  been  very  interesting  to 
note  the  changes  in  size,  shape  and  weight,  and  it  has  convinced 
me  that  the  changes  have  been  a  betterment  to  all  matters  per- 
taining to  rolling  stock.  We  are  to-day  using  far  better  wheels 
than  ever  before;  the  mileage  derived  from  cast-iron  chilled 
wheels  has  in  the  past  few  years  more  than  doubled  itself.  This 
is  evident  from  the  fact  that  the  manufacturers  have,  during  the 
past  decade,  raised  their  guaranteed  mileage  from  20,000  to  40,000 
miles,  which  in  itself  indicates  that  progress  in  wheel  manufacture 
has  kept  pace  with  other  improvements  pertinent  to  electric  rail- 
roading. 

I  have  had  the  mileage  taken  of  1458  cast-iron  wheels  (of  the 
400-lb.  type,  standard  for  our  city  cars)  which  were  removed  dur- 
ing the  past  two  years.  These  wheels  made  a  total  of  58,340,578 
miles,  or  an  average  of  40,014  miles  per  wheel.  Of  this  number, 
24  were  removed  on  account  of  having  been  broken,  186  for 
chipped  flanges  and  the  balance,  1248,  were  worn  out. 

In  regard  to  flat  wheels,  if,  when  first  noticed,  a  good  wheel- 
truing  shoe  is  applied,  much  trouble  can  be  warded  off,  but  if  too 
flat  for  a  wheel-truing  shoe,  grinding  down  on  a  grinding  machine 
is  the  only  remedy. 

My  experience  with  the  grinding  of  chilled  wheels,  and  after 
considerable  study,  prompts  me  to  state  that  I  strongly  advocate 
their  being  reground,  providing  the  regrinding  is  done  in  time, 
though  I  am  aware  that  quite  a  number  of  heads  of  mechanical 
departments  are  of  an  adverse  opinion.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to 
give  accurate  figures  here  as  to  the  length  of  time  required  to 
grind  flat  spots  out,  owing  to  the  variance  in  the  flats  themselves; 
however,  on  averaging  the  time,  I  can  safely  say  that  to  regrind 
a  pair  of  wheels  on  account  of  "slid  flat"  with  a  spot  about  il/>  ins. 
long,  it  will  take  about  30  minutes  actual  grinding. 

In  pressing  wheels  on  axles,  a  competent  man  is  an  absolute 
necessity,  as  the  result  of  carelessness  is  obvious  to  all  acquainted 
with  the  work.  He  must  be  accurate  in  the  mating  of  wheels 
applied  to  an  axle,  and  as  nearly  so  as  possible,  the  four  wheels  in 
a  truck. 

The  pressure  required  to  press  wheels  on  the  axle  depends  en- 
tirely on  the  quality  of  metal  used  in  the  wheels,  also  on  the  axles. 
The  average  pressure  I  use,  however,  is  thirty  tons. 

In  the  above  I  have  set  forth  a  few  matters  which  have  devel- 
oped in  my  experience,  and  hope  that  they  will  provoke  comment 
and  discussion  which  will  of  themselves  be  of  material  benefit  to 
all  interested. 



TRANSFERS— THEIR  USES  AND  ABUSES 


BY  LEON  JEWELL 


It  is  the  constant  endeavor  of  street  railway  companies  to  pro- 
vide the  best  service  and  all  transportation  facilities  possible, 
under  the  conditions  met  with  in  the  operation  of  their  roads,  as 
well  as  to  offer  every  inducement  to  the  people  to  ride  on  the 
cars,  in  order  to  create  and  develop  the  traffic  to  the  mutual  ad- 
vantage and  benefit  of  the  companies  as  well  as  their  patrons. 
Primarily,  this  is  the  first  and  all  important  "Use"  of  the  transfer. 
Its  purpose  is  not  to  lengthen  the  ride,  but  to  obviate  the  neces- 
sity of  making  trips  on  different  routes  by  direct  through  lines, 
so  that  passengers  may  be  carried  directly  and  quickly  to  their 
objective  points  for  one  fare. 

A  few  years  ago,  when  the  electric  cars  were  first  being  intro- 
duced, the  people  were  inclined  to  take  the  longest  ride  possible 
for  one  fare,  but  the  novelty  soon  wore  off,  and  the  tendency 
changed  to  taking  the  shortest  possible  route  to  their  destinations. 

The  issuing  of  a  transfer  does  not,  in  all  cases,  necessarily  mean 
that  the  rate  of  fare  has  been  cut  in  two,  but  that  there  has  been 
created,  between  certain  sections,  a  traffic  which  did  not  formerly 
exist  prior  to  the  introduction  of  a  transfer  system.  Without 
transfers,  each  line  practically  serves  only  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, as  the  people  upon  whom  street  railway  companies  de- 
pend for  patronage  cannot  afford  to  pay  more  than  a  single  fare 
in  going  to  or  from  their  various  destinations. 

By  the  use  of  transfers  the  necessity  of  direct  lines  of  cars  for 
different  destinations  is  eliminated;  travel  in  opposite  directions  is 
•established  which  does  not  require  an  increase  of  car  mileage;  the 
traveling  public  is  offered  an  attraction  in  the  way  of  cheap 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


703 


transportation  for  short  distances  over  zig-zag  routes  not  cov- 
ered by  direct  lines  of  cars;  the  habit  of  street  car  riding  is  ac- 
quired from  carrying  passengers,  for  one  fare,  around  two  sides 
of  a  section,  when  such  journeys  were  formerly  left  out,  or  walked, 
on  account  of  the  required  two,  three,  and  even  four  fares,  which 
were  considered  too  great  an  outlay  for  the  distance  covered. 

"Abuses"  in  the  operation  of  a  transfer  system  will  constantly 
arise.  Different  methods,  remedies,  safeguards,  restrictions,  etc., 
for  the  correction  of  these  abuses  have  been  adopted  in  different 
cities,  by  which  some  degree  of  protection  has  been  secured  in  a 
majority  of  cases. 

The  principal  and  most  odious  abuses  of  a  transfer  system  are 
the  exchange,  brokerage  and  transferring  of  transfers.  These 
abuses  can  be  fairly  well  controlled  and  kept  within  due  bounds 
at  ordinary  transfer  points,  but  at  downtown  common  centers  the 
brokerage  in  transfers  becomes  a  different  proposition  and  a 
menace  to  the  company. 

The  damage  claims  that  may  arise  from  the  transferring  of 
passengers  constitute  one  of  the  disadvantages  of  a  transfer  sys- 
tem and  a  strong  argument  against  an  extension  of  transfer  priv- 
ileges. 

The  abuses  perpetrated  by  employees  have  been  reduced,  to  a 
great  extent,  by  removing  from  the  transfers  their  cash  value  to 
the  conductor.  Employees,  as  a  general  rule,  are  very  timid,  or 
conscientious,  in  regard  to  giving  away  transfers,  or  otherwise 
disposing  of  them,  illegitimately.  Of  course,  there  are  employees 
of  another  nature,  but  they  do  not  consider  the  returns  of  suffi- 
cient value  to  warrant  the  risk  of  losing  their  positions.  They 
are  also  restrained  through  fear  of  the  necessary  confederates. 

The  abuses  by  employees,  in  improperly  punching,  issuing  and 
honoring  transfers,  demand  and  require  the  closest  surveillance 
and  the  strongest  safeguards.  The  correction  of  these  abuses  is 
often  neglected  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  public  are  not  only  en- 
couraged in  their  abuse  of  the  use  of  transfers,  but  are  led  to 
believe  that  the  unwarranted  privileges  permitted  by  employees 
are  just,  and  eventually  claim  them  as  a  right. 

My  experience  with  transfers  dates  back  to  the  fall  of  1880.  At 
that  time  the  transfer  system  of  our  company  was  in  its  infancy 
and  was  confined  to  one  transfer  point  until  1884.  During  that 
period  the  transfers  were  issued  by  agents  who  were  stationed  at 
the  transfer  point.  At  hours  when  business  was  heavy  the  agent 
could  not  possibly  avoid  being  imposed  upon  by  people  who 
mingled  with  the  passengers  and  demanded  transfers. 

At  first,  a  small  card  punched  so  as  to  indicate  the  number  of 
transfer  passengers,  was  passed  from  the  agent  to  the  conductor. 
Under  this  system  it  was  impossible  to  tell  who  were  entitled  to 
ride  on  the  transfer  and  who  should  pay  cash  fare. 

Next  in  order  came  the  small  individual  transfer  slips,  which 
were  dated  but  unlimited  as  to  time  and  direction.  These  trans- 
fers were  issued  by  agents  and  were  honored  and  registered  by 
the  conductors  the  same  as  cash  fares.  The  company  lost  heavily 
from  the  frauds  of  its  conductors  under  the  registration  of  trans- 
fers as  cash  fares.  In  order  to  stop  these  frauds  we  stopped  the 
"ringing  up"  of  the  transfers. 

In  1884,  upon  the  opening  of  an  additional  cross-town  line,  the 
agent  system  was  abolished  and  the  one-hour  time  limit  transfers 
were  introduced  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  conductors  for  dis- 
tribution. From  all  information  that  I  could  gather  the  time 
limit  transfers  were,  at  that  time,  used  only  in  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  transfer  system  was  confined  to  a  limited  section  of  the 
territory  covered  by  our  lines  until  July  5,  1888,  at  which  time  we 
voluntarily  established  the  transfer  system  over  our  whole  terri- 
tory. The  following  extract  is  from  a  notice  given  the  public  at 
that  time: 

"  *  *  *  By  this  arrangement  residents  in  all  portions  of  the 
south  division  of  the  city,  Town  of  Lake  and  Hyde  Park  carried 
by  the  lines  of  this  company,  will  be  enabled  to  reach  Washington 
and  Jackson  Parks,  or  the  center  of  the  city,  for  one  fare  *  *  * 
and  is  attempted  by  the  management  in  the  hope  that  the  territory 
will  be  rapidly  developed,  and  the  volume  of  travel  be  sufficiently 
increased  to  warrant  this  experiment  being  made  permanent,  and 
that  many  of  the  lines  not  now  paying  operating  expenses  be 
rendered  self-sustaining    *    *  *" 

The  experiment  was  made  permanent  and  the  lines  self-sustain- 
ing. New  lines  were  established  and  extensions  made  to  addi- 
tional territory.  The  increase  of  traffic  over  the  normal  increase 
was  principally  for  short  distances  which  were  formerly  walked, 
as  well  as  from  the  fact  that  the  people  were  not  backward  in  ap- 
preciating the  one  fare  system  and  in  locating  their  homes  ac- 
cordingly. 

Previous  to  July  5,  1888,  we  collected  as  high  as  four  cash  fares 
from  a  passenger  for  one  continuous  ride  for  which  we  now  re- 
ceive only  one  cash  fare.  At  that  time  our  territory  extended 
into  three  different  townships,  but  at  the  present  time  it  is  all 
within  one  township,  brought  about  by  annexation. 


Our  transfer  system  from  1888  to  1902  allowed  a  passenger  to 
transfer  from  the  trunk  lines  upon  a  cash  fare  or  transfer,  but 
from  the  cross-town  lines  a  passenger  would  be  transferred  only 
upon  payment  of  a  cash  fare. 

On  Dec.  7,  1902,  we  inaugurated  our  present  transfer  system, 
under  which  a  passenger,  on  the  payment  of  one  cash  fare,  may 
ride  in  any  one  general  direction  as  far  as  the  cars  of  our  com- 
pany will  carry  him.  For  instance,  a  passenger  on  a  southbound 
car  will,  upon  request  at  time  of  paying  cash  fare,  receive  a  trans- 
fer, good,  within  a  limited  time,  to  any  intersecting  east,  west  or 
south  line.  If  the  passenger  takes  a  westbound  car,  whereby  he 
establishes  his  general  direction  of  travel,  the  conductor  will 
honor  and  issue  in  exchange  for  this  transfer  one  entitling  the 
passenger  to  ride  south  or  west,  and  the  passenger  may  then  ex- 
change that  transfer  for  one  good  on  south  or  westbound  cars,  to 
the  extreme  southern  or  western  limits  reached  by  the  lines  of 
this  company.  This  enables  our  patrons  to  travel  from  one 
to  any  other  side  of  a  section  reached  by  our  lines  on  payment  of 
one  cash  fare.  It  would  be  impracticable,  without  the  use  of  our 
transfer  system,  to  do  this. 

The  following  data  of  the  Chicago  City  Railway  Company,  with 
respect  to  the  operation  of  its  transfer  system,  as  representing  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  use  of  transfers  over  a  period  of 


twenty  years,  1884  to  1904,  may  be  of  interest: 

1884  1904 

Number  of  distinct  lines  of  cars  operated   7  20 

Number  of  distinct  routes  operated   19  182 

Number  of  transfer  points   2  94 

Maximum  possible  number  of  transfers  issued  for  one 

continuous  ride  in  one  general  direction   1  19 

Average  number  of  transfer  passengers  carried  daily   4,000  207,728 

Percentage  of  transfer  passengers  to  fare  passengers   4.6%  50.7% 

Percentage  of  transfer  passengers  to  fare  and  transfer 

passengers    4.4%  37.0% 

Average   fare   per   passenger    (fare   and    transfer  pas- 
sengers)   $0.0478  $0.0313 

Length  of  longest  line,  miles   4.59  9.78 

Average  length  of  all  lines,  miles   3.38  5.37 

Longest  transfer  route  possible,  miles   4.39  15.74 


From  what  has  been  said  in  this  paper,  it  would  appear  that  the 
"Uses"  and  "Abuses"  of  "Transfers"  could  be  summarized  briefly, 
as  follows: 

USES 

(a)  To  increase  the  transportation  facilities,  whereby  passen- 
gers can  be  carried  in  different  directions,  by  shorter  and  more 
direct  routes. 

(b)  To  offer  additional  inducements  to  ride,  thereby  creating 
and  developing  increased  traffic. 

(c)  To  better  serve  the  traffic  of  each  individual  line.  To  re- 
duce the  number  of  direct  through  lines  and  increase  car  mileage. 

ABUSES 

(a)  The  improper  and  fraudulent  acts  of  conductors  in  connec- 
tion with  the  handling  of  transfers. 

(b)  The  brokerage  or  trafficking  in  transfers,  especially  by 
newsboys. 

(c)  The  improper  transferring  and  exchanging  of  transfers  by 
passengers. 

(d)  The  possible  increase  of  damage  claims,  arising  from  the 
operation  of  a  transfer  system. 

As  to  whether  the  advantages  of  the  "uses"  of  transfers  out- 
weigh the  disadvantages  of  the  "abuses,"  or  vice  versa,  depends 
on  the  specific  conditions  that  each  company  operates  under. 

 ♦♦♦  

THE  IDEAL  SHOP 


BY  W.  D.  WRIGHT 
Superintendent  of  Equipment,  the  Rhode  Island  Company,  Providence,  R.  I. 


The  writer  wonders  if  it  would  ever  be  possible  to  build  an  ideal 
shop  for  street  railway  work  to  meet  all  conditions.  Local  sur- 
roundings must  necessarily  govern  to  a  certain  extent  the  plans 
and  construction  of  such  a  building,  and  the  details  of  arrange- 
ment for  the  various  departments  and  the  necessary  apparatus  and 
fittings,  must  vary  according  to  the  different  methods  employed  in 
doing  the  work  on  different  roads.  So  it  appears  that  in  the  face 
of. these  varying  conditions,  we  can  only  consider  under  the  head 
of  "The  Ideal  Shop"  a  general  plan  for  its  lay-out,  subject  to 
changes  which  the  local  conditions  would  make  necessary.  In 
fact,  the  subject  of  this  article  might  have  been  more  properly: 
"A  Few  Suggestions  for  an  Ideal  Shop." 

In  the  first  place,  "Let  there  be  light,"  as  it  was  in  the  begin- 
ning. This  matter  should  have  due  consideration  from  the  be- 
ginning to  the  end  of  the  plans.  Daylight  is  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  we  enjoy.    Why  shut  it  out?    It  costs  nothing,  and  we 


7Q4 


STREET 


RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


PLAN  OF 


MODEL  SHOP 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


705 


cannot  have  too  much  of  it  in  our  shop  if  it  is  of  the  right  quality. 
Men  can  do  more  work  and  better  work  because  of  it,  and  any 
extra  expense  incurred  to  obtain  abundance  of  good  light  in  a 
workshop  is  money  well  spent. 

To  this  end,  I  think  all  will  agree,  that  the  ideal  shop  should 
consist  of  a  building  or  buildings  one  story  high. 

As  shown  in  the  accompanying  general  plan  and  section  of  an 
arrangement  of  buildings  which  appeals  to  me  as  one  that  would 
be  convenient,  light  and  reasonable  in  cost,  and  which  I  submit 
for  your  consideration  and  criticism,  the  shop  consists  of  two  one- 
story  buildings  on  either  side  of  a  transfer  track.  This  plan  is 
laid  out  regardless  of  size  or  shape  of  lot,  although  this  condition 
we  will  probably  never  enjoy  in  actual  practice.  I  should  prefer 
a  depth  of  building  sufficient  to  accommodate  two  double-truck, 
or  three  single-truck  cars  on  a  track,  which  would  permit  of  shift- 
ing a  car  without  disturbing  more  than  one  or  two  others. 

For  the  main  buildings,  I  would  advise  brick  construction,  with 
a  plank  roof,  covered  with  tar  and  gravel.  The  roof  covering  the 
transfer  track  can  be  built  entirely  of  metal,  in  which  case  the  two 
main  shop  buildings  would  not  be  connected  by  any  inflammable 
material. 

Granolithic  cement  makes  a  good,  clean  and  durable  floor.  The 
only  objection  that  I  know  of  is  that  workmen,  when  obliged  to 
stand  on  it  all  day,  complain  that  it  affects  their  feet  and  legs. 
Grooved  rails  should  be  used  with  this  floor  to  prevent  chipping 
by  the  wheel  flanges.  Tracks  should  be  well  spread,  to  give 
plenty  of  room  between  cars.  I  have  found  13-ft.  centers  to  be 
very  comfortable. 

Partitions  separating  the  different  departments  can  be  built  of 


in  New  Orleans  or  San  Francisco.  Therefore,  I  will  venture  to 
suggest  only  a  few  points  which  I  think  may  be  applicable  in 
general  and  all  important  to  the  successful  maintenance  of  elec- 
trical equipment,  together  with  a  brief  description  of  methods  of 
inspection  and  repairs  of  electrical  equipment  on  the  Boston 
Elevated  Railway. 

The  education  of  the  motorman  may  not  be  considered  as 
within  the  scope  of  this  paper.  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  fact  that  the 
manner  in  which  the  car  is  handled  has  a  very  material  bearing  on 
the  maintenance  of  the  electrical  equipment;  therefore  its  care 
should  begin  at  this  point.  The  mechanical  department  should 
work  hand  in  hand  with  the  operating  department  for  the  proper 
education  and  discipline  of  the  motorman,  and  the  running  down 
of  ignorant  and  careless  handling  of  equipment.  The  advancing 
of  controller  too  quickly,  running  on  resistance  points,  unneces- 
sary reversing,  failing  to  cut  out  defective  motor,  the  substitution 
of  "any  old  thing"  for  a  fuse,  improper  closing  of  switches,  run- 
ning at  high  speed  through  water,  and  running  with  both  power 
and  brakes  on,  are  a  few  of  the  things  that  bring  trouble  and  ex- 
pense to  the  electrical  equipment.  Money  expended  for  the  in- 
struction and  inspection  of  motormen  is,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  well  spent. 

Defects  in  the  equipment,  however  slight,  should  be  promptly 
reported  to  the  proper  authority,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  they 
cannot  be  overlooked.  This  can  best  be  accomplished  by  a  sys- 
tem of  written  reports,  and  instead  of  the  motorman  or  conductor 
turning  in  a  car  with  the  verbal  report  that  "This  car  is  on  the 
bum;  it  was  no  good  when  I  took  it,"  they  should  be  required  to 
report  on  a  form,  provided  for  that  purpose,  the  nature  of  the 


SCALE  1IN.=  20FT 


CROSS  SECTION  OF  MODEL  SHOP 


a  single  layer  of  four  compartment  vitrified  building  tile,  which 
can  be  taken  down  easily,  as  changes  and  extensions  become 
necessary,  and  used  over  again. 

Swing  windows,  operated  from  the  ground  floor  by  a  system  of 
rods  and  gears,  as  shown  in  the  plan,  will  give  both  light  and 
ventilation  to  this  portion  of  the  building.  I  find  swing  doors 
with  two  truss  rods  to  be  most  serviceable  and  durable.  They 
take  up  room  when  open,  however,  and  no  doubt  for  this  reason 
many  would  prefer  the  metal  shutter. 

Heating,  I  think,  can  best  be  accomplished  by  steam,  unless  the 
climate  is  mild,  when  a  hot-air  circulating  system  might  be 
preferable.  A  good  sprinkler  system  should  be  installed  in  the 
shop  buildings,  with  a  hydrant  system  for  hose  in  addition. 

Of  course,  our  ideal  shop  would  be  fitted  with  the  most  ap- 
proved types  of  cranes,  air  hoists  and  general  machinery  for  doing 
good  work  expeditiously,  and  a  storage  yard  adjoining  will  be 
found  quite  necessary  for  wheels,  scrap  iron,  etc.,  and  should 
contain  a  good  platform  scale. 

 ♦♦♦  

MAINTENANCE  AND  INSPECTION  OF  ELECTRICAL 
EQUIPMENT  ,  , 


BY  JOHN  LINDALL 
General  Foreman  of  Shops,  Elevated  Division,  Boston  Elevated  Railway, 
Boston,  Mass. 


The  difference  between  success  and  failure  in  the  "Maintenance 
and  Inspection  of  Electrical  Equipment"  very  often  means  divi- 
dends or  no  dividends.  Therefore,  it  behooves  the  responsible 
head  of  this  department  to  give  much  thought  and  careful  study 
to  this  part  of  the  work,  ever  bearing  in  mind  the  old  maxim,  "A 
stitch  in  time,"  etc.,  which  is  never  better  applied  than  in  the  care 
of  electrical  equipment. 

I  realize  that  the  time  allowed  for  the  preparation  of  this  paper 
will  not  permit  me  to  go  into  details  of  inspection  and  repairs 
of  electrical  equipment,  even  if  I  were  capable  of  so  doing,  and  it 
would  be  presumptuous  indeed  for  me  to  attempt  to  tell  the  mem- 
bers of  this  association  what  is  the  best  practice  in  this  line,  as 
climatic  and  operating  conditions  vary  to  such  an  extent  that 
what  is  good  practice  in  New  England  might  be  very  poor  policy 


defect,  and  in  case  of  serious  trouble,  the  location  on  the  line  at 
which  it  occurred,  with  a  brief  statement  of  the  conditions  of 
operation,  etc.,  at  that  time.  This  report  not  only  has  a  morally 
beneficial  effect  upon  the  motorman  or  the  conductor,  but  when 
sent  to  the  mechanical  department  with  the  defective  car,  it  is  of 
material  assistance  in  locating  and  determining  the  cause  of  the 
trouble.  When  evidence  of  improper  handling  or  carelessness  of 
men  is  found,  the  report,  with  foreman's  statement  to  that  effect, 
should  be  forwarded  to  the  superintendent,  where  the  question 
of  instruction  or  discipline  is  decided. 

The  proper  recording  and  tabulating  of  defects  is  very  essential 
to  the  successful  maintenance  of  equipment.  Simply  recording 
the  various  failures  each  day  is  not  sufficient,  as  the  value  lies  in 
being  able  to  make  quick  comparisons,  by  week,  month  or  year, 
and  to  see  at  a  glance  whether  the  various  failures  are  on  the 
increase  or  decrease,  and  calling  attention  to  the  points  which  are 
the  most  in  need  of  improvement.  The  history  and  record  of  de- 
fects of  a  piece  of  apparatus  should  also  always  be  at  hand  and 
consulted  by  the  man  whose  judgment  determines  the  course  of 
treatment.  I  am  very  sure  that  the  report  prepared  by  the  joint 
committee  of  Accountants  and  Master  Mechanics  will  contain 
timely  and  valuable  information  along  this  line. 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  that  we  have  to  deal  with 
in  this  problem  is  the  education  of  electrical  inspectors  and  repair- 
men. The  writer  is  of  the  opinion  that  sufficient  attention  has  not 
been  given  to  obtaining,  instructing  and  retaining  in  the  service 
competent  men,  and  when  we  consider  that  about  two-thirds  of 
the  cost  of  maintenance  is  chargeable  to  labor  account,  it  certainly 
seems  that  too  much  consideration  can  not  be  given  to  this  point. 
The  development  of  good  men  to  care  for  the  equipment  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  development  of  the  equipment  itself.  There- 
fore, greater  inducements  should  be  held  out  to  attract  reliable 
and  capable  young  men  to  the  service.  This  is  not  merely  a 
question  of  wages — congenial  surroundings  are  necessary.  I  have 
recently  had  occasion  to  visit  certain  shops  and  car  houses,  the 
equipment  of  which  was  comparatively  new,  yet  the  conditions 
were  such  that  no  self-respecting  man  would  stop  in  them.  Shops 
should  be  properly  laid  out  for  the  work,  kept  clean,  well  lighted, 
and  heated  in  cold  weather.  The  work  necessarily  being  dirty, 
lockers  for  clothing,  as  well  as  ample  toilet  accommodations, 
should  be  provided,  which  would  enable  the  men  to  leave  the 
shops  appearing  clean   and   respectable.     These  are  not  luxu- 


706 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


ries,  but  actual  necessities,  which  no  well  regulated  company  can 
afford  to  be  without.  They  mean  a  better  class  of  men,  better 
work  and  more  of  it.  Work  should  be  laid  out  in  such  a  manner 
that  defective  or  careless  work  can  be  traced  back,  without  any 
question  as  to  what  man  is  responsible.  The  men  should  under- 
stand this,  also  that  a  record  is  kept  of  the  cost  of  work  per- 
formed by  the  different  men,  and  that  they  will  be  held  responsible 
for  results.  They  should  be  brought  to  realize  that  advancement 
does  not  depend  merely  on  length  of  service,  but  on  their  record 
for  obtaining  good  results  at  the  least  cost. 

Master  mechanics  and  foremen  in  figuring  to  accomplish  the 
greatest  amount  of  work  to-day,  should  also  consider  the  ques- 
tion of  making  men  for  the  needs  of  the  future,  and  should  make 
it  a  point  to  have  men  fitted  for  any  vacancy  that  may  occur. 
They  should  realize  that  there  is  even  more  credit  in  turning  out 
good  men  than  there  is  in  turning  out  good  work,  and  a  man 
who  will  not  impart  knowledge  to  his  subordinates,  for  fear  that 
they  will  know  as  much  as  he  himself  knows,  is  not  worthy  of  the 
position  which  he  holds.  Men  should  be  taught  why — as  well  as 
how — to  do  work,  and  to  work  from  cause  and  effect.  They 
should  read  the  effects  to  find  causes,  and  not  guess  at  them.  A 
controller  which  has  flashed  shows,  just  as  clearly  as  if  photo- 
graphed, the  position  of  the  cylinder  at  the  time  of  the  trouble 
(if  care  is  taken  to  note  the  evidence  before  it  is  destroyed)  and 
it  is  then  easy  to  determine  whether  it  is  a  case  of  hot-touch,  in- 
sulation breakdown,  or  lack  of  current-handling  capacity. 

The  practice  of  some  companies  of  supplying  railroad  literature 
to  lobbies,  for  the  use  of  motormen  and  conductors,  can  not  be 
too  highly  commended,  but  I  would  suggest  that  if  this  privilege 
were  extended  to  inspectors  and  repair  men,  it  would  be  appreci- 
ated and  bring  good  returns.  Of  course  the  periodicals  would 
not  be  read  during  working  hours,  but  should  be  made  to  some 
extent  circulating- — one  man  taking  a  paper  to  his  home  for  a  day 
or  two,  then  pass  it  along  to  another  man.  In  this  manner  an 
opportunity  would  be  afforded  for  men  to  keep  posted  on  the 
latest  improvements  and  practices,  and  it  would  also  stimulate  an 
interest  in  their  work. 

The  inspection  of  electrical  equipment,  whether  it  be  on  a  time 
basis  or  mileage  plan^  should  be  systematic,  and  not  considered 
as  something  to  be  done  when  it  is  convenient  and  let  go  undone 
when  it  is  not.  The  question  of  how  often  to  inspect  depends 
entirely  upon  the  equipment  and  conditions  of  operation  and  can 
best  be  determined  by  experiment.  It  is  possible  to  do  too  much 
inspecting,  and  a  great  deal  of  money  can  be  wasted  in  this  man- 
ner, but  with  careful  tests  to  determine  how  long  the  different 
parts  of  equipment  will  run  successfully  without  attention,  and  a 
system  which  insures  the  necessary  attention  being  given  at  -the 
required  time,  the  chances  of  failure  in  service  and  cost  of  inspec- 
tion are  reduced  to  a  minimum.  We  must,  not,  however,  lose 
sight  of  the  fact  that  the  primary  object  of  inspection  is  to  pre- 
vent failure  of  equipment  in  service,  and  that  we  should  weigh 
the  cost  of  inspection  against  the  direct  loss  in  revenue,  wages  of 
trainmen  while  handling  crippled  cars  and  loss  of  patronage  due 
to  interrupted  service.  I  might  also  add  the  loss  caused  by  the 
line  becoming  blockaded  during  snow  . storms  on  account  of  fail- 
ures in  electrical  equipment  of  cars  or  plows;  and  we  would  not 
have  to  go  farther  back  than  last  winter  to  find  a  number  of  cases 
where  the  line  would  not  have  become  tied  up  if  that  car  or  plow 
had  not  "laid  down"  at  a  critical  moment,  thereby  causing  a 
blockade  which  might  have  been  prevented  by  proper  inspection. 

Under  the  system  of  inspection  on  the  Boston  Elevated  Rail- 
way surface  lines,  trolleys,  switches,  controllers  and  motors  are 
inspected  after  three  days'  service,  with  the  exception  of  brushes 
and  armature  grease-cups  of  some  W.  P.  motors,  which  are  in 
severe  service,  and  are  inspected  every  day.  In  general,  this  in- 
spection is  as  follows: 

Trolleys;  to  see  that  pole  is  straight  and  securely  fastened,  that 
the  harp  is  tight  in  the  pole,  and  that  there  are  at  least  three  days' 
wear  in  the  wheel;  that  contact  springs,  washers,  bushings  and 
spindles  are  not  seriously  worn  and  are  properly  lubricated. 

Controllers;  to  see  that  they  are  clean  and  properly  lubricated, 
that  contacts  make  and  break  at  proper  points,  that  fingers  and 
tips  are  sufficient  for  at  least  three  days'  wear  and  that  they  are 
not  rough  and  cutting;  that  cut-out  switches  work  properly,  and 
that  wires  are  firm  and  show  no  evidence  of  heating  at  terminals. 

Main  switches,  fuse  boxes  and  lightning  arresters;  to  see  that 
contacts  are  sufficient  and  in  good  condition,  and  that  wires  are 
secure  in  terminals. 

Resistance;  to  see  that  they  are  not  seriously  burned,  that  they 
are  secure,  and  connections  firm. 

Motors;  to  see  that  connections  and  leads  are  secure  and  not 
chafing,  also  that  brushes  are  not  broken  and  are  good  for  three 
days'  wear,  that  the  brush  holder  insulation  is  clean,  and  that 
there  is  sufficient  tension  in  springs,  that  commutators  are  clean 
and  smooth,  that  bearings  are  properly  lubricated,  that  there  is 


sufficient  clearance  between  armatures  and  pole-pieces,  that  pinion 
and  gears  are  tight,  that  motor  gear  case  and  axle  collar  bolts  are 
tight,  and  that  the  casings  are  not  cracked. 

The  monthly  inspection  consisis  of  opening  up  motors  for  in- 
spection and  cleaning,  lubricating  and  cleaning  trolley  stands  and 
trolley  catchers.  Controllers  are  taken  apart  yearly,  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  painted  and  insulating  material  shellaced.  The  wires 
are  also  inspected  yearly  for  insulation  weakness. 

The  inspection  of  the  electrical  equipment  on  the  elevated  trains 
differs  from  the  surface  car  inspection  but  slightly.  Contact 
shoes,  switches,  controllers  and  motors  are  inspected  twice  a  week 
— no  inspection  work  being  done  on  Sunday.  The  inspection  of 
controllers  with  the  multiple-unit  system  includes  the  inspection 
of  master  controllers,  pilot  motors  and  relays,  and  testing  them. 
The  motor  compressor  is  inspected  weekly. 

I  have  already  suggested  that  the  best  system  of  inspection  is 
one  that  is  frequent  enough  to  take  care  properly  of  the  equip- 
ment with  the  least  inconvenience  to  the  service.  This  requires 
that  when  a  train  is  due  for  inspection  it  should  be  complete  and 
all  parts  requiring  inspection  should  be  attended  to  promptly,  so 
that  the  train  may  be  returned  to  service  and  other  trains  due  for 
inspection  taken  off  without  interference  with  train  schedule.  It 
frequently  occurs  that  an  inspector  finds  a  part  of  the  equipment 
which  would  require  considerable  time  to  repair  properly,  and  in 
order  to  avoid  the  necessity  of  hurried  or  make-shift  repairs  or 
inspection,  the  system  in  vogue  on  the  Boston  Elevated  does  not 
require  the  inspector  to  do  anything  but  inspect  and  make  very 
light  repairs.  Equipment  requiring  extra  attention  is  reported 
to  the  foreman,  who  details  repair  men  to  that  work,  therefore 
no  excuse  is  accepted  from  inspectors  for  allowing  equipment  to 
go  by  which  is  in  need  of  attention.  They  are  held  strictly  re- 
sponsible, and  are  required  to  report  over  their  signatures  the 
numbers  of  the  cars  inspected  each  day — which  practically 
amounts  to  a  written  guarantee  of  their  work.  The  inspection  is 
made  by  two  crews,  each  crew  being  responsible  for  an  equal 
number  of  cars;  in  this  manner  accurate  comparisons  can  be 
made  and  quite  a  healthy  competition  aroused,  each  man  trying  to 
make  his  record  just  as  good  or  a  little  better  than  the  other 
fellow's. 

The  manufacturing  companies  have  evidently  given  the  ques- 
tion of  inspection  considerable  thought,  particularly  in  their  latest 
types  of  multiple-unit  control,  where  necessary  inspection  has 
been  reduced  very  materially. 

No  repairs  are  made  to  electrical  equipment  at  the  car  houses 
of  the  Boston  Elevated,  except  the  changing  of  defective  parts. 
Switches,  rheostats,  control  cylinders,  armatures  and  fields  are 
sent  to  the  Albany  Street  shops  for  repairs;  where  also  are  manu- 
factured for  the  company's  use,  field  and  armature  coils,  com- 
mutators, motor  bearings,  brush  holders,  trolley  wheels,  contact 
fingers,  plates,  bases,  etc. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  at  this  time  a  change 
which  we  have  made  in  the  usual  type  of  contact  fingers  and  cylin- 
der plates.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  very  small  percentage  of  copper  which  is  actually  consumed 
from  plates  and  fingers  of  the  cylinder  type  of  controllers,  as  com- 
pared with  the  amount  which  is  scrapped,  on  account  of  the  neces- 
sity of  maintaining  the  points  of  contact  at  their  proper  degree 
for  the  successful  operation  of  the  controller,  or  to  the  serious 
proportion  in  which  this  expense  grows  with  the  increase  of  cur- 
rent to  be  handled.  I  will,  however,  ask  you  to  consider  this  in 
connection  with  a  very  simple  but  effective  means  of  reducing 
this  cost,  which  has  been  found  in  the  adoption  of  tips  for  both 
contact  plates  and  fingers,  making  it  necessary  to  renew  only  that 
part  which  is  consumed  or  damaged  by  the  arc  in  breaking  cur- 
rent. The  fingers  are  made  of  cast  bronze  of  about  the  usual 
shape  and  are  recessed  on  the  Inside,  at  the  end,  to  receive  the 
copper  tip  which  is  secured  by  two  C.  S.  machine  screws.  The 
tip  copper  is  drawn  in  bars  of  the  required  cross  section,  and 
the  only  work  necessary  is  the  cutting  in  proper  lengths  and 
drilling  and  tapping  for  the  two  machine  screws.  The  application 
of  the  plate  tip  is  still  simpler.  New  plates  are  not  required,  as 
the  old  plates  with  the  ends  worn  to  the  limit  are  put  in  a  milling 
machine  and  the  ends  cut  off  and  a  groove  cut  for  interlocking 
with  the  tip,  which  is  drawn  of  proper  shape  and  cross  section, 
so  the  only  work  necessary  on  it  is  the  cutting  off  in  the  required 
lengths,  the  same  kind  of  tip  being  used  on  all  controller  plates. 
This  device  has  been  in  successful  operation  for  nearly  a  year  and 
has  been  patented. 

To  the  men  responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  motors,  there  is 
probably  nothing  which  has  given  more  worry,  or  been  so  thor- 
oughly non-responsive  to  local  treatment,  as  motor  flash-overs. 
In  the  writer's  experience,  this  trouble  developed  with  multipolar 
motors  and  the  higher  speed  and  voltages,  and  has  been  present 
more  or  less  in  all  motors  of  this  type  under  the  above  mentioned 
conditions.    Elevated  service  with  multiple-unit  system  and  third- 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


707 


rail  feeders,  etc.,  is  particularly  favorable  for  producing  conditions 
which  contribute  generously  to  the  combination  effecting  flash- 
overs,  and  it  frequently  occurs  that,  motors  on  all  the  cars  in  a 
train  flash-over  at  the  same  time.  Engineers  are  at  present  giving 
this  matter  thorough  study.  The  principal  remedy  appears  to  lie 
in  increasing  the  size  of  the  motor  so  as  to  render  it  less  sensi- 
tive, and  we  trust  that  in  the  near  future  motors  will  be  manufac- 
tured which  will  not  flash-over.  This  will  surely  effect  a  con- 
siderable saving  in  their  maintenance,  as  burnt  brush  holders, 
springs,  armature  and  field  coils,  resulting  from  flash-overs,  is  not 
a  small  item. 

 »♦♦  

STEAM  TURBINES 


BY  RICHARD  H.  RICE 


The  field  of  usefuless  for  the  steam  turbine  as  a  prime  mover  is 
not  confined  to  large  units.  The  first  turbines  of  Parsons  and  of 
Curtis  were  small,  but  on  account  of  the  improvement  in  economies 
to  be  effected  by  the  mere  increase  in  capacity,  development  rapidly 
proceeded  in  this  direction.  The  small  units  have  not  been  neglected, 
however,  and  various  sizes  of  small  units  directly  connected  to  gen- 
erators have  been  produced  and  placed  in  commercial  operation. 
The  problems  of  design  which  have  to  be  solved  in  the  small  units 
are  of  a  somewhat  different  character  from  those  inherent  in  the 
large  sizes.  In  order  to  keep  the  dimensions  and  cost  of  apparatus 
at  a  proportionate  figure  the  diameters  of  bucket  wheels  must  be 
kept  small,  and  this  leads  to  a  comparatively  high  speed.  These 
speeds  must  be  chosen  with  reference  to  the  possibilities  of  gen- 
erator design  in  order  that  the  units  may  be  direct-connected. 
Therefore,  a  proper  balance  must  be  struck  between  the  require- 
ments of  the  turbine  and  those  of  the  generator.  The  speed  neces- 
sary in  the  small  units  (from  1800  to  5000  r.  p.  m.)  give  rise  to  a 
set  of  conditions  not  met  with  in  large  units  and  certain  differ- 
ences in  design  have  arisen  from  this  fact. 

The  Curtis  principle  is  useful  in  keeping  speeds  of  rotation  down, 
and  all  the  Curtis  turbines  are  made  without  gearing  for  connec- 
tion to  generators.  The  accompanying  table  gives  the  sizes  de- 
veloped below  500  kw  rated  capacity  with  the  principal  particulars 
of  the  design.  A  number  of  these  small  units  are  in  commercial 
operation  and  giving  good  satisfaction  and  a  still  greater  number 
are  in  course  of  manufacture. 


TABLE 


Rated 
Capacity, 
Kw 

Speed  of 

Shaft, 
R.  P.  M, 

Condensing; 

or  Non- 
condensing 

No.  of 
Stages 

Current 

Poles 

Voltage 

1% 

5,000 

Non-cond. 

1 

Dir.  Cur. 

2 

60 

15 

4,000-4.500 

1 

2 

RO-125 

25 

3,600 

1 

S 

125-250 

75 

2,400 

N-c.  &  Cond. 

2 

4 

125-250 

100 

3,600 

Cond. 

3 

Alt.  Cur. 

2 

2,300 

150 

2,000 

N-c.  &  Cond. 

3  &  4 

Dir.  Cur. 

4 

125-250 

300 

1,800 

N-c.  &  Cond. 

3  &  i 

D.  C.  &  A.  C. 

4 

250,500  &  2,300 

It  will  be  noted  that  attention  has  been  devoted  to  the  develop- 
ment of  both  non-condensing  and  condensing  types,  the  three 
smaller  sizes  being  for  non-condensing  service  solely. 

Some  of  the  special  problems  which  require  solution  on  these 
sizes  are  balance,  construction  and  lubrication  of  bearings,  flexible 
couplings  between  turbine  and  generator  for  sizes  of  75  kw  and 
above,  and  the  commutator  construction  on  direct-current  appa- 
ratus. It  is  possible  to  balance  the  turbine  parts  statically  with 
success,  to  operate  at  the  speeds  "given,  since  the  wheels  may  be 
balanced  individually  and  collectively,  and  the  metal  of  each  wheel 
is  disposed  in  the  form  of  a  flat  plate.  With  the  generator,  how- 
ever, this  condition  is  not  present,  and,  furthermore,  we  have  the 
liability  of  the  generator  or  winding  undergoing  some  change  after 
being  put  into  service,  due  to  heating  and  other  causes.  For  this 
reason  it  is  necessary  to  balance  the  generator  parts  by  rotating 
them  in  a  vertical  position  and  suspended  by  a  flexible  shaft.  The 
rotating  parts  in  this  system  of  balancing  take  up  rotation  about 
the  center  of  gyration  of  the  system  and  by  the  addition  of  bal- 
ancing weights  at  various  points  this  center  is  made  coincident 
with  the  center  of  rotation  of  the  shaft.  Two  balancings  of 
generator  parts  are  usually  necessary ;  one  before,  the  other  after 
the  generator  has  been  subjected  to  a  heat-run  and  a  high  speed 
run,  the  latter  being  made  at  speed  which  is  somewhat  higher 
than  the  normal  running  speed  of  the  unit.  Due  to  the  symmetrical 
shape  of  the  Curtis  buckets  a  very  small  amount  of  end  thrust  has 
to  be  taken  care  of;  whatever  thrust  exists  being  due  to  acci- 
dental variations  in  bucket  or  nozzle  shapes,  and  this  is  easily 
taken  up  by  hardened  steel  thrust  washers  placed  on  each  end  of 
one  of  the  bearings.    No  balancing  pistons  are  necessary. 


The  question  of  bearings  is,  of  course,  a  very  important  one 
and  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a  great  deal  of  investigation. 
The  bearings  now  in  use  are  supported  on  spheres,  so  that  the 
bearings  are  self-aligning.  The  linings  are  made  in  two  parts 
and  lubrication  is  effected  by  forced  feed  from  a  pump  which  is 
geared  to  the  main  shaft  of  the  turbine  and  supplies  oil  at  a  pres- 
sure of  from  3  lbs.  to  6  lbs.  per  sq.  in.  The  circulation  of  the  oil 
is  constant,  passing  from  the  pump  to  the  bearing,  thence  to  a 
reservoir  in  the  pump  chamber,  from  which  it  again  goes  to  the 


130 


Load  Street  Ry.Jouinal 

ECONOMY   CURVES   OF  NON-CONDENSING  TURBINES 


pump.  It  has  not  been  found  necessary  to  provide  any  cooling 
arrangement  for  the  oil,  and  a  very  small  amount  of  make-up  oil 
is  necessary. 

The  15  kw  set  was  first  used  for  train  lighting  service  and  a 
number  are  now  in  use  for  this  purpose.  Some  are  placed  on  the 
buffer  beam  of  the  locomotive,  and  others  are  installed  in  the 
baggage  car.  The  latest  forms  are  also  so  equipped  as  to  be 
capable  of  being  but  on  top  of  the  boiler  just  in  front  of  the  steam 
dome  when  desired.  The  conditions  of  service  are  widely  differ- 
ent on  the  locomotive  and  in  the  baggage  car.  In  the  former  case 
the  turbine  is  supplied  with  steam  at  175  lbs.  to  200  lbs  pressure 
and  exposed  to  great  variations  of  temperature.  Some  trouble 
was  experienced  last  winter  with  the  sets  mounted  on  the  buffer 
beams,  due  to  congealing  of  the  oil  circulation,  but  this  was  over- 
come by  the  use  of  a  special  oil.  It  is  not  expected  that  this 
trouble  will  be  met  with  in  the  sets  which  are  mounted  on  top  of 


ECONOMY  CURVE  OF  100-KW  CONDENSING  TURBINE 


the  boiler.  Dust  and  cinders  are  very  troublesome  on  the  locomo- 
tive, and  the  machine  is  enclosed  as  much  as  possible  to  prevent 
their  access  to  the  vital  parts.  It  is,  however,  necessary  to  take  in  a 
large  quantity  of  air  for  the  purpose  of  cooling  the  generator,  and 
this  air  necessarily  carries  with  it  a  certain  proportion  of  fine 
dust,  which,  however,  does  not  prevent  satisfactory  operation. 

In  the  baggage  car  the  turbine  is  normally  supplied  with  steam 
at  80  lbs.  pressure,  but  for  various  reasons  the  pressure  actually 
realized  varies  from  this  figure  down  to  40  lbs.  While  the  turbine 
can  be  kept  cleaner  and  is  less  exposed  to  temperature  changes  it 


708  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  [Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


must  be  cared  for  by  entirely  unskilled  attendants.  The  most  of 
the  train  lighting  sets  now  installed  are  placed  in  this  manner, 
and  the  fact  that  their  operation  is  satisfactory  is  good  evidence 
of  the  small  amount  of  care  needed. 

Some  of  the  25-kw  sets  are  also  used  for  train  lighting  in  the 
baggage  car,  and  both  these  sets  are  well  adapted  for  the  exci- 
tation of  the  fields  of  large  generators,  as  well  as  for  general  pur- 
poses. The  floor  space  required  is  small,  the  regulation  is  equal 
to  that  of  reciprocating  engines,  and  the  sets  are  automatically 
lubricated  and  require  little  attention. 

The  il/2,  15  and  25  kw  turbines  are  governed  by  throttle  valves, 
these  being  of  the  piston  type,  moved  directly  by  a  very  sensitive 
and  powerful  centrifugal  governor  with  spring.  The  nozzles  are 
therefore  supplied  with  steam  at  pressures  varying  with  the 
load.  The  governor  joints  are  supplied  with  knife  edges  and  do 
not  require  lubrication.  All  of  these  machines  are  of  the  single- 
stage  type,  having  a  single  group  of  nozzles  with  single  sets  of 
buckets,  consisting  of  three  rows  of  moving  buckets  with  corre- 
sponding rows  of  stationary  buckets. 

The  larger  sizes  are  multi-stage  and  have  only  two  rows  of 
moving  buckets  per  stage.  The  method  of  governor  control  on 
these  larger  sizes  is  somewhat  different  from  that  just  described. 
One  or  more  nozzle  groups  are  supplied  with  steam  from  a  single 
poppet  valve  and  a  sufficient  number  of  poppet  valves  is  supplied  to 
furnish  the  total  number  of  nozzles  necessary  for  developing  the 
capacity  of  the  turbine.  Each  poppet  valve  is  therefore  the  means 
of  controlling  the  admission  of  steam  to  one  or  more  nozzles  and 
the  governor,  by  means  of  an  intermediate  mechanism,  opens  or 
closes  a  succession  of  poppet  valves  as  the  demands  of  the  load 
require. 

Two  types  of  intermediate  mechanism  for  operating  these  pop- 
pet valves  have  been  developed  and  constructed.  The  75-kw  tur- 
bine is  supplied  with  one  of  these  types,  consisting  of  a  hydraulic 
cylinder  the  controlling  valve  of  which  is  directly  actuated  by  the 
governor.  A  movement  of  the  controlling  valve  caused  by  a 
change  in  the  speed  admits  oil  to  one  side  or  the  other  of  the  piston 
of  this  cylinder  and  a  movement  of  the  cylinder  results,  through 
the  intermediate  mechanism,  in  the  opening  or  closing  of  corre- 
sponding poppet  valves.  While  the  governor  remains  in  any  given 
position  the  hydraulic  cylinder  is  also  stationary  and  is  locked  in  its 
position  by  confining  the  oil  in  both  ends  of  the  cylinder.  A  move- 
ment of  the  governor  produces  a  corresponding  movement  of  the 
hydraulic  piston,  and  when  this  movement  has  taken  place  the  parts 
come  to  rest.  There  is  sufficient  lost  motion  and  spring  in  the  parts 
to  ensure  that  the  valve,  when  opening  or  closing,  will  be  moved 
suddenly  a  sufficient  amount  to  prevent  too  much  throttling  at  the 
valve,  and  the  nozzle  works  therefore  at  high  efficiency  at  all  times. 

The  150  kw  turbine  is  supplied  with  a  mechanical  valve  gear,  the 
valves  being  actuated  by  gearing  which  derives  its  motion  from  the 
main  shaft.  The  governor  control  operates  a  mechanical  device 
which  produces  the  same  effect  on  the  poppet  valves  as  that  above 
described. 

It  will  be  noted  from  the  table  that  nearly  all  these  machines  are 
constructed  with  direct-current  generators  with  a  comparatively 
small  number  of  alternating-current  sizes.  Other  sizes  of  alternat- 
ing-current sets  will  be  constructed  in  due  course.  The  operation 
of  direct  current  commutators  at  the  speeds  in  question  has  neces- 
sitated the  development  of  various  special  features  in  the  commuta- 
tor. Carbon  brushes  are  used  throughout,  the  best  form  of  brush 
being  one  which  has  been  treated  without  lubricant,  and  with  this 
form  of  brush  commutation  is  very  satisfactory.  On  account  of  the 
high  speed  arid  great  length  of  the  commutator  bars  they  are  pro- 
vided with  nickel  steel  shrink  rings  at  the  ends  and  middle  of  their 
lengths  to  prevent  deflection.  These  rings  are  shrunk  on  over  in- 
sulation and  provide  a  very  effective  means  of  supporting  the  com- 
mutator bars  and  also  have  the  advantage  of  giving  a  greater  wear- 
ing depth  of  copper  than  the  usual  construction.  The  steam  con- 
sumption curves  of  these  small  turbines  differ  somewhat  in  char- 
acteristics from  those  of  large  turbines  of  the  same  type,  in  having 
a  comparatively  high  steam  consumption  at  light  loads.  This  is 
because  the  fixed  losses,  such  as  bearing  friction  and  windage  of 
the  wheels  are  a  greater  proportion  of  the  total  output. 

All  of  these  turbines  are  of  the  horizontal  type,  the  vertical  type 
commencing  with  the  500  kw  and  proceeding  upward.  The  three 
smaller  sizes  given  in  the  table  have  two  bearings.  The  turbine 
wheels  are  overhung  on  the  end  of  the  shaft  and  the  shaft  is  in  one 
piece,  with  the  turbine  and  armature  both  mounted  on  it.  Begin- 
ning with  the  75-kw  size  and  upward  the  shafts  are  in  two  pieces 
and  the  sets  have  four  bearings. 

In  the  small  sizes,  where  the  wheels  are  overhung  the  front  end 
of  the  case  may  be  taken  off  to  obtain  access  to  the  wheels  and  in- 
termediates, and  in  the  larger  sizes  where  four  bearings  are  pro- 
vided the  upper  half  of  the  casing  is  removable  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. 

In  the  four-bearing  sets  the  generator  and  turbine  shafts  are 


united  by  a  flexible  coupling  which  permits  some  little  inaccuracy 
in  the  alignment  of  the  two  shafts  without  affecting  the  operation 
of  the  set.  After  extended  experience  with  various  forms  of  these 
couplings  a  construction  involving  the  use  of  metal  parts  only  has 
been  found  to  be  the  most  satisfactory.  This  coupling  is  a  modi- 
fication of  the  Oldham  coupling,  the  necessary  flexibility  being  se- 
cured by  the  use  of  links  turning  on  pins. 

Some  progress  has  been  made  in  the  application  of  turbines  to 
driving  other  forms  of  apparatus  than  electric  generators.  This 
problem  involves  the  finding  of  satisfactory  methods  of  speed  re- 
duction to  fit  the  turbine  for  coupling  to  slow-moving  apparatus. 
Some  of  our  small  turbines  are  in  operation  with  a  belt  drive  with 
a  fair  amount  of  satisfaction.  Other  forms  of  gearing  are  under 
construction  and  experiment,  and  it  is  safe  to  predict  that  we  shall 
soon  be  able  to  couple  the  smaller  sizes  at  least  of  our  turbines 
to  slow-moving  apparatus  with  satisfaction. 

The  demand  for  small  units  is  large  and  in  cases  where  elec- 
tricity is  to  be  generated  the  steam  turbine,  judging  from  experi- 
ence with  the  turbines  described,  seems  to  fill  the  requirement 
better  than  any  form  of  reciprocating  engine  in  general  use.  While 
these  machines  are  by  no  means  perfected,  they  are  practical  and 
satisfactory  machines  and  will  carry  any  character  of  load,  variable 
or  steady,  with  good  regulation  and  economy. 

Under  variable  loads  these  turbines  undergo  no  deterioration  in 
economy.  The  steam  consumption  for  average  load  falls  upon  the 
curve  obtained  by  testing  with  steady  loads,  while  it  is  well  known 
that  reciprocating  engines  fall  off  in  economy  under  these  condi- 
tions. The  steam  consumption  of  reciprocating  engines  has 
reached  about  its  lowest  point,  while  that  of  the  turbines  is  con- 
stantly being  improved.  The  performances  given  in  this  paper 
must  be  regarded  simply  as  starting  points  from  which  improve- 
ments already  in  sight  will  proceed  in  the  direction  of  better 
efficiency. 

 +++  

STEAM  TURBINE  POWER  PLANTS— NOTES  ON  THEIR 
EQUIPMENT  AND  OPERATION, 


BY  J.  R.  BIBBINS 

The  steam  turbine  has  long  ceased  to  be  a  novelty — it  is  an 
established  factor  in  modern  power  undertakings,  particularly 
those  of  great  magnitude.  Since  its  introduction  to  this  associa- 
tion in  1902,  several  forms  varying  more  or  less  from  the  Parsons 
have  been  announced — the  Curtis,  Rateau,  Riedler-Stumpf,  Zoelly 
and  others.  The  construction  of  these  several  forms  has  recently 
been  presented  in  more  or  less  detail  before  the  several  engineer- 
ing bodies,  so  that  this  phase  of  the  subject  may  be  passed  over  in 
favor  of  the  more  practical  questions  arising  in  power  plant  work. 
Owing  to  the  limitations  of  space  and  time  available  for  prepara- 
tion, it  has  been  possible  to  consider  only  a  few  of  the  more  im- 
portant subjects,  and  to  this  may  be  attributed  the  topical  nature 
of  this  paper. 

TURBINE  CHARACTERISTICS 
The  service  requirements  of  a  prime  mover  in  electric  railway 
work  are  in  many  respects  more  severe  than  any  other  power  ser- 
vice outside  of  the  rolling  mill.  The  fluctuations  in  load  are  so 
sudden  and  severe  that  the  ability  of  the  prime  mover  to  regulate 
its  speed  is  tested  to  the  utmost.  The  simultaneous  starting  of 
many  cars  frequently  creates  an  inordinate  demand  for  power 
which  can  only  be  met  by  the  prime  mover  possessing  a  large 
overload  capacity.  Furthermore,  a  high  average  or  "all-day" 
plant  economy  must  be  maintained  under  these  disadvantageous 
conditions. 

The  steam  turbine  seems  to  be  almost  ideal  for  fulfilling  these 
conditions: 

Its  high  speed  constitutes  an  important  regulating  force. 
Its  overload  capacity  is  large. 

Its  economy  under  fluctuating  loads  is  exceptional. 

First — As  it  employs  simple  rotary  motion,  the  rotative  inertia 
of  the  moving  element  becomes  enormous  at  the  usual  operative 
speeds  and  automatically  assists  in  the  maintenance  of  uniform 
speed  of  rotation  under  wide  variations  in  torque.  Thus,  the 
heavy  fly-wheels  necessary  for  reciprocating  engines  to  obtain 
the  identical  results  are  avoided.  Independent  of  the  inertia  effect, 
the  turbine  governor  has  been  brought  to  such  a  state  of  perfec- 
tion that  a  normal  speed  variation  can  be  obtained  close  enough 
to  meet  any  commercial  requirements,  although  a  comparatively 
wide  range  is  usually  employed  in  alternating  current  work  to 
facilitate  parallel  operation.  In  a  recent  test  upon  a  750-kw  tur- 
bine at  East  Pittsburg,  a  load  of  2014  hp  was  abruptly  removed 
and  it  was  found  that  the  speed  variation  was  but  3.07  per  cent 
with  this  severe  overload.  Turbine  No.  41,  1250  kw,  was  tested 
under  similar  conditions  by  instantly  throwing  on  and  off  1300  kw 


October  15,  1904.]  STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL.  7°9 


to  1340  kw  by  means  of  an  oil  switch.  The  speed  variation  was 
found  to  be  2.09  average  for  three  tests. 

Second — High  overload  capacity  may  be  secured  by  two 
methods.    A  turbine  may  be  built  with  a  maximum  governing 


FIG.  1.— 5500-KW  WESTINGHOUSE-PARSONS  STEAM  TURBINE,  BUILT  FOR  PENNSYLVANIA, 
NEW  YORK  &  LONG  ISLAND  RAILROAD 


capacity  of  1500  kw.  It  may  then  be  rated  at  1000  kw,  with  50  per 
cent  overload  capacity.  But  for  normal  loads  it  is  evident  that  it 
will  be  largely  underrated,  and,  furthermore,  its  economy  will  be 


every  respect  with  the  primary  admission  valve,  but  which  oper- 
ates only  when  a  predetermined  degree  of  overload  has  been 
placed  on  the  turbine.  The  secondary  valve  admits  high  pressure 
steam  to  a  later  point  in  the  expansion  range  of  the  turbine,  thus 

for  the  time  being  increasing  its  ca- 
pacity, with,  however,  a  slight  loss  in 
economy.  But  its  most  important, 
feature  is  that  while  enabling  large 
overloads  to  be  carried  at  a  lower 
though  still  excellent  economy,  the  best 
economy  of  the  turbine  is  secured  un- 
der normal  loading,  which  condition 
prevails  a  large  percentage  of  the 
time  the  machine  is  in  operation.  Thus 
the  turbine  formerly  rated  at  1000  kw 
may  now  be  rated  at  1500  kw  or  more, 
depending  upon  the  overload  capacity 
desired. 

The  curves,  Figs.  3  and  4,  indicate 
the  practical  range  of  overload  ca- 
pacity. In  the  case  of  the  400-kw  ma- 
chine the  speed  curve  shows  clearly 
the  point  at  which  the  secondary  valve 
"took  hold"  and  prevented  further  drop 
in  speed.  In  this  test  the  overload  was 
only  carried  to  75  per  cent,  while  in  the 
test  of  the  750-kw  turbine  it  was  car- 
ried to  2147  hp,  or  over  100  per  cent. 

An  important  difference  is  apparent 
between  the  character  of  the  water- 
rate  curve  for  the  turbine  and  for  a 
reciprocating  engine  with  cut-off  valve 
gear.  In  the  engine  the  point  of  max- 
imum economy  usually  occurs  at  about 
•34  or  .8  full  rated  load.  The  turbine, 
however,  reaches  its  maximum  effici- 
ency at  about  full  load.  As  the  rating 
of  turbine  and  generator  are  identical, 
both  may  be  operated  at  their  respec- 
tive efficiencies  at  or  near  full  load. 
The  entire  capacity  of  the  turbine  is 
thus  made  available  for  most  efficient  working.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  the  engine  is  running  most  efficiently,  the  generator  is  25  per 
cent  below  rating,  and  vice  versa.    Expressed  in  practical  terms. 


FIG.  2.— 750-KW  WESTINGHOUSE-PARSONS  TURBINE  AND  GENERATOR  ERECTED  COMPLETE.    RESULTS  OF 
TESTS  UPON  THIS  UNIT  ARE  REFERRED  TO  IN  TABLE  I. 


less  at  normal  loads  than  at  overloads,  as  the  economy  of  the 
turbine  increases  progressively  with  the  load.  A  more  efficient 
method — and  that  employed  in  the  Westinghouse-Parsons  turbine 
— involves  the  use  of  a  secondary  admission  valve  identical  in 


this  means  that  with  turbines  less  power  machinery  is  required  for 
a  given  plant  load,  i.  e.,  the  effective  capacity  is  greater. 

Third — Economy:  Many  interesting  discussions  have  lately  ap- 
peared in  the  technical  press  relating  to  the  comparative  efficien- 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


[Vol.  XXIV.    No.  16. 


'cies  of  steam  turbines  and  reciprocating  engines,  and  in  the  end 
the  general  opinion  seemed  to  be  that  each  type  of  prime  mover 
for  some  time  to  come  will  have  a  wide  sphere  of  usefulness.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  up  to  the  present  time  no  steam  turbine  has 
shown  economies  quite  equal  to  those  reported  to  be  obtained 
with  a  European  multiple-expansion  reciprocating  engine  tested 
under  high  vacuum  and  extremely  high  superheat.  This  fact  is 
continually  brought  to  our  attention  as  a  proof  that  the  steam 
turbine  is  entirely  without  the  pale  of  competition  with  the  steam 
engine;  but  this  is,  indeed,  a  secondary  consideration.  Laboratory 
economies  are  interesting  from  a  speculative  point  of  view,  but 
the  prime  consideration  is  the  comparative  economy  of  the  steam 
turbine  operated  under  its  normal  conditions  with  the  average 
steam  engine  equipment  now  employed  in  power  work  and  under 
the  average  conditions  obtaining  therein.  A  point  to  be  borne  in 
mind  is  that  it  is  perfectly  legitimate  for  comparisons  of  economy 
to  be  made  between  two  prime  movers  under  conditions  which 
may  be  considered  the  most  suitable  and  generally  applicable.  It 
is,  therefore,  held  to  be  distinctly  unfair  to  confine  the  turbine  to 
a  vacuum  of  25  ins.  simply  on  account  of  the  inability  of  the  re- 


The  data  from  Test  A  in  Table  I.  represent  the  results  upon 
a  750-kw  Westinghouse-Parsons  turbine**  tested  under  both  ex- 
cellent and  poor  conditions  of  service.  With  28-in.  vacuum  and 
100  degs.  superheat,  a  steam  consumption  of  12.99  lbs.  per  bhp 
was  observed  at  slight  overload.  A  series  of  tests  were  run  with 
superheat  and  without  vacuum,  and  vice  versa.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  an  economy  of  1377  lbs.  was  obtained  with  28-in. 
vacuum  and  no  superheat,  23.46  lbs.  with  no  vacuum  and  100  degs. 
superheat,  and  28.26  lbs.  without  either  vacuum  or  superheat.  The 
non-condensing  results  are  excellent  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
turbine  was  designed  entirely  for  condensing  service,  and  indicate 
what  may  be  accomplished  under  conditions  which  are  liable  to 
obtain  at  any  time  in  any  power  plant  owing  tc  loss  of  vacuum 
from  accidents  to  the  condenser  or  other  causes.  With  the  help 
of  the  secondary  valve,  an  overload  of  44  per  cent  was  car- 
ried during  non-condensing  runs,  and  over  100  per  cent  con- 
densing. 

These  results  are  in  relatively  close  agreement  with  those  ob- 
tained from  the  high-pressure  cylinder  of  a  1250-kw  two-cylinder 
turbine  running  non-condensing  and  tested  independently  of  the 


ciprocating  engine  to  take  advantage  of  higher  vacuum;  similarly 
with  superheat.  It  is  later  shown  that  higher  vacuum  can  be  ob- 
tained in  the  case  of  the  turbine  at  such  small  cost  as  to  insure  a 
handsome  return  under  most  conditions.  The  turbine  is  so  con- 
stituted as  to  utilize  the  utmost  benefits  from  this  condition,  and 
it  should  obviously  be  associated  therewith. 

As  to  actual  economies  obtained,  results  speak  for  themselves, 
and  it  is  unnecessary  to  institute  comparisons  for  the  sake  of  prov- 
ing the  superiority  of  any  particular  type  of  prime  mover.  The 
engineer  and  power  plant  manager  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
modern  engine  performance  and  they  have  been  quick  to  appre- 
ciate and  to  adopt  every  commercially  practicable  means  for  fur- 
ther decreasing  the  cost  of  power  at  their  station  switchboard. 

The  range  of  economies  obtained  under  definite  conditions  is 
well  indicated  by  the  following  tests:* 


*  It  may  be  well  to  state  for  the  benefit  of  those  unacquainted  with  the 
methods  of  testing  Westinghouse  turbines,  that  every  turbine  before  leaving 
the  shop  is  subjected  to  rigid  tests  for  workmanship,  adjustment,  endurance, 
efficiency  and  speed  regulation  under  contract  conditions.  Three  testing 
floors  are  in  use,  accommodating  respectively,  four  500-kw,  four  2000-kw  and 
two  5500-kw  turbines.  Steam  consumption  is  determined  by  weight  after 
condensing  in  a  surface  condenser;  vacuum  by  mercury  column  reduced  to 
the  standard  sea  level  condition  of  30  degs.  mercury;  steam  pressure  and 
superheat  by  calibrated  gages  and  thermometers;  and  horse-power  output  by 
special  water  friction  brake  or  by  measuring  electrical  power  absorbed  in  a 
water  rheostat.  The  equipment  comprises  a  boiler  plant,  a  gas-fired  inde- 
pendent superheater,  and  four  surface  condensers,  ranging  from  1600  sq.  ft. 
to  10,000  sq.  ft.  in  surface.  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  power  meas- 
urements are  based  upon  useful  horse-power,  either  brake  or  electrical,  and 
not  indicated  horse-power. 


low-pressure  cylinder.  During  normal  operation  of  the  complete 
machine,  the  receiver  pressure  approximates  atmospheric  at  full 


TABLE  I. 


-TEST  OF  750-KW.  TURBINES,  BUILT   FOR  BUSTON  NAVY 
YARD  AND  MANILA  TRAMWAYS 


Load 
B.  H.  P. 

Steam 
Pressure 
Lbs. 

Vacuum 
Inches* 

Super- 
heat deg. 
Fahr. 

Speed, 
R.  P.  M. 

Water 
per  Hour, 
Lbs. 

^team  Con- 
sumption 
per  H.  H.  P. 
Hour 

Test  A  

354.96 

712 
1.151.1 
1,554.3 
2,146.78 

154.7 
150.8 
151.4 
150.9 
150.7 

28  inches 
28 

28.07 
28.01 
27.85 
26.42 

100° 
100.11 
102  62 
99.07 
99.72 
92.9 

1,791.7 

1,797.5 

1,804.35 

1,787.8 

1,769.8 

5,439 
9,450 
13,808.4 
20,202.4 
29,874 

15.32 
13.27 
12.38 
12.99 
+13.91 

Test  B.... 

520.1 
1,066.5 
1,345.8 
1,529.3 

151.4 
148.6 
149.9 
149.2 

28  inches 
27.89 
27.99 
27  99 
27.76 

150° 
153.7 
153.9 
152.2 
153.5 

1,829.4 
?1,827.4 
1,807.8 
1,792.9 

7,194 
12,580 
15,370 
17,592 

13.85 
11.79 
11.42 
11.50 

Test  C... 

761.06 
1,544.56 

153.5 
149.2 

0  inches 

100° 

93.94 
85.33 

18,303 
36,248 

24.06 
$23.46 

Test  D  

811  04 
1,126.1 

149.8 
149.5 

28  inches 
28.01 
27.97 

0° 

2.34 

2.54 

11,779 
15,506.8 

14.49 
13.77 

Test  F 

1,074.7 

190.1 

0  inches 

0° 
7.1S 

3,037.1 

28.26 

th 


*  Vacuum  referred  to  30-inch  baromeier  =  sea  level, 
is  test.       t  Superheat  15°  lower  in  this  test. 


+  Vacuum  V/i  inches  lower  in 


'  Built  for  the  Boston  Navy  Yard. 


October  15,  1904.] 


STREET  RAILWAY  JOURNAL. 


711 


load,  and  the  high-pressure  cylinder  may  therefore  be  considered 
a  non-condensing  turbine. 

TABLE  II. — TEST  OF  1,250  KW  STEAM  TURBINE,  BUILT  FOR  INTER- 
BOROUGH  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK. 
Non-condensing — High  Presmjre  Cylinder  Only 


Load, 
B.  H.  P. 

Steam 
Pressure, 
lbs. 

Vacuum 
in  Referred 

30-inch 
Barometor 

Superheat, 
°  Fahr. 

Water 
per  hour, 
lbs. 

Steam 
Consumption 
per  B.  H.  P. 
Hour,  lbs. 

660 
889.9 
1,261 

1462 
145.5 
150.7 

None. 

None. 

18,672 
23,261 
30,338 

28.3 

26.15 

24.05 

16000 


3600 

Hi 

A  3500 


1400(1 


12000 


&  3400a10000 


181 


8000 


Is  16  o  6000 
3  S3 

am  14  4000 


\S  12  2000 


10 


Economy  and  Overload  Test 

,400  Kilowatt 
Westinfrhouse-Parsons  Turbine 
Steam  Pressure  - 150  Lbs.  Gage 
'Vacuum  -  28  inches,  Superheat  -  40°  F. 

Speed 

econda 

■y  Valv 

op 

Stel 

"  C 

tion 

1 

Full  L. 
1 

all 

1 

load 

100  56 

Overload 
1 

200 


400  600  «00 

Brake  Horse  Power 

FIG.  4 


Subsequent  tests  (B,  Table  I.)  upon  a  750-kw  turbine*  of  iden- 
tical design  with  that  above  mentioned,  showed  a  steam  consump- 
tion of  13.05  lbs.  per  bhp-hour  with  26-in.  vacuum  and  140  degs. 
superheat  at  full  load.  At  approximately  full  load,  28-in.  vacuum 
and  150  degs.  superheat,  the  steam  consumption  was  reduced  to 
1 1. 5  lbs.  These  two  machines  are  of  the  single-cylinder  type  and 
identical  in  general  design  with  the  5500-kw  machines  now  near- 
ing  completion  for  large  New  York  and  Philadelphia  power 
plants.   They  are  illustrated  in  Figs.  1  and  2. 

That  these  excellent  economies  are  not  alone  obtainable  in  ma- 
chines of  considera